A work in progress...

The next scholarship quilt is well on the way to getting finished. I have the main body of the top finished and am now deciding on the borders. I am glad that I spent several nights working out the pattern on paper first. I made a colored pattern of each section. One of the tail, center body and wings (Even though they were going to have to be sewn separately. They were the same, but in opposite directions.) I had to chart which rows were exactly alike and which were alike except for a few minor changes. Then it was off to strip piecing and using a whole lot of spray starch! (The starch prevented all of the bias edges of the diamonds from stretching!) The two sides of the head had to be done separately. And each of them had a half diamond that had to be sewn in the right direction.....did one of those wrong and had to do it over!

Now that the hard part is over, it is on to getting the borders on and quilting. I have already decided that I want the center to 'float' away from the borders and will put a strip of the white background material all the way around the center. I still have to decide how to do the borders. I am leaning towards the row of diamonds and a white strip, then a blue the same size and a larger red. But I will have to think on it for the day.

I also have to work out the quilting patterns. I want to use earth, wind/air, fire, and rain/water in some kind of representative pattern. These can either go into the setting triangle on the top, bottom, and sides or in the larger squares at the corners. I am going to use an eagle feather in which ever part is left.

For the backing of the entire project.....I am thinking white. I do not want any color to show through to the front but I would love to find some kind of light print. First, I will have to look at what I can find in the area (usually there is not much to choose from here) and then on the internet for a quick search. There are a lot more decisions that have to be made before this project reaches the end.....

and can be auctioned off for a lot of scholarship money!

It is finally spring!

It is finally spring! Yesterday was a great day to be out in the flower beds. I have some stuff to plant in the ground and in pots and took the opportunity to get dirt under my nails. Unfortunately, the ground was a little to hard so I will have to water first to get started on the flower beds, but the pots and planters were a good place to start and get my hands dirty!

I am trying some snapdragons again this year. I love the way they look and their color. I have never had much luck with them. It may be that they are just for spring. Pansies only like the cooler weathers and disappear in the summer. I always plant them in the fall and have had good luck with some making it over the winter. That has worked out well. I will just have to see what I can do to get the snapdragons to work. It may be a case that I put them in and when they expire...move on to something else. Enjoy the moment.....We also got the fountain working in the front. The resident toad seems to like the movement of the water....so do we! As Tom was working on replacing the hose from the pump to the terra cotta jar at the top (It split sometime in the winter and has rigid rings so that it would be hard to repair), the toad decided to make an appearance and went hopping across the rocks at his arms length. Not that a toad is a scary thing but when you are concentrating on one thing anything that comes silently crossing in front of your face will cause you to back up quickly. We (all of us....Tom, Shelby, Kat, and I) sat outside on the front porch and enjoyed the color of old fashioned iris, the smell of fresh mowed grass, the trickle of the running water and a chorus of toads. It was warm and breezy and all was good at the end of the day.

We have all been waiting for this all winter.....

Trials and Tribulation of this Quilt

Trials and Tribulations of a Quilt..... Otherwise 'opportunities to overcome and persevere'. This quilt is finally done. This has been one of those projects that a first glance should have gone quickly. But as we all know .... The hurrier you go the behinder you get. And usually when you are in a hurry.....problems are going to go hand in hand with progress.

First the problem was to find the right combination to show the blocks off best. Once I knew what I wanted to do, I then had to find the technique to accomplish the job. I was intimidated, which made me keep putting off starting. I wanted to have sashing strips between the blocks with the blocks on the diagonal. I needed to put in setting triangles without having a bias on the outside edge. This requires cutting pieces with the bias edge on the inside of the triangle for the corner blocks and on the inside of the side setting squares. The corner triangles were the easy part....just a measure and cut. They are actually just square blocks cut in half diagonally. It was those pesky side triangles that were causing the problems. But once the time was down to nothing, I had no choice be to get busy or change the way I wanted it to look.

I did find the right combination of numbers and formulas to get the job done right. (Boy, am I thankful to the people who did all the math....I used the article 'Taking the Math Out' from the Quilter's Newsletter magazine. Thank you...!!) But in waiting to late, I also ran into a number of other problems....like sewing to fast and sewing the wrong pieces together and having to undo a couple of blocks (otherwise known as the 'frog stitch'.......rip it, rip it, rip it). And I had to watch making to many cutting mistakes as I was running out of the background material. Now with a little hard work and a couple of late nights...the top was finished. (I also had a number of events that I had to go to or do, that took up time...Cardinal's baseball game.....Easter weekend with the family....and Granddaughter and Grandson birthday party....15th and 16th respectively. Not to be missed for any reason! And the weather was nasty....not a help to get motivated to get things done. And did I mention the headaches from the weather, allergies, sinus infection, plane ride....or what ever it was. All great excuses but not real reasons.)

