I chose this green/blue print for the binding on the Warm/cool Zig Zag quilt. I got it cut, sewn on, and 2.5 sides hand sewn.
I had to get down on the floor to shoot this photo of the first cactus bloom this fall. Last year the first one was on Oct. 20 so this is really early.
This photo was taken straight at the plant so you can see why I had to get down to get the whole bloom in a photo. There are at least 5 more very tiny buds on the plant and I hope there will be more.
I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon going through a hall closet. In one box were the paycheck stubs from my first job in 1958. I sewed for a designer at a dress factory. I started out at $1 and hour and worked up to $1.17 before I left for a higher paying job that I hated in an office.
Also in this box was an envelope with all of the receipts for my very first electric sewing machine. Dad traded in the treadle on it. 3 cent stamp. 6 bobbins for 90 cents.
Another box had all of my report cards from grades 1-12 and my 8th grade diploma. I think I need to leave these for my kids to throw away. I can't do it.
I looked in Kaffe's book to see what he called this quilt. He had "Earthy Frames" and "Sunny Frames" for the 2 colorways so I guess this one would be "Cool Frames" as opposed to "Warm Frames" that I made a few years ago. It is about 50" x 61".
I chose the last four pairs for the Fractured quilt. I'll make the blocks later this week.
We had a nice gentle rain for a few hours yesterday. There were lots of sparrows darting between the feeders and the bush and then they started landing on my windowsill. I have a stone house with extended cement windowsills. There are 2 birds here although window distortion almost hides one of them.
Most of the birds flew away when I got close enough to the window to take a photo but a couple didn't seem to care if I was there.
When Dad passed away I requested that my art quilter friends not send flowers. They are a very caring group and had supported me through the tough times. I am blessed to have them as friends. They decided they wanted to come to Sandwich and take me out to eat. Most of them have to drive 1.5 - 2 hours to get here so this was very special. Here are 4 of us.
This is all of us except the one who took the photo, the lady on the left in the photo above. Yes the men are quilters too! We had show and tell at my house first and then went down to the Bull Moose Bar and Grille. Click on the link to read the history about the train car. The weather was perfect for our outing and for their long drive to and from Sandwich.
Last night I got in a little sewing and the hand work on the binding is half done. One more evening and I can call it a finish.
I finally found the fabric in my stash that I wanted to use for binding on this quilt that I quilted in May. I quilted the quilt I showed a few days ago and loaded another one on the long arm. I figured I had better get the binding done on this one before I get too many more quilted.
It has turned really cool, a 30 degree drop from a few days ago and cold at night, in the 40s. I brought my cacti in last night. I think they have been out long enough. The bud on the pink one is just about ready to open and I see more buds forming.
I went to a sew in yesterday and took along the fabric for the blocks. I got parts for 12 blocks finished but only sewed 8 of the blocks last night. I have to add one more row on the right as well as finishing the 4th section. I am making it 5 rows x 6 rows instead of 7 x 8 like it is in the book. I have all of the duplicate blocks in this layout so I still have the option of making more blocks and using some of these for the scrappy version that I want to make. Be sure to click on the Fractured Quilt Along button on the right sidebar to go to Vicki's blog for links to see how everyone else is progressing on theirs.
I got a backing pressed and a quilt loaded on the long arm. That's progress! I might actually get some quilts quilted this month.
I chose some more pairs of fabrics for the Fractured quilt.
and more pairs......
Time to clean off the cutting table. I trimmed all of these "ends" into straight strips and I'll use them for mug rugs.
Progress reports are supposed to be on Fridays for the "Fractured" quilt but here is a sneak peek of how my reds and grays are working together. Each pair of 5" strips makes 2 blocks so I have to decide whether I'm using the duplicates in this quilt or just one of each.
