Summer!

Mid-July is the peak of summer here.  Little veggie starts have become a jungle and I've already picked three zucchini at the perfect size.

  I'm training the plants up tomato cages so I have a shot at seeing the fruits of my labor before they're the size of baseball bats.

I still have to really get in among the leaves to find them all as they like to hide from me.  Lock your cars up, folks, or someone will leave you a bag of zucchini!

I planted some dahlia bulbs this spring just to add something new to the front yard.  They're now big and bushy and just starting to bloom.  They seem to like my front yard.

I finished the top of another Blue Star Mothers quilt.  This one is square - 5 blocks by 5 blocks.  I actually started it last summer but then new Halloween fabric came out . . .  All the reds and blues were large scraps from the stash and toward the end a couple of strips and triangles got pieced.

 The challenge was to have the large red squares be the same fabric.

This seems pretty straightforward until you realize that the corners of that block are actually part of the block next to it.  So each block like the one below has four different reds and the red triangles have to be in the right place to match the blocks around it.

This requires a design wall (or really good notes) and paying really good attention.  Please believe me when I say that when I sewed when tired, I had to rip out the next day.  It looks kinda cool, so it was worth it.  I'll add it to the gallery on the website after it's quilted.  

The wedding ring quilt made it to the wedding.   Since I didn't want to mail it or check it, it had to be carry-on.  Actually, everything I took was carry-on.  In order to make it a manageable size, it spent a few hours in a space bag and went in my large tote bag.  Being vacuum packed for a day worked fine.  It came right back to its previous loft.  The wedding was lovely and we had a great time.  I'm ready for a few smaller projects now.  

Quilt because it's fun!

Candy

Something New, Blue and Finished!

The wedding quilt is finished.  There's nothing quite like the feeling of finishing a project before the deadline.  The lifting of stress from one's shoulders is a beautiful thing.

I'm currently finishing a couple of UFO's which is actually kind of relaxing.  One is a kit that I started (and almost finished) last year.  I like to design my own, but once in a while a kit can be relaxing.  It took me a long time to come to that as I had a bad kit experience many years ago.  I was given a kit for a baby quilt and I'm pretty sure that whoever cut the pieces must have been blindfolded.  When gingham is cut without regard for grain lines, you can be sure that gnashing of teeth cannot be far behind.  It took me a long time to try another one.  And the few I've done in the last 20 years have been great.

This leads me to a short commentary on attention to detail.  We're having a new roof put on the house this week.  The destruction phase is noisy, to say the least.  And the amount of debris is amazing.

This pile completely covered the kitchen window.  A pile of old shingles about 7 feet high is something to behold.

  The whole process kind of freaked out the dogs on the first day, but they've been amazingly calm.  I'm currently watching one of the workers put shingles on just outside my office window.  He's fast and efficient, yet matches carefully, staples accurately and trims as if he's done it a million times before, which he probably has.  It's actually pretty cool to watch.


The only casualty of the installation of the new roof is the mirror in the hall bathroom which fell off and shattered into about a million pieces yesterday.  It wasn't installed correctly when the house was built and apparently the dropping of a package of shingles on the roof was the final straw.  Luckily, nobody was in the bathroom at the time.  Shards of glass went everywhere, even out the door into the hall and across the hall into my office.  What a mess!  New roof checked off the list.  New bathroom mirror added to list.  Ahh, the joys of home ownership.

A great deal of what makes quilts beautiful (and wins ribbons) is attention to detail.  At first this takes longer, but as we practice both our sewing skills and patience with ourselves, doing it well becomes a habit and we become proficient at our art.  It takes time.  There will always be a story about a quilter who won a huge prize with her second quilt.  The rest of us continue to learn and practice and love the process of quilting.  A prize is icing on the cake.  The cake is color and design and the joy of doing what we love.


With Independence Day coming up, it pleases me so much to see so many Quilts of Valor being made and given away.  I made a red, white and blue quilt for my son while he was in Iraq some years ago.  I remember thinking that all the service members coming home should get one.  I did a little research on the net and found Quilts of Valor and made and sent them a quilt.  I actually have another top made and will finish it in the next few months.  As the mother of a Service Member, I'd like to thank all those who have given to Quilts of Valor.

Enjoy summer and take time to quilt.

Candy

About The Right Way

School is out for the summer so now it's pouring rain and chilly.  Aside from the fact that a good soaking is nice before the summer heat moves in, it's a bummer if you're either a school age kid or the mother of a school age kid.  I remember being both the kid and the mother and it's kind of depressing as summer should mean sun all the time.  And we'll eventually get lots of sun, just not today.

And then there was thunder and it began to hail.  I'm still in the midst of planting flower pots, but I'm thinking it won't get done today.

