Good morning, my friends. We're looking at another day of gray skies. We only caught the edges of the recent storm that blew through, but it gave us a quarter-inch of rain over several showers throughout the day...a good amount. A little more would be appreciated, but we'll take what we can get.
As time wears on, our energy levels are improving a bit. Mike and I were talking last night, and he admitted to being as tired as I am. We agreed that the trip was long and tiring (especially the last day's drive to home). Then, when we get home, there is So. Much. To. Do. There's the unpacking...that's a given. For us, it usually involves taming the landscape in the form of weeding, pruning, dead-heading, and mowing. We've both finished the most physical parts of returning from a trip. Day by day we feel a little more rested.
As for sewing, I've been working away at my slow-stitching. Yesterday, I moved my hoop to the left side. Here's what I have so far.
The most densely stitched parts are finished now. Probably I have a couple more days to finish it. Here's where I'll pick it up this morning.
In the sewing room, you might recall that I'd barely started cutting squares to make five 4-patches. I needed 18 more.
When I'm doing a lot of cutting, I need a lot of help.
And with such good helpers, how could I go wrong. A little while later, I had five 4-patches.
I'd made 20 half square triangles the day before. Still, I needed more pieces. When all the cutting was done, the only part that wasn't bloody was the soles of the big man's feet. (Sorry...brain fart...you have to be able to
remember Jim Croce to know what I was talking about.) Anyhoo... I had these pieces. These will make a row of five blocks.
Once the cutting (and piecing) was finished, the block went together pretty fast. Here's what a single block looks like. It ends up at 12-1/2 inches.
When I have blocks for all six rows, they'll be rotated 90° with the addition of each one. I've drawn arrows in the image below. Look for the 4-patch to help it make sense.
These aren't sewn together, but there's my first row of blocks.
I've realized I'm not a fan of making scrap quilts. For one thing...the threads. Threads everywhere. Also, I can never tell if they're going to look okay when they're finished, or if it will just look like a big mess with nowhere for the eyes to rest. Are my fabrics too boring? Too bold? Is the scale too large? Whatever the case, I'll continue on with this. If I don't like it in the end, I can always donate it. Quilts are never wasted. Besides, even if I don't like them, they're always good for practicing free motion quilting.
Today I'll make up the fifth block for the Raggedy & Friends project. The two embroidered blocks are finished. Before I can make more blocks for this quilt, I'll need to finish the embroidery for the next one...not yet started.
Another item on the must-do-it-now list is to embroider the next two shops for two more Shop Hop 4.0 blocks. These are the blocks I have for this quilt so far.
You might remember I went on the hunt for six more fabrics while we were traveling in order to finish this off. I've yet to do the embroidered names and places for any of the shops, and that will need to be finished before I can turn them into quilt blocks.
Also Mike and I are going to attempt to tie up the echinacea plant today. In the image below, you can see there are two different colors of flowers. The one on the right is called Pow Wow Wild Berry. There's another one that hasn't shown itself yet called Cheyenne Spirit. It has more of a yellow/orange cast.
The problem with these is that the pink ones grow about waist high. The other two grow to only about knee high. The pink ones weren't trained to stay inside their tomato cage this year, and so they've fallen over and are covering up the other two shorter varieties. I believe if we can get the pink ones up off the ground, the other two colors will have a fighting chance. That, and one housekeeping chore are what's on my to-do list today.
So, okay...off I go. Flowers and fabric are waiting. And cats. Always cats.
9 comments:
“Don’t mess around with Jim”. .:-). I see what you mean about scrap quilts. Starting out, they often look like a mess but after you’ve made more, they start to look great (usually).
And BTW, we used to drive from VT to southern AL every winter. The last time we did, it just seemed too long a trip to do anymore. We are now 77 and think maybe we will limit the distances now. It took us at least a week to feel normal upon returning home from AL.
Oops. Sorry. That last comment was from me.
I DO remember Jim Croce! My favorites were “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Operator” and “Time in a Bottle”. I like what you’re getting with those scraps. Dot in NC
What's a cat to do if not to get lovies and help with any way to create. They know that's their job. Hugs to them both.
I had a cat that would chew serger thread (oh boy!). I don't have that cat (passed on) and I don't garment sew any more. Just quilt, embroider, read blogs and watch endless animal videos.
Hopefully the away from home catch up chores are all done and you are completely back to a normal schedule. Scrap quilts can be tricky. Every one I've started I wasn't sure about, but ended up liking them in the end. Enjoy your stitching time today.
For 2+ months you guys were on the go to see get to where you needed to be, to see everything possible, to experience, to have fun, with periodic little cat naps or hours of rest. I can certainly understand why you guys feel tired. Settle in and enjoy the end of summer and arrival of Fall.
After 2 nights of bad winds and rain we were able to move south, but still had 5+ inches of rain last night. I now wish I had a rain gauge to track how much rain we get while boating. But this August storm is unusual. We both felt like we had taken an international flight yesterday, as we were so exhausted, but after a good night sleep last night we are now back in the black for our energy to continue on heading south. Just about a month to go and we'll be flying home.
Ahh Jim Croce, just pulled up his music from our server and I'm listening while I type. I love the colour of your echinacea. They are delightful.
So, many feet make light work? That gives me paws - I always thought it was hands! (Sorry, not much sleep last night, so bad jokes abound)
aaah - thank you for the arrows pointing out how those blocks go together. For the life of me I couldn't see it before. It's another 'better you than me' projects!
I'm really loving your covered bridges, probably because they remind me of barns.
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