Once the top was done, it was on to trying out border combinations.

Finally, it was on to the backing and quilting. I had originally wanted to use one of the pieces of material from the front for the back......but did not have enough. So, I went looking through all my red, white, and blue material for just the right piece that WAS going to be big enough. I finally found it and started by measuring out the right size for one length and then measured the second length. I needed two pieces sewn together to make it long enough (90"). That left me with a piece that was almost the same size but smaller by about 8-10 inches. I got the two pieces sewn together and noticed that one of the pieces was a little shorter than the other....but, I got them into the frame and started to pin the top when I realized that they were not wide enough! After a few choice thoughts........I measured the piece that should have been the shortest. And can you guess??....it was the longest. I had sewn the wrong two pieces together. I had to take it all completely out of the frame...use the 'frog stitch' and then get the right two pieces sewn together. These two also did not measure the exact same size (this is what happens when you do not take your time and measure twice and cut once) ...but there was not much to do about it as they were the longest two pieces and would have to do. The top ended up about two inches wider than the material... As it was on the sides, I decided to go ahead and quilt everything. I was going to have to take it out of the frame and put it back in the frame again to get the two sides quilted as one long piece anyway, and I could fix the mistake then...(What fun!!)

I had decided to outline quilt the blocks and small border strip, to stipple the background and to put a random star pattern in the large red border.

As I was quilting the border....I broke the thread at least twice....wrong tension!! Changed it and was off again. I used a clear thread to quilt around the border stripe and the blocks....a different tension! So, every time I changed thread I had to change tension. And even then, I keep breaking the clear thread. For a couple of blocks, it was three or four times each and several were two times. The rest went quickly as the thread did not break...Yeah!! But several times, I was inches, if not a foot or two down the row before I noticed that it was not sewing. Add to that, the fact that I ran through three bobbins (that give no warning of ending) and I was really tired of sewing with nothing to show for it. The blocks went really fast (if the thread did not break or the bobbin run out) as it was start and sew all the way around the all the pieces and back to the start....one start, one stop.

As the time wore on, I persevered and finally got the top ready to take out and fix the backing. I actually had to cut off more backing so that the seam would end up in the quilting and not just in the binding. (I have found, over years, that it works better to have the seam actually in the quilted part if at all possible. It also does not make the binding too thick to sew.) Got the quilt back in the frame and ready to quilt the last of two borders.....and they actually went rather quickly. (I guess that the fates were tired of trying to get me to quit! I was also getting good at....sew a little....check the sewing.....sew a little.....check the sewing....)

On to the binding....and after a few trips up and down the stairs....all three floors... as the material, rotary cutter, and iron were in the basement and the quilting machine is in the upstairs...I finally got the binding material cut and ironed in half and ready to sew on. This should be the easy part..... I first sew the binding to the front all the way around. Then I pull the binding to the back and sew from the front through the ditch (seam) and catch the binding in the sewing line. One last break in the progress.....I did not get more than 15 inches down the first side and noticed a spot that I did not catch the binding...SHOOT!! (is not the word I used!) But again easily fixed... as I can just 'frog stitch' and catch it by sewing on to the new starting/ending point.

It wasn't that any of this was 'too much' to get done or even problems that I have had on other projects....but because I was already behind, it made it doubly hard to not get mad and upset. Of course, if I had started sooner all of this would not have been as much of a problem. Intimidation......Procrastination......Determination.......Finally, Completion..... And in the end....It really is a great looking quilt. One that I am proud of and glad to give to the Society Of Army Physician Assistants for their scholarship fund. Now next year, I plan on not waiting till the last minute......I already have the material picked out.....and just have to decide the pattern I want to use...... and how to put it together.......

