Betsy Maislen has finished the scrappy quilt top she’s been working on in recent weeks.
She started with Bonnie Hunter’s “Idaho Square Dance” quilt block and created her own “secondary” quilt block to compliment it. The border treatment is also her own design.
At first Betsy thought she would pair the Idaho Square Dance block with a plain block, but decided to try something else—so the use of the square in a square block emerged. Then she had to figure out a border. I like the 4-patch she includes in the piano key border and also how she moves the orientation of the dark squares in the 4-patch from vertical to horizontal along the border—it takes the eye around the edge of the quilt in pleasing ways.
This top is now 60 by 70, which is a very nice lap quilt size.
I wonder now how she will quilt it…
Betsy has a really good eye for fabric, so I know she’ll chose an interesting backing and binding.
I’m sure we’ll see more of this quilt in weeks to come.
She’s an Amazon Queen—a muscle woman with heart and great technology.
She has PLENTY of power and hugs the road and curves in the most satisfying way. She has awd, too, which I need in winter for my hill and driveway.
I’ve had her a month now and have only used 1/4th of a tank of gas. I could have used even less, but was experimenting. She plugs into a 110 volt outlet in my garage. There is no need for a higher voltage connection. When in gas mode, she recharges the battery up to 80% of its power. So I also do not need to be tethered to the plug-in if I want to travel with her.
You may remember I had an “unintended acceleration” incident with the 2010 Subaru in early December 2020—and sold that car the next day—with the buyer promise that it would be used for “parts.” I was so, so lucky not to have been seriously hurt when that car went backwards, over a road, and into a deep ditch in about 3 seconds. Potential walkers on the road were lucky too. No one can stop an incident like this one by braking. And who can react to get the car into neutral when things happen so fast. Going into that ditch filled with water and ice was the best thing that could have happened. The car just sat there in the ditch, the engine roaring like a mad thing.
The subaru was John’s car, but I drove it most of the time as my 2012 Toyota Sienna minivan was purchased so I could pick up my sons’ families at the airport. I needed to be able to manage 6 passengers. When they visited, they used the minivan, and I used the Subaru.
I loved this car! It was fun to drive and great on the highway. But it felt way too big for me for everyday use.
To make a long story short, after the Subaru went away, I started researching and settled on the 2021 RAV4 plug-in hybrid—spurred on by son Bryan having bought the Kia Niro about 18 months ago, which is also a plug-in hybrid. He and Corinne love that car, but it does not have awd. The RAV4 2021 plug-in hybrid is new off the assembly line this year, so I had to wait some months for one to come into my local dealers showroom. I would have taken any color, but I’m so happy the color turned out to be “Bluprint.”
I got the best offer for the minivan via Edmunds online, to be honored by the South Portland, Maine, CarMax dealer once they inspected the car. They gave me the full price offered as the car was as I described it. And it was $4000+ more than the local dealer would give me, so worth the trip south with a friend following me.
With what I had from both cars, I cut the price of the RAV by half.
And now I have a new car that I won’t have to trade for many, many years. God Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise, as my dad used to say.
I write this story because the automobile industry is headed in this direction—which is a good thing. And I think people will be really happy with these electric/hybrid cars. I know the earth will be.
And it is a workhorse of a quilt and gets washed quite often.
Here I’ve just removed it from the much-used couch, washed and dried it, and put it on the green chair—a spot it has never occupied actually.
In this place, I “see” it in a whole different way.
And that is the point I suppose.
I need to rewrite the label as it has faded. I’ll do that sometime today.
It has been SO HOT here for the past few days. Too hot to do anything but the basics. I did run errands and water some outside yesterday—I suppose that is part of the basics. But then I ate lunch and took a mid-day nap on the couch downstairs. The lower level holds cool air so well. The heat just wipes me out.
Here’s the “funky” wedding ring block found in FREDDY AND GWEN COLLABORATE AGAIN: FRIENDS by Freddie Moran and Gwen Marston—and also made recently by Debbie Jeske of A Quilter’s Table blog. I’ve wanted to make this block since I saw Debbie’s modern version. Two blocks are together, but I’ll leave the other parts loose until all are made. I see some already I’ll be wanting to move. And, of course, I’m using up both solid and print scraps in this project.
Here’s Debbie Jeske’s version, which I love. Note that she begins to incorporate some printed fabrics in her half-square triangles at the bottom right. I really like that touch. She has such a great design eye.
Moran and Marston pioneered modern funky blocks, which they often made and put in what they called their “parts department” bins so they would have blocks ready to use. It is always fun to go back and revisit their work.
Guest designer for the seventh and last project from The Color Collective, season 3, is Latifah Saafir. “Tenderoni” is already taking many forms as members of the collective work with the block. Here’s what I have now. I’m thinking 5 by 7 rows, but who knows if this design of mine will hold. I could expand it with insertions of plain blocks of fabric. But I’m kind of liking the “windmill” that is taking shape—and of course all the fractured “parts” of a circle.
