A Finish and a Start

Good morning, my friends. Yesterday's sunshine was short-lived. Within an hour of writing my post yesterday morning, we were back to rain. I still haven't made my way to the bottom of the driveway to see our new French drain. It's still too dark to tell what today's weather will hold, but it's looking promising. 

It was a good sewing day. I finished off the last of the Scrappy Plus blocks.

Here are all 20 blocks together. They just need to be sewn together, and I'll have a finished quilt top. There are a few projects in line ahead of it. Quilting and binding probably won't happen until sometime in 2026. (I feel as if I'm far into the future when I type out a year like that, but it's only just one year away. Sheesh. I'm old.)

And Sadie would like to take issue with my description of this as "finished." Clearly it is not finished. It's impurrtant to be purrcise with one's use of language.

But then she was overcome by a bad case of the adorables and she fell over. It happens.

So next up, I began the Duckworth quilt I've been threatening to start. Just now I typed "Duckworth Quilt" into my search bar. An AI-generated description came up, thus:

A Duckworth quilt is a wonky log cabin quilt made from scraps of fabric. The style is named after quilter Jo Anne Merrill-Duckworth, who is known for making scrappy quilts. 

 Here are some tips for making a Duckworth quilt: 

You can make a quilt top in a day.

Each block takes less than five minutes to make.

You can use a 6.5 inch ruler.

Duckworth quilts are a great way to use up scraps, even non-strippy ones.

 You can learn more about Duckworth quilts from these resources:

Pinterest: Find ideas for Duckworth quilts, including modified log cabin quilt blocks, crumb quilts, and rustic quilts 

YouTube: Watch a video tutorial on how to make a Duckworth quilt 

Podunk Pretties Blog: Read about the Duckworth style of quilting 

So I made up some rules for mine: My quilt top will consist of 10-1/2 inch blocks (unfinished) set five across and six down. My finished quilt will end up somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 x 60 inches. I'm not planning to add a border. I started with the centers. I cut five from my blue bin. I decided to use only scraps that contained blue and nothing else, however, a little green is acceptable. And I cut all five centers. Insofar as cutting goes, I'm using a ruler to get straight cuts, but I'm not measuring, and I'm making them intentionally wonky.

With the blues cut, I could turn my attention to the greens exclusively. For the greens, I'm cutting strips 1-3 inches wide. Other colors are permitted, but I'm only using scraps from my green bin. To start, I'm eyeballing the length and then sewing them to the center square. I'm chain-piecing them, which means I'm lining up the bottom of the strip with the bottom of the center square. For ease of chain-piecing, I'm keeping fabric scissors beside me and trimming off any excess at the top. When I had the first strip sewn on, they looked like this.

And then I just kept going until I'd completed the first round.

Then I started on the second round. It was late in the day by then. I cut the next strips to be sewn, but then just left them for today's sewing pleasure. I'm calling this project "Land and Sea."

The blocks will go together pretty fast. My plan is to make them five blocks per go-round. And that's all I know. 

So far, I'm kind of "meh" about these, but I'm determined to keep going and use up some of my greens and blues. I've seen plenty of finished Duckworth quilts, and each one has appealed to me, no matter the colorway. We'll just have to see where this takes me. And I figure it can always be a donation quilt if nobody else wants it.

Okay, so I don't have much on today's agenda. It's going to be a mostly sewing day. Hopefully I can get outside and take a look at that drain. How are you spending your Monday?

Two Down

Good morning, my friends. We're looking at a break in the rain for the next several days. We had rain off and on yesterday. There was enough dry weather for Mike and the other neighbor men to get out for some trenching and graveling a drainage area at the end of our driveway. It seems water runs downhill from our house into the neighbor's yard, and the deluge is eroding an embankment they want to preserve. After discussing it with the neighbors, it was decided to put a "French drain" at the end of our driveway. (Yeah...don't ask me. But if you're curious you can read all about it at that link I've given you.) It took several hours of his time yesterday. Mike was one of two "heavy equipment operators" (think tractor) needed to get the job done. I haven't actually seen it yet, and so I don't know what it looks like. Maybe I'll mosey on down there today and have a look.

So in other less industrial news, I'm making headway on the last bicycle for the Girls' Getaway quilt. There's probably still several days work in this, but I'm ready to move on to something else. I started this piece way back on December 17th, and so I've been working on it for nearly a full month. (It seems longer...probably because of the holidays.)

