Author: louisaenright

I am passionate about whole, nutrient-dense foods, developing local markets, and strengthening communities.

Turkey Tracks: “Bee Warm” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  December 2, 2018

“Bee Warm” Quilt

It’s done!

This quilt is done with Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s herringbone braid method found in her book MODERN QUILT MAGIC. And the fabrics are all Cotton+Steel low volume.

This quilt has been what seems to me a long time in the making—mostly because I had other projects with higher priorities.  So, this one became a kind of leader/ender project, which I started back in May 2018 at the Coastal Quilter’s retreat.  It took some time to get in the rhythm of this method—it’s not hard, just different.   And I had a little trouble figuring out how wide and long the braids would be.  I went back and added more length to the braids when I realized the quilt was too wide for the length.  Next time…I will know.  And I suspect there will be a next time, for I really like the texture of this quilt.

I started by going through all my Cotton+Steel low volume warm fabrics and ironing each one enough to cut the 2 by 8 strips.  (I prewash all fabrics when they first come into the house as the chemicals in them bother me.)  So I had a big bag of strips and had a great lot of fun choosing which ones to use when as I sewed.  I had this kind of selection because I had a monthly C+S club order from Pink Castle Fabrics for about 2 years.

I’m assuming you know by now that C+S will no longer have the 5 original designers who have now moved to Moda and are named the Ruby Star Society.  Their first fabric offerings with Moda will be in the spring of 2019.  I will also say that some of the new designers under the C+S name are interesting, especially Emi Oka, who is from Tokiname-shi, Aichi-ken, Japan.

Anyway, here is a close up.  I used the “Grande Hyancith” pantograph by Patricia Ritter.  I’ve been wanting to use thisl pattern again.  It’s curvy and dense, and it is adding more lovely texture to this quilt.

I love the bee fabric on the back.  Its from the Sarah Watts collection, Magic Forest.  Bees are beloved in m;y family.  My DIL Tami Enright runs the Bee Cause project that originated in South Carolina and that seeks to save the bees by placing them in places where they can thrive or where people can observe them and learn about them.  She now has hives in all 50 states.  See thebeecause.org for more information.

The binding and label are done in this lovely pinkish fabric, which is as soft as the quilt and which is giving more texture around the outside of the quilt—as the white slashes play against the pink.

I love this quilt!

I am making a “cool” version, but with a different pattern, with the C+S low volume fabrics in blues, greens, and greys.  I’m ironing and cutting fabric now, but have made some trial blocks.  I can already see that I will love the “cool” quilt that emerges.

Interesting Information: Is There Poison in Cereals?

Interesting Information:  November 25, 2018

Is There Poison in Cereals?

The picture below comes from a science project at some of my grandkids school, Mason Prep in Charleston, SC.

Their answer is yes, there is glysophate in cereals—and I would say in a lot of our commercial food.  Glysophate is in Round-up.  And, yes, it does affect humans, contrary to a lot of industry propaganda.

Here is a recent study about the health impact of eating organic food—a huge study done recently.

I have been asked many times about the cost of eating organic.  I have two answers:  cancer is incredibly expensive in ways you can’t imagine until you get enmeshed in that event.  Secondly, when I married over 50 years ago now, we were advised to plan for 25% of our budget to be spent on food.  Today, Americans spend about 10% of their income on foods—and it’s crap, fake food that is dangerous.  If you want to be healthy, want your kids to be healthy, you have to change the way you eat and you have to cook clean, fresh foods.  Period.

 

Turkey Tracks: Out and About Dress

Turkey Tracks:  November 24, 2018

Out and About Dress

I finished this dress a few weeks back.

And it was a learning curve.  I have some very expensive knit fabric that I want to use for this dress, but I want to get the pattern right on my body first.

This first time, the bodice was way too long.  I was able to cut it away from the skirt, but now it’s too short by a few inches.  But I know what to do next.  I think the bodice shoulders could come in a smidge.

The other issue is that as first made, the pockets are way, way, way too far down the skirt.  I can fix that too.  And there may be just too much material in the skirt as well.  I kind of fall between two sizes.  Here the bust and arms are good, so I will tinker with the rest.  And I’ll shorten the skirt a bit as well.

The pattern calls for a fusible tape for the hem and sleeves—and that is brilliant.  I really like that method.  BUT, I don’t like the 1-inch hem with the tape I used.  Will try 1/2-inch on the next try.  As is, the hem needs to be ironed after washing—which I have done.

But, despite it all, I do like the dress.  The lined jersey is as soft as can be.  The dress layers well and will be nice when spring returns with a sleeveless under top.  Or, not.  It’s super comfy.

I got some sale fabric yesterday—an Art Gallery print.  So, on to the next try soon.

https://indiesew.com/products/sew-caroline-out-and-about-dress

Turkey Tracks: Fall Fun, 2018

Turkey Tracks:  November 24, 2018

Fall Fun, 2018

 

Look what showed up at the bird feeder the other day—before we got two snows.  Piliated Woodpecker.  I moved really slowly to reach for the phone camera to get this shot.  These birds are very shy and cautious and never light on a feeder for long.  Any movement from me would have spooked him/her.  They are HUGE.  I hear them in my woods all the time, and do see them from time to time.

AC and I were taking daily walks until the snow—and a spate of bitter cold—came.  We will resume in time.

The woods in Maine often contain old ruins.  Here’s an old house foundation—from back in the day when all these woods were cleared—which is also when all the rock walls were made.  Timber for miles around was cut down to burn at the limestone pits down in Rockport, so most of our nearby woods are fairly new growth—old for us, but not for the woods.  The limestone made the morter between the granite blocks quarried in Maine.  You know all that granite you see in buildings located in major cities…it came from Maine and was carried by schooners down the coast.

