Betty's (dudes22) 2021 Quilt Fest

Hi – I’m Betty and I live in Rhode Island.

In 2021, I continue to hope that I’ll make a lot of progress with my UFOs, but know that there will be many new ideas and fabrics that will call to me. I’ll still be making pillowcases for our charity group at church and probably some more reading pillows. I’m also going to be working on some scrap blocks to use for charity quilts by our church group. I stole this idea from Lois after seeing one of her quilts in 2020. And I realized over the holidays that I really should make myself a tree skirt. I’d also like to get back to my red/white quilt. I was thinking about doing different project on different days of the week – Monday - pillowcases, Tues - scraps, Wed - UFOs, but I wonder if that would just make my sewing room a bigger mess than it usually is.

We’ve cancelled our trip to Florida this year, so I’ll be staying home in the cold. And maybe getting more sewing done.

I’ve decided to put the same picture from 2 years ago at the top of my thread in the hopes that seeing it every time I log in will guilt encourage me to finishing it.

I’m going to try and keep track of what I finish in this first message.

Pillowcases:

Reading pillows:

Masks: 1 (Henry), 2 (Jane)

UFOs:
Polka Dot Wall

New Projects:

Pillowcases for Di

Looking forward to another year with you, Betty!

>2 avaland: - Looking forward to advice and ideas from you too.

The tree skirt! I have said I was going to make a Victorian crazy quilt tree skirt for years! I never actually started it. But since the carpal tunnel surgery was such a plus, maybe I can embroider again. And if you are making a skirt....

I made one for my mother which my sister grabbed when she passed and one for my mother-in-law which my sister-in-law got. I may need to figure it out because I put my tree up on a table (we started when we had a puppy and liked it so much we still do it) and I'd like it to reach the floor. Most of the patterns I've seen aren't that big in circumference.

Sounds interesting. I will be watching! We moved to an artificial tree a couple of years ago and I'm not sure anyone could see a skirt under this tree. I'll have to have a think on it.

As I've been neatening up the fabric shelves, I've come across many that have me wondering, "Why did I buy this?". And there are a bunch that I think would lend themselves to some kind of Civil War type quilt. Funny how our taste in fabric changes as new fabrics and color trends appear. Or at least, mine has. For now, I'm refolding and not making too many decisions except for smaller pieces that I'm cutting up.

>7 dudes22: That happens to me with books, too. I'll come across a book on the shelf and think, "Why on earth did I think I wanted to read this?"

>7 dudes22: I have some lovely fabric bought in the early otts where they were still using more colors in the fabrics. Fabric is less expensive to make if it uses less colors. There seems like there is more fabric with white in it or white-based prints. Never mind how thin the fabric is. The old KF prints are on a nice weight of cotton, now they are so light & airy. End of bitch :-)

>8 rosalita: - The same thing happens to me, Julia.

>9 avaland: - It's ok to rant about it. I wasn't into KF fabrics until recently when I saw a quilt that I wanted to make. I usually found his prints to busy together. But I know what you mean. I think there are still a few manufacturers who make a decent fabric.

I took a small gift certificate that I got for Christmas and went off to my favorite fabric store (Ryco's) for their end-of-year sale. I was mostly looking for tone-on-tone prints and blenders. I found quite a few. The bargain hunters cove had a whole line of small polka dots in lots of colors that will work really well. Now I want to finish the clean-up so I can start sewing again.

>10 dudes22: I like to mix KF fabric with others. I've never made a quilt with just his or the collective's fabrics. Even though I believe there's been cost-cutting with the fabric, I still can find plenty to order. :-)

Yes - and a fabric order I made just arrived also. Lots of fabric to play with.

To my fellow readers and crafters:

Taking a little break from folding and cutting in the sewing room clean-up. I must say that there are fabrics that are partially used that I have no idea what I used them for. I should be better about taking pictures of finished projects so I would know. I'm also finding blocks/squares from projects that were extras. Some of them I'll try to incorporate into the scrap quilts. Some I may see if there's another way I could use them.

When one of my aunts died (many years ago now), I got a bunch of fabrics that she had. And a basket that had a bunch of shapes cut out like the bottom of a flat iron. I had put them aside to recut and use, but looking at them today, I wonder if they were supposed to be the petals of a flower and then put a big circle in the middle. I put them aside to take another look at after I'm done with the clean-up. I don't want to get sidetracked.

>14 dudes22: I buy on speculation, so I don't have that problem. I'm fairly certain there are some pieces of fabric here I've not yet taken a cutting from! If I have enough blocks, I use them for a center of a quilt (usually one of the charity quilts) and built around it.

Congrats on the end of cleaning (I am never at the end of cleaning, but I stop when I tire of it :-)

>15 avaland: - Using some as the center of a quilt is a good idea. I'll have to remember that when I take another look at them.

Well - I've finished the sewing room clean-up. Last thing is to vacuum and maintenance my machine - tomorrow. It does look nice. There is one big box on the floor that is holding fabric I may use for fussy-cutting for the hand sewing project I started a couple of years ago, but I would rather keep them together right now.

My next project (non-sewing) is to go through all my Christmas stuff before I put it away. I have some big totes that are really too heavy to be lugging up the stairs from the basement, so I'm going to look for smaller boxes tomorrow when I go out.

Congratulations on completing the clean-up, Betty. That's a big undertaking and it must be really satisfying to have finished.

I think you should reward yourself with more fabric!

>16 dudes22: Also my congrats on finishing the clean-up. I did the same thing with my holiday stuff before it went back to the basement.

>17 lauralkeet: Oh, I like that reward idea! (any excuse)

My sister-in-law stopped over yesterday to drop off the cookie press that I lent her and to ask me to make some pillowcases for her from body pillow covers. I guess she couldn't find the color she wanted or there were only body pillow cases left. Not really sure. Anyway. I guess that will be my first project. It's mostly just cutting it off and hemming. Not sure why she's not doing it herself since she was the one that got me started with quilting. And a mask for a friend of my husband.

>19 dudes22: Probably not the most fun project, but at least she got you before you got too deep in a desirable project.

>20 avaland: - I figure it will quick. There are zippers at the end of the body pillowcase and after I cut it off, I might sew up the bottom for little bags for her granddaughters. Like a little cosmetic bag. We'll see how big it is.

HI I haven't seen much of your work, and I am looking forward to it. Best wishes for the new year!

>22 sallypursell: - Thanks. You could quickly scroll through last year's thread to see some of the things I did last year without reading through it.

>23 dudes22: I will.

Happy Thingaversary, Betty! I just happened to notice it was your special day. Which books will you be purchasing?

Ooh! Happy Thingaversary Betty!

OH - silly me. I put it in my phone for the 8th. DUH!!. Here's what I'm going to post over on my Category Challenge thread.

