”My Sunny” Quilt Is Finished

Turkey Tracks: January 28, 2022

“My Sunny” Quilt Is Finished

I’ve been busy.

Mostly solving problems that come up with a household. The new printer stopped working after a power outage—which usually doesn’t disrupt my technology permanently—along with my ipodtouch which I use to listen to books. That got sorted in about 20 minutes yesterday with a MAC person who came to the house.

And today a wildlife person is coming today to address the flying squirrels who have gained access to the ceiling on the first floor. AC’s right on that problem as his hearing is so much better than mine. I thought it was chipmunks. It is NOT. So I’ve been reading all about flying squirrels. Turns out they are VERY social—with each other and with humans. Some have them as pets even, but the text I read said that flying squirrels are also very demanding about spending time with their humans, which involves interacting with them.

Anyway, I did finish ”My Sunny,” which is the first project designed by Tara Faughnan for season 4 of Sewtopia’s The Color Collective. Mine is the ”classic” version, but I am inspired by all the different and very creative layouts I’ve seen others do now—and that is part of what I really love about this online class. Note that the straight line quilting—done on my domestic as doing this work on the longarm is still a learning curve for me—is not showing up well in these photos.

I really, really like the backing I used. It just seems so modern and so perfect.

Here’s where ”My Sunny” lives for the moment—and you can see the quilting rows better here.

And here:

As I’ve said before, I want to play with this block some more—and maybe I’ll set what I do in one of the more daring ideas I’ve seen. I definitely want to try some red and orange—and darker—backgrounds.

Maybe a wall hanging???

Another Learning Curve

Turkey Tracks: January 22, 2022

Another Learning Curve

The ice maker on my frig needed replacing.

That meant I had to totally remove all food—and that meant trips to the garage to store frozen food and to bring in coolers for the frig contents.

It also meant an opportunity to take all the parts apart and to clean the frig top to bottom. This job was a fun learning curve because it was really interesting to see how all these parts fit so neatly together—in ways I had not realized.

All these parts come out easily, including the large bin at the freezer bottom—which meant I could actually clean underneath it, where things like coffee grinds had fallen.

Can I just say that this refrigerator is as clean or cleaner when it arrived 7 years ago.

The new part is going in this morning. So the day will be spent in part putting all the food back and returning ice blocks and coolers to the garage.

It is single-digit cold.

The intermittent creek is frozen solid.

But here’s what it looked like one day last week.

It’s too cold for AC to run at the Snow Bowl athletic field while chasing his ball.

Our weather for upcoming 10 days or so features cold, sun for the most part, and no snow.

Sewing is happening. For sure.

Bitter Cold and a Rainy Morning

Turkey Tracks: January 17, 2022

Bitter Cold and a Rainy Morning

Three days: two days of temps in the single digits and today we have temps going to the 40s and…rain and high wind.

Oh my…

I’ve never yet had a problem with pipes freezing, but with the wind chill factor in play, I did run a thin stream of water in a downstairs bathroom faucet.

My Camden friend sent me this photo of a Titmouse hunkered down in the bitter cold of Saturday and Sunday.

My bird feeder is full and two suet feeders are hung. The turkeys tried to inhabit the warmer slope behind the house yesterday, but AC would not allow them to stay.

I’ve happily hunkered down—though AC and I made a quick trip to the grocery store yesterday mostly just to get out. Organic blueberries and raspberries came home with us, along with some fresh lettuce and AAA batteries.

I’ve finished quilting (on the domestic machine) ”My `Sunny’” and have bound it and am now hand-sewing the binding at night. I love having this Janome set up with a walking foot already attached—and I can store this whole arrangement neatly on the back wall when I’m done. I can watch tv or listen to whatever book I have on Audible from this place. The red quilt keeps AC off my new hassock and, as a bonus, part of the couch.

”Whirlygigs” came off the longarm yesterday afternoon, and I’ll install binding on it today. The pantograph is ”Bayside,” which Wendy’s Quilting blog used recently, and I think it gave this quilt wonderful texture. Wendy is an awesome longarm quilter, and she lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

I finished and attached the 5th block of 6 to the 4th row of the EPP project from hell. So, progress there as well. And I spent some time gluing the last of the rectangles that form the rings. One more block and two more rows. I think I’ll NOT attach this row to the others, but will attach the last two rows, then attach them to the mother ship.

And so, the winter of 2022 progresses…

I Just Spent a Lovely Morning!

Turkey Tracks: January 13, 20200

I Just Spent a Lovely Morning!

With the bitter cold (single digits) of the last two days, AC and I stayed indoors. Basically there was no where I needed to go and lots of fun projects to enjoy here. Even AC settled in as his outdoor trips were of a very short duration.

