Tag: Alewives Quilt Shop

Turkey Tracks: Coastal Quilters’ 2018 Mothers’ Day Retreat, Part 2

Turkey Tracks:  May 21, 2018

Coastal Quilters’ 2018 Mothers’ Day Retreat, Part 2

The Alewives Crew

Pat Tracey and Cheryl Reif were new to our retreat.  Pat brought her Katja Marek Millifiore to share.  Oh my.  It’s gorgeous!

 

Heidi August brought hr BIG square-in-a-square block quilt–with its centers filled with super fun motifs!  See below.

Here is Heidi with the “light to dark” quilt top.

Deb Hazel started with a quilt made with BIG hexes linked with triangles.  This is a big version of the kind of quilt on the cover of Katja Marek’s book THE NEW HEXAGON, but which is made with 6-inch hexes.  I’m doing that quilt now and really loving it.

Deb switched to this project after a bit:

 

Deb Torre (now known as “Farmer Deb” as she has purchased a farm and is stocking it with all sorts of wonderful animals) put this quilt top together.

 

And, then switched to hand work.

 

 

Turkey Tracks: “Bits and Pieces” Quilt

Turkey Tracks:  June 3, 2017

“Bits and Pieces” Quilt

“I really like that quilt,” said my friend on a visit to Alewives Fabrics in Damariscotta Mills, Maine, nearly a year ago now.  My friend is a MASTER knitter, and her expression of interest in the “Bits and Pieces” quilt was the first time I’ve ever heard her admire a quilt.

This quilt design comes from Midcoast Cottage Design, a local Maine company, and I’ve since seen it made in different color combos.  But my friend saw the quilt as it is on the pattern cover–made with Carolyn Friendlander’s “Doe” fabric collection.  Well!  “Doe” was now getting hard to find, so other friends and I scurried to round up the components.

 

I LOVE this quilt!  And it was such a pleasure to work on.

I used one of the neutrals from Friedlander’s NEW collections for the off-white background–something about “cattle” and “shadows.”  I adore this fabric, actually!

…and have it in a number of different colorways.

The backing is also from this year’s Friedlander collections.  It blends perfectly with the front and the thread I used I think.

Try this quilt!  You’ll like it!  Good stash buster…

Turkey Tracks: Jane’s Gazpacho

Turkey Tracks:  August 25, 2016

Jane’s Gazpacho

Yesterday Jane Liebler made a beautiful day for those Coastal Quilters who could break away for the day to visit her out in Liberty, Maine–which is about 25 minutes from Camden and a beautiful ride that traces the headwaters of the St. George river.

Jane’s farmhouse sits in the midst of blueberry barron-covered hills that rise above the gorgeous, blue St. George’s Lake.  And, John’s Ice Cream (all homemade) is just two miles away.

Jane greeted us with warm doughnuts, hot coffee with REAL cream and good honey, and anything else we wanted to drink.  The farm kitchen was warmed with wonderful wood walls.  A collection of baskets hung from the rafters.  This house is loved!  Jane also had a cantaloupe all cut up for us, which we devoured on the spot.  She made a scrumptious summer lunch for us, which included deviled eggs (yeah!!) and GAZPACHO I COULD EAT.  Most people add some form of red pepper to gazpacho, which would send me straight to the kitchen floor and on to the hospital.  We sat and did handwork, ate, laughed, visited, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Thanks Jane!!  Don’t ask us back unless you really want us because WE WILL COME.

I broke away after lunch to drive about 20 minutes further west to Freedom, Maine, and Villageside Farm, where I picked up six frozen, hefty, free-range, non-Cornish chickens.  And after I returned and gathered up my passengers, we went to John’s Ice Cream for…John’s homemade ice cream.  It’s famous!  I had vanilla custard and rocky road, and it was so, so good.

I asked Jane how she made her delicious gazpacho, and she said scald the fresh tomatoes and skin them, then work the flesh with your hands to break it up, rather than putting everything into a blender.  Use lots of spring onions and some balsamic vinegar.  She added cucumber and green pepper.  Simple and as delicious as the summer-ripe ingredients.

So…I have a lot of tomatoes from the Hope’s Edge CSA pick-up this week.  I prepped the tomatoes as Jane directed, reserving some of the flesh to give the soup a chunky texture.  I also reserved some of the diced cukes and green pepper–as Jane did.  The rest I put into the Vitamix with spring onions (4 large spring onions to 1 large tomato, 1 medium tomato, 1 large cuke and 1 smaller one, and 1 green pepper).  I added about 1/4 cup of good olive oil and 2 or 3 dollaps of white balsamic vinegar, rather a lot of salt (2 teaspoons plus–tomatoes love salt), and some fresh ground black pepper.  I didn’t puree the mixture, just got it cut up into small pieces and poured it back into the bowl with the reserved tomato flesh.

When I tasted it, the white balsamic and the sweet ripe tomatoes made the mixture really sweet.  I added more black pepper and some red wine vinegar.  Yummy.

