Adding a New Family Member

GS-1 is getting married so I'll be out of touch for a few days with limited WiFi and lots of activities.  See if you can guess where we are.

View from the compound

Friday's field trip

We are not in the path of the storms.  I hope all my readers on the Southeast Coast remain safe.

A Fun Ride ...

... comes to an end 

The garden has just about yielded it's last tomato.  By the time we get back from GS-1's wedding it will probably be a complete wasteland.

I embarked on this adventure with minimal experience and a lot of hope.  My big Christmas present from Santa was this VegTrug from Gardener's Supply.

We finally got it set up and ready to plant on Memorial Day weekend.

DH mixing the soil recipe

I was so proud of my little garden ...

June 2

I planted three Bradley tomatoes, three cherry tomatoes, three green peppers, two cucumbers, and one each of basil, dill, rosemary, and thyme.  Plus three marigolds.  I had no clue I was stuffing the trough close to, if not beyond, capacity.

We had a lot of rain right off the bat and everything thrived beyond expectation.

June 18

Then we had a dry spell and I thought we'd lose everything.  Water and fertilizer to the rescue!

June 23

Just a week later everything was thriving again and I had to stake the tomatoes.  There were blooms on everything, a tiny green pepper had started to form and the herbs were going crazy.  By early July things were looking good.

July 10

And by the end of July I enjoyed my first harvest.

Lunch, July 31

Still, everything continued to grow like Topsy, producing handfulls of cherry tomatoes and a couple of Bradleys every day.

And the weirdest cucumbers in the world.

But by the end of August the garden showed signs of exhaustion.

August 23

Yesterday I discovered something had been feasting on the leaves ...

and enjoying a few cherry tomatoes along the way.

This morning I saw a wren wrestling with something in the trough and this afternoon I discovered the culprit.

Tomato Hornworm

I smushed him after this photo.

All we have left is a batch of cherry tomatoes and one cucumber vine that looks to be producing "normal" cucumbers.

It's been an adventure; I've learned a lot.  I may plant a cool weather crop when we get back from the wedding.  Or I may just plant mums and start again next spring ...

Retreat Day 3

A Finish!

I actually had one finished project (sort of).  I say "sort of" because my plan was to make two.

14" Double Pinwheel Pillow

This pillow cover was made from a double pinwheel orphan block left over from a quilt that I think went to our former pastor and his wife (she was a Realtor who helped us find our last house which would accommodate my invalid MIL).  I did an overlapped back in the same teal fabric I used to border the block.  I should have taken a picture of the back because I am really proud of how that turned out.  Thankfully there was a guest quilter at our retreat who had experience making pillow covers who helped me with measurements!

There was a second orphan block in the reverse fabrics (that's how that double pinwheel pattern works) but I wasn't pleased with my fabric choices for that one so it remains a project for another day.  I think it would look better in a larger size so I need to get another pillow form before I start.

I also finished a flimsy that I think some little girl will really love.  This one is going to the guild's Comfort Quilt program.

Psychedelic 4-Patch Posey

Several years ago I experimented with several types of 4-Patch Posey blocks while preparing for a class I taught at a local guild.  These were made from some small (maybe 6") psychedelic panel squares.  (I wish I had made a photo of the original fabric!)  I stacked four of each and cut them into quarter-square triangles.

Panels are frequently imperfectly printed and these were particularly flimsy as well as imperfect, so I did the best that I could.  The purpose was to demo for the class, but I hated to see the blocks go to waste.  I used a lower quality purple (not because it was a charity quilt, but because it worked with my plan) so the main portion of the top is a bit wonky.  I picked some quality fabrics from my stash for the inner and outer borders to stabilize the final product.

All week I had been using pieces cut for Alycia/Quilty Girl's block drive as leaders/enders and manged to complete one block.

QOV block

My late-night project from Day 3 that carried over to today was the Manly 4-Patch I started last month.

Manly 4-Patch

I have 4 long seams left to sew and press.  I think it is going to be double size (or a very big twin).  This one will go to the Devo and Sew closet for a future need.

Retreat Days 1 and 2

Photos finally made it to the cloud and back so I will try to reprise my progress.

After a LONG trip back to Middle Tennessee on Monday (with stops to deposit a check, take quilts to the LAQ,  pop into Target for some last-minute items, and visit Fantastic Sams for a hair cut) I arrived shortly after noon and proceeded to settle in.

At the last minute I put a stack of little shoe-box size project boxes into the car, even though I had already packed a laundry basket with big projects -- things that needed final assembly or borders or backs.  I decided to start with the small stuff and first up was a failed One Block Wonder.  I managed to salvage the blocks by making a small wall hanging.

Aloha

(The large "dots" are not part of the quilt; they are pumpkins on the front side of the flannel-back table cloth I'm using for a design wall.)  The trials and tribulations involved with this project deserve a post of it's own so stay tuned.  I finished it Tuesday morning but discovered I didn't have enough of the intended fabric for the back ...

SO I moved on to another small project -- the remnants from the quilt I dropped off with the LAQ.

Table Runner

These fabrics always photograph as black from a distance.  They really look like this:

With the walking foot on my Baby Lock I did simple straight line quilting about 1/2" on either side of the seams.  I had hoped to count this as a finished project but didn't bring along a fabric I felt would work for the binding ... sigh.

My next project was possibly the second project I ever started in my quilting life, probably around 2002.

Tree of Life Table Topper

The blocks are totally hand pieced, but I added the sashing by machine.

