Betsy based this quilt on Bonnie Hunter’s Idaho Square Dance Block—but Betsy designed her own setting and borders.
Isn’t it pretty?
Enjoy, and thanks for sharing Betsy.
This quilt is a gift, but Betsy is making another version for herself now. Pictures of possible fabrics with which to surround the Idaho Square Dance block are flying to Maine now.
I’ll post the two finished quilt pictures when she is done with this second version as they will illustrate different design looks.
A friend sent this picture of the Pemaquid shore this morning—and called it “morning mediation.”
It’s going to be a rainy week, for the most part. There may be some fairing off at the end of the week.
Weren’t we the same folks who were complaining about no rain a few weeks back? Yes, we were. And now we are washing away!!! And the garden weeds are thriving, I’m sure. The grass certainly is.
But Maine is so beautiful on these “silver” days which call to us to slow down and rest and to admire the beauty.
My quilt room looks like a bomb went off in it as there are color-coordinated piles of fabric everywhere as apparently I am working on four projects at the same time.
(1) Here are the strips for the log cabin, all cut—with two blocks organized on the right. I am using the Creative Grids 12-inch log cabin ruler for this project—which makes log cabin blocks super easy and fast to make.
I fell in love with Tara Faughnan’s Wedding Ring quilt the moment I laid eyes on it a few years ago. [Let’s face it: I’ve fallen in love with so many of Tara’s patterns now, having been introduced to her in The Color Collective (Sewtopia, Amy Newbold) three years ago.] This past spring I got as far as buying her pattern, and last week I photo copied the 10-inch versions on to freezer paper and thought I’d “just make a trial block.” Yeah. All of you quilters know how THAT goes. Here’s where I was by last night:
I’m finding it takes a lot of cutting to get started on this project—but that it is gobbling up solid scraps like mad.
The “funky” wedding ring quilt top—now a leader/ender project—is coming along. I will make it 4 blocks wide by 5 blocks (14-inch blocks) so it comes out 56 by 70. That will be a nice lap size. Previous posts cover the origin of this project for me. The block is by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston and is in their book FREDDY AND GWEN COLLABORATE AGAIN: FRIENDS. And I am indebted to Debbie Jeske (A Quilters Table blog) for making the block without sashing which makes it much more modern.
And here’s how Maria Shell’s “Rattlesnake” zig-zag pattern gets formed with light and dark isosceles triangles. I used Tri Rec rulers to make mine, but Maria Shell shows how to free-hand cut these triangles in her book IMPROV PATCHWORK. I love the scrappy nature of this project.
I’ve cut a lot of strips while going through solid scraps, but have put this one on hold until I get the “funky” wedding ring top off the design wall.
It’s a totally rainy day today, so it will be a lovely sewing day for me—with breaks to console AC doggie.
Quilty/gardening friend Roxanne sent me these pics of her garden right now.
I thought you’d enjoy seeing them as well. She says they are now at the height of their full bloom and that after this time, they will begin the move toward fall.
Turkey Tracks/Interesting Information: July 15, 2021
Para-Gliding Fun!
I did not know this sport existed until I saw it at the Snow Bowl athletic field a few days ago.
I was entranced!
There were TWO gliders WAY UP HIGH and coming from the mountains. I could not get in place to get a picture of the first one to land (a man), but here are videos of the second one (a woman) positioning to come in for a beautiful landing.
More positioning—a banking to get in position to land.
And the—very soft and gentle—landing. And you can see the first paraglider on the ground with his “wings” in his arms.
I’ve seen this kind of sport over water, where one is pulled by a boat. But I had no idea this sport existed.
Here’s where I wish I was 20 years younger, because flying is in my blood, and I’d be up there in that sky. For sure.
It started with seeing Debbie Jeske’s triangle quilt from a class she took with Alaskan quilter Maria Shell at this past year’s QuiltCon virtual (during covid) 2021 meeting—where Maria Shell also won a major award.
I am a big fan of both of these quilters.
Here’s Debbie’s quilt—which is based on Maria Shell’s “Rattlesnake” quilt—and which is on Debbie’s blog, A Quilter’s Table. Among her many workshop class offerings, Maria Shell teaches workshops on dynamic triangle quilts.
My heart started beating the minute I saw Debbie’s quilt. I pulled out Maria Shell’s book IMPROV PATCHWORK, which I have really wanted to start exploring during quilty “play” time, and reminded myself of her “Rattlesnake” quilt, which is featured in her book and in her workshop class list.
