Category: Turkey Tracks: My Life in Maine

Our Life in Maine, My Craft Projects, Quilting, Recipes, Book and Media Reviews

Turkey Tracks: The Color Collective: Circles!

Turkey Tracks:  January 7, 2019

The Color Collective:  Circles!

I am taking a 6-month online “class” with Tara Faughnan, from Sewtopia.  The project is called “The Color Collective.”

This class is more “trouble” found by fellow quilters Becca Babb-Brott and Tori Manzi, who are also taking the class. We all signed up for 6 months and will decide on more or not at that time.

Tara Faughnan is known for her use of color—and solids.  Take a look at her quilt gallery—she is amazing:  https://www.tarafaughnan.com/home

And Sewtopia has its own web site and Instagram site:  Sewtopia.com, I think.

One gets a new block design and method each month and a selection of fabrics with which to make that project—all chosen by Tara Faughnan.  I signed up for getting half yards rather than fat quarters, and I’m already glad I did that as I have other solid-fabric projects in the works.

January’s block is these circles—and extensive instructions and on-line videos help one be successful.  While waiting for my fabrics to come, I practiced by making this little quilt out of my solid stash.  I am now totally obsessed with making these circles.  I particularly like the secondary pattern where the blocks come together.  I’ll bind in a soft grey, which I got Saturday in Belfast at Fiddlehead Artisan Supply.  I found the perfect color in Size 8 perle cotton to hand qulit a grid on the little quilt above—a soft, rose/almost salmon.  I am so happy they are carrying some of this lighter weight perle cotton.  And I’m marking lines with a Hera marker, which is working beautifully.  I just mark one line at a time.

Here are the fabrics Tara/Sewtopia chose and sent.  I’ve washed and ironed them, cut into them, and am now making circles with them.  Pics to follow in a bit.  I am champing at the bit to do more today, but also have the Traveling quilt on the long arm, so have to make myself spend time there as well.  There is a deadline for the Traveling quilt as Mt. Battie Modern Quilt Guild is going to show our Traveling quilts to Coastal Quilters in February.

But, aren’t these colors luscious!

Here is the block for January or February—I’m not sure which month since I just started—and the fabrics are in the mail now.  It’s foundation pieced.  Will I get obsessed with this one too?  Hard to tell yet, but at the very least I’ll make 4 and put them into my “parts department” bin.  (See earlier posts on the “parts department” project some of us started a few years back.)  Both Becca and Linda Satkowski are putting together their improv quilts from their “parts department” bins as I write.  In essence, we three made blocks enough to give the other two what we were making—and we had such fun just playing with blocks.  Making Jen Kingwell’s “Long Time Gone” quilt helped us understand how to group blocks into an improv quilt of this kind.

 

PS:  The Traveling Quilt is OFF THE LONGARM.  Now to bind it.

Turkey Tracks: Christmas Puzzles

Turkey Tracks:  January 6, 2019

Christmas Puzzles

My oldest and his family came to Maine for Christmas week.

We did a very low-key Christmas, which included books and chocolate for everyone.

There was a lot of this:

I love seeing my quilts used!

I had two long woods walks with my grandkiddos and AC Slater.  I did not take my phone camera on either, which now seems too bad.  But…  I often worry that we are living through technology and not just…living in the moment.  In any case, these Southern kiddos were fascintated with all things ice:  frozen streams, ponds, puddles, and so forth.  They climbed around my hills and built a fort in the woodsf as there are no ticks now.

We ate good food, played games, worked puzzles, did art projects, watched some movies together.  There was snow one morning before everything turned to rain.  Sking in December is always iffy in Maine.  And equiping everyone for one day is expensive.  So we made small excursions out for Zoot hot chocolate and coffees and to cruise the downtown shops.  The week flew by.

Here are the puzzles we did on this visit:

This last one was really hard actually.  But, we did it.  As is usual, there is a missing piece—lost along the way.  Maybe it will turn up…  We know AC “found” the missing piece from the middle puzzle because we found it all wet and limp and chewed up in his mouth.

This family is really busy when at home and in the school year.  Their lives are hectic and full of events.  So, having a week of down time is really good for them.  They went home ready to tackle the world again.  And I am glad that this place is doing what John and I wanted for them—providing a haven for a “time out” and for some inner and outer healing.

 

 

Turkey Tracks: “Absolutely Colorful” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  January 5, 2019

“Absolutely Colorful” Quilt

Here is the second quilt gifted to two local sisters (7 and 9) this Christmas.  They are the great grandaughters of a dear friend, Linda McKinney.  AC Slater likes to pose on quilts.

The block is Bonnie Hunter’s “Garlic Knot.”  And the setting with the little crosses in the sashing is also Bonnie Hunter’s design.  Bonnie did a more elaborate piano keys border than I have here, but my center is busier I think.  The block formations would be more graphic is I had used plainer low-volume setting fabrics, but I like all the more complicated low volumes we have these days.

I used this backing once before in the darker grey with turquoise.  It’s Cotton+Steel.

How cute is this backing???

Turkey Tracks: “Serendipity: Scrappy Surprise” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  January 5, 2019

Serendipity:  Scrappy Surprise Quilt

I had such fun making this quilt.  It was gifted to one of two sisters here in Camden, Maine.  The other sister’s quilt follows in a separate post.