This next block designed by Abbey Lane Quilts for Issue 22 of SIMPLY MODERN magazine is called “Monkey Business.” I thought it might work to whittle down my Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society fabrics. The block is way fun to make, and I’m having such fun combining fabrics in each block and then making some sense out of where to put each block.
Abby Lane Quilts did a lap size of 4 by 5 blocks, so with a 13 inch block, that’s a nice lap size of 52 by 65.
I’m in no rush on any of these projects. It is just nice to have “play” time on the design wall.
I’ll likely get to the light grey/dark grey big log cabin later in the summer. And I’m looking forward to making it.
I heard this morning that my new longarm is coming in late July! The log cabin will be the first quilt to be quilted on it I think.
Why Do Smoke Detector Batteries Run Out In the Middle Of The Night?
There should be a law!
I had been asleep, but came half awake when I realized AC was twitching and thrashing.
With my hearing aids out and being half awake, it seemed like he was shaking his head so that the tags on his collar were making a noise like they were hitting against each other.
When I reached for him, he was shaking all over.
Was there a flying critter in the room?
I keep a light right next to the bed, so I turned it on.
No flying critter.
And then I realized it must be the smoke detector batteries, which I could now faintly hear.
Ugh!
AC bailed from the bedroom by following me as I turned on lights and went down two flights of stairs to get the 3-step ladder.
I wasn’t sure which kind of battery to get, and it seemed two smoke detectors were involved, so that was two more trips down the two flights of stairs for the right kinds of batteries.
I finally got all the batteries replaced and everything stopped chirping. Putting in the 9-volt battery is always tricky and frustrating. The double AAs are easier. When done, I still had to retrieve a traumatized AC from the lower floor.
I left the ladder and the 9-volt batteries upstairs as I planned to replace the other 9-volt hardwired smoke detector battery on that floor the next morning. I didn’t want anymore night drama on that floor at least another year.
Probably I should replace all the smoke detector batteries in the house while I’m at it.
That’s a plan.
I’ve now done that and put a reminder on the 2022 calendar to replace all the batteries again.
And now we will settle into early summer here in Mid-Coast Maine. We don’t get real summer weather until July 4th, which is just fine with me. I love the cool nights and days this time of the year.
We got some great rain over the weekend, so the ground is soft and wet again. Today is laundry and cleaning day—CLEAN SHEETS— so I’ll be back in the garden later this afternoon.
May’s Bee Sewcial Challenge, in the Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild, recipient was Karen Martin. Her prompt was “Bubbles,” and she specified black and white neutrals, blacks, and a “pop” of color of our choice.
I made her this “bubble” log cabin block, which will finish at 14 inches.
German quilter Aylin Nilya designed this block. You make the block in quadrants and rotate them to form the circle. Nilya is on Instagram and keeps a blog. To purchase the block pattern, which comes in many different sizes and with different thicknesses of the individual strips, go to wwwpayhip.com/aylinnilya.
It is a fun block to make. I kept the inclusion of the color red simple.
My dad was a courageous and decorated warrior and a fierce competitor; yet he was a gentle and kind man as well. It was a lovely combination.
My dad served this nation with the kind of character and ethics that involved truth, faithfulness to his promises, and honor.
My dad gave, to each of his children, the knowledge that we could and should fight for what was important—along with the self esteem needed to follow through with our choices.
My dad loved nature, and he certainly passed that love on to his children.
My dad rose to the challenges his lifetime produced. For sure.
We finally got some good rain up where I live (rain bands don’t always uniformly spread around rain here), and we are about to get two days of off-and-on rain from a big storm heading up the coast. It is moving slower than predicted this morning I think—which might mean we get more rain than predicted.
No complaints here—we need the rain.
Due to the wind, I think, the grass dried out enough for me to sneak in a mowing of already-very-long grass mid-morning—after I ran an errand and took AC for a hard run chasing his ball. (Two days of rain will NOT be easy for this active guy.) It is very cool sweater-and-sock weather—and the wind meant no black flies—so this mow was a delightful hour outside. See how dense and dark Maine woods get in the summer? I love that about them.
The daylilies lining the crest of the very difficult hill were planted last spring by Leslie Smith (Smith Tractor), who dug them out of this overgrown bed in the picture below at the far left of the hill—which freed up space for the new blueberry bushes I planted last spring too. All of the transplants came back and are now increasing in size.
Mulch will come next for these now-weeded beds. You may recall that I’m just letting the hill bed go to whatever wants to grow in these—except for trees and except for the strip of bed I’ve carved out of the perimeter. It’s too hard to keep that bed weeded—the slope is terrific and there is a sheer drop-off at the edge. The natural growth, like the Jewel Weed and the Bishops’s Weed, keeps erosion from starting. And the transplanted daylilies are the wild ones, so they will fit into the “natural” look. I have moved some plants in this vein—like Rudbekia and some Gooseneck Loosetrife—into this bed, and it is all “taking” well. I think I’ll look for some Queen Anne’s Lace seed this year to throw into the bed. It has a great taproot and seeds profusely. There are, down the hill, some rugosa roses and bay shrubs.
Where the bed starts to get shady down on the far right, I have put in some other plants over the years—there are two established hydrangeas, some Astilbe, some hostas, a Bleeding Heart, and so forth.
