Slowly but surely making progress ...

 This week I finished TWO UFOs!  Hip Hip Hooray!  Let me first give you my definition of a UFO.  

A project that has been started but is stalled because 

• It's in time out - bad quilt!
• All the thinking is done, supplies gathered but first stitch still coming
• I'm sewing but I have to think my way out of a problem
• Something else got my attention - better known as "Squirrel! syndrome" from  Up - the Disney classic!
• Life gets in the way.
• Waiting for supplies

The second advent calendar of The Season is done.  And may I say this calendar wasn't due until Next Christmas!!  Hip-Hip! Both the calendars made were from panels - both with pockets and both in my stash.  

I have a friend who has made an Advent calendar for each of five grandchildren and she fills them every year!!  YIKES!  And she admitted that sometimes she puts a $5 bill in day 5 and if the grandchild is old enough she puts a $20 in day 20!

Disclaimer:  I make the Advent calendar - YOU fill it!!

And the second finish ... drumroll, please ... is CherryWood Lane.

This lovely quilt is Edyta's Quilt-a-long from 2021.  I talked about this last year - best quilt-a-long ever!  The blocks did NOT get harder or increase in numbers.  

And isn't it just cute as bugs' ears?  I used Cherrywood hand dyed fabrics.  Two other friends joined in.  P and I sewed together each week.  She used Kaffe Fassett fabric.  So, we used the other's fabric for our doors.  I have KF and she has CW.  It's fun to trade and every time I look it over, see the KF doors, I think of all the fun we had sewing it.  I designed (or found) some trees to fit into the rows and added the Cottonwood fabric 'brick' border.

The fabulous quilting is by Lynette of Fernwood Quilting on Instagram.  A good friend who really thinks about the quilting.  She posted that she had 3 days of design work; 52 thread changes! used 5 Handy-quilter rulers; 6 super bobbins and 18 hours of quilting!!  And it shows!!

Part of the delay on this quilt is that L fit me into a slow period and I got it earlier than expected - in the Christmas rush of other things!  

And I've been racking my brain trying to find a way to hang quilts easily on the STAS Gallery Wall.  The little hook on the 'sliding hanging thingies' (official name) is too small for a dowel that will stay straight under the weight of a quilt.  I've tried safety pins (They open easily under pressure.)  A bulb shaped safety pin (really too wimpy)  And white drapery rings (either have to force dowel thru the ring, and then onto the hook at weird angle - or have to sew rings onto the back of the quilt at EXACTLY the same measurement down from the top.)  I thought that was the answer.  But there will be at least 10 collections of 3-5 quilts hung during a year!  That's a lot of white rings and a lot of time exact sewing.  (Not my strength!)

Eureka! Dollar Tree has these chip clamps that come in a pkg of 6(?) for $1; they are brightly colored but will clamp on the curtain rod and hang nicely within the hook of the 'sliding hanging thingie'!  Everything in the same orientation!! I'll try to find them in white ... but meanwhile I think I have a winner!

BUT  I had to put a new style of top sleeve on my bigger quilts.  The clamp needs to attach to the bare curtain rod so it doesn't distort the quilt.  Last night I sewed the 5 partial sleeves onto the quilt.  And - Lo and Behold -  it worked!!  Note to self:  try to have an epiphany earlier in the evening so you can get to sleep!

Some other highlights of the week:  Crab season!  Catalyst Restaurant has pretty good Crab Melt sandwiches.

The Good Guy by Dean Koontz was read.  And he was a really good guy - not often found in Koontz books?  But have no fear, there was a really bad guy in it too.  Reminded me of his Odd Thomas character.  5* rating!

 

It's a long weekend - but they all are when retired! :)

I love living on the Coast.  We were a long time getting here, but it's so beautiful.  And being retired, we have time to explore and enjoy it all.

Here is my newest little rock display.  It's a window sill in the kitchen, so those rocks aren't as big as you think!  Been keeping an eye out for 'heart' rocks on our beach walks.  DH walks diligently as I lolly-gag along!  He found the 'grey speckled' one (in back, second from the right) for me last week on Crissey Field Beach.

I don't think I'll fill the sill - but it's fun to spot them while in the kitchen.

Friday night the tide was so-o low - we had never seen this much sand at Crissey Field Beach.  And oh, my - the rock selection was astounding!!  Above the dunes you can see the visitor center, I would guess there was 3 times more beach and we practically had it to ourselves!

