All Hallow’s Eve, Cat-o’-Lantern, and Vanished Days

 It’s another gorgeous day here in New England and though I’d like to be out gallivanting with my camera, I’m being good and staying off my foot. 

What have I accomplished this week since I have had time on my hands? 

First up, here is “All Hallows’ Eve” by Lilas Studio on Etsy. I finished stitching it last weekend. The wooden door on which it is mounted came from the Target Dollar Spot and cost a whole five dollars! I knew when I saw it that it would be perfect for this chart. 

Second, I stitched “Cat-o’-Lantern” by Misty Purcell of Luminous Fiber Arts from the Just Cross Stitch 2020 Special Halloween Issue. I had always planned to stitch this piece, but I had not gotten around to it. This “Hello Pumpkin” crate seemed the perfect place to display it. 

I only stitched a portion of each chart. Though I would like to move on to autumn and Christmas stitching this week, there are two small Halloween pieces I am going to stitch first.

In case you are wondering, I had already hauled up my Halloween decor from the cellar before I was grounded.  Fingers crossed, I’m hoping to be out of my trusty, big black boot in time to bring up my turkeys and pilgrims! :-)

My friend Janice loaned me Vanished Days by Suzanna Kearsley. Having read and enjoyed all of her previous novels, I couldn’t wait to begin reading this even putting aside the book that I had currently been reading. Sad to say, reading this was a tough slog. I forced myself to keep at it as I knew that if I put it down for a day or two, I might not pick it up again. It was at times confusing with so many characters and it was not the most interesting book that the author has written. I didn’t see the plot twist coming, and although it was all pleasantly, albeit implausibly, ended, I’m not recommending it. Having said that, if this author is new to you, please do read The Rose Garden, which is my favorite of her novels. It’s a romantic, time-travel, historical work which I absolutely guarantee you would love; I seldom reread any novels, but I have read The Rose Garden twice!!!

Plans for the week ahead? I have a quilt featuring a flock of fun, colorful chickens to work on for my young cousin Miss T.’s birthday on Halloween. The flock won’t be done by then as I am not going to follow Lori Holt’s “Chicken Salad” pattern; instead of pieced sections around each block, I’ve decided to just make more chickens!!! :-) 

I also intend to put a bit of time into a wool applique piece. (I know what you are thinking. . . why don’t you just concentrate on one project and get it finished before starting another one. That’s a swell idea and perfectly logical, but that is not how I roll ;-).

Have a great week. Stay creative and stay safe as Covid numbers are on the rise and please don’t forget to book your mammogram. 

Two Cross Stitch FFOs and I’m Grounded

It’s a perfect day here in New England. The sky is blue, the temperature warm, and my maple tree is giving a hint of the color to come. I should be at my guild meeting this morning, and I had planned to head up north with my camera next week in search of autumn’s glory, but unfortunately, I’m grounded. :-(

I have a diabetic related foot condition called Charcot foot. I have been wearing my trusty big, black boot for the past three weeks, but on Friday my doctor said that was not enough. He wants me to stay off my foot for a month! My doctor does not pull any punches and since the consequences of not following his directives could be dire, you can bet that I’m going to be good. One of my mottos is “It is what it is; deal with it.” At least I have a lot of stitching and quilting and a stack of books to keep me busy. Let’s see how much I get accomplished in a month. :-)

Miss Emma has only had two walks in the last three weeks, but those two bootless walks were not smart on my part. Fortunately, chasing squirrels in our big backyard gives her plenty of exercise. 

I’m glad my appointment was on Friday because I got to do two fun things before being grounded. On Wednesday evening, I saw my quilting friends and on Thursday, I attended a picnic at Webb State Park in North Weymouth. (I didn’t do the walking part.) Carol, second from the right, is our ‘social director’ who 

arranges for us from time to time to get together. All these lovely women had long careers teaching in the Weymouth Public Schools. Speaking of teaching, let me show you the new Maria Weston Chapman Middle School which opened in September.  It may appear huge (you are only seeing about two thirds of it), but 1,400 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders will be in the building. Trust me, you need a really big building to contain all that energy!!! Since I retired from the old Chapman building, I would love to see the inside of the new one.

