This & That Thursday

Hello Everyone . . . How are you doing today?

I did not post yesterday as it was a 3-D day: dreary, damp, dismal. Not much was accomplished in this castle, and that is perfectly okay. I truly believe that we need to be kind to ourselves and not put any pressure on us to accomplish things. I did make three masks, but I felt a need to do some hand stitching. The wool applique piece that I wrote about in an earlier post arrived in the mail, and it was just the ticket.

I have become a complete Sue Spargo convert. Previously, I would have lightly fused each wool piece down, but not any more. Sue Spargo has you whip stitch each piece before going back and adding any embroidery or embellishment. She believes that fusing pieces down with an iron will flatten things.  This new piece was not a Sue Spargo kit, but I am incorporating what I am learning in her mini BOM. I've said it before and I will repeat it again  . . . there is no better way to relieve stress than to do some wool applique. Actually, I spent a few hours stitching yesterday. :-)

Today, I would like to share a blog that I follow, Pentreath & Hall Inspiration which is written by a designer who often shares lush photos from the British Isles. He is a fine writer and an excellent photographer. I'm mentioning it here since his post today deals with the coronavirus in London and is well worth reading. I'm adding his blog to my blog list.

[Note: if you do not see a blog list in a column on the right it is because you are following by email. That's great! But, if you scroll down to the very bottom of the email that you receive, you will see something like "View in Browser" or "Web Version." Click on either and you will be taken to the whole page. It contains some of my favorite blog links, my contact information, and a few other things. It will also allow you to scroll through previous posts, locate something I wrote about before, or leave a comment on a post which I would enjoy reading. :-)]

Today, Ricky Tims gave a demonstration of how to do a convergence wallhanging. You may find it on The Quilt Show on Youtube, on Alex Anderson's Facebook page, or on Ricky Tims' Facebook page. Tomorrow I may just give it a try!

Anne R., another Crosstown Quilter, sent me a photo of the pretty new stitch pillow that she made.

You may find the tutorial info at this previous post.  While there, check out Anna's (from the Woolie Mammoth blog) Youtube channel, and if you have fallen down the cross stitch rabbit hole, you might enjoy her "Floss Tube Stitch Roadies" channel. Now, one should never say never, but I am 99.9999999 percent sure that I will not go down the cross stitch rabbit hole. It's beautiful to see, but it is not my thing!

Back to Anne R. who sent along this meme which totally cracked me up!!!

Stay safe, stay creative, and try to smile when you can.

Sunday Sampler 3/22/20

Good Sunday Morning to you all!!! We have made it through another week of self isolation, social distancing,  staying in our homes, etc... How are you doing?

Let me start by providing a link to a live camera feed from the National Mall Tidal Basin; click HERE to see the cheery blossoms. You will see people, although not nearly as many as in ordinary times, strolling along. They change the viewing angle from around the basin every five minutes. Seeing the cherry blossoms in our nation's Capitol is something that I have always wanted to do. I think I will start a list of things I am committing to do and places to visit . . .  post-coronavirus.

Something lovely to look at . . .

Pat S, a member of our Crosstown Quilters Guild, sent me a photo of her beautiful stitch pillow. She had admired mine at our recent quilt retreat and decide to make one as well. You will find a link to an excellent video tutorial in a previous post, HERE.

I received notification this morning that my internet weekly usage was up 48%. No kidding! ! ! What would we do without it during these stressful days? Emailing,  texting with friends, having a family meeting on Zoom, and reading blogs . . . Let me talk about a few things you might enjoy on Youtube. Alex Anderson @ The Quilt Show is doing a live mini quilt lesson every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:00 EST on their site and their facebook page. Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimbel, and Steven Colbert are doing mini monologues each night before showing reruns of their programs.  Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel are using skype to interview guests. It's nice to see how folks like Lin Manuel Miranda, Jennifer Garner, and others are coping. By the way, wouldn't you want to have Jennifer Garner for a friend or neighbor?  She's lovely.

While writing this post, I am viewing a delightful St. Patrick's Day posting of "Dinner with the Gaffigans." If you don't know Jim Gaffigan, he is a very funny stand up comedian, and each night he and his family of seven sit down around their dining room table to eat and talk:-). All ages will enjoy spending time with this family. [Note: You may watch any of these programs at anytime on Youtube.]

