Catching up

We're back at House 1 for the weekend events leading up to GS-2's wedding in August.  No stitching came with me so I thought I'd catch you up on a few things now that all my pictures have come unstuck from the cloud.

First the wall hanging in the living room.

The center is a panel; I don't recall the pattern name for the setting.

The photographer is crooked, not the quilt.

As if I don't have enough quilts of my own,

I put a pair of my mother-in-law's Iris quilts in the "purple" guest room

(even the shower stall and toilet are periwinkle).

They were made from kits in the 1960s.  She did beautiful stitching. 

 The frames laying on each bed hold two of MILs water color paintings of flowers --

 one is peony and the other is rhododendron, 

very appropriate considering the plants in our garden.

Speaking of the garden, look what survived the deer attack ...

I'm afraid of what I will find when I return, though, 

since DH forgot to remind the HVAC guys to close the gates after installing the AC unit.

And in the sewing room, all the blocks have been trimmed and

 are on the wall waiting to be artfully rearranged before assembly.

Five and Dime from Loose Change

No, that's not a black and white photo; the fabrics are all shades of gray and cream.  

I just realized that today is the last day of the month 

and I have made no more progress on the turquoise RSC Loosey Goosey column.

Loosey Goosey

Finishing Touches

It's been too hot/humid/rainy to work outside the last few days so quite a bit of progress has been made getting settled inside.  The wall hanging is up in the living room and the two guest rooms are semi-ready for company, but for some reason those photographs will not download from the cloud.

So you'll just have to take my word for it, progress is happening.  We have loaded the top section of the Jackson press ...

... and the good china was unboxed and put away, along with table linens in the dining room.  But the table is still piled with things I intend to part with.

DH installed a hanger for brooms and Swiffers ...

... and I reorganized the pantry.

Still no activity in the sewing room.  Maybe after today's grocery run ...

Wildlife Wednesday

And the Tribe increased

What poem is that from?

From 3 to 4 and now 10!

The nerve!

Can you believe this?

Remember all the problems I had with deer eating my day lilies at House 1?  Well, I have seen exactly ONE deer on our property since we moved into House 2 and it was headed across the lake with bigger fish to fry.

About a week ago I ventured into my secret garden on the east side of the house and noticed that we had one day lily in bloom.

At that time I noticed another group of day lilies on the other side of the secret garden, loaded with buds.  A day later when I checked on the progress ...

It's a bit difficult to see, but all the buds have been very neatly chomped off!  Apparently the HVAC guys left the gate to the garden open.  I have not seen any deer; what else might do such an expert job of decapitation?  Could it be my baby rabbit?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the secret garden the other day lily survives and thrives.

By the way, I have tried the comment fix that several Blogger folks have recommended and I would appreciate a comment to see if it works.  I feel so bad that I have missed or failed to respond to comments over the last few weeks.  Let's hope the problem is resolved and life gets back to normal.

Making Progress

Looking more like home

The furniture arrived Wednesday, but about all we could accomplish was placement in rooms.  The piles of boxes had to wait while we returned to House 1 to clean out the garage.  Thanks to

1-800-GOT-JUNK

(They took off before I could get a picture.)  

Honestly, if you need to get rid of a bunch of stuff, or even one bulky object, they will take care of it.

We spent most of Saturday emptying boxes and filling drawers.  I was hoping to get at least one room back to normal and since the living room is the first room a person sees on entering, that's where I began.

Living room before

We put the big sofa that came with the house in our family room and everything else (except the rug) went to Habitat Re-Store.

Living Room today

It's starting to feel more like home!  One item still on my list is putting up the wall hanging

It will hang over the same old wash stand as it did in House 1.

Living Room at House 1

Sunday's focus will be the dining room which is also visible from the front door.

Needless to say, there was NO stitching last week, though I did go to Devo and Sew on Tuesday and cut (or, rather, attempted to cut) a class project for a September retreat.  Unfortunately it is the kind of cutting that required attention to detail, not something to be done in public.  I wasted some fabric and may have to replace it with something else.

Maybe I can treat myself to some sewing this afternoon.

Wildlife Wednesday

Spotted near the lake ...

DH (center) with a rowdy crowd

These guys were THE BEST.  You know what this means?  No more empty rooms! ... at least not at House 2.  We're going back to House 1 tomorrow to meet 1-800-GOT-JUNK to clear out the garage.

Seriously, if you're reading from the Nashville, TN area, we highly recommend All My Sons Moving and Storage.

Even for small moves.  They took an antique glass china cabinet to my SIL in Savannah, GA last summer, carefully stuffed with bubble wrap and wrapped in cardboard and shrinkwrap.

Also spotted on the lake this afternoon:

Rubber Ducky paddleboat

Something Special

A Wedding Quilt

Even though we are getting into the final stages of moving out of House 1, I've managed to squeeze in some quality sewing time almost every day at House 2.  (I'd better get busy as W Day for GS-2 is fast approaching!)

The fact that the quilt I'm working on involves some pretty mindless sewing makes it a lot easier.  This will be the third quilt I've made from this book:  Loose Change by Kansas Troubles Quilters.

The patterns in the book are based on combinations of 5" and 10" squares, fabric frequently found in pre-cut Charm Packs and Layer Cakes (if you're using Moda).  Every manufacturer has its own terminology, but the concept is the same -- five and 10, nickels and dimes, loose change ...