 On Friday after my appointment, my friend Emma’s Auntie Laurel” came to do some quilting. Emma was over the moon excited to see her as it has been a long time since Laurel has been able to come. Then my cousin Linda stopped in for a visit. She had been speaking at an in service program at a school on the Cape. Linda is a Speech Language Pathologist and has authored two books on Declarative Language. Emma was thrilled to see her, too!

Since Linda had stopped by, I decided to give her her Christmas present early.

Another quilt which was in the recent Herring Run Quilt Guild show is for my other cousin when next I see her.

On to the stitching . . . First up, “Candy Corn Broom,” a pattern by Needle Bling Designs. 

Second is a section from “Welcome Pumpkin” by Stitching with the Housewives.

The piece has a washer on the back and the barn a magnet, so pieces may be easily switched out. The barn backing board was from 141 Design Company on Etsy. I’m going to attach some kind of wreath to the peak of the barn. You may recall this photo of my summer version which was also a section from a Stitching with the Housewives pattern.

I have another finished piece that I will share in my next post.

Stay safe and creative and keep smiling and do take a lovely walk around the block for me. :-) :-) :-)

A Project Bag and December ‘41

Did I need to make another project bag? No, of course not, but last week after our Crosstown Quilters Guild meeting, I took a quick trip out to The Quilted Crow in Bolton with my friends Laurel and Edith. There I spotted two fat quarters of Teresa Kogut’s new Halloween fabric. Honestly, who could resist this adorable fabric?

 If you are not familiar with Teresa Kogut, she is an artist and punch needle and cross stitch designer and has a wonderful flosstube channel, Teresa Kogut’s Creative Whims. She has a new line of fabric coming out, and heaven help me, I ordered two yards of it from the Fat Quarter Shop last night. (So much for my resolution not to purchase any new fabric.) Even worse, at The Quilted Crow I also picked up some luscious wool in autumnal colors for a project. (So much for my resolution not to start any new projects; I’m absolutely incorrigible.)

Our local library has recently had a number of interesting speakers. Author William Martin talked about his new novel December ‘41. I don’t know how anyone attending that talk could have left without purchasing a copy of this thriller. First of all, he was an excellent speaker. I’m not giving anything away by saying it involves a Nazi assassin seeking to end the life of FDR. The story starts out in Hollywood which was itself very interesting and then takes off on a cross country train ride.  Though I try to avoid cliches, I have to say that this is an absolute page turner!!!!! Spy thrillers are not a genre that I seek out, but I could not recommend this one more highly. 

 I have finished a few more things but I will save those for my next post.

It’s October so before I end this, let me climb up on my soapbox to remind you to be sure to keep up to date on your mammograms. The process may be inconvenient and sometimes uncomfortable but it is nothing compared to having chemo and mastectomies. I know this first hand as a two time breast cancer survivor. Early detection saves lives. Please if you have let this slip during the pandemic, call and make an appointment today. 

HRQG Quilt Show 2022

 Over this past weekend the Herring Run Quilt Guild held a very well attended show in Marshfield. I believe the number of attendees on Saturday alone was three hundred and fifty! I spent time stitching at one of the exits and had a chance to speak with some of these visitors who were all highly complimentary of the show. Quite a few visitors were not quilters themselves but indicated they enjoyed seeing all types of art exhibits. Three ladies were painters who were amazed at the designs and use of color in the quilts. They could not have been more enthusiastic.

Here’s my friend Maribeth with her amazing “Jack’s Chain.” She received a vender’s award for machine piecing and use of color. I asked her how many pieces were in the quilt, but she didn’t know. Let’s just say. . . a zillion!!! I cannot even begin to contemplate attempting a quilt such as this! 

Here are two of the three quilts that I had in the show. The first was a mystery quilt from the Crosstown Quilt Guild; it was begun before the pandemic. I love the colors in this one.

The second quilt was from a pattern, “Eel Grass and Eddies,” by Marge Tucker Designs. It, too, was begun before the pandemic. As I have mentioned previously, I lost my quilting mojo during those long dark days. Thank goodness the quilt show finally motivated me to get them finished. :-)

The third quilt was “When Life Gives You Lemons” which I made during the pandemic. Alex Andersen had a stitch along on Youtube using her pattern, “Sequoia Sampler.” You were able to use any fabric of your choice, so I decided the “lemon” theme would be pandemic appropriate. :-) (This photo was from my files.) I purchased some gorgeous tulip fabric in the spring and will eventually get around to making another piece using that pattern.

