It’s Blogger’s Quilt Festival Time

Since I was one of the hand quilters who inundated Amy with requests to open a category for hand-quilted quilts, I figure it’s the least I can do to submit an entry of my own.  And now I can say that I’ve had a quilt entered in a “show” (on my bucket list). 

I know that none of my quilts are truly “show worthy” … and this one is no exception.  But this quilt is full of precious memories … and is my favorite of all the quilts I’ve made over the 30 years I’ve quilted.  For that reason, I’m going to enter my blue and white log cabin.  (As many of you might remember, we’re out of town, so I’m going to have to rely on whatever photos I thought to take (and publish) when I finished up my quilt.) 

Blue and white quilts are always a favorite … they’re so simple, so striking … and a change of pace from my usual more prim fabrics.  I’d long wanted to do a log cabin quilt in just white and blue… it’s a favorite pattern, and I had an image in my mind of how striking a blue log cabin would be. 

As I was finishing up the piecing of a blue and white single Irish chain, it occurred to me that I probably had a LOT of blue and white scraps in my stash, thanks to making a couple of blue and white quilts for my grandsons as well as that Irish chain.  And sure enough, I did!  It was a sign … my blue and white log cabin was meant to be!  Other than the red for the center and the binding, all the fabrics came from my stash (and that’s saying something because I have a very limited stash).

I’m not usually a fan of piecing, but this top went together quickly … watching the first couple of seasons of NCIS (on DVD) kept me entertained while at my machine.

By the time I finished up the top and started quilting, I still had several seasons of NCIS to get caught up on, so the quilting seemed to go quickly, too.


It seemed like this quilt, from start to finished, was done in no time at all … I don’t know if it was because I was entertained by NCIS while making it, because I loved the fabrics (and the memories of the other quilts I made using those fabrics) or because I loved the pattern … or all of the above, but this is my favorite quilt. 



Please check out the other hand-quilted quilts (as well as the quilts in all the other categories … just click on the button at the top of this post) … I know my humble log cabin quilt can't compete with all those other quilts, but to me, there’s no comparison.    I love this quilt ... and that's all that matters to me.
Kathy

Our Little Corner of Paradise

I hadn't planned on blogging while we're gone, but I just can't seem to stay away. Ha!  Besides, we've got rain in the forecast for the entire day ... so why not blog a little today?

We left early Monday morning and made really good time ... we stopped in Asheville, NC, home to the Biltmore Estate. I had thoughts of spending a little time there (we were in the hotel by 4:30) until DH told me how much the tickets were selling for ... since we only had a couple of hours (assuming they were even open that long), we decided to pass this time. 

As we headed out for dinner, we noticed that the Blue Ridge Parkway passed within a mile or so of our hotel ... DH was been wanting to drive along the length of the BRP for the longest time, so we had to take a drive. It was beautiful ... and I can only imagine the sights we'd see up in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia and the Smokies in Tennessee. Since we will be passing back through on our way to Hilton Head in September, we're thinking seriously about adding a few days to our trip, driving up to Virginia and taking in the BRP. We won't be too far out of our way at the end in Tennessee ... we can hop back on I-26 and head on to HHI. Now comes the fun part ... plotting out our drive.  If any of you all have any advice or tips, please share!  ;-)

(Forgive the less than spectacular quality of the photos ... I only had my iPad with me). 

We arrived on the island Tuesday ... it didn't take long to get unpacked and settled in our condo. Not when this is calling us!

THAT is why we're here. 

 

There's never a dull moment when walking along the beach in the morning.

I brought my hexie project with me to work on while on the beach and I have several books on my iPad, so we've got our rainy day covered ... with not too shabby a view from our patio.

But it's definitely not the same as being out on the beach!  Thankfully we've got a few more days to spend here (with more delightful weather in the forecast, too). 

Hope you all have a terrific day!

Kathy

Saturday’s Tidbits

 

I wasn’t going to blog again before we left, but I’m suffering from withdrawal … so here I am.

 

I finished up all my triangle blocks for DD’s quilt yesterday … may I say that I’m tired of large triangles?    I’m ready to start assembling the blocks into rows … I just need DD to decide if she wants chevrons or herringbone.  Maybe I’ll like this quilt better when I start the quilting … since that’s my favorite part even on quilt tops that are more “my style”.  Seriously though, all that really matters is that DD likes it. 

