Sister's Choice Quilts

Borders on Viola: a Finish

I am working my way through the stack of quilt tops needing to be finished:  sending them out for quilting, attaching borders, sewing down bindings--I am getting it done a bit at a time.

Here is Viola, a Miss Rosie pattern, that took me an inordinate amount of time.  There was lots of piecing in this top, as well as machine appliqué.  I did make the quilt a bit smaller.  The pattern called for sixteen blocks, and I was done after twelve.  Then I let it sit for months without the borders.  Luckily I had cut everything out and had made all the half square triangles for the borders, so just some assembly was required.  It turned out not to be a big deal at all.  I don't know why I put these things off but I do.

The quilt is an odd size as a result of my not making it square--64" by 84".  However, I think it will work quite well on Eva's bed.  Those topsy turvy pots of flowers are kind of cheerful and fun, aren't they?  The border turned out adorable, and was quite painless.  I love a pieced border, and this design was such a great idea.  You don't have to piece the *entire* border, just random lengths of half square triangles with plain strips attached.  I think it is a terrific effect, and far less time consuming than a completely pieced border would have been.

Hope you all had a nice Memorial weekend!

Gone With the Wind

Honestly, it's been so long since I worked on these blocks I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the quilt pattern when I went to type in the title of this blog post.  Not Gone With the Wind, but Into the Wind.  Or is it Against the Wind?  Think lots of flying geese.

At any rate, I arranged the blocks diagonally, as they will be sewn together.  You get a better feeling now for what the quilt will look like when finished.  There are special pieced triangle blocks I will place along the outer edges that continue the design and pull the entire piece together.

I just have not been able to get myself into a routine of sewing the past number of months.  Eva did get into a little summer program, but only a couple of days a week.  I will have her the rest of the time.  She and I will have to strike a little deal where she doesn't pester me for an hour or two each morning.   I can bribe her with the promise to take her to the pool in the afternoon if she lets me be.  She is perfectly able to entertain herself for an hour or an hour and a half.  Her room here at my house is furnished better than most preschools, I tell you.  Last summer I created "Quiet Time Boxes" for the days I had her.  You fill the box with books, games and activities the child can explore on their own while the adult has a bit of time to themselves.  Of course her preference was for me to sit with her and explore the items along side her, but I am hopeful she will be willing to give it a go on her own.  I hate to depend on the tv to "babysit" her, and really want to provide some quality activities she can do solo.  And I need a bit of time to do my thing too.

I will keep you posted as to how that works!

Outer Border on Steam Punk

In honor of my Year of Getting It Done, I put the outer border on my Steam Punk quilt.  This special quilt called for a border, but a subtle one.  I think the off white print fits the bill, allowing the focus to be on those glorious spinning propeller blocks.  This will go out for quilting soon, but when it returns I believe I will have to hang on to it for myself.  I had too much fun making it to let it go.

I am hobbling around the house with a sore back and legs after four days of caring for Eva last week, two of which involved spending the day at our county fair.  All day.  Both Thursday and Friday.   In the kiddie carnival area.   Let's observe a moment of silence while you feel sorry for me...

But who could resist that girl?

The fair is a very big deal in our small community, with many local 4H kids showing animals they spent the last nine to twelve month raising.  It is a fun event, but as I said, exhausting for grandparents who have to tear up and down the hilly area following their charges over the acres of fairgrounds.  It's all over now, for another year.  Thank goodness.

Hope you are all having a grand week.

Family Time

Since I haven't been doing much sewing, but feel obligated to provide some sort of blog content, I will tell you what I have been up to this past week.

Mostly, I have been spending lots of time with my Eva lately.  The school year where we live is winding up, and the graduation festivities are being held this week.  Next week, all schools in our district (including preschools) are closed for the county fair.  It is a big deal, I tell you.  We are out in the country, and there are lots of families who live on farms and ranches, and the 4H is a major player.  We know kids who have been raising chickens, lambs, even cows.

I've taken Eva to the pool, which this early in season we have pretty much had to ourselves.  She has graduated from a swim vest to "floaties" , as you can see in the photo above.  Once the weather warms up more, school is on recess, and other children are free to use the facilities she will have little friends to play with.  For now, she is stuck with Nana lumbering into the pool with her, but at least she doesn't have any judgments as to how I look in my swimsuit.

We had her for a sleepover this past weekend, and she entertained us with a puppet show.  Of course, every show requires an audience, she pointed out reasonably.  She lined Denny (that's what she calls her Grandpa Dennis), me, and Ozzie up on her bed.  We enjoyed front row seats, and only had to restrain Ozzie from killing the puppets a few times.

 

The Garden (and other things) Calls

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I let so many days go by with out posting.  I am starting to get concerned emails from readers asking if everything is all right.

It totally is all right.  I have just been busy, preoccupied, working or just plain goofing off.  And sitting on my porch.

I made some new pillow covers for the front porch furniture.  Ozzie has been testing them out, and says they are A-OK.

Yup.  Just fine.  We sit on the porch together.

I have been reading my books, participating in some end of the year activities with Eva, gardening, sitting on the porch, working, sitting on the porch, doing some spring shopping, doing some spring cleaning, and sitting on the porch.  Not sewing.  Mainly sitting on the porch.

I can't help it.  The weather is perfect, the plants are growing, my books are interesting, and I just don't have the energy to do one single thing except sit on the porch.  Wine and barbecued potato chips have been part of the scene as well, but we won't talk about that.  It is so gorgeous outside, I just can't think about going inside and sewing.

I promise to try to do much better about blogging in the weeks to come.