Friday, September 24, 2010

Been Busy....

....who hasn't? Summers in North Dakota are simply filled with run, run, run, get the sun, sun, sun! At least while it lasts. We've had a horribly rainy year: nice for the water table, but since getting COLD this week it feels like summer just barely showed up, laughed at us, and went south. Sheesh.

Anyhow, my bod must be getting ready for DST to end because I've been waking up at 4:15 am every morning. Is there a train whistling or something? Sigh... Wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to be QUIET to avoid waking the 3yo tornado. Do NOT get that one started that early!

Did get to go to a wonderful, and I mean WONDERFUL! quilt retreat in late August, sponsored by my local guild. It's up at Lake Metigoshe and is very peaceful. Great food, beautiful accommodations, quality sewing time, and best of all, good company. You get to stitch in your pajamas, see what everyone is working on, compare notes, find out who is willing to short-sheet the beds.... You know, a RETREAT! No classes, just stitchin' time. It's slated to be my mini-vacation spot every year.

So what did I accomplish this year? Well, I put the final borders on a child's quilt that I've puzzled over for too long. I kept trying to make that quilt into a twin size bed quilt, and sometimes you just have to sit back and listen to what your quilt is saying. It didn't want to be a honking big bed quilt. I absolutely love how it has turned out. Will attach a pic as soon as I find where I stashed my camera.

Then I had a set of Delft blocks from this last winter's swap. Lovely, lovely blocks, but really a LOT of blue. So I set them on point with pale buttery yellow sashing (scrappy) and a fantastic dark blue batik with a watery look to it that I found at JoAnn's last winter for the side and corner setting triangles. It's not quite wide enough so I'm working on adding rows of Flying Geese and another batik border to the sides. Don't suppose anyone has that blue batik and would be willing to part with some? No, I didn't buy enough. It was pricey and I thought three yards would do it. Foolish me. Lesson to be learned: if you LOVE a fabric and think you might use it for the background, BUY FIVE YARDS!!!  

 Then I worked on setting some Amish blocks from an old, old swap. I made one and need to finish one more to make 25. They are close in size, but I'm still setting them with that modern floaty look with a light print that reads as very light gray for the block's shadows (on two sides only, with little corners of the background yet to be chosen). I was going to use a black backgound, but when I've thought about it, the blocks are jewel tones with black backgrounds and they might disappear into a black background. Maybe a very dark gray? ....or a black TOT with a definite design to it? Thoughts anyone?
ROAD TRIP!!! to set these blocks against some fabric at the store.

AND then I cave-manned the sky and grass to make a tree quilt. I free cut the trunk, branches, etc. and have started to applique it all down. I'm thinking about trapunto-ing the trunk and large branches. I have hundreds of little three inch Nine Patches, all different, from two other swaps, that are going to be the leaves on the tree. ....with a bright Cheshire cat sitting on one of the branches. I'm not 100% thrilled with the way the frame of the tree looks--it's so
sparse! But once the leaves are on.... 

We're cleaning house this weekend. No option. I can't find Things! (like cameras) So it's Reorganize and Update Time. ....and maybe paint Kate's room next week. We finally compromised on a color. She wanted Frosted Cupcake Pink (think PeptoPink) and I wanted just-barely-off-of-white pink. We settled on Sanctuary Rose. If it's still too bright I'm throwing on a layer of pearlized glaze to make it look like the inside of an shell. Her accent pieces are soft lime green, aqua, and touches of bright pink, with white furniture.

I need more energy for all this. Lots more.... Off to the dungeon to sort and purge.

Nancy












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