Waiting for the Movers....

So here's this:

I know you've seen this, but I thought I would put together a summary of how it went together, as I've been pretty much a drudge all week in preparation for the move with nothing much to show, other than another little story. But I digress....

It all began when I went to the Utah Quilt Guild's annual Quilt Fest, which took place in Ogden in 2004. Mary Sorensen was teaching a class in needleturn appliqué, and I signed up for it. She had some patterns available, and one of them was her Delectable Pathways. I bought the pattern and started looking for fabric for it. Here's the photo of the pattern, stolen with attribution from her website:

My friend Julie was closing down her quilt shop at the time, and she was having a big sale. I bought yards of cheddar in three shades for the background. Then I started collecting fabrics in colors I like and that would show enough contrast. I also had plans at the time to make the Pine Burr Made Modern quilt from McCall's Quilting, but that really called for paper piecing, a technique I found intimidating (but no longer). The Delectable Pathways pattern had paper piecing as an option, with very good directions, so I picked that method to piece the Delectable Mountain blocks. It was good practice, and I later finished the Pine Burr quilt long before I finished the appliqué for my Delectable Pathways quilt, leaving the Delectable Mountain blocks in stacks as I worked on the appliqué.

The appliqué was fun, but it did take some time. I stay-stitched the strips of background fabric, traced the pattern using a chalk pencil and started with the stems, layering the pieces as I was taught in Mary's class.

I had a lot of fun choosing the fabrics and working on the appliqué.

It did take time, and I continually moved on to other projects, coming back to this one when I felt like it.

Eventually I had the appliqué done on two of the background strips, with only one to go.

It seemed to go faster when I could see how little there was left to do. I remember the day I put the appliqué strips up on my design wall with the Delectable Mountain blocks. 

I still had to sew the triangles of background fabric to the blocks, but that went pretty fast.

Then there was the hand-quilting to do. My friend Julie basted the layers together using her long-arm. I'm sure she enjoyed seeing her cheddar fabric again.

I made use of my trusty hemostat to stitch in the ditch around the half-square triangles. (The trick is to pull straight out, not in an arc, which you can get away with if you're pulling the needle out by hand. I broke several needles before I learned, but it's a great tool if you have loaded too many stitches on the needle.)

Then I used masking tape to keep straight lines  across the background, skipping the appliqué pieces. I used a technique called "traveling" to move through the batting to the next place to start stitching.

When I wanted to finish a row of stitching, I made a knot on top of the fabric and then pulled it through, if it was convenient. (The quilting thread is white. It looks pale blue in the photos.)

As an alternative, I would run the needle through the layers to one side and then the other of adjacent stitches. 

If I needed to, I would back the eye of the needle a little bit out through the quilt top to get the angle I needed, then continued threading through the stitches. The result is a finish that will be flexible but won't come out ever, as knots can.

I sort of worked out the pattern as I went along.

Finally it was ready for the binding. It wouldn't fit on my table, so you just see two panels.

Then ta-da! (Thanks to DH for holding it up when I was done. That's his thinning hairline showing up just above the top of the quilt.)

It went up on the wall in the hall, not the wall I had planned for it, as DH would have needed the extension ladder, and we knew by then that we would be selling the house soon. It was nice and cozy in the hallway, though, and we know will have to find a nice place for it in the new house when we have one.

Here's a list of what I got done this week instead of having fun (although some of it was fun):

Got the car serviced, finishing about three rows of my shawl while I was waiting.

Found some houses I would love to look at when we get to Bend, if they are still available.

Learned the alto parts for four pieces to sing Sunday. (Then I sang them mostly correctly. I should point out that I'm a soprano, which meant some additional challenges.)

Took the dogs to Run-A-Muk.

Packed my Sparrow 15 sewing machine and my spinning wheel.

Packed more dishes.

Finished another story for The Doll's Storybook. Here's the one that came out on Friday.

Took another load of things to Saver's in Salt Lake City.
Sold some tires and tools online for DH.

Did some cooking and laundry.

What's on my needles: Still the Kisu Cardigan for Jolena, and still at the BO for the neck. Also the Coastal Skies shawl for me, which I worked on a bit more this week.