I joined LT back in 2008 so I have been here for 13 years now. I’m so glad a friend recommended this site to me. I’ve had some great times and loads of book bullets over the years which have led to new authors and many interesting books.
I took an idea from Judy (DeltaQueen50) last year and spread my Thingaversary purchases out over a few months since mine falls so early in the year. I’ve been very good about not reading any – even though I was tempted. In a normal year, we’d be on our way to Florida right now to spend a couple of months out of the cold and I decided on some of these books to take with me. But we're not going this year. I still might try to get some of these read in a timely manner.

Here’s what I decided on:

One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker
Finding Hollis by Pauline Knaeble Williams
The Sea Glass Sisters by Lisa Wingate
The Last of the Moon Girls by Barbara Davis
Wrapped in Rain by Charles Martin
The Devoted by Jonathan Hull
One-Woman Farm by Jenna Woginrich
Autumn by Ali Smith
Circe by Madeline Miller
The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi
A Better Man by Louise Penny
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

A number of these were book bullets - some from LT and some from friends.

ETA: One of the touchstones doesn't go to the right book (and isn't listed in "others") so I've taken off the brackets. Maybe I'll trying editing it later.

>27 dudes22: Looks like no one has cataloged One Woman Farm yet. Quick! Be the first! Oh, wait. Hyphenated!! One-Woman Farm, Woginrich

>28 lesmel: - oh - Somehow I got it into my library. I think using the ISBN. Let me go see if that works.

ok - i didn't realize it had a hyphen.

ETA: I took it as a book bullet from someone so I knew it was already on LT.

I said I was going to finish the quilt in post #1 for my first project this year so I pulled it out today to see if I had the right thread colors. While driving one day, I had decided that I would quilt the turquoise in turquoise and the pink in pink. I thought I had used the center square fabric for the back. But I must not have had enough because I pieced the back in the print and some turquoise. So - here's my question - how important is the thread color on the back of the quilt. I'm slightly afraid that if I just use turquoise it might show through on the pink. I suppose I should make a small sample to practice on.

Re: post #30: Picking a color to quilt in is one of the hardest decisions for me and the main reason I have so many unfinished quilts.

I always think a contrast between quilting thread and fabric is a fine feature. I wouldn't worry about it.

>30 dudes22: This is why I like a neutral grey for quilting a lot of times. Often, I will use grey in the bobbin and matching color on top. Not matching thread on the backing usually doesn't bother me though, I like seeing the quilting pattern on the back. :)

>33 lesmel: - For some reason, I never think about grey. This is what I like about getting advice here. I'm going to think about that. I might unspool some against the fabric and see how it looks.

Betty, I think that block reads a lot of white in the fabrics, could you not do it in a light thread color? white or near white? I also like to see the quilting on the back of a quilt. I use off-white quite a bit, but I also have a collection of spools of multi-color threads that I like to use when I quilt (when I can).

Hey, I noticed this morning that RI has the 2nd highest in the nation for Covid cases per 100,000 today. What's going on down there? Is anything in particular driving that? NH is higher than I would like, but we are the highest of the three Northern New England states (likely because southern NH is essentially an extension of MA)

>35 avaland: - We've been in the top quite a bit. It's partly because we're so densely populated and so small. (in fact, they're already vaccinating some by city/town because of this) But we also have the highest number of people vaccinated per capita I heard on the news this morning. Our governor has been selected to be Vice-President elect's Secretary of Commerce pending confirmation. I personally think she's done a good job both before the pandemic and since. She's in the last two years of her second term and term-limited so a good move, I guess, if she wants to stay in politics. Now the big story is who will take the Lt Gov job when he moves up.

I think the reason I try to match color to fabric when quilting is because I don't have a lot of confidence in my quilting and figure any mistakes will show less. (It's my least favorite part of the process. I much prefer piecing) I'm really only concerned about the back color if I'm worried about it showing in the stitches. I know it shouldn't if my tension is right, but still...

I think a white or off-white would look great with that quilt - the ladies who taught me quilting always defaulted to a neutral color, and claimed that the thread itself didn't matter that much because it was the texture pattern people would see.

I've mostly done hand quilting though, I think is it more visible with machine quilting. I bet a soft purply-grey would go well with all of those colors, though.

>36 dudes22: That makes sense. I remember hearing Ms. Riamondo mentioned early on but hadn't heard the official pick. Good for her.

I haven't done any free motion quilting for years now. I have a shoulder problem that makes it more difficult. Straight line quilting is fine though. I send out others.

There was speculation earlier for other positions which I don't think she even had an interview for. Just because you made me curious, we're the 2nd most densely populated state after NJ. (2020) And we have a lot of colleges. And we've done a lot of testing. It will be interesting (and I don't think in a good way) to see what happens after the colleges open again. I've been pulling back more and more. Not that I was out there a lot.

I'm not even very comfortable with my straight-line quilting showing. ANd my machine has one of those attachments that's supposed to help your stitch size when you free motion but I'm still not good at it. I suppose if I practiced more it would help.

My sister is just about to head back to Providence to teach a semester at Brown; last I heard they're still planning to bring all the freshman onto campus. It'll be interesting as it goes. Good luck! She's doing all online teaching luckily and will probably not be leaving the house for anything but groceries. RI's been top of the list for a long time.

>40 melannen: - That's true. The governor has been really proactive in "providing" testing. Anyone can get a test. And the more you test, the more chances you have of positives. There are always things that could have been done differently if we/they had realized earlier how much it could spread.

>39 dudes22: That all makes sense.

>41 dudes22: I think you guys have been doing a better job at contact tracing too, which will pick up more positive cases for the same number of tests. But I'm sure being so small and so urban - with so many people passing through and so many students - doesn't help either.

So, if you've been following the news, you may have seen that President-elect Biden has asked our governor to be the Commerce Secretary in his cabinet. That means the Lt Gov will be taking over. He is going to leave the Covid team in place which is a good thing, I think. I also noticed in one of her last briefings she was mentioning that she still wants everyone to be tested even if you don't have symptoms. IF that were to happen, then we would have a final rate that could be compared.

So anyway - the real reason I came by this morning was to tell a cute story about one of my reading pillows. I stopped by the library the other day to chat with my sister for a minute(and pick up the Jan Book Pages) and she told me this. Her grandson took his pillow over to his other grandmother's house. When he got home he was all upset and told Jane, "Nonnie - I broke my pillow. My grandma says that she can fix it." Jane asked him what happened and he showed her the opening in the back and said he put a big hole in it. She explained that the hole was so the pillow could come out so it could be washed and he hadn't done anything wrong. I'm guessing he felt much better.

I've been futzing around with some of the scraps I cut while doing the clean-up. I have a lot of novelty prints, so I've come up with some blocks that I think lend themselves so a type of I-spy quilts. Novelty blocks with tone-on-tone print borders. I have some 8.5" with 1.5" borders that finish at a 10.5" block. Then I thought of using some of the smaller ones to make 4 blocks that would finish at 10.5" when put together. I think they look a little out of proportion with 1.5" borders so I need to do some more math and see what I can do with what I have. I think a bigger middle piece and smaller (maybe 1" borders).