Both Bonnie Hunter and Victoria Findlay Wolfe “play” with “making” fabric.  The center of this block is made from my crumb scraps—sewn on to 4 1/2-inch newsprint weight paper.  I worked in faces, animals, and fun images when I could.  These block centers were a leader/ender project for a long time.

I learned to make the other square from one of Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilts.  Celtic Soltice, maybe.  One uses the Companion Angle Ruler, but positions the top above the strip of fabric to get the wider cut of the square.   The small triangles were cut with the Easy Angle ruler.  (Bonnie Hunter has a combo ruler that combines the functions of these two rulers.) The rest of the block is my design.  And I particularly like the formation of the 9-patch between the block corners and the sashing.

Fellow Camden quilter Becca Babb-Brott (Etsy store Sew Me A Song) helped me pick out the sashing fabric—and this fabric, which I’ve had for 3 or more years now—was probably my first walk into “modern” fabrics and brighter colors.

I adore this backing.  It’s got a black cat, fanciful houses, but also chickens and hedgehogs and so forth.  It’s perfect for this quilt.

Turkey Tracks: AC’s Cold Sunday

Turkey Tracks:  December 18, 2018

AC’s Cold Sunday

AC Slater is 9 months old this month, and I’ve had him since September 1st.  In 3 1/2 months he has come a long way in terms of training, growing bigger and shedding puppy ways, and learning about cold weather in Maine.  He’s shedding like crazy as he is growing a Maine winter coat now.  (He came from Arkansas.)

He has a ton of terrier energy, so on a recent Sunday when it was really too cold and icy out to be tramping through the woods, he figured out ways to amuse himself—in between trying to get me to play with him.  No No Penny, in the face of being confined inside with him, hunkered down in her bed and tried to ignore him.

I tried to sew, but AC kept finding things that were “dangerous” and needed my immediate attention.  The front-load washing machine for instance.  The turning clothes and noises had to be checked out AT ONCE.  (He’s a good watch dog.)  A roll of new quilt batting propped against a wall, waiting for help to load it on to the long arm carrier fell over, and it became an object of suspicion for some time following.

AC has recently gotten really vocal.  Here he is with a squirrel we trapped—one of the dreaded red squirrels.  And he’s taken to making these noises when we ride up to the dog park, which he loves.  Yes, I rehomed the squirrel a long way from my property and not near other properties.

Ac and the squirrel

And here he is trying to steal Penny’s treat.

AC stealing treat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Slaty is MOSTLY Jack Russel Terrier

Turkey Tracks:  December 3, 2017

Slaty is MOSTLY Jack Russel Terrier

My family has a long history with rat terriers, like my No No Penny and my Miss Reynolds Georgia, the latter has been waiting for me at the rainbow bridge for two years now.  I didn’t know anything about Jack Russel terriers, except that they have TONS of energy and, as a result, need an owner with a strong hand and a fair amount of dog experience.  And then I saw one on a walk one day…

As you might know from earlier posts, I fell in love with AC Slater’s picture online, and in due course, brought him home.  He was billed as a terrier/hound mixture.  I started reseaching Jack Russel terriers.  Mom was the “hound” mix, and Dad was the “terrier” mix.

Here’s a picture of a JR from an online JR image website.

Look at the dark-ringed eyes and the markings on the face.

Here’s AC.  The eyes!  His ears may be bigger, but it’s hard to tell with them in alert mode.  I had mentioned the “treat” word.

Here are pictures of JR body types from online.

 

Here’s AC, with his tail down as he’s not quite sure about what I’m doing on a rainy day with the camera in my hand.  You’ve seen other videos that show his fabulous tail, from which you can tell EXACTLY how he’s feeling at the moment.

AC is making a lot of sense to me now.  JRs were bred to chase foxes through the woods.  You should see this dog in the woods.  Nothing stops him—underbrush, water, rock walls, fallen trees—he’s under or over or through in a flash as he runs full speed.  And nothing makes him happier.

He tries so hard to work with me.  He comes, with joy, every time I call him, which allows me to walk him off leash through our woods paths.  He carries prey with a “soft” mouth.  He’s fast and smart and so much fun!

AND, he has webbed feet.  I’ll have to research that with JRs.  I suspect this summer he’ll learn he can swim.  He’s already fascinated with water.

He gulps his food—a JR trait.  He is relentlessly “drivey” in our yard.  He hears every leaf that falls outside and wants to investigate.  With his “pretty collar” on, he can go out on his own.  None of the small animals in the yard are allowed.  I hope he has good sense about skunks.  No No Penny and Reynolds did.  They could each trigger a skunk, but did not get sprayed.  Best I have the washing ingredients on hand in months to come.

He’s great with both other dogs and people.

BUT, he’s not fully housetrained yet.  He goes long stretches with no poop accidents, then…  And at 8 months he’s not fully reliable about chewing the straw basket that holds his toys downstairs.  I’ll have to replace it with a metal one, which I can get at Renys for $10.  I have spent a small fortune on treats that he can chew without demolishing them in 2 minutes.  Did you know dog stores now sell pieces of antlers as chew solutions?   They work.

I can’t wait for my grandchildren to meet him.  And some of them are coming for Christmas!!

 

 

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.

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.