From there I donned my workout apparel and took a walk on the treadmill. When I came back upstairs, I found Smitty enjoying the view of his terrortory from his new geriatric kitty pole. He's taking to it little by little. I mentioned to Mike earlier, we'll probably need to move it to a new spot when the morning sunshine starts shining in this spring. Napping in the morning sunshine is pretty much his favorite thing to do. And please do not make any snide comments about his pawsterior. That is rude and hurtful.

After my shower, I headed into the sewing room and found him there ready to get to work.

Together, we sewed together the first of the remaining four Scrappy Plus blocks.

Sadie wanted to get in on the act after that. She loves this quilt. It's scrappy...just like her...and so she feels a kindred spirit with it.

But furrst...how exactly is this organized?

She helped me lay out and sew together the next block. When it was finished...DOH! Do you see it?

How about now? Oy. Sigh. Bummer. I hate it when I do something like this. There was supposed to be a dark orange triangle in that spot. I don't know how I missed that, but clearly I did.

[Insert ridiculously long period of time, including swearing, while I made this right.]

Let's just pretend that never happened, okay? Mum's the word.

Okay, now more than once someone has commented they think I've placed that dark blue in the wrong spot. Actually, no. I made it just as the pattern diagram showed it. When the first person asked, I checked the picture from the pattern, and it's shown the same way there. You can see for yourself in the image below. The quilt in the picture is more scrappy than mine, but it too has the dark blue in the same place.

And, nothing says I have to make it the same way as shown in the pattern, but I made the first blocks that way, and so I continued on for every one of them.

Okay, so I used a lot of my sewing time fixing that second block, and I'd kind of lost my motivation to sew by then. I decided to lay out the final two blocks for sewing today. When I laid them out, I found that I was short one square of the darkest gray fabric...

And one triangle, also in the darkest gray.

Hm...and I had an extra square and an extra triangle of white. Hm. Kinda makes you wonder if I substituted them somewhere along the way, doesn't it?

Well, if I did, it's going to stay that way. When I look at the blocks I've already made...

nothing really jumps out at me. You can see how the grays and white form diagonal lines, but I can't really see anything obviously out of place. In any case, even if I could find it, I'm not changing it. It's scrappy, and I'll fight anyone who tells me I have to change it. (Puts up dukes.) Anybody???? I thought not. Hmph. (Settles self down.)

Okay, so I cut the pieces I needed, and I'll finish sewing these two blocks together today.

When those are finished, I'll take a look at the Duckworth quilt project I mentioned in an earlier post. There are lots of examples on Pinterest. Mine will be done in blues and greens, which are currently the most overstuffed of my scrap bins. I'll be doing more scrap quilts in the coming months because, honestly, my scraps have become absolutely oppressive. It's time to find ways to pare them down some...as if that will ever happen.

Okay, so it's time to get on with my day. We've already had our blueberry oatmeal pancakes. Slow-stitching is next. Have a good day, Everybody! And, California, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for some progress on those terrible fires. Please stay safe, my friends.

A Little Progress

Good morning, my friends. By the time I finished writing yesterday, our skies had gone from dreary and gray to sunny and blue. When I went downstairs, I saw Sadie outside. It always makes me smile seeing them outside doing cat things. She seemed to have a bead on something small and furry. 

My day seemed to fly by. I don't know what I did all morning. Well...I do know, but it was all pretty slow and uninteresting. And, now that I think of it, slow and uninteresting is a good way to spend a day when you get right down to it. 

Some housework was accomplished and I got in a Bowflex workout. I've been icing my elbow on Bowflex days, and it seems as if it's keeping inflammation at bay. I can remember when learning new things meant learning a new skill. Now I'm learning how to treat aches and pains that come along. And I'll just say that ice is a good tool to have in your anti-inflammatory bucket. Also...avoid the news.

So it was pretty late in the day when I made my way to the sewing room. My current goal is to make the final four blocks for the Scrappy Plus quilt. These start with the making of 48 half square triangles.

I don't think I've ever talked about this Bloc-Loc ruler. It's a very handy tool for trimming half-square triangles to size. 

It has a groove on the bottom that butts up against the seam of your triangle. And then, you slide the ruler to the correct marking and trim. I usually give the first cut a little extra room. Then I flip the triangle and the ruler around to trim the other side. In this case, I was trimming to 3-1/4 inch, and you can see in the image above that I've lined both sides at the 3-1/4 inch mark.

With the help of my ruler, I soon had a nice pile of trimmings . . .

And a pile half square triangles. When they were sorted by color and value, they looked like this.

