Life, rugs, and squirrels

The desire to quilt sometimes does not match life's events. Last week, Thursday, we went to the Rockies and all the lazy, nothing-pressing time there, I wished I had my sewing machine. Then when we got home and I had the machine, interruptions and unexpected events, calls and chores kept me from using it. Finally, yesterday I whipped off a finish, this Mug Rug. It was still hot off the machine when I put it in an envelope and sent to my DIL for her birthday. Since they lives on an acreage with a treed yard and a great dog who loves to chase things, I'm not sure she will appreciate the squirrel, but she can always cover it with a hot cup of java!

Easy Being Green

 
 This 'strips made of scraps' quilt is about 60" x 72" and will go to a wounded soldier through Quilts of Valour Canada. I still have some green fabric left but it was fun to use up the pieces that were too small for much else. I quilted it on my HQ 16 in a random leaf pattern, easy for me. 


Now that this one is finished, I'm working on another UFO, a top that I got from Wanda. I've marked a more elaborate quilting pattern and am anxious to get at it. After that, a flowery experiment is sitting in the wings, but other inspirations might take over and keep it in that unfinished pile!

Latest finish plus new studio pictures

 
My last post was more than a month ago, mainly because we moved to a new home. However, I did finish a quilt (photo soon) and now have a larger studio! 

Here are some pictures. The one at the left is the challenge quilt - it didn't win a prize but was so much fun to make. The theme was "garden" and the size had to be 6" x 24". I love these challenges for they give direction but few restrictions. This is raw-edge applique with a few beads.

The next six pictures are of my new studio. The floor is cork. It is a basement, but has a big window and lots of light. 

The first picture is the fabric cupboards. The rest are views around the room with my desk at the last. These were taken soon after we moved so the room is not quite what I want it to be, but such a blessing to have all this space.

The second one shows the latest finish as a top - lying on the floor. (No, that is not a rug!) It is now quilted and bound, but I haven't taken a fresh picture yet.

 

 

 Now I must get back to work, but have decided to be more faithful with this blog and post something at least once a week. I also took a couple classes from Claudia Pfeil and now know how to quilt that cherry tree hanging on my design wall!

Current Project

Besides moving, or maybe because I need a break from boxes, this is my current project. I took all my scraps of green fabric big enough to make strips of different widths and sewed them together. Some have 90 degree seems, others are 45 degrees. The strips on the floor are sewn, those on the bed are waiting for the needle! Since the moving truck is coming next Thursday, I need to mark and pin them in order and put everything in another UFO box, so it might be a long wait. Sigh. 

Also, it will be cut into three pieces and sewn together with the stripes going three directions. I'll likely call it, "It's Easy Being Green."

The photos below were taken last week after a thunderstorm/downpour. The sunset produced the rainbow. What caught me was the color, which my camera could not catch very well, and the size. It shot almost straight up and began its arch nearly overhead. Gasp, it was unreal!

 Back to my boxes...

You must go to Charlotte this month!

Yesterday was a highlight of our trip to South Carolina. My daughter drove me a little way across the border into Charlotte, NC where we went to the Ciel Gallery and were privileged to meet Wanda, from Exuberant Color. How delightful to be able to hug this lady who gives me and other quilters so much encouragement and inspiration from her daily blog. We chatted for almost an hour, looked at her incredible quilts, and enjoyed the mosaic work in the studio. Much of it was created by her daughter, Vicki who is also an artist and part of this studio that is featuring these brilliant quilts until the end of the month. Sorry, no pictures because I left my camera at home, but pop over to Wanda's blog and you will see a little of what we enjoyed.

Oh for a long rest...

My past few months have been filled with weddings, illnesses, accidents, and a host of other "not on my agenda" events. However, I am sneaking into my studio now and then, lest I lose my sanity. 

All the green (or close to green) scraps of any size are getting cut into strips, depending on what I can get out of them. Some are 1.5" and up to 3.5" with square or 45 degree angled ends. I'm sewing them into longer strips that will go together to about 60" square... I hope. It is mindless in some ways, and suitable for my present situation. I hope to quilt it sometime soon but...

We are also downsizing to move. Notice the box of books in the bottom photo? (If you thought I was a bit daft before, now you know for sure!) The new place is only 7 minutes away but eliminates yard work and snow shoveling. Also, I will have a bigger space for my studio. Exciting, but our calendar is full (daughter married last Friday and son marries on the 23 of June). We are going for a nine-day holiday soon and I get to meet Wanda (Exuberant Color)! 

Oh, these emotional ups and downs are a real test!

An emotional weekend

This past weekend was a memory maker! We drove four hours south for my sister's 50th wedding celebration with family and friends. They had an open house at her church for a few hours in the afternoon, then family and a few close friends went to a place called the Pheasant Farm for dinner and more visiting and laughter. If you check the link, you can see that this is an incredible place out in the middle of nowhere. 

On Sunday, Mother's Day, our youngest son wanted to take me for dinner. We were still in the town where my sister lives, not too far from the farm where we grew up. My father farmed there for many years, but after the four children left home, he got tired of the dust blowing from the neighbor's fields. At the age of 50, he sold the farm and moved north, taking some "homestead" land in the trees, clearing it, and starting all over. My dad was an awesome man.

The farm where we grew up was purchased by the same sort of enterprising, hard-working person. He turned it into a camp ground, greenhouse, nursery, with a restaurant in a train car. This place has become famous, with 4 1/2 star ratings in the restaurant guides. I had not been back to that farm since my father sold it more than 50 years ago.

When I suggested we go there, our son called them. They were 100% booked for Mother's Day but have a patio that is 'first come, first served' so we set off, about a 30 minute drive, again, out in the middle of nowhere, to Aspen Crossing. (The website is currently under reconstruction, but if you search, it will pop up and show other links.)

We ate our delicious lunch with me fighting to control my emotions. As soon as the owners found out who I was, we were given freedom to explore. The memories were like a flood. The buildings my dad built are still in use. The house was remodeled but still there. The trees my dad planted also still growing. 

The best places were the pump house that is exactly as I remembered it, and my father's old shop where he taught me how to make boats and repair broken bridle reins. The smell of it was still the same, his distinctive hardware holders still on the walls. The grainery I helped shingle as a child stood nearby. Dad's barn also stands, still used. The woman who waited on us asked about a board in the barn wall with a brand on it. I said, "Is it a 'lazy H L?" She was surprised and said yes. That was my father's brand.

My mother had created a tennis court in the yard, and a bigger, more complete court had been created, almost in the same place. She would have been so delighted, as would my dad to see how his farm had become what it is today.


I am so thankful. My Mother's Day was about as perfect as a day could be.