Finally been sewing!

Didn't take a single stitch on a quilt from May through August. In September I had to get myself in gear for our first guild meeting of the season. Guilds in our valley pretty much shut down for summer, but in other parts of the state they keep going. Do you "guild" all year long? Just curious how much of an anomaly we are. Or maybe we aren't one at all.

This is "North and South" from Pam Buda's "Vintage Patchwork" book. It was our summer project for guild to have ready to share in September. I grabbed a box full of HSTs and sorted through to find enough matching to make this. There were supposed to be 36 flying geese made to put this together, but I did it all with HSTs. 

There are no borders on the pattern, but I've been tempted to play with some possibilities.  Time will tell if I actually do. It will finish at about 8" x 12".

We also did a 1/4 yard challenge in guild last season, and were to share our results at our closing social, but I wasn't there. This is my final product in flimsy form. It is about 18" square.

I don't hate it, but I also don't know that I love it enough to want to put more time into it. I have a little pile of the leftover fabrics. If you are interested in taking over this project--quilting and binding as is, or adding, or giving it a total makeover--speak up, and I will send this your way.

I hadn't made progress on this next project for quite some time, but I did finally attach the outer border. It is my second Burgoyne Surrounded mini quilt. You can read the story behind it HERE. (If you do read that post, I just want to say, I STILL haven't entered a quilt show.)

According to that linked post, I started this quilt in October of 2015. Still not the oldest UFO in the closet.

I placed my hand in the photo so you could get perspective on the size.

I haven't had this much quilty content in some time, but there is more! This week I attended "ChitChat Finish That" at the shop over the mountain (Village Dry Goods). I haven't been able to go since April, and I also haven't worked on this project since the last time I went, so it was good to get back to it. I got three of the blocks on the right completed, and parts for another block prepped. The pattern calls for six rows of 7 blocks. My plan had been to make more rows for a queen size quilt. But a family member needs a twin quilt, so I will actually be making it just the 5 rows with borders.

This is "Every Little Bit" designed by Pam Buda. It was published in American Patchwork and Quilting in June of 2015. I just looked it up on Amazon, and they still have a copy of the magazine.           

                                               

"Every Little Bit" references the fact that you can use up tiny pieces in the piecing on the sides of the churn dash. The magazine includes a page of foundation patterns you can make copies of for the piecing.

That concludes what stitching I have been doing since summer ended.

But I have also unearthed a few things in my sewing room that need new homes.

On the left is a bundle of 4 wool patterns--three of which include wool, though I don't know if they are complete or not. On the right are 2 sets of Temecula's Mini-a-Month postcard sets. You can see the years in the photo. I already have each of these sets, and was recently given duplicates. The wool projects all go together, and the two postcard sets go together. Leave a comment indicating if you are interested in either one. PLEASE include your email address in your comment if you don't know whether or not you are a "no reply" comment.

Our latest adventure took us to Iceland:

So much I could share, but trying to really limit things. It is called the land of fire and ice--formed by volcanos and glaciers.

Waterfalls everywhere!

Thermal activity...

They spell it Geysir.

Black sand beaches--yes, I got my foot in the ocean.

Below is Mt. Kirkjufell. We were supposed to kayak here, but the water was too rough for the tender boats to take us to shore. :(

We also spent a day at the Faroe Islands. I took a boat trip out among the sea stacks. Incredible!! I hope you can click the photos below to see the majesty of these formations. Maybe I will make one my header photo

We also spent a couple of days in the Netherlands and a day in Scotland, but I will only leave you with a couple of photos from the Scottish Highlands.

First Loch Katrine in Trossachs National Park.

This is what inspired Sir Walter Scott to write "The Lady of the Lake".

And finally, a hairy coo (cow).

It was a crazy busy summer. I am hoping to have more sewing/blogging time as we move through fall, and into winter.

Until next time,

Be creative, and be kind!

Janet O.

p.s. My giveaway from months ago went to Mary at Quiltin' Grandma Blog. In my last post I was still waiting word from her to make sure she had wanted to participate.

Just popping in for a quick hello.

My intentions were good. I was going to have the drawing for the blog-iversary giveaway in my last post before July ended. With July including visiting family, moving-in family, and a family reunion campout to close out the month, that post never happened. Now hubby and I are preparing to leave on another adventure, and I have literally not taken a stitch by machine or hand since my last post on the first of July.

But I did finally put together the items for the giveaway, and here is what the winner will receive.

