A Posting Potpourri

Quilting

Yesterday I started on my May NewFO project.  This is a quilt I've made before.  Here's my previous version:

This is Mike's favorite quilt, and he wraps up in it every night while we watch TV.  It's not a large quilt . . . about 58 inches by 70 inches (more or less).  It's flannel front and back, and I tied it rather than quilting it.  Some quilts are better suited to tying, I think.  I found this pattern on the All People Quilt website.  They picture another, smaller version of it as well:

I decided to make another of these more along the lines of the second colorway.  I didn't want to do more applique, however, and so I'm changing it up a little bit.  I'm keeping the nine-patch blocks.  And I'm making it the same size as the one I made originally, in the top picture.  For every block that was a tree in the original, I'm substituting a spool block, and for every block that was a bow tie, I'm substituting a pinwheel.  The nine patches will go where the stars were.

Yesterday, I did all the cutting for the large blocks.  I'll still need to cut the pieced blocks as I go, but I started by making the first two rows.

I'm going to include the dark blue gingham from the first row in all the odd-numbered rows, and the blue horizontal stripe in all the even-numbered rows.  I'll turn the stripes both vertically and horizontally.  Both versions of the quilt are from scraps.  

I was having trouble getting a good mix of fabrics from the ones I selected at the outset,

and so I might end up adding more fabrics to the mix.  Some of them are too similar in color, and so they don't give me as much variation as I'd like.  I'll see how it goes as I make a couple more rows.  There's always time to change my mind with this quilt.  

The mix of colors reminded me of the colors in a bag of saltwater taffy, and so that's the name I've given to the quilt.  (Unless I change my mind, which I often do.)  This quilt is going to replace the throw I use in the living room, which is dropping feathers everywhere.  (Note to self:  Do not use feathers in place of regular batting.)

Another Kind of Quilting

Have you seen the card frames that Carol Doak makes for paper-pieced greeting cards?  I really like these. They are a little bit expensive, per card, but no more expensive than a purchased greeting card.  Recently, I reunited with my cousin on Facebook.  She broke her ankle when she was 18, and she's now in her 60's.  Her ankle has bothered her all of her life, and she recently underwent surgery for a third ankle replacement.  Sadly, it failed within days, and she's now anticipating surgery to fuse her ankle once and for all.  

She lives far away from me, and so I can't be there to help.  Nevertheless, I got in mind to send her a quilted greeting card . . . a flower to brighten her day.  So yesterday I made this:

Even if you're not a fan of paper-piecing, these go together quickly.  They're small and so the waste of fabric is minimal.  It helps to have Carol Doak's book, 50 Little Paper-Pieced Blocks, since the blocks are all made in the right size for the cards.  

Any paper-pieced pattern could be reduced down (as long as the pieces aren't too tiny).

It Came!

Yesterday's mail call brought a couple of things I've been waiting for on tenterhooks.  (I just read that word in the New York Times this morning, and I couldn't wait to use it.)

A couple of weeks ago, I won the Wheel of Fortune game that appeared on Make.Share.Give, a blog I  love.  Lucky me!  Actually, I just happen to be a Wheel of Fortune aficionado (see "tenterhooks" above).  So what did I win?  This fabulous vintage copy (October/November 2006) of Quilt magazine.  

Cool huh?  Since I wasn't a quilter in 2006, it was kind of fun to take a trip back in time and see what was going on before I happened upon the scene and rocked the quilting world.  (I have that effect on things.)  Also included was this great fat quarter with the admonishment from Susanne to start something summery.

Great idea, Susanne!  And thanks.  I love the whole package.  The fabric is so bright and pretty.  Just the way I like it.

In Non-Quilting News:

Cooking

Also in yesterday's mail was Marisa McClellan's new book, Food in Jars.

I read Marisa's blog of the same name, and I love it.  So when her book was published recently, I wasted not one second ordering it.  Canning is one of my favorite things to do in summer.  There are few things more gratifying than growing one's own food and canning it to eat in the dead of winter.  I'm not one to go on huge picking expeditions, however, and so I like books that allow me to can in small batches.  The jams, chutneys, pickles, fruit butters, and other delicious offerings had my mouth watering as I perused it this morning.  

We're planning to plant the garden this weekend, and now I'm all hepped up to get some water boiling on the stove top.  (Hepped up:  something my mother used to say.  Anyone else ever heard that?)  I suppose it's a little premature to break out the canning supplies at this point.  Maybe I'll wait until I actually harvest some vegetables.

Photography

Some of you are having babies . . . 

and grand babies.  No grand babies for me, by the way.  I'm not bitter, you understand.  Just waiting on tenterhooks.  (Did you ever hear that if you use a new vocabulary word three times in a day, it is yours forever?  Done.  Tenterhooks, you are mine.)  

Babies:  check out this blog post at El Petit Taller.  Doesn't Irina look fantastic?  Irina lives close to where I'll be traveling in Ireland.  It would be wonderful if we could find a way to meet up.  With a new baby and a tour bus in the mix, I imagine it will be an insurmountable challenge.  It doesn't stop me from wishing, however.

So, photography:  (Babies and tenterhooks are so distracting.)  I caught this blog post on Digital Photography School this morning with links to several good tutorials on photographing babies.  I wanted to pass it along to those of you who have use for such a thing.  I can't use it, but maybe someone else can.  (Not bitter, you understand.)

Cats

Speaking of bitter, George hates having his picture taken.

When he sees me with the camera, he generally sticks out his tongue or turns away.

Today, I told him it was for you, and so he faced the camera and gave you his winning smile.  Sort of.  

He wants you to know that he's almost completely back to his old self this morning.  He still has a bit of a head tilt, which can be permanent with this illness.  It's too soon to know.  It can take up to two weeks for all of the symptoms to resolve.  He's at least able to walk in a straight line, and he doesn't fall over at the slightest provocation.  It's very good to have my kitty back.

Today I'm working on the next block for the Amish Sampler.  It's an around-the-world block made up of 121 squares 2-inches each.  That will take a while.  If I finish that, I'll move on to my block for the Block Lotto and maybe do this month's Free Motion Quilting Challenge.  Tomorrow I have to go into town to see the eye doctor, and so I'm savoring this day at home.  

What's on your agenda for today?