Maybe Common Snowberry?  Look at the blue of that sky.

 

 

 

Turkey Tracks: On the Longarm Today

Turkey Tracks:  November 22, 2018

On The Longarm Today

I fell in love with Victoria Finlay Wolfe’s herringbone quilt pattern.  She takes the notion of a braid quilt and gives it a whole new twist and then moves on again to take the pattern into all sorts of formations, including curves.  This pattern can be found in her book MODERN QUILT MAGIC.

I’ve been working on this quilt for some time—I found I need to make what I started longer to fit the wider size after I added additional strips.  The connection piecing is tedious, but once you get into the groove of how to “see” what goes with what, you can zip along.  Figuring length and width also was a learning curve for me.

But, boy do I like this quilt—it’s all low-volume Cotton+Steel.  (If you didn’t know it, C+S has disembarked from its current home.  The five designers have stayed together, have gone to Moda, and are now Ruby Star Society.  Their first collection for Moda will come at the spring market.)

 

Turkey Tracks: AC’s First Snow

Turkey Tracks:  November 20, 2018

AC’s First Snow

We got snow last Friday–and are getting more today.

Here’s a cute little video of AC Slater’s first encounter with snow.

 

As AC is a happy little dog who exudes boundless joy, it is no surprise he’s good in the snow.  Since this video we took a long walk over at Erikson’s and, at first, he was very cautious and stuck nearby.  But by the end of the first mile, he was back running through the woods.  His feet seemed to be fine in the cold snow.

Here are some pics of our snowy path:

We heard the playful voices of children as we walked–somewhere further on from us.  Laughter, shrieks of delight, and the joy of playing in the snow.  We finally saw them–a young mother and her children.

My heart lifted even further.

 

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Mt. Battie Modern’s Show and Tell, November 2018, Part 1

Turkey Tracks:  November 17, 2018

Mt. Battie Show and Tell, November 2018, Part 1

What a “Show and Tell” we had this month!

I’ve divided up this rich showing of work into three parts.

Nancy Wright brought her finished Traveling quilt—all done but for the binding.

It’s gorgeous!!

Nancy used this Cotton+Steel fabric (which I love and have used a lot) as her backing.

Tori Manzi brought her finished traveling quilt top:

 

We have been asked by our sister group, Coastal Quilters, to show the finished traveling quilts—and other Mt. Battie Modern quilts—in their February 2019 meeting.  So, we are working to get them done now.

 

 

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Mt. Battie Modern Show and Tell, November 2018, Part 2

Turkey Tracks:  November 17, 2018

Turkey Tracks:  Mt. Battie Modern Show and Tell, November 2018, Part 2

Tori Manzi took an improv class with Kristy Daum last summer, and this quilt top is the result.  Rules included choosing a color family (blue here) with light and dark representations AND a “pop” color (bright pink) AND using solids with a specified minimum number of printed fabrics.  (Daum’s web site is stlouisfolkvictorian.com)

Tori has agreed to lead us in an improv workshop one day soon to try out this process, which she says is very interesting and freeing.

During the summer three years ago Becca Babb-Brott, Linda Satkowski, and myself decided to create “parts department” blocks for a future improv quilt.  We each made blocks and make enough of each block type for each other.  (The “parts department” idea comes from improv books by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston, and I’m pretty sure I blogged about making some of the blocks that summer.)

Becca raided her parts department box recently and put this quilt together.  Linda and I had so much fun seeing the blocks we made in this quilt.  We three agreed that we learned a lot about how to make this kind of quilt from doing Jen Kingwell’s “Long Time Gone” quilt this past year.  And LInda and I agreed that we really wanted to get into our own parts department boxes this winter.

AND, this kind of project could make a viable project down the road for Mt. Battie Modern.

Anne Bargetz made this jacket in our recent “Stay Retreat.”  It’s the “Women’s Kimnono Sleeve Jacket” from shopwiksten.com.

Anne used a Cotton+Steel print for the outer jacket.  She says it is warm and toasty and that she is using it a lot.  Several members said that they wanted to make the jacket as well.

Turkey Tracks: Mt. Battie Modern Show and Tell, November 2018, Part 3

Turkey Tracks:  November 17, 2018

Mt. Battie Modern Show and Tell, November 2018, Part 3

Vicki Fletcher has been on a roll with her quilts.  This is the third one in recent weeks.  She calls this one “the dinosaur quilt,” and it is meant for a grandchild.

I love the sashing fabric she chose.

Nancy Wright will leave Maine shortly for her Florida winter home, so in addition to her finished traveling quilt, which she left with us to show, she brought the quilts she is working on or has finished.

Here is “Flight Effect,” a design by Dash Maslund of Falmouth Maine.  You can also see Dash featured on Kim Soper’s Leland Ave Studios website.  Maslund has a nice web site (Prow House Quilts) so you can see the various colors she uses for this quilt and other pieces of her work.

Here is Karen Lee’s “Cabin Quilt” (quiltaposy.com), made with Carolyn Friedlander fabrics.

I love the quilting pattern used on this quilt.  It has the feel of the large rectangles on the front and the rectangle’s center openings.

This quilt is Anna Maria Horner’s garden quilt.

Luscious, glorious fabrics…

Alewives Fabric in Damariscotta Mills, Maine, hosted a fairly recent workshop for AMH and this quilt.

So, as you can see, Mt. Battie Modern had a lively, fun meeting this month.  And wait until you see the projects with which we are challenging ourselves next!

On to 2019!