Catching Up

Well, there's been quite the lull over here, huh?  The summer has been humming right along and here we are in August already.  How'd that happen?

I have been making 16-patch blocks here and there.  Here's how things stand so far on the scrappy 16-patch quilt.

I'm not sure whether to add more to make it five blocks across by six down, or leave it as is.  I'm not sure whether I love it yet, either.  I mean, I like it fine, and once it's done I'll be happy to toss it over me while I watch TV, and that's good.  I think it'll maybe grow on me. 

You may recall the Key to My Heart quilt I made early in the year.  It was recently gifted to my nephew Cody and Courtney's baby girl, Cali Jean, born a couple weeks ago.

What a cute little peanut she is, here with first-time grandma, my sister Nita:

And Cali below checking out her new quilt.  "Oh, how beautiful!" she is cooing.  Nah, she was just getting hungry, but I like her expression.

Norm went to the Renaissance Fair a couple weeks ago with friends.  It was Steampunk weekend, and they dressed in full garb.  

Photo by Brian Schultz, via Flickr

Photographer Brian Schultz took a nice head shot of Norm, which we found a few days later on Flickr.  There are a lot of cool photos in his Ren Faire and Steampunk groups, should you want to check it out.

When the new washer and dryer went in recently, I took the old mid-century, parental cast-off table that sat next to the washer outside to be hosed off.  It holds the laundry soaps and bleaches, etc.

This is after cleaning it, so you can see it's pretty worse for wear.  But I left it in the garage for now, because I feel another furniture painting episode coming on.  I'll probably use the tropical coral color on it, for better or worse (it sits in the basement where the sun doesn't shine).  I'm going to prime it first and use a poly sealer after its painted, not wax. 

But first, next week, I have to quilt and bind the second chevron quilt.  That's been in a stall for a bit, but I have a self-imposed deadline which I intend to meet.

Another project I've committed to is making some kennel quilts for the animal surgery where my daughter works.  She gave me a box of her "funky scrubs," with cute prints, that she can't wear anymore because they've gone to uniform scrubs.  I've been pinning easy quilt ideas on Pinterest to make use of the upcycled fabric.  Stay tuned.

Finally, I did a fun and quick little project last weekend, which took all of 15 minutes.  I made a dry-erase board for my daughter, who we helped move to a new apartment on Sunday.  

For all the new, um, information that comes to light that you have to write down (a favorite quote/scene from The Big Lebowski movie).  I also put an extra blank sheet of light-colored scrapbook paper inside the frame in case she wants to make a change.  

See the fine print on the board above for the how-to.  I should probably add that your frame should have glass in it.  Sort of a given, but you never know.  This one was 8x10.

Key to My Heart Finished

Happy to get another one finished this week, the Key to My Heart quilt.

Such soft, snuggly goodness!  Jelly roll and backing fabric is Oasis by Three Sisters.  The Key to My Heart pattern is by Sweet Jane.  Quilted in an overall meander with Aurifil in the top and bobbin. 

It's a nice size for a crib quilt, or a lap quilt for people smaller than we here in the land of the giants.  (Although not as gigantic as the perspective of this photo might imply.  I'm standing on a cedar chest for this shot with the camera held above my head...in case anyone was wondering.)

I'll probably hang onto this quilt until the next baby girl comes along via friends or relatives.

Meanwhile, the next one is on deck. 

I basted this top together last night during American Idol. 

I'm enjoying the dynamic between new judge Harry Connick, Jr., Jennifer Lopez, and Keith Urban.  They seem to have a lot of fun together and make me laugh.  It doesn't hurt that they're all nice on the eyes either. 

I'm glad there aren't as many time-wasting awful auditions to suffer through too.  Seems they've whittled it down to decent stuff worth watching.  The past few years, I've skipped this part of the show and just tuned in for the actual competition.

I haven't talked much about thrifting adventures lately because there has been a lack of them.  Last Sunday, however, I stopped at the local Goodwill and found something useful for the sewing room, one of those suction-cup grab handles.  It was brand new, so nothing gross about buying it second-hand.  At $1.99, I could hardly go wrong.

I attached it to a wide ruler and tested it out on trimming this quilt.  Works great!

