Machine quilting and finishing some projects has carried me through the past couple weeks!  That is all good for sure!!  Last week, I finished my youngest grandson's "big bed" quilt -- major goal reached!! 

 I made this quilt during the #littlemisssawtoothquiltqal led by Melanie at @southerncharmquilts via Instagram.  I used a layer cake I had stashed with 1 1/2 yards of background fabric for the blocks.  I moved through this project pretty quickly, starting the blocks last September and finishing the quilting this week -- not even a year!?!

So this week, I've been working on a small charity quilt. Remember this "sashed 9-patch" block I shared with you in March?  (Here's the original post with my directions for piecing these scrappy little blocks -- it's at the end of that post.)

I pieced twelve of them and set them together with sashing to make a wheelchair laprobe and my charity quilting crew layered it at our July gathering (outside on the front porch, of course).

My current strategy is to alternate quilting one of my own pieces and then a quilt to donate.  The idea has worked well for me because the charity quilts are generally small and by keeping the quilting simple I've been moving through them quickly but this time, after ditch-stitching the sashing, I froze.

My quandary was how to keep the quilting simple while enhancing the piecing.  None of my straight line ideas were inspiring me to continue.  While I don't consciously assign design tasks to my subconscious, I'm glad it goes to work on my creative blocks anyway.   Between looking at the quilt everyday laying on the machine table and some Instagram scrolling, I was inspired to adapt a four-point star motif someone shared so it fit my blocks.  As I worked with chalk sketching the idea, I enhanced it with a pumpkin seed flower to fill up the central space of the block.  Thank you subconscious for the inspiration!!

Here is my chalk sketching of my idea.  I've understood that I'm a visual person for a long time and sketching on the real thing helps me make decisions more easily.  I use "chalk wheel" devices that lay a line of chalk which I can brush off if I don't like my lines.  My original idea was to bisect the center square with straight lines that connected to the inner V's of the star but when I couldn't figure out how to stitch that without back stitching previous lines or extras stop/starts, I experimented with the pumpkin seed flower which could be easily worked into the design with no back stitching and no extra stop/starts.  

So let me walk you through it!

I used minimal marking for each block -- these are the center lines to guide me from point to point.

I start at the upper left corner of the block, aligning my straight guide tool with the corner of the block and the first centering mark.

Once I reach the centering mark, I reposition my guide and stitch out to the lower left corner of the block.  The foot on my machine is a ruler foot designed for APQS machines to use with plexiglass guides.

I continue in that way until I reach this final centering line and am in position to begin the pumpkin seed flower which is a series of free motion arcs.  My goal for each line is to reach the center X in a smooth arc.

Here I am with just two more arcs to stitch and I'll be back at the starting point of the flower at which point I'll use the guide ruler to return to the corner where I started.  One continuous line!!

Finished!!  In about four minutes (which includes marking and tying off the thread ends) I'm ready to move to the next block.  With just twelve blocks in the quilt, I can get half the blocks quilted in under 30 minutes which tends to be my session limit at the quilting machine.  When I stick to my 30 minute work limit, I find it easier to avoid a cranky neck and shoulders!

Here's the progress so far -- I have six blocks left to quilt and then maybe a straight line down the middle of all the sashing and something in the border.  I could have this piece ready to bind by Monday!

Then I can layer up and work next week on a laprobe that I've selected from the "ready-to-quilt" shelf for a housewarming gift!

It's been a pleasant week -- my goal to get back into a regular walking routine is progressing.

I enjoyed two all day babysitting sessions with the triplets!  BLISS!!

I enjoyed a couple small social gatherings (with masks).

Perhaps most important, I decided to embrace a couple perks of the current isolation.

I'm noticing my almost-empty schedule has led me to pay more attention to details and have more patience when needed.  

For example, I've started putting things away when I'm done using them because I don't have to rushing on to something else so the house is tidier and I (almost) always know where stuff is?!?

That's all good!!

  I'm doing more advanced knitting projects but I'm making lots of mistakes in my projects (argghhh - lack of experience).  I still get in a snit but they are usually short and I can back-up, undo, and fix the mistake -- like the sock that I knit twice before I got it the right size.  It was worth it!!

So I hope that I can take these habits forward with me.

It might mean I won't be as "useful" to other people but they are just going to have to get their own act together, aren't they?

Mary, the efficient dependable multi-tasker has retired!!

(All of you who've had your "slow living" act together for a while are smiling.)

So let's go have a good week and if you've had a "light bulb" moment as a result of isolation, share it with us!!

