Month: January 2024

Bits and Pieces, January 31st, 2024

Good morning all!

Tomorrow Block 5 in Tara Faughnan’s “Block” class will arrive. It’s “triangles.” How fun is that?

I’ve walked 5 miles in the past three days–2, 1, and, yesterday, 2. What will today bring? It’s rainy, so whatever will happen will happen when things dry out a bit. But it is cool and that makes for wonderful walking. I play music and sing along some of the time.

I finished this top yesterday, and I love the secondary patterns. There is a feeling of, I don’t know, lace, in this top. I’ll back and bind with the neutral–so next I have to put together the backing and put her on the longarm to be basted so she stays straight while being quilted–and so I don’t have to worry about the needle apparatus catching wrong in a loose edge. I have no idea what pantograph to use on this quilt.

I would not choose to buy these 1920-30 reproduction fabrics today–but as you know, I’m on a mission to use up fabrics in my stash. And I do think these fabrics have worked well in this quilt.

I have a fair amount of fabric left over in all the colors I have–so, I’m playing with blocks on the design wall. When I attended my first Charleston Modern Quilt Guild meeting last week, five or six members showed their 3 quilts each in a challenge to “riff” on fabrics and layout choices in a series. Is that what is playing in my head? Maybe… Those series of 3 quilts were really fun and inspiring.

BTW, the talent in this modern group is fabulous. One member has two quilts accepted into the big modern QuiltCon meeting in late February, held this year in Raleigh, NC. And, she had quilts in last year’s show as well. This member is a MASTER quilter–and it was so, so fun to see her work. Plus, she is so generous with her time with fellow members–and has a suggested project for our next Sit and Sew for an upcoming Saturday morning. I can’t wait.

I never get tired of seeing bright vegetable colors combined in a pan and ready to be roasted.

Here’s my main meal yesterday–which I didn’t get to until about 2 pm.

The potatoes with dill, salt, and drizzled with the nuevo olive oil from Organic Roots were leftovers and are now gone. So today I have to cook something starchy to go with the roasted veggies and chicken. Maybe French Fries in the Air Fryer. Now, there’s a treat! But maybe only if I walk 2 miles.

And, later, I’ll play more upstairs with those developing blocks. And still later, I’ll finish season 5 of Fargo and hand quilt on “Happy.” I’m assuming most of you know Fargo is funny, funky, and can be violent. It’s the Coen brothers and Noah Hawley, so be warned.

Cecilia Koppmann

Here’s a quilt from Cecilia Koppmann, a quilter from Argentina. Her work was featured in Simply Moderne magazine, one of two quilty magazines I get each year. (See citation info below the picture.)

I’m especially interested in this quilt, which is 60+ inches big, as I think she may have used the inset method I just learned from Tara Faughnan in the online “block” class I’m taking. That method is Dale Fleming’s “6-minute circle.”

“Eclipse”

Simply Moderne magazine, Issue Number 35, pages 40-47

I think it’s ok maybe to use this pic from the magazine since this quilt image is available to see on both Pinterest and Koppmann’s web site.

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/166773992423906364/

http://patchworkycia.blogspot.com/2014/05/

What I like about Simply Moderne is that it covers the quilting of people from all over the world. There are, also, projects included, and I’ve made quite a few of the over the years. This magazine’s issues are quarterly–so 4 a year.

My other favorite magazine is American Patchwork and Quilting.

Giovanna’s Shawl Patterns and Yarns

For those of you who have contacted me seeking information about Giovanna’s Shawl patterns and yarns, here you go:

Pattern: WRAP IT REAL GOOD by Ambah O’Brien
Yarn : Sunshine yarns FEELING GROOVY advent set

Pattern: Sherbert Fizz by Ambah O’Brien. This one I made two and joined them together.
Yarn: SUNSHINE YARNS, Fade into you advent set

Giovanna added the following:

“Just in case people ask. Advent sets a.k.a Festive sets come in twenty-four or twenty-five mini skeins and could be fingering or DK weight. Every year designers come up with new patterns that many people will knit during the first 24 days of December.”

And:

Enjoy!

More Knitting From Giovanna

Many of my blog readers liked seeing master knitter Giovanna’s recent work. She just sent me pics of two shawls she just finished and that are now blocked and ready to wear. Giovanna is one of my Camden, Maine, friends.

Giovanna is very generous with her work–so these two pieces will likely be gifts for lucky people.

This one below may be the piece I last sent to you–all blocked now.

I can’t even…

…imagine trying a knitting project like these. 

