It is a “murky” kind of Wednesday morning here today. And the temps are cooler. Maybe we will get a bit of rain. Maybe I will have dinner on the porch today.
On Monday morning, I took my grill propane tank to the local True Value hardware store to have it refilled.
Look what is growing along the fence surrounding the propane station: full size Mexican Petunias. This plant is extremely hardy and aggressive.
My little dwarf version is thriving out front, and these are just the cutest little plants which bloom their hearts out. They will spread, yes, but I want them to fill up the bed where they are–as a sturdy and colorful border.
I finished the “big red” quilt top last night–I have not yet come up with a name I like. I really like the soft Kona Thistle sashing and will bind with it.
Here is a close-up. “Red Delight” maybe?
I finished the backing for “Bonanza,” the big half-square triangle quilt last night and will start loading this project on the longarm today likely. “Happy” (formerly known as “the quilt from hell”) is waiting to go on the longarm for hand-sewing basting.
Now, I am putting the “Summer Camp” mystery blocks from the Modern Quilt Society on the design wall and will leave them up there for a while as I know I’ll move those blocks around a lot before I commit to their final placement. Already I am moving the blocks around in the rows that are going up.
The hand-quilting on Traverse is going well–I’ve almost finished the green row with chartreuse squares. I’m liking the texture that is not trying to cover up the block patterns. And my hand quilting with Tara Faughnan’s method is getting way more reliable, so I don’t have to check the back so often.
And that’s all the news fit to share here for today!
The big red blocks (10 inches) are getting sashed. Four rows are done, and sets of two are sewn together. I have to use a ladder to reach the top of the design wall, so I won’t sew those two top rows to the others until the last rows are done and connected.
I looked at some of the selvages more closely while cutting, and not all of these fabrics are Kaffe Fasset, which is ok. Remember that I bought two kits 18 or 19 years ago in Maine as I wanted to make a big red quilt, but never made the kits. I am using most of the kit fabrics, but not following the kit plan. I wanted something more modern–and I think I have a “modern traditional” quilt going here. The label doesn’t matter to me really as I am liking the quilt.
I’m really liking the soft lavender sashing–and I learned a way to set a long sashing strip so that the vertical lines match from videos on the Modern Quilt Studio web site via their Summer Camp mystery quilt. (They have a you-tube channel for their videos and these videos are very helpful for all levels of quilt competency.) I will bind with the lavender (Kona Thistle). And I have a soft grey wide-back for the backing and can use a medium grey to quilt.
Oh my! I am in huge trouble diet wise. I tried air frying French fries yesterday –I cut my own russet potatoes, soaked them in ice water for 30 minutes, dried them in a towel, and used a little duck fat which I melted for the fat coating, and salted them. I had preheated the air fryer–and 15 minutes later, and after shaking the drawer hard a few times, I had these DELICIOUS fries.
In the other drawer, I reheated a hamburger patty and the zucchini rounds I air fried the other day. I over-cooked the hamburger pattyies I made and should have paid attention to my own instincts. But the reheating went well and didn’t ruin either the zucchini rounds or the hamburger patty by cooking them more beyond warming them. LOL, ketchup helped. (I don’t like well-done meat.)
We got about an inch of rain here in two nights and with a shower yesterday. And the temps are now falling into the 70s at night–with daytime temps in the 80s and low 90s. Still, I will water the new little tree out front later today–just to make sure. It is looking ok for now.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! I am hoping for a beach walk, but the high tide is now in the morning, and I sew late afternoon.
And it is HOT and dry here. We really need rain again. So, my watering duties have increased. But the new Crape Myrtle tree seems to be doing ok. I’m hoping the daily water when needed will help this new tree develop a good root system and will get it through the summer heat.
Lately, these little rain/tree frogs are in my garden–and around other neighbors’ houses. They are so cute, so vividly green. There is a darker brown version too. I haven’t tried to catch one to see if s/he has suckers on the feet, but it sure looks like they do. The downside: they have huge poops that they leave on the sides of our houses when they seek shelter away from the vegetation.
I googled and now believe these little frogs are American Green Tree Frogs, so yes, there are suckers on their feet. If you want to read more, here is a link. Yes, they can also have a darker brown color.