Mary

A Visit to the MQX Quilt Festival - New England

Last weekend a family wedding north of Boston coincided with the MQX Quilt Festival in Manchester, New Hampshire.  My oldest daughter and I made a mini vacation of it.  We took two days to drive over from Northeast Ohio allowing us time to visit the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in upstate New York for some birding and An Unlikely Story, the bookstore of children's author, Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) in Plainville, Massachusetts.

The birding was good (30 species and good looks at migrating ducks) and the bookstore is delightful! 

The Ohio cousins all met up in Boston on Friday and did the "pub crawl" method of the history trail.  That left me free to spend a long morning at the MQX Quilt Festival.  It was my first visit to the show and very enjoyable.

The main target for me was to see an exhibit of Victoria Findlay Wolfe's double wedding ring quilts!

I have the book but to see them in person is always the best!

It's so interesting to know the back story of each quilt.

Do you follow her on Instagram?  I enjoy the sunny little videos she posts every so often so what a delight to turn a corner and there she was, in the booth, on her lunch break from teaching.

So of course, I went into the booth for a closer look at some of her current work and to purchase the pattern for that big star in the background!

I even left my wallet in the booth, so she had to come find me!!

(Sought out by VFW!!)

The judged quilts were stunning!  All machine quilted of course and divided into 14 categories including "emerging entrants" -- I like that category option!

This is the Best of Show by Margaret Solomon Gunn.  She was also on the faculty for the weekend.

Every detail was perfect.

This piece by Molly Hamilton-McNally was just around the corner.  The applique on this one was the standout aspect! 

Until I saw the back -- if you look at the lower left section, you'll notice that she used a gold thread in the bobbin for the large feathered motif which made it stand out on the back. 

I really enjoyed that many of the quilts were hung so that the back could also be seen.

I don't do this sort of detailed quilting -- no patience, but it's stunning to see! 

These next three were my favorites in the show.  I loved the color palette and print style of this piece by Sheila Dameron who was inspired by the natural color palette of Sedona, Arizona -- right up my alley! 

This close-up of a rhododendron blossom was a stunning combination of applique and stitching. 

I forgot to take a photo of the tag so don't know the maker's name. 

I loved this little piece by Libby Williamson who was inspired by the "for sale" notices on community bulletin boards.  Her attention to detail (look at the left edge where the "paper" was torn out of a notebook).  Of course it's really fabric and whimsy! 

One of the elements of the show I appreciated was that all the pieces were hanging in "their category" so this is the view down the row of "edge-to-edge, hand guided".  This is the first, second, and third and it must have been a challenging category for the judging.

One of the details that caught my eye on the middle quilt by Linda Thielfoldt was the slightly wavy binding!!

There was lots of machine quilting inspiration and I was paying attention to simpler motifs that I might be able to modify (make simpler) in my own work.

Here's a little gallery of my favorites.

Using bubbles (but not too many) as filler

and to add some interest in spots.

I was struck by this blend of a motif and the use of the slightly wonky parallel lines. 

It's good to see this dense easy way to create dimension -- I always shy away from it fearing that I'll "ruin" what I've already done.

Just a cute motif here 

and here! 

And maybe saving this picture will remind me that an "empty" space can be dressed up a bit!

Another area where I'm always shy. 

I'm quite fascinated by simple and large circular quilting -- this works so well but it's so hard for me to visualize therefore I never just try it! 

Must just try it!! 

And finally, it was so much fun to stumble onto quilts that I recognized from my Instagram world!

Those spiders and the bats are from @lillyellasworld -- I was on the testing team for the spiders and you can buy it HERE!

And here's a New Hexagon piece based on Katja Marek's book and follow-along she did in 2015 via Facebook -- pieced and quilted by Arvilla Mederios -- love her name for the quilt -- Never Say Never! 

I'm a little disappointed that I didn't take a picture of the front of this quilt, Sanderson's Apprentice by Karen Terrens of Australia (this is the back) -- it's a reproduction of an English pre-marked Sanderson quilt from the late 1800's.  I've seen some of the original ones on the Facebook page of Antique Textiles in London, England -- lots of antique quilt eye candy there so expect to be distracted! 

Soon it was time to get down to the business of the trip -- the wedding! 

And a mini reunion with my two sisters -- me on the left, mother of the bride on the right,

and my crew -- younger daughter on the left, only son, older daughter on the right. 

Sunday morning saw all of us saying farewell until the next wedding. 

Good to be back home and back in the studio!

If you're celebrating Easter or Passover this weekend, hope it's a good one!!

Mary