During the past week, I have watched two John Wayne movies, The Quiet Man  and last night Hondo. I find it oddly comforting watching these old movies, and yes, I have been spending time with The Virginian and the Cartwrights on the Ponderosa, too :-)

I finished the second block of the Sue Spargo wool applique mini BOM which was fun to do except for the palestrina knots in one section. Grrrr . ... I have Sue's Creative Stitching book, but I still wasn't able to figure them out. Finally, on Youtube I found two tutorials which helped, but those stitches are still not good. It's only a small section, so perhaps no one will notice.

Confession: I ordered another wool applique kit this week. I couldn't stop myself. It is spring themed with bunnies, chicks, flowers, and happy things, etc. Seriously, it would have taken a stronger woman than I am to resist. Besides, right now we all need to work on things that we enjoy.

As are folks across the country, I am making fabric masks. There are many tutorials online. It is appalling that our dedicated medical people who are risking their lives for all of us do not have adequate supplies of personal protection equipment. Don't even get me started on that.

Anyway, this is getting long, so may I wish you all peace and good health. Stay creative. Stay well and may God bless us all. The world is a very small place, and we are all in this together.

Crosstown Quilters Guild Getaway 2020

Forty lovely ladies from the Crosstown Quilters Guild in Weymouth headed to the Bayside Resort in Yarmouth for a quilt getaway this past weekend. Judging by the smiles and non-stop laughter, everyone had a most excellent time.

 

We traditionally have experienced stormy weather on our getaways: we've had a hurricane, a blizzard, bitter cold, etc., but not this time!!! The weather was wonderful. (By the way,  we have never been deterred by the weather . . . once we get set up, we hunker down and have a great time. If we can't get out to get food, we have had it brought in. Quilters are a rugged, hardy breed. Nothing stops our fun.)

Here is my favorite project from the weekend. Vanna, aka Maureen, worked on this "Color Outside the Lines" piece. Isn't it incredible! I love, love, love it.

I checked online and this pattern is still available as is a "MINI Color Outside the Lines" version, and yes, you guessed it, I have ordered the mini version. What is one more project to add to my towering pile of would be projects?

There were many completed quilt tops, and I don't know why I didn't take more photos. Here is Laurel's completed mystery quilt.

I worked on a wool applique piece which I will show in my next post. The stitch pillow mentioned in my previous post worked great!!! You may find the link to the stitch pillow tutorial HERE. 

A Tote, a Stitch Pillow, and a Mystery Solved

At the Crosstown Quilters Guild as at many other quilt guilds, there is a back table where people may leave free quilt related items: fabric, magazines, rulers, geegaws, tools, trims, etc. I love this table as do many others who hover around it waiting to see what may be tossed onto the pile. Now, for myself, I have a strict practice. I give myself two weeks to use anything that I take, and if I haven't used it, I bring it back to the next meeting and toss it on the pile. That's where I found the tiny purse kit that I turned into a larger project bag seen HERE. At our last meeting, I picked up a long, narrow strip of home dec fabric which had an interesting sailing ship design. It sat in my bag for two weeks with my self imposed deadline looming. Then it hit me. I decided to make a tote bag. There was no pattern; I just winged it.  As you may know from reading my previous post, the body was done, but I could not seem to locate some webbing that I wanted to use for the handles. When I came home from yesterday's meeting, I had an idea. I found a pair of old jeans that believe it or not were now too large for me, hacked off the waistband,  and used that for the handles! :-) Waste not want not . . . or perhaps in this case, waist not want not. :-)

The tote measures 16x19, and I will bring it on our getaway this weekend.

I also made a quick stitch pillow yesterday. You may find the excellent youtube tutorial by Anna at Woolly Mammoth/ Quilt Roadies HERE.  The purpose of the pillow is to raise your work up so you do not get a crick in your neck from stitching at a funny angle. Besides that, it sure is pretty.

It measures roughly fourteen inches across and is five to six inches deep. I'm bringing it with me to our retreat, and I will let you know how it works.

Finally, I found the stainless steel straws which had not been stashed away after all. I found them in a bag along with another item that I had purchased at the same time. Whew! Mystery solved!!! The package is now right beside the plastic straws which I will use up first. Life is good!!!