Category: Uncategorized

Turkey Tracks: My Turn For The Lions Dinner Committee

Turkey Tracks:  January 9, 2020

My Turn For The Lions Dinner Committee

The Camden Maine Lions Club meets twice a month, first and third Tuesday night.

We share a meal together before our business meeting.

Members are assigned to dinner committees, and the rotation is that each committee sets up and cooks for everyone about three times a year.  This past Tuesday it was my turn to help cook.

I made a big salad to go with the chicken pot pies and biscuits that another Lions member (Cindy Wandell) made.  This was a big meeting as we were hosting the families of the sixth grade Peace Poster contest winners, so I made A LOT of salad and two Mason jars of HEALTHY dressing.

 

I used a lettuce mix and layered in steamed broccoli, sliced sweet bell peppers (yellow, orange, and red), cucumbers, slivered carrots, slice radishes, a scattering of dried sweet cranberries, and red onion slivers.

The dressing was olive oil, red wine vinegar, maple syrup, herbs, lime juice, and drops of Young Living essential oils (tangerine, lemon, lime, and orange).  It was delicious!  Commercial dressings are chemical brews with fake flavorings and bad, bad oils.  I won’t eat them.

Here’s our meal.

Other dinner committee members made a HOST of gorgeous pies and supplied whip cream and vanilla ice cream for toppings.

 

It was a very nice evening, and as always for me, there is a lot of gratification in doing something for other people that is healthy and life-giving.  The Lion community means a lot to me.

Turkey Tracks: A Favorite Tool

Turkey Tracks:  January 4, 2020

A Favorite Tool

I’ve used this tool for almost my whole quilting life—over 20 years now.

It holds 10 THREADED needles.

I started with one that held short hand-quilting needles.  But now it gets used for long, milliner size 11 needles that are set up for binding.  Friend Linda Satkowski gave me a second tool, so I’d have 20 threaded needles all ready to go for a binding session.  And a recent conversation with her surfaced the need for having one of these set up for EPP projects, for instance, so one would not have to remove thread from unused needles for a different project.

The tool has a clear plastic cover which, right now, it is sitting on.  It is from Clover (625 Dome Threaded Needle Case) and priced under $10.  Back in the day they were $5.  You insert a threaded needle, slide the thread just below the needle head into the slit on the side of the dome and twirl the dome around to wrap the thread around the inside of the dome.  I’ve never had one tangle, but I do have a friend who tangled one and had to take it apart and start over.

I bind quilts at night while watching tv.  And I put a pillow on my lap to bring the project higher up than my lap—which helps a lot with neck and hand strain.

And these days, I have a boyfriend who keeps my right leg warm!

If you hand sew a lot, I suggest you get two of these domes.

Turkey Tracks: Done and Hung: Radiating Log Cabin

Turkey Tracks:  January 1, 2020

Done and Hung:  Radiating Log Cabin

Happy New Year 2020 Everyone!

I finished this quilt last night and hung it this morning.  That’s always a production—to get the rod leveled properly—but all went smoothly today.

This block is the “Radiating Log Cabin” designed by Tara Faughnan for Season 1 of The Color Collective, hosted by Amy Newbold’s Sewtopia.  Tara curates a set of solid fabrics for each project; how one combines colors is up to each individual making the block.

I love this quilt!  The block is such a handsome block.

The camera is distorting the rod angle below.  I just checked.  Everything is level in the room.

I hand quilted with size 8 perle cotton—with colors matched to fabric.

The making of this quilt completes all the projects from The Color Collective Season 1.  I did a recent blog post on the six projects I made.

I have so, so enjoyed this journey and am enjoying season 2 and am already a month behind.  LOL.

Thanks you Tara and Amy!

Turkey Tracks: Lone Star 4-patch Done and Hung

Turkey Tracks:  November 2, 2019

Lone Star 4-patch Done and Hung

And boy am I happy with this project, which TODAY replaced a quilt that had been hanging in the stair well for 15+ years.  The old quilt, light-faded and still lovely, is downstairs in the washing machine as I write this post.

A friend from Augusta who was visiting the dog park this morning came home with me and helped me hang this quilt, which involved stair-well drops and a tall ladder.  Thanks Kathryn!!  She made me feel very safe up on the ladder.

I quilted with size 8 perle cotton—and tried to match colors.  The background fabrics are from my stash, but the rest of the fabrics were curated by Tara Faughnan who taught this online class for Amy Newbold’s Sewtopia.  Season 2 of The Color Collective is under way now and promises to be as exciting as Season 1 was.

I used the green color (Kona Pickle) in all of the Lone Stars and bound the quilt with it, and it does seem to be working to unify the project.  Otherwise, I went down a Lone Star rabbit hole of wondering what would happen with light/dark backgrounds and how color and light/dark placement affected the Lone Star.

Now to finish up the Radiating Log Cabin project (probably today for the blocks!) from Season 1.

 

I am having so much fun!

Turkey Tracks: Joining a QAL

Turkey Tracks:  October 22, 2019

Joining a QAL

Coastal Quilters President Tori Manzi encouraged members to join this year-long QuiltaLong—sponsored by Bernina—which is meant to teach some sewing skills.  Many of us are going to take part.

One could do the rainbow version, with fabrics Sugaridoo chose, as seen below.  One could buy Sugaridoo’s kit or just collect the listed Kona fabrics elsewhere.  One could also do a version with less fabrics that is not rainbow.  Or, one could put together whatever fabrics one wanted.  The goal is to learn some new techniques (or refresh old ones) by making a bar of the quilt each month for a year.

I chose the rainbow version, since I have not made a rainbow quilt.

 

 

 

 

Here is a link to this QAL:

Sugaridoo Bernina Quilt Along – Are you in?

