So Good

Friday night, YM was finally able to open his birthday presents from the three of us.  He had asked his parents to put those shoes on his wishlist at the end of third grade, so now he has them for fourth grade.  

His comment after putting them on?  "I feel SO tall."

Saturday DeeDah helped him overcome his fear of slingshots.  The version with an arm brace does not come back and hit your arm, which YM had always hated.  The two of them spent an hour or so targeting different objects in the back yard.  

YM - "that was fun!"

His biggest goal for the weekend was that he and DeeDah "make something" in the shop.  After searching the items in the attic (rough cut pieces waiting to be finish turned), he pulled a 12" bowl blank (which was a too-big project for him in just one weekend).

DeeDah showed him a smaller bowl finished two weeks ago and there was an immediate "I want to make THAT!" 

After he and DeeDah turned the smaller blank, YM was in charge of sanding the exterior of his bowl on the lathe.  

By late afternoon, YM was meticulously applying the textured band's iridescent color (DH had to do the texturing - YM tried but he wasn't quite tall/strong enough).

(the white is tape to protect the underlying wood)

The bowl was then left overnight to dry and harden.

Another special request was to cook marshmallows in the fire pit after dinner.  

He must have spent an hour finding dry kindling and finally figured out why cardboard was not the best for building a hot steady fire.  

Six burned-to-a-crisp marshmallows later, he cooked several edible ones which we ate on cinnamon graham crackers.  

YM and his finished chameleon bowl Sunday morning.  So happy and proud.

(to see how a chameleon bowl is made and one in motion showing how the colors shift, click here (time stamp :17)- Emma Cook is the turner who visited DH's guild this month)

Much of Sunday afternoon was spent testing limits on the swing.  

(he has two - this one came from Aldi and the other one he's used forever made an appearance later in the day)

(Flashback - Day One with the rope swing, just four short years ago)

Late Sunday, we celebrated with a family birthday dinner - YM's a few weeks late due to schedules/travel and Daddy's a few days early (again due to schedules).    

So much gratitude and joy . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

Monday Check In

By late Sunday, all six of the placemat sandwiches were quilted.

I also turned 14 WOF into binding.

Quilted with liberated wavy lines using Glide thread in  Dijon.

Having used that kind of quilting on previous sets of placemats, I know they will launder well.

The quilted texture shows up better in black and white.

Meanwhile, our visiting grand-dog Darcy kept a watchful eye on things . . .

* * *

My most pressing to-do item this week is to stand in line for a long time to renew my driver's license and get the Read ID certification on it; otherwise I would renew by mail.  DH managed to get his done in under 2 hours earlier this year.  I hope I'm as fortunate.  

Quiltdivajulie

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"Your smile is a reason for many others to smile."

Winnie the Pooh (A.A. Milne)

Where Things Stand

This is a photo of Ruska, a Camp Sefton collaborative quilt from earlier this year, laid out over my drafting/cutting table; but the photo was taken from the back side.  

I had to clean up my paper art table so the top and later the back could drape overtop and stay flat for rolling onto the pool noodles.

Ruska is now fully pin basted and I've chosen the thread color.  This is going to be a very hectic week with a lot of coming and going but I hope to fit some quilting time in the gaps.

Meanwhile, Nimiety is now a quilt top - 52" wide x 72" long.

And after a bit of a tussle, the scrappy pieced back has been pressed.  

This is the center section that shows all the different fabrics.   

Here is the top for Yutori, no. 13 in the series of 13 Macnas quilts, laid over the drafting table ready to be rolled onto the pool noodle.

This is a BEFORE photo of the backing for Yutori . . .  

And this was taken after the finished back was pressed.    

At this point, both Nimiety's top and back AND Yutori's top and back are rolled onto pool noodles, ready for pin basting . . . I just couldn't stick Nimiety in the waiting to be quilted closet when the top and back were freshly pressed, so I'm going to quilt it before I start on the four bonus quilts from the Macnas series.

Quilting these 3 will be a breeze compared to all this prep work.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Dwelling on negative thoughts is like fertilizing weeds."

Norman Vincent Peale

The Week that Flew By

Young Man spent two of his Spring Break weekdays with us.  He spent a lot of that time working on his latest Lego car (he finished it mid-way through the second day).  

