Just a Bit Late

I seem to have gone missing again--and, in a way, I did.

First order of business is an array of photos from the It's a Sister Thing Swap in which I participated.

I shared a box of goodies with Needled Mom.  You can find her post about it here.

The secret sister who sent me a box of goodies was Jeannie of GracieOliver.
With the exception of the fall ribbon, "a decadent blend of black teas and vanilla" from Spice Merchants, and a little pin, here's what Jeannie sent to me:

 A wall hanging--that is going on my door to replace the patriotic hanging now that Labor Day is past.

 A really classy black and white tote bag.  I love the gingham print and the dots.

 A sweet lady bug button adorns the flower.  (Although I've never collected them, ladybugs are special to me because I adopted from China.  Frequently, there have been a flurry of ladybugs about the time referrals have been sent to adoption agencies.)

 Locally made milk chocolate.

And from the Amish store near Jeannie, some yardage of scripture based fabric that I've never before seen. 

I love the way these are printed,

and they are longing to become part of some special quilts, including prayer quilts.

Thanks, Jeannie, for such truly wonderful gifts.  (She says I'm hard to  blog stalk because I don't talk about myself much.  Hmmmm, I thought I did.)

Last week, when most people were posting about their swap items, I was north of Pagosa Springs, CO at a women's retreat where two friends and I helped with music.  It was kind of a shock to my system to get away to such a wonderful event in such a lovely place--probably the most relaxing few days I've had this summer.  I missed my quilting, but did work on some socks.

My new adventure, if it can be called that, is a bout of shingles.  Yes, I've had the vaccination, but it is estimated to be only 80% effective.  I confused three doctors who came to take a look in the doctor's office yesterday because I have it on both sides of my body (mostly my face), and most often people get it on only one side of their body.  My practitioner prescribed a stronger antihistimine (in case it's something else) and an anti-viral.  She assured me that even if I have shingles despite the vaccine, this will be a much lighter case.  By today, it's pretty clear this is shingles.  However, now I'm home from work because children who have not been vaccinated against chicken pox can catch them from someone with a shingles outbreak.  One of my friends from jugband had them earlier in the summer, and she shared with me some more natural things to do that sped her recovery. I'm just very happy that so far I'm itching but not having intense pain as I notice more little dots popping up not just on my face but also on my arms, chest, and belly.

I'm still behind in a lot of things, but also very tired, so we'll hope I can catch up on at least a few things.

(I'm not ignoring 9-11, but other than praying for comfort for the survivors and their families and wisdom for our country's leaders, I won't dwell on it.)

Happy quiltmaking,

Sweet Quilts and a Quilt Back Sale

Here are the promised photos of the layered quilts Judy sent home with me.

 Judy said that in the original pattern these bordered squares were pieced into the quilt, but she appliqued them.

 She chose this wonderful print for the backing.

 Then she made a sweet quilt from fabric printed like vintage handkerchiefs.

 I love old hankies and once had a lot of them since they were frequently gifted to me when I was a child.

 They would arrive in the mail in birthday cards or "Thinking of You" cards--with 3 or 4 cent postage stamps!

 Over the years [decades] many have disappeared.

 I've picked up a few here and there in my travels.

 And a dear friend has sent me several.

 And all those "hanky memories" will come flooding back as I quilt these,

...especially the memories of how Mrs. Esther Lebo and Miss  Josephine Huffington would check each day to be sure each of us 36 students had clean hands, clean fingernails, and a clean handkerchief.

If you're looking for a sale on wide quilt backings, follow this link to the sale at Hancocks in Paducah.
(Sorry, I'm not sure how long the sale lasts.)

Happy quiltmaking.....

Quilt Plan and the Turn of the Century Home

I've been working on the plans for Sweet Teen's Opportunity Quilt.

 Here is the plan for the quilt.  I decided that due to it's size, I wanted the simpler blocks  in the corners so the quilt will show itself off better on a bed.

