It was a no-sewing day yesterday. After working obsessively getting "Seating for Two" finished, and then sandwiching five quilts in a day, I think I just needed a break. I kept saying to myself, "As soon as I do that, I'll go sew." And then, I'd finish that and say to myself, "Maybe I'll just do this one more thing, and then I'll sew." And the thing is, if I really wanted to sew, I would. So there you go.
Also this morning, I talked to the cat. He was pretty funny. He always wants someone to go out with him. When I went outside just briefly to do something, he ran outside with me. When I went back inside, he sat on the patio yowling for me to come back out. At that point, I decided I'd give the cat a break and go do my watering and planting. (The last three sunflowers are in the ground now.)
It's major pollen season, and I kept having to go back inside to deal with my nose and massive sneezing. Each time, Smitty yowled for me to come back. Just as I wrote that, I checked for the pollen count in Portland...it's only going to get worse as the week goes on...but it's not as bad as it could be. Somehow I don't find that reassuring.
While I was out, I noticed that we have green strawberries on the strawberry plants. We usually don't get to these because the squirrels eat them before they are even ripe.
Also, the purple iris is starting to open. You can bet I'll be there pointing my camera at it the second its petals finish unfurling.
Even though I haven't done any machine sewing, I've been working away at the latest Hocuspocusville block. It's more than half way finished now.
When I moved the hoop this morning, I realized I hadn't crossed the "t" in "witche". That's just one stitch, so no big deal.
Now I'm going to show you the last of the quilts from the Northwest Quilters Guild quilt show. Please remember to give attribution to the quiltmaker if you pin any of these images. I liked this first one. It was unique, and I thought the quilter captured the moment nicely.
Unfortunately, these close-ups have a lot of digital noise. I started trying to remove it, but then realized it was a lost cause. The more I removed, the more I saw.
You'll never guess why this next one caught my eye.
I like the quilting here...it was a large motif, and so it was hard to capture all the details. If you look, you'll see scissors, spools of thread, rotary cutters, pincushions, thimbles, and more.
Here's an old favorite. This quiltmaker took some artistic license with the design.
The original quilt pattern had a map showing Route 66 and a Route 66 sign.
Cute quilting here.
I love the quilting on this next one. It's done on a domestic machine.
Here's one done by our friend Claire. (I saved the best for last!)
Look at Claire's fun quilting.
So those are all the quilts I have to show you from that show. This morning, an article about this show came across my Google Alerts.
Hood River is a fun little town about 2 hours away in the Columbia River Gorge. I might be able to talk the Resident Engineer into going out there with me to see this exhibit. If not, I might just drive out there myself sometime next week.
As for today, I've done everything I needed to do now, and the only thing left is sewing. Given the pollen problem, my basement sewing room is probably a good place to hide out. I'm sure my nose will thank me for it.
7 comments:
Thanks for showing us the lovely quilts from the Northwest Quilters Guild. It is good inspiration. So........how do you decide what designs to use in quilting your five sandwiches? How do you feel about machine quilting?
Wow! No flies on you at all this morning!! I was lucky to get a shower before I left for work. (Although I might be able to get away with wearing sweats & a t-shirt at work.)
Cool quilts again. Charlie's Critters, Red Sunrise & Pop Your Pink are my faves today. I'm not really into pink so much, but I really like the "improv" type of blocks. I'm so glad you have such great quilt shows to share with us!
Sometimes when I've come through an intense amount of sewing I just want some time away, it feels weird not to sew but I sure do get things done around here. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to sneak out of the house just to grab something from the yard without letting the terrible twins know, I hate to disappoint them that it's not time to play. :)
That Smitty -- he's as handsome as ever! Some great quilts you saw at the show. I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite -- there were quite a number that were very appealing! Your iris are going to be beautiful. I need to get over to Hunter Road (our house that still hasn't sold) and dig up the ones I have there and replant them at my daughter's home! We have the long blooming strawberries in the turtle sanctuary, just for them. It's rare to ever see a red berry, they get in there and eat them so quickly! :)
You know it's time to take a break when the Smitt man meows. Some very nice pieces in today's share - this is a great show with lot's of diversity.
Thank you ; glad you liked my quilt and the show. One of these days we'll actually be at a show at the same time and get to meet!
Those quilts are all so amazing! Thank you for sharing them. Hope you've been able to endure all the pollen. Judicious use of Benadryl is common at our house this time of year.
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