Been a while!

Looks like my last post was almost 6 months ago. I am settling in Arizona and loving the winter here! No more snow and ice to shovel or chop. And to be able to sit out on the patio in January enjoying the sunshine, a cup of morning coffee, and a good book is heavenly!

I am attaching a few pictures. I finished a hexagon top in shades of brown and blue, handpieced, now ready to be layered and quilted. I have the backing and batting, I just need the inspiration to get it done, I started the pillow at the bottom before moving out here, and finished it before Christmas. I do like working with wool.

The other pictures are a random bunch taken around here. Within a half hour are a couple of nature preserves that we enjoy going to and the mountain scene was taken at Bosque de Apache Preserve in New Mexico. Hope to get more quilt pictures up before another 6 months goes by.

June 2022 Arizona Quilting

I am finally getting settled in our new home in AZ–and getting some sewing, piecing, and quilting time. Since before the move and up till now, I have been making hexies–easy to work on and can be done anywhere, anytime. So now I have boxes of them to make into something!

I did finish a small tumbling block quilt that I had started a few years ago. This is as large as it got! These were leftover pieces from a full sized quilt I made about 4 years ago, and I couldn’t let them go to waste. It makes a nice table runner for the fall.

The next little quilt is doll sized and I do love all shades of brown. This was hand pieced and hand quilted.

The last quilt top pictured will be about a twin sized finished quilt. I just about used up my browns and blues with this. My goal is to have it layered and hand quilted by the end of the year. It is much too hot now in Arizona to do any quilting on a large quilt.

Lastly is a Saguaro cactus. These fascinate me and they are all over our community, all sizes and I love the way that when they blossom, it looks like the cactus is offering a bouquet of flowers. I’ve taken many cactus pictures since we arrived, especially last month when there wer so many different kinds in blossom. I do miss the Maine spring, all the shades of green that suddenly appear and all the spring flowers. But this new home has its own appeal, different but pleasing in its own way.

There is a very active quilt group here and I am starting to get involved with it. One project the group does is make “caring quilts”. These quilts are made by the members and are given to the local hospital to give to all women having breast surgery. Already this year the group has contributed over 50 quilts. The size is approximately 50 x 70 and there are patterns fabric available to complete the quilts or you can chose your own pattern. Some of the letters the group has received from recipients brought tears to my eyes. There is a project over the summer and it will be fun to see how different some of the quilts are even though we are all using the same pattern. The sewing room is open every Wednesday for the quilters and has 8 machines for use, or bring your own. There is also a long arm available for use and I hope to get certified on in the fall–would love to get some of the tops that I know I will never get hand quilted done. It is like a dream situation–cutting tables set up, rulers, cutters, etc, and great company of other quilters. There is a general meeting every month September thru May, and 1st and 3rd Fridays we have a large room available all day long for anyone who wants to sew and enjoy the company of other quilters.

Several quilt shops are within 7 mile radius–nice to have variety. My former guild, Georges Valley Quilters in Thomaston, Maine, gave me a gift certificate to one of the local shops here when I left Maine. So thoughtful and I miss this group. We had a brown bag challenge that was due this month and I had participated and the exchange is tomorrow. The rules were simply to put 4-5 fat quarters (at least that size) into a brown bag and bring it to the January meeting. Participants chose an unmarked bag and had 5 months to make something with these fabrics–quilt, runner, bag, whatever! I sent my piece up to Maine since I can’t be there and can’t wait to see what was made from the fabric I had in my brown bag. Wish I could remember what fabrics I included in my bag!

Now into my sewing room to see what I can work on tonight. I have to share my space as a sewing room and guest room. Quite a change from the entire second floor of our last home–I had a huge room with storage and part of the guest room! But I am making it work. I have had smaller spaces.

Arizona April 2022

I haven’t had time to do much sewing or quilting since we have moved here to Arizona but I am enjoying the spring here and the desert flowers.

My sewing room is slowly coming together and I have been able to do some EPP and applique during the evenings. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can spend some time at the sewing machine. I have the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt to piece, two hexagon tops that I would like to get layered and quilt, and several others in the “to finish” pile.

There is a very active quilt club in our community and so much talent! They sponsored a quilt show in March that I was able to attend and it was so well organized and there were so many wonderful quilts. The group also does what they call “Caring Quilts” and these are approximately 50×70 inches and given to patients in the local hospital who are undergoing cancer surgery. At the most recent meeting some of the thank you notes were read and it was very moving.

This week the group had what they call “Quilt Camp”. It was 1.5 days of sewing and fun. The organizer had several patterns for Caring Quilts and cutting, sewing, ironing was shared by the approximately 35 people who were there. In between work, they had great meals, fun games, and prizes. I did enjoy meeting new people and look forward to getting to know them better.

The following pictures are just some of the spring flowers I am enjoying on my walks here around the area. I am trying to identify what I see–sometimes successful, sometimes not.

