Turkey Tracks:  April 3, 2017

April 2017 Quilty Update

It snowed all Saturday.

Didn’t amount to much, was beautiful coming down, and provided a quiet sewing day to enjoy.

We all just hunker down on these sorts of days, providing we can.

I don’t feed the turkeys unless we have packed snow on the ground–which we did up to a few days ago.  (Though we have more snow coming in tomorrow, but maybe we will have rain here on the coast.)  The turkeys know I’ll throw out food when it snows, so they begin to assemble early morning, and when I let Penny out, they come running and talking.  They are more vocal now than ever before.   Anyway, I have had a lot of feed bags this winter.  I used to throw these bags away.  The feed bags from the chickens too.  But now everyone is making very nice bags from them–for the grocery store, for recycling, for anything that needs a bag.  I have been giving mine away, but everyone is “full up” now.  So, rather than throw one away, I tried to make a bag.

SUPER easy and very fun.  There are MANY tutorials online.  Here’s a good one:  Source: Feed Bag Tote Bag

I took the bag to the garage where it is storing newspapers to recycle at the dump.

The last of the amaryllis are blooming now.  The white one is from Rose Lowell (La Dolce Vita Farm).  It bloomed before and I put pics up.  Then it sent up a whole new stalk and bloomed three blooms again.  The gift that keeps on giving…

My leader/ender project got sewn into a quilt top.  More on that later as it will be a gift.  I got backing/binding for it today.  So my NEW leader/ender project seems to be a 10 1/2-inch log cabin block made from 1 1/2 inch strips.  I forgot (AGAIN!!!) how demanding log cabin blocks can be and spent most of yesterday resewing blocks.  Each section has to measure right or the whole thing goes awry.

How to set them???

It’s time to do 8 or 9 more Tula Pink blocks.  What a treat!  I’d probably rip through the whole book if I were not so busy with other projects as well.  Pics to follow soon I’m sure.

I spent a lot of time ironing fabric yesterday–getting ready to cut for the “Bits and Pieces” quilt made with Carol Friedlander “Doe” collection fabrics.  I’ve loved this quilt and this fabric for ages and ages.  I first saw it at Alewives Fabric Store in Damariscotta, Maine.

I wash fabrics first because the chemicals and dyes don’t agree with me.  If they didn’t, I probably wouldn’t.

The fat quarters go into making the “bits.”

I found this fabric in Friedlander’s recent collection.  It’s perfect for the neutral strips.  Or so I think.  I like the texture.

 

 

Here’s the whole array.  I’m thinking I’ll have enough for two quilts maybe…

The backing is a white/black Friedlander.  It’s perfect.

So, En Provence is still in pieces and ready to be sewn together.  Millifiori is getting BIG.  More on that later.  And the selvage star quilt is waiting patiently.