Geese fly to Christmas tree

 My, how time flies. The last of the annual Project quilting challenges is due. This one requires a traditional quilting technique - five flying geese.

Too bad I can’t use the five attempts at the block. First would be looking - and not finding - the two rulers designed to ease making the blocks. 

Another attempt involved my attempt to draw and use a paper-piecing technique.  Two 1/2-inch geese in I knew this wasn’t the way to go.

Next, I turned to my favorite post on the subject - three ways to make flying geese.  Then, I turned to  a chart with measurements for the three necessary triangles. I saved it as a pdf but you can find it in this post. Honey, I shrank the smallest suggestion. 

The result was 5 flying geese in green on a red background  next, How funny - there’s always a bird or two slightly out of formation. But then whoever saw a perfectly shaped tree. I covered the 2.5 inch by 5.5 inch tree with blanket stitches, sequins, and lace  circles trimmed from a larger piece of lace.  Those straight lines are my version of icicles that hung on trees in my childhood.

One more project for Project Quilting completed in Greeneville, TN. One more ornament ready for the new artificial Christmas tree project. Even better - all pieces came from my stash. The sequins and beds are at least 60 years old. They are leftovers from a project of my grandmother - covering styrofoam balls by pinning beads and sequins. 

You’ll find the rest of the works for the sixth challenge of the 13th year of Project Quilting online. I finished two of this year’s challenges  plus I finished 2 Christmas ornaments And continued my 100 days of creating and stitching Plus another blog post  Yea.

Take time to read about a time-saving leader

Women’s History Month is a great time to rediscover Lillian Gillbreth. We can credit her with the kitchen triangle, refrigerator door shelves and many other time-saving ideas. 

2022 Cheaper By Dozen Baker family

2003 Cheaper by Dozen Baker family

But most probably remember her as the mother in Cheaper By the Dozen. There was the 1950 movie and a 2003 version. And Disney just released a new version  of the story about a family of 12 run by committees and time-saving accomplishments. Only the first movie is an actual biography of the family; the last two are loosely based on the family. .

Girl Scout role blooms

I’m grateful the release prompted historian Ann Robertson’s latest blog post. She shares how Gilbreth reluctantly volunteered to help Girl Scouts. Gilbreth soon branched from the role chosen for her to many pwithin Girl Scouts.  A familiar path for many volunteers. 

Then Robertson deepened the rabbit hole with some curated links with many more insights. The most indepth is a web site devoted just to the family. Go there last as the others are worth a click and a read  

Just like a woman

No surprise - the world notices her accomplishments more once she is single again. Her first two books left her name off as author to “make the book credible.”

Discrimination began with her family which put up roadblocks to her educational plans. The local newspaper got its dig in for her wedding: 

"Although a graduate of the University of California, the bride is nonetheless an extremely attractive woman." 

Death strengthens credibility

 After her husband's death, she received more credit for her work. She also became an advocate for others. After a consulting job that included rocvomendations and a study on menustration pads, she suggested Johndon and Johnson should hire more women on staff if its plans included feminine hygene products.

Those last two nuggets came from Mamma Mia.   And now you know where my Saturday night went - learning lots about  Lillian Gilbreth. I’ll remember her every time my foot opens the trash basket.

Angels keep round robins going

Someone sent me this.

A recent round robin left me grateful for angels.

Angels are stitchers who are on standby if the stitchers need to drop out of a crazy quilt round robin. 

An angel stepped in one month as I realised it would be nearly impossible for me to stitch after neck surgery in early March. 

When I signed up, I had no idea that surgery would happen. But then I also didn’t know a chair I was using at a sewing machine would collapse. 

Or that a week later, I would turn and trip. That fall included hitting my head hard at some heavy wood furniture and a hardwood floor.

I attributed that fall and some other annoyances to multiple sclerosis. I knew an upcoming spine and brain MRI would show new lesions or something. Imagine my surprise at learning my deteriorating neck and upper spine were at the root of so many of those problems. 

It was scary how fast a neurosurgeon could operate on me. 

It was comforting to know someone was available to stitch when I could not.

That was the second time an angel participated in a round robin of mine. The first time I was the angel who filled in for a month.

