Category: Quilting in South Carolina

I Nailed The Grits

It required attention and patience, but the third time was the charm with cooking these Anson Mills “rough cut” ORGANIC grits.

I soaked them overnight in milk and stirred them for the first 8-10 minutes and then didn’t leave their side until I was sure covering and cooking slowly wasn’t going to make them overflow. It takes about 40-50 minutes adding bits of water (or more milk) about every 10 minutes so the grits don’t burn on the bottom and cook very, very, very slowly until the chunkier bits are soft.

But oh my heavens! They are so delicious. I will be ordering again, but will drop down to the finer cut version, which is still chunky and slower to cook.

Here was my noon dinner on the porch–made with assets and the grits: roast chicken and roasted sweet peppers and carrots (with garlic), sautéed spinach (butter and more garlic), and sliced Honey Crisp apple and an espresso.

And I look at this view while I eat. My neighbor pulled out her struggling gardenias and put in these pink “Knock Out” roses–which are a hybrid made with landscape roses, tea roses, and maybe other roses. They will be smaller than my red landscape roses and will grow wider I suspect.

The taller plant on the corner of the house is a tea olive, which I would love to have, but I don’t have the right spot for one. They get tall over time, but have the sweetest fragrance when blooming. They are a quintessential Southern plant.

Here’s a link to the Knock Out roses: https://www.knockoutroses.com

There are now lots of colors–this hybrid has been around 20+ years now.

Here’s one up close. They are so adorable!

The 4th and final quilt in the 1920-30’s reproduction fabrics series is off the longarm and has been trimmed and bound. Yeah! I’ve called it “Four Stars.”

We, hopefully, will get some rain today. But NOT a tornado as we are under an alert until 7 pm. A nasty system is moving toward us. Just rain please and thank you.

I’m sewing together the blocks from this year’s online block class with Tara Faughnan into what I hope will make an interesting improv quilt. Certainly it will be a memory quilt for me. So far, so good.

And, at night I’m sewing down the binding on “Four Stars.”

A Quiet Day Today

But I have been plodding along with all sorts of projects nevertheless.

Today I’ll finish the quilt on the longarm and will trim and bind it.

I did finish my name tag for the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild. I kept this one simple and…modern.

Along the way I learned how to monogram with my new Janome 6700’s alphabet, which was fun. The camera picked up the shadow lines in the name making it look rough, but it isn’t.

I donated both my old Janome 6600 and the Janome 8900, so there’s that.

I soaked the Anson Mill’s rough grits last night, so I’ll be cooking those at noon today. I can’t wait!! The rest of my meal is already cooked and will just need reheating.

This afternoon a clean water company is coming to test my water and to recommend a whole-house water filtration system. I got spoiled in Maine with my well water. This water has red iron residue and reeks of chlorine–and I know there is fluoride in it as well. I’m not sure about reverse-osmosis for the kitchen sink as I don’t like the taste of it. (RO removes ALL the minerals, some of which we need.)

So, I’m looking forward to learning more about water in this region. And I do use a Clearly Filtered pitcher for my drinking and (some) cooking water.

More Bits and Pieces–April 27, 2024

My neighbor who saw and filmed the otters in our neighborhood ponds told me that there were THREE otters in the pond where she filmed when she and another neighbor first got to that pond while walking their dogs.

She told me that she, too, has been reading more about otters in coastal South Carolina. Apparently they are somewhat rare and other nearby costal states don’t have them at all anymore. She said the otters travel around through the sewers and culverts. Well, that makes sense as there are A LOT of drainage systems here in the Low Country.

Also, Betsy wrote that her husband Bill gifted her with the quilt pattern for the quilt I showed you yesterday–it wasn’t a kit–which means Betsy chose her own fabrics, and didn’t she do a great job with her choices? (I fixed the post.)

The diffuser has peppermint and lemon in it this morning–and it is lovely and fresh smelling in the big room. (This would be another small moment of joy.)

The sequel to Erica Bauermeister’s novel The School of Essential Ingredients may be even better than the first book: it’s The Lost Art of Mixing. I read/listened to The Scent Keeper a while back, and now I have No Two Persons in my Audible system. I’m listening to The Survivors by Jane Harper, and so far it seems like it will be interesting. It’s set in a small beach town on the coast of Tasmania. Yes, there is a mystery involved. The printed book I’m reading is Jan Karon’s second book in her Mitford series, A Light in the Window.