 I'm still figuring yardages for cutting since I want to strip piece it and EQ7 can't really provide me exactly the information that I need. This quilt was inspired by a 1903 triple Irish Chain made in the Oklahoma Panhandle that by the mid-1980's was living in East Tennessee.  I made a rather close copy of that blue and white quilt, but I no longer have the quilt.  I'll look for a photo of the original or of my quilt and scan it so that I can share it at some point while I'm making Sweet Teen's quilt.

These are the main fabrics.  The one in the Lower left barely shows, but it has many colors in it, is much more intense than the background fabric, and will show up in the quilt. I think one of the challenges of making quilts is that complicated fabrics don't usually show up well in photos.

I've also been very busy painting in preparation for the likelihood that I'll be back to work on Friday (after I see the rehab doctor on Thursday).

I repainted the fireplace surround in the livingroom and changed the display to seven of the pitchers I've collected over the years.  The one on the left is the oldest--from the days when my grandparents lived in a house without indoor plumbing.

 When we first bought this house, we used the fireplace all the time, and I didn't understand that the reason we were getting smoke in the house was that our chimney just isn't tall enough.  Now we never use it.  It's pretty, but it's just not worth the work and the mess. In any case, the mantle and the surround direly needed painting.

 This is why I'm questioning "The Turn of the Century."  When I was a child I always loved visiting homes that were much like they had been at the turn 19th to the 20th century.  I'm sure almost anyone would say I have just too much in my house, but since I'm not trying to sell it right now, and since my house is definitely my haven, I love being able to see things I treasure.  These boxes are full of yarn and needlework.  The lovely spider plant is one my assistant gave me a start of when she moved last January or February.  Clearly, it loves living in my haven too!

In any case, we may have passed the next turn of the century, but I still have a seventeen year old turn of the century house.

I rearranged another wall in my living room--putting up more plates that need a new home now that my buffet has a "hutch". Two of these plates have been in my family for at least three generations, one is fairly new, and the others were gathered from thrift stores, antique stores, friends, and a flea market over the course of many years.

Although my computer shows the wall color as somewhat lavender, it's actually a pale orchid.  Because the living room is on the north side of the house, blue would have been too cool a color (although I did use blue and yellow in the kitchen).  The orchid shade looks cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

 I really was a Victorian when I rearranged the piano and the wall above it. I will be putting more doilies along the edge of the shelf when they are dry.  I just love the little things I've collected.
The plate on the wall to the right is a commemorative plate from my hometown's centennial in 1954. (My daughter loves that it has a picture of my high school--apparently built from a plan used by many different communities.   Some people bought enough of these plates for a table service.  My mother had a few, but this is the only one I have.

 I love the antique candy dish my cousin Joy gave me a few years ago, and the inkwell is one that has been in my family for many years.  I have no idea what happened to the lid.  It had been a while since I polished the tray it sits in--but it's no long blue and black with tarnish!

 The rose plate at the rear is very old, but I found it cast aside at a thrift store.  The silver birds are a salt and pepper set my mother received as a wedding gift (the salt has corroded the head and neck of one).  The little blue iridescent bird is dated 1990 and was a gift from my Aunt Louise.

This little harp playing angel was part of a set my mother purchased decades ago, but it's the only one left, the others having been seriously chipped and broken over the years.

See?  Lots of little treasures that I still treasure (and which make my daughter crazy).

 And here's the freshly painted "hutch" that is actually an Ethan Allen Nutmeg book case from the 1950's  I bought it because I've been looking for about 15 years for a hutch that matched my buffet.  The irony:  you can't even see the lines at the top that match the bottom and top of the buffet.

I'm going to link to Esther Liu's WIPs on Wednesday and Freshly Pieced, as well as Connie's Freemotion By the River  and will hope that none of my visitors mind seeing the redecorating endeavors.

Updating to add a link to Vintage Thingee Thursday over at Suzanne's blog.


Happy Quiltmaking.....

Quilt Progress, Tatting, Lucky Finds

If you came here looking for the give-away that runs through September 4, you will find it on this post.