Oh, cute story, Betty.

It was just announced here that 65+ can register to get the vaccine starting the 20th.

Will look forward to see what comes of your novelty blocks.

>45 avaland: - I got my weekly email from Ryco's today and they have a lot of new fabrics I like plus they're having a price slide in their Bargain Hunter's Cove. I'm so tempted to go tomorrow and get more fabric. Can you say "addict"? Maybe I'll look at my UFO's today and see what I need for backings.

>46 dudes22: "Addict" is such a harsh name for people like us who create such beautiful things and give them away...right? We deserve a "fix" from time to time, something that juices us up and makes us smile (especially these days).

That said, my package of 20 pieces of fabric (fat quarters and end-of-bolts) finally arrived today. I ordered the fabric more than two weeks ago from a Virginia shop (turns out to be the DC suburbs not far from my daughter). Not their fault it took so long. And although I didn't get them in a timely fashion when I thought I emotionally really needed a boost, it still was fun to open the package and fondle all of the pieces :-)

I suppose you're right. A couple of orders of mine shipped today so hopefully they'll be here after the weekend.

I just watched an excellent Zoom presentation sponsored by New Hampshire Humanities and Manchester City Library entitled "New England Quilts and the Stories They Tell." Pamela Weeks, a quilt historian, presented it. She shared a lot of interesting things about quilts and their history and showed images of several. They recorded it, so perhaps it will show up on their web page or on a YouTube channel (if the library has one).

Thanks, Lori - I'll check that out.

ETA: I haven't been able to find anything yet on either web site or YouTube. I'll check again in another week.

Thought I'd do an update even though I have no pictures.

My sister-in-law asked me to make pillowcases from some body pillow covers she had bought. Turns out that's cheaper than buying pillowcases. When I did them I took the end I cut off (which had a zipper) and sewed up the end so they're a storage bag. Big enough for storing a sweater. Or for packing smaller items in one place for a trip (if we can ever travel again). I might keep one for myself.

Got two orders of fabric. One I ordered because of Lois's influence. (Not that it takes much.) The one that I ordered for a backing is so nice I want to start the quilt I already know I'll use it for. But I feel guilty that I have so many unfinished projects.

I worked on some more of the I-spy scrap blocks and like the way they're coming along.

I talked to the lady that sort-of runs our sewing group from church. Besides pillowcases, this year we're going to be making pillowcase dresses. My brother and sister-in-law started a mission in Malawi a few years ago and they might go visit again next year. We sent some with them when they went a couple of years ago. So I pulled some fabric, cut, and started sewing some.

I had two small quilts that have been hanging on my design wall since last summer. One was together and was hanging with a fabric I was considering for the border. Finally decided it doesn't need one. I need to go through my quilting stencils and see what I like that will fit. I put the blocks and rows together on the other one and need to get some thread before I can quilt it.

As you can see, I tend to flit from project to project.

>51 dudes22: Glad to have 'inspired' you. Was it the Backside Fabric print? I'm thinking of it as a top instead a backing!

You seem to have a busy schedule juggling multiple projects! I used to do that a lot more than I do now. These days, my 'other' projects are not quilting/sewing, it's painting doors or walls, or making wreaths...

And that's a long time to leave quilt tops on your design board, Betty. Hmm. I am sometimes prone to borders, but other times I just want the pattern& fabrics to keep flowing like water....

>52 avaland: - Yes - that rose/purple/green fabric. The main reason I decided not to add borders was that I need a few smaller pieces for my display wall. Maybe I'll take a trip out this week for thread so I can finish a couple of projects.

>51 dudes22: They have a sewing group at our church that regular does projects for missions. They do a lot of those pillowcase dresses. They also sew things that members can purchase to put in the Operation Christmas Child boxes.

>54 thornton37814: - I think you mentioned that at Christmas time, Lori, when I mentioned the pillowcases we do. What kinds of things do they sell?

There were some pouches, dolls, and other things. Since we weren't in person around collection time this year, I really don't remember everything. They let people pay a certain amount, and they would fill it this year.

I'm going to go look up pillowcase dresses. I've never heard of them. Anyone have any to show?

>56 thornton37814: - Interesting.

>57 sallypursell: - I pulled this quick off the internet. Gives you an idea. You make a pillowcase and then cut arm and neck holes. Then you can hem or bind and usually run a ribbon through the neck area to create the shoulders. Originally you started with a premade pillowcase, but you can use regular cotton fabric to make it. I see this one has a large hem and some embroidery. MIne won;t be quite that fancy.

>58 dudes22: That's cute, but the shape is a little strange. Why bother with the pillowcase-shape if you are using fabric and not as actual pillowcase?

Well - I think using the fabric to make a pillowcase shape started because they're cuter than a regular pillowcase. Plus it's faster than cutting out pattern pieces in different sizes. You just cut the neck and armhole. It's a quick way to make a little sundress.
(And that may not have been the best picture).

>59 sallypursell: The pillowcase dresses started as repurposing older pillowcases with minimal sewing. Then, I think, it morphed into an easy pattern for donations. Like a lot of things, the name stuck even when actual pillowcases weren't used.

>60 dudes22: >61 lesmel: I understand that better, now. Thank you for your trouble.

>61 lesmel: - Thanks for helping me out with that explanation.

Our average temperature here in Rhode Island in Jan is around 37F (2C). This morning was 17F (-8C) but the wind was awful so no walking this morning. I don't mind the temperature being cold, but I hate the wind. (I know that's not cold to you Paws, but here it's cold).

For some reason, I decided that today would be a good day to pull out all my finished but unquilted projects and see just how many there were and come up with a plan for some finishing. It's somewhere around 50. At least two or three are already pinned together so that will be my starting point. I did notice that there were a few that were basically the same pattern so, if I figure out what kind of quilting to do for one, I should be able to do a bunch. And there's one that is larger than I like to quilt which will go out to be quilted. I do need a back for that one.

ETA: I was thinking if I'd feel really guilty if I started something new.

>64 dudes22: We had +1 C yesterday! Wind really is terrible when it’s cold. The temperature itself might be tolerable but the wind makes it feel way worse.

I must be doing something wrong. +1 C is about 33 degrees F by my calculation. That's not really cold. Am I misunderstanding something? Were you commenting on how warm it was, maybe. I've forgotten where you live, Paws.

33F sounds pretty darn cold to me. Brrr (where it is currently 70s F and muggy. yay, southeast Texas)

>66 sallypursell: - He's in Sweden. He was commenting the other day that it was -22C (about -9F). Guess the weather has improved.

We get into the minus territory every winter, but not all the time. It is in the 30s F here in St. Louis.

>64 dudes22: Fifty!!!! Well, I feel better now. I have some table runners, at least three scrappy quilt tops, an Asian quilt top and possibly a couple of others.