I am noticing now how Maria Shell’s triangle lines form a zig zag with her manipulation of the dark colors. Hmmm…. Flashlight! That’s the snake. I can be so dense sometimes when I get overwhelmed with pattern and color. No wonder this quilt is longer rather than wider. I’ll probably have to try this idea down the road. And I am also seeing how the side pieces to each triangle can be different dark colors, but also have some light “pop” colors thrown into the mix.
Anyway, I had an unused palette from this year’s The Color Collective, Tara Faughnan designer, for a project I couldn’t get my head around. (After 3 years and 20 projects, having only 2 projects that didn’t draw me in is an awesome record for Tara Faughnan.) I put the palette and Shell’s book and a picture of Jeske’s quilt in the “to-do play” pile until I had time to get to it.
And that happened this past week as a quilt top on the design wall got finished (“Monkey Business”) and there were several rainy days. Here’s my mostly finished top. There is one block on the far right that is too dark, so I’ll take few minutes to replace that one dark green patch today with the light green and call it a day.
The big challenge was balancing the colors. I did add the pale orange to the original palette. You would think that having 12 colors would be enough, but I really needed one more light color, and I think the orange addition was a good choice.
It will finish at 34 long by 45.5 wide—and I have absolutely no idea how I’ll quilt it. I’ll bind with the dark green, use whatever fabric in my stash that fits the back, and set it up as a wall hanging.
Amy Newbold and Tara Faughnan are going to do a season 4 of The Color Collective. I really feel like I have grown so much as an improv quilter due to The Color Collective, so likely I’ll continue this part of my quilty journey.
Yesterday was BUSY—and included whether or not to mow before the remnants of Elsa provide us (one hopes) with more rain today and tomorrow.
I made a fast run up to Belfast to get the raw butter to which I am addicted!
When I got back into Camden, I took AC for a quick run at the Snow Bowl field—trying to beat local thunder storms in our area.
The Pickerel Rush is blooming along the edges of the pond. Isn’t it pretty?
When I got home, I could see that the grass-overnight—clearly grew enough that it needed to be mowed before getting two days of rain. So I hauled on boots and went to work. It was cool, with a breeze, so this task turned out to be a really pleasant one.
Along the way I got hungry, so reheated leftovers and had a late, late lunch/early dinner and then got in a little sewing time.
Today I woke to rain, and the radar shows the big part of the storm is now just to our South.
More sewing today, as all of my household tasks are done for the week. That’s always a good feeling.
I took this photo Friday when I took AC doggie to chase his ball at the Snow Bowl athletic field.
I love what I think of as “soft days” here when rain or fog is around and the clouds sit lie down on the mountain tops.
I’ve been thinking off and on all day that John and I made our first trip to Camden in July 2003 and were here for the 4th and that it was this some sort of cool weekend that we have this year.
It has rained yesterday and today, and much to AC’s distress, we have not gone anywhere. And it has been “get a sweater” cool, which I so love about June in Maine. And it is a joy to see the garden and grass so happy.
I’ve sewn a lot these past two days, and the design wall is, once again, changing.
The small circle top is done, and I sewed it together and stay-stitched the edges this morning. I think I’ve found really good color placement and movement in this little top, which will be a wall hanging. I’ve organized a backing and the batting, so will put it on the longarm tomorrow to baste it. And it is now off the design wall. I’ll probably hand quilt it.
You may remember that it came from the “off-cuts” from the last project in this year’s The Color Collective—the “Tenderoni” block Latifah Saafir designed. My version is layered and basted, and I’ll start hand quilting it tonight with 12-weight cotton thread.
The triangle top I’m exploring has been inspired by Debbie Jeske of A Quilter’s Table blog—after she took a class with Maria Shell at this year’s Quilt Con—The Modern Quilt Guild’s annual show. I’ve had Maria Shell’s book IMPROV PATCHWORK for a few years now and have wanted to try my hand at one of her amazing projects. Debbie Jeske’s version pushed me further along that road, so here I am.
I’m using one of the monthly color palette’s designed for a project that didn’t draw me in enough to make it. Out of 20 projects over three years, that’s a great record for The Color Collective’s design work. There are 12 colors in one of the monthly fabric palettes, and I’ve added a pastel orange to go with the pale green and pale pink. Given what develop’s in the next rows, I may add other colors, but it is a creative challenge to stick mostly to the original palette.
