4/20/19

Something Old, Something New

We were back to our usual Oregon gloom yesterday, and so I spent the day inside. I was in the process of making the first row of blocks from my newest project called "Jenny's Flower Garden." Eventually I'll give it a different name. The 49-patch blocks were finished, but I needed to make the "blanks." Smitty was very helpful in that regard.


He first helped with fabric selection, and then again with layout of the blocks.


This is a triple Irish chain, and I wasn't sure how all those randomly placed scrappy colors were going to look. This is just the first row of blocks, and I'll work on this project one row at a time. It's a little hard to tell with just seven blocks, but I think this will be fine when it's all finished. There are still many more blocks to make.


While it's tempting to sew together the rows as I make them, I'll keep going until all the blocks are made. I'll probably get a better and more random mix of fabrics that way.

From there, I caught up on the latest Tiny Tuesday block. This one was designed by Mari at The Academic Quilter. It's a cute "spinner" block.


As I mentioned when I worked on this last time, I seem to be one block ahead. We are supposed to be on Block #15, but I have 16 for some reason. When the quilt is finished, I'll use any extras on the quilt back. For now, here they are all laid out together.


From there I moved on to the oldest of my projects, the Mulligan Stew quilt. I've been working on this quilt for so long it isn't even funny, and I've written about the project many times. If you're new to this blog, you can read about the project and the book where it originates right here. There are 60 blocks in the quilt I'm making, and I've been making them five blocks at a time. Now I'm on Block #56, and so I'll complete all of the blocks in this go-round. Block #56 is this one:


Here's the story associated with it:


And here's the block I made:


I was ready to move on to the next one...this one:


with its associated story:


But then I kind of lost my sewing mo-jo for the day and decided to quit. I'll get back to it today. Three of the four remaining blocks are applique, and I needed to copy the pages from the book so I could make templates from the drawings. Instead, I went back to the April Heart embroidery that was nearly finished. I finished the last of it this morning:


And then I moved on to the May block. It's just barely started.


In the I'm-crabby-about-the-weather-and-so-now-I'm-going-to-complain-about-everything column, there's this:


Recently, I stopped ordering from Fabric.com because their website is so freaking slow on my computer that it's impossible to use. And so I've been doing any online ordering from Fabric Shack. Besides, Fabric Shack is a good source of solid fabric. They have good prices. Sadly, their shipping practices leave a lot to be desired. They stuff way too much fabric into a flat-rate envelope, and the envelope bursts in shipping. You might recall this order I received back in February:


I wrote an email to them at the time, and they assured me this wasn't their usual practice. Now, the same thing has happened again, and in wet, wet, wet Oregon, this sort of thing is really unacceptable. It's unacceptable no matter where you live, but it gives me another opportunity to whine about the weather. Anyway, I wrote to them again this morning with these words included in my message: "Strike Two." I'll move to another website if I receive another order like this.

Okay, so I seriously need an attitude adjustment. The sky is brightening up some, and it's supposed to be a dry week ahead. Mike and I have plans to get out and clean up the greenhouse today. I'd like to get some plants going in there this week, but it's full of dead tomato vines and their rotten progeny. We do this every year, and so we'll have it spic and span before you can say Bob's Your Uncle. But you might want to hold off saying it for just a bit, okay? I need to drink some more coffee first.

14 comments:

Quilting Babcia said...

I hear you on the overstuffed priority envelopes. The last few fabric orders arrived in similar condition. Thankfully at least they wrap the fabric in plastic wrap first. We have about 75% gloom here too, with a few sun breaks, then it's back to rain again. Did have a rainbow tonight, very unusual for here where we've seen very few in the four years we've been at this house.

Sally Trude said...

I realize you're trying to convey a different message, but the only one I'm hearing is "I want to order a big walloping order of fabric that bursts at the seams". Except now Molly reminds me that my house looks like your package.

Tilly said...

Love your new project, and Smitty is a good helper for you.
Happy Easter,
Tilly

piecefulwendy said...

Joining you in the rain today, but yesterday was a lovely day so we made the most of it. Boy, that package is definitely stuffed tight; no wonder it burst! I agree that they need to revamp their shipping practices. At least the fabric is encased in plastic.

Kate said...

We've been gifted some beautiful weather since the mid week storm. I was ready for the sunshine. Good luck with the green house and with finding some more stitching time.

MissPat said...

I think your extra Tiny Tuesday block is because Angela was late one week (because of the house selling, I think) posting the block so Sally (I'm almost 100% sure) posted a block (maybe the bow tie), then Angela posted the umbrella. I was trying to verify all of this, but it was taking too long to track down which week it was, so I gave up. Hopefully someone will jump in and correct me, if this is incorrect.
Pat

Quilter Kathy said...

It's rainy dark and cold here too. But perfect for stitching!
Love that bunny in the heart!

MissPat said...

I forgot to add that I love your April and May hearts. Gloomy here in western NY, too.
Pat

Deb said...

Those April and May embroidery pieces are adorable and your quilt blocks are wonderful. I like the little bits of history associated with the blocks. Oh goodness overstuffed priority envelopes are such a nuisance especially since the post office has padded flat rate bubble mailers. Living in Florida our rainy season wreaks havoc on those flat rate envelopes even when not over stuffed. Twice I returned busted open overstuffed orders just as they arrived inside another package letting the seller know it wasn't acceptable and would purchase elsewhere if it happened again.

Sarah said...

Very hot and sunny in the UK for the Easter weekend! Love your little embroidery hearts. April is sooo cute!

quiltzyx said...

I am liking your bright, scrappy 3X Irish Chain so far. It'll be another good 'un. Good thing Smitty's there to help you.

I like the tiny blocks too. How many are there supposed to be altogether?

The hobo book block stories are always so interesting. That will be a story telling quilt indeed.

Sorry to hear of the shipping envelope troubles. As has been said above, at least the fabric was also plastic wrapped. I think that amazon.com is out of small boxes/envelopes lately. I got 2 boxes from them recently that were about 10"x10"x24". The first one had a bottle of Fish Oil capsules. The 2nd one had a 1 oz. tube of Neosporin in it!! Holy smokes.

We had a couple days last week in the low 90s, then it cooled off & we got a teensy bit of sprinkles one day. Yesterday & today it's 66f & cloudy. Rumors of more heat this coming week tho'.

Natureluvr57 said...

I love the scrappy Irish Chain and your helper. Can't wait to see all the heart designs because I love "Monthly" series. I just ordered Brenda Gervais (With Thy Needle) cross stitch patterns called Word Play. I've been wanting them over a year since seeing them on Flosstube. Enjoy the rest of your Easter

Karen said...

The heart embroidery designs are quite nice. I have not seen anything like them.

Brown Family said...

It has rained so much here that I can not get the raised garden beds tilled! I may not get tomatoes this year!