Damn frigid here.

>67 lesmel: 70s sounds nice.

>70 avaland: Not with the level of mugginess. Ugh. Also, it's been grey and gloomy for nearly seven days. The older I get, the harder it is to tolerate gloomy skies.

>71 lesmel: True. I'm not big for trying to function in high humidity which is why I've never been interested in Florida.

>69 sallypursell: - Our granddaughter graduated from St Louis University a couple of years ago. Go Bilikens! She had a field hockey scholarship.

>70 avaland: - I was rather amazed/embarrassed at how many there were. Then I remembered that I forgot a few in a different place. Time to buckle down and start quilting. Some I even have the binding already made. I pulled out one (a table runner) that was already pinned today and decided what to quilt.

>66 sallypursell: As Betty said, I live in Sweden. Northern Sweden, where we have long, cold, and dark winters.

>68 dudes22: Yes, it was significantly warmer than last week. I wouldn't say the weather "improved", though. Temperatures above freezing in winter means slush and/or ice, which is always a bad thing.

And I'm not a he. ;)

Fifty quilts? Wow, that's impressive (and a little terrifying). You won't run out of things to do any time soon.

>73 dudes22: My oldest son is an adjunct professor there for several years. Did she take any Anthropology?

I admire people with athletic scholarships. I'm the least athletic person in the world.

>74 PawsforThought: I cannot imagine living near the Arctic Circle, where the day and night lengths are so exaggerated. I wouldn't like it, but I suppose it is one of those things one gets used to, and grits her teeth through, every winter.

Paws, you can feel sorry for our weather, too. We have lots of cold rain mixed with sleet and ice these winters. When we were younger we used to get snow, but hardly more than an inch at a time, now, and it always melts and is slushy and icy for days on end. An expert my son quoted to me says that St. Louis is one of the places where the impact of Global Climate Change can be most readily seen. We have actually changed what planting zone we are in, in just the years since I was young.

>76 sallypursell: I live far enough away from the arctic circle that we don't have polar nights so I don't think it's that bad. And it's all I've ever know. That's why snow is so important in the winter here - it reflects what light there is so makes the winters much lighter than they would be without snow.
And it's worth it for the summers.

I really hate sleet and ice - I'm sorry you have to put up with that. And a new planting zone? That is a big thing.

>74 PawsforThought: - So sorry, Paws - I know you're a she. I really should read what I write more closely before I hit "post". You should see some of the texts I've written.

>75 sallypursell: - I'm not sure if she ever took Anthropology or not. I suspect not because she was a business major, but I'll ask her. I too am supremely unathletic.

>78 dudes22: No problems. I have the same problem and my brain works faster than my fingers so I end up with a lot of misspellings. Including my own name - almost every time I type it.

>79 PawsforThought: - ha, ha, ha!

Thought I'd post a picture of a couple more masks that I made for my sister at the library.

>81 dudes22: I like those! She's fortunate to know a sister who sews as lovely as you do.

>82 thornton37814: - As the children's librarian, she likes to have different ones for each holiday.

So I need some advice: This is either the oldest or second oldest top I need to quilt. (It's a table runner) I started by doing an echo around the packages. What I'd like advice on is:
1. Should I try to continue the echo to the edge or should I put something else in the blank space (swirls?)? If you think I should do more echo, how far apart would you make the lines? There's not much space in-between some of the packages.
2. What - if any- quilting should I do in the packages? My first thought was a square or rectangle inside depending on the shape.
3. Is it cheating to just do a couple of straight lines through the middle section? I'm not good at free motion but I suppose I could do some type of swirl in this section. It's also the fabric on the back.
I should also say that there is another set of packages on the other edge. (Sort of a mirror image) This is basically one side and part of the middle.

One reason I never quilted it (which doesn't really show in the picture) is because the cream fabric is very shiny and I didn't realize until I got it mostly together how much I didn't like it. What can I say - I was new to quilting.

>81 dudes22: Very seasonal!

>84 dudes22: Swirls would be nice. What about in a thread that has some sparkle in it? I think I'd probably run some lines inside the package edges and maybe inside the ribbon

I probably have several table runners tops to finish, too. Don't know what I would do with them, most were just made because I wanted to do a pattern.... I suppose I could use one as a center for one of my charity quilts. You know, build around them.

I like the thought of swirls on the background - it might sort of call to the curvy patterns of the prints - and something more angular on the prints.

>84 dudes22: If you have clear template plastic, audition your quilting. It makes a difference! You will need a wet erase fine point pen, too. It's worth the effort!!

>85 avaland: - I'm not sure I have any "sparkly" thread, but that's a thought. The other oldest top I have is also a table runner. It too will probably need echo quilting which I was hesitant to try at that time in my quilting career.

>86 melannen: - That's sort-of where I was going with that thought.

>87 lesmel: - I think my template plastic all has grid lines on it, but I don't use it that often so I'll have to look. I might also pull out some of my quilting stencils and see if I can use one in some form.

I took my "big" machine (i.e. more expensive) in for a tune-up today. It's been running fine, but thought I'd get it maintenanced before I start heavy-duty quilting to get those UFOs finished. I still have my smaller machine to do some piecing while it's gone. And I pulled out my hand-piecing project from a couple of years ago and will get some pieces ready to continue with that.

This is one of the rosettes I did back in 2019 as a hand-piecing project. I did a number of rosettes like this, but the fourth row intimidated me and they've been languishing since then. (the fourth row is really tiny triangles) To get some idea of scale, the edges of the pentagon are 1". I've decided to buck-up and start to work on these again. So I pulled this one out and have started attaching the next row. While I was looking at what I had done so far, I even came up with a subtle way to tie them together although that's not necessarily important based on some of the quilts in this pattern that I've seen.

Ooh very nice. I look forward to seeing that scary-sounding fourth row.

>90 dudes22: Oh, wow, that's beautiful! Good luck with that next row - I can't wait to see how it goes!

This is the rosette with the triangle row attached which Laura wanted to see. Still more rows of stuff to add, but I'm a little more confident about working with those pointy parts. "A little more.." I wish I knew someone who had done a quilt like this so I could ask questions.

>93 dudes22: So lovely, Betty!

Oh my. That looks amazing. The added color gives the piece an entirely new look too. It really pops, in a marvelous way. What’s next for this piece?

That really is lovely. Such fine fussy-cutting.

>94 avaland: - Thanks, Lois.

>95 lauralkeet: - Actually these triangles are only a part of five which will form a star. Next, I have diamond and pentagram shapes that fit alternately in between the triangles. Then I'll add more triangles that will form the star with the ones already there. Then, some more stuff. This is one of the larger pieces in the quilt, so there are a lot of rows. And those diamonds that look yellow are really beige.

There are a number of these rosette-type shapes some of which only have some partial rows so they intersect with each other. Eventually, I'll applique the whole piece to a background fabric. It's going to be a long process.