My little lawn is easy to mow and weed whack except for this hill—which is way steeper than it looks in this picture. But, I go slow and manage it. The hill is steep enough that I can’t mow a straight path along the curve, but instead, have to let the mower go up and down the slope from the top. The exercise is great!
Now, after eating lunch while I play Word2 for Friends , the rest of the day will be mine to sew.
Lunch is a salad with my lettuce and the last of the spatchcocked chicken. I’ll be buying another chicken very soon now to spatchcock! The bones are now all in the freezer for a broth after the second chicken’s bones are ready.
Sometimes what I love most in my garden is what Mother Nature designs.
Oh, I put in the ingredients, but then “life happens.”
Here, Veronica creeping blue speedwell, Lily of the Valley, and Star of Bethlehem surround a peony. All are thriving and have made the prettiest picture which is just on the left to my lower porch step to the low deck that is my front porch.
Star of Bethlehem is a small bulb that can be really invasive. The speedwell is no slouch about spreading either. And the Lily of the Valley is taking off in this spot.
I harbor a family memory—which I’ve talked about before on this blog—of my grandmother’s Star of Bethelem. Decades and decades ago as a young wife she found some of this plant down in the Flint River, Georgia, swamp and brought them to her garden. Now they cover the front lawn when they bloom in the spring—a field of white flowers. Or they did back in the day. Her home in Georgia is now owned by other people, and I have not been back there since my mother’s funeral in 2009. But my love of my childhood visits to my people in Georgia is part of what drove me to find and move to Maine in 2004.
Here’s some info on Star of Bethelem. It is part of the lily family and related also to wild garlic. The green foliage appears in early spring, then dies back, which you can see in the pic, and then the white flowers emerge. That reminds me of those pink mystery lilies that do the same thing, but in the fall.
The lettuce in the cold frame is close to bolting. I’ve cleared one side—and have delivered this beautiful lettuce far and wide to friends here. I get so much pleasure out of sharing this lettuce bounty. You may recall that I set up the cold frame in the late fall with lettuce seeds and cover it for the winter. At some point in the spring, it sprouts and grows, with me taking the cover off and on to harden it off until the weather is more reliable. I’ll put in more compost and replant soon now: filet green bush beans on one side and maybe a zucchini plant on the other side.
I’m nearing the end of the spring weeding and general flower-bed cleanup, planting, and transplanting. One more big push should do it. One is never done with weeding, of course, but this very big outside job is nearly done, and I’ve enjoyed my days outside and my body likes the physical work.
I started with the strawberry bed—and it needs a another weeding pass again. The fruit is starting to emerge and set now. Other than weeding and some thinning later in the summer, the strawberries take care of themselves. I have not had to replace strawberry plants for some years now. They will get some mulch in the next few weeks.
The new raspberries I planted last spring are thriving. I had to pull up a lot of suckers that were claiming new territory outside their bed limits. There will be fruit this year for sure.
The house and garage shingles have not been restained for the past 17 years, so it is time. That will happen this summer. The plan is to just use a natural, protective stain—which the shingles had when new.
The garden bench is feeling really rickety these days. Maybe I will replace it this summer. The Amish are making some really nice outdoor furniture pieces these days, and they weather really well here. This time of year, I really love to take a warm drink out to that bench and just to sit quietly in the sun and admire all the life in my garden.
We’ve had a cool spell, which I’m also enjoying. The cool nights make for fabulous sleeping, with all that fresh air coming through the cracked window at the head of my bed and a warm quilt over the bed. Luscious!
The black flies are on the wane now. And I’m crossing my fingers about what will happen in my yard with the dreaded brown tail moth/caterpillar. They have emerged elsewhere, but not here yet. Last year, they were bad when the blueberries were fruiting. That time is still some weeks away.
And best of all, I awoke this morning to some steady rain, which we needed in the worst way.
The cooler temps slowed down the grass a bit, but the rain will supercharge it again.
I saw an article from The Washington Post the other day that demonstrated how to spatchcock a whole chicken.
Spatchcock is a term I never heard until very, very recently. Don’t even ask… As much as I cook, how could I have NOT heard about or tried this roast chicken preparation before now???
Anyway, I tried it last night. And WOW! I’ll never go back to roasting a whole chicken again—unless, I suppose, I’m doing several chickens and need the space in the oven? Never is a strong word.
The process was truly easy—as long as one has really good kitchen shears, which I do. I did an earlier blog post on mine last year, and I really like them. They come apart for cleaning too. You can see that post here: https://louisaenright.com/?s=A+Kitchen+Treat
So, I put fresh sage leaves under the skin and topped the chicken with fresh tarragon, garlic, more dried herbs, sea salt, and a drizzle of olive oil. It cooked in an hour—it would have been shorter if I’d used the convection oven I’m sure, but I had a Zoom meeting to attend and didn’t want to hang around the oven to make sure the chicken wasn’t burning, but browning. The whole house smelled…divine.
Here’s the link to the WAPO article, but I’m sure if you googled, you’d find lots of videos of how to spatchcock a chicken.
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