As usual, there are a few bars of my handcrafted soap. I've also included the recent small finish from my guild's challenge to make a quilt a month from Pam Buda's book, "Vintage Patchwork". This one is named after the Thomas Hardy classic, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles". I've added a pack of my favorite pins for working with small pieces--but they work great on large pieces, too. And finally, in celebration of the United States of America's 250th anniversary, I've thrown in a charm pack of a patriotic line from Primitive Gatherings. (If someone from outside the USA had won, I had a backup charm pack.) 

I have drawn the name and notified the winner, but will not announce their name until I have confirmed that they wanted to participate.

The only other thing remotely related to quilting is the fact that I got a new acrylic sewing machine extension table for my domestic machine, and I am very pleased with it.

I got the old extension table when I began learning to FM quilt, not long after I started blogging. I have a Pfaff, and I bought the table through my local Pfaff dealer. It has served me well until the last year or so. The plastic legs screw up and down to adjust the height of the table to match your sewing machine height. But the vibration as you sew does make them a bit "self-adjusting". I could live with that, but then the plastic legs broke off somewhere along the threaded portion, so they would no longer screw up and down. 

I was folding pieces of thick fabric or cardboard to place underneath and bring it to height. But the leg would eventually slip off whatever I used to raise it, or just fall out of place, due to the threads on the plastic legs not connecting up, and the table would frequently tip without warning.

I'd had enough. I couldn't go to the local Pfaff dealer, because they had closed down a few years ago. I discovered that Missouri Star Quilt Co. works with "Sew Steady" to provide extension tables that fit your machine. You give them the brand and model number, along with a couple of measurements, and they do the rest. It is custom work, so it takes a little time, but I am so pleased with the results. (You can see the reflection of my phone and hands in the tabletop, below.)

It is sturdy and well-made. These legs aren't going to be snapping off any time soon! And the work surface is more generous than my original table.

My only complaint (and it isn't a flaw, just a matter of what works in my situation) is that since I work on a dark surface, the black ruler lines applied to the tabletop are quite difficult to read. The ruler marks on the Pfaff table were painted in red.

Since I haven't had a chance to sew, that ends the "almost" quilty content.

I know I have shared some of the bouquets I have received this year from my florist daughter as part of the "bouquet-of-the-month" she gifted me. I have photos of the two most recent that I thought I would share.

This is July.  More of a delicate, soft color palette.

And this is August. So vibrant!

This has been such a fun gift. I love the surprise of a bouquet when you aren't expecting it, and even though I know I will get one each month, I never know when it is coming. It is always such a day brightener, that lasts all week long!

I cannot leave without a sunset. We have had some beautiful ones lately, but sadly, the cause has been the smoky skies from the raging wildfires. So I am reaching back to July 8th, when the color was not smoke related. 

This was taken from our deck, looking out toward the barnyard. I never tire of the magic of a sunset.

I will check back in when we return from our adventure. I will need to hit the ground running to get projects ready for our first guild meeting of the season (we always take summers off). So I might even have some stitching to share.

In the meantime, remember to be creative and be kind. Oh, how we could use more dignity and kindness in this world!

Janet O.

Two Finishes, and a 48-yr-old dream fulfilled!

 I am so excited to share this finish!

My Circa 1880 quilt, designed by Pam Buda, is completed!

I started this quilt in January of 2018. It has been an amazing journey, and I am grateful for each of the friends who have swapped blocks with me to make this a beautiful friendship quilt!

It took me two years to get it all assembled into a top (I did have shoulder surgery somewhere during that process). It took me another 6 years to finally decide how I wanted it quilted, and whether I would do it, or quilt by check. The checkbook won. Then it took several months to buckle down and bind it. I am thrilled with the results.

Hubby tried to hold it up over the deck rail so I could get a photo, but the quilt was too wide for him, and the sun was too harsh and made the quilt look strange.

And if you go HERE you can see the rogue blocks I added to every other row.

And if you scroll over halfway through THIS post, you will see a little explanation on how I labeled the rows of blocks that I received in swaps.

The second finish I want to share is from Lori's (Humble Quilts blog) doll quilt SAL, Summit. The last time I shared it, it was just the top, and I said I wasn't going to add a border. But one day, not long after that, I was in the quilt shop over the mountain, and I saw this Judie Rothermel fabric that was just calling out to me to be the border for Summit. So it is, and I couldn't be happier with the results!

This ended up about 22" square. I had made my 4 patches smaller than called for to accommodate the use of leftover stars from my blue and cream schoolhouse quilt.