I spent 2.5 hours in the office of the rehab doctor on Tuesday before he managed to get to me for a 10 minute procedure, there was no time left to run errands (in fact we had to do some car hopping and driver changes in order to get me home).  So yesterday I needed to head into Albuquerque for a couple of purchases, and on the way in I stopped at Good Will.  While I realize lots of people find great bargains at Good Will, it's much more rare here, although five or ten years ago I found wonderful things.  However, yesterday I did find some sweet things.

First the quilting progress:

 I'm trying to decide which of these two threads to use in the border of Little Miss Gardener, the quilt for the new great niece who will arrive in early October.  The thread on the right is Fil-Tec Glide and the one on the left is Fil-Tec Affinity, which is the same as the Glide except it's variegated.  (You might want to take advantage of their sale on Magna-Glide bobbins, which will continue for a few days.  No, I don't work for them.  I just love their threads. I use their size L magnetic bobbins in my Class 15 sewing machines.)

Yes, I will do a tutorial on quilting a feathery border, although I've decided to make it continuous around the entire quilt, which is not the way I do it most frequently.

 Here is the quilt so far, in all it's feathery goodness.  The tutorial for how to do the feathered plumes in the snowball blocks is here.

Good Will purchases:

 Two sets of embroidered pillowcases.   They are 100% cotton, so I'm guessing the cases were purchased in the 40s or 50s. Yes, I was amazed first that something of this quality was in that particular store, and more amazed that they had to have been destinedfor the variegated size 40 tatting thread I purchased this summer from Jess! at Tatilicious.

I suspect the pillow cases were never used  and that it was because an edging was never attached.  I have decided that rather than attach these edgings on the edge, I'll attach them on the hem.  A couple decades ago when I finished a set of pillow cases and sheet with embroidery and tatting, I did attach the lace at the the edge.  Despite the fact that I don't often use that set of sheets, the lace is coming apart in some places.  So I think this lace will last longer if it's on the hem.

Both of these lace edgings are narrow and my own design, because I had no idea how far 50 yards of thread would go--and I did end up ordering more.  I was going to come up with a tatted medallion for each pillow case, and I actually have finished one and have begun another, but the embroidery colors on these cases were so perfect that I just knew they were destined to have lace made from this gorgeous thread hand dyed by this wonderful young woman.

I almost didn't see these treasures.  The frames look like pecan wood--and the framing was done by Pic Frame in Alamagordo.  Beautiful stitching with all x's made properly and thread lying nicely.  We have hummingbirds all summer in our area and even more during migration season.  I'm thrilled to have these.

Okay, there were a couple of more purchases.  One was a file to sharpen the blades of my people-powered push mower because the vintage or antique (more likely) file I've inherited from Grandpa is not doing the job.  Neither the file nor the task is at all romantic, so no picture.

This was a splurge from Sunflower Markets/Sprouts  (they're in transition).  I have not had a slice of blueberry pie for decades!  No kidding.  By the time I was 11 or 12, pie making was my task.  My mom used a recipe from Mazola Oil  (at the time we had no idea I was allergic to corn products), and the pies were more like a tart.  My favorite was blueberry, but we rarely had blueberry filling.  (And now my favorite is cherry, but they had no cherry pies.)

Among my goals for today is to get at least the widest border of Little Miss Gardener done.  I'll take pictures as I work.

I'm linking to Melissa's Try New Things Thursday, despite the fact that attaching lace in a new place has nothing to do with quilting (except that bed quilts deserve to be accompanied by beautiful pillow cases).

Happy quiltmaking......

Quilted All Day

Last Friday there were multiple accidents on I-40, but even bailing off I-40 and then Old 66, it took me two and half hours to get home.  Saturday morning we were greeted by some lovely sights, including sunshine.

We'd planned to be gone all day, but we had to cancel out of everything because under that beautiful snow was a sheet of ice.  I managed not to fall while shoveling the driveway. However, you will notice that in the above photo, the mountains are obscured.

Since we were "stuck" at home, I began looking for something in the pantry and ended up reorganizing it--something that's been needed for a long time.  Since the roads were too dreadful to venture to a grocery store, it was lovely to find all kinds of very usable food that had gotten stuck in inconvenient places.  (I did have to throw out two cans that were old and bulging slightly.)  However, I also took out this little fellow, who has been shut in the closet for several years!