Today is my youngest granddaughter’s 9th birthday–so there will be cake later this afternoon. I’m getting her card from me ready this morning:

I have for a long time now printed out pics of my quilts and used them in cards. I smile when I see them–and hope recipients do as well–so here’s another small moment of joy.

I am just finishing hand sewing the LAST block in the 4th row of 6 rows in “Happy,” the quilt that has taken YEARS to make. That means the middle is done and I’m over the hump of finishing this quilt as the edge rows are so much easier to get to while hand quilting. The border will quilt fast as there are not pesky, bulky seams to manage.

Betsy also identified the little purple wildflower I saw along my walking path.

It goes by several common names, like Dakota Mock Vervain,” depending on where one lives–all involve “mock vervain” in the name.

From Wikipedia: “Glandularia pulchella is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family known by the common name South American mock vervain. It is native to Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, and it is present elsewhere as an introduced species and roadside weed.[1][2] It is an annual or perennial herb producing one or more stems growing decumbent to erect in form and hairy to hairless in texture. The rough-haired leaves are divided deeply into lobes. The inflorescence is a dense, headlike spike of many flowers up to 1.5 centimeters wide.[3] Each flower corolla is up to 1.4 centimeters wide and white to purple in color.” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glandularia_pulchella)

I didn’t think to use my plant ID app, but Betsy did, using my picture. When I tried, yes, up came the ID. Duh!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Betsy’s Gorgeous Quilt

Betsy lives in Vermont, and we met years ago on the J&E Riggin windjammer, which sails out of Rockland, Maine. Betsy was volunteering to help cook for that trip.

I offered to let Betsy spend the nights she was off the boat at my house, which she did. She saw my quilting, and the rest is history now.

Betsy’s husband Bill gifted her with this quilt pattern Christmas before last–and she has now finished it. Can I just say that there is no way I would attempt this challenging project!!! And, that I am so proud of her as she has now gifted so, so many beautiful quilts to family, friends, and babies.

Betsy is keeping this quilt though and is going to hang it in her house. She should, as the pattern was a gift from her husband. *Note that the fabric choices are Betsy’s. Didn’t she do a nice job with her choices?

Betsy accompanied me in taking Tara’s Faughnan’s “block” online class this past winter. We had such fun making our blocks and sharing them with each other as the months went flying by. Indeed, there are only a few nights where one of us doesn’t send a picture to the other one late at night. Often, Betsy sews then, and I’m usually in front of the tv with a hand sewing project.

Betsy sent a pic of this quilt she just finished for a friend only the other night. This quilt looks easy, but it isn’t as there are block orientation issues. What followed when she sent this picture was a discussion of what binding to use. (Her longarm quilter does awesome work, doesn’t she?)

Go Betsy!!

Bits and Pieces

What a busy week it has been so far.

Tuesday night’s meeting of the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild was a lively, fun meeting. Among the many visual treats, Cathy Beemer showed us the quilt she had just picked up from her longarm person. Cathy is teaching us how to make these blocks at our monthly Sit and Sew meeting. I have 1/4th of one of these blocks made and need to slow down and make at least one other 1/4th. They are so fun to make and use up solid scraps. Cathy has taken many classes with Maria Shell, and this quilt shows that influence. After it is bound, this quilt is meant to be a gift for Cathy’s nephew, which is “Wow” What A Gift of Love and Care.

I went back to Hidden Pond Nursery also on Tuesday, to look for a plant for this vacant spot in the garden. I came home with this rose–a floribunda called “Popcorn”–and three perennial Lantana that are the same color. All these plants will spread out–but not get higher than 2 feet.

It took the Maddox and a shovel and lots of will power and energy to dig the hole for this rose as there was a large vein of black clay running right through where I wanted to put it.

Hidden Pond has BEAUTIFUL container pots these days. I came home with this one so I could repot these Kalanchoe plants (Calandiva is a hybrid) my sweet neighbor Teri gave me for my birthday. They have NOT stopped blooming since mid-March.

And, I had a visit with the three hens that were loose in the Hidden Pond gardens today. Like most hens, these were very social and started hanging out with me as I walked around–making me miss the days I had some chickens of my own in Maine. These gals were very vocal and encouraging about keeping on walking.

The honeysuckle is blooming in the woods now. On my Tuesday walk, I stopped to smell this honeysuckle plant. It was heavenly–and qualifies as savoring one of the quiet moments in one’s day.

