Well, my weekend was great. I had two full days of almost nothing but sewing. Yesterday I needed to do two small housekeeping chores, and I needed to take advantage of a break in the rain to fill the bird feeders. The cat-tle were grazing while I was out.
They were hoping to scare up a mouse or two, but I'm afraid the mice have all moved into the RV at this point. Yeah...that's another story. Earlier, we discovered a squirrel had been living in the RV and made quite a mess. It actually chewed through the kick plate on our stairs and then lived high on the hog (emphasis on the hog) until we discovered him. Mike set a squirrel trap and three mouse traps. Altogether, he's caught three squirrels and several mice. It's an ongoing problem. We're going to have to keep traps set all the time when it isn't in use, checking them every day. When we move to warmer climes this winter, Mike is going to get under the trailer and try to plug any holes where they're getting in. Apparently stainless steel wool is the recommended hole-plugger. It won't rust and deteriorate, and the mice won't chew through it.
In my wanderings yesterday, I noticed next year's catnip crop is already showing itself.
The Black-Eyed Susans are still blooming, but they're looking pretty bedraggled at this point. I'm surprised they've bloomed this late into the season.
As for the silly things in the garden, the daffodils are making an early appearance. My goodness. We're not even into winter yet. I've seen daffodils blooming through snow before, and so maybe these will be okay.
And here's a silly snapdragon that doesn't seem to know we're nearly into December.
Okay, so the birds were fed and I headed back into the sewing room. Next up was to make another block for the Vintage Linen quilt. I'm happy with how these are going. I'm cutting one of my grandmother's hand embroidery motifs for each block, and then adding in one snip of her hand-crocheted lace. You can see the lace there just above and to the left of the embroidery. When the block is finished and trimmed, I'm adding a decorative stitch around the center piece.
That makes 2 of 12 blocks finished for this quilt.
When all the blocks are finished, I'll give them a solid color sashing, and I'll make a border from the cut off edges of the quilt blocks. There's going to be quite a bit of that to go around the quilt.
We visited this shop the same day we visited
Durango Quilt Company in Durango, Colorado, and so it was a quilt shop extravaganza. Two great quilt shops in a single day! I was in heaven. I've already made a block for Durango Quilt Company:
I chose that fabric to celebrate the Colorado's aspen trees. I chose the Native American print for Cortez Quilt Company because they had such a beautiful supply of those kinds of prints and patterns to go along with them. It was hard to choose, and I ended up with a bundle of fat quarters. The fabric for this block was selected from that bundle.
Okay, so I'm all set to get started on the quilt block, and then I realized I hadn't yet embroidered the name on the name plate. Fortunately, these don't take long, and so I traced it out.
Happily, it all fit in a single small embroidery hoop.
I had it all stitched in about 20 minutes' time.
And then, I could finish off the quilt block. So pretty.
Here are all the blocks I have for this quilt so far.
I'm not sure whether I'll make 15 blocks or 25 blocks to finish this off. I believe I already have enough fabrics to make 25 blocks, and so it will depend on how large it gets. Whatever I do, I'll put the camera block in the middle. The blocks seem to sash themselves naturally, and so I probably won't do any more than sew them together when all is said and done.
Today will most likely be a no sewing day. We're heading south about an hour to pick up a wine shipment. While we're there, we're going to head even farther south about 20 miles to see a partial exhibit of the
AIDS Memorial Quilt going on right now at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. I've always wanted to see this. When I was in graduate school, the mother of one of the men who had died came to one of my classes and brought the quilt panel she'd made for her son. He was an ice skater, and she'd incorporated his love of skating into the panel. It was beautiful, and the story she told about him was sad and touching. I figure if I'm ever going to get a chance to see more of the quilt panels, now is the time.
When I can get back into the sewing room, I'll start on the next block for New Mexico Kitchen. It's looking a little foggy and gloomy out for our drive today. We're hoping the sun will show itself, but that's probably just wishful thinking.
13 comments:
A planet without AIDS is possible, but to create that planet we must do away with the vestiges of the old planet where testing positive to the HIV virus effectively relegates an individual to the subclass of Human society. ~ Oche Otorkpa
That vintage linen quilt is simply lovely--what a great memory piece. Great use for old embroidered bureau scarves and stuff...;)))
Sorry to hear about your unwanted RV guests making themselves a home!! We plugges a hole near our garage door with steel wool and it really worked...
Hugs in my puffy coat --brr-- Julierose
I am loving the way your quilt blocks are turning out for the quilt shop quilt. The setting is going to be sticking with the pops of color for the ‘photos’.
What a clever idea for your regional fabrics. Love it. And I also love how you’ve used those embroidery pieces and lace from your grandmother. Wow!
The vintage linen block is how I found your site earlier this year. I have my Mom's vintage linens and hope I am able to do this also.
I love what you are doing with your grandmother's hankies and lace, this is going to be a wonderful project with special memories.
Those blocks for the quilt shops are so fun; I've had a polaroid quilt on my bucket list. Not sure I'll ever get one done, but I'm sure enjoying yours. Hope your outing today is good, and that some sunshine peeks through. Nothing but sewing here today - hooray!
The Polaroid quilt strikes my fancy. I think it is a very clever way to make a memory quilt. My parents house has mice problems. They never found all the entry spots but the ones they did were plugged with steel wool. It kept the kitchen area relatively mouse free. Parents bedroom closet was another story. We couldn’t find that entry. I’m thinking the mice found access through the roof vents.
I hope you update the winery you visit. I’m sure you will update the AIDS Quilt in an upcoming post.
The vintage linen block is very pretty. I am also enjoying your quilt shop blocks. Hope you get the vermin problem fixed. I just have to say that when I first saw the picture at the top. I thought you were going to tell us you saw a small bear in your yard. To me Sadie looked like a small bear at first glance. :-)
Love this layout for your Shop fabrics. Once I can start travelling again, maybe I'll do one.
A destructive rodent inside is one of my ongoing concerns. We have a screen room that they easily access and I am worried that it's just a matter of time until they figure out a way into the Big House. I worked for several years in the 1990s as the facilitator for a Family, Friends and Partners AIDS group and remember well the stigma and secrecy involved. It was just another of those times when I was struck by how ugly people can be to one another, even at funerals, even when they are clergy. People came from miles around to come into our support group just so they could pass around photos of their loved ones and speak their names since they didn't feel safe telling anyone 'outside' about their story. So much pain. I saw a large section of the quilt, which was much smaller then, in Detroit, and found every single panel very touching.
I have very few UFO's but seeing your vintage quilt blocks has reminded me that I need to finish the quilt/hanging I started a year or so ago and haven't managed to get quilted.
You're embroidery is always so beautiful.
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