I finished all the blocks for the big red quilt yesterday, with 18 extras which can be used for a smaller lap quilt. I have some extra fabric as well, so I could have 20 blocks down the road. I’ll cut the violet sashings today–Kona Thistle. The blocks are 10-inches finished, and the sashings will finish at 1 1/2 inches, so this quilt will be 90 1/2 finished. I’m still thinking about wide-back backings–the reds seem an overkill and too traditional. Also, one has to think about thread quilting color when choosing a backing, and I don’t want to quilt with red thread. I’m now wondering about something in the gold tones. Or a darker grey. Or, one of the newsprint backings. I’m going to bind with the Kona Thistle so I have to think about that too,
I have not had a working oven since August 1st. Ugh! The control board on my Kitchen aid froze somehow, and I was unable to turn it off. I had to turn it off with its breaker, in the garage, which also turns off the microwave. This oven is a gas/electric oven. The Whirlpool repair man has been here twice now, and we have the oven on, but locked, which allows me to use the top taps. (Yeah, I can make espresso coffee again.) But on the last visit the oven techie discovered that both bottom sides have damage that one wouldn’t notice until the oven is pulled out. The damage impacts the bottom warming drawer which doesn’t slide in and out properly–and maybe is a factor in the control board, which definitely needs replacing. There will be paperwork from Whirlpool soon.
I’ve put in a warranty ticket with the builder for a replacement oven. It’s clear that it was damaged when it was installed.
This past week, to cope, I bought an Air Fryer to join my grill and my Instant Pot. So, there is now a new learning curve–and most of you know I kind of like learning curves. I have been tempted by friends loving their air fryers for several years now.
When not in use, this appliance can fit in this spot in my kitchen, which was vacant except for Alexis, which I never really use. I like clean counters that don’t have a lot of appliances on them, and the storage in this house allows me to store appliances I’m not using every day. But this one is getting used every day.
I cooked this first meal in 25 minutes right after I unpacked it and read all the instructions. The corn was delicious, and the chicken drum sticks were moist and browned. I cooked the asparagus in the microwave in 3 minutes. (I am not a fan of microwaves, but necessity now makes its use needed.) I cooked 4 ears of corn and took the kernels off the other two ears for use in salads.
I can’t wait to try some handcut French fries with duck fat as the fat, rather than the bad veggie oils on the frozen fries in the grocery store.
Prior to the Air Fryer’s arrival, I used my Instant Pot to cook a whole chicken. I added more liquid so I would have some good broth–and with some of the meat, the broth, some frozen veggies, and some cooked veggies in my refrigerator, I made a whole pot of soup.
The soup was nourishing and made for two days of easy meals. The extra meat I used to vary the soup with some fresh salads.
I am making progress on hand-quilting Traverse, which I’m very much enjoying. I got in a lot of sewing time on it this past week while waiting downstairs for the electric and Whirlpool techies to show up. (Upstairs I can’t hear the doorbell.) I sewed and listened to my favorite music one day and an ongoing book another day.
My stitches are getting better with Tara Faughnan’s quilting method, and the back of the quilt is starting to look interesting. I like my strategy of keeping thread colors quiet on the front since I don’t want to take away or hide the patterns or colors in each row. So far I have most of the right colors for the colors in the quilt.
I’m happy. And now, hungry. It is time to organize my dinner and make my supper salad. I’m going to try roasting some cauliflower and carrot in the Ninja Air Fryer.
Sorry to be absent these past days. A niece I have not seen in 10 years visited.
Hello Traverse!
I’ve started hand-quilting her as the last work on the quilt from hell (“Happy”) is done and it is ready to be basted on the longarm to prep it for hand quilting.
I treated myself to an online class with Tara Faughnan about her method of hand quilting–she pretty much hand quilts most of her quilts. And like me, she uses thicker threads and bigger stitches. But, her stitches are so much better than mine–back and front.
I’m starting with the orange stripe in the middle of the quilt. I want the hand quilting to be present for texture, but I do not want to overwhelm the quilt so that I take away its charm. So, I’m sticking to keeping thread color as close as I can to the fabrics that are being quilted.
Already my stitches are so much better. I’m practicing new skills, so my fingers have to relearn what they used to do. And I have a sore finger from feeling for the needle. So, soon, I hope, it will be “hello callus.” That’s a size 6 Embroidery needle made by Tulip. Right now it seems perfect. I have some smaller sizes (which have bigger numbers, LOL), but the Artisan shot cotton in this quilt is heavier than a lot of fabrics, so the bigger needle feels better.
And my back stitches look SO MUCH better now.
I’m using a mixture of threads that are all 12-weight cotton. Over the years I’ve collected a lot of these threads (Sulky, Wonderfil, and others), so I have a great selection of colors. The Wonderfil is thicker than the Sulky.