My mom tells me that life goes faster and faster as one gets older.  Up until now, I believed her.  About three weeks ago I caught a cold that turned into an ear infection.  While it wasn't as painful as it might have been, the days between feeling terrible and feeling better went very slowly.  Sweet Husband will very likely agree  that I was pretty cranky.  By that I mean that I took lots of naps, interrupted by a lot of whining.  There are no pictures of this because nobody wants to see that.  I am, however, on the mend and feeling much better.  After the first few days,  I spent time quilting the Wedding Ring quilt for my son and almost-daughter-in-law.  I've been working on it since January and while I'm ready to be finished with it, I still like it.  I seldom have projects that last this long, so I'm getting pretty antsy to move on to something new.  The wedding is a month away and the quilt will be ready!

A few months ago, someone watched me working on some embroidery and informed me that I was doing it backwards.  It was a friendly comment more than a criticism, but I spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to do it "right.''  I think I figured it out, but the truth is it looks better the way I always do it and went back to what was comfortable for me.  This brings up an interesting point that I try to stress when I teach:  There is more than one way to do things; it's up to you to find the way that works for you.

I do hand appliqué from time to time.  I've learned the hard way not to set unrealistic deadlines for that sort of thing. With had work, it takes as long as it takes.  I've taken several classes on hand appliqué over the years and my way of doing it incorporates skills and approaches that are a mixture of at least three of these classes.  My personalized way of doing it is the right way for me and that's the important thing.  My point is simply this:  Be open to new ways of doing things, but don't be a slave to the "right way of doing things" police.  Your way may evolve over time and become the new "right way."  Also, be sensitive to the way you critique or offer help to others.  "It's interesting how you do that backwards," may not be the perfect opening line.

Here's a bit of what's stitched backwards.  Who knew?

WORRY LESS.  QUILT MORE.

Candy

Come Back April, I'm Not Finished Yet

If anyone knows what happened to April, tell it to call me; I want it back.  I wouldn't be so adamant if I felt as though I'd gotten a lot done.  Mostly it was just piles of little junk:  an appointment here, a little retail therapy there, daily trips to the grocery store for that one thing I don't have.  Also, pulled a few weeds and planted a couple of things.  And worked on the wedding quilt a bit almost every day.  The top will be finished this week.

There were some fun highlights.  I enjoyed a weekend quilt retreat with members of my quilt guild and an evening with my small quilt group, Quilters on the Edge, which is always fun.  I took a two day workshop with Helene Knott, which cracked open my imagination.

It doesn't look like much now, but I have such plans for it!

I also took a one-day workshop with Gina Rossi Armfield. ( Look up noexcusesart.com) I'm a big proponent of going outside your usual arty place to stretch the imagination.  It's fun and I always meet interesting people at her classes.  No artist is losing sleep over my dabbling in art, but I have a great time playing with my art toys.

Nature was very busy.  The back of the house went from this . . .

to this in about a week.

The tulips were lovely for about three weeks

and then there was a hailstorm.

These hardy souls survived, but their brighter brethren bit the dust.

I also got some happy surprises - The Morning Glories and Hydrangeas that I thought lost the battle with the guys who rebuilt our deck last fall are back!  It seems they were tougher than I gave them credit for.

I'm planning to teach "Mother Goes Mod" at Let's Quilt in West Linn on May 16th.  This one is kind of off my beaten track, but I really love it.

These quilts are made of the same block with only minimal changes.  I do like it when I can make that happen.

And then there's coffee art.  We had breakfast at St. Honore in Lake Oswego and Sweet Husband's latte came looking like this:

I think it's so neat to create from coffee and steamed milk and do it so fast that the coffee's still hot!

Our new website in under construction, but you can go there and see where we're headed at www.mobquilts.com

For all you mother's, Have a Great Mother's Day!

Candy

And Now For Spring

It's finally spring.  I know this because:
1.  The calendar says so.
2.  The neighborhood is alive with the sound of pressure washers.
3.  The sun came out and the ice cream truck came by.

Somebody's johnny-on-the-spot.  I've never heard the ice cream man before May.

My first tulip of the season bloomed a couple of days ago

.

 There are lots more buds and I'm looking forward to a bright garden.

I only have three hyacinths.  They have the most intoxicating scent of spring.  I go out every day and take a big whiff of them.  My neighbors must surely wonder about me.

Next fall I'll plant more hyacinths and some daffodils.  I'll put it on my calendar for fall so I don't forget like I usually do.

There are some other signs of spring, like the re-flowering of nurseries.

And of course our ever-changing spring weather.  Don't like what it's doing now?  Give it ten minutes.

I took these over about a half hour's time.

 A sunny morning clouded over like this.

And then it rained so hard, I'm surprised there were petals left on Tulips.

The rain only lasted about five minutes. 

 And then the sun broke through.

I'm not sure if this brilliant shade of green only happens in the early spring or if I just get used to it as other plants leaf out.  I'd really hate to think I take it for granted.