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Gazpacho needs to age a bit I think.  It’s upstairs cooling its heels in the refrigerator.  I’m planning on having some of it–a lot of it–for supper since I fixed a big BLT sandwich about 2 p.m. and am not hungry.  I’ll have some goat cheese and avocado on corn chips (sprouted organic, GMO-free corn) to go with and call it a night.

Maybe I am getting hungry a bit…

It has been a lovely day–even though No No Penny threw up on the bedspread and afghan this morning.  She was left alone for some hours yesterday, and I do not think she is used to being alone for multiple hours yet.  I gave myself some time to sit on my porch and read this morning–accompanied by a bowl of fresh strawberries and blueberries with some yogurt and a piece of gluten-free toast with peanut butter.  It was so peaceful and lovely out there.

A storm is moving in, but humidity is really good.  All day the wind has been up, so when I went by the coast on an errand, I could see that sailing on the bay today would have been amazing. I can’t wait to go back on the Riggin again Sept. 20th.  AND, two passenger additions include Rose Lowell and Megan Bruns.  Mary Bishop will room with me.  We are going to have such a good, good time.  Rhea Butler of Alewives Quilt Shop will be on board to teach English Paper Piecing to whomever wants to learn.

When I walked by my garden at some point, I could see bits of orange in the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes.  Time to pick again.  For some reason I checked the beans, and my goodness, I have to pick those too.  I had a terrible time getting the beans to germinate and outgrow the slugs–who seem to be gone now???–so I have one Romano bean plant, one bush provider, and about a half-dozen haricot verte bush “filet” beans.

Here’s what came in the house today:

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I am drying a flat of cherry tomatoes in the kitchen, so I’ll let these guys ripen in the kitchen and eat the ripe ones.  Rain causes these cherry tomatoes to split open–from the extra water the plant takes up I guess.

Now I’m going to sew for a bit.

 

 

Turkey Tracks: Salt Water Bays and Alewives

Turkey Tracks:  June 10, 2016

Salt Water Bays and Alewives

I made a run down to Alewives Quilting in Damariscotta Mills, Maine, on Thursday.  Mary Sue Bishop went with me.

Mary had never been the back way into Damariscotta Mills that skirts around the edges of the salt water bay that rises up to meet Damariscotta Lake.  Here’s where folks built a fish ladder that now lets the alewives get into the lake to spawn.

It was a gorgeous day, and the fields were filled with flowers:  buttercups, white Marguerite Daisies, lupine in shades that range from purple to pinks to whites, are among spring’s offerings.

I stopped and took this little video.  Note how the wind is blowing the grass.  Truman Capote called this effect “the grass harp.”

Here are some still pics:

Mary riding shotgun.  We ran into each other in town on Wednesday, and we both had on spring green sweaters.  Today we both had on turquoise.  It’s funny the way friends can do this kind of thing.  We laughed over it.

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I forget every spring how gorgeous the lupines are and how many of them are along the roadsides.

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Turkey Tracks: Alewives Quilting Visit

Turkey Tracks:  June 4, 2016

Alewives Quilting Visit

I made a run to Alewives on Friday.

And I fell in love with this sample quilt:

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I love everything about it.  The color palette, a way to use small pieces of fabrics (my crumbs, my crumbs), the quilting, the graphic nature of the quilt.  I could go on…

There’s a pattern, of course.  You can see it pinned to the quilt.  And Alewives is easy to contact, and they ship.

Maybe I have to go back…

I finished another “quilt-let.”  (Katja Marek’s quilt-along project–and I am slowly catching up.)  There is a hexagon at the center of this one.  I’m wishing I’d done it in the lime green of the fabric…  Oh well.

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Here’s block 41 of the Farmer’s Wives blocks.  I’m trying to keep the pace of two a week going.  So, I need to make another one for this week, and I’ve almost finished it.  this one is called “Granny” I think.  Simple, but complex too.  That’s a good Granny.

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I wish that I could send you the perfume that is filling my yard.  Lilac, petunia, and much more that is fragrant.  It’s a spectacular lilac year this year.

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Spectacular.

Turkey Tracks: May is Makers’ Month

Turkey Tracks:  My 17, 2016

May is Makers’ Month

 

You know all those terrific patterns out there in the quilting world?

They were designed by someone who, likely, has a home business.

In May, we can support them by buying some of their patterns.  Or, their fabrics.

I bought this pattern:  a low-volume quilt design by Rita Hodge of Red Pepper Quilts.

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AND, it’s gonna look great made with the low-volume fat quarter fabrics I’ll be getting each month from Alewives Quilting in Damariscotta Mills, Maine.

 

Turkey Tracks: Hexie Quilt Center DONE

Turkey Tracks:  May 3, 2016

Hexie Quilt Center DONE

I started this project in mid-November 2015 and finished it yesterday, May 2, 2016.

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The pattern is from Edyta Sitar’s HANDFULS OF SCRAPS book.  I used only fabric from my 2 1/2-inch strips and from the 2 1/2-inch square bin.

So, it is totally scrappy.

