Bits and Bobs of This and That

 The Crosstown Quilters Guild had a wonderful show on Saturday and Sunday. I had two quilts in the show. The first was  Celtic Blessing, a pattern from Ricky Tims. The completed blocks had languished in a project box for a number of years as I had never gotten around to piecing the blocks together. The back of the quilt is made up of blocks of various shades of green to represent the green fields of Ireland.

The other quilt was “From the Heart.” I had purchased the kit for this quilt at our guild show back in 2018,  and I had assembled all the blocks but had put it aside without adding the borders. Notice a pattern here??? Thank goodness we had this show to spur me on to finish them. The beautiful quilting on both was done by Cannizzaro Creations in Rockland.

I’d like to say that from now on I will always finish quilts and projects in a timely fashion, but I know myself too well to commit to that. I am, however, trying to work through my many, many projects now that I am settled in my new home. Wish me luck!

We had a nor’easter on Monday and Tuesday with lots and lots of rain. I shot this photo from inside my sunporch.

Here’s the scene after the sun finally made an appearance.

Per request, here are some photos of Emma after her trip to the groomer last week.

Note the festive Halloween baubles that the groomer added. :-)

One more thing . . . I recently had some trees trimmed in my new backyard. Well, all except one was done  as one of the workers had noticed a large, active hornet nest hanging from the end of one of the branches. The cold temperatures eventually took care of the hornets and the wind and rain took care of the rest. Here are some of the remnants; the outer shell was like pieces of paper.

Well, that’s the buzz from here. I hope you are all having a happy, positive, creative week.

Bittersweet Boulevard

 This morning I finished fully finishing November’s “Bittersweet Boulevard” by designer Priscilla Blain of Stitching with the Housewives on Etsy. While I really do enjoy stitching this series, it takes me a long time to stitch the two parts. I had started stitching it in the middle of October, and it took me probably three weeks to stitch!!! As soon as I received the December chart, I began stitching it, and at least I have the street sign section stitched. The house and sign for December are done in shades of pink, and it will be very pretty once it is done. I’m also trying to get a few Christmas cross stitch ornaments done as well.

At yesterday’s Crosstown Quilters Guild meeting, I turned in four Christmas stockings. Guild members make stockings which are donated to DCF (Department of Children and Families.) Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of them. I also finished the top of a quilt from designer Ricky Tims. The pattern is “Gaelic Blessings” a double Irish chain with variations with a Celtic cross in the center. [Update: I put “Gaelic Blessing” into the ‘Search This Blog’ feature, and it showed that in a March 4, 2017 post I showed a photo of all the fabric all cut and carefully labeled to work on at a guild retreat. Seven years . . . that’s not too bad. ;-) ].

I have been on a kick to complete projects. Imagine my surprise to find all the completed blocks just waiting patiently in its project box. The pattern was from 2016, and I believe I started it as soon as it came out. I remember having been super excited to start it, but somewhere along the line I drifted away from working on it. I am happy to say that the top is now done, and I have an idea which I think will be pretty cool for the back. I just need to spend some quality time at my sewing machine working on that. :-)

At yesterday’s meeting, I picked up a baby quilt from one of our members, Maureen Anderson, who longarmed it for me. I love how it turned out, and I will post a photo as soon as I have finished the binding.

As you can see, I have been trying to stay very busy since last week’s election. It’s been difficult to even fake a positive outlook. For my sanity, I have stopped watching news programs on CNN & MSNBC which I had previously watched far too much. I thought I might continue watching “The Last Word” with Lawrence O’Donnell, but last night I decided to give that up as well.  I will continue to read Heather Cox Richardson’s , “Letters from an American” each day. There is a link to her column under “Blogs That I Enjoy” in the column on the right side of my blog. (Note: If you get an email notification when I write a new post, you are probably not seeing my whole page. Click on my blog title, and that will take you to my full page.)

I will not comment on the election; we have all seen and read enough about that from both sides, but I will say to those who reelected our forty-fifth President . . . Be careful what you wished for . . . 

Hidden Figures

 

We had two, warm, absolutely delicious days this week pushing sixty and so these little crocuses popped their heads up. Unfortunately, today and tomorrow we will be experiencing bitter cold, but not to worry, crocuses come back even after being covered in snow. I used the app Moku Hanga, an older app on my iPad, to render this wood block interpretation.