But today I made a quick trip up to the Belfast Co-op to replenish my supply of local raw butter, organic Honey Crisp apples, and various veggies. A tin of organic ricotta cheese also jumped into the cart.

It was great to be out and about—for sure. The car was warm, the scenery gorgeous, and the sky soft with a low quiet cloud layer that feels like it holds snow.

Back in Camden, I went by the bank and then on to the Snow Bowl athletic field so AC could chase his ball. As soon as we start down the road leading toward home, he starts begging for some ball time. He’s VERY vocal, that dog. And it is hard to resist him—plus the time outside is good for both of us. There is a lot of ice on the field now, but the protruding grass gave good traction for both of us.

The pond is iced over and smooth. Several families were out skating and exploring. Here’s just one such group enjoying this winter morning.

Now there is a luscious salad lunch from the remains of my spatchcocked roasted chicken. A blog reader here said in the comments from the last post that this term ”spatchcocked chicken” was new to her. It was to me, too, about 6 months ago. My daughter-in-law is still laughing that I had no idea… There are videos online that show you how. You will need a GOOD pair of chicken scissors though.

After lunch, there will be a long afternoon of sewing, especially now that I have a tired dog. I have a quilt on the longarm and ”Sunny” on the domestic. I could not figure out how to get “Sunny” on the longarm so that the straight lines of the block seam lines lined up in a straight line so I can use the channel locks to make a straight line down the quilt. That will be a learning curve. And I did baste ”Sunny” on Innova.

There is, also, a quilt forming on the design wall.

It’s all good.

Mid-January 2022

Turkey Tracks: January 12, 2022

Mid-January 2022

Well, it’s almost mid-January.

It’s been super cold for the past few days—8 degrees yesterday morning with a wind chill of -30 degrees or so. Inside, where AC and I stayed yesterday—I’ve been busy with projects of all kinds—including an extended period of learning more about my Innova longarm. Today I’ll put ”Sunny” on Innova. And I’ve had also an extended period of cutting into my Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society stash as I want to get to the point where I can put what’s left into my regular stash. More on those projects in future posts.

Tuesday, yesterday, was laundry, cleaning, and general household organizing day. And this week, I undertook some cooking duties as well. I spatchcocked a chicken and made AC’s fish food. The spatchcocked chicken will cook in 45 minutes in my oven with the convection fan running—which is way, way faster than an upright chicken. It’s easy to cut out the backbone with good kitchen shears and to flatten the carcass for roasting.

Here’s my lunch salad—all made and waiting for some warm chicken on the top:

It was totally delicious—and made enough that I saved what I didn’t eat and had it for part of my dinner. I read yesterday that red bell papers are a fruit, not a veggie, and that they have more vitamin C than an orange. I also took the meat off the bones for future meals and froze all the bones for a future broth project—probably to be made after I cook another chicken.

I’m two months behind on The Color Collective’s very dynamic and interesting current projects—due to fabric-delivery issues at Sewtopia. One palette should come this week, and the other soon now. I am in no rush, really. So it’s all good.

Here’s AC hunkering down on his bed beneath Innova:

He’s such a good boy!

He did get a good run at the Snow Bowl athletic field on Monday—though it was very cold then too. I don’t take him out to run if the temps are below about 25 degrees as I’m afraid, as hard as he runs, that the bitter cold would harm his lungs.

“Whirlygig” Quilt Top Finished

Turkey Tracks: December 31, 2021

“Whirlygig” Quilt Top Finished

I had such fun making this very modern quilt top.

All the fabrics are Cotton+Steel/Ruby Star Society from my stash.

The geometrics here just make the eyes sing: the ”whirlygigs,” at the center of each block, of course, but also x’s and o’s and squares with a tiny square in the middle, and crosses in the narrow sashing down the middle of the big blocks. The interruption of the eye using the neutral to break up the flow is so interesting to me—and is a challenge the eye easily overcomes as our brains look for the patterns and start ”to see.” Wendy Sheppard designed “Whirlygigs,” and it can be found in Simply Moderne magazine, issue #26.

A friend helped me install the groovy board adapter that Urban Elementz sells for the Innova, so I can now use the two traditional patterns that I have and that cannot really be done by hand or with a pantograph. The groovy board is sitting on a pantograph I’ll use for ”Whirlygig”—it’s called ”Bayside” and will put down a lovely texture. (Thanks Wendy’s Quilting.)

The screws at the top turn bolts inside that have to turn from flat, to go into the groove, to upwards, so they catch the edges of the groove. I couldn’t make the bolts get into the right position—which my friend did in under two minutes. So, another lesson learned about using tools. I thought it might be pretty simple, which it was.

