In the Mail

The shower is a week away, so I took my final photos of the quilt I put together last month, and got it in the mail.

With my new machine, I have a few forms of the alphabet and cute stiches that can be programmed, so Abigail's name and birthday are decorating the corners. You can see the reverse side in this detail also.

While learning to use my new Singer, I made these two little projects to add to the shower gifts. Not an expert yet, but pretty happy with the results.  Done, but more WIP's to go!

Quilt WIPS (Works in Progress)

 I bought this kit while on vacation two years ago at Mare's Bears Quilt Shop, a great place in Lewes, Delaware.

As it was a beach vacation, I bought this as my souvenir of our trip. 

What's really kind of funny is that the kit is produced closer to home at The Quilt Company, a shop I visit when I head over to visit friend Juliann, minutes away.

I am finally getting beyond the octagonals that make up the main part of the quilt.

Soon I hope to post the completed top.

Really close.

Have to tackle those mitred corners!

This little scrap quilt went together very quickly, is basted already, and waiting for me to try machine quilting on my new machine. It will be a gift for a wee little one born two weeks ago - Abigail Sage. I made a traditional styled quilt so that if it lasts through burps and dirt, it might be a lap quilt as she gets older.

Westmoreland Fair Without Animals

Okay! We start with a chicken quilt. So animals are inspiration for crafts.

Julia's Blue Ribbon Pina Colada Bread

But there is so much to the fair aside from the animals, unless, of course, you figure where these ingredients came from.

  The 4-H Court of Honor.

Preserved goods,...

And the raw materials below.

 Best of Show Handcraft.

 Recycled crafts

Soybeans 

 Wool being spun and woven.

 Is this a swan or a serpent?

Bear Paw Quilt

 

This really was supposed to be about everything but animals, since there is so much to see at the fair, but it seems that the pictures I chose led me otherwise.

Well a few more animals to come as I catch up on the Westmoreland Fair next time.

 

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

 These quilts have been waiting for delivery, but they needed binding. 

My best friend from high school, Terry, came and sewed her heart out for me while all the snow came, stayed and melted.

Thanks !

September 11, 2001 Quilt

This special quilt is hanging in the Ligonier Valley Library basement, and from what I hear, it has gotten a lot of visits. I thought I would share this with you after this emotional week-end. Sorry it took a while to get these pictures on. Technical issues!!

WIP - Double Four Patch

Yep! I took the nudge and started another baby quilt. Very pleased so far and using up lots of scraps.
Rearranged a few pieces and starting to sew it together.
I think the top will be complete for the shower.
The quilts will be ready for the birthdays.

Flower Quilt Layout

This is the bright and sunny quilt top I've been working on. I have a border fabric, but now my brain has come up with a new idea to finish the top. I'm pondering how much time I have to do this.
Meanwhile I found out about another friend's grand baby, and it seems I have to come up with another baby quilt. Just as I was cleaning up from the blue pinwheels.

There might be a time crunch now. Perhaps shopping for a gift will work!

Not Just Animals

You haven't even seen the chickens and rabbits in the smaller tents, or the swine, llamas and horses yet, but there is more to the fair than animals.

We have "adult beverages".

Fresh produce, and preserved foods. The important scarecrow competition, won by 11 year old Holly.Beautiful sewing projects that made great use of the gorgeous fabrics you can find these days.What I look for every year - quilts.

Flowers, cut and live.

This just gives you a tiny taste of the thousands of entries in the hundreds of categories. My blog is too small to show even one of each. You need to see your local and state shows to appreciate the work and time involved.

And back to the animals. At least at the Westmoreland Fair, the fair would be incomplete without the work the kids do all year to get their animals ready for the ten days at the fair. Some do not leave all week, camping in the barn or trailers outside. Naturally there are parents involved, and many volunteers that keep the kids going and to the right places.

When you go to the fairs or know someone involved, thank them for their work and projects that make a fair so wonderful to visit. Without them - I can't imagine.

Quilt Making

I have been trying to find the time to stop and get back to quilting. I have a couple projects underway and was making steady progress as I hide indoors from the humidity these days. I put together 64 half square triangles to create a pin wheel block in pretty quick order. Once I had the fabrics selected, some chain stitching, and I had my squares ready to press.

I went with a denim blue look that I thought would last beyond babyhood. Then I experimented with some designs and I think the end result will be perfect.
It needs to be completed by September for a friends grandson.

The other project is a simple flower design that I saw in a quilt on the Flicker slide show and I found it here. Mine is a smaller wall hanging size and I added the green borders because I wanted a more summery look. The problem I have now is that when I was sewing on the green strips, my 30 plus year old Singer started acting up. The needle started setting itself to the left side. I tried using other stitches to make it snap out of it, but no go. It seemed to be hot, and so I shut it down for a while. Its still not acting properly, but I got one more bit done so I can at least see some progress. For now I guess I can do some trimming and plan another quilt that I want to try until I find out what's going on with my machine. Tomorrow its back to mowing and the garden anyway!

Blogging and Bainbridge Island

My first day in Seattle was a rainy Sunday and probably a better day for a museum, but I had made plans to meet Linda and take the Bainbridge Island ferry with her. Not a lot of people on the deck that trip over, and the view was a bit gray and gloomy. OK. And wet.The ferry was a recommended thing to do to get a feel for Seattle, and something relaxing to do with a newly met friend. You see Linda is the Bag Lady. THE Bag Lady from Thoughts from a Bag Lady In Waiting, a blog I've followed on my sidebar for a while now. Check it out. I think you'll find something to relate to here and there. She writes about her life after retirement, family, and travel. We've shared a few comments back and forth and got to know each other like pen pals did in the "old" days. She lives a bus ride north of Seattle and picked me up at the hotel for our day out. And so I began my discovery of Seattle.

I didn't have any real shopping desires, but I did see a sign for... ...on the map, so we had to stop in. For a small place, they had a fantastic collection of fabric. Fabric that I had never seen before.
I found a souvenir to bring home. Goat fabric. Well, some goats anyway, and chickens, and more farm stuff.Oh! How I wish I lived closer.

If we had come a day sooner, we would have been able to join in the Tour de Coop. Some great coop pictures and story here: The Tour de Coop ScoopPart way through the trip Linda reminded me of how many steps we had walked, and I think it was about four miles. We were still on the island, so I imagine we clocked eight miles by the time we both got home. A coffee here, soup there, and a cookie for the ferry home, and we had shared our life stories, and some advice for each of our latest challenges.On the ferry back to Seattle, we were surrounded by the most elegant violin music the whole way. It was like being in a scored life. It warmed the conversation as we wrapped up our day. As we were all lining up to get off, the musician was still playing to himself, totally immersed. When he momentarily looked up, I silently clapped and he looked around to realize he was alone. With a nod of his head he appreciated the gesture and packed up to leave with the rest of us. Another hilly, gasping walk back to the hotel, and our day was over.

What a great way to get to know Seattle and surroundings. Thanks Bag Lady!

P.S. In case you were wondering, Dave was busy playing golf in the Make A Wish tournament.