Crayons and Knitting Needles

Mandy's Russian Dress is done.

I posted the pattern here. Several people are making it now. I've change the skirt, originally a swirled skirt. Now it's balanced, but just as full. The pattern has both skirt versions. Here it is from the side:

The back is the same as the green one. Now I've started one in blue for Vroni.

Vintage Stitchers met at Marilyn's, so I'm showing off some of her quilts. Marilyn loves bright, primary colors. Visiting her house is like walking across a sheet of paper with well-ordered crayons posing artistically here and there.

She gave us a tour of her new master bath. It's beautiful, but I couldn't get enough of all the lovely quilts used in decorating her home.

This one used fussy-cut zinnias on a white background for the "plain" blocks in an Irish Chain pattern.

Here's a look at the border.

The same fabric line, but with different backgrounds were used in this Bear Paw variation.

The bedroom had other lovely quilts on a ladder against the wall, something I would like to do after we move.

The Vintage Stitchers had some great show-and-tell for us. Carol had made a couple of chair covers, basically quilts made as wide as her chairs, so they could protect the chairs without being folded.

They were reversible.

(That's my Spring Flowers quilt on the floor, bottom left.)

As I said, there were two. 

And they are reversible.

Several of our members have made the Goodnight, Irene quilt. This is Barbara's. She used a pretty batik for the border.

Diane had been making some bags. She's an avid knitter, and a knitter can never have too many bags. 

We had a nice visit, and chatted about how our group got started, back in 2004.

Another quilter had been working on an appliqué quilt, a BOM (block of the month) at a local quilt shop. It was such a lot of hand appliqué that she decided she wanted to hand-quilt it, so she recruited me to teach her. We had met at her quilt guild when I gave a talk about how to make quilts like the ones that are now considered antique. She came to my house for a few lessons, and we decided it would be nice to have a mini group centered around hand work (quilting, appliqué, sewing on binding, etc.). I ran into Barbara and Carol at the Utah Quilt Guild's Quilt Festival that year. They had been at a meeting I attended where I mentioned the group. We were in a booth in the vendors' mall, and we started chatting. They invited  a few friends to our first meeting and I invited a few. Several of the original members have moved away (as I will be doing soon), and we've added people. I'm hoping some of them can come to my new place in 2019 for the Sisters Quilt Show/Festival put on by the Stitchin' Post in Sisters.

Spring has finally arrived. I heard my first hummingbird this morning. About 10 years ago, I planted these bulbs (I don't know what they're called) under the big tree in the front of the house. 

That spring they came up across the street. on the slope that leads up to another home. Some of our 4-legged gardeners thought they would be more visible there. They get more morning sun, too.

Something is sprouting up in our driveway, though. U-haul boxes. They're pods for moving. You fill them up, and when you're ready, they come and pick them up. They will haul these to Bend to put into storage for us. When we're ready to move into a new home, they will deliver them to us.

Saturday we went to the Utah Democratic State Convention in Salt Lake City. There was a lot of discussion, some inspiring speeches and votes for candidates for various offices. We had one race that will require a primary, but the others were decided right there.

You can't see me, but I'm right down in front, right in front of the podium. What I found stunning was, one candidate decided that another candidate running for the same office was a better choice, so he threw his support to her. There were five candidates for that race, and she won. It will be an uphill battle for all the candidates in November, though. Utah is reliably red.

I sat next to a lady who was crocheting dish clothes. I was working on my Coastal Skies shawl. She said she didn't know how to knit. I saw she was holding her yarn the way I do for Continental-style knitting. I've seen people hold the right needle the way she held her crochet hook. I demonstrated for her how she could knit using the same skills she already knew. I think I may have a convert.

What's on my needles: Still the Coastal Skies, a little more progress made, and the third Russian Dress.

What's on my Featherweight: Put away in its case until I get more packing done.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, but a lot of progress made this week.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still in hibernation. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished A Higher Loyalty by Jim Comey. It reads like a good novel, but it also made sense out of a lot of recent history and rang true. Now listening to The Miser of Mayfair by M. C. Beaton. Just getting into it.

What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw “Two-buck Chuck” Shiraz. DH was busy when it was time for my wine break, so he said just to get one of these. I’m glad that soon I’ll be living where I can buy this very drinkable wine in my local Trader Joe’s, instead of having to smuggle in a supply from out-of-state.

What's my tip of the week: Spring often brings out spiders, whether because they are hatching or because you might be cleaning and moving things around. Except for the few that are poisonous, they are beneficial creatures, but we don't want them taking over the house. They need to go out and find homes of their own. We practice "catch and release." A plastic container or jar can corral your "prey"while you slide a card of piece of paper between the container and the surface they are sitting or hanging around on. Using the card or paper to keep the container closed, you can remove them safely from the house and deposit them outdoors, where they can make a nice home for themselves and find much more to eat. (Most spiders are spinners and weavers. Anyone who makes yarn and does something useful with it is OK in my book.)

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.