That is all for today. Wish me luck organizing my sewing room!

Quilting in Arizona!

I can’t believe it has been 6 months since I wrote anything! In that time so much has happened. Our guild in Maine started meeting in person again–it seemed like more than two years since we were able to meet and enjoy one another’s company. I was able to go back to volunteering at the local Chamber of Commerce, something I really enjoyed. Almost everyone who came in was on vacation and happy to be there and I always left feeling good about living in Maine and being able to share the great things about the area with visitors.

The quilts pictured here were some of the ones I donated before we moved from Maine. I didn’t get pictures of them all, and I am not the greatest photographer, but this will be a reminder to me of some of the quilts I have done in the past many years. I think I donated about 28 to various organizations, but when I unpacked I realized I could have donated many more. I will investigate where I can donate some here.

The main reason I am writing in this blog is for myself to remember different places, people, quilts I have done and seen, and just put down my thoughts.

Then in early November we visited our son in Arizona for the first time in 2 years. While there, we looked at houses and decided to move again. For the last 3 moves I have said “this is our last move”. Well, hopefully, this is it.

I love spring here. According to what I read in the newspapers, this is not the best year for the cactus blossoms. But walking around the neighborhood, I see these beautiful flowers. They don’t last long, but are a joy to see, if even for a short while.

The thermometer is already reading in the 90’s by mid afternoon. We have been warned about Arizona summers and how we will have to do whatever needs being done out of the house by 11am. Can’t say I am looking forward to that, but the winters will make up for it.

I’m slowly setting up my sewing/guest room. Since we have downsized, this is a challenge. Yesterday, for the first time since we got here, I set up the sewing machine and worked on a project for one of my Maine quilt groups. I had signed up for this before deciding to move. It felt good to be sewing again. I have been doing hand piecing on a hexagon quilt I am making. Very simple–appliquing little hexagon flowers onto low volume and white fabrics. The blocks are 7 inches and so far I have about 50 completed with another 30 or so to go. While unpacking I discovered about 7 quilt tops ready to be layered and quilted and too many small projects to be finished. I vowed not to start anything else till most of these are done–but I am so tempted by quilt patterns and fabrics I see.

We are in an over 45 community and so much is available here to keep us as busy as we want to be. I have joined the quilt group here and there is the opportunity to get together and sew once a week and member meetings once a month. There are several other interesting fiber art groups that bear investigating later in the year. It is also a great area for walking with mostly flat sidewalks, a few gentle slopes, and walking trails dispersed throughout the community.

It is early morning, quiet around the neighborhood. I can hear the mourning doves cooing and many other bird songs I don’t recognize yet. I have seen roadrunners going through the yard and looked out the window to see a coyote sitting in the rosemary bushes. Lots to see and learn about in this new to us environment. I hope I don’t go another 9 months without writing about this new adventure and my quilting progress.

Heart 2 Hands

These are two quilts I donated to Heart 2 Hands project organized by “Confessions of a Fabric Addict.” I read that this has been going on for 10 years now, and there is a list of organizations to donate to. This is my first year donating and I hope to be able to do this for many more years to come.

The other photos are of Camden Harbor, Camden, Maine. Love seeing the boats return for the summer. Camden is beautiful no matter what time of year you are here, but there is something about the spring and everything waking up again.

Covid Quilting

Our Mount Battie Modern Quilt Guild has been running a challenge over the past almost 2 years and late last year I received my blocks from the other participants. My theme for my blocks was simply abstract blocks with neutral colors and some green in the block. This is the result and I love it!! Putting it together was quite a puzzle, and I was able to use each and every block I received and added some fillers to square it off. It is “big stitch” quilted and has become one of my favorites.

Every other month a participant receives blocks depicting interpretations of their theme and I look forward to the time that we can get together and see these close up and in person. There are only about 3 people still to get their blocks, so maybe early next year!

This is a small quilt that I made to donate to a project called Hand 2 Heart.

Another quilt donated to H2H. This is a disappearing nine patch made from the scrap box. My favorite quilts are scrappy,

The last quilt I am showing today was also finished over the past Covid year. I found the quilt top at least 10-15 years ago when I purchased a linen lot at auction. It was in need of repair, was pretty dirty, but I couldn’t let it go. The fabrics look like they could date to the 40’s and 50’s, probably lots of clothing cut up to make some of the blocks. But it called to me and I had to hand quilt it and finish it. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. This is at least the third top made either of vintage blocks I have found thru the years or of old tops.

That is it for now. I have several more quilts made of the past 15 months, but not good pictures of them. I’ll save them for a later date.

My Goal is Accomplished!

