Tear Open to Find Joy!

This tempting proclamation appeared on top of an item purchased at the grocery store yesterday. What was the item? Did I tear it open in search of joy? You betcha’! Did I find joy? You’ll have to keep reading to find out. ;-)

 Clearly, I have not kept up with my intention to post twice a week. So, how has 2024 been going for you so far? I was grounded with a foot issue for two weeks . . . offloading. . .  That means that for two long weeks I wasn’t supposed to put any weight on my foot. Fortunately, I had quilting, wool applique, cross stitching, and reading to keep me busy.

I was able to resume normal activities last Thursday. Yeah!!! Everything was good. . . but . . . not so fast. I happened to glance up at the upstairs ceiling in the hallway and spotted a crack and water stain! No!!!!!! A new roof is in my future when we have a warm, dry stretch. For now, I have a bucket in the attic. We are expecting rain a few times this week; wish me luck. (By the way, this roof is only twenty years old; usually a roof lasts twenty-five to thirty years, but the leak in mine is around a vent pipe. I’d say 2024 can only get better, but I sure don’t want to tempt fate.)

I don’t have any finishes to show, but I have been busy. A child’s quilt just needs an outer border and then to be quilted. My cross stitch focus has been alternating between two pieces, and I have a wool applique piece about 95% done. I also prepped a wool applique piece on which I plan to work while on an upcoming quilt guild retreat. 

At yesterday’s meeting of the Crosstown Quilt Guild, our guest speaker was Pat Delaney of  Crabtree Lane Studio. Her talk was very informative and the quilts that she showed were stunning. If you are not familiar with this award winning quilter, check out her site to see her quilts, the lectures that she offers, and learn about her upcoming retreats.

So, back to the title of this post . . . did I find joy? I didn’t, but Emma did and I got the idea for this post. 

Isn’t that something! Hope it made you smile.

Stay safe and may you find moments of joy each day. :-)

Here Comes the Sun

 Yes, indeed, this afternoon while walking with Emma, I saw the sun shyly peeking out of the clouds. Awesome!!! We have had a miserable stretch of cool, rainy, drizzly weather, but the meteorologists promise at least a few days of sunny weather this week. :-)

So, what have I been working on? I made this project bag for a friend’s birthday. I had bought this fabric at a quilt shop that was closing on the Cape. This photo doesn’t do justice to the vibrancy of the fabric. I love it, and fortunately, I have enough fabric to maybe make a few more project bags including one for me! Note the cute old fashioned sewing machine zipper pull that I purchased in the notions section at Hobby Lobby. (My original plan had been to make a summer pocketbook out of this fabric, and I still might put it away in my stash to do that next spring.)

I’m making steady progress on my large wool applique piece. If I consider this table runner as twelve separate little scenes, I have seven more sections to stitch. I’ll post two more completed sections in my next post. 

I have been very disciplined trying to work on this project for one hour a day. While stitching, I watch episodes of my new favorite flosstube on Youtube, “Running with Scissors with Jane and Julie.” These two cross stitching friends are just plain funny. I actually laugh out loud while watching them. Even if you are not a cross stitcher, you would definitely enjoy these ladies. Their projects including hardanger are not the type of stitching that I enjoy, but I absolutely do enjoy watching Jane and Julie. (Hardanger is a lace-like form of embroidery not for the faint of heart.)

They have various sections on each episode including “Delightful Deliveries” where they show their cross stitch purchases which leads me to share a “Delightful Delivery” that arrived at my door the other day.

This is a set of size 8 perle cotton. Aren’t these colors luscious! I already have a similar set in bright colors. I now have enough perle cotton to last me with my wool applique projects until I’m at least ninety-three. If I run out then, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. :-()

The third item under my needle is a lovely cross stitch piece which I have also been stitching on each day. When the stitching is completed, I will be adding beads. This is something new for me, but I am excited with this project so far. I have been working on it for over a month and hope to maybe get it finished this week.

At today’s meeting of the Crosstown Quilters Guild we had an excellent speaker, Barb Vedder. You can see her work on Instagram, and you can check out her blog, Fun with Barb. If your guild is looking for a dynamic speaker with a trunk show or someone to offer a workshop, consider her.

Fungus Among Us . . . Just how rainy has it been? There are mushrooms sprouting everywhere.

Stay creative and stay safe.

My Quilting Week in Review 4/20/19

 

Honestly, I don't know what has gotten into me lately, but I am happy to say that it has been another productive quilting week. :-) The blocks for this batik scrap quilt were made quite a few years ago and languished in a bag in the corner of my sewing room. I finally put the top together last summer, but then it just sat there. Sometime after Christmas I pieced the back, but because it wasn't wide enough, I added a length of curved piecing. (In my guilds we call that "back art" and joke that it increases the value. :-) The back actually look much prettier in person.

Each of the center shapes is four sided and as you can see, no two are alike. I fussy cut the centers and coordinated the strips surrounding them to create six inch blocks. The quilting was simple stitch in the ditch. Had I been more ambitious, I might have gone around each center piece, but who knows how long that would have taken!!! I love how it turned out, so I will definitely make another one. Let's hope I finish it a bit quicker than I did this one as it's a great way to use up scraps.

 

I will turn this in on Tuesday at our next Crosstown Quilters Guild meeting for an older child or teen receiving DCF (Department of Children and Families) services. The quilt measures 54x 65 inches.

I mentioned our guild's back table in a recent post. At our last meeting I found fabric to make two pillowcases which will also be donated.

I received this surprise yesterday from my "Ladies Lunch" cousins, their parents, their two cats, their two guinea pigs, and their fish. :-)

 

I have almost finished the machine applique blocks for this kit which I purchased at our guild show in the fall. Here is one of my favorites. . . so sweet.

Let me use this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Easter!

I have been doing some hand stitching, but I'll save that for a future post. Right now I'm going down cellar to finish painting the hanger for the "Loon Lake" wall hanging. I use a dowel and glue a fancy wooden cap on each end and then painted the whole thing in a coordinating color. Then after doing some quick errands, working for an hour or so on sorting and filing, I plan on sitting and hand stitching the rest of the day away. :-)

Life is good . . .