Now, there seems to be a problem with receiving notices about new posts on this blog. Why? Who knows? I haven’t changed anything. I have been posting on average once or twice a week. Anyway, if you enjoy this blog and I sure hope you do,  I would suggest bookmarking this site and checking back occasionally to see if you are receiving all the posts.

If you haven’t received the latest posts, sign up for the email notices again or the “Follow It” on the right side of the blog. If you don’t see the right column, go to the bottom of the page and click on ‘Browser View.”

Now, I know what you are thinking. If some people haven’t been receiving email post notices, they won’t see this note either, but I’m hoping that some might do a search for this blog, A Positive Outlook. :-)

What’s up this week? Well, Cluck, Cluck, I need to work on my chicken quilt. All twelve members of the flock are pieced; but there is still much to do. I also plan to make an autumn themed project bag and a pair of placemats. I’m feeling the urge to finish a Sue Spargo autumn piece also begun before the pandemic. (Do you notice a theme here? I really am going to try to get some things accomplished in the months ahead . . . fingers crossed.)

Have a wonderful, creative week and enjoy this near perfect weather. Happy Fall, Y’all!!!

Busy As A Bee and an Upcoming HRQG Quilt Show

 

Okay, I haven’t been quite that busy, but I will use that excuse for not posting sooner. :-) I love this time of year when the Autumn Joy sedum is blooming and attracting honey bees. 

So, what have I been doing? Wearing my mask (I’m not taking any chances,) I attended the first meeting of both the Crosstown Quilters Guild and the Herring Run Quilt Guild which is having a show this coming weekend. You may click on this image to view a larger version with information. It should be a wonderful show. If you have never been to a quilt show before, come visit this one; you won’t be disappointed.

It is with joy that I report that I finally finished adding the labels to my three quilts. It takes me a l-o-n-g time to hand stitch the bindings and sleeves, but I have been working on them steadily while watching all of the coverage since Queen Elizabeth’s passing. The ceremonies, the vigils, the church services, and the processions were all truly magnificent, truly worthy of a Queen who served her country as monarch for seventy years. It was said that four billion viewers around the world watched the Queen’s funeral. 

I also attended an author talk at our local library and will be telling you about that soon. All I can say is “Wow!!!” More to come . . . 

Have a great week.

Cluck! Cluck! Let’s Talk Chickens!!!

 I’m sure that in my previous post when I mentioned that this post would be about chickens you suspected that I now have a chicken coop on my castle estate. You would have been wrong although I do think having a few laying hens would be cool.

No, I am simply working on a quilt for my soon to be fourteen year old cousin, the actress in the family. The last quilt that I made her I think was when she was five. That was a Halloween themed quilt as that is also her birthday. I thought it was time for a new quilt as I had made quilts for four other older cousins when they became teens. So, I asked her what she would like. I was envisioning a modern, colorful batik quilt or perhaps a teen friendly black and white quilt. Nope, she said she would like a chicken quilt. I checked with her a couple of times, and she confirmed that was what she wanted.  (With teens you never can tell if they are serious, but in any event, she is getting a whole flock of colorful chickens! )

I had a chicken pattern in my stash but decided instead to go with one based on Lori Holt’s recent Chicken Salad design. She doesn’t sell patterns, but instead on her blog, Bee in My Bonnet she shows you step-by-step how to make the quilt. The wonderful thing about Lori Holt is that the directions for each of her quilts remain on her blog, so say you bought the templates for one of her quilts, you could always find the directions for it in later years.

I purchased the Chicken Salad templates but not the fabric kit. Before the pandemic, I had purchased her Happiness quilt kit. Then in March of 2020 as you know things began going down hill fast, and I wasn’t motivated or in the right mindset to make a Happiness quilt. So, I decided to use that Lori Holt for Riley Blake Design fabric kit for this quilt. I also added a few pieces from my stash; the tiny red and white print used throughout, a couple of neutral backgrounds, and honestly, who wouldn’t want a navy blue polka dot chicken! Polka dots make me smile.