And likely you know the “Funky Wedding Ring” block by now from this blog. It’s coming along as a leader/ender. This project is also inspired by Debbie Jeske’s “redo” of an older “funky” block designed by Freddie Moran and Gwen Marston.
I spent a fair amount of time ironing and cutting strips for all the dark grey fabrics I’ve collected for the new 12-inch log cabin I planned months ago. I had lots of light greys from the blue/grey log cabin made this winter—but I did augment and reorder some of the greys, so I ironed and cut those as well. I’ve begun making those blocks as leader/ender blocks too as I’m near the end of the Funky Wedding Ring project—which would make a really nice baby quilt I think—but I may make it a bit bigger. I never know how inspiration will strike.
The collected chicken bones in the freezer were taking up too much space. So in the middle of the WORST heat of this year, I made chicken broth. And the next day, I made a HUGE soup.
Am I crazy? Maybe. But the heat wave broke—and we got some much-needed rain. And I have some DELICIOUS and HEALTHY soup in my belly and some frozen soup now taking up space in the freezer.
I started with the smaller Creuset pot and the veggies I had on hand: sweet onions, carrots, red pepper, zucchini, garlic, and loads of fresh herbs from the garden (tarragon, thyme, oregano, basil, sage, chives):
I soon had to switch to the larger Creuset pot though—as I added all the chicken meat from a whole deboned chicken (which went into the bone broth to cook) and veggies from the freezer (corn, beans, peas) and some “Forbidden” red rice.
I could feel the soup’s goodness all the way to my toes:
I topped it with more fresh chives from the garden:
I need to cut back the chive plants now as their blooms are all dry. Cut back, the plants will grow more green shoots for me to use in the kitchen.
I can vary the soup when I get tired of it by adding some fresh cream. And warming a tortilla on a gas stove tap is always nice—especially if one puts some local raw butter on the warm tortilla!
I like to cook this way—using what I have on hand to make such delicious meals. You can’t go wrong with good basics (bone broth), healthy meat, organic veggies, a little of some organic grain as a treat, and lots of fresh herbs.
Turkey Tracks/Interesting Information: July 2, 2021
Walter Presents
I’m watching the “Walter Presents” drama shows on the PBS channel—which I have through Amazon Prime. They are AWESOME! Every single one I’ve watched. “Walter,” who is a real person, rounds up the best drama from across the world, puts in subtitles as needed, and PBS is one of the platforms where you can see some of them.
So far I’ve seen INSIDE (French), THE BERLIN DANCE SCHOOL (German), THE DEVIL’S THROAT (Bulgarian), and THE NORDIC MURDERS (German). “Nordic Murders” is apparently a genre of murder mysteries, and this series is not set in Norway, but on an island in the Baltic that holds a border with Poland. Right now I’m watching “Bright-Eyed Revenge (Italian and set in Nice), two seasons followed by “Olivia,” which takes up where the “revenge” ends.
Anyway, all of these first four listed series have just been excellent—for many reasons. But there is a lot of depth and complexity to each—which, I think, highlights how simple and derivative much American tv has become. The stories, the acting, and the geography as a character are really good. And the good news: there are LOTS of these programs from across the world. I’m sure not all are as good as these first four I have listed have been, but…what a pleasure.
The fifth (Bright-Eyed) is more conventially entertaining, but I’m still watching. I mean, how is Olivia going to get out of the traps in which she gets caught? This one is a bit like the series “Revenge” from years ago—beautiful woman, gorgeous clothes and settings, terrible and wealthy and powerful villain, yadda, yadda. It’s a story we like to tell ourselves over and over, isn’t it?
It would be hard to rank the first four I listed. They each have strong reasons to recommend them. INSIDE has 5 stars, for good reasons. THE BERLIN DANCE SCHOOL takes place post-WWII Germany before the wall comes down and in that moment when rock and roll comes on the heels of the breakdown of the old social order—which also happens in America and was very much a part of my own childhood. THE NORDIC MURDERS episodes each deal with a murder, but the meta-story of a mother and her daughter, of old family history that corrupts the present, of how decisions one makes builds and builds into consequences. Ironies abound in this series. And THE DEVIL’S THROAT in Bulgaria deals in part with the Muslim/Christian factions in that geographical area—but also with a history that comes back to haunt—as histories can.
I’ll keep going with these exciting series for some time to come I suspect. A bonanza!
Louisa Enright's Blog 