I do ok with fairly plain knitting and have a whole drawer of wool socks I made, but I decided long ago that to get better I had to knit a lot and that that would limit my sewing time. Also, I left all the hats and scarves I made in Maine as they would be way too warm for South Carolina. I also left my really heavy coats.

So, I leave this knitting to Giovanna and admire from a distance.

She is awesome.

Girlie and “Happy” And Me

Yesterday, “Happy” (the quilt I’m hand quilting) and I took Girlie car to my local Toyota dealer so Girlie could get a recall part she needed. It’s about a 30-minute trip to the dealer.

I knew the inspection and installation of the part would take several hours of waiting, so I packed up “Happy” for this outing.

I commandeered a table and two chairs in the expansive waiting room and set to work–and that made the hours pass swiftly. Included were chats with people who were interested in this quilt and this hand quilting process. Some told stories of the quilts their grandmothers made for their grandchildren. ”Happy” is one of the 7 handmade quilts for my 7 grandchildren.

The orange threads you see are the longarm machine basting, which I clip loose as I move along. I am sewing grid lines down the lines of dark centers with darker tread colors.

By the time I got home early afternoon and organized my noonish big dinner, ate, and cleaned up, it was mid-afternoon. The day then turned lazy–no walk but to the mail boxes–but by bedtime, I was almost finishing the last grid line. And that all felt just fine. I must have needed a lazy day.

Next up, the big circles to be done in pastel threads. Then the centers of the circles. 

And today is a rainy day, but I will walk in between, and I’ll sew upstairs on the 1920-30s quilt top.

A Vintage Quilt

The fabrics in this quilt are all 1920-1930 reproduction fabrics. Most were hiding out (as a group) in my stash–and were bought nearly 20 years ago when a local Maine store’s owner retired and closed his store (Fabric Bonanza). I did purchase recently more of some of the colors that were lacking selection to make interesting blocks. 

The fabrics are reproduction, but the block and the setting are modern. The pattern is “Modern Vintage” by Camille Roskelley and Bonnie Olaveson, and I found it in the Better Homes and Gardens QUILT LOVERS FAVORITES, vol. 16, pages 86-89–before I donated the book to the Wando library.

The blocks will finish at 10 inches, so this top (my 218th) will finish at 60 by 70 inches, so a nice lap size.

BUT, here’s the problem. Look what’s still left in the fabric pile.

I played around a bit last night before stopping. 

I don’t know. Maybe these blocks could be combined. Maybe not. And I’m not totally sure whether or not I want to keep working on these fabrics. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, I’ve ordered some Kona “natural” that should mostly match the muslin in the blocks for the backing and binding. And I found bits and pieces of muslin in my stash so I could keep on making more of the above blocks.

Or, not.

I am kind of anal about finishing a project–and this project WAS to use up ALL of these fabrics. 

“Serpentine Surprise” Quilt

It’s Sunday morning, and Brrrrr cold for South Carolina, and “Serpentine Surprise” is in the washing machine as I write.

Last year when I first got here, there was a spell of 17-degree temps that froze the two Rinnai tankless water heaters’ outside pipes at my son’s house for several days.  Getting them unfrozen required a hair dryer, hours outside, and wrapping the pipes with more temporary insulation for the second freezing night–but fortunately, no water pipes burst. Consulting with neighbors who know better than I do how to prevent frozen pipes in South Carolina, I started dripping my hot water before I went to bed last night–after the temps had started dropping below 30 degrees. The wind chill is a further factor, of course. Remember that our hot water heaters are on the OUTSIDE of houses here. 

All was fine this morning–Every day I have to run the hot water before hot water comes–which takes much longer in the winter. That strikes me as really wasteful, especially as we pay for water/sewer here. (I had a well in Maine–and outside water faucets were built for freezing weather–and an indoor heater and a water tank that stored hot water.)

BUT, I finished the binding on “Serpentine Surprise” last night–Kona Thistle, which I had enough of to use some for binding. Note, the top is NOT wavy; I just didn’t smooth it down properly.

Remember that this curvy “Serpentine” block that works so well with checkerboard blocks is from my online “blocks” class with Tara Faughnan. This block involves glue, and I do machine baste on the longarm before quilting, so I thought it prudent to wash her to dissolve the glue and to close up the basting holes. ”Serpentine Surprise” and her sassy self are going to live in my tv room on a chair.

I used my domestic and a walking foot to quilt this grid on her–and a very neutral Aurafil thread that does not stand out, front or back. The thread is a cross between a light grey and a light tan–which works well on the back as well as the front. And I had enough of this newsprint fabric by Carrie Bloomston in my stash to piece the back: 

I love the graphic nature of the two-color version of this block:

But I also love the scrappy versions:

And it was great fun to play with combining these two block versions, and to, also, play with using both versions in one block. 