Saturday we woke up to a tsunami warning.  Did you see the satellite picture of the underwater volcano by Tonga Islands erupting?  OMG!  And of course, we are also on the Pacific Ocean and it came towards us.  The tide was low (0.1) Friday evening when we were walking the beach, but high tide was 7.3 Saturday morning.  When you add the swell of 3-4 feet to that ... there was a warning.  We're all happy to say that no damage came of that - but the ocean was wild for a few hours.

I read Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay this week.  Very good, it kept me reading late into the night!  Who-dun-it was a surprise to me.  Of course, I try not to figure it out, just follow the story.  Let me know if you like it!

Sewing room news ... always!  I'm putting up a new design wall this week.  Waiting for the 'wall insulation' from Home Depot to be delivered.  Two panels of 0.5" x 4' x 8'!!  I can't wait!  I ordered 109 wide flannel from JoAnn's to cover it.  You'll be the first to see it!

I'm making 5 quilts this year as gifts (some say, long time coming)  and I'm desperate for space to spread each one out and get the tops completed.  Kind of like a toddler in a toy store - need to see and rearrange!

Meanwhile, my 'not so private' goal this week is to get this quilt bound.  It's been half clipped for a week, and I do need to free those clips to have enough to clip the other half.  We'll see if my follow-thru stays strong!

 PS  The Olympics are coming - it's always good planning to have some dreaded handwork ready for the watching marathon!!  I hope to have this one done but -dare I hope - at least one of the five mentioned above ready could be ready to bind!!  

High Hopes!!  Stay safe.

Happy New Year! It's time to get busy!

 

The first week of the year was mostly rain, and by rain I mean buckets of rain!  Sneaky rain squalls that just wait for you to venture outside with the garbage, to go down to get the mail, or take a library book back! …  You can almost hear Mother Earth cackling with glee to catch you!  Rain squalls beating on your windows, making you dream that the tide is crashing against the building!!  And when you wake up – it still sounds like it!

But today is sunny! I whisper, so Mother Earth doesn’t hear me!!!

Have I told you the ‘Mystery of the Lighthouse’ after moving to the other side of town??  It’s a hum-dinger!!  We lived in Rainbow Rock Condos for 11 years.  It was North of town and our view looked toward town.  We couldn’t see Brookings because of the bluffs between us.  But we could see the St George Lighthouse in California on the horizon.  We loved our view – ocean, everchanging.

SO, we moved to the other side of town.  We are looking toward town and when we look out toward the ocean … we can see the lighthouse!!  Amazing – still a southern view!  101 does twist around in Brookings, but it doesn’t feel like 180 degrees!  And if you don’t believe me – well, I guess you’ll just have to come out and see it for yourself!!  But, I recommend NOT during the rainy season!

View from Harbor

Lighthouse on the horizon

The book I read this week is Bewilderment by Richard Powers.  It is highly rated and deserves it!  I liked the characters, I hardly put it down, even when I didn't want to reach the end!

I'm still having fun with the Gallery Wall.  I just finished "HOME" but it had bright white background!  I know, not like me at all.  Even DH thought it was weird!  So I over-dyed it with liquid tan dye.  In the kitchen sink,  hot water and 2 caps of dye.  I just wanted to take the edge off - I think it's perfect!

Here's the over-view.  You can see my computer station (and oolong tea!)  The quilt behind the table is "All around the town".  I love that quilt and put a sleeve on each side so it could hang 4 different ways.  I was very surprised that it was too big for the gallery wall, yet a little too small for the "big quilt" display area.  Oh well!

Here are the 3 quilts 'featured' this month!  I had to scramble for the third quilt - ended up using "September" quilt on the left.  It has buildings and people on it.  Good enough!  Great save!

I gave away quite a few quilts to friends and family in the past few years - some of which I should have kept!  But it's an excuse to quilt away with smaller projects - should be faster, right?  The wall can take a crib size quilt.

I cleared and cleared out my sewing room stuff before moving.  I reorganized it since I moved and I still have TOO MUCH STUFF!  To actually sew in there I have to ‘rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic!’  I even participated in   “De-stash and De-clutter” by GoodFibers.  Still too much stuff!  I tried to sell some online through their site.  Apparently it doesn’t like Chrome.  Sigh!