He's been helping me drink Celestial Seasons Candy Cane Lane herbal tea--one of the best things about this season.
Sunday the roads were horrible, so I did some rearranging in my sewing room.  I moved some things around and put my Singer 15-88 treadle in front of a window.
This morning my daughter's school was cancelled at 5:00 a.m., and while I was checking NM Roads, I received a call that my school was delayed by two hours.  The highway situation was pretty scary, and I was glad when my district cancelled.  For much of the day I-40 was closed, but I was happily treadling away--and now have the Foggy Morning quilt finished except for two little red triangles and the binding (which isn't even cut yet).

I don't think I would have chosen the hunting print, and it took me a couple of years to decide how to use it, but it brought back a lot of happy memories in the process.
I used a little bit of Fil-Tec Glide thread, but most of the thread was variegated thread from Threadart.
Threadart specializes in embroidery thread but sells a variety of other products (including bling), and they too give very fast service.  In fact, right now they have grab bags of twenty 1000-yard cones of rayon embroidery thread [I use it for quilting sometimes] for $20.00.  My old electric machines got a bit fussy about the Threadart thread, but my treadles love it.
When I was first told that it would be easy to treadle a well functioning set of irons all day, I was skeptical.  No more.  Treadling all day was a whole lot easier than my daily commute to work and back.  (Two hour delay for me Tuesday, so I'm praying the roads will be much better!)
Happy quilting......

Goodies - Yarn, Etc. & A Question

We awoke this morning to snow on the mountains around us.  Most of it was gone by early afternoon.  However, coupled with the low temperatures and cloudy skies the last couple of days, it's a reminder that winter is on its way--as was the fact that it was just so cold in the house that I had to turn on the furnace.  I'm dreading the winter utility bills!
So......
here are the goodies to which I succumbed!

 Plymouth Happy Feet sock yarn in watery colors.
Below, a magazine splurge.  Two romantic decor magazines and two quilting magazines.

Who knows if I'll ever make any of the quilts in the magazines, but they'll inspire my quilts anyway.

And the beautiful photos in Romantic Country and Romantic Homes will warm my senses and my heart as we head into winter.  Yes, it's obvious I'm not a winter person--although I might be if I could play in it and not have to drive so many miles in it each day.

Are you aware Wal-mart no longer discounts magazines (and the prices have gone up on almost everything else they carry)?  Okay, now I won't have to feel guilty when I splurge on a magazine at Smith's/Kroger's because at least I'll be earning points toward lower prices on gas.

The double nine-patch quilt in the above photos is one I made in the late 80's and early 90's before I started machine quilting.  Although I pieced it in Tennessee, the quilt brings back a lot of happy memories of an old house on Hill Street in Gallup with wonderful big windows.  I quilted in the dining room, where we still had room for a dining table.  The house had beautiful light maple floors;  I'd love to have light maple floors again!

I'm curious......Do you choose the quilts you're using according to the season?  Do you change to darker colors in the fall and/or winter?  Do  you stick with light colors in the winter to ward off the darkness of shorter daylight?  Do you stick to your favorite colors year round regardless of the season?

I quilted for a few minutes on a prayer quilt this morning--just a few minutes.

Happy quilting to all who manage time to quilt!.....

Fireworks

Because our little town has multiple fireworks factories, the homecoming game includes some pretty spectacular fireworks displays.

My little camera managed some interesting photographs--and a couple captured some things that my eyes missed.

I do love fireworks, despite the fact that our residents buy so many that the 4th of July fireworks last for hours and hours.

As I was leaving the house to get Sweet Teen after the game, across the sky, above the fireworks, streaked a meteor.  The meteor took my breath away.

The fireworks are like all the prayers we lift up for friends and the friends of our friends.  We're blessed by them. What really takes our breath away is the recognition that we have a Lord whose love streaks across the cosmos blessing us, confirming his love and presence.