End of the Line

There was a lot to do in town yesterday. I didn't need to leave until noon, however, and so there was more time than expected to get some sewing done. I was able to make some progress on the latest Heartland Barn block, finishing most of the barn and the quilt block there.

I learned something with this. Take a look at the quilt block. Using the same color orange floss throughout, I reversed the direction of the satin stitch in the various "patches." It looks as if I was using two different colors of floss. It's the same effect you see on baseball fields when they are mowed in different directions. 

So, now I've moved my hoop, and I'll be finishing the tippy-top of the barn, and then moving on to the tree on the right side. 

And then, there was plenty of time to finish off the quilting on the Dream Big panel. My quilting day started with a fairly large section. I'd meant to try quilting either a butterfly or a dragonfly earlier, and so it seemed like I'd better snatch this opportunity before I ran out of space. Can you see him?

The area around him was filled in with a swirly vine. As I've moved to the outer edge of the panel, it's been harder to see where the edges of the flower petals are. In some cases, I just chose a place and stitched a boundary before filling in.

On this next one, I was trying to copy a motif from a book. I didn't really like how it was looking, and so I started filling in with more "humps" until I was satisfied. I like my friend KC's take on this: "If you don't like where you're going with it, just throw more thread at it." Certainly, I've thrown a lot of thread at this panel.

From there, only one larger section was left. Here, I was trying to get my feather to branch off in different directions. 

And then, there was just one small section left where I filled in with another wavy line grid.

And then it was finished!

I took a couple of shots from the side to show you the texture.

Here's how it looks from the back.

And here's a shot from the side.

I'm hoping I still have a large enough piece of the pastel batik backing to use for the binding. If not, I'm sure I have something else I can use. 

There was just enough time left in the morning to get myself cleaned up, dressed, and out the door. I got my monthly pedicure, which I deserved after sitting for a perm earlier in the week. Then I had several errands to run before I got home. I needed bird seed from the feed store, and I also found some needed mason jars there. Jars and lids have been scarce and expensive in these pandemic times, and so finding boxes of both wide and regular mouth was a score! There were a few other things to do before I got home too. When I came through the door, I noticed Smitty sitting in his favorite spot on our deck. The deck is cool on his tummy, and he's there in the shade of a tree. From this spot, he can survey his territory and keep an eye on things.

He waits here for Sadie to scare up a gopher, which she brings and drops in front of him. Think of it as both the best of times, and the worst of times, depending on your point of view.

Okay, so I'm about to get very busy in the kitchen. We have a beach trip planned for next week. I'm doing most of the cooking ahead, and so I want to spread it out over the next couple of days. There's also some housekeeping and laundry to do. Despite all of that, there should be plenty of time to get the binding sewn on Dream Big. I'll take that with me when we go. Probably, I should make up another slow-stitching piece too. And if there's still time, I'll get back to my challenge piece.

Rain was in our forecast for last night, but none came. The sky is clouded over this morning, and so we may get some rain yet. If the weather stays dry, it'll be time to get out and hoe some more weeds. Also, I expect there are zucchini and cucumbers to harvest. The life of a quilter/farmer/gardener/cat concierge is never dull.