Linking to:

Sunday Sundry 1-19-14

How ironic that I seem to have procrastinated long enough to miss the linky for the first quarter 2014 Finish Along at The Littlest Thistle.  I had scrawled out a list of 2014 goals (and I use that word as loosely as can be imagined, having a tendency to resist things I "have to do," even if it is my idea to do it).  The list sat beside my keyboard long enough to get a little wrinkled and stained by coffee cups and snacks set upon it, which shows how irreverent I can be about goals, I guess.

In the "Old" category of the list is my intention to quilt all my 2013 and earlier UFOs, or get them quilted.  These include, in no particular order:

• Ironwork (done!)
• Ship Shape (sent out for quilting in early January and just got word that it's done; will need binding)
• Fan-Tastic
• Hubcap Diamond Star Halo (the oldest of the bunch)
• Baby Girl Quilt a/k/a Little Monkeys or Drunken Monkeys
• Hemispheres I
• Hemispheres II
• Key to My Heart

Another thing I've thought about is the choice of one word to summarize one's creative intention in the new year.  You can see a lot of these on the 15 Minutes Play site and elsewhere.  I'm not sure I'll get around to making my word into a mini quilt, but I did give it a good pondering and decided that, if I were to select a word for the year, it might be flow.  I even drew up a scribble of an idea, the F like a faucet and the rest of the letters, well, flowing out from there.

You never know, though; I might feel motivated to turn that idea into fabric after all, given my propensity to procrastinate and distract myself when I should be doing other things.

The point of flow actually ties into what I said earlier about resistance.  Keeping things moving, whether a drip at a time or with more natural fluidity, is the idea.  For me, that sometimes means baby steps (which manage to sneak past my resistance).  Anything to keep the momentum and forward motion going.

* * * * *
Yesterday I employed some forward motion in the form of vacuuming and mopping my kitchen (and bath and hallway) floors.  I've had a couple bad shoulder days lately, but with adhesive capsulitis, you have to keep the joint moving as much as possible.

Afterwards, I basted a quilt on the clean kitchen floor, which entailed more reaching and stretching.  You can bet I absolutely counted all of that movement as shoulder exercise yesterday.  So far today, the shoulder feels a little better—and I have a quilt basted!

* * * * *
This little mug rug (from the leftovers of the above quilt) has now been quilted and is ready for action.  I guess that means I can retire the scribbled goals list from its duty of supporting my coffee and snacks.

These gluten-free chocolate cookies, by the way, are divine.  I used the recipe on the back of the Honeyville Farms blanched almond flour as a rough guide, but modified it as follows:

2-1/2 c. blanched almond flour
1-2 T. tapioca starch flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
1/4 c. melted ghee (or use melted butter)
1/4 c. melted coconut oil
1 egg
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon.  Drop spoonfuls onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Press tops down to flatten slightly (I used waxed paper over the cookie so my hand wouldn't stick to the batter).  Bake for 10-12 minutes until set.  Let cool for 20 minutes on sheet before removing.

Key to My Heart Quilt Top

In the past couple of days, I have finished sewing together the Key to My Heart quilt top.  

 It's a pretty sweet flimsy!

In addition to the jelly roll, I had won some Oasis yardage as well, so I went ahead and made the backing right away.  I had enough backing fabric left to make a pillow case too.

The border of the pillow case is from the cut-off ends of the jelly roll strip pairs used in the quilt, pieced end to end. 

What was left of the pieced pillow case border will soon become a mug rug.  And with that, I think I've squeezed about all I can out of that project and its scraps!

The quilt binding is ready to go, too.  The pink dot is from Bonnie & Camille's Vintage Modern, which seems to go nicely with the Oasis.

Off to a Good Start

I started the new year with a new project, using a jelly roll from Sarah's Hands2Help giveaway last year.

The fabric is Oasis by 3 Sisters for Moda, and it is just so lovely. "So beautiful it hurts my feelings," as Wayne White would say.  I just love that phrase; I can really relate.  So beautiful you could get kind of choked up about it.

Such pretty colors: coral and butter yellow, dusty gray and blue, pink and cream.  The floral prints remind me of dresses from the 1930s or 1940s.  Not that I remember that era (being a few decades before my time), but they're soft and vintage looking, is what I'm saying.  

They remind me of my grandma, the colors of her kitchen, her peonies, and other colors she liked.  Maybe she had a cotton apron or blouse with a similar print.

The pattern I'm using is called Key to My Heart by Sweet Jane.  It's going together pretty fast, and I haven't used a single pin yet.  Just cut, sew, press, and trim.