Month: April 2019

Turkey Tracks: “XOXO” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  April 27, 2019

“XOXO” Quilt

I love this quilt.

The two blocks are from my online class with Tara Faughnan, hosted by Amy Newbold of Sewtopia, and made with solid Moda fabrics.  Each month Tara shares one of the blocks she has designed, teaches us with written materials and how-to videos, and chooses a color palate which Amy Newbold of Sewtopia, which hosts the class, sends to us.    These blocks—Color Pop and Color Cross—are from the first two months of the class.

I quilted with big stitches and used size 8 perle cotton.  The backing is one of the Japanese fabrics that Rebecca Babb-Brott carries in her Etsy store, Sew Me A Song.  I bought it for another quilt, but didn’t use it after all.  I Love how it works here.  I had a time choosing which color binding to use—I actually bought a warm navy and, then, a yellow, but finally settled on the “sage” color that is in the quilt.  It works with the front and the back, so I’m happy.

The circle block is 6 inches finished, and the cross block is 8 inches finished—so the math works to align them at 4 circles and 3 crosses.

I always try to take a picture which I can print out 4X6 size and which I can slip into a photo card.  I use these cards for pretty much all correspondence.

While I sew at night, next to me, someone keeps me company.

Turkey Tracks: Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild Block Reveal: “Light and Dark”

Turkey Tracks:  April 26, 2019

Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Build Block Reveal:

“Light and Dark”

Last night’s meeting was so much fun.

This month we revealed our blocks for Vicki Fletcher’s prompt:  “Light and Dark.”  Vicki homesteaded in Alaska for over 20 years, and the picture she gave us as one key to her prompt showed a dark tree against a sunrise/sunset bright background.  She did not limit our colors or the size of the blocks we made.

The blocks that came in knocked our socks off, plain and simple.  And we all look forward to seeing the quilt come together.  Here are the blocks, but unfortunately they would not all fit together on the design wall.  To see all the blocks individually, and if you have Facebook, go to our site:  Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild.

Despite the fact that Vicki has made recent quilts with lots of blues and greens, she loves the red family.  It was amazing to me how many of the blocks echoed the reds/pins.  And also how many blocks had yellow/gold.  It will be fun to track both of the families around the final block placement.  What rich and compelling colors showed up for this quilt.

Here’s the block I made for her—with bare trees

from Carolyn Friedlander’s “The Grove” pattern.

We are having so much fun with this project!

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Mud Season, Cherished Walks, Happy Spring

Turkey Tracks:  April 22, 2019

Mud Season, Cherished Walks, Happy Spring

I took these pictures a week ago at the Erikson Wellness Trail.  And yesterday, Easter Sunday, AC and I returned and walked, playing along the way, the whole trail, which is about 2.5 miles with the added spur.  We had “pea soup” fog here yesterday, and on the back side of the trail, rain started.  I had on a good raincoat with a hood and my LLBean boots, so I was fine.  AC didn’t care, of course.  He got a bath of sorts.

To recap, this trail has been iced over for much of the winter.  AC and I went in once, me with spikes on my boots, but mostly I avoided going.  The one icy trip was, however, lovely, and the boot spikes and walking stick support were terrific.  Still, it was…kind of lonely back in those woods.

My LLBean boots are PERFECT for mud season and have been much used this year as AC Slater has me outside a lot these days.

Last week, there were still patches of snow/ice deep in our woods.  But the trail was clear except for two spots that I could more or less walk around.

The rock moss is such a startling, rich green.

As the snow melts out, the hillsides are full of water moving downward.  The streams are filled and rushing madly.  AC has not figured out yet that he can swim, but he’s fascinated with the rushing water.  I throw sticks in, and he tries to get them.

This creek runs along side the path and crosses under in a culvert.

This bigger creek has a bridge over it.

My older grandchildren walked this trail with their father and me at Christmas.  I’m looking forward to taking the three little granddaughters here when they come in June.  They will love this stream, which does have the most enticing pools.

 

 

Turkey Tracks: AC LOVES the Dog Park

Turkey Tracks:  April 11, 2019

AC LOVES the Dog Park

It’s mid-April, and we’ve had three snows in the past week.  Two, plowable!  There are 6 or 7 inches of snow in my woods at the moment.  But temps are going up this weekend, so this snow will melt slowly into the ground.  Some up here call this kind of spring snow “a poor man’s fertilizer.”

