7/15/16

Free at Last!

The paper-piecing nightmare has come to an end! (Until next time, of course.) Yesterday, I made three more leaves and six more stems and then sewed together the Mama Bear portion of what is identified in the pattern as the "Bluebells" sections. Here's the Mama Bear...


Here it is along with the Papa Bear and the Baby Bear.


And that, my friends, is Section 4 of the Quiltmaker's Garden...what I like to refer to as Paper-Piecing Purgatory. Now there is just one more section to complete. I've circled the sections I'll work on next time in the photo from the pattern below.


Wait, could it include (dare I say it) paper-piecing? Oh yes...the nightmare continues. There is one of these "large flowers"


And ten of these "Small Flowers".


Now here's what has griped me all along about this pattern. It's a little like that Steve Martin routine where he tells you "You can make a million dollars and never pay taxes. First...you get a million dollars. Now..." And so it is with this pattern. First, you make the piece. Now... As an example, the paper-pieced flowers say something like, "The center is not sewn. It will be covered by a button later on." Okay...so not sewn...so what, then? Is it left raw? And how does that work when the quilt is washed. No explanation beyond what I've given you.

Then there are also these appliqued leaves for the vine (indicated with an arrow above). No instruction for the vine beyond, refer to the diagonal piecing diagrams on page 75...only I've ripped the pattern out of the magazine and the magazine is long gone. So why not include ALL of the instructions with the pattern. There's also reference to some triangles I'll have to make and they refer me to another page I no longer have. Surely they must know that others are tearing out the patterns for future use, don't they? Oh well. 


Many times I've wondered if anyone has actually finished this quilt, and so I go on Google images to see. Sure enough. There are quite a few beautiful finished quilts. Maybe I can email them and ask them what they did with that flower center. Okay, so just then I stopped to see if I could find any finished quilts. I know I've seen a few, but I couldn't find a single one just now. Maybe it was all a snare and a delusion...part of the nightmare I mentioned above.

Okay. Moving on. I follow a Facebook page for a little produce stand/store in my little town of Newberg called Ray's Produce. It's really kind of an outdoor market/farmer's market, but it's open every day like any store. They sell fresh local produce, and I'm always ready to run down there at a moment's notice when they post a picture of something I love. A few days ago it was this:


Okay well freestone peaches will always get my attention. Did someone say "peach pie"? Yes, and I think it was me. So yesterday whilst running all my errands, I stopped in and picked up a few. Today I'll be making a peach pie for two. These "for two" recipes often have me guessing at amounts. I'm going to use a tried and true peach pie recipe from my past, cut the ingredients down to a fourth and see if I can pull this whole thing together. Here's one I made a while back, only this is the whole meal deal.


I think I can use this same recipe for the filling, and just substitute in a crust for two. If it works out, you know I'll share it with you. And if it doesn't...well, let's just forget we talked about this, okay?

Also today, I'm making a salad for a wake we're attending tomorrow. A dear friend passed away several months ago, but we've waited until now to remember his life. The weather is better in July, and this will be an outdoor affair. Here's a picture I took of him with his wife a few years back.


He was in poor health for many years, and his wife took loving care of him. We'll be heading out to their place in Jewell, Oregon, for this celebration of his life.

Aside from that, there's nothing on the agenda but more sewing. I was supposed to walk with Sue this morning, but she's feeling poorly. I'll get back to work quilting the Adirondack chairs, and I'd also like to watch the video and work on this week's free motion quilting sampler lesson. This week, we're doing some work with rulers.

Mike will be home late this evening, and so no cooking today...just baking...pie. Mmmmmmmmm.

13 comments:

DeeDee said...

Now I think I need to go to the farmer's market and get some fruit for pie. It will be stuck in my head until I do it!

Pam said...

You won't be sorry about your garden quilt when it is finished in all its pretty glory (there are some morning glories there someplace). I am tempted to make this quilt.
Sorry about your friend.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

You're almost done with that quilt. I know you'll figure it out. I hate it when you have to 'dig' around for stuff in a pattern. I want it at my fingertips when I get to that part. It teaches you how NOT to write a pattern. Good luck.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Magazines do that so you hopefully read the other pages while hunting for that hidden pattern section. If you don't plan on using buttons, add an applique circle. The holes look small and you could finish the edges and then also catch them with quilting (I add buttons after quilting). Peaches are ripe and plentiful on this coast right now too.

Carroll said...

Didn't you have a "desserts for two" cookbook in the past? No peach pie included? I so enjoy reading about your quilting and your cats.

Terri in BC said...

I might still have that magazine, I'll take a look tonight!

Lana said...

Yummers! Freestone peaches & Freestone peach pie!

Dana Gaffney said...

I learned paper piecing about a year ago and what I learned is I don't enjoy it and that's saying it politely, I would have been tempted to just applique all of that stuff. Is a freestone peach a peach without a pit? I've never heard of that, we just do Georgia peaches here.

Teresa in Music City said...

You deserve a gold star for persevering with this project Barbara!!! Maybe even two stars, with peach pie and ice cream on top!

Susan said...

My condolences to you on your friend.

I say forget about the pie filling for two, unless you like the challenge of figuring it out. Make the whole pie filling, use enough to fill the pie for two, then save the rest to to freeze for future use, or to top ice cream, or eat plain (think of the calories you save by not eating the dough and if you eat enough, it can count as one of your 5-9 fruits & vegetable servings for the day). LOL

Anonymous said...

I have an "America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two Cookbook" I bought at Costco about two years ago that I seldom use. It has a pie crust recipe for two and an Apple Pie Galette that you could easily replace the apples with peaches. They use Puff Pastry for the crust. I have several small metal and glass(pyrex) pie dishes that are 5&7 inches across that I use for smaller recipes. Lately my husband has begged for cherry pies since I used some cherries I bought that he decided not to eat. So we have an agreement: he pits the cherries(with a multiple pitter I bought him) and I'll make the pie! I usually make a full recipe of pie crust and sometimes make pinwheels with the left-over(roll out, cover with butter, cinnamon sugar, roll, cut and bake). My mother used to make these with leftover pie crust & my hubby LOVES them-so simple. If I have enough leftover for a full pie, I freeze the dough. I hope that's helpful
Rosemary

Edie said...

I do have the magazine, as I have wanted to do the same pattern. If the Terri can't find hers, let me know. raydeer@memlane.com

Kate said...

Your paper piecing looks great! At least you've got that one area all finished up. Hopefully the next set of paper pieced blocks will go faster than those leaves and flowers.