I had used Lori’s step-by-step interfacing method for her Let’s Bake Quilt, but this time decided to simply do raw edge applique. Here is my Let’s Bake quilt from 2018. It was great fun to make! You may click on it for a more detailed look. The small blocks around the edges are cross stitch on gingham. :-)

This time I decided to make Lori’s design boards. If you go to Youtube and search for Lori Holt Design Boards, you will find her tutorial for making them. You may make them any size. Since I already had a sheet of foam core, I was able to divide it to make six twelve inch square blocks. It’s an easy process. She used a hot glue gun on hers as did I for my first four boards,  but then my finger tips began loudly complaining as you need to fold the fabric over the edges. I found that Aleene’s Tacky Glue worked just as well for the last two.
  

Here I have my pieces of fabric and the traced template on Wonder Under and am heading to the ironing board. In this way, I was able to prepare a stack of separate blocks. Then I was able to cut out each shape and lay out the design for the next step. 

If you make any kind of pieced blocks, these boards are invaluable. You may purchases Lori Holt design boards, but they a bit expensive if you want to have more than one or two. Following her tutorial, they are super simple to make. (My fingertips wanted me to remind you to use the tacky glue.)

Lori Holt is a quilting and cross stitch goddess and so giving with all her tips, designs, and tutorials. Be sure to check out her blog, Bee in My Bonnet and her quilting and cross stitch episodes on Youtube.

Now, after posting this I’m going back to continue stitching the chickens’ beaks, legs and feet. I’m using a tiny zigzag stitch, and it takes a l-o-n-g time. Lori had suggested that you work on one color at a time for all twelve blocks so you would not be constantly changing thread colors. That’s why I am up to my eyeballs in yellow!!!

Cluck! Cluck! That’s all for now. Cluck! Cluck! Have a great weekend.

Book Talk . . . The Lincoln Highway

 The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is the best novel I have read in the last ten years!!! Yes, it is that good!!!  It’s storytelling at its absolute best. Amor Towles also wrote another of my top five recent favorite novels, A Gentleman in Moscow. A number of people have told me that they just couldn’t get in to that novel. It’s pace is slow at the beginning and it takes a while to build. While I thought it was a masterful piece of writing, I can understand why some people might not have engaged with that novel, but please trust me, as soon as you begin The Lincoln Highway you will be hooked and happily along for the ride. 

You will meet eighteen year old Emmett, his eight year old brother Billy who is a delightful character, and two friends from the work farm where Emmett had served time for involuntary manslaughter. After his release,  Emmett’s plan had been to head to California with Billy to start a new life. His friends Woody and Duchess who had walked away from the work farm decide to go along for the ride, but they soon steer the journey in another direction.  

Reading along, I couldn’t help thinking of Tom and Huck’s raft trip on the mighty Mississippi and the many characters they encountered as do Emmett and Billy. Sam Clemens would have, for sure, given a nod of approval to The Lincoln Highway. 

It also occurred to me that three of the best novels that I have read in the last five years have been “journey” novels. Besides The Lincoln Highway, in previous posts I have also highly recommended West with Giraffes by Linda Rutledge and Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.

In any event, climb into the back seat of Emmett’s powder-blue 1948 Studebaker, get comfortable, and go along for this ride.  I promise you will love this book!!! 

Here are the titles I received when I recently had asked for recommendations. It’s always good to have a list of books from which to choose:

     One Hundred Years of Lennie and Margot    

     The Rose Code - Kate Quinn

     Becoming Mrs. Lewis - Patti Callahan

      Britt Marie Was Here - Fredrick Brackman   

     This Tender Land - William Kent Krueger

     Ordinary Land - William Kent Krueger

Yesterday, I met friends for lunch at the South Shore Country Club in Hingham. Carol, our unofficial, dedicated social director:-) , manages to get us all together from time to time. Eight happily retired Weymouth teachers were able to make it to this lunch, and it was lovely to see and catch up with everyone. We dined outside on the patio and will meet again next month. Hopefully, even more of us will be able to make it wherever we decide to gather. :-)

Finally, for Emma fans, here she is today after a trip to the groomer. I wasn’t able to decide which image  to share, so here are two.

Next time . . . we’ll talk chickens!!! ;-)