 

I went for a walk last night and saw this at a neighbor’s.

Forgive the blurriness … I took the picture with my iPhone … I would have liked to have tried to get a little closer for a better picture, but I was worried that the neighbors might freak if they looked out their window to see me tip-toing through their yard toward their house and that the hawk might decide that I was too close and fly off.

 

After my walk, I checked out our garden.  Our zucchini is hanging on … I wouldn’t say it’s thriving, but it’s still alive.  And our lettuce and green beans are coming up! 

Hope it’s not too late for the lettuce … the first batch of seed didn’t come up.  Our tomatoes all seem to be doing fine … one plant has blossoms already (I should have taken a picture of it! ha!) … I wonder if we’ll have tomatoes when we’ll get back.

 

Since tomorrow is Mother’s Day and we’ll be spending it at DD’s, we’ll be packing today.  Thankfully we’ve done this a time or two … even so, I have a list so I don’t forget anything.  I’d like to have everything ready to go by this evening so all we have to do on Monday is pack up what we needed to get ready … and then we can hit the road.    Usually when we pack up, we leave the next morning … I wonder if we’ll wake up early tomorrow, ready to load up the car and take off?  Ha! 

 

Speaking of Mother’s Day, I’d like to wish all of you moms a very blessed Mother’s Day.

It’s Going to Be a Looooong Day

I’ve been up for an hour and a half 2 hours and awake for almost 2 4.    I think it’s safe to say that today is going to be a slow day here at Chez Nana. 

Yesterday DD treated me to an early Mothers’ Day gift … a gals’ day out.  We met for a massage (my sore shoulder muscles will thank me tomorrow) and followed that up with a pedicure (a gal’s gotta have pretty toes for her beach time, don’t you think?).  After lunch, we headed to DD’s to pick up DSIL and the Ts and met DH at the laser tag center (now I’ve got sore leg muscles to go along with those sore shoulder muscles ).  We finished up our day with pizza at DD’s, watching Frozen (again … T#4 LOVES that movie!  She stands glued to the TV through the entire movie … singing along to Let It Go … so sweet!), played a hand of Rook, and a late-night snack of milk shakes (half price shakes at Sonic!).  What a fun day! 

Thankfully I don’t have a lot on my plate for today … I’ll meet DD at the dentist late this morning … my assignment is to watch whoever isn’t in the chair.  We’ll see if T#4 is willing to let the hygienist “count her teeth” this time.   

I will likely spend the rest of the day stitching up more triangle blocks.  I got more of the dark gray triangles cut and would really like to have all the blocks pieced so I can start constructing the top when we get back.  But given how easily distracted I’ve been during the writing of this post, I may re-think that plan.  That’s ok … I’ve got plenty of things to do … hexies, packing, or just being lazy, sitting out on the deck with the book I started a couple of days ago.

Hope you all have a fantastic Thursday!
Kathy

Tuesday Trivia

 

The weather here has been just plain delightful … and I’ve got the sunburned nose and back of the neck to prove that it’s just too nice to stay inside.  However, today I really need to stay inside and get some more triangle blocks pieced.  I have said that I will sew in the evening, but by the time we finish up with dinner, I’m just too worn out to sew … even hexies.  I was talking to DD yesterday about how while my mind definitely doesn’t feel my age, my body is beginning to take exception to my mind’s perception … I’m not as young as I used to be (or as I think I am - ha!).

 

We’ve had a family situation that has been weighing very heavily on my mind lately … while it’s not resolved, it’s at a point where we feel fairly comfortable enough to be able to leave as planned for Hilton Head next week.  If you all have the inclination to pray for this situation (I can’t share more as the story isn’t mine to tell), I would appreciate it … I know we’ll have a greater sense of peace knowing that there are others lifting this situation to the Lord. 

 

We checked our garden yesterday … and our poor zucchini plants didn’t look like they were long for this world.    We watered them and agreed that if they weren’t looking any better this morning, we’d replace them.  We had trouble with zucchini last summer, but we attributed it to the poor soil and low grade of the community garden plot we were assigned.  But even so, they took off and looked like we’d have plenty of zucchini … but slowly died off as they reached maturity.  Thankfully the plants look wonderful this morning … I wonder if it was too warm for them so soon after planting (it was pretty warm yesterday … it got up to 89-90, depending on the source).  I guess we’ll plan on keeping them well watered until they get “settled in”.  Everything else in the garden is looking good.

