Slow and Steady Wins the Race

What's Under Your Needle This Week? 

 

My projects for February....

Finishing a table runner started by my Quilting Auntie Nyla, Coffee Time.

 

I could not even tell you how long ago Auntie made this table runner, she passed it down to me before her passing
... 5 years ago already?  The very least I can do is quilt it and bind it and get it out of the UFO queue. 

The cute little cups are needle-turn applique.  If memory serves me she was going to hand quilt this.
I'm not a hand quilter,  I'm just sewing straight lines.

She loved to do needle-turn and she did beautiful work.  She tried to teach me... bless her heart.  I miss her so much! 
(There is some slight puckering...I don't think she used any sort of spray basting.
It is too late to go back and spray baste now as all the applique is done.  Oh, well, DONE is better than PERFECT, right?)

 

 

 

 

 Hat-on-a-Cat for March

Working on Binding.
I wasted an entire evening quilting this...I forgot to put my walking foot on....I do not know where my brain was!

Sewing along I kept thinking "why is there so much puckering....?!*^?"

Finally the light bulb went on .... I did consider leaving it but in the end Jack and I had some quality time.

 

 

 

Fran is back from the Spa*  The technician said "what a great machine."  (Boy, don't I know it!)

I did inquire about getting a new case for her and he said "zero chance."  There is just no source.  Darn.

On The Road Again Memorial

The last item on my list for February is Auntie's memorial.  It needs quilting and binding.  I am finally going to set up the Flynn and give it a whirl, and here is were Fran can show her stuff!

2024 Is the year I'm either going to use it, or lose it!  I have had this poor-man's quilting frame for far too many years. 
It's time to either figure it out or thank it for it's service and pass it on. (Well, it didn't really "serve" but it wasn't his fault.)

 

 

 

 

Speaking of passing it on....I tried using this laser light for sewing straight lines....nope, didn't work for me at all.**  Could not keep the little light ball straight.    Into a baggie it went and into the "give away" pile.  I could not even thank it for it's service because it has not served!


And with that, I'm swearing off gadgets....no more new-fangled sewing gadgets. 
OK, drawing the lines for HST*** might take longer, but it ALWAYS WORKS! 
(Can you tell how much this thing frustrated me!)

Now that False Spring has passed and we're back in the COLD weather,
I don't feel so bad staying in and neglecting the yard.
Time to finish up these February Projects!!

 

 

*    English's Sew & Vac
**  You might recall I bought this at the Paducah quilt show last year (2023.)
*** HST = Half Square Triangles

Storm At Sea

My son is a ship's captain.  He actually pilot's a boat.

Not this type.
Handsome, No?
Love a man in uniform.

More this type. 
He is still handsome, though.

When I wake up to a red sky,
I always take that opportunity to pray for his day.

My next quilt project will be "Storm At Sea" for my son 

using a package of 24 batik fat quarters given to me by my Quilting Auntie.

I attempted to design the block in Electric Quilt (EQ).  It actually is a pretty easy block to draw.

Doesn't this block look like it has curved lines? 
Nope, they are all straight lines. 
It is the color placement that gives this quilt "waves."

I was having a problem with the corner blocks so I posted the issue on the EQ Facebook page. Then someone posted there is an example of this quilt already in EQ!

That certainly made it easier, but did take some of the fun out of it.


 

Next step is to use the coloring page to determine where the colors will go to keep the wave effect.

Storm at Sea, Sweet
Ummm, probably not.

Finally, choose a design.  Different color placement, different effect.














 

Storm at Sea, Scrappy
Hard to see the "waves."

Storm at Sea, Variegated

Storm at Sea, Center Medallion
I  I like this one the best,
but I do not think the fabrics I have
will make this possible....another project?

Storm at Sea, Graduating Colors
which would work well with the
number of fabrics I have.

Honestly, I can't wait to get started.

FINISHED! Finally!!

All the Christmas quilts have been gifted and I'm ready to start 2020 with a clean slate.

The Little Princess loves her quilt.

The penguin made it to the new great, great nephew.

I must admit, I had the most fun with this one.

My brother and S-I-L lap quilts are all finished and

 winging their way to Texas as we speak. 

(Not in time to comfort Linda after knee replacement,

sorry to say.)

Now What?!

Before the Quilting Auntie passed into glory, she gave me a pack of batik fat quarters.
I think it is time to break it open. There are 24 fat quarters.






On my UFO Challenge sheet for 2020
is Storm At Sea. 
I've always wanted to make one.  I think this will be my next project.

Storm At Sea, example.

Let the games begin.

June Gloom

June weather in California is cloudy and gloomy....sometimes it burns off during the day, sometimes it does not.  Californians have a name for it "June Gloom."

That pretty much describes my mental climate of late.