It rained a lot, so outdoor time was non-existent.

On the second day he spent a couple of hours in the workshop with DeeDah and turned his very first woodturned pen.

Can you feel his happiness through the photo?! 

When I took him home later that day, he could NOT wait to show his pen to Daddy (even before he showed him the finished Lego car).

I managed to press the top for Ruska (52" x 68") and piece the backing.  That center panel is pieced with a total of five fabrics (three of which are hiding under the quilt top in the photo).

I also pieced the backing for Daydreams and prepped the quilt sandwich layers for pin basting.

* * *

Unless more things are added to the coming week's calendar, I should be able to spend more time moving things forward in the studio.  We shall see how well that plan works.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Art exists because life is not enough."

Ferreira Gullar

Camp Sefton Recap

Young Man's latest Lego Technics car is finished (he did it all himself, one of the requirements to share it during the annual Lego display in his school library).  

We moved it to the cabinet in the foyer until it was time to go home.

Since Young Man's favorite subject is math (followed by science and art), DeeDah pulled out his high school slide rule and demonstrated how we used them before calculators came along.  

"Cool" was Young Man's reaction.

Taken before school on a dress down day. 

Notice there is no snow visible anywhere now.

In the quilt studio, Biscuit has his new quiltlet.

Young Man has always had a great interest in my studio squirrels.

My Nutsie came to live in the sewing studio at the very end of January.  Thanks to Amazon, Young Man now has his very own Nutsie who has his own quilt made with squares leftover after Ruska's layout.

Biscuit and Nutsie studying the layout for Ruska.

Young Man's finished layout.  I'll get this top sewn together before month end, but the quilting and finishing will wait until summertime.

* * *

Things are quiet without the boy and his dog.  

In a day or so I'll kick back into gear, but for now I'm taking time to rest and regroup.

Quiltdivajulie

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"The universe is not made of atoms.  It's made of stories."

Muriel Rukeyser

Quick Post - Camp Sefton in Action

Young Man designing the 3d and 4th corners of his layout for Ruska, a Camp Sefton quilt for the living room ottoman at his house.

Working on the design wall with corners 1 and 2 at the bottom.  Such fun to watch his deliberate, thoughtful process.

He also chose and cut out two squares to make a quilt for Biscuit all by himself.

(he used scissors  not the rotary cutter)

His church league basketball team won their game 35-12 Saturday afternoon and that evening he finished his latest large Lego Technics vehicle with nearly 4,000 pieces with a working gear shift and wing-style doors.  

It was a busy, fun weekend.  

Today we start the to-from school runs across town - 25 minutes each way.  There's never a dull moment in the car what with all the diverse and interesting conversations.

* * *

And I have finally had to admit to myself that I am not going to be able to respond individually to the backlog of lovely comments you've left.  I do apologize for getting so far behind that I need to ask for comment amnesty.

Quiltdivajulie

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"We do not need to teach creativity, but rather inspire its daily practice."

Diane Darrow, teacher

Week Two - an Update

Introducing Ninja Man . . . he nabbed this strip that had been trimmed off the backing for Gone Dotty.

Gone Dotty is pin basted and ready for FMQ.  

Pretty sure I'll be doing this while he's at school this coming week (his stay has been extended until Friday).

This is a view from earlier in the week when the truck was spreading powdered concrete on the other street in our neighborhood that is being "stabilized" - the concrete and dirty dust have been plentiful this week.  

Our street (seen in the lower part of the photo) has been partially stabilized since this photo was taken.  They'll be back early week to "hand dig" and stabilize the last 6-8 feet along our side's curbing (too many obstacles for the big "landfill compactor" as LM calls it) to work safely.  That means more back hoes, men with shovels, graders, smaller compactor vehicles, and LOTS more dust.

LM's school celebrated International Dot Day on Friday - be sure to notice the two different dotty socks.  

And Friday overnight we responded to the school nurse's plea that ALL families have their children use an olive oil soak to help smother and end the head lice issue that has plagued a couple of the lower grades.  LM has remained clear but we did our part and soaked his head as directed.

Lots of laundry the next morning including triple pillowcases on his pillow, doubled sheets on his bed, and the removal of his Dr. Seuss quilt in favor of a thermal blanket that could be washed in hot water.  