I pulled out all my centers like the picture in post #90 to try and decide what other fabrics I would use. The centers are all different. You can see some of the ones I made when we were away in my Jan/Feb posts for 2019. Anyway, my point is that I mentioned in #97 that the cranberry triangles (#97)will be forming a star. That's changed. As I was deciding what to do today with what I had, I decided to change the next bit around that rosette.

I thought I'd post a picture of my progress on the rosette. There are still a few rows to be added. This is one of two large rosettes. The others are smaller. I'm using the English paper piecing method to hand piece this. It involves placing your fabric around heavy paper pieces and then sewing them together from the back side. I'm a little concerned that once I take the paper out and press it might not lay flat. I'll probably have to "block" the pieces similar to knitting. There are so many intersections that I'm worried they won't lie flat also. Being this is my first try, a lot of the intersections aren't quite as nice as I would like, but I hope to get better as I go along.

That's so pretty, Betty. As the design grows it reminds me of stained glass in a cathedral, like this rose window at Chartres:

>99 dudes22: That's really coming along! Well done!

>99 dudes22: Well done, you! And I agree with Laura - it does look like a stained glass window.

>100 lauralkeet: That is so lovely, Betty. How big across is that one?

>100 lauralkeet: - Thanks, Laura. You know, I remember seeing a quilt once (maybe in a magazine) that was the round part of the window. Or very similar.

>101 lesmel: - >102 PawsforThought: - Thanks, guys. Still a ways to go.

>103 avaland: - Thanks, Lois. Right now, it's 13" across. I've decided to hold off on the next few rows and work on some of the ones the intersect with it before I decide on fabrics for a few of the pieces. There will be more of those blue ones but I need to figure out what to put with them.

As I said, I'm going to work on some of the smaller rosettes next. Of course, now I'm back to working with those tiny triangles. I cut out fabric shapes for some of the pieces for 2 more of the rosettes.

Oh, that's beautiful!

I have no idea how to paper piece but I really want to learn. I need to look up some youtube videos, I think...

>105 scaifea: - Thanks, Amber. This is not paper-pieced. It's English paper piecing. Somewhat different as I explained above. This pattern is different because English paper piecing is usually hexagons that all fit together to form patterns. This one has 2 diamond shapes, a triangle shape, and 2 pentagon shapes. And paper-piecing is usually done by machine where this one is hand pieced. Having said that - paper piecing is not that hard. You do work in reverse which can be interesting when you first start.

>106 dudes22: Thanks for the explanation - I'm still lost but that's my brain's fault and not yours! I'll dive into it at some point because I'm really curious about it.

I haven't done very much with my rosettes over the weekend. I cut some pieces and put them around the paper shapes but came up with a dilemma. The pattern calls for rosettes of various sizes interlocked. Once it's big enough you cut it to square if off before your add borders/binding. But I saw an example with less rosettes and they float on a background and are appliqued to the background. Except that is a lot of those pesky little triangles that would need to be appliqued. In looking at the triangles, I'm not sure how I would get good points. So I spent portions of the weekend looking for examples that were completed differently. One idea I saw was to put pentagons on either side of the triangle similar to the picture in post #99. The picture I saw used white all the way around which I wasn't a fan of, but I've been thinking that if I could use the background fabric for the pentagons, they might fade into the background preserving that star point. The other idea I saw was to leave them out altogether which leaves more straight edges but then you don't see stars on the edge. Now that I have two options, I'll continue to make my rosettes. I can wait till I'm almost done and have a background fabric to decide which way is better.

>108 dudes22: I have no wisdom to impart re your dilemma. I think it's great you are taking the time to really think about it and weigh various ideas. It will be gorgeous when finished.

Let's just say, I know my limitations with hand piecing. I've never done much appliqueing and I think that would have been an advantage. For now, I can leave the points off while I'm making the rosettes. Maybe by the time I need to decide, I can talk to a person I know that gives classes at Ryco's and see if they can show me how to applique them down.

99 Betty, that is Wow! It's always so interesting to see others' fabric choices.

Had a fairly busy day today. I got my first shot this morning about 45 min away from where I live so my husband came with me and we did a lot of errands while we were up that way: he got new shoes and a new coat with some gift certs, we bought a new mattress, dropped off our taxes to be done and picked up my sewing machine which was being maintenanced. I have one wall hanging all pinned and ready to be quilted. I also decided to pull out my red and white quilt to work on some of that this week, and I feel ready to continue with my rosettes.

>112 dudes22: Hooray for getting the first shot! Hope you don't much in terms of side effects.
My dad was suppose to be able make an appointment this past week but the system collapsed immediately (because our region is crap at healthcare) and now we're hoping for next week. Mum will probably be in a month or so and as I'm lowest priority (downside of being young and healthy) so I'll be happy if I get it before the end of summer.

>112 dudes22: Sounds like a nice day out, Betty. We have our 2nd shot on the 24th.

I decided to work some more on my red/white quilt blocks after I didn't work on them at all last year. This block is 9 pineapple blocks with 37 pieces in each block so 333 pieces and it will finish at 15" square.

>115 dudes22: Wow, I love that! I'm amazed how many pieces go into making the square.

>115 dudes22: That is gorgeous, Betty! If I am understanding this right, the 9 sub-blocks make one 15" block? And if so, how many of the 15" blocks do you need?

I did this pattern a few years ago as paper-pieceing on a somewhat larger scale. And I think it was also 37 pieces. It's crazy-making but so satisfying at the end.

>115 dudes22: Oh, whoa. That looks incredible!

>116 rosalita: - Most pineapple blocks take a lot of pieces to make the sub-patterns when you put them together.

>117 avaland: - Yes, that is right. Just one 15"block. This pattern has all kinds of different blocks in it. I made 16 5" pineapple blocks which were grouped 3,4, & 9. So I'm done with the pineapples. I think next up I'm going to work on the flying geese. There are a few blocks that I'm not sure will lend themselves to 2 colors only, so I'm waiting on them until I can put most of this up on the wall and see what I think it needs before I substitute blocks.

>18 avaland: - Thanks, Amber.

>115 dudes22: That is really gorgeous, Betty. Each square is 15 inches?

>120 sallypursell: - Thanks. The block in the picture is 9 5x5 inch pineapple blocks for a 15" finished block. If you're asking about the blocks in the the quilt, then, no - there are various blocks which are different sizes in the quilt. For example, the block made from only 3 pineapple blocks is 5x15 finished. And the one made with 4 is 10x10. But they're not all pineapple blocks. There are a couple of bow-tie blocks and a Jacob's ladder block. And a bunch of others. I posted some pictures when I started it back in 2019. I think they're still there.

>119 dudes22: Sounds like a good plan.

This is the first block using the flying geese. I need 64 flying geese altogether. This block uses 16. So a few more to go in various combinations and other red fabrics.

And this is a picture of the first flowers to bloom in my garden. It was 60 F here yesterday which is high for this time of the year and I was back to long-johns, earmuffs, and double mittens for my walk this morning.

