2/12/15

A Finish

Yesterday I had time to finish up the Aspen Tree quilt. This began as a project for the "Let's Book It" Challenge in June of 2014. The pattern is from this book by Jean Wells:



There are lots of pretty projects in this book, and I might like to try some of the other ones. For now, I have this one completed:


When I left off on Tuesday, I had quilted all of the leaves on the tree. Almost every one required that I cut thread, although there were a few couplets that I could quilt as one piece. That took forever. Then I had quilted across the bottom border and up the left side. You can see the quilting for those areas right here

Yesterday I continued across the top and down the left side. It's a little hard to see, and so I've bumped up the contrast and turned down the brightness in these next images.






After I had the binding sewn on, I laid it down in the natural light of the living room and was able to get a passable picture of the back. 


And there it is...another one for the books.


This morning I created a label for it. I still need to print it and then attach it to the quilt.


Also yesterday I did laundry and housework and started my tomato seeds. This year I'm only planting sauce tomatoes. We've purchased a CSA (community supported agriculture) share from a local farm called Working Hands Farm. I've been following the workings of Farmer Brian and Farmer Jess for the past year and a half. They were just married last year. If you're on Facebook, you can do yourself a favor by "liking" their page for some beautiful photography. It's also just plain fun to watch what's going on at their farm. Right now, they have piglets just a couple of weeks old.


Pardon me for just a second...SQUEE! (Ahem.)

And just look at this beautiful CSA share from last year:


We signed up last year, but then thought we might be traveling, and so we had to back out. And that means I'm extra excited for this year to get started. We are purchasing a weekly box, and so it's going to be quite an adventure in cooking this summer trying to use up all those beautiful fresh fruits and veggies. And all of that to say that I'm expecting to get plenty of tomatoes from them this year, which allows me to focus my efforts on growing tomatoes for sauce, salsa, and chutney.

Today I'm going to see my dermatologist. My skin is paying for my many years of sunworshipping in both Hawaii and Southern California. I suppose the exposure could have been worse if I'd moved to Equador at some point in time. For staying in the good old USA, can it get any worse than Hawaii and Southern Cal? Arizona, maybe, and I lived there too. Hopefully, I can get out without any burning, freezing, or cutting today.

I'm hoping to get some sewing time today. For my next trick, I'm going to turn the Dream Machines into a flimsy.


This one will take me a bit because I'm going to set them with little spool blocks for cornerstones. I haven't made any of those yet, and so that will add up to some hours of effort. I'm ahead of where I wanted to be on my February goals, and so it's looking good for getting this one ready to quilt.

What's on your to-do list for today?


13 comments:

Marei said...

My list? Grocery shopping....and you know I hate that just as much as you do. Then it's down to the dungeon for some sewing and quilting and playing like a little kid!

Vicki W said...

I love your aspen tree. You are getting really comfortable with your new quilting machine! Today I'm loading the next quilt on FloMo and I might glue some more stuff on the basement wall. Hubby is cleaning carpets. :-)

Vroomans' Quilts said...

What a lovely piece - well done on the quilting. Hmm - fresh veggies. Today is a day of house work chores and paperwork - then maybe later I might play some more with those never ending squares.

quiltzyx said...

The Aspen Tree is so lovely. Great job on the quilting.
I actually sewed until 1am - made the sample block to show the guild for the new Prez. quilt and finally did my challenge quilt. I'm sewing down the binding right now!
I'll have to check out the Working Hands Farm - you know I'm a sucker for pretty pictures!!

Christine M said...

Your tree quilt is wonderful, Barbara. I love how you continued the branches into the border. That little piglet is so cute.

Marlene said...

Love the finished Aspen tree quilt. Well done. That little piglet is so cute. Look forward to seeing what you get in your boxes of fruit and veggies and what you cook with them. Good luck at the dermatologist. On my list today- a day off from work -is housework, hopefully some sewing and a round of golf. Sun is shining so nice day ahead.

Janarama said...

Your Aspen Tree quilt is gorgeous as is the creative quilting you added to it. I'm not as adventurous as you are with cooking. Joining the CSA is perfect for you. I need to expand my cooking with new-to-me veggies.

Jocelyn said...

Love the tree!

beaquilter said...

your tree quilt is lovely and love the sewing machine blocks, great idea with the spools, how about on the outer border too??

Muv said...

Hello Barbara,

Tree quilts - I LOVE them all! The FMQ is wonderful. Linking up this week?

Love, Muv

Michele said...

Yeah to you for the finish and I'm excited to see your dream machines done.

Brown Family said...

Beautiful Vegetables. I am sure it will be a real chore to cook them

Kate said...

Congrats on the finish! Aspen Tree turned out beautifully. Looking forward to seeing your machine blocks all together in a flmsy.