For these heavier threads, I think Tara Faughnan is right about using Thread Magic as a conditioner. It is heavier and stands up better. For thinner threads, like the 50-wts and smaller, which I would use for binding, I do like the Sew Fine better. It just seems to tangle less with the thinner threads.
Here’s my new thimble–note the raised top. And I mark for the most part with a Hera marker.
I did purchase Tara’s Wonderfil 12-wt, 3-ply, “Spaghetti” thread collection from her shop. These colors are ones she uses a lot, and they are in the quilt.
Here’s a recent picture. I’ve almost completed two rows. I’ll do the yellow row next so I can better practice the running stitch.
So, I’m off and running with this anticipated project!
I finished the half-square triangle quilt made mostly with solid scraps–at least it started that way. But soon I did have to cut some fabric from my stash of bigger pieces as I got picky about balancing colors around the quilt. And don’t laugh, but I did order a few colors I felt I needed when some ran out. The colors in this quilt are way more vibrant than I am able to capture on my phone and in a room where it is tricky to get light where I need it for pictures.
The blocks are 9 inches finished, so it will measure out about 82 inches square. I am thinking of naming it “Inspired by Tara Faughnan,” since that is the truth and since I adore her quilts. She just released a lovely pattern made with solid half-square triangles–but without internal sashing. However, I was drawn to my idea below by a quilt that hangs behind her on some pictures and videos.
I am totally in love with the secondary patterns that form, depending upon how one places these half-square units. Dynamic designs are totally possible–and that’s without getting to color choices beyond just light/dark units. I had such a good time with this one. It tantalizes the eyes.
I will likely put it on the longarm pretty soon as I have a backing for it that I like a lot. I have no idea about a binding. Maybe the dark midnight purple of the internal sashing, a Kona color I love, but whose name escapes me for the moment.
Then, YEAH!!!: here is the FINISHED QUILT TOP FROM HELL. The dark border just makes this quilt–in part I think because it draws out the internal dark shapes that repeat.
Here’s a close-up–the quilt is about 73 inches square when finished. And it has not been pressed since I took out the paper templates (except for the border). I’ll press the border really well and then remove the final paper templates. Then I’ll press it again and likely baste it for hand quilting on the longarm–maybe before “Inspired” gets quilted as basting on a longarm does not take up much time.
I started this quilt in June 2018 and there are, literally, a hundred thousand or more tiny stitches in it. The prepping of all the templates also took many, many hours. Five years, and she isn’t totally finished yet. But, soon… And she needs a happy name–maybe even “Happy”–as in “I’m happy this one is finally over.” I’ll put on a hanging sleeve before I bind her. And she is the last of the handmade quilts for my seven grandchildren. Now there are seven of these handmade quilts.
Big Red (that will NOT be its name) is now on the design wall. It’s hard to get the color red to show well in my pictures. This quilt made from Kaffe Fasset prints bought in a kit many, many years ago. The reds are vibrant and not at all muddy. The lavender (Kona Thistle) will be the 1-inch sashing and the binding. The 8-wide 10-inch blocks will go right to the edge, so using the same-color sashing fabric for binding will pull everything together. Right now it would finish at 87 wide, but I might go at least one more row long so it wouldn’t be square. I’m not planning to use corner stones between the rows, but you never know what will happen. And of course I’ll move blocks around like crazy as I add them.
I’m so excited about putting the Modern Quilt Society’s “Summer Camp” mystery quilt blocks on the design wall–so I’ll likely do that as soon as this red top is all together. That mystery quilt reveal for the public will be September 1st, which will arrive pretty fast, given that I have so many projects happening.
I brought Traverse downstairs yesterday, and I’ll start hand-quilting it as soon as I have the paper templates out of “Happy”–which may happen tonight.
I’m so looking forward to trying out new hand-quilting skills gleaned from Tara Faughnan’s online hand-quilting class. I have a thinner backing (Cotton Couture), a thinner batting (Dream Cotton Request), a new thimble with a ridged top, some new needles, some of those little finger guard circles for the finger under the quilt that has to meet the needle point, some new thread conditioner, some new thread, and a whole lot of excitement.
I was so hungry for rice the other day, and I had a package bought locally of a mix of rices. Organic, but not sprouted. I cooked the whole package and froze meal-size containers for later.
I control grains–though you would not know that with the amount of fresh corn I’ve been eating. All I have to do is walk past a rice package to put on weight. I just don’t handle rice carbs well it seems. But, of course, I love it.
I had roasted chicken on hand to use, so made this salad. I also love the tiny petite green peas and had some I had cooked on hand. Yes, another carb. I can’t do beans (which I also love) with the histamine intolerance, but peas are ok. The fresh herbs from the garden really increase flavor in a salad like this one. Ditto the really good Koroneiki olive oil.