So there’s only one thing to do – roll up those sleeves and get merciless!  (Yikes!)  I’ll let you know what I did to help the situation each week!  And of course, the reverse.  But seriously, I’ve been NOT going to quilt stores and NOT buying online.  But you wouldn’t know it!

In fact, I’m headed in there right now!  If I’m not back next week – sent the Coast Guard for a wellness check!

Stay safe!

2021 - Quilting - been at it since 1974, not quitting anytime soon!

 2021  I moved, I read a lot … Let’s see, what else did I do?  Oh, yeah – I quilted every day that ended with “Y”!  Here’s some of my favorite finishes:

When my son and his family were in Panama, all their belongings were in storage.  When the Almeda fire hit, the storage unit burnt down.  No one takes winter clothes and quilts to Central America – the low temp in Panama during the 2 years was 65!! 

They lost many beloved belongings:  photos, paperwork, love letters and 27 quilts!  So first thing on my list was a new quilt for each family member – FIVE! Twin sized quilts.  Twin size is great for snuggling together on the couch!

Disappearing 9patch for my DDIL  This replaced her Master’s Degree graduation quilt. Same pattern and some of the same fabrics!

Double 4patch from my DS  This replaced his Nursing Degree graduation quilt.  I was lucky enough to find the “Nurse Quotes” at Forget me Knots Quilt Shop in Bandon Oregon.  Thanks Michelle!

Stripe Me Lucky quilt for my DGS (10)  A Jen Kingwell Group pattern.  Made with stripes, brights, superhero fabrics and Mickey Mouse among others.  I love this pattern!

                                       

Square in a Square Superhero quilt for my DGS (8)  He’s still into superheroes and this simple quilt turned out really graphic – I like that!

                        

Zig-zag Rail Fence for my DGD (4) This was the same pattern I made for my oldest DGD (15) now.  I still had some of the pink and I spy fabrics from the prior quilt.  A big hit!  In fact, she loaned it to Pancho, the chihuahua, so he would know Nana loves him too!!  But she took it back that night to sleep under!

                                  

P and I took a CraftTour to Japan in January 2020.  Jim West throws a good tour/party!  We brought back some fabrics and some food/candy wrappers and wanted to make a memory tote bag.  18 months later … it was so!  This is a big bag and heavy with the interfacing to keep the wrappers from  ripping.  But I like it already – just perfect to take a whole project to retreats!  

                        

HOME wall quilts.  I was moving; my son and his family were moving back to the US after 2 years.  We obviously needed a wall hanging to welcome us!  I had the Moda Alphabet book – mainly because of this quilt and of course, the alphabet!  So, at April retreat I started making the wall quilts.  P, my table mate wanted one too – soon we were all about “me, me, me!”  They turned out cute.  One was hanging when the Panama gang returned home.  And I just finished mine in time to hang it with other house projects. P made me promise to not tell that her's (pink house) isn't done yet!!

                                  

During the deep days of quarantine P and I worked endlessly on “My Small World” quilt by Jen Kingwell.  They were great fun but tiny pieces!!  We each made ours ‘our own’!  With family jokes, geographic references and printed initials!  There were supposed to be more NY Beauty arcs but we made a little ‘hill town’ instead.  Much easier and still cute as a button!  For the back, we started with the fabric calendars we bought at "Tomatoes".

Back

ModSquad met as often as we could, masks in place.  And after we finished last year’s challenges we moved to Improv piecing. 

Improv is a lot of fun, but we discovered a marathon of improv was much easier than an improv challenge each month.  But the end products were so diverse and fun to see in the group.  Well worth the trouble.  We had one month left after they were done … so our new assignment was a improv holiday challenge.  It could be any holiday!!  I had so much fun making improv trees. There was a wall quilt on Pinterest – I tried to make it (in an improv way, you know!)  but no worries, it turned out different and I loved the process.  I admit I have enough extra trees for another quilt twice as big!!

  

Well, it's January 2, 2022 and I feel better with the blog caught up.  I won't even tell you my plan!!  You've probably laughed enough!  I'm working on more UFOs to generate some quick finishes.  There are at least 2 retreats planned.  And wouldn't it be nice to go on a quilt adventure with Craftours??  We'll see!