>123 dudes22: Oh, I like this red quilt a lot.

Thanks, Sally. I still have a ways to go.

I'm going to enjoy watching your progress, Betty!

I've had a bit of a disappointment. I started working on another group of flying geese blocks and I wasn't careful enough about measuring and trimming as I went along. They're like the one in #123 except there are four blocks to make a square. My points didn't meet in the middle of 3 out of four. And I don't think they're square. So I'm going to start over. That will teach me. I was really good when I first started this in 2019 about measuring, measuring, measuring. I need to think of it as more like a meditation and less like a race.

>123 dudes22: I like the way you think! So neat and orderly.

Thanks for the little crocus. I was raking a bit the other day and unearthed an occasional tiny bit of green.

>127 dudes22: Oh dear. I know that disappointment! I'm like you, if I can remember a project is about the journey, I generally don't get frustrated when I make mistakes or when the project is taking longer than I like.

>127 dudes22: Oh dear, I'm so sorry. That must have been really frustrating and disappointing. I think we've all had an experience like that somewhere along the way. It's a good idea to "reset" and think of it as a more meditative exercise.

>128 avaland: - That's actually a mini Dutch iris. I can't blame you - it's not a very good picture. The temps here today reached almost 60 F which is high for March. It was almost 50 for my walk this morning and so nice not to have to wear long johns and flannel-lined pants. I got a new bike helmet for Christmas so I took it out for a spin today to pick up the mail. Had to walk part-way back because the chain was skipping. I have a birthday soon so I've put in a hint for a new bike. (This was a yard sale special)

>129 lesmel: - >130 lauralkeet: - Thanks for the commiseration. I knew you guys would understand. I got all the pieces cut out and the diagonals marked to start all over. And I decided to replace a couple of the fabrics that I didn't think worked so well. Maybe I'll start putting the blocks together tomorrow.

ETA: I also got all my car windows washed today. And two batches of cookies for our family egg hunt on Sun. All in all a profitable day.

>131 dudes22: I think a new bike would be a fine birthday gift!

Is the family all vaccinated now? We had our second shot on Weds. We were both in great spirits driving back home; NH is finishing up the 65+ shots, the 2nd group (50-65) has made appts, and the state just announced signup for the 16+ begins April 2nd.

P is all set -he got his second on the 15th - he's old :) I get my second tomorrow morning. We have friends who have already gotten their 2nd also so in a couple of weeks we're thinking of getting together for dinner. We've walked together but it's just not the same as sitting with a glass bottle of wine and food.

I think from what I heard this am on the news that we're a little behind you. I think 50-65 opens the first full week in Apr. The youngest of my siblings and his wife are in that group.

>127 dudes22: I've done that. I like to remind myself of a quotation from a doctor lady I read about, who when asked about her quilting (all sewn and quilted by hand) said, "I sew a little every day, and one day I have a quilt!" Otherwise I get impatient, too.

Happy 2nd Covid shot, Betty! I my 2nd last week (apologies if I've mentioned it before. So damn exciting!) My 42 year old daughter & SIL are getting their first on the 4th. NH seems to be moving fast. The 16+ can sign up soon (I forget the date). I'm hoping to have all my children and grandchildren together outside on the deck in June or July.

After careful measuring, cutting, and more measuring, I've gotten the next flying geese block done. I took the opportunity to change a couple of colors, but I'm still not sure there's enough contrast in the center. (At least now the points meet.) One more block with flying geese to do (more like a strip).

That's stunning, Betty. I love your crisp, colorful blocks.

>136 dudes22: I really like the reds as they show up on my screen, which is usually pretty accurate, certainly when looking at colours for ordering things. Contrast can be an odd thing, and in a two colour project the wrong shade could throw it right off. Maybe the more muted contrast in this block will highlight a more pronounced one in others.
Your points do meet beautifully.

>137 avaland: - Thanks, Lois. I can't say flying geese are one of my favorite blocks. All those seams meeting at the point usually have me ripping out my hair and swearing a bit.

>138 SassyLassy: - Thanks. I just noticed as I was looking at the picture again that the different red prints in the pinwheels don't show up that well. I'll have to try more picture manipulation for future blocks. (The white was all the same.)

>136 dudes22: Admirable, Betty. I can't wait to see the whole thing. I think the contrast is fine, because that's an orange-red in the center, and the others are blueish reds. I can see what you mean, but don't fret. I'll bet it is going to fit in beautifully.

>140 sallypursell: - Thanks, Sally. I have a few more blocks to work on before I start putting it up on the design wall. There are a couple of blocks that I don't think will work well with just two colors so once I get the rest up on the wall, I'll think about what to substitute in place of the ones I don't like.

(Sigh) - I miss the good ol' days when grocery clerks knew how to pack bags. I went to the store today with three totes for my groceries and the twinkie who packed my groceries tried to shove everything into one bag. Not to mention how heavy it was. (Sigh)

>142 dudes22: Oh, you can bring your own totes? We haven't been able to do so since the pandemic. I hate getting 10 plastic bags that aren't worth re-using when I have cloth bags....

>143 avaland: - A couple of the stores I use have started to let you bring bags. Some would let you bring bags but you had to bag yourself which I felt was holding up the person in back of me so I didn't. A lot if RI is plastic bag free so I usually got paper. I have a huge stack now. I need to check with the local food pantry to see if they can use them.

This is the last of the flying geese blocks for my red/white quilt. I had a fabric that lent itself to fussy cutting and I thought I'd use it here. There are a few blocks left - I'm thinking that at least two of them won't lend themselves to just the two colors, so I'm thinking of substituting other blocks of the same size that will have enough contrast with just two colors. And there is also some checkerboard sashing to make.

>145 dudes22: Oh, Cute!

>145 dudes22: Agree with Sally!

>145 dudes22: Oh, I love that!

This is the next block that I've finished for my red/white quilt. The picture's not all that great even though I tried to adjust it so you could see the various patterns in the reds. That leaves me with just a couple of "blocks" to finish. The first one I'm going to tackle is a 60 deg triangle block/strip that is supposed to be done with templates. I think I'll find my graph paper and make a pattern to paper piece it/them since I don't like templates and there are quite a few of them. The other is a 12"x21" block that I just don't like. I don't think it will lend itself to just reds and whites. I'm thinking of splitting it into multiple blocks - maybe a 12"x12" and either a 9"x12" or a 9"x9" and a 3"x9", probably with smaller blocks. I may use other blocks that are already in the quilt or I may look for alternatives. I also need to make some checkered strips for fill-ins between blocks and then there is some solid sashing.

The last thing I'll have to decide is whether or not to add some kind of border (which the pattern doesn't have) or just put binding around. I saw a picture on Pintrest of one with borders that I liked, but I'll have to look at the size too.

ETA: I just looked at the picture of the quilt again and there is a border of sorts, but I don't think it will work.