My dog fence is not working.  Perhaps a deer stepped on the line.  But it could be anything, including a falling rock or tree branch.  I am replacing the dog collar, as it is not working.  The transmitter works, but is 14 years old, so I am replacing it as well.  And I’m hoping that by the end of this weekend all will be in place again.  That will depend on how fast the snow melts.

AC is a year old now and full of zip, which spring has intensified.  He is now watching what goes on in the road beyond my house and wants to patrol that too.  No!  So, the dog park, especially right now, is a must as until I can sort out the dog fence issue, he is not safe outside unsupervised.

AC LOVES being with other dogs.  That makes sense as he was raised in a household with five other dogs.  He knows how to play and delights in getting the dog park dogs to play with him.  Many times he has to teach them how to chase him while he gets to hold the ball or a stick he’s found on the ground.

I never thought that I would be spending “dog park” visiting time most days.  But there are some really nice people there, so that’s kind of fun.  I feel like I have a toddler again as there are days where “play dates” are arranged with owners/dogs that work especially well for AC to get LOTS of exercise.

AC knows the dog park road, and he starts “talking” as soon as we enter it.  He is really very vocal now.  And a total character!

 

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Lone Star Block Terror

Turkey Tracks:  April 8, 2019

Lone Star Block Terror

I’ve always been terrified of trying a Lone Star block.

The 4th block in The Color Collective online class (Tara Faughnan, and hosted by Amy Newbold at Sewtopia) is…a Lone Star block.

And, whoo hoo!!!  I did it.  Tara’s instructions and videos were excellent.  This class uses all Kona solids, and each month Tara chooses a selection of 12 colors to send us for the block of that month.

She suggested this 4-block arm version for the first try, and I’m glad I did that, even though I loved the bigger 9-block arm much better as it allows 5 colors and a background color.

But one makes trial blocks for a reason.  Here, the light grey makes the block look too “neon.”  And the acid-green star points lose the drama they would have had with a dark background.  The dark background would also have knocked back the neon nature of these colors.

I turned this block into a pillow—which is why I used the light grey in the first place.  It was as simple as I had a light grey invisible zipper.  The pillow construction comes from Anna Graham’s HANDMADE STYLE.  Graham’s patterns are also on the Noodlehead web site.  Both sides of the pillows are lined with muslin and quilted.  And an invisible zipper closes the pillow case.

There is something about these two blocks together that I like a lot.  The Radiating Log Cabin finishes at, I think, 20 inches.  The bigger Lone Star at 30+ inches.   Hmmmm…

I quilted both with size 8 perle cotton with big stitches:

These pillows could likely land up on the bed in the downstairs bedroom just behind this chair.

I have one more pillow insert.  Perhaps I will try block FIVE in a pillow size in days to come…

Then, NO MORE PILLOWS!

But, these new ones have perked up my whole house.

It’s been a nice winter project, and I’m loving learning so many new techniques with The Color Collective class.

PS:  Look where Tara Faughnan took the Lone Star method (TaraFaughnan.com).  Talk about inspiration!

That’s a 36-block arm.  Look at the center, and you’ll see the block comes together in quadrants.  Each quadrant has two arms.

Holy Moly!

 

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Lap of Luxury

Turkey Tracks:  April 5, 2019

Lap of Luxury

While I sew and watch tv at night, I have company.

The company is asleep right now, after a busy day at the dog park and after running lots of errands.

The quilt I’m working on right now is made from blocks designed by Tara Faughnan in the online class I’m taking, The Color Collective, hosted by Amy Newbold’s Sewtopia, which also ships the solid Kona fabrics Tara Faughnan chooses each month for the monthly project.

I’m hand quilting this quilt, which I made from the first two blocks, with size 8 perle cotton and big stitches.  And I’m really intrigued by this quilt and loving it.

Before the company went to sleep, there were cuddles enjoyed by all who participated.

We got snow on Wednesday.  I got about three inches.  The weather cleared my day in a hurry, so there was some nice sewing time.

I got about 3 inches, so AC and I went outside to shovel off walks and the generator.  By late afternoon, the snow had melted, which is the nature of a spring snow.  AC wants to play with both the snow shovel and the vacuum cleaner.  They move, you see…

But, spring is here, and to celebrate that, I could not resist getting some flowers.