Stay tuned for the 2022 adventures!  Including visiting the kids this month so we can have Christmas!!  The weather has to calm down sometime, right??

  

2021 – It’s a wrap

                            

 It's a wrap - and I’m kind-of glad to see it go!  Now, 2021 wasn’t as bad as 2020 but is that any way to rate a year??  LOL!  And when I read my journal to try to remember what I did since May (bad blogger, no cookie) there was a lot happening despite the COVID waves.  Still – happy to welcome 2022!

My Great Niece died in February after a two year fight with cancer.  It was so hard not to be able to attend a funeral; not to comfort each other; not to reach out.  Zoom has been the answer to many things.  But I never felt more alone or despairing as when I was watching the funeral half the country away.  

In August we moved across town after our rented condo sold – don’t let anyone tell you ‘short distance’ moves are easy!!  NOT! 

On the plus side:  We did get to see our Grandchildren a few times.  Our son and his family moved back from Central America where my DIL taught at the International School.  Everyone is glad to be back in the good old USA! And we’re glad to have them back!

Like many people during the pandemic, I read quite a lot this year.  Our library had to close to patrons due to COVID, but they developed an online request system that was put into place.  You put the book on hold; the library emailed you when it was ready; you put on the mask and knocked on the back door during certain hours!!  Sounds kind of like a hold-up, doesn’t it!?  When they were able to open up again, the building was under construction.  Personnel moved over to the annex, but the books were mostly in storage.  They basically kept the same system with online requests.  They even started a “Books in a Box” program.

We filled out a questionnaire about our tastes in books.  Then every month we received 1, 3, or 5 books – depending how many you signed up for  – that was curated by a librarian for you.  No box though!!  

Most months there was at least one that was a winner; many months all of them were winners!!  We were able to travel about by literature and kept our sanity – or what was left of it.  Thank goodness for the library!  Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Out of the 76 books I read this year – down by 12 – I blame the move!!!  These are the ones that stand out.

Hounded by Keven Hearne  First book in a series about Iron Druids and witchcraft in the modern world.  Great tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.

Ocean Prey by John Sandford  Lucas and Virgil team up in this 31^st Prey novel.  John Sandford doesn’t disappoint – especially if Virgil is involved.  Enjoy!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir  I’m fond of SciFi 😊 as long as it’s about the characters, not the technology – this was a favorite.  It reminded me slightly of John J Nance’s book Orbit - a favorite in previous years.

The First Lady by Patterson & Dubois  You know, I grew weary of Patterson with his one sentence chapters, but by supervising / collaborating with other authors – he makes them both shine!  I loved this one.  And the ones he has written with Bill Clinton

Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams  I hadn’t heard of Beatriz but a friend recommended her.  Her attention to detail and the way the story advances makes her a winner.  Loosely based on some legends about Amelia Earhart

3 winners by Stephen King

Later                      Elevation             Billie Summers

3 books that couldn’t be more different from each other.  Each one hard to put down.  Hard Case Crime;  Science Fiction; and horror.  Thank you, Stephen King!!!

The Salt Path by Raynor Winn     The true story of a couple who lost everything and embarked on a transformative journey walking the South West Coast Path in England.  She has a second book out now – will have to check it out myself!

All Systems Red by Martha Wells  The first book of the Murderbot Series.  It looks like teen book – but language and situations are adult only!  I loved the concept and finished the series in short time.

Victim Without a Face by Stefan Ahnhem  Two men are dead.  They were bullies.  The school class picture is found with their faces X-ed out. A thick book written by a Scandinavian, yet, I read it fast!  Really good.  First book in a series.

Klara and the Sun by Kazoo Ishiguro  Light science fiction about robot ‘companions’ for children.  I’m not sure if I ever put it down!!

State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Clinton  WOW!  Another page turner. Not much got done once I opened the book.  You might sleep with the light on!  Another page-turner, Penny and Clinton work well together.  Read their afterword at the end of the book.

Unthinkable by Brad Parks  A new author (to me!) and he has 7 books in a series and 5 stand alone novels.  I love his writing and the ‘insider’ jokes about his other books / characters.  Don’t you love to find a new author with books you need to read? (And the library has on shelf!)

Stay tuned for my 2^nd 2021 Wrap-up.  My other favorite pastime during 2021.  You know I quilt!!  There will be pictures ....