I couldn’t find organic sprouted rice locally–not at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s or the local grocery store (Harris Teeter). So I ordered some from Amazon.
I had to put the 5th set (of 6) of mystery quilt blocks on the rug upstairs as the half-square triangle quilt has gobbled up all the design wall real estate. These blocks were fun to make.
Here’s the big gal. “Bonanza”? maybe. The top border is mostly pinned–and I have only sewn three of the blocks on the left of the border together. I stopped to make more and more and more needed half-square triangles for the rest of the border.
I have no idea about a backing or binding yet. And that’s ok.
I’m sewing on the 3rd border for “the quilt from hell.” Yeah! And I laid out the last border parts to make sure the colors were ok for where each piece would go–in terms of where they would fit in with the quilt itself.
My coffee is gone now, so I’m off to run errands before it gets too hot. And today I’ll sew! Yesterday was too busy, which is rare for me.
I’ve been sewing every day. It’s great to have that work in the 90+ degree days we have been having.
Of course I have been sewing every day. “I sew” should be on my car’s license plate!
Here are the “Summer Camp” mystery blocks from last week, and I’m working on the 5th set of blocks now. (Next week is the 6th and final set and the reveal.) The bottom blocks, with their contrasting little “windows” nearly did me in. Every piece of that block had to be spot-on perfect for the block to measure out at 5.5 inches. Every piece, from cutting to sewing. That requirement is harder when you are working with a thicker solid cotton–which I am with mostly all Kona cotton. But…I persevered, though it wasn’t fun. And the green block with yellow “windows” is not perfect. I may redo it…later. It measures ok; it’s just a bit “wonkier” than I like. (Yes, I’m a perfectionist.)
With thicker fabrics, one must find the magic place where a skinnier seam accounts for the fold of the seam when pressed. Remember–it is NOT the making of a perfect 1/4 inch seam that makes a unit perfect, because a perfect 1/4 seam might not create perfection. You always want to sew, then measure your unit to see if you’ve hit the magic seam spot.
The Modern Quilt Studio “Summer Camp” designers are using a much thinner cotton (Bernartex Superior Solids) and are pressing their seams open–which makes a block like this difficult one easier. For sure. But each piece in the block still needs to be absolutely straight and perfect, or it will throw the rest of the block off. And let me just say that these folks make gorgeous quilts! I am so happy to find this web site. And I’m so enjoying making this mystery quilt.
But, I make, for the most part, functional quilts, so I don’t want to be pressing seams open if I can avoid it–as they weaken a quilt. My quilts get used and washed and dried. Or, I hope they do. And I have a lot of Kona solid cottons after four years taking the online “The Color Collective” class with Tara Faughnan, so I want to use what I already have on hand. And, in general, I’m not a fan of these thinner quilting fabrics. But, that’s just me.
Here’s a sneak peek at the corner where two sides of the border in “the quilt from hell” meet. I’m working on sewing together the third border side now. This darker border is so perfect for this quilt. But like everything else with this quilt, I’m sewing around the circles to install the border, which is…hard. But, I can see the end. And I have a backing fabric (a Ruby Star Society blender fabric) and a thinner batting in case I want to hand quilt it.
The Traverse quilt is all basted and ready for me to hand quilt it, which I will do when “the quilt from hell” border is done and installed.
And oh my gosh!! This half-square triangle quilt continues to be so, so much fun. I need to make A LOT more half-square triangles to complete the border, which is gobbling up the solid fabric stash. This quilt has grabbed most of the design wall now. The center and outer border (that’s a midnight blue/purple color) are all sewn together now. The outer border is just pinned to the design wall. The quilt will be just under 80-inches square when finished.
The big red blocks are pushed to the side now. That’s ok. They will come before any other project. Yes, even the mystery quilt blocks after the reveal.
So, you see that I have, as usual, LOTS of fun projects happening. Five, to be exact: Traverse, the quilt from hell, big red, half-square triangles, and the mystery quilt. And, there are other projects stored and waiting for me. But I’m making a dent in those too. Big red is one of those stored projects.
I am reminding myself that the other 10 months of the year are delightful in comparison to July and August. The humidity is definitely a factor in the heat.
But everyone copes–we stay inside in the heat of the day for the most part. Or at least I do. And in the early evenings, everyone emerges and there are neighbor visits to enjoy while watering or checking the mailbox. My AC is mostly keeping up, though yesterday upstairs, the heat overran the AC system for a bit of time. The downstairs remains cool.