What's on my Sparrow 15: Packed away for the move. Never got to the overcast foot. However, I'm looking at sewing tables that will suit after we get moved.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, nothing done this week.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is packed away for the move. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. Just finished the first chapter.

What's in my wine glass: Lazy Bones Cabernet Franc 2016. (LOL!) I am totally into this wine after the week I've had.

What's my tip of the week: Whatever your plans are, always have a Plan B. (I learned that and many other things from Manuel, our choir director.)

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.

Quilts for Project Linus

Remember Linus from Peanuts? The little boy with his blankie to his ear and his thumb in his mouth? This character by Charles M. Schultz, the embodiment of well-known positive impact on young children of a comfort blanket or toy, became the mascot for Project Linus.

The organization states that it has two missions:

First, provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”
Second, provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.

Rona Kleiman, one of my online Ravelry friends, who started the Project Linus program in Canada, recently visited Havergal College, an exclusive private girls school, to see what the 9th grade girls were making for Project Linus. 

These are the hand sewn, paper-pieced quilt tops they were making.

"They have an art teacher who has a PHD in art education," Rona says. The art teacher, Dr. Miriam Davidson, who is  head of the upper school art department as well as a teacher, started the quilt program five years ago and contacted Rona at Project Linus, because the girls were looking for a new place to donate. A relative of one of the girls had donated to Project Linus in the past, so the girl suggested the organization as a possible destination for the finished quilts.

When Rona arrived at the school, the girls were working on stone carvings. Rona says that they took her breath away. She was very impressed with the girls, too. "They were kind and funny and very smart. What a breath of fresh air," she says. Rona explained to the girls what Project Linus is all about. When she was finished, they were very excited about their donations. 

Rona started Project Linus Canada 20 years ago and was the international coordinator of the organization across Canada, until two years ago when she stepped down from that position and now runs the Toronto chapter. "I got really burned out from all the desk work," Rona says. When she started the program she didn’t expect it to expand to such a degree.  "Even the Toronto chapter is a big and busy chapter and requires a lot of work and running around, but I love the charity. It’s a part of me by now," she adds. There are now 40 chapters in Canada--something to be proud of.

I find the girls' quilts inspiring. Don't you? Even with hand-sewing and paper-piecing, these shapes are difficult to piece with this kind of precision.

For more information on Project Linus, especially how to get involved, contact--

Project Linus Canada: http://projectlinuscanada.org

Project Linus USA: https://www.projectlinus.org

Project Linus accepts knitted and crocheted blankets in addition to quilts. Check with them for requirements before making a blanket.

While I'm on vacation, I thought my readers might be interested in a valuable resource for children in need and a worthy place for quilters, knitters and crocheters to donate their efforts.

Marching into May

Last week, when Common Threads met at Margareth’s, Lynda finished this shawl.

She didn’t want me to take a photo then, because it needed blocking. It’s the Estonian Dreams Lace Shawl, from a Craftsy kit, and she only had a few feet left over when she finished it. She borrowed my lace blocking wires and let me take the photo when she returned them.

Tuesday we got more (ugh!) snow. Typical for this time of year, we got lots, and then it melted.

Wednesday morning my brother passed away. We were expecting it, and it was a blessing, because he had Alzheimer’s and had been in a memory care facility in Washington State for several years. His quality of life was nonexistent. It was his daughter’s responsibility to see that his care was adequate. I’m glad she can go on vacation now. We weren’t close at all, but we sometimes saw each other when the kids were small. This is my favorite photo of him.

The little blond boy in his lap is our younger son, Peter. The redhead in his lap is my niece, Amanda (after whom my doll Mandy is named) and the other little girl is our daughter, Karen. The photo was taken about 1979 or 1980.

I went to visit Joanie later in the morning. She doesn’t get out much anymore, so she needed a visit. She had her pine tree quilt on the wall, and I got a photo.

Those of you who have read my blog for several years may remember that several quilting friends helped her paper-piece this quilt. Our friend Julie did the quilting on her long-arm. The fabric choices were entirely Joanie’s, though. 