 

DH and I aren’t huge fans of Mexican food so we didn’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo yesterday.  But we did get a big laugh out of this a friend posted on Facebook.

 

Hope you all have a terrific Tuesday!

Kathy

Slow Sunday Stitching

It turned out to be much nicer yesterday afternoon than I originally thought it was going to be … I ended spending the entire afternoon working out in the yard and garden.  I put down the bags of mulch left from last fall.  I put out 5 bags full and still need another 2-3 bags.  That will have to wait until my back feels better … lugging around 5 bags of mulch really did a number on my back muscles.    After I finished up the mulch, I trimmed around the fence and house … DH and I have a routine … he mows and I trim.  Works for us.  And as if that weren’t enough, we went ahead and put in our tomatoes and zucchini and planted our green beans. 

We still need to buy and put out a couple of tomato cages, but other than that, we are done. 

I had planned, when I first went outside, to get myself back into the sewing room when I was done working in the yard, but by the time I was finished, I was too exhausted to even think of trying to sew … I was too tired to even spend some time with my hexies.    Good thing I spent my morning in the sewing room and got about 30 blocks pieced … I’m about halfway done, and if I can continue to get 30 blocks pieced in a couple of hours or so, I shouldn’t have any trouble getting started on piecing the blocks into rows by the end of the week.  I think I need more of the dark triangles … I have the fabric, just need to prepare it for cutting.  That shouldn’t take me too long … and with any luck, I should still have enough of it for binding. 

I really should be piecing more triangle blocks today, but it’s just going to be way too nice outside today to stay inside in the sewing room.  Since I’m still a little sore from yesterday’s outside work, I think I’ll spend my afternoon out on the deck working on my hexagons.  I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon … unless I could have my six favorite people sitting out on the deck with me. 

Have a blessed Sunday, y’all!
Kathy

Saturday’s Stuff

I’m slowly but surely making progress with my triangles for DD’s quilt … and it’s a good thing that the progress is a little on the slower side, as she’s rethinking the herringbone setting … she’s thinking that maybe she’d rather have the triangles set in a chevron pattern.  I’m ok with either way … it’s simply a matter of how I set the triangle blocks … as long as she makes a decision before I start to assemble the blocks into rows, which I’m hoping will be by the end of next week. 

Here are some blocks auditioned in the original herringbone setting (and yes, I know that they need to be pressed ha!):

Here they are auditioned in the chevron setting:

The colors in the first photo are more accurate … the photos were taken in the same spot, under the same lighting, within a minute or two of each other … not sure why there’d be such a pronounced difference in the colors.  I’m not sure that there are enough blocks of the chevron setting to get a very good idea of how it’ll look … I think I’d need another row or two. 

Yesterday I got to spend some time with my favorite 6 year old. 

We played with his superhero figurines.  He’s really been fighting allergies this spring … you can see it in his puffy eyes.  But he certainly looks a lot better than he did Thursday evening.

(The “waffle” imprint on his nose is from the compressor … he had another massive nosebleed just before this picture was taken.  Seeing him like that just broke this Nana’s heart.)

It was not a nice morning when Lois and I walked at 7:30 … chilly and dreary.  But the sun has come out, and it’s just as delightful as can be.  I really ought to get some work done on DD’s quilt, but I’ll be honest and tell you that I’d much rather be outside.  It’s a little too windy … otherwise, I would have to give serious consideration to maybe even moving the sewing machine out to the deck.     Maybe I can work on my hexies out on the deck.  DH and I spent a while out in our garden … he and John (Lois’s husband who also has raised bed gardens) will put in the green bean fences.  Tomorrow DH and I will plant green beans and put in our tomatoes and zucchini.

More proof that spring has sprung:  our dogwood bloomed (not as much as I would have liked, but it did bloom), our lilac is just starting to bloom, our ajuga (aka bugleweed) is blooming, and we’ve had to mow our lawn 6 times already!  I love spring! 

Hope spring has sprung wherever you are!
Kathy