I’m quite happy grilling outside (which keeps the kitchen cool and clean) and puttering away at household chores and my quilty projects. So being inside is fine. I miss my porch at noon though. Yet, granddaughter Mina suggested we sit out there for our Friday night meal, and that was lovely.
At night I’m sewing on the second border row of the quilt from hell.
The papers are out except for the edges where I still need them in order to sew on the borders. Maybe this close-up will show you how tricky it is to sew these curves.
I can FEEL the end of this quilt top being finished–and the rest of the quilting process (layering, quilting) will be a joy in comparison to making this top. I’ll set up the third border pieces later today.
I’m off to run some errands before it gets too hot. And my morning coffee is finished now, so it is time to mosey along.
I’m looking forward to finishing the 4th set of the mystery blocks today–then it will be back to the half-square triangle quilt I’m so enjoying watching take form.
I’m working on the 4th set of blocks for the Modern Quilt Studio “Summer Camp” mystery quilt. Per the weekly video suggestion, I pulled a random sample of some of my blocks and put them on my “field” (background) fabric to see if my color palette is working to my satisfaction. I was worried about the dark magenta, but it’s fine. Whew!
I have found the videos really helpful, though I am good with color and have been quilting steadily almost 25 years now. And, sewing, in general, long before what I think of as my “serious” date where my serious quilting started. The video on selecting one’s palette stressed NOT to go darker in the palette than the field background fabric and to include some fabrics in each color family that are lighter than the medium fabrics chosen. I’m glad I included those lighter fabrics.
To remind, here’s my palette for this quilt:
Here’s something different than Maine that I have encountered here. Bins of fresh, local corn (and no, sadly it is NOT organic) have a table and trash can where one can strip off the husks before leaving the store. We all know how very messy this job is at home…
My Wyoming niece sent me this picture of her daughter’s quilt from me–which was held and gifted to her on her birthday a few weeks ago. Word is that she loves it. I named it “Wyoming Mountain Crossings,” and there is a blog entry on it.
My younger son’s family has now returned from an exploratory hiking trip to Tennessee–as I am no longer in Maine. They had a terrific time and will go back next summer most likely. There were lots of waterfalls on creeks that had deep pools that encouraged swimming–and crawdads to capture and inspect. There were also lots of caves and caverns that intrigued them. One day’s hike was 11 miles to and from a summit with an awesome view. Even the 8-year old did not get too tired. They are so active, this family.
My older son’s family is gathering for “Sunday Night Dinner” tonight, so I will go over late afternoon. Hopefully the traffic out to the island will be less intense by about 5 pm. It was last Sunday. Grandson Kelly made it home from Old Miss after getting stranded in Memphis overnight Friday.
Granddaughter Mina (16 this fall) spent most of Friday and the night with me. I taught her to make homemade mayo (with fresh herbs from the garden) and how to use it on a chicken salad, which we ate on the back porch, per her suggestion. It’s too hot most days to eat lunch out there.
Bonnie Hunter pioneered the “webbing” method for sewing units into a block.
Go Bonnie! I LOVE this method.
It took me a bit of time to understand this method because I was making it harder than it needed to be. It is pretty simple when you understand the concept, and it makes keeping units in a block in the right order and orientation so much simpler. I
am using Bonnie’s webbing method to make the blocks for the current half-square triangle quilt now on the design wall. OK, it has taken over the design wall and pushed aside the red quilt blocks–though I made a bunch of those yesterday. But, it would be SO EASY to get these individual units going in the wrong direction, which means unsewing activity. So I am grateful for Bonnie’s method.
First, lay out your units in the correct order. Then sew the top 2 units on the top row together, left to right of course, leaving aside for the moment the third unit. Chain down and sew the next two blocks (the second row) WITHOUT cutting the thread to the first row. Then do the next two blocs (the third row down). NOW you can cut the thread or chain piece something else so you can cut off your string of blocks that are “webbed” together.
Now, sew the third row down–the blocks that are waiting to be joined–BUT DON’T CUT the threads between the rows. See how the last block is just layed across it’s mate–which is just how you would sew it webbed or not.
Now you have your block all webbed together and ready to be sewn together.
Now I press the rows so the seams will but up nicely before I join the two rows. I am pressing the two outer rows one way and the inner row the other way.
Here’s a finished block, now sewn into its place in the quilt. It’s perfect, as you can see, after each unit was trimmed with the Bloc-Loc ruler.
Bonnie’s tutorial is for a 16-patch block. Do take a look as the 16-patch is just as easy as this 9-patch above is. And, it’s a fast method.
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