What’s a round robin? Some crazy quilters decide on a form, size of a block, and a theme. Usually, it is either 1 12-inch block that participants take turns stitching or a group of 6-inch blocks with each stitcher embellishing 1 of the blocks. Usually, you get a month to stitch and then mail the work to the next person.  

I’ll share some recent round robins in the upcoming weeks. I love learning from other stitchers - what they add to your blocks.

Triple time: Ornament done

Finished a Crazy Quilted Christmas ornament today. It’s 4.5 inches wide and 5.5 inches long, not including the hanger. 

I’ll use it on my fabric Christmas tree. That started as a dream that I could pull together 2,020 unique pieces by the end of 2020. I gathered the pieces. I had a plan. Then, I had a new plan. 

Now, I am following a new plan to create a Christmas tree that won’t ever shed needles. Plus it will serve as a reminder of a hobby I have enjoyed since I was 6.

I’ll use the ornament as my first finish of the year for the 2022  Crazy Quilting Journal Project. It is bigger then the 3-inch ornaments I planned. But I like variety on Christmas trees.

I’ll keep using it for my #The100DayProject, though I put in far more then 5 minutes of stitching today. Say 3.5 hours today 

This week's motivation though Challenge 5 of Project Quilting : Rhythm

 and Repetition. 

You’ll notice I basically used 2 colors - red and white.  I started with 3 pieces of candy I trimmed from a holiday ribbon. I added 2 mints from another part of the ribbon. 

Next, I basted for fabrics to a white background. I added a wide red ribbon, then put a thin white ribbon on topi added a red-and-white trim to the edge oof the ribbon. 

I added three rows of ric rack, anchored by red floss. 

Another short piece is anchored by sequin held in place with French knots. 

I used two pieces of ribbon and some nylon fabric to make yo-yos. A sequin and French knot anchors each. Six more red sequin line the white line after one side was outlined with a red stem stitches. I used white floss to add blanket stitched and chain stitches. A white flower anchored by a red bead  provides a bit more contrast. 

This project was made in Greeneville, Tn.

Late to the party, but 100 day project starts

First, I saw the art friends were posting fast and furiously on Instagram and Facebook. Then I noticed the #100dayproject hashtag.

That led to the official website. The 9th annual push for 100 days of creativity began Feb. 13, 2022. 

Then I found Dar James’ video on Vimeo on the subject. That, and a re-reading of the FAQ encouraged me to start now instead of waiting until 2023. 

I decided I would stitch for at least 5 minutes a day for 100 days. I started Feb. 22, working on the blue Christmas ornament. 

I switched to a new ornament - the red and white one - when the new Project Quilting challenge was issued Feb. 27. I’ll write about that later.

Here are some photos:

I added some details to a motif I have been working for weeks

I started adding material and stitches. 

Then I switched projects. I started by cutting a ribbon filled with traditional candy. I arranged the pieces, then added fabrics.

More fabrics, three yo-yos and a cut-out circle.

More stitching

#The100DayProject

Sweet surprise will brighten others’ day

Always a day brightener to get an unexpected present.

 It is a bigger surprise to get it from your insurance company.Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan recently celebrated our 1-year Medicare Advantage anniversary. 

Traditionally, the first anniversary calls for a paper gift. The company sent 3 Hallmark cards plus stamped envelopes to me. 

Nice cards. Nice thought. I’ll pass it on.

Gift from Blue Cross

Holidays keeping on for crazy quilters

A group of five crazy quilters will continue Holiday Happenings through June. This time, it is a traditional round robin. 

Each of us created a 12-inch square block. That’s mine. 

Then, we each send it to 1 person who embellishes one-quarter of the block. The next month, the blocks move on. In the last rotation, your own block comes home. 

I like to see how someone else chooses embellishments and stitches. 

Pursuing Project Quilting 12.1 results in purse

It's been a tough week that had me on the floor twice. Neither time was I ROTFL. Both times are related to quilting.

The week started with a bang as I hit the floor when the chair at my sewing machine broke into several pieces. As I went down, my head hit the cutting table behind me, one leg got tangled under the sewing machine, and the rest of my body found new ways to bend.