I quilted around, and through each of the stars, and also did diagonal crossing lines through the neutral blocks of the 4-patches. I wanted something more in the border, now that the tension issue is finally resolved with my HQ Sweet Sixteen. So i used a stencil and pounce pad. Then I practiced on a sample piece.

This pre-binding photo gives you a better view of the quilting. But I hadn't yet stitched the Xs through the center of the stars.

This completes the quilty content. ;)

In May Hubby and I fulfilled a dream we have had since we were first married. We spent 8 days in Ireland, soaking up the beautiful countryside, the amazing ocean views, the castles and fortresses, the friendly people, and the incredible history! I can't begin to do it justice here, but I have selected a few favorite photos. You should be able to click on them to enlarge.

Lookout Point on Dingle Peninsula.

Irish countryside, with a view of the ocean.

Bluebells in Killarney National Park

Giant's Causeway

Cliffs of Moher

Kayaking on the Lagan River in Belfast

There is so much more I could share, but I will leave it at that. We really hope to get back again before we are too old to do some of the other things we would love to do there.

I had planned to get this posted in June, so it would only be one month past my blog anniversary, but since the clock just ticked past midnight, I did not make it. Welcome to July! I am putting together a little blog birthday package to gift in a drawing. If you are interested in participating, sight unseen (because I don't yet know exactly what it will include), please say so in a comment.

Are you enjoying the World Cup, or not a soccer fan? I do love soccer, and catch games whenever I can. 

Wherever you are, I hope you appreciate the beauty and diversity of this world we share. 

To my friends in Canada, Happy Canada Day, and in the USA, Happy Independence Day very soon. Let us stand for everything good in our country, and not sit idly when we can be an influence in a positive direction!

Until next time, 

Be creative and be kind!

Janet O.

A Finish, A Road Trip (with a blogger meet-up), and Guild Stuff

 Settler's Puzzle is finished!

So happy to have this completed. It was not the oldest UFO in my quilt closet or cupboard, but it was started 12 years ago in a class with Pam Buda, so it is good to have it ready to put on a bed. That is exactly what I did with it when we got to our daughter's house in Eugene, Oregon. I even took a couple of photos of it perfectly centered on the twin bed. Now they are nowhere to be found in my photo storage. Go figure!

We try to get to the coast when in Oregon, if at all possible. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed a few hours of the sand and sunshine.

No one enjoys it more than my granddaughter!

And just in case some of you are wondering, I DID get my toes in the water.

After a lovely week in Oregon, we headed for home, but took one brief detour to McMinnville. That is the home of Ruth, the blogger at Country Log Cabin blog. She has talked of a quilt shop there on occasion, and we finally had time to swing through the beautiful countryside to reach Boersma's. Ruth met me there.

She immediately felt like an old friend, and we chatted as I did a very quick job of shopping, and checking out. Our visit was shorter than I would have preferred, but we had a Zoom meeting we had to make at our hotel that night, and we still had to drive across the state. Thank you, Ruth, for taking the time to meet me, and for bringing lovely, handcrafted gifts. It was such a pleasure to finally give you a hug, and see your stomping grounds, after years of following each other's blogs.

In Guild meeting last month, 4 of us brought our "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" quiltlets, from Pam Buda's Vintage Patchwork book. 

These each finish at 10 1/2". Mine is in the upper right corner. I actually got it quilted and bound. I love seeing the variety achieved with fabric choices, when each of us used the same pattern.

Tammy shared what she did with 10 vintage Dresden Plate blocks.

So clever the way she made up for a difficult number of blocks to work with by using blank blocks in two opposing corners, and quilting them as though the Dresden Plates were there. 

Tammy is heading off soon for a two year mission in Africa. We will miss her, but she will be amazing.

Our guild project for May, from Vintage Patchwork, is "Wives and Daughters".  I love the book, and the BBC production. I didn't want to miss out, even though I will not be able to attend the meeting when we share them, due to leaving the country for a little adventure. I mostly followed the pattern. Just did my own thing with color placement. This finishes at approximately 6 3/4" x 8 3/4". Just a tiny thing.

Purples often find a home in my quilts, so I just had to share this gorgeous collection from Heartspun Quilts (Pam Buda), called Plumberry Farm.

What I have always loved about Pam's collections is that they look like you have been collecting the fabrics for a long time. They don't all have the same undertone, or coordinating prints. It looks like you have been collecting, not just buying a collection. Good job, Pam! :)

I'll end with a little video I took on a walk to the bottom of the family farm last month. You will see and hear sandhill cranes and Canada Geese, and hear peacocks from the neighboring farm. You will also see a fox slinking in and out of the picture. I hope it works for you. But don't try to watch full screen, or it will be blurry. I took this with the full zoom on my phone. Enlarging it doesn't do you any favors.

