Spring?

Mother Nature got a little confused over the weekend. Friday we were near or above 70º. Saturday it snowed all day. This is what it looked like out our kitchen windows yesterday.

Pretty, but not what we expect on the first day of spring.

Today we are in the 50's and almost all of the snow is gone. Tomorrow we'll be back to near 70º again.

I've been working on the blocks for Lyn Brown's 2010 Baltimore Album BOM

I'm not necessarily doing them in order. Here's what I've finished so far. I'm using needleturn applique for mine.

Block Four...Quail and Oak Leaves. The quail is meant to be a silhouette so it's black (charcoal really) instead of brown.

Block Six...Pomegranates.

I finished appliqueing the woven basket on the way to Iowa last week, only to discover I had been looking at the wrong seam for centering the basket and it was way off to one side (the backgrounds are all pieced differently from multiple fabrics..this one happens to be a log cabin). Don't ask me how I could spend the hours I did working on it and not notice that until it was done. But I did and then I had to rip it all out and start over again! I made my basket a little more complex than the fused version Lyn shows, so it took some work to take it apart!

Block Three...Pat Nixon's Rose. These flowers are ruched...fun.

And surprise, surprise.....after a 7 month hiatus I actually made a Dear Jane block yesterday. This is D-11 Snowflake and I hand pieced it then used needleturn to applique the little diamond shapes. They are a tad wonky, but that adds charm, right?

Now I have 10 more to do.

Maid-Rites

One of the best parts of traveling home to Iowa (after seeing family and friends of course) is getting my fill of Maid-Rites. I grew up eating these sandwiches and still love them! Unfortunately there are no franchises in Kansas, at least not that I know of. These are the "loose meat" sandwiches always referred to on Roseanne. This trip I had at least one every day except Friday I believe. I eat these for breakfast, noon or supper, doesn't matter!

It's probably a good thing that we don't have any close to us, as I'd live there and weigh 500 lbs!

One of the secrets to their goodness (for me anyway) is that they are wrapped up, even if you are dining in. Then you need to let them steam a bit in the wrapper and squish them down so the bun is nice and soft and warm.

OMG, I'm already dying for another one but will have to wait until the next Iowa trip which will be way too long!

Home

Arrived home yesterday evening. Playing catch up with email and blogs, etc. may take a bit. Even though I prepped several applique blocks to take on the trip I didn't get much done. However we had some nice visits with family and friends, including my one remaining Great-aunt who will turn 97 this week. She walks twice as fast as I do..an amazing woman.

Time Out

We're headed to Iowa in the morning for a funeral and family visit. Will be gone most of the week and probably not have internet access.

Hope spring is finding everyone (or fall in the southern hemisphere!).

Happy quilting.

Finishes

Lots of pictures to share today for a change.

The first thing I did this week was finish the crazy quilt I started last Saturday when our guild met to work on community quilts. Our president called it a "Gather The Crumbs" day and we were challenged to make quilts using some of our tiny scraps. She also suggested we try the "Fun and Done" method of making blocks.

I modified it a bit, chose to make crazy patch blocks first, then layer and quilt them before joining them in the Fun and Done method. I'm not sure this will ever be my favorite method of Quilt As You Go, but it was something different to try.




Actually the scraps I used didn't seem all that small to me. Making the crazy patch blocks was the fun part. Other guild members thought it was great fun to keep adding to the full tote of scraps I brought with me.

And since the Olympics were winding down last weekend I even found a discarded paper pieced Maple Leaf block among the donated scraps.

It's not the best work I've ever done, but it's a nice warm quilt for some little one to cuddle and play with.

Then I dug out another UFO and am happy to cross it off the list.

My grandmother wasn't the most accurate hand piecer, but she sure loved to pick the more difficult patterns and also the ones with small pieces. I guess I come by it naturally as I gravitate to those as well.

She pieced this little quilt and I started to hand quilt it a couple of years ago. I lost interest and set it aside, mostly because I couldn't decide how I wanted to quilt the plain hexagon blocks. This week I dug it out and finished quilting and binding it.

The pattern is called Kite (or Periwinkle, Arkansas Snowflake or Four Point). This time she set the pieces differently and it made for a very challenging finishing edge. I decided to applique a small border around it to square it off.

I used a wool batting and just love the way the piece crinkled up after it was laundered. I wish I could afford to use wool all the time on my large quilts. It sure is cuddly, not to mention it doesn't hold creases.

Most of these fabrics are from the 1950's and possibly some earlier.

I don't have any quilts that Grandma made that are in good shape. I do have two REALLY tattered and worn ones. One of them is a large quilt in the same Kite pattern, though this time she oriented the blocks differently.

A close up shows just how worn the fabrics are. I still wouldn't dream of tossing it.

A couple years ago I happened to spot a quilt in this pattern for sale online and purchased it for my birthday present. The blocks are quite a bit bigger and it's in excellent condition. Was told it was made in the 1940's in Oklahoma but no official documentation.

I have several more of the small block pieces that Grandma cut out and strung together. They are next to the unquilted piece in the photo below. I debated using them to make the original piece larger but decided I wanted it to be just Grandma's work. At some point I'll figure out what to do with the remaining pieces.



Since I've been good and finished a UFO, am I allowed to start on a new project? We have an impending trip to Iowa in the next few days and I'm thinking a new applique project would be just the portable project I need. Like maybe this one.