Three wrongs

Did I mention I was sewing after midnight? That I was rushing to finish six crazy quilt blocks for an Under the Sea round robin that needed to be in the mail Jan. 4, 2021? I was getting up to go press the finished blocks when the 50-year-old chair ended its life.(Photos of those Crazy Quilting blocks in another post).

I'm lucky the piles of material and things waiting to get into their new homes did not land on me. I'm not so lucky that most of the furniture in the sewing room is on wheels. That makes it hard to grab onto something and pull yourself up. I'm not so lucky that my husband can be a sound sleeper sometimes. But he did finally here my call and we found a way to get me off the floor.

Six blocks soon made their way to the first stitcher. I also vowed to work harder on getting the sewing room and myself into shape. Also to choose the right chair, which is not a frequently used antique previously repaired.

Hunting for fabric at home

Later Monday, I turned back to the latest Project Quilting challenge. On Sunday Persimon Dreams started Season 12. The rules stayed the same - one week to create a project that is finished and includes one of three things: patchwork, applique or 3 layers stitched together by hand or machine.

 

The twist for the first week focused on using Pantone's Color of the Year for 2021 which actually is two colors Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. (Illuminating is a 25-cent word for a shade of yellow.)

Throughout the week, I looked for the jelly roll of gray and white I bought for a quilt project never started while putting things away. Then I started looking for any gray fabric. Luckily, I remembered that would be in a box labeled landscape. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of that box remains unknown. It could be in the garage. It could be in the living room. Heck, it might even be in the sewing room.

A new search

I gave up that search. Finally, I found fat quarters of gray speckled fabric with some Row by Row projects.

Yellow was easy to find as I had been collecting that for a star to go on my 2020 Christmas tree project. 

Then, I remembered my daughter had given me needles for Christmas so I decided to put my Christmas presents away.

My husband was taking a sick grandson home and then going to urgent care. I was making good progress putting things away Then, I turned and caught a slipper on a curled up rug.

I clearly remember the sound of my head hitting a very solid buffet, then a chair and then the wood floor. I don't remember when my hand started pressing my head. I was smart enough to return my hand there when I saw how bloody my hand was. 

I called my husband home and we headed to the nearby emergency room when we couldn't get the bleeding to stop. Hours later, the scalp was cleaned and a liquid band-aid was put on. I choose the liquid stuff. Stitches would require cutting some hair; staples would mean I couldn't complete a set of MRIs planned for Monday.

Inspiration

The ER trip used up a lot of time. I knew I needed to scale back my Project Quilting plan. But the trip reminded me I needed a small purse with pockets for my ID and medical card, sun glasses, reading glasses and my I-phone.That idea became my Project Quilting 12.1 project.

The purse includes: 

• Three long pockets for a pen, phone and glasses. One pocket included three layers, with the batting some packing material made of recycled denim. I quilted it by hand.
•  Two pockets that are the perfect size for the medical card, the ID and a $1 or $10. These are placed high enough that I can easily find the cards when requested.
• One pocket to hold a notebook.  

Panning plain

Of course, plain is never good enough for me. I bound the sides with yellow quilt binding that also made a good handle. Some ric rack, a gray scrap turned into a flower with a yellow embroidered center and a scrap of yellow to accent the bottom was good enough. Afterall, there was a deadline. I supposed I could have used some of the remaining 45 minutes until deadline for beading but I stopped. I checked later - people entered after me. That means 228 finished this week's challenge.

Barbie bonus

My granddaughter will enjoy one of my mistakes. The first time I made the pockets for my IDs I made the seams about 0.75 inches. That meant when I turned the fabric pouches out they were too small to hide the cards. They are, however, the perfect size for pillows for Barbie and Ken dolls.

A new batting

I will use the packing material made of recycled denim to stuff the pillows. That might be a better use for the recycled denim. Or maybe it will work on projects that I machine quilt. When hand quilting it, my needle often hit hard spot.

I am ready for a quiet week of hand stitching.

Watching decline of journalism is hard

If I were still following journalism closely,  I’d suggest reading this about changes  in the Cleveland area.  I would tell you just how many more journalists were laid off, how many more newsrooms have shrunk from the staffs of hundreds to staffs of 20.