Great weather .... Great Quilt

The weather has finally calmed down and turned out nice. The sun has been out for three days in a row…..light breeze but not incessant wind and it has been warm! (Not hot, but at least warm enough to be outside without heavy jackets, gloves, hats, mufflers, boots…...) The leaves are starting to pop out on the trees and my old fashioned iris are blooming! Maybe it will stay warm this time and not turn to freezing in the next couple of nights. It is supposed to rain but no freezing temperatures….!!!!
I am working on the scholarship quilts for SAPA (Society of Army Physician Assistants) and the one for the Veterans Caucus. I unfortunately have missed the deadline for the SAPA quilt to go out to North Carolina with Paul Lowe. I will have to overnight mail it on Monday morning. But here are some early photos of the progress of the top. Right now all it needs is some quick quilting, binding and then it is off in the mail.
Then I can move on to the quilt for the Veterans Caucus. I already have the piecing done on it (the hardest part as it also is something I have never done before….but you will have to wait to see it) and only need to finish sewing on the background blocks and then decide how I want the borders to look and sew them on….then it will be ready to quilt and bind.
Both of these quilts have been learning experiences. The SAPA quilt is the first time that I have set blocks on diagonal AND had sashing strips around the blocks. I have done both independently but never together. It was a little scary as I only had so much background material and really could not afford to make a mistake. I think that once I decided how I wanted to set the blocks together (a number of weeks ago), I became intimidated with the process and ground to a halt. But as the deadline got to the point of no return….I had to get started once again.
For years I have been copying articles on patterns, techniques, designing and designs. I have a number of three-ring binders with like topics all in one place. This has been a great help a number of times when I needed some information but would never be able to find it in all of the books and magazines that I have. I was able to find the article that gave the exact instructions on how to measure for the side setting triangles and had a chart on the sizes of the squares that I needed. It took me a little time to figure out exactly what I was doing but……after that it was some quick cuts and sewing and the pieces fell right into position and fit!
Boy is it going to be a great looking quilt. Even though the blocks are the same as the ones that I used last year…..the look is totally different. I am proud of the way that it turned out.

SUN! SUN!! SUN!!! SUN!!!!

The sun is out!!! Not exactly the warmest of days but ........the sun is out!!! I had almost forgotten what that bright, glowing globe in the sky was .......the sun is out!!
I have found out in the last couple of days that I am not the only one that has had a problem with the weather this year (actually just this winter). It does not seem to ever go away. Just when you think it is going to stay a little warmer....we get frost and freezing temperatures. I love that we get the warm days in between but I am really tired of the freezing temperatures this year. We seem to have had more damp, dismal, windy, cold days this winter.....or maybe my old age has just decided that the few nasty days that we have had, are more than enough.
What ever the problem......I am not alone..... but finally......
THE SUN IS OUT!!!!

(at least for today!!)

Where is SPRING!?

I have become really tired of the weather. It has been windy for two days and predicted to be that way for at least one more. The wind chimes are not the soothing tinkle of a breeze on a hot summer day....they have become the shrill, jingle~jangle of a tempest morning, noon, and night. The wind with the temperature that is 25+ degrees below normal (actually below freezing), make it hard to get out and about. That is to say nothing of the fact that the combined wind, cold front, and low pressure are giving me a royal headache. Literally. I used to just get these with the change in pressure. But since living in El Paso, Texas, with the wind storms in March and October that could blow the sand hard enough to sandblast the paint off of cars....The wind can set me on my way to feeling absolutely horrible. Now... one day of that is enough and two days are terrible......I have know idea how a third day will be. I am already taking all the medication that I can and trying to stay active just to get what is left of my mind on something else. What I would really love to do is climb back in bed, cover my head, and go to sleep for the rest of this weather system. I am more than ready for this weather to move on!

It is April....where are the warm days of spring.....the bright sunny days that bring on the flowers.....the soothing rain that brings the smell of fresh turned earth....the beauty of bright pastel flowers surrounded by leaves with a tint of new....the slight breezes that promise the cold of winter is going and the warmth of summer is on the way...... Where are all those things that I love???

I have only the promise that as one day moves to the next....the winds will die down, that warmer weather will come, and hopefully, the budding leaves and flowers were able to survive the pinch of late winter ...... just as I have ..... bruised and tired.....but more than ready for a new day.

Back home!!

I am back home again. Seems like I just left..... I had a pile of mail and bills to go through and Magazines! Looks like they all came in at the same time. I would rather be outside but the weather is going up and DOWN... Sunday it will be down in the twenties!! It is April not February.... Anyway, I had a great time with the kids. They are very busy with the SCA and live in general. Travis is keeping up with the school and is getting down to the point where he will have to do his student teaching. Erica is working on her PhD.... no need to say that she is really busy. Both are working hard in the SCA and trying to get things in line. The girls (Ellie and Lilly) were fine and getting to be young ladies instead of wild maniacs....well at least Ellie is. Lilly still has times that she is just out of control....head goes one way....tail the other... She is very enthusiastic to say the least.

It will be good to have the whole family together this summer. Trav is doing a great job of working out things that all of us will be interested in. So hopefully, even if something is not exactly the cup of tea that I would like.....it will be interesting enough to go to.