Regarding that ruler, there are plenty of vendors online that sell it, including Amazon. I purchased mine around 8 years ago. Mine is the 6-1/2 inch size. They come in different configurations and sizes. They are available for flying geese and for making half square rectangles. Frankly, I've never seen the use in multiple sizes. I simply turn mine around, and I can trim blocks up to 6-1/2 inches. And, honestly, how big does anyone ever make a half square triangle? It seems making them larger than 6-1/2 inches would be unusual. I'd probably use a different tool for trimming them. And all of that to say that they are fairly expensive from every vendor I saw. If you want my opinion (and, honestly, everyone is entitled to my opinion), this one size is worth the cost. I can't say much for the desirability of any of the other iterations of the ruler, but to each his or her own.

So my last gasp of the day was to lay out the first block to be sewn together I left it covered with rulers to protect it from inspection by critters, and then turned out the lights for the day.

For today's effort, I'm hoping to sew this one block and at least one more together. If I'm really speedy, I might get three done. It's probably too much to expect to finish all four. I want to get in a walk on the treadmill, and of course there is slow-stitching. It's looking like a pretty easy-going day at this end.

California, I'm heartsick over the devastation from the fires. I was born in Corona, California, which is some distance from the fire. As a military brat, California was the place I lived longest. We left California when I was three, and then returned when I was 12. I lived there the remaining days of my youth until Mike and I married and left for good back in 1975. And so California feels a lot like home to me, and the images I've seen are heart-breaking. I can't even begin to imagine what it's like for those who have lost everything, and for those who are still evacuated and only hoping their homes will be spared. If you are among them, know that you are in my thoughts. This too shall pass, but rebuilding will not be easy. Take care, my friends, and please stay safe.

Fast Finish

Good morning, my friends. It's a gray, foggy, and rainy day. I wish we could send this moisture to Los Angeles. It's the one day of rain we're expecting. We should be back to sunshine and blue skies by tomorrow.

My day was pretty easy yesterday. I took a walk on the treadmill, and then I went to work baking some Carrot-Apple Muffins with Citrus Glaze. I swear there were a dozen when I took them out of the oven. Mike snagged one before I could get a picture.

In all honesty, I snagged one right after I took that picture. It was tasty with my afternoon cup of espresso.

Probably there was a nap in the mix there, but eventually I made my way to the sewing room. Smitty was there waiting. 

He's understandably concerned about this "bear" quilt in his sewing room.

He was hoping we were going to sew on the binding, and it's not surprising that he'd want to have all those bears bound up. They rifle through everything looking for food, and that is Smitty's exclusive domain.

So, no problem, Buddy. We went straight to work sewing on that quilt binding. I'm happy for an opportunity to use this striped fabric. I can't remember where, when, or why I purchased it. It has a pinky-peachy stripe like the inner border of the quilt along with a very pale green. As you might guess, it's been hard to find a way to use it. It was just right for this quilt. I've been told the binding fabric should be made from something used in the quilt, but I ignore that. My quilt, my rules.

And then I took up a comfortable seat and stitched and stitched and stitched until I'd stitched all four corners.

Just a little bit farther, and my quilt was finished.

Laying it in front of our living room window, I was able to get a better shot of the quilting on the back. I love this design. So simple, and so pretty.

Okay. And so we'll return to our regularly-scheduled programming now. I'm ready to get back to my list of WIPs. Today I'll begin sewing together the final four Scrappy Plus blocks. As I've said ad nauseum, I'm going to love this quilt, but the blocks are a PITA to sew together. I'm glad I'm on the home stretch.

It will probably take at least two days to make the final four. 

That will open up a slot on my WIPs dance card. I have in mind to make something scrappy using my greens and blues. Those bins are stuffed to the gills, and so I'd like to try to pare them down some. I've been looking at a quilt I've seen in one of the Facebook groups I follow called a "Duckworth Quilt." If you're on Facebook, you can find several pdf's and word documents that discuss how to do it in the Scrap Quilt Enthusiasts files. It's a private group, and so you'd have to join the group to see it. You can also see many examples on Pinterest. I've printed out the pages and I'll start working on that soon.

Next up on the list will be to make another row for the Light Frame quilt. It's fun watching the pattern  emerge with each addition.

There is a little bit of housework to do today, and I'll get in a Bowflex workout. Also I'm going to start some split pea soup in my slow cooker this morning. I'll use the ham bone and some of the leftover ham from our New Year's Day ham dinner. Split pea soup was the biggest reason for buying the larger bone-in ham. Aside from that, it'll be a mostly sewing day.

