A Few More December Finishes

In addition to the table runner/wall hanging mentioned in the previous post, I finished a few more gifts in December.

My niece was expecting a baby and delivered a little girl in mid-December, a few weeks early.  Thankfully, both mom and baby are doing well, and (also thankfully) I had finished her baby quilt in the nick of time.  

My daughter had helped me pick out fabrics for it when we visited a new-to-me quilt shop in November.  I used a free baby quilt pattern by Amanda at Jedi Craft Girl, which I'd used before for a different baby quilt.  It's a nice one for larger or more elaborate print fabric that would otherwise get lost if you had to cut it into smaller pieces.

I really like the colors in this quilt.  The coral color is a nice alternative to pink.

While we were fabric shopping, my daughter mentioned she needed a new makeup bag, as the zipper pouch I'd made her several years ago was looking rather worn.  She picked out a couple of fat quarters for a new one, so that became one of her Christmas gifts.  She was pretty excited to open it on Christmas Day.

Lastly, as part of my goal to make each of my nieces and nephews a quilt, the Waverly (Storm-at-Sea) quilt was finished and gifted at Christmas to my nephew Brandon.

Local long-arm quilter Sandy did a great job on the quilting.  She gave me several options and I chose one that I thought gave the impression of a rolling sea or splashing waves.

It turned out very nicely.  I finished the binding a week or so before Christmas and that was a wrap!

So that's what's been happening here behind the scenes, sewing wise.  

I had an issue with my computer in November and ended up buying a new one during the after-Thanksgiving sales.  Setting things up and bringing myself back up to speed seemed to take a bit more mental bandwidth than usual.  It had been almost 10 years since my last computer and many things had changed.  I allowed myself a little more grace and time to get things switched over and definitely felt like the proverbial old dog learning new tricks.

(Temporary setup on the dining room table during the switchover)

One thing I'm still working on is learning different photo editing software, since the one I had been using on my old computer hasn't been supported for several years, and I felt like I needed to explore other options.  So far I've downloaded GIMP, but it seems pretty complicated for my needs, so I downloaded FastStone, which seems more user friendly.  I mostly do just simple editing for color and lighting correction, cropping, straightening, resizing, and watermarking.  Yesterday, after watching way too many YouTube videos on both programs, I was finally able to create a watermark in GIMP that I can use in FastStone (yes, I needed both programs to do that one simple thing...ugh). 

What do you use for photo editing, resizing, etc., and do you like it?

~Paulette

Sunday Sundry 9-19-21

It's been a minute.  I've been neglectful of this blog for a month or so, but rest assured all is well.  Just living life and enjoying the last that summer has to offer.  

If you give any credence to The Old Farmers Almanac predictions of the winter ahead, it may be one of the coldest and longest we've seen in awhile.  Whether or not that comes to pass, I've been reveling in the warmth of the sun as much as I can right now.  

That involves many walks, regular time spent on the deck (under the umbrella) reading, bird watching, cloud gazing, etc.  A day trip here or there.  

(Historic Indian Agency House at Fort Winnebago)

How I wish I could store it all up like a battery, but that's not the way it works.  Or is it?  Having those memories does help get me through the cold and dark days.  That and a full-spectrum light box.

One thing I have missed this summer, though, is biking.  You need functional hands to use the caliper brakes, but my left hand grip strength was very weak following finger surgery in early July.  By mid-August, my range of motion was better, the scar was healed, and it was time to start concentrating on strengthening exercises.  On the recommendation of my physical therapist, I bought the Therapy Putty she suggested and was very diligent with the exercises. 

Unfortunately, I may have worked a little too hard.  Although my grip strength normalized in the left hand, I gave myself the beginning of trigger finger in the process (by way of a somewhat tender lump at the base of the finger where the tendon moves through the sheath).  Not in the surgery finger, but the middle finger on my left hand.  

So now I have to back off the gripping motions and hopefully it'll calm down.  At my next therapy appointment, she'll reassess and see if I need to wear a splint on the left middle finger.  She did already size me for the splint, which is a ring-like contraption that immobilizes the middle finger joint.  

I really hope I don't have to wear it, though; if I do, my middle finger will be in permanent "salute" for several weeks, which will be a dead giveaway as to how I really feel about the subject.

* * * * *

Nevertheless, I have made progress on a couple things in the sewing room.  I put a green border on the small quilt I made from the County Fair quilt scraps, bringing it up to a more ample size for a baby quilt.  I basted it recently and it's awaiting quilting.

I also finished piecing the Waverly quilt top that I intend to gift to a nephew.  It went together really nicely.  

I did buy the suggested ruler, and I'm glad I did.  It helped both in cutting the diamond shaped pieces, and also in the block trimming process.  Normally I try to get by with what I've got when it comes to rulers, but after watching a YouTube video on how to use the DiamondRects ruler when making a Storm-At-Sea quilt and seeing how helpful it seemed to be, I went for it.  Again, very glad I did, and I would highly recommend it.

Honestly, I was feeling a little unenthusiastic about this quilt, thinking it'd be all ho-hum sewing with dull colors, but I really, really like how it turned out.  In fact, I'm thinking I might like to make another one to keep.

* * * * *

I came upon this old quilt pattern among a group of vintage sewing patterns a friend gave me several years ago.  

It had a handwritten note on it that said is was from the 1940s.  It's an applique quilt pattern called "Early to Bed," with a little boy in his pajamas holding a candlestick.  

I thought it was an interesting and charming quilt idea.  I've seen a lot of Sunbonnet Sue and Sam quilts, but not one like this.  Have you ever seen this motif?