Work on the Wedding Quilt continues.  I've assigned myself a realistic goal for each day taking into consideration that this is not the only item on my to-do list.  I'm making progress and not freaking out and that is definite progress.

If you've looked at the website in the last couple of weeks, you know that it's down.  The new and improved website will be up soon.  I'm getting professional help (for the website), and am excited to have one that I can handle.  I like to think that I can learn most anything, but I want to spend my time on the things that I love to do.  It makes more sense to spend time quilting.

Speaking of quilting, there's a new pattern I'm working on called "Margaritas and Daquiris."  Like "Pink Lemonade" it's a quick and easy one for summer.  Pictures next time.

Quilt Because It's Fun!

Candy

Going Wild

"It's always something."
                    -Rosanne Rosannadanna

Truer words were never spoken.  Just when you think you're all organized and you have a plan, that little "something" sneaks in and teaches us to be flexible.  This is what we like to call the "learning moment."  I used to think that I would get older and wiser and I would get life under control.  Got older and the wiser part is that nothing is ever really "under control."  It seems that the really important thing is keeping a sense of humor.  Life is a bit like the weather on a spring day in the Pacific Northwest - in ten minutes it will be something different.  So we dress in layers (or make sure we have Plan B) and always have some rain boots in the trunk.  This, my friends, is real life.

Today actually turns out to be wild life Thursday.  Too bad it didn't happen yesterday.  Wild life Wednesday actually sounds a lot cooler.  Early this morning I went in the laundry room to feed the dogs.  There was a little mouse running around in the laundry sink.  I was startled and naturally screamed.  The mouse freaked out and hid in the drain.  He's actually kind of a cute little guy, but he cannot stay there.  Sweet Husband promised to take care of it.  He doesn't want me to look at it, feel sorry about getting rid of it or even think about what that means.  I do feel sorry for the mouse, but he cannot be running around the house, pooping every ten seconds.  Ella and Toby are completely oblivious.  If it doesn't run up and kick 'em in the shins, they really don't care.  Oh, and also - not taking a picture of the mouse.

My other wild life moment was over before I could pick up the camera.  I was checking email and a squirrel peeked in the window at me.  The window was open so there was only a screen and about 18 inches between us.  Since the window is on the second floor, he must have crawled up the side of the house.  I said hi and then he left.  Maybe he'll come by for a longer chat sometime.

The tulips in my garden are growing well, but not ready to bloom for a bit.  So I bought a couple of bunches at the grocery store just to liven the kitchen up a little.  They looked very pretty when I first put them out, but are so much more interesting as they get past their prime.

They got a little wild and crazy as I seem to as I age.  I like my tulip quilts . . .

but I think I need one more like this:

Not quite so sedate.

The pattern for Mother Goes Mod is almost finished, but the website is down.  If I understood the whys and wherefores,  I would be a computer wizard instead of the redhead with the sewing machine, and a huge stash.  So here's the thing.  A new website is on the way.  If you (or anyone you've ever heard of) is interested in buying a pattern, please email me at motheronabroomstick@gmail.com and we can make that happen pretty darn quick.  In the meantime, think of me as I put together a new website that WORKS.

Quilt more, worry less.
Candy

Surviving the Last Weeks of Winter

A typical Northwest winter pretty much looks like this.

And this:

In spite of that, my tulips are just peeking up, promising some bright color for spring.  We had lots of snow and ice a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised to see some little tulip leaves when it melted.  I should've known.  Dutch winters are generally more intense than winter here.

Went skiing in Utah last week.  Getting out of Dodge for a few days in mid-winter seems to be good for my attitude.  Sometimes winter seems endless.

Could this be a quilt?  I would have to live about 6 lives to follow up on all the good quilt ideas I have. It seems that every picture or fruit or flower could be a great quilt.

I do't think I've ever seen such massive icicles.

And here's an idea for a fence that would never have occurred to me.

This is a picture of the coordinating block I made for Mother Goes Mod.  Both blocks will be in one pattern.

Here's one way to put them together.

Same basic block as the original, but just different enough to change the look, even with the same fabrics.

Work on the wedding quilt continues.  This week I'm making 84 of these:

Then I'll make 84 of these:

I might have some extra time to work on it as I'm trying not to expose the world to the neat chest cold that's going around and found me.  Oddly, people don't like it when the person next to them in line coughs up a lung.  So I shall attempt to keep my cooties to myself.  The biggest issue (besides my personal whining) with a cold is keeping the dogs out of the kleenex.  Ella likes to pull a box off of a table or desk, pull a couple hundred out and then shred them to atomic particles.  She has a basket full of toys and a bunch of tennis balls in the back yard.  What could be so fascinating about kleenex?  And do I really want to know?

Steer clear of the coughing people and
Quilt On!

Candy