Before anything else, though, I'll get back to my slow-stitching. I'm closing in on a finish for the Bicycles and Lace. It'll be good to work on something else when it's done.

Getting Back to Normal

Good morning, my friends. We have a pretty view of Mt. St. Helens this morning. We've been having some very nice weather, and we're expecting it to continue into next week. After last week's deluge, it's nice to see some blue sky and sunshine. And with what's happening in California right now, I'm not complaining about the rain...just acknowledging it. There are worse things than rainy days.

Sadie knows one thing that's worse than a rainy day...being unceremoniously captured, crated, and hauled off to the vet, where they do unspeakable things. Sadie is fine. She got a clean bill of health at her annual physical, and she is up-to-date on her vaccines now. We will have to provide proof of rabies vaccines for both kitties when we cross international borders this spring. Think of it as a kitty passport. Now they're both ready to go. 

When we were back home again, I went to work on my slow-stitching. The bicycles have been neglected for a few days while I worked on the Bigfoot piece. I was able to finish off the "Rosy Pink" bicycle yesterday...

And I took the first stitches on the aqua bicycle. It's the last one for this piece. There's still quite a bit to do, and so I don't expect to have it finished before next week sometime.

You might remember when I quilted this Dream Big Leaf panel. It was just for free-motion quilting practice and for fun. If you look closely at that picture below, you can see how it was rippled around the edges. It was quilted so densely that it wouldn't lay flat.

When it was finished, I hung it on my quilt rack with all the other quilts. When I put out my winter quilts after this past Christmas, I'd hoped to use it as a table topper on the dining room table. With so much rippling, though, it looked just terrible, and so I put it away with sadness. Then, I realized I just needed to block it, and I might be able to salvage it for use as a table topper or a wall-hanging. And so the urge struck me yesterday. I got out my cardboard cutting board (a gift from my mother when I was a teenager), and stretched and pinned the quilt to it.

It couldn't accommodate the entire width, but I pinned it where I could, and then gave it a good wetting down.

And then I went back to my quilting. When I arrived in the quilting room, I was happy to see that Smitty was already on the job, guarding against invaders.

I had three rows of blocks and a border to finish. I left the narrow pink border unquilted, and used a ribbon motif in the wider outer border.

When it was finished, I took it off the machine to have a look. 

Here's a little closer look at the quilting. All the blocks are quilted in the same way.

I wish the quilting on the back showed up better in the image below. I messed with the contrast and lighting, but it's still hard to see. Too bad because it's really pretty on the back.

And then I took it downstairs to square it up for binding. Smitty, with his eagle eyes, takes his duties as chief quilt inspector very seriously.

He used his tail to keep those unsewn binding strips under control. Strippers. What're you gonna do?

And that was the end of my quilting day. Today I'll sew that binding on, and then I'll probably spend most of the day finishing off the hand sewing.

When I went downstairs, and many hours later, the quilt was dry, and so I unpinned it and laid it out on the table. It still has a few little ripples, but it is vastly improved. I may decide to give it another try, but for now, I'll give it time and see if it flattens out even more on its own. Even if this is the best I can do, it's fine to use as a table topper now, and that makes me happy.

So it seems the day will be mostly hand-stitching today. I'll get back to the last bicycle and then I'll work on the quilt binding. On a quilt this size, 39 x 45 inches, I've been known to stitch the whole binding in a single day.

Also on today's agenda, I'll be baking some Carrot-Apple Muffins with Orange Glaze. Since the first of the year, I've been dieting, and so there's been no more baking. Mike and I started a serious diet back in 2017, and we both lost a good amount of weight. As anyone who's ever tried to lose weight knows, there are always the inevitable plateaus of weight loss where nothing seems to budge the number on the scale a single ounce. And when that happens, I get discouraged and lose my motivation to continue.

Since that initial weight loss, I've focused on trying to maintain my weight, and I've tried again twice (I think). Now I'm down to the final ten pounds to reach my goal. In the first week, I've lost two pounds. I'm hopeful I can get to the goal without hitting another stubborn plateau. And all of that to say these muffins are a relatively low-fat and low-calorie option. Mike has been whining about the dearth of any muffins, or tea breads, or biscotti to go with his morning coffee. Frankly, I miss that little morning snack too. So I'll make accommodations to my calorie count elsewhere, but I'm baking muffins today. Besides...I love baking, and I must bake something...sometime...somewhere. 

And that seems like a good place to stop. To my Southern California friends...oh my. I hope none of you are affected by the fires. I'm worrying about you guys. Please stay safe.