ETA2: Oops! There's one other block too.

That's looking really nice, Betty. I love the red and white, which sounds like a really simple color scheme and yet each block is a new and interesting combination of color and pattern.

Nice block, Betty. I'm enjoying watching it come together. It's going to be amazing.

I'm liking that each block is different so I don't get too board. But a lot of them have diagonal seams which is a lot more persnickety.

Another group of blocks for my red/white quilt. Each small block is 4".

These are all so lovely - I can't wait to see how it all fits together!

I got the binding fixed on this. It's 20" square and will go on my display wall. I had seen this in an ad for a fabric line in a quilting magazine. I seem to be addicted to half-square triangles lately. I bought the grey polka dot but the other 100 polka dot fabrics came from my stash. It's hard to see the quilting on it (I probably should have picked a lighter grey thread) but it's follows the shape of the dark grey.

ETA: As I was adding this to my top thread, I realized that this is really the first project I've finished this year.

>156 dudes22: Oh! I liiiiike that!!

>156 dudes22: ooh, VERY nice, Betty! Congratulations on your first FO of the year.

Well - here's a fine howdy do. I've been having a strange problem with my sewing machine over the last couple of weeks. While I'm sewing, if I turn from the machine to iron or cut some pieces, sometimes the display will be blank when I turn back. I have to turn it off and then back on. I finally decided I should call my local dealer where I take it for service and the person I spoke to said that it sounds like a board may be going and she's not sure they even make the boards for it anymore. Can you say ka-ching - new machine? I guess I'll take it up tomorrow and see what they have to say. And I think their big sale was last month. I may have to let my husband buy the new truck he wants.

>157 lesmel: - >158 lauralkeet: - Thanks.

>156 dudes22: That looks really good. Very deserving of a place on the display wall.

Sorry to hear about your machine going a bit haywire. Hopefully it's not the board going but something fixable.

>154 dudes22: I don't like solids much, but this quilt is really to my taste. Yummy. Looks like cherries bled on it.

>156 dudes22: Jazzy!

>162 sallypursell: - Actually, Sally, there are no solids in this quilt yet. I know the picutres don't show it well but the reds are red on red prints and the whites are prints also. I do have to get some red solid for some of the sashing.

>163 sallypursell: - Thanks.

I took my machine to the dealer to see if it can be fixed. It's going to be about 3 weeks before they can even look at it. Meanwhile they have a machine that was a trade-in (and really nice) that's about 1/2 of the original price. It would be just my luck that my machine won't be fixable and someone will have bought the machine. What to do? So tempted to buy it anyway.

>165 dudes22: Buy it anyway!

Seriously, if you have the good luck that you current machine is fixable, then you will have two machines that can be set up for different projects, or colours in the same project. How good is that?!

In the meantime, you won't be bogged down by a delay in whatever you are working on, as you will have a machine.

>166 SassyLassy: - I agree but I already have an older second machine that I use just for piecing. But maybe....

>165 dudes22: ooh, that's tempting.
>167 dudes22: oh.

I'm in no position to advise on this, really!

>156 dudes22: Oooo, I like the optical illusion effect in that block!

>159 dudes22: Ghosts in the machine.... A board going, how awful. How long have you had the machine. What brand is it and how long have you had it before these problems showed up? (just curious)

>169 avaland: - I think I've had it about 15 years. I meant to try and see if I had a receipt or something in my household file, but haven't gotten around to it. I just had it cleaned, etc in Feb and it's only been the last couple of weeks that the problem appeared. It's my Bernina 440 QE. I have a Bernina 145 that I bought used from the dealer, but I've only done piecing on it so far. I made a sandwich to try and see how it will work for actually quilting. I know there's a girl that displays quilts at the local quilt guild show that quilts all hers on a 175 so I'll at least give it a try on a sample first.

There's a block in my red/white quilt that I really don't like the pattern. And it's a weird size - 12x21. I thought I might break it into smaller blocks since I've really never see that many rectangular blocks. I'm thinking a 12x12, a 9x9, and 3 3x3s. The 3" blocks are the ones that are giving me some concern. There are a few 3" blocks in the quilt but I don't want to use them too much. Oops - got an appoint - got to go ....

This block is the 12"x12" block that will be part of that overall block that is 12x21. I feel like I'm getting close to finishing all the parts. (I think I actually got the colors so that the image doesn't look like a red blob) It's what I call an organized scrap.

Oh, I like that one so much! I can't wait to see it all together.

>172 dudes22: Gorgeous!

>173 scaifea: - >174 avaland: - Thank you both. I finally got a picture where you can see some of the differences in the reds.

It's a rainy Sunday here in RI. So I'm going to try and finish a book and I think I've figured out what to do for the rest of that rectangular block. I worked on a strip of 60 deg triangles yesterday. Because I didn't want to work with templates, I made a paper piecing strip. I wasn't really thinking and I started at one end instead of the middle. I'm still going to use it. I have 4 more to do. There are some solid strips when you put all the pieces together so maybe this week I'll take a few of the blocks and go and get some solid red. And I've got some labels that need to be stitched to the back of some quilts. So enough to keep me busy.

>172 dudes22: It's kinda square-in-a-square-in-a-star. I like!!

Here's the latest red/white block. It measures 8"x12" and each little square is 1". Not the greatest picture - it's hard to see the various prints.

Good news - I was thinking I still needed to do the blocks I posted back in post #154. Yeah - they're already done. I just forgot to mark my list.

>177 dudes22: That looks really nice, Betty! I'm looking forward to seeing how it all looks put together.

I love watching the red and white quilt take shape. I didn't realize blocks would be in different sizes. I can't wait to see how it all looks together.

I requested this from the library when I was looking for blocks to substitute in my red/white quilt. I'm looking forward to browsing through this even though I've already figured out that block. Maybe I'll try another quilt with multiple different blocks.

>178 PawsforThought: - >179 lauralkeet: - I'm looking forward to seeing it come together too. I'm almost ready to start. I have a section of triangles to make and some checkerboard sashing. But first I need to buy some solid red.

In other news, They called from the machine store to say that they couldn't recreate the problem with my machine. So I went this morning and picked it up. I'll probably set it up tomorrow and see how it works. The other machine is still there. And as tempted as I am, I'm not sure I'd get the use out of it for the price I'd spend. I know that there's a lot of things the machine I have now could do that I don't use. I can pay for a lot of quilts to be quilted for what I'd pay. (And think of the time I'd spend learning how to use it.)

>181 dudes22: If the shop couldn't recreate the problem, maybe it was just a temporary thing and the machine stops acting up from now on. Let's hope for that.

Roughly how much would someone charge for quilting a quilt?

>182 PawsforThought: - I'm thinking I might try some sewing on it later today.

Most of the quilts that I've had quilted have either been just a simple meander/stipple. For a lap quilt of a size of about 5o"x65" it would be about $80. I've also had one done with a pantograph edge-to-edge design which is a little more expensive - around $100. I haven't had them do an intricate design. I have a friend who has a friend that does "fancy" quilting and I think I'm going to have her do the red/white quilt.