That's all for now. Until next time,

Be creative and be kind!

Janet O.

Village Dry Goods and Pam Buda UFOs

I've spent a lot of time at Village Dry Goods lately (the quilt shop over the mountain). I've been to their "ChitChat, Finish That" days in March and April, and I also went to their 2-day UFO retreat in March.

Here is what I have to show for all of those sewing days, and a few snatches of sewing time at home. And as I wrote this post, I realized that everything I have to share was designed by Pam Buda. She has designed beautiful quilts over the years!

This is Pam's Pattern, "Every Little Bit", that was in the June 2015 APQ magazine, but I started it in 2021. When I was posting this, I checked and found a couple of copies of the magazine on Amazon, and a few on eBay, if you are interested.

There are two more vertical rows in the pattern, and then a couple of borders. Since taking this photo, I have completed two blocks for the next row. Also, I'll note that Pam designed it with 2 different designs in the cornerstones, alternating every other one. I opted to stick with just one. 

                                                                                       

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    At the Village Dry Goods UFO Retreat, I completed Row 4, and Fran (shop owner) thought it deserved to be modeled. :)             

At the VDG class I attended where Pam taught in 2024, we worked with these patterns shown below. I have already made the upper right design (see previous post), and I started on the lower one (Stargate) at a previous ChitChat day, only to realize that when I cut out all the pieces for every block, I cut something wrong. I corrected the problem before the UFO retreat, and I got this far with it. I am making every star in a muted Fall color--each a different fabric.

This Pam Buda design below was 12 years in the making, for me. It is called "Settler's Puzzle" and I started it in a VDG class with Pam back in January 2014. It was February of 2021 when I finally finished the top, and it had been hanging in my sewing room closet ever since.

Then recently there was a need in my family for a twin size quilt, in a hurry. I hadn't planned on adding another border to this, but to bring it close to a twin bed size, that's what I had to do. I happened to have enough left of the gold fabric, so I stitched it on, and had my quilter give it an edge-to-edge design, but with a border design in that outer border. (The colors at the bottom of the above photo are more true.)

This gives you a better idea of the quilting. I am currently halfway through the binding process (using the green fabric), so it should be finished before it gets too hot to have a quilt over my lap.

This last project is from Pam Buda's book "Vintage Patchwork". Every one of the 12 little projects in this book can be made from one layer cake of fabric. There is even a cutting guide included, so you make sure you can fit them all within those 10" squares.

This one is named "Tess of the d'Urbervilles". Each of the quilts is named for a classic book of literature, or a title character from such a work. I read "Tess" once in high school and once in college, and I loved it. I tried to read it many years later and I found it very depressing. 

The edges on this look wavy because I have just pinned the binding to the back and I still need to stitch it down. This is 10 1/2" square. I just used leftover HSTs from 2 other projects.

Our guild members each have this book of Pam's, and we have been making a different project each month. It has been fun.

I bought myself a new toy tool at the UFO Retreat. It is lovely and practical--my favorite kind of tool. This is a beautifully crafted, weighted clapper. I drooled over them the first day, but thought I would pass. Then I tried one, and knew I wanted one. Working with tiny pieces as much as I do, it can often be difficult to get the seams to flatten, even with a regular clapper. But this weighted clapper does an amazing job, and looks amazing while doing it.

That is the natural wood colors, not stains or dyes--even that purple wood. It is Purpleheart wood. There is Redheart wood in some of his other designs. This is 3 1/2" x 13 7/8".

These are made by a man who lives in my valley, but are sold exclusively through Village Dry Goods. The photo below shows a few more designs on their shelves. There are more coming because they are trying to stock up for Shop Hop coming up later this month.

Pretty cool, aren't they? It can be hard to choose a favorite. I wish you could see every design, but they are stacked in front of each other.

I will end with the beautiful bouquet-of-the-month for March, from my daughter. (April's bouquet comes this weekend.)

And I cannot close without a sunset, because there have been so many beautiful ones lately. This was earlier this week as I walked over to my sister-in-law's to drop something off. Taken from their driveway. They also live here on the family farm.

Flowers and sunsets are two of the things that calm my soul. I hope you are finding time for whatever does that for you!

Until next time,

Be creative, and be kind!

Janet O.