I had planned to sandwich and baste, but I made a mistake in cutting the back so I have yet another unfinished project.

Check back tomorrow to see the results of Day 3.

News from the Midstate

I am away at S'mores retreat through Thursday.  My photos haven't made it to the Cloud and back yet so I'll show you a sunset from a week ago, when a severe storm was moving to the south of us.

Sunset - August 13, 2019 

Looking for recommendations

OK Blog Friends, I'm looking for quilt shop recs in the Hudson River valley area, 

between Albany and Saugerties.  

I'll be heading that way soon for GS-1's wedding.

Just to keep this quilty, here's another UFO I let go of this week.

Scrumptious Stars

The Comfort Quilt committee at guild was happy to get it!

Tiny Tuesday

Catching up

After assembling the tiny double 9-patch that Angela introduced Tuesday morning,

TT Double 9-Patch

I decided to catch up on the sashing for the last two months.

I spent the rest of the day in the sewing room, looking for UFOs that I can LET GO.  It's so hard; I remember THAT fabric, I had sew much fun working on THAT project, this one reminds me of THAT person.

In fact, over the weekend I assembled a collection of blocks that started with a block to go in a dying friend's comfort quilt.

Asian Pinwheels

I am going to pass it on to the guild, along with some leftover fabrics.  It could probably use a border but I can't make myself do any more with it.

Simple Tiny Tuesday

... on a Saturday 

Knowing that Angela is wrapped up in a new school year and getting two kiddos off to college, I offered to create a simple Tiny Tuesday block to make up for the one she missed this week.  And since we will be essentially doubling up on TT this week, I made it VERY easy!

So here goes.  Cut:

• 4 light/bright blue squares at 2"
• 1 square at 2" - can be blue or background
• 1 strip blue @ 1-1/4" x at least 8"
• 1 strip background @ 1-1/4" x at least 8"

Stitch the two 1-1/4" strips together along the long side and press toward the darker fabric.  This stripset should measure 2" across.

Cut this stripset into 2" segments.

Arrange your pieces in a 9-patch formation.

And voila, you have a block!

Be creative with your fabric and value choices. And have fun!

Cutting It Close

Mosaic Mystery - Month 2/Cutting

I was showered and dressed, ready to go out to lunch with the church women Thursday morning and had several hours to fill before I headed downtown.  I didn't want to do any stitching and end up with threads all over me, so I decided to cut the Mosaic Mystery being hosted by Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs.

Unlike many mysteries, all the cutting instructions are provided at the get-go.  

Top down - Fabrics B, A, C, Background, Border

I looked over the measurements needed to make sure my fabric choices were sufficient.  I needed 27 inches of Fabric C; it looked like I had JUST enough of the black fabric to designate it as Fabric C.

So I cut all of Fabric A, all of Fabric B, then took Fabric C to the (new) ironing board.  OOPS!

Fabric C

Apparently I had cut a chunk for something earlier!  Thankfully (and thoughtfully) Cheryl not only tells you how many of this or that you can get out of a strip, but shows the total number of thises/thats you will need, so I was able to scavenge bits from other strips.  This is ALL I had left!

Less than 1/5" left!!!

A morning's-worth of work:

All cut and ready for the September clue

Check out the surprise lurking in the leaf fabric:

I see you!

I will be reporting in at Meadow Mist Designs.

What's wrong with this picture?

Other than all the shadows ...

When a meeting was rescheduled on Wednesday I decided to use the unexpected free time to whip out three Double Shot blocks in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month, light/bright blue.  It obviously doesn't pay to be overconfident!  To add insult to injury, I unstitched the wrong row.  But I soldiered on and, in the end, the three blocks went together very quickly.

I am looking forward to seeing this quilt come together!

Linking up with Scrap Happy Saturday at soscrappy. 

RSC - Wrapping Up Pink

Hello, Light Blue

Again, I skipped the Tiny Tuesday applique block and finished the pink month adding two more TT blocks to my collection

Wonky Star

Not my best effort ...  I don't know about you, but I find it difficult to be wonky on purpose.  

Violet

I had wrapped up my blocks for the larger RSC projects -- Chandelier, Double Shot, and Buckeye Stars -- early in the month.

As I've said before, the first week of the month is generally free of social obligations so I try to get a head start on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects while I have a clear calendar.  This month is no exception.  Yesterday I cut and kitted blocks for all three projects!  Yay, I'm ready to pick up and stitch in little blocks of time.  OR, they can become leaders/enders for another project.

Since I was stymied on the OBW panel project (more on that tomorrow) I decided to forge ahead and make all eight chandelier blocks.

Chandelier Blocks

The color of the month is light blue.  Digging through my blue scrap bin I discovered that I have a lot of novelty prints with light blue backgrounds.

Novelty prints

Sew I unofficially changed the color of the month, at least for these blocks, to novelty prints!

Think I'll pop over to Oh Scrap! to see what other scrappy goodness is appearing in blogland.

So What Did She Get?

... with her gift certificate ...

As reported earlier in the week, I won a $100 gift certificate from Tennessee Quilts.

I couldn't leave Johnson City, TN without spending it on the prize I didn't win!

Everybody who attended the Friday dinner received a door prize.
In addition there were six or so "grand" prizes.
One of the physical prizes was a board like this -- I REALLY wanted it.

Portable ironing board

But I won the very next prize, a $100 gift certificate which covered the $95 cost of the board.

The board is big enough for a half width of fabric.
It has collapsible legs to sit up on a table at a comfortable height.

And, it has a handy handle for transporting.

I am a happy girl!