Or I might mention coronavirus news fatigue and why so many are avoiding the news when we need to know what is happening in the world and in our backyards. I worry about those who hear only rumors or a brief mention on radio, TV or online.  I worry what is happening while all attention is focused on the coronavirus. That, of course, gets back to how many journalists we now have looking out for us.

I might even suggest you look at this article on why  networks stopped live coverage of Trump’s briefings. Then I might show you some fact-checking sites

I struggle with what I do now.  I wish I was back in the newsroom covering this crisis, sharing information to help all. I read the White House site frequently, check the tweets of President Trump. I look at the WHO site too. Or a site with the guidelines for reopening America.I do share some of what I learn on Facebook in my own posts and in posts in groups. I even started a group to try matching those who make masks and those who need them.

Yet, I am grateful I am not working in these dying newsrooms. I like the freedom of choosing what I write and for whom.

Actually, I could not work right now. I am waiting for the results of my COVID-19 test. If I don’t have it, I am very confused about what I am dealing with right now.

I also wait for it to be safe for surgeries once more. Lousy timing uncovered a possible solution for what ails me.  I hope.

Fractured Birds wing way to challenge

Birds In the Air Challenge 4 for Project Quilting Season 11 sounded like a great challenge. I knew I had at least 3 fabrics featuring birds.  I knew I could find 2 of them in my sewing room.

Fractured Birds

Then, I read past the headline.!!! Project Quilting 11.4 request to use a Birds In The Air block almost meant I was skipping a week. I had lots of good reasons:

• The grandtwins turned 1 Sunday. Of course, grandma wanted to help with the party. It is my chance to do what I wanted to do as a mother but I was limited by the need to work 
• My husband’s birthday was yesterday (Monday).
• Our wedding anniversary is Thursday.
• We are continuing our Ken Burns Country Music Passport tour.
• We are visiting Atlanta for a luncheon with a dance corps, bingo with friends and a movie blitz. 

Most importantly I hate construction of triangles from fabric. Still I did make 12 triangles into squares. I tried following the pattern but it just isn’t me. So I took the block basics and rearranged them. I dove into the ric rack stash, grabbing the jumbo dark blue. I covered my perfect points!

So here is my Fractured Birds wall hanging. It is 8 inches by 10 inches. It was made in Tennessee. This is my earliest finish in Project Quilting. 

I thought I was done earlier in the day. Then I played some more. That led to adding the yellow ric rack.

Birds in the Air

Oh yeah, here’s a more traditional Birds In the Air block. This is a Civil War reproduction quilt block by Barbara Brackman

You can see the other projects completed by quilters in a week in this collection of links.

Project Quilting is open to all. A challenge is posted at noon CST Sundays. The completely finished project is due the same time the following Sunday.  

I have added a personal twist to my involvement - no new purchases. 

Crazy love: Finding a path to the heart

The challenge was to “Put a Heart On It.” That led me to a pile of red and pink fabrics and then to this: Crazy Love: Finding a path to the heart. After all, isn’t the path to love always crazy?

The finished piece is at least 12x12 (I am on the road so used a magazine to measure the piece.) It was created in Tennessee. My husband and I are doing the Ken Burns Country Music Passport tour. That took us to western Tennessee. We now have 4 of 22 stamps on our passports.  The stitching, yarns, laces, ric rack and more went on in between stops at Sun Studio and Beale Street in Memphis.  There was a stop at the Carl Perkins Visitor Center and one of the cabins he lived in as a child in Tiptonville. We spent hours at the Legends of Tennessee Music  Museum in Jackson. https://jacksoncarnegie.com/. I will update with links when I arrive home in middle Tennessee.

I was lucky. I had spotted the valentine bouquet fabric while assembling some greens for my 2020 project. I set it aside in hopes there would be a Valentine theme announced last Sunday. Put A Heart On It was close enough.

Read about Project Quilting and see what others did with the Theme this week. Happy stitching.

ABC grandkids help grandma out

The fifth theme of Project Quilting’s 10th season is abecedarius. That sent this wordie on a search through Wikipedia, the dictionary and the Internet. 

Basically, an abecedarius is a special type of acrostic in which the first letter of every word, strophe or verse follows the order of the letters in the alphabet.