On Tuesday after our Crosstown Quilters Guild meeting, my friend Laurel and I went to see Hidden Figures, a very fine movie. If you have not seen it yet, I urge you to do so. It is wonderful. Reports are that many schools across the country are bringing students to see this movie, and I applaud this move. Not only will students learn about America's efforts to put a man in space, but they will will also learn about the struggle for racial equality. The movie focuses on three brilliant, black women and their valuable contributions to the space program. Why their story was unknown until now, is simply unfathomable. If you watched the Oscars last Sunday, you may have seen ninety-eight year old mathematician and physicist, Katherine Johnson on stage; she was one of the key figures depicted in the movie which again, I urge you to see. 

I am going on a quilting retreat soon, so the other day I did all the cutting for Gaelic Blessing, a pattern by Ricky Tims. It is a double Irish chain with a celtic cross centerpiece. I am using gold and a cream with tiny gold circles fabric for the cross. He used purple on his edges, but I will substitute the cream fabric again for those sections. Yes, I know, I already have a million other projects to finish, but when you go away it is fun to work on something new. :-)

Enjoy the rest of this very cold weekend!

An Upcoming Project

    It's been a week since I last posted. I'd like to be able to say I have accomplished quite a bit in the past week, but that wouldn't be true. I did go on a mini fabric shophop on Saturday in search of just the right fabrics for this upcoming project. I've been looking all over for the right greens or at least the ones that I had pictured in my mind. The pattern is Gaelic Blessingss by Ricky Tims. It's a double Irish chain with variations and a Celtic cross.  Besides these two gorgeous greens, I will use a tone on tone cream, charcoal, and a warm gold for the cross. The cross will be machine appliquéd and may not be this gold that I have in my stash. I won't be able to start on this project for a while; perhaps I will get it all cut and then bring it with me on a quilt getaway weekend next month.
     Yesterday, I went with friends to deliver some quilts to be longarmed by Suki Wright at Dancing Crane Quilting in Contoocook in NH. That also meant going for lunch and a quick stop at Quilted Threads in nearby Henneker. I didn't really need any fabric, but I did hope to buy a yard of the same fabric that I had used for leaves in my poppy quilt. Unfortunately, that fabric was gone. Note to self: next time buy more if you think you might be able to use it. There is nothing printed on the salvage edge, so I'm out of luck.
     Today was another miserable winter weather day, but for the most part we had rain, not more snow. When I went to wheel the trash and recycling barrels out to the curb this evening, I discovered my steps are now covered by a thick slab of ice. That should make things interesting in the morning!

Alex Anderson Came to Canton Today

     Alex Anderson came to Canton, MA, today. The program was sponsored by a local quilt shop,  Ann's Fabrics. Alex talked about how she became a quilter and how her career in the quilting world has developed. She brought with her some of her quilts and demonstrated a few neat quilting tricks. She was lovely and funny.  I truly enjoy the online program, The Quilt Show, that she does with Ricky Tims. It's a great resource for quilters.

     Since yesterday was the first day of summer, a friend and I celebrated by going to Tony's Clam Shop across from Wollaston Beach for the first lobster roll of the season. It was every bit as yummy as it looks. :-)

Heart Blossoms

     In February, Ricky Tims posted a free pattern, "Heart Blossoms," on The Quilt Show website. He encouraged everyone to have fun with it and to make any changes that we wished. Well, it took me a while to get around to making it, but I finally did and I'm happy with how it turned out. A piece of the batik fabric which I was using looked a bit like a butterfly, so I fussy cut a section for the wings, added a body, and placed it on one of the blossoms. Also, I placed four, little, yellow heart buttons in the center.  If you click on the photo, you will be able to see a larger version of this piece.
     Speaking of The Quilt Show, please keep Libby Lehman in your thoughts and prayers. She is a frequent contributor to the program and one of the funniest women in the world of quilting; a nicer, more genuine person you could never meet. I have heard her speak on a number of occasions and each time was a delight. She is being treated in a Houston hospital after having an aneurysm and suffering a stroke. Miracles do happen and everyone in the quilting world will be praying that she makes a full recovery.

     Finally, after doing my grocery shopping the other day, I began pulling out of my parking spot when I noticed this spring scene. I stopped and took a quick shot with my iPhone. The spring yellows and greens were so vivid. Naturally, I could have cropped the parking lot spaces out, but I wanted to remind myself and others that there is beauty everywhere if we just keep our eyes open.
     Cropped photo version . . .