DIL Tami sent me this picture of ”Calm” last night—working its magic.

I sent her this one back:

We may get a little snow tomorrow to start the year off right.

“Calm” Quilt Has Landed

Turkey Tracks: December 30, 2021

“Calm” Quilt Has Landed

“Calm” landed in its forever home yesterday. I took these pics of it before mailing it.

The backing is a stylized version of ”daisy” petals—at one time the favorite flower of my DIL, whose birthday present this quilt is. Tamara Enright, with founding help from The Savanna Bee Company, has pioneered The Bee Cause, which now has bee hives meant to provide safety for this species in all 50 states. There is a Facebook page if you care to check it out.

The Innova quilting stitch is awesome—and the pantograph is ”Feather Grande” designed by Bethanne Nemesh—and seen by me on the blog wendysquilting.wordpress.com. Wendy lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and we have become online friends—a friendship I treasure. Wendy is an awesome longarm quilter and quilt maker. I purchased the pantograph from Urban Elementz.

”Calm” provided so many lovely quilting hours. She was so fun to make.

A Sunny Morning

Turkey Tracks: December 29, 2021

A Sunny Morning

What a beautiful day we have today—as we all lumber toward the New Year 2022.

But, it’s too warm for the thin layer of snow we have on the ground to last—which is too bad as the Snow Bowl ski area had made enough snow for at least half of the mountain to be used.

On Monday, AC and I were able to visit the athletic field, and I took this video of all the activity at the ski area.

Note the father helping his young daughter learn to ski in the foreground as they return to their car. This way is how parents help the little ones learn to ski at early ages.

Yesterday was rainy and dreary, so it was good that I had house cleaning and laundry to do. And today is beautiful, so AC and I will try to throw his ball at the Snow Bowl athletic field, which will work if the snow isn’t too wet and mushy.

A Quilter’s Table blogger Debbie Jeske posted her most popular blog entries this year the other day—among them was the ”Liberated Wedding Ring” quilt she made—which started me on my own journey with this quilt block. That quilt now sits on the back of a chair that I see as I come down the stairs from the upper floor. It never fails to make me smile.

*To remind, the block is a ”Liberated Wedding Ring” designed by Freddie Moran and Gwen Marston and can be found in their book FREDDIE AND GWEN COLLABORATE AGAIN: FRIENDS.

I had some triangle ”outcuts” from a top I’ve now completed (more on this quilt in a future blog), so I sewed them together to get more parts for the ”parts department” bin.

The joke on me is that I intended to sew them with the colors in the triangle—but somehow I pinned them or sewed them so the white part made the triangle.

It’s all ok. I like them both ways. Apparently the universe had a different project in mind for me with this task.

A Rafter of Turkeys

Turkey Tracks: December 24, 2021

A Rafter of Turkeys

Here are some wildlife pictures for today—of a ”rafter” of turkeys—thanks to my Camden friend who has been sending me pictures recently of wildlife showing up in her yard, which backs up to the Mt. Battie woods.

I’ve always wondered if there was a special name for a flock of turkeys.

So, it’s ”rafter,” says my friend. That’s not as gruesome as a ”murder” of crows, is it?

Big ”rafters” of wild turkeys have been very present in our woods this fall—and that isn’t at all unusual. A big rafter used to spend the winter near my house—until AC Slater said ”no, just no.” They still come, but he puts them to flight pretty quickly.

The big groups this time of year are hens. The males usually band together in smaller groups of 5 or 6. They are often near the hens, but do not mix in until later in the winter when they start mating. Males have a long ”beard” that dangles from the front of their chests—and you can clearly see there are no males in these pictures.

Christmas Eve 2021

Turkey Tracks: December 24, 2021

Christmas Eve 2021

It is brrrrr…. cold today.

It was 18 degrees outside my kitchen windows this morning. AC didn’t stay out long for his morning excursion at all.

And to think we were complaining that it was in the 40s and raining only last Tuesday.

My Camden friend sent me this picture of a hawk in Tuesday’s rain—she said he was ”patiently waiting” for a meal to arrive. Isn’t s/he beautiful. And s/he blends so well with the winter woods.

I finished ”Calm” last night and took pictures this morning. This quilt has provided many, many fun hours of planning and quilting. I’ll mail it on Monday—and now it’s in the wash—remember the chipmunk-in-the-house episode…

The new printer came and had a software problem that rendered it inoperable. Strange. It will go back Monday and another one sent in its place. I hope it works. The printer comes with great reviews.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

May your homes be warm and filled with light and laughter and joy.

And I wish you all the very best Happy New Year 2022 as we travel around the sun together once more.