He was a good sport about it all - thankfully!

Saturday - time to chill and relax.  He did not spend the whole day here - we made a trip to the dollar store, he spent a few hours on the swing, rode his bike and scooter around the block numerous times, and battled his matchbox cars over and over, along with a lot of other nonsense and fun.

Mommy sent this photo from the Meerkat Cafe (Seoul or Saigon, I'm not sure which).  Guests sit on the floor with blankets over their laps and the meerkats roam freely.  There were also raccoons (who do high fives for treats), a young kangaroo to feed, two foxes to observe, and a couple of dogs wandering about cleaning up any leftover treats missed by the others).  She told us "It was wonderfully weird, kind of smelly, and hilarious."

And Daddy sent this sunrise photo from Florida (double click to supersize).  

* * * 

And the adventures continue . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

Week One - an Update

It has been a busy first week complete with a visit to his pediatrician and a positive strep test.

Thankfully, the antibiotic has done its job and, while still tired, he is recovering quickly.

Over the weekend, he decided it was time to revisit Gone Dotty.  

When I asked him if he'd like to try sewing again, he quickly agreed so we started by practicing his 1/4" seam on paper.  

He did pretty well but definitely preferred stitching ON the line instead of following the edge of the 1/4" foot.

His legs are so much longer - it was no problem at all to reach the presser foot.

He asked me if I would please sew the borders on - he didn't think he was quite ready for that.

They're sewn in place and the top is pressed, ready to roll onto the pool noodle for pin basting.

And all the while the road work on our street continues.

The re-paving began last February.  However our street and the main in-out street had so many areas that needed repairs after the initial paving that the whole project was put on hold for a month or so while they did some drilling and soil testing.

Turned out that both streets needed some serious soil stabilization, which we as residents already knew but the crews needed formal tests to document the need.

So last week 6" of asphalt and surface dirt were milled away leaving all of us to drive SLOWLY on uneven, obstacle strewn dirt streets (water mains, man holes, etc.).  

This coming week the soil stabilization crews will be working - spreading dry concrete/cement on the surface, using heavy equipment to mix it into the dirt before compacting the surface.  It will be a dusty, dirty process and we are very glad our cars fit inside our garage (many houses here use the garage as a storage annex).   

Never a dull moment . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

Here, There, and Coming Soon

The backing for Coddiwomple has been pieced and pressed.

I used the same fabric for binding.  

I debated on a border but decided "no" since I love the top just the way it is.

This pin basted panel has been quilted and finished meaning Autumn Ridge is ready to hang on the dining room wall come October first.  

(finished photos later)

Heart Throb, a wall quilt for February is noodle-rolled and ready for pin basting.

(also a panel, it won't take long once the opportunity to sit and FMQ presents itself)

And then there is January.

I had cut a LOT of grayed neutrals into 2.5" strips to make a couple of comfort quilts that didn't happen.

The strips have been reclaimed and will be used to make a new January kitchen table quilt named Brumous.

(more on that in another post)

The rest of the strips will be used to make January's dining room wall quilt.

Some of you may remember my quilt named Comfortable that inspired Jo of Jo's Country Junction to make her Brick House quilt (see this post).  I'm going with a variation of Comfortable's process to make Gnomeville.

Why gnomes?  Scroll through this post and you'll see how this all fits together.

Gnomeville's segments have been cut and pinned - ready for leader ender action.

My quilt ladder had to be temporarily moved from its spot in our home office.

It now resides between Max's tables and my pressing table.  I like seeing it there so it may not go back to the office.

And since Little Man is with us until mid-month, I have his Gone Dotty quilt on my design wall.

I've made the binding (left) and hung the laundered backing fabric (to be pieced and pressed once I know how large the top finishes). 

Border strips were cut per Little Man's previous instructions. 

As time permits while he's here we'll work on this so he can, hopefully, take it home with him.

Needless to say you may not hear as much from me for a couple of weeks.

(this silly photo was taken during his first 'dress uniform day' as a first grader)

Quiltdivajulie

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"That's what it takes to get what you want.  Not big scary leaps once a year.  It takes small, but irritating moves every single day."

Mel Robbins