We laid the quilting Auntie to rest and I spent some time with Unkie just touching her stuff in her quilting studio and reminiscing.  We cried and we laughed as we recalled fun times.

"...and it came to pass...". After June Gloom comes sunny July and then scorching August.  Happens every year.

Sprinkled throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is a phrase that sounds particularly good to me right now;
"...and it came to pass..."  Its true meaning is "...and then it happened..."  but I am claiming it as my own for now to mean
"...it did not come to stay, but it will pass..."


I'm sure you've heard the saying "fake it 'til you make it."  That's what I'm doing for now.  I am forcing myself to sit down at the sewing machine a bit most days and work on a baby quilt for a new mom and a fun wall hanging for friends who are planning a car trip (taking all their kids left-behind belongs and delivering them to their door steps.)  Both fun, cheery projects.































Last evening I spent time with my quilting neighbor, one of the Sew Sisters where I live, and went over a new pattern with her.

The quilting mojo will return.

Road Trip !!

Road to California?  No.
AQS in Paducah?  No.
Quilt Con?  No.


Desert Lily Quilters Guild Quilt Show in Yuma, AZ! 




Most every year, on the second weekend of January I travel to Yuma, AZ to visit my quilting-buddy and snow bird Auntie and help out at the Desert Lily Quilt show.  This year I'm taking my quilting pal, Charlotte-the-Tall with me... yep, the two Charlottes on the road.  
Thelma and Louise?  More like Mutt and Jeff.  I'll let you figure out who is who.

It's a long drive from So. Cal. to Yuma, AZ.

The landscape is rugged, but with a rugged beauty.


As we drove, we chatted away and solved all the world's problems; world hunger, global warming, the next door neighbor's barking dog.




 

And, truth be told, Yuma is a nice little town...in the winter...Not sure I could handle those summer temps.

The Desert Lily quilters are a very talented bunch, but the MOST talented of them all is my very own Auntie,
Nyla Stoughton.

She won first place AND the Silver Dollar award (100 Silver Dollars) for her "Birdies."
A set of 12 wall hangings, one for each month, hand appliqued in wool.

Nyla Stoughton

She is so talented.  I am blessed to call her "my auntie", quilting buddy and mentor.

Charlotte Smith, Charlotte Q (me) and Auntie

Tomorrow, I will post more show entries...beautiful, all.

"Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow."- Anita Desai

That is especially true when I have the pleasure of traveling to cities on business but I am able to spend time with friends and family, also.

Spokane Clock Tower

This past week I was in BEAUTIFUL Spokane, WA.  I love Spokane!
I could live in Spokane.  It's a nice, little city.

The weather was beautiful with the trees changing colors.  They have nice quilt shops.  AND, my quilting-buddy Aunt lives in Spokane.  (And, now my cousins also live in Spokane...double win!) 

Aunt Nyla @ Charming Charlies being silly.

So I had a very nice week of work and play in Spokane.

My Auntie is a Quilting Machine!!!  She is always working on something. She wins ribbons for her quilts.  Here are a few of my favorites. (And, trust me, these are only a few!)

Jewels of the Universe....Stunning!!

She let me pick one of her quilts while I was there (I now have three.)

It is called "Yuletide Joy."  One block for each month, all hand appliqued with the blanket stitch.

Too Cute!

Thank you, Auntie, for teaching me to quilt.  I love you.

And, people, don't forget to label your quilts..... someday you and I will have graduated to heaven.
The people coming behind us will need to know where these creations came from...

Got Crumbs? Make Beds!

What is more fun than traveling to the beautiful, Pacific Northwest?  Staying home for a week!

The youngest Babe and Petey

Yep, I've had a nice week at home working on miscellaneous sewing projects (and swimming with the Babes).... I will be leaving again today ....






While I was in Vancouver BC earlier in May, I spent my evenings in the hotel cutting up scraps, making specific size pieces for future use and creating "crumbs."  

When I started quilting a few years  back, my quilt mentor (and favorite Auntie, Nyla Stoughton) told me to NEVER throw away fabric, regardless of how small and useless the piece may seem.  I've followed that advice (mostly).  So NOW what do I do with all the crumbs?????

Why, make kitty beds for Cat Adoption Team, of course!!!

My daughter volunteers for the Cat Adoption Team in Sherwood Oregon.  When a kitty is adopted, they take their beds with them....nice idea, eh?

I had enough crumbs to make three beds.  They are all boxed up and ready to ship.

AND, as an added bonus..... I've emptied a container in my sewing room and will now take this empty container and put it in the laundry room in my building to make some other person happy and more organized.
Whoooo Hooooo!!  Win, win, win!

So, Got Crumbs?  Make Beds!
Contact the Cat Adoption Team if you, too, want to use up some of those crumbs!