Many quilters are making string quilts this year. I'm sewing my strings into log cabin quilts. I've got #3 into the flimsy stage, another autumn log cabin.
I'm having fun making the stars in these flimsies.
My post is later today. I didn't have time to write last week before leaving for the guild's annual retreat. More about that later.
I've been hand quilting the Pastor's Attic quilt for 19 weeks now. I'm halfway finished with the 4th applique row. This was a short week of quilting since I left Thursday morning for retreat.
This block quilted fast, just needed to stitch in the ditch around the points.
Lots to tell you about this week so this is a long post with varying subjects.
I finally got the last of the boring sections stitched for the Lucy project. Now I'm starting to sew the sections together. She's looking so nice, I'm excited about her again, but I am very glad I decided not to make the whole quilt. I have had several people email or comment saying they'll never finish their Patchwork of the Crosses because of the other sections that need to be made. Everyone seems to enjoy piecing the larger fussy cut sections, it's the more mundane, tedious sections that bog everyone down. Update - When I was sewing with Lucy last evening, I realized I need some hexies for the outside, 40 of them. I'll baste those when the already prepared sections are sewn together. Even though I've been EPP'ing on Lucy, I haven't stopped hand quilting. The pictures of the quilting this week are a little dark. If I turned on the over head light or used the flash on the camera, the quilting wouldn't show which is the whole point of showing you the progress.
I've quilted to the center of row 4. I'm reaching in to about the center of the blocks. Left side border.
Block 1. This block quilted fast, just needed to stitch in the ditch around the outside of the applique. Added a little extra quilting into the center circle.
Block 2, this block and the center block took awhile. It takes time to quilt around all the little ovals. The ovals are supposed to be wild strawberries and have embroidered french knots on them. I french knotted 2 ovals then decided I didn't like the french knots and removed them.
Block 3, the center of the row. This one really took awhile. I could only stitch one stitch at a time around the little circles. And then there was that lattice in the vase to be quilted.
More Amaryllis are blooming. I've had 2 salmon colored plants and a true red open this week. The plant in front is just starting to open it's bud. So far I can see darker red, I won't know until it's open more exactly what color it will be. Part of the fun of having Amaryllis plants is seeing what the color of the blooms are.
I also have the large 'Christmas' cactus blooming again. The first blooming started at the very end of October. It kept blooming through all of November and most of December. Now it's blooming for the second time this winter. I'm very happy to have the flowers, a touch of summer in winter. I know it looks like bright sunlight in the background of the cactus but trust me, it's not. See the sky in the tree photo below, that's what it really looks like outside except the ice and snow have melted.
Several weeks ago on Sarah Lizzie's blog, she showed several beautiful projects she's working on. One of them was a basket quilt and she showed the older book it was from, A Bouquet of Quilts edited by Jennifer Rounds & Cyndy Lyle Rymer. I wanted that book. My local DIL checked around and found a used copy for me from Better World Books. I received the book in Friday's mail. I love it!
Last Monday evening, we had freezing rain. Everything was coated with ice. The electric went off once during milking Tuesday morning. When that happens you just kind of freeze, is it off? Or will it go back on? Fortunately the power switched at the sub-station and we were able to finish chores without anymore drama. (These gray skies are what we see most of the time this winter.)
When I was washing the breakfast dishes around 8:30, the power went off again but stayed off this time. This means it's time to hook up the generator. The milkman was coming, he needs electricity to pump the milk into the tanker, then we need the electric so the automatic washer will wash the bulk tank. And of course the cattle need to be able to drink water. It's also nice to have the furnace running in the house and I did have soup in the crockpot. And, I need my OTT light so I can see to quilt! The electric came back on at noon and the generator was put away until the next time we need it. Happy stitching this week everybody! Linking to Peacock Party,Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching,Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday,Monday Making, Design Wall Monday,BOM's Away, Moving It Forward
I quilted across the whole row again this week. I only quilted the 3" - 4" swath between rows 3 and 4. This is the part of quilting this quilt I enjoy the most. I love seeing these quilting motifs come to life!
Starting with the left side border.
Left outside block.
Between blocks 1 and 2.
Block 2.
Between blocks 2 and 3. I didn't take pictures of the rest of the individual blocks, it's just the diamond cross hatching in all of them.
Between blocks 3 and 4.
Between blocks 4 and 5.
Block 5 and the right border. Quilting won't go so fast this week. As you saw from the pictures, there are a lot of little round circles and oval berries to be quilted and the quilting all the embroidered stems take time too. That's OK, I'm not in a race. I'm still enjoying myself which is the important thing. On a lot of blogs in December, people showed their blooming Amaryllis. They were so lovely and colorful, I was envious because I had started going through color withdrawal. The winter dreariness had begun. I have Amaryllis bulbs that I save and replant from year to year. Last year I had a toddler grandchild running around in my house. To make things easier, I put the potted Amaryllis upstairs. I thought as each plant bloomed, I would bring it downstairs to be enjoyed. It is cooler upstairs and there are no large windows. I don't know if it was because it was cooler or darker, but for whatever reason, out of 10+ Amaryllis plants, only 2 grew buds and then those dried up and fell off. I was so disappointed! As usual last spring, I transplanted the Amaryllis plants into my flowerbed to grow over summer, just like I've always done. I dug them up after the first frost in October, then stored the bulbs in our garage. I left them there until the temperatures fell into the 20's and then moved them into the basement. After Thanksgiving, I potted them to start their new growing season. I potted 10 large bulbs and a large pot full of the 'babies', the little sprouts that fall off. I gave away the intermediate sized bulbs, 20 plants just take up too much space. I'm pleased to say, out of the 10 large bulbs, 8 of them have flower buds. One, out of those 8, has only 1 bud. Six have 2 buds and the final one actually has 3 buds. I've never had a 3 bud Amaryllis before.
The first of the buds have opened this week. Each bud normally has 4 flowers. The first one to open was this red with the white strip in the throat. Two beautiful flowers in this picture. The white doesn't show as well as I wished but you can see it some. Sorry the picture was blurry.
The second one to start blooming was this bright orangish red Amaryllis. This one actually has 5 flower buds in the large bud. Since this picture was taken, four flowers are blooming. I showed them to my local DIL and told her to select one to take to her house. She chose the darker red one. I'm so glad for the flowers. We had sunshine only one day last week, they bring a lovely touch of color on the dreary, gray overcast days of winter.
It was cold last week and this old farm house isn't very warm when the temps are frigid and the wind is high. Several years ago we installed a small gas heater in the dining room (which we never use to eat in). The downstairs stayed cozy warm, the upstairs (where my sewing machine is), not so warm. I sewed the binding on the string quilt Tuesday morning with my sewing machine before the temperature dropped. The rest of the week was spent downstairs in hand work. I quilted all the way across row 3, progress!
Right side border.
Left side border. This week I will quilt the seam line between the blocks of row 3 and 4.