ETA: I usually will quilt anything that's lap size or smaller myself. Although a couple of years ago I did a quilt like the picture in post #1 for Christmas and ran out of time to quilt it and wanted it to go on the wall so I took it to have it quilted. It was only 48x48 and I paid $50 to have a stipple quilted on it, which was the minimum charge.

>177 dudes22: Stunning!

>180 dudes22: Browsing through a book of block patterns is a favorite pastime of mine :-)

>181 dudes22: Hope the machine is back in good working order however it might have got there. Re the other machine: my machine does all manner of cool things, most of which I sadly don't use.

>183 dudes22: That's about what I pay, Betty.

>180 dudes22: - I've been poking through this book while the TV has been on. A few thoughts:

It's divided into sections (applique, foundation piecing, mixed blocks, pieced blocks) so you can concentrate on just what you might be looking for. There's also a section on settings and yardage which is ok, but all based on a 12" block. Actually all the blocks in the book finish at 12". And most of the yardages are only for the borders and binding and not how much you would need for the blocks. There is a CD that comes with the book which may have more information for each block and you can print from it so you don't have to try and put it in a copy machine but I didn't look at it. I'm assuming it includes the applique shapes and the foundation piecing patterns.
A few of the blocks give a thumbnail of what multiple blocks would look like together, but most don't. You could probably use a hinged mirror to at least see what four would look like. The back says it's a $30 book but there is a lot in it. (And you might be able to find it cheaper used.)

I might take a picture of a few blocks that I liked.

>185 dudes22: I'm guessing it might be redundant block-wise if I have the Jinny Beyer book.

>186 avaland: - probably

I haven't tried my "big" machine yet. I did bring up a wall quilt I had started piecing on it and took a break from the red/white quilt to finish the top. I'm having trouble deciding how to quilt it. (It's always my biggest issue which is why I have so many tops not finished.) I wish someone around here would have a class about it. I've read various articles in mags and on-line but I'm still bad at it.

>188 dudes22: I am much better at picking a quilting pattern if someone else is quilting it. Since nearly all of my tops these days are made with angular pieces (that circle batik being an exception), I tend to want to soften those lines with curvy quilting, usually an overall pattern and usually at a fairly 'loose' scale so the quilts are comfy and flexible. For the charity quilts and kid quilts that may have a short life expectancy I tend to do them myself with straight line grid but 'on point' (diagonals).

That's probably not much help. Do you want to post some of them and solicit some suggestions?

>189 avaland: - You're up early - Happy Mother's Day! I'll take a picture to post later. I kind of follow the same pattern as you do although I think I use straight line quilting a bit more. It's what I'm most comfortable with. Ok - off to walk.

This is the quilt that I'm having trouble deciding how to quilt. I guessing an overall stipple since I don't think straight lines will be good. The picture I saw of it had feathers in the white spaces, but that's not something I think I want to do. The whole quilt is only about 20" square, same as other wall quilts I've been doing lately.

I've finished the last of the blocks and the checkerboard sashings for red/white quilt - Squee! There is some plain sashing that I haven't cut yet - I'll do that as I put together each section. I need to make a few masks this morning and then I'm going to start putting section 1 together. (There are 6 sections) I tried very hard to make sure each block was the size it was supposed to be, but somehow there are always problems when you try to put it all together.

>191 dudes22: It would be interesting to have a curvy vine with blossoms attached.

I always heard that a curvy quilt had straight lines quilted, and a straight quilt got curvy lines. That doesn't always work for me, but it gets me started thinking about it.

>193 sallypursell: - I've heard that same thing. I'm not really good with curvy - too much type "A". I'm going to go through a folder I have of machine quilting designs and see if I find anything that I like. Of course, if I took some time and practiced like they say you should, I'd probably get better. But I'm too impatient to spend time just practicing.

>191 dudes22: That's lovely. What about a motif (for example, scrolling or vines) that go through the outer parts that have the yellow in it; I think it would bring them out a bit to balance that and the darker star? I'm sure whatever you do will be fine.

I've decided to move the red/white quilt sections and fabric back to the basement where my design wall is so I can hang them up as I finish the sections. I have a lot of red fabric now. I'll have to find another project for it.

Went to my favorite greenhouse today to buy most of my flowers for the garden. It's about 45 minutes away so I usually only make one trip. I try to go the week before Mother's Day so there's still a good selection and, sure enough, some stuff I wanted was gone. So after we got back and unloaded what we had, I went off to another place which is closer and bought a bunch more stuff. Looks like I'll be spending a lot of this weekend getting flowers in the ground and into pots.

ETA: The greenhouse I like is in the town where my husband grew up and we found it when we used to go visit his parents every weekend. I loved their stuff (and prices) so much that I still go back even though my MIL & FIL have passed. And they have great chrysanthemums in the fall.

>196 dudes22: I will imagine you in your garden today, Betty. How nice to have sentimental connections/history around the garden centers you go to. I have been cleaning out various garden areas over the last few weeks, a little at a time. I keep telling myself I need to cut all these garden areas back or eliminate them as every year it seems to get harder to get it all done.

>197 avaland: - One of the reasons we downsized to a condo was the gardens were getting way too much. And even though there is less here I still manage to have plenty to do. Here's what I bought yesterday:



It's supposed to be nice here the next few days so I'll be working to get these into pots and the garden. Hmmm...I may need more...

I just got most of the store bought plants potted. I get a little done each good day (which doesn't mean I don't wish for the rainy days so I can take a break). The lawn needs mowing now....

I managed to do 7 pots on Sat. Even though my hubby sets up a table for me outside, it's still a lot of bending for my back. The rest needs to go into the ground and I'll do a little each day. I took yesterday off and spent most of it on the deck reading my current book. All this story to say that I think I'm going to get back to my hand sewing project after a few months off to work on the red/white. It's something I could do sitting outside. I was also a little discourage at where I was at with it but I think I've found some new enthusiasm.

Lovely plants, Betty. Tis the season for gardening, isn't it? We've been busy whipping ours into shape as well.

I was going to do a few tomatoes and herbs this year, but the cicadas are supposed to be so bad that I decided it might not be worth my time. I'll get back to it next year. I do have a few herbal remnants where I didn't get them completely transplanted.

I didn't realize it had been so long since I visited my own thread. Lois has mentioned that people over 200 posts need to start a second thread and I'll do that soon.

I have no sewing to report (only a few masks) but I was mentioning on Lois's thread that I spent the day on the deck under the awning reading and although we don't usually talk about books here, I wanted to mention the one that I read today. The next book for our book club is White Chrysanthemum by Mary Lynn Bracht. It's based on the Korean women who were taken captive during WW II and used as "comfort Women" for the Japanese soldiers. It was something I knew little about and I just flew through the book.