Speaking of Retreat

I had a great time at our Guild's May Retreat. And it was so wonderful that my Mom, my daughter, and my daughter-in-law could join me. Here's are some photos of projects that were worked on by the 22 of us:

the spacious room we had to work in

 

our first make and take - a needle case.

Our second make and take - a quilting in the Neighborhood placemat

Some of the projects worked on:

Tracy's first Dresden plate - she made it into a pillow

Katy's Embroidered starfish - felt like chenille.

A pickle dish project

Fern's fabulous dragon quilt - her own pattern for this panel

Barara's Mad Hatter

Carol's tablet holder

Joyce's lovely stack and whack block

My amazing daughter-in-law took to free motion quilting like a duck to water. Her first quilting endeavor.

Once she had it quilted, she bound it.  It is for her new niece.  And my daughter took Deanna's cut off triangles from her placemat and made a mug rug:

Em's our queen of mini quilts from scraps.

The setting is soothing, the food fabulous, the company a joy. Hope you get to go to a retreat this year. One coming up in November.

Some of This; Some of That

Since I was at retreat two weeks ago and then the funeral the following weekend, I haven't had much time to work on destashing, but I am finally able to report on those two week.  What with  making blocks for my Sweet Land of Liberty, some test geese, creating a medallion, binding a quilt, and working on another medallion, plus three fat quarters for a place mat,  I was able to use 1.62 yds from the stash.  That gives me a YTD total of 35.43 yds toward the 46 yards I need to reach my goal in December. Yes, the difference is greater - such is life.  Just have to keep plugging along - maybe donate some yardage to the guild.  We'll see.

Now something new.  My mom and I are doing a round robin.  Here's what she gave me  - above left.  And here is what I'm sending her.  Have the last row to attach.  We're turning
these into baby quilts.  Just something different for a change.  What would you do with these?
They have to measure around 36" square when done.

I'm linking to Sunday Stash.  How have you done with your destashing?

Progress on the challenges for May

For the 6 and 6 in 2018, I did make progress. For Judy's UFO challenge - no.  But a couple of things got done.

I completed Unit 5 for my new project, Sweet Land of Liberty. So, I'm caught up with that. I've decided to make a smaller version of this quilt - as the original would not fit in the space I have in mind for it. I have no other option for wall hangings.

And I finished the commissioned baby quilt.

I can't believe I didn't take a photo of it done. Maybe the retreat photographer has one and I'll replace the photo above.  I did happen to take one of my signature on it and one of the binding.

Click on the photo for larger view.

This was for a great grand son of a friend from church. The baby shower is this weekend. I spent part of a retreat day quilting and binding it.  You can see that here - once you can see the photo click on it for short video.

I'm linking to the aforementioned blogs in the first two paragraphs, and Esther's WOW.  Also linking to Finish it Up Fridays and Can I get a Whoop Whoop? See you there.

In Need of a Triangle

or how to make a really scrappy flying geese with your smaller scraps.

I need to make some flying geese for my Sweet Land of Liberty, but I need to make them scrappy.  And as I use my homespun fabric, I'm only having some small scraps left over. So making the no waste method flying geese gets tougher as I have fewer large squares to use.

Mulling this over I figured the sizes of squares I needed for a 2 1/2" by 4 1/2" flying goose. I'd need a 5 1/4" square for the goose body, and four 2 7/8" (I added the 1/8" for easier cutting) squares for the wings - as per the no waste method.  I can vary the wings easily, but it would give me 4 bodies that are the same.  AND I don't have such a large piece.

So I cut out paper templates of the sizes I need.  Cut them as I would while using the no waste method and voila I have my scrappy geese templates..

Upon comparing the formula (which is calculated for the finished size) with my paper templates, I see that for the unfinished size one would take away 3/4" from the unfinished body square, and half inch from the unfinished wing square and one has the measurement needed to make a flying goose with triangles.  So the next one I made I cut a square for each part with these new dimensions and it came out perfect.  I'll try other sizes in the near future to see if that holds up.  Math rules!

Memorial Day

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. 

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I like Thursdays

I like another block I made for my Sweet Land of Liberty.  It's wonky - has architetural issues, but it's done. Others have told me it's fine for a primitive quilt.  And it is.

Do visit Lee Anna's blog to see other likes by fellow bloggers.

Link is www.agingwithdignity.org

The recent unexpected passing of three young people is a real reality check. Time to write down my preferences for health directives. Don't think of this as morbid - but as I said  - "a check on the reality of life. So I was very happy to find in our church bulletin a notice of a Saturday seminar about the end of life issues.  I went and I liked the link they gave us to fill out these important forms.
Succinct, helpful, and caring. Check it out. It will give you and your family peace of mind.