This little wildflower is growing along the sides of the path here and there. I can’t figure out what its name is.

And the very fragrant Ligustrum shrubs are blooming now. Some like this plant’s strong smell; some don’t. I do.

Wednesday was a dreaded dental day–but all went well.

And today I spent the whole morning outside–planting “Popcorn” and the Lantana and repotting the Calandiva. I fertilized, trimmed, and watered the roses and the new plants. When I came in, I showered (boy did that shower feel good) and had my dinner on the porch with my book (Jan Karon’s second in the Mitford series, A Light in the Window). Neighbor Teri came over for a porch visit catch-up, which was nice.

And now I’ll sew.

Find the Small Moments

I’ve spent some time this week thinking about all the small moments where I’ve slowed down and appreciated something small–and realized that in that moment, there was joy and peace.

So, I’ll share a few of these moments of mine with you today.

Roses on the kitchen counter…alongside a “minion” piece made and gifted by a granddaughter. AND, now that I look, a glass all filled with filtered water and a straw.

The view from the porch that revels in the roses, the shells, the lush green grass. It’s hard to leave this view when it is time to leave it.

The sight of “Happy” on the floor as I make sure that I don’t have binding joins at the corners. BTW, I read recently on Bonnie Hunter’s blog that she DOES put on the binding of a quilt that she is hand quilting. So, that’s what I’m doing. Except for the border, I’m half done now. And the binding is all sewn down.

Noon dinner and supper all organized and each bowl including slices from a roasted lamb rack and freshly made low-country organic stone ground (rough version that takes a long while to cook) grits–alongside freshly roasted carrots and peppers and steamed fresh broccoli–with half a Honey Crisp apple for dessert.

Dinner on the porch, next to the beautiful flowers that my neighbor gifted me for my birthday–these flowers are new to me but are ones she knows from her life in California. The brown jug sat on my Georgia grandmother’s back porch and was locally made…so long ago. (I told you she loved brown.) There is joy too in the espresso freshly made.

Then there was the moment where the stove top had been scrubbed and scrubbed where I let the grits overflow AGAIN–making an awful mess. (You can’t turn your back on them for a moment until you get the heat right so they just simmer.)

And the moment when the dishes were all cleaned and the kitchen set to rights.

The sight of my current fiction book on the table as I walked past. I’m so enjoying it–the first of Jan Karon’s Mitford series.

Or my DIL Corinne coming over to help me plant the camellia she and Bryan and the girls gave me for my birthday–which also contained our fun visit to Hidden Pond nursery. I was so happy to see her as the chosen spot for that plant was SOLID clay all the way down. It took both of us using the Maddox and the shovel and water to dig a hole deep enough to line it with sand and compost. We sweated, we laughed, we got all dirty, we persevered.

And LOOK at the Asian jasmine this year. It’s off and running now every where I planted it.

The sight of how happy the six hollies are now–after a year of care and love. They are lush and green and all fluffy and are forming LOTS of new berries for the fall.

Or the time spent with new friends at a local Sit and Sew Saturday morning–where a very talented member of this modern group is teaching us a new skill.

You know…

I’m realizing that I could go on remembering these moments of peace and joy of these past few days. And I’m feeling so grateful.

And my hope this morning is that you, too, will slow down and think a bit about these moments in YOUR life.

Quilts For A New Family Baby

And…his family.

I mailed these 2 quilts mid-week. They will arrive today if all goes as promised.

“Sprinkles” is the perfect quilt for baby Jack.

Remember the cute backing? The gender of this baby was a closely held secret, but I thought while making it that “Sprinkles” would be great for a girl or a boy baby. It is all Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society fabrics–except for the sashing pieces. And it dates back to the ongoing project of 5 or so years that started when I cut up all this hoarded fabrics and started making quilts–which went out in droves to family members over the years. “Sprinkles” is the last one.

“16 Pinwheels” also went along for the ride as I thought the parents would like something sturdy to warm their laps when holding baby Jack. Or, just in general. They live in a cool climate with long winters.

These fabrics are from the 1920-1930 feed sack reproduction fabrics I had on hand for about 20 years and started using last winter. This quilt is the 3rd in this series. The 4th and last of the series is almost done and is on the design wall. I finished the last block yesterday and put leftover fabrics into the stash according to their colors.

Both of these scrappy quilts are meant to be used and loved and washed as they will provide lots and lots of quilty hugs for this family.