I am using a line of Moda woven cottons, designed by Jen Kingwell (do you sense a theme here?).  They feel like silk, so soft.  However, I am concerned they may be too loosely woven to hold up to this technique.  We'll see.

First, a 5" square is centered on a contrasting 10" square.

There is a ruler designed to make this process easier, but the difficulty still lies in the pinked edges which make it hard to determine exactly where the 10" edge should fall.

Since the result will be somewhat scrappy, I'm not really stressing about whether the small square is exactly centered.  After top-stitching 1/4" (more or less) away from the edge of  the little square, the whole thing is cut into quarters -- in this case vertically and horizontally, but it could also be on the diagonal.

The pieces are scrambled and rearranged into 4-patch blocks.  In my case I am coordinating them by pairs, half with dark background and half with light.

Of course, value is a relative term, so sometimes my "mediums" become "dark" and sometimes they are "light."  My final setting will be 6x6 or 36 nine-inch blocks.

I purchased a Tula Pink wide back at a quilt show this weekend and I think the overall combo will suit the bride's request for something neutral.  She has very modern taste.

Now I just need to get it quilted in time!
Linking with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than housework.

Wildlife Wednesday

Quackers

We now live on a man-made lake and one of the building lot regulations requires a seawall to prevent sediment (and other bad stuff) from getting into the lake.

Seawalls at lake level

Our lot is one of only a few on Lake Dartmoor that are exempt because we are on a natural rock promentory.

View from the rock

I might add that this rock was also the cause of my recent ankle incident!  It is also why ours is a favored fishing location.

THE rock

From our dock the rock grades back down to the water, extending into the new neighbor's lot a bit.  And this spot is a favored location for a family of four ducks to to take their afternoon bath.

Daily bath

They primp and plump and flutter and flap until one of them decides it's time to paddle off  and the others follow in a line.

Life on the lake is never dull.

Throw Back

Come Back

Remember this?

About this time last year I became enthralled with Jen Kingwell's "Long Time Gone" after seeing all the examples being made on other blogs.

Long Time Gone - pattern by Jen Kingwell

But I was struggling with the chaotic nature of  the totally scrappy renditions of the pattern.  My eye/mind/heart/soul requires a little more order.  So I decided to do mine in black and white with pops of color.

For about one month I couldn't pull myself away from the quilt.  I blogged about it here.

UNTIL I discovered Kingwell's Gypsy Wife.

Gypsy Wife - pattern by Jen Kingwell, quilt by Jo Ann Benedetti

I had seen several examples done in all neutrals like Jo Ann Benedetti's quilt above which appealed to my senses.   I didn't have the pattern, however, but I could see that it was made with a variety of traditional blocks in various sizes so I set about making blocks using Judy Hopkins 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks as my inspiration and my bins of neutrals as my resource.

That occupied me for the month of August and again in January after I received the "real" pattern as a Christmas gift.  And then we bought a new house and began the moving process.  GW hasn't seen the light of day since.

Looking for something "easy" to work on at Devo and Sew (i.e., no machine required), I dug out LTG and spent the entire day re-acquainting myself with the project, trying to figure out how much was done, how much already cut out, and what needed to be done to finish up.

So while it was still fresh on my mind I started back to work on Long-ER Time Gone.  It has exploded all over my still unfinished sewing room.

HSTs to trim on the cutting table

Block in progress on the sewing table

Checkerboards at the ironing station

Trying to stay organized on the "guest" sewing station

Finished parts on the design wall

Not that I don't have other more important projects that need attention ... like a wedding quilt for GS-2 and nine 12" blocks for a swap on the Alaska cruise, both due in August.

At least I'm back in the sewing room!

Devo and Sew

Quilt Top Parade

The group I am now sewing with here on the Plateau (someday I'll explain Tennessee's topography) keeps a supply of "encouragement" quilts on hand for when there is a need.

So last month I provided a little more encouragement by donating a bunch of quilt tops that I knew I would never get around to quilting.  Many of them were scrap quilts intentionally made to give away; others were projects that, frankly, didn't suit my taste once they were completed but will certainly warm someone's spirit when quilted and donated.

In no particular order, I will try to provide pattern names where applicable. (Note: photo heavy and unedited)

Disappearing 4-Patch

QOV Mystery A6 - Big Star Country
pattern by Alycia/Quiltygirl

Waffle Town - Honeycomb Waffle pattern by Sara Nephew

Lavender and Lime made with Mary's Triangles

Poppies - 4-Patch Posies in an original setting

60 Degrees of Separation
Original design interpretation of a quilt I saw in a shop

Bargello with a Twist by Maggie Ball 

Wink and a Smile

Tropical Trellis - original design, guild color wheel challenge

Soup or Salad? - One Block Wonder

Diamond Jubilee II - pattern by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes

-

Grand Mess  - main blocks from Bonnie Hunter's "Grand Illusion"

Athena orange
pattern by Janine Burke/Blue Underground Studios

Summer Heat - paper-pieced pattern by Nancy Mahoney

Burgundy and Brie - One Block Wonder

Scrappy Rails - RSC16 multicolor

Athena Blue