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Marsha and Me

Turkey Tracks:  October 25, 2018

Marsha and Me

Here’s a FIRST COUSIN I’ve never met until she visited in my area recently.  My goodness, what a loss I’ve had in not knowing her before now.  She visited Maine for a wedding and went out of her way to come and meet me—along with her husband, who was equally as charming as she is.

My dad had two brothers and a sister.  My Aunt Jean was the youngest sibling.  Marsha is her daughter.  Aunt Jean married an Air Force man, and the two families were together in Hawaii, during the Viet Nam war.  So, my sisters knew Aunt Jean’s children, but I had married just before my dad went to Viet Nam and my mother moved the family to Hawaii to be nearer to my dad.

Now, like many families today, Aunt Jean’s children are scattered across America.  Marsha and Tom live in Colorado. So I am grateful for that wedding and the chance to meet Marsha and Tom.  They liked Maine.  Perhaps they will come back some day…  They will always be welcome in my home here.

Turkey Tracks: Tuesday Food Gathering and Early Fall Update

Turkey Tracks:  September 20, 2018

Tuesday Food Gathering and Early Fall Update

I wrote this post last week, but am just getting around to posting it today.

Tuesday is Hope’s Edge CSA pick-up day.

And this past Tuesday I picked up my year’s supply of local raw honey:  Sparky’s Honey.  The back of the car was filled with local goodies.  You can see a description of the kind of food I get from Hope’s Edge in an earlier post.

AC Slater continues to be a honey lamb.  Here he is on his “perch.”  The rock wall houses numerous chipmunks, and AC is “on the job” with regard to anything that moves or makes noise on my property.

 

I am loving how this strip by the path is looking–so cheerful with the zinnias that replaced earlier daffodils.  That Blue Hubbard squash vine has not produced a single fruit this year.  It’s been a kind of strange squash year in my area.

I like this zinnia variety.

I let the early pansies stay too long in the barrels–just could not part with them.  When I finally overprinted, the plants took off.  I am especially liking the purple salvia (?) and the small asters that are just starting to bloom.

 

I am breaking down spent pots and starting to put summer things away.  The hammock has been stored.  And the porch pillows.  I can’t let go of the hanging baskets or the wind chimes yet.  Soon enough…

Not much sewing happening what with AC Slater, but he is settling really well now, so I’ll have more time.  I am excited about winter sewing projects.

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Blackberry Treat

Turkey Tracks:  September 12, 2018

Blackberry Treat

Betsy Maislen is here, volunteering on the windjammer J&E Riggin.  She and Co-Captain Annie Mahle love to cook together.

Betsy comes to stay with me when she is off the boat on its turnarounds.

Betsy always plans a hike or a bike ride after she’s organized clean clothes for the next trip.

She picked the last of the blackberries on a nearby road as a gift for me during a bike ride.  She discovered this roadside patch last year and gifted me with berries then too.

What a gift!  I love–and always have loved–wild blackberries.

I divided the berries into three portions to make them last longer.

THANKS BETSY!

Turkey Tracks: Coastal Quilters’ 2018 Mothers’ Day Retreat: My Retreat

Turkey Tracks:  May 21, 2018

My Retreat

I prepped these 2 by 8-inch strips before the retreat:  all low volume Cotton+Steel in the warmer colors.

Here are two rows of Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s herringbone braids, from her book MODERN QUILT MAGIC.

I am really liking what is happening here.

I figured out how long I wanted the quilt and decided I’d done enough work on this project.

Next I put together about ten blocks with my Wild and Goosey quilt block (Bonnie Hunter)

I took papers out of the quadrants I had completed one night while listening to a book on tape in my room.  I have rather a lot of these done now and brought home more to do.

I made two pineapple blocks to learn how–with Heidi August as a teacher.

I learned how to use the Creative Grids 60 degree ruler–a block I use a lot and one we will do for Jen Kingwell’s “Long Time Gone” quilt.  I’ve always used the Tri Rec ruler and like it.  The Creative Grids Ruler leaves more space between the end of the star points and the edge of the block.  It is fun, but you can see that it does not make a perfect star.  One could probably figure out how to make that happen, but for the Kingwell project, I’m going to use the Trip Rec ruler.  However, I do like the funky nature of the stars in the blocks below.  They’ll go into my “parts department” bin for an improv quilt maybe in the fall.

I

What I really wanted to do this retreat was to play with my scraps.  I brought them ALL with me, so I got them all out.  Along the way I culled out scraps that were too small or that no longer attracted me.

Here I started playing around with Maria Shell methods from her book IMPROV PATCHWORK–where she makes her own plaids and stripes.

 

Next I sewed a lot of 4 1/2 inch squares–for a quilt in progress.

Here’s that quilt-which is at home on my design wall:

I had some black and white strip sets, so I cut them up and made a checkerboard.  Maybe it will go into “Long Time Gone.”  Or, maybe into the “parts department” bin.

I had a lot of dark charcoal pieces left over from my “Big Star” quilt.  Which block do you like best, big or little?  I am drawn to little every time.

So…

I saw on Bonnie Hunter’s blog that she was making some light/dark squares with strips.  Boy are they versatile.  These are 4 1/2 inches.  (I use newsprint as a backing, cut to size.)

 

These are 3 inches–made because I had some leftover 3-inch paper strips while cutting.

At night I worked on 6-inch hexes, all Cotton+Steel and a solid or two, from Katja Marek’s THE NEW HEXAGON book.  I’ve almost worn this book out.  I’m going to make these blocks like the cover, where they are linked together with triangles, which can make stars on the outside of the blocs too.

I came home with so much energy.  Inspired by Betsy Maislen, I got my “On Ringo Lake” on the long arm.