Design Wall Table

On my Design Wall table is my Mother's Day present from my DD - a mini quilt measuring 3" by 5" .
She knows I love astronomical objects. Thank you, Sweetheart!

I Like Thursdays

It has been a subdued week. Another young man has gone to his eternal rest.  Matthew was 47.  He was diagnosed 16 days ago, and he's already gone.  Our only consolation is that he will suffer no more, and then there are all the good memories he left behind for his family. It was good to see how his five other siblings rallied around their mother and brother as they went through this farewell.

While I quilted this week, I came across a solution to a cutting dilemma. When I use paper templates (especially if I'm only making one block) the paper always seemed to move when I re-positioned the ruler.  Had a light bulb moment. Why not put a dab of washable glue on the back of the paper so they stay in place? That's what I did. Problem solved.

a little dab of this glue stick did the trick.

paper comes right off

I found another bloom in our cactus garden.  These are my favorites - they look like the flowers on the Christmas cactus, but prettier.

Double click on the photo to see the detail.  Blessing to you all. 

Some of This; Some of That

Destashing report:  I sandwiched a commissioned quilt top I finished and used 3.58 yds.  Then I made a back for a neonatal quilt for another 0.64 yd.  I made a bunch of HSTs for my yellow RSC blocks  - 0.22 yd out.  That's a total of 4.44 yds and a YTD total of 33.81 yds toward the 38 yards I need to reach my goal in December.

As to those tops, I'm quilting them now, and it will take up most of the days before Friday when my Mom and I and DIL go to a quilt retreat.  
This was our view on the way to our room last year. We're going back to the same place in Temecula Valley wine country for the retreat.  We always have a great time and the food is divine.

Sadly, another dear friend's 47 year old son is in ICU gravely, gravely ill.  Please pray for Matt.

Life is short in the whole scheme of things. Be grateful for every day you have. Hope you get to quilt today.  In between quilt sessions I plan to hand stitch some Bliss hexagons.

I'm linking to Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, and Sunday Stash.  See you there.

Friday Finish

Finished the top of my commissioned baby quilt.

Now to sandwich, quilt, and bind.  She wanted jungle animals or zoo.  There was a panel that went with the collection, but I liked this large print better. Measures 36" square.

I'm linking to Amanda's Finish it up Friday, Myra's Finished or Not Friday, Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop? , Michelle's Let's Make Baby Quilts, ScrapHappy Saturday.  See you there.

I like Thursdays

 The week has flown by. It will soon be Thursday and time to report what we liked last week.  First  advice from Web MD that I liked:

You knew it was good for you! -- How to Prevent Memory Loss:

On my long bucket list. From a Pinterest site.
may be La passacaglia Ballet Penrose 

Do all the usual things that are good for you: Be social, get exercise, eat well, sleep enough, and don’t smoke. Think of your brain like a muscle -- use it or lose it. Play games like crosswords and Sudoku. Read books or magazines that challenge you. Learn a foreign language or a new instrument. Do projects that take planning, like quilting or a garden. 

And speaking of gardens - here's another yellow bloom:

Also I like how useful my smart phone camera is when I'm quilting. I take a photo when I've laid out some units.  It helps see where things need to be rearranged.  And then when I have a setting I like, the photo helps me sew it order. The photo lets me check which goes where without labeling all those 49 blocks.

Lastly, was talking to a friend who lives in Honolulu. I like her pointing out that the Hawaii News has the latest on the volcano for me to read. In 1995 my husband and I walked the trail that is now buried in the molten lava at the main crater. So now I click on the link and get my volcanology fix.

I hope you get to quilt this week and post about your likes at LeeAnna's. Blessings,

Some of This; Some of That

First, the stash report.  I made two blocks for my Sweet Land of Liberty (and they were hard). It took me 0.16 yd to make these two 6 1/2" blocks plus sashing because I had to cut so many parts to get the right ones.  On the left you can see some of the detritus I generated.  Tinman didn't have so much, but it was still more than I wanted. Done!

I'm also working on a new commission quilt. So far I've used 0.79 yd in construction.  I'll show it to you when I've finished the top. For this week then,  I brought my YTD total to 29.37 yds of the 36 yds needed to date to reach my goal.

As for the UFO challenge from Judy, I need to work on Bliss - a hand stitching hexie project. That's good.  I also need to finish my yellow HSTs for April and start on the pink/red ones. Also sometime in there I want to get back to work on my Love Entwined and my Riverside quilt.  It will be a busy month as I'm going on a quilt retreat also.  Phew. If I get some progress on each of them, I'll be happy.