Ah, quilting! Vintage Stitchers met at Barbara’s on Thursday. Remember her arm-and-leg redwork quilt? The photos I took didn’t really show the quilting, but this one might. (It was the quilting, if you remember, that cost her an arm and a leg.)

Janet has settled on a background for her Dresden Plate quilt.

She has decided to put triangles in the corner of each block, the way Barbara did for this one, which Barbara had handy, because she was sewing on the binding.

Rebecca has been asked to do some embroidery for a sample for one of the quilt shops. She says this is an iron-on transfer. Her work is always exquisite.

Janet knew she would see me, and so she brought this dog for me. He is Tatlo, American Girl Kaya’s dog. She brought the travois, as well, but I will have to give it to them when they come this summer, as it will require a large box. She is keeping her daughter's dolls, but wanted to find a new home for Tatlo.

He made a great prop for showing off Mandy’s Mirabella cardigan. Here she is, modeling how you become acquainted with a new dog, presenting the back of your hand for a sniff.

Then, if the dog allows it, you can give him a good scratch behind the ears.

Here’s the official photo of the new sweater.

The pattern is by Debonair Designs. I used Knit Picks Palette in “Bluebell.” I've decided this is the doll Daphne needs for next Christmas, but supplies are running low, so I may have to buy her one soon.

I had been trying to reproduce a cropped cardigan when I made the lavender sweater for Dolly. Well, I actually made it for Mandy, but it looked better on Dolly and went with her dress, so it will go to Daphne Jr., along with the dress. That’s why Mandy ended up with the Mirabella. The reason I was trying to reproduce the lavender sweater was because the original was in French. My attempts at reverse-engineering turned out OK, but didn't exactly reproduce the sweater.

Someone in the My Doll Best Friend forum had used the pattern a number of times and had come up with the modification I liked. I studied German and can knit from German patterns, but that was little help to me, and I really wanted to try this pattern. She said she could translate it, but not right away. She suggested finding a glossary of French knitting terms. I found one here.

I took the pattern, and with the help of the glossary, found all the knitting terms in the pattern. Then I used Google translate for the words not in the glossary. I sent it to my friend in the forum with questions, and she was able to help me clean it up. She also gave me her modifications, because the sweater was actually designed to be waist length. Someone in the forum has already test-knit the translated original, and I have a good start on the modified version, this one in Knit Picks Palette in "Alfalfa."

Saturday is getting to be march day, even though April is over. This week’s march was for Climate, something we’re very concerned about. There wasn’t one in Park City, so we drove down to Salt Lake City to attend that one. There was a good turnout. We met at the public library and marched up to the governor’s mansion. The pups are getting very good about trotting along beside us.

I’ll have to look and see if we have a march next week. They’re going to be expecting one.

Speaking of the pups, today is Dusty's birthday. He's one year old today. It was also my father's birthday, which I think influenced me to pick from this litter. Happy birthday Dusty!

What's on my needles: French Back-to-school cardigan for Vroni. Doing the hand sewing on the Kaleidoscope binding.

What's on my Featherweight: More doll clothes.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi also still waiting.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. On the Kindle app, I’m still reading Dying to Read, The Cate Kinkaid Files Book #1.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec, a staple.

What's my tip of the week: When taking photos, watch for things that might be reflected in mirrors, windows, even shiny furniture (none of that around my house). Also be aware of any objects in the background that might look as if they are part of what you’re photographing. (My mother once made her younger sister cry by telling her that the knob in the photo of them was growing out of her head, and they had to have it surgically removed. It was really part of the chair they were sitting in.)

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 were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Fine Finishes

The April Sunshine Socks are finished and on my feet.


The pattern is "Sunshine" from Sock Innovation by Cookie A. Yarn Regia 4-fädig in "00017." I plan to make most of the socks from this book.

Not one to let grass grow under my feet, or DH's, for that matter, I immediately cast on a pair of socks for him, using the "Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks" by Ann Budd, from Favorite Socks 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. The diagonal goes in the opposite direction on the other sock, which should keep me entertained while knitting it, not that I ever have to worry about "Second Sock Syndrome." I'm using Stroll Tweed in "Rabbit Heather." I'm almost to the heel, but this photo, taken about halfway down the leg, will give you an idea. The color is much warmer, however, more a warm tan than the gray it appears in this photo. It may be the background that makes it appear gray. The color in the photo on the KP product page (follow this link) appears very accurate on my monitor.