I went down a rabbit hole with Serpentine and checkerboard blocks and played to my heart’s content–and that is the purpose of this “block” class. 

The 5th of 6 planned blocks comes out at the end of next week. And Dale Flemings’ book on “the 6-minute circle” method is now in the mail. I love having learned that method and am likely far from being “done” with it.

 

Giovanna’s First 2024 Project

My Maine friend Giovanna is a master knitter.

She sent me this picture a few days back–of her just-finished first project of 2024.

What a lovely pattern and such lovely colors.

Giovanna said she has not blocked this piece yet. It is a rectangle. 

PS: I made the quilt in back of this piece for Giovanna–some years back. It was such a lovely project–made from Carolyn Friedlander fabrics and her pattern.

A Holiday Monday

We have a cold period coming into town.

I’ve wrapped my outside faucets and will drip water inside when temps fall below 30, which is coming soon. These houses are NOT set up for really cold weather. Recall that the water heaters are on the OUTSIDE of one’s house down here in coastal South Carolina. And unlike Maine, outside water faucets are not the kind that can take freezing temps without breaking.

Many in Maine have sent pictures and links to pictures of the really bad and damaging coastal flooding there. Poor Maine. It’s had a LOT of rain all summer and now, every storm we get here in South Carolina moves right up the coast to Maine. There are many pictures of coastal buildings floating out in the water.

I cooked a lamb rack yesterday, after walking 1.6 miles. ( I added a loop and then went back with the car to clock how far I had walked.) The two added loops–at each end of my big outside road–will add up to a little over 3 miles, which I’ll do one of these days. One loop plus the normal 2 miles would be a little over 2.5 miles. I’ll try that right after my leg muscles–following a whole string of walking days now–stop complaining.

Lamb rack, which I so love, and leftover roasted red peppers, quick-boiled Brussel sprouts topped with raw butter, and more air fryer sweet potato fries–followed by the apple slices and my noon espresso. 

Then, I tackled the Serpentine quilt with my domestic machine where I keep a walking foot installed. I’ll do the grid the other way too.

I’m listening to William Forstchen’s sobering trilogy that starts with One Second After and scaring myself to death, LOL. Civilization can disappear…so quickly…especially in this digital age which requires a lot of infrastructure. And then what? It’s not pretty, that’s for sure.

And at night while hand quilting I’m watching Harlan Corben’s murder mysteries–there are 8 of them on Netflix–and each is 8 episodes. I am having fun guessing “who done it” and what happened and why. I’m on the third one now. On the first 2, I only guessed part of what happened on 1 of them before the end. So that’s fun.

Have a great day everyone.

My Squircle Blocks and Some Good Food

I think I’m done making more Squircle blocks (from Tara Faughnan’s online block study class). Done, I’d say, for the moment. I love this inset method pioneered by Dale Fleming.

Here is my collection of 5, 6, and 8.5 inch blocks. It’s not the best picture as I took it when the light was terrible in my quilt room.

And here is what that part of the design wall looks like now, with zipper, serpentine and checkerboards, lines, and Squircle blocks. Hmmmm… Is there an improv quilt possible? Time will tell. *Note, I’ve kept the same fabric palette for all of these blocks–though the palettes Tara Faughnan gives with each block are gorgeous.

Meanwhile, I have to feed myself daily–with good food. So, I oven-roasted some chicken two days ago.

Here’s a bowl meal with chicken, blanched Lacinato kale with some raw butter topping, and air fryer red peppers and French fries. *For the kale, just drop the whole leaves in some boiling water and after about 4-5 minutes drain and cut out the stems and roughly chop the leaves.

Followed yesterday by the chicken and roasted red peppers reheated in the air fryer in one drawer while sweet potato fries cooked in the other drawer AND baby bok choy sautéed with bits of apple and garlic and dried herbs. *Soften the apple pieces and garlic before adding the bok choy as it cooks fast. If you overcook bok choy it gets way too soft. You want to keep some of the crunch of the thicker bottom pieces.

I eat my main meal in the middle of the day and afterwards have some sliced apple or a berry mixture and an espresso.

Today I’ll roast a rack of lamb in the oven and, maybe, the butternut squash I have on hand as well–with my good olive oil, garlic, and fresh rosemary from the garden. There are, also Brussels Sprouts in the refrigerator.

And I’ll walk at least a mile.

It’s a plan!