These two quilts were among the 10 I told myself I would finish in 2020 before starting something new.  Then Covid came along and gave me all the time I needed.   The one on the left is a batik pattern I picked up at Keepsake Quilting in NH and started about 2013.  It is machine pieced and quilted by a long arm quilter, Beth Cardozo.  The right quilt is 100 days/100 blocks, a sew along I participated in last year online.  I machine pieced this, machine quilted along the sashing, and big stitch hand quilted the blocks.

The quilt on the left is a Bonnie Hunter mystery from 2017, Alletaire.  Machine quilted and pieced.   The quilt on the left is another Bonnie Hunter pattern, Wild and Goosey, also machine pieced and quilted.  Started in about 2017 and finished this year.

The bow tie on the left is machine pieced and hand quilted, blocks started in 2010 and finished this year.   The quilt on the right is my “Flower Garden Explosion”, started about 2 years ago and finished this year   It is hand pieced in batiks and machine quilted by long arm quilter, Beth Cardozo.

Above right is another hexagon quilt, with the hexies appliqued onto a variety of white fabrics.  Hand appliqued, and then machine pieced and quilted.   The quilt on the right is one I started this year after seeing an online “improv triangle” sew along.  Machine pieced and quilted.

Below , right, is another batik simple patchwork quilt, machine pieced and quilted.   The smaller on the chair is made from leftover blocks.

Of course, I have several more starts–flying geese in various shades of blue and off white/beiges, selvedge blocks made on the diagonal, another stack of black and white blocks.   Most of what I am doing now is trying to use only from my stash.  I did order a few fabrics for the blue flying geese blocks and I did “need” a few yards of different white on white fabrics!

Corona Virus and Quilting

Some days, while on social isolation, I just don’t feel like doing anything that requires concentration, so I have been making 4 inch 4 patches out of my stash.  I plan to  make a simple scrappy quilt out of them when I finish trimming the rest to size.

Today  I saw my first hummingbird of the season flying around our flowering crab tree in the front yard.  It was such a nice afternoon, and I was sitting out front just enjoying the birds songs and the buzzing of the bumblebees in the perennial garden, and looked over and saw the hummingbird flitting from flower to flower.  One of the benefits of staying home is the time just to sit and listen.  On those mornings that are warm enough, I enjoy sitting in the back yard, just having my coffee and listening to the quiet noises around me.

 

Quilting in the Time of Social Isolation

I’m continuing to finish up old projects that have been hanging around the storage room for quite some time.   This little tumbler quilt is made from 30’s and 40’s reproduction fabrics that I have collected over the years.   I used spray basting for the first time on this and another small quilt and was very pleased with the result and it made the machine quilting so easy.

This next little quilt was made from a panel I bought many years ago.  I also spray basted this and did a lot of meandering over the middle of the quilt and straight line quilting on the borders.  I like the way it came out.

Another old project.  The blocks from this snow ball quilt were probable started before we moved here to Maine, 8 years ago!   I am hand quilting with big stitches and love the way it is looking.  It is about twin size and I am 2/3 done with the quilting.  I have been keeping track of the time put into the hand quilting on the last 3 quilts I have done, and this one already has 56 hours of quilting time!

This little table runner is made from some small pieces of a vintage fabric with the strawberries on it.  I paired it with a batik.   I found the strawberries at the bottom of a box of vintage fabrics I had purchased many years ago.

 

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, great for a long walk.  Our flowering cherry is in full bloom, lots of bees buzzing around the blossoms.   Spring is slowly coming to Maine–or so I thought until I looked out the window this morning to see snow coming down!

 

Here are a few more pictures from our area of Maine taken early this month.     I try to go for daily walks around the area and have a few favorite routes.   In this strange time of social isolation, it is good to get out for some fresh air and exercise.   I don’t meet many people on my walks, but those I do are very good at keeping the distance.

One Quilt Top Done, Another to Go, and some Delightful Bunnies

I put the last hand stitch in this little quilt last night.   The printed fabrics are vintage–I think from the 40’s and 50’s.  I found the fabrics at auction many years ago and the pieces were small, but I did manage to get enough for 12 Dresden Plates and have some left over for another project at another time!   I hope to get it trimmed and bound before the end of the week.

I used to collect vintage fabrics and linens and over the years have used them around the house and in projects.  I love to think of all the work that went into some of the embroidery, hardanger, weaving, etc., and imagine the lives of the makers.

I also finished piecing this quilt top made in a  sew along with Crazy Moose Quilting in Greenville, Maine.  This was a 10 month project and we received 2 block patterns on the 1st of the month and again on the 15th.  It was called Women of the Bible and came with a story of the woman each block represents.   I choose to do mine in reds, greens, and neutrals.   I am unsure if I will add a border or just layer it as is.  This last picture is bunnies made from a free pattern on line from Positively Splendid.  Hoped to send these to two nieces for Easter, but will wait till this virus is contained and controlled before sending.   I think they will like them at any time of year.   I had purchased a Clover PomPom maker some time ago, and it made the cutest tails out of some yarn that I had left over bits of.