Also finished is the Pine Burr quilt top:


The pattern for the quilt is McCall's Quilting May/June 2012 "Pine Burr Made Modern," although my quilt is very different from the one in the article. (This quilt is paper-pieced, in case you missed my earlier posts about it.) Common Threads gave me the opportunity to call upon Ellen and Karan to hold up the quilt top for a photo of the whole thing. 

We met this week at Margareth's. She has remodeled her loft to make a new place for her loom, so we had a tour.


She has her portable loom set up there, too.


There is a door that leads out to a little balcony. When the weather is nice, she can take her portable loom out there to weave and listen to the birds. Inside, she has a nice couch and a fireplace.

Most of us were knitting. Karan is almost done with her "Flying South Cardigan." She made the long-sleeved version. I have this in my queue on my Ravelry page. 

That evening, Ellen and I went to the monthly quilt guild meeting at Davidene's. Our topic was panels. We looked at a number of the panels the shop had available and brainstormed what you could do with each one.


We also looked at some finished quilts that used panels in them. We talked about what we liked or didn't like about them. Most of them were very nicely done.


One we liked was this monkey panel:


Someone turned it into this charming quilt, in which Snail's Trail blocks are used to represent the tails of monkeys.


These two quilt tops showed how important contrast can be. The design on the left has some nicely executed stars that unfortunately don't show up well because of the choice of fabrics. They needed more contrast between the fabrics. Also a problem was the choice of a fabric with a large, high-contrast pattern.


Most people stuck to the topic for their show-and-tell. For this holiday/winter quilt Bonnie used a panel and some homespuns.


Lynn showed us this pirate quilt she had made for "Talk Like a Pirate Day," September 19th, which is my DH's birthday. (He is a pirate, after all. Arrrrgh.)

Jill loves Twister blocks. She used some tiny ones in this quilt top.


This was supposed to be the back, but we thought she should make a separate quilt out of it and quilt it herself. (She's been practicing with her walking foot.)


Colleen made this to commemorate the fun she has with her golfing buddies.


Dianne is making a quilt using this "Sawtooth Cats" paper-pieced block. The tails are paper-pieced and appliquéd on. (This is not made from a panel.)


I tried to pass my Pine Burr quilt off as a panel, but they weren't buying it. At least it was paper-pieced, so it fit in with Dianne's kitties.

We finally got a really typical winter snow. The accumulation was eventually about 14" at our place, but the resorts on the other side of the mountain (Solitude, Alta and Brighton) got close to 28".

I hope that finishes winter for us, but we could still get snow through the beginning of July. The local resorts have closed for the season. Downhill skiers will have to journey to the other side of the mountain if they want to enjoy the snow and have access to lifts. Cross-country skiers and snowshoers will still find snow to enjoy for some time yet.


What's on my needles: The Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks for DH. Ready to CO his "March of the Fibres" cardi.

What's on my Featherweight: Starting work on the third block for the First Ladies Quilt.

What's on my wheel: Still Full Circle spinning fiber in "Pigeon."

What's on my loom: Still some warp for another scarf.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Mississippi Jack, because I couldn't wait to find out what happens next. Now I'm looking forward to the sixth book in the series. In the meantime, I've started Mariana by Susana Kearsley, also from the library on the Overdrive app. Still reading Jennifer Coburn's Tales from the Crib, on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Foxhorn Vineyards Merlot, the big bottle, for very big thirsts.

What's my tip of the week: Need to measure butter for a recipe? Use a glass measuring cup big enough for about twice the amount you need. Fill it to a given amount with water (say 1 cup) and then add the butter until the water level reaches the measurement of the water and what you need in butter added together. Pour out the water, and you have the right amount of butter. This is more accurate than cutting up a stick of butter, and perhaps your butter doesn't come in stick form. It also works for other semi-solid ingredients, like cream cheese. If you're adding a liquid (milk or juice), you can use that instead of water. Then you can expand the technique to measuring yogurt or sour cream.


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 were harmed during the production of this blog post.