The Red and White Challenge

Members of the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild had a “red and white” challenge. And many of their quilts were shown at the last meeting (March).

Oh my! The quilts are varied and every one is stunning! Here’s a little panoramic video I took on the fly. There is a blog, however, and if you want better pictures you could go there. The link is below.

http://charlestonmodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/

The Cobblestone Quilt Show

Cobblestone Quilters Guild is the regional in my area here in South Carolina–I live within the greater Charleston County. Right now I belong to Cobblestone, to one of its “splinter” groups named Patchwork Gals, and the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild (which is separate from Cobblestone and is tied to the Modern Quilt Guild).

Cobblestone has a quilt show every two years, and this was the year. About 200 quilts were displayed, and the show was very sweet. I so enjoyed it. Some of the quilts shown were made by members of the Charleston Modern Quilt Guild.

I took some pictures–but only those that particularly called to me. There is no rhyme or reason really to these pictures I took–it really was just whatever moved me at the moment.

Here is “Fractured Color Wheel” by Cathy Beemer, who is a member of the modern quilt group and whose two quilts I have shown you recently. One hung at Houston recently (2023?), and the other hung at QuiltCon 2024 in Raleigh, NC, in February.

I took this picture for my Maine friend Lynn V, who has made several animal quilts for her grandchildren. This one is “Zoo Family Portrait” by Jennifer McFadden.

I’ve never met a house quilt I didn’t like. And I really, really loved this one, with its neutral background and quiet strips of diagonal grey blocks (look closely) and it’s Bishop Fan quilting and its red binding. It’s “I Live in a Red House” by Katy Sheehy.

ANOTHER house quilt that I liked. It’s “Duck’s Quilting Group of Summerville at PPQ” (which is the People, Places, and Quilts quilt store in Summerville, SC).

How colorful and fun is this quilt? How could we NOT use irons in quilting. This quilt is “Irony,” by the modern group member Susan Brandt. I love the name too.

This “eyes” are the result of a challenge. And how fun is that? I love this idea.

I’ve been intrigued by “house top” backs for a while now. And look at the use of lines of small scraps in the quilt and in the binding. This quilt is part of the series challenge some in the modern group did. This one is by Hope Reed and is the number 2 quilt in her series of three.

I loved this quilting–there is so much energy and movement. I didn’t take a picture of this quilt’s name, who made it, or who quilted it. Bad!!

Here is another quilt by Cathy Beemer. Cathy writes that this quilt is the first in her SECOND series of three quilts. This one, for me, is a real inspiration as I’ve been drawn to these small crosses for some time. A leader ender project with solid strips? Probably that will happen.

And that’s it, folks.

I can’t wait for the next show, and I’ll do more to help next time, now that I have a better “lay of the quilty land” in my new adventure.

Two Quilts Finished

I’ve finished two of the quilts in the 1920-1930 reproduction series–two of four in the series.

You all are probably tired of seeing pics of this quilt, but it is finally totally done. I called it “Vintage Feed Sack Wedding Rings.” I am intrigued that these vintage reproduction fabrics lend themselves to modern-looking quilts.

I used a pattern called “Modern Vintage” that I saw in vol. 16 of a Better Homes and Gardens book called Quilt Lovers Favorites (pages 86-89). The pattern may be available elsewhere by the designers Camille Roskelley and Bonnie Olaveson. Also, this block is actually a traditional single wedding ring block and is easy to find online.

Expert longarm quilter Wendy Currie recommended the pantograph “Garden Frills Too,” among others, and I loved the texture.

You can see the wonderful texture on the back as well.

For the second quilt in the series, I used the round part of the wedding ring block and the squares. I called this quilt “Bubbles,” as I wanted to see bubbles rising upwards on the diagonal. It’s 48 by 48, so a perfect baby quilt size.

I used the pantograph “Circle of Life” by Patricia Ritter.

I like how this pantograph turned out as well.

Meanwhile, I had a timing issue on my Innova, so I had to wait for the nearest repairman to come help me, and that happened Thursday. Jimmy Hernandez and his friend came from Greenville, NC, which is 3.5 hours away and where Jimmy and his wife Dale own the Carolina Quilt Studio. Jimmy was AWESOME. He fixed Innova’s timing, which was off (remember when I sewed my finger?) and replaced a part that needed replacing, and was so helpful and fixed some other issues.

So, this week I will put the third quilt on Innova and finish the 4th top. And then, I promise, whatever fabric is left will go into the stash!!!