Fortunately, my daughter made this easy. First came Amelia. Then Baylor and Collin.

I finished up this 8-inch by 28 inch-wall hanging with a family portrait. 

The small project let me experiment with some June Taylor fabric, my ink jet printer and some iPhone apps. 

The challenge is issued on Sunday and you have one week to finish. Read more and see all the projects. 

This challenge quilt was made in Greeneville Tennessee.

#pqSeason10

Challenge met with the blues

Time for the Blues

 Progress. I finished the second challenge of Project Quilting in real life. We had one week to create a project that included only the colors red, white and/or blue.

This is the first time I have successfully sewn or embroidered since surgeries on both eyes starting in October 2017. (Not 2018 as originally posted). Only two needles, three threaders were lost during this project.

I pulled red, white and blue fabrics from my limited stash. But as you can see I only used the blues. Lucky me I could find the box of blue threads and flosses. Still not sure which of the boxes in the craft room or garage holds the lace motifs or charms so as crazy quilts go this is a rather plain block. Make that really plain for me.

Still despite a few days of sleeping around the clock, another day and a few sessions with the wonderful 2 year old granddaughter who no longer enjoys watching grandma stitch, I finished.

The 10.5 inch circle is encased in an embroidery hoop. Every seam is decorated with a stitch or trimming. Best of all, it is done. It was made in the house on the hill in Tennessee. 

While the world chooses its favorites from all finished projects, I hope to work on unpacking more of the boxes. Maybe. 
#pqseason10/
See all of this week’s entries and read about the challenge. You can even vote.

Detail of a few seams

Time to start stitching again

I hereby resolve ..,,, OK, I know it is Christmas and not the new year yet. But I cannot wait. I must get back to stitching, sewing and creating.

The ideas have been whirling in my head. My daughter expects to deliver twins iMarch 6. My fingers are ready. And the eyes?

The new eye doctor suggested I match glasses to tasks. That means buying a bunch of readers with different magnifications.  I will use one when writing on the laptop. Another set will work for hand stitching and reading. I will use a third for reading the newspaper.

Funny, I thought I was losing the glasses with the fancy lens implants.

Still, it was good to learn I can now use readers as much as needed. This is the best the eyes will get. It was unsettling to hear the new doctor disagrees with the diagnosis and what was done. But the world is brighter and less painful so something was right.

Four major projects planned:

1) finish repairing my sister-in-law’s quilt. Her grandmother made this well-loved quilt in the 1960s. The quilt of recycled materials was a reward for breaking a habit. But age and lots of use led to holes in the quilt. The blanket used as batting has turned to threads. The binding is barely there.

She wants to keep as much of the quilt as possible. But I have had to replace some blocks. I found some material in the quilt itself. I found some shopping on the Internet - thank goodness for fabric lovers. The owner also shared some from her stash.

Everything is pinned into place. Some stitching done. But I need to finish stitching the new pieces and blocks onto the quilt.

2) start - and FINISH - the 2019 crazy quilt challenge of  a block each month. Each block must be at least 8-inches by 8-inches. I still haven’t decided if I will use my collection of Japanese materials or finish the calendar hangings. The guidelines allow us to complete  a previous challenge. It would be nice to finish the UFO. But that stack of oriental materials is so compelling.

3)  complete a crazy quilt using 2,020 materials, stitches, dodads, and other embellishments.  The deadline for this challenge is Dec. 31, 2020.

I am combining this with a long-time dream of a fabric Christmas tree wall hanging.

Of course, I have other UFOs to finish:

1) Katie’s quilt using T-shirts collected through the years.
2)) A quilt for my husband
3) A Nativity quilt

... and so many more. Unfortunately, I haven’t unpacked the sewing room so I can’t list them all yet.

Sacrifices required

Sometimes you do what you have to do to indulge in a favorite hobby. Yep. Glasses. Add in the special maginfiers. It is not pretty but if I used both I could almost see well enough to add a few more stitches.Oh yeah. I should have said this was a year ago and a lot has changed since then - a few eye operations, lots of eye training and I can see much better.

Day 264-5

1 year of stitches

Day 262

1 year of stitches

Day 261

1 year of stitches

Day 259

1 year of stitches

Day 260

1 year of stitches