I went yesterday with Megan Bruns to get help from Rhea Butler at Alewives Quilting with picking out the borders, backing, and binding–all of which were due to a generous certificate from Bryan and Corinne Enright for my birthday this year.  Corinne likes this quilt, so her name will be put on it.  I may have to love on it a bit first…

 

Turkey Tracks: Tami’s Table Runner

Turkey Tracks:  March 21, 2016

Tami’s Table Runner

DIL Tami came for my birthday this past weekend.

What a terrific gift.

It was a win-win as her birthday is in mid-February, so I helped with her trip up, and she came for my birthday.

We went flat out for four days–and, of course, had non-stop talking and catching up.

We never get this kind of time together in any large measure–and Tami has such a rigorous schedule with four kiddos and lots of school drop off/pick up, that the break away was good for her.

We went to Alewives–Tami loves Alewives–and I do too.  We came home with fabrics for a table runner for her looooonnnng farm-style dining table.

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We copied Rhea Butler’s idea of combining light and dark 3 1/2-inch light/dark squares into blocks.  Rhea used 5 blocks, which works better in a quilt.  We used 7 to get the width Tami needs for the table runner.

Here are some of the other fabrics we chose:

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The next day we spent about 5 hours sewing and cutting and organizing a long, thin batting, and the time flew by.

Tami got all the blocks cut and into baggies, so she just has to sew the blocks together into the big blocks when she gets home.

She left with the math done for the backing and binding and what threads she will need.

I am going to Charleston next week, so we’ll finish it up then.

We could not get everything into her suitcase, so the package is going into the top of a box of two quilts that I am mailing to two of my son Bryan’s daughters.  I was to mail that package today, but will when the hill I live on gets plowed.  I’ll post pics on those quilts when the girls and  parents have seen them.

Turkey Tracks: My Hexie Project

Turkey Tracks:  November 16, 2015

My Hexie Project

The moment I saw Edyta Sitar’s book AND this amazing quilt last year in Houston, I knew I wanted to make the center of this quilt.  (I am completely intimidated by Edyta’s applique–but it is so beautiful, isn’t it?)

I so enjoyed talking to Edyta as well.  She is so pretty and so, so nice.  What a treat to meet her, and I have admired her quilting for some time now.

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I got as far this fall as buying a 1,200 pack of paper piecing templates.  (I’m using 1-inch hexies, not the 7/8-inch Edyta used.  My goodness they are…small.)

I could not decide whether to use the more traditional colorway Edyta uses or to go for brighter colors with more whites and the wonderful white printed neutrals out now.

When I realized I could use my 2 1/2-inch squares to make the hexies, that cinched the decision.  That box is full and needs to be emptied.  And it is filled with more traditional colors.

Here’s a close-up of that cover:

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I have one of the diamonds completed.  And I’ve cut and counted out the 532 neutral squares I will need and will take them with me to Charleston, SC, this week as a hand project while I am traveling and am away.

I had started sew/basting the neutral hexies.

BUT, guess what!!!!  You can glue them instead.

I like the Sew Line glue stick–and I got lots of refills…just in case.  (I tried another brand of glue stick and hated it–the glue was gummy and thick.)

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And purchased some new straw needles, as I like the long, thin, flexible needle for hexies and bindings:

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Best of all, while getting the glue stick at Alewives Quilting in Damariscotta Mills, Maine, I saw this GORGEOUS book.

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Turns out there are quite a few tricks to English Paper Piecing.  I quickly discovered better ways to cover difficult shapes–like the diamonds with which I am also working.  (You leave the little flag/flaps in place and sew around them!)

Also, take a look at Leah Day’s video on sewing hexies together.  I really like her method as it does not EVER show the tiny stitches between the hexies.  That link is on this blog–search for Leah Day and hexies on the right side bar search button.  But, you could also just search her web site.

I’d like to say that this will be a winter project, but…hexies are slow for me…so who knows???

Turkey Tracks: Play Day in Damariscotta: Aboca Beads

Turkey Tracks:  October 6, 2015

Play Day in Damariscotta:  Aboca Beads

Last Thursday a friend and I enjoyed a play day in Damariscotta.

We had lunch, made some jewelry at Aboca Beads, got a coffee and some new books at the book store, visited a women’s clothing store, and wound up by going by Alewives Quilting Shop in Damariscotta Mills.  It was such a fun day.

Aboca Beads is such a fun store.  Whenever I have time, I love to go in and make some earrings.  Owner Patricia Palmer is always so helpful and fun.

Here’s Patricia, who cheerfully makes my combinations into fun earrings:

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This trip, I made two pairs of earrings for a fraction of what I would have spent if I had bought them.

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Here’s a view of one part of the store:

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These tins are full of such interesting stones, beads, crystals, metal pieces, etc.  I think I am at least part hunterer/gatherer as I really love gathering up bits of things–nuts, berries, garden veggies, stones/shells, etc.

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Look at these gorgeous crystals:

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There are always assortments of stones and other materials with which to make pendents:

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And of course, dozens of ways to make necklaces.

My friend made an adorable little ladybug necklace for her granddaughter, that when finished will just fit around her tiny neck without much overhang to catch in her hands or other activities:

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Look at the pearl necklaces below my earrings:

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And look how pretty Patricia packages what her customers have made:

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What a fun day we had!