Yesterday, it was 100 degrees around here and I was sick (think heat exhaustion). Started Friday. I volunteered 5 hours at our church library; never drank a drop of water. Then I walked to the bus stop in the 98 degree weather that day. That did it. By 6 PM  I was dizzy and faint. Can't take the heat. Today, it was a mere 99, but I did better as I reminded myself on the hour to have a glass of cold water.  It's going to be a looong summer.

I'm linking to to Sunday Stash, Design Wall Monday, (although there's nothing new on it), Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, and a few others.  See which under the More tab above. Hope you get to quilt this week.

I like Thursdays

It was an eventful May 1st - my DS2's birthday - he turned 44 and it rained! First time I ever remember it raining that late in the rain season. Granted we only got 0.12 inches of rain, but to us in SoCal it was a lot!  Nicest thing I liked about it was that it was a gentle rain and let every drop soak in.  Thank you, Lord!

I also like what is happening in my garden. More blooms.

The amaryllis continue to bloom.

I love this gorgeous yellow on this flower. See those little puff of what looks like cotton - a flower will emerge from each.

One of our golden barrel cacti.  When the sun hits them just right, they seem to glow.

Last, but not least like for the week - I love how my Mod sampler looks over the fireplace.

It's the little things that give us joy.  Do check out LeeAnna's links to other joy.

Blessings, 

Some of This, Some of That

I wrapped a gift in scrap fabric (the little one's mom is a quilter) for another 0.67 yds out the door. How's that for destashing? Will do that again!  Found another panel and a backing for 2.33 yds destashed. Then I made 3 scrappy hexies for Bliss.

How did I figure the area of the hexies?  The formula is the Area of a regular hexagon is equal to 3 times the square root of 3 over 2 then multiplied by the side squared.  It came out to 16.24 square inches times 3 (since I made 3) or 48.72 sq inches . Dividing that by the 1512 square inches of fabric in a yard, my real use was 0.032 yds.  LOL - the easy way: each hexie needs a 4 1/2" square to make it. That works out to 0.04 yds for the 3, and really that's more accurate as I created some scraps as I fussy cut.  Can you tell I like geometry?

Finally, I made a block for My Small World - that used up a mere 0.01 yd (all the blocks are tiny - this one is the biggest - 4.5" unfinished) of scraps.  So my YTD total has grown to 28.42 yds of the 34 yds I should have used to reach my goal. For Slow Sunday Stitching, I'm going to start making 3 more hexies. They have segments so they take longer than doing regular ones. I'll be making a few yellow blocks for the RSC 2018, too.

I'll also be linking to Sunday Stash, Design Wall Monday (although there's nothing new on it), Oh Scrap, and a few others.  See which under the More tab above.

Blessings to all. Have a restful Lord's day.

The Mod is Finished and other Thursday Likes.

Finally got Mod-Mod sampler bound. Even put a hanging sleeve.  Here's the back:

This was a 2014 block of the month at Block Lotto. I only made a 1/4th of it. This year we're taking turns to post a block to be made by those who participate. This month is my turn.  I chose the Noon & Light block.  It looks complicated but I came up with a way to make it that is pretty easy.  If you'd like to make a block visit Block Lotto and check out the pdf.  You're welcome to join us in this month's swap.  We make a block or more and post to the swap and you have a chance of winning some at the end of the month. People play from all over the world.  I like that we already have as of Thursday over 50 blocks. Here's the block:

Another thing I like about it - is it's mostly scrappy and you can make 2 blocks from one set of cut fabric.

Not much else quilty wise here as I've been doing more babysitting. But I did walk around in my garden and discovered some blooms.

These are Evening Primrose. They spread easily and I let them come out wherever they want.

When we bought the house almost 50 years ago, these amaryllis filled a border on both sides of the front door. 

This last photo is of an edible elephant bush.  According to the Master Gardener Program of the University of Wisconsin:  Although it is considered to be in the purslane plant family (Portulacaceae), molecular phylogenetic studies suggest this genus should be in the Didiereaceae, a group otherwise found only in Madagascar. Recent research has shown P. afra is an excellent ‘carbon sponge’, with the ability to efficiently use more carbon from the air than most other plants (since it can use both normal and CAM pathways to grow despite adverse climatic conditions) and can therefor remove more carbon from the atmosphere than an equal amount of deciduous forest.  Wow, we're going to plant more of this.

I hope you are all well and enjoying Spring or Autumn - depending on what hemisphere in which you reside. Blessings, friends.

I'm linking to Finish it Up Fridays, Finished or Not Fridays, Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?