Life Gets in the Way

It has been a crazy week, but the Busy Bee Throw is coming along.

The arrow points to the top row of the three that still need sewing together. Coming down the home stretch. I think I have enough of the "Obsidian" to sc around the outside once, which should help it stay together.

Dr. Griffith (from Carnegie Hall) coached Park City Singers' Tuesday evening practice and ended the evening by inviting all of us to Carnegie Hall next year, at our own expense, of course, but it's nice to be invited.

There was no stitching group meeting this week, because it was the fifth Thursday, but I made a trip to the big city to pick up my winter shoes that were being repaired and my engagement ring, which had to be enlarged slightly to fit over the knuckle on my right hand (something I've been planning to do for several years). While I was in the city, I stopped in at the Apple Store to get help making my photos accessible on my new iPhone. I saw my first snowflakes of the season coming home from choir practice Thursday evening. It won't be long now.

Then there was the odd pain that came and went all day Friday, and finally was so severe I sought medical help. The tentative diagnosis was that I might have had a kidney stone, as they found one had taken up residence in my right kidney, and it may have had friends. The doctor didn't think the stone they found was obstructing anything and might just stay there forever. Or not. The pain went away, but I'm having it checked out further. Anything life-threatening has already been ruled out.

This week I'm giving you a look at Superior Threads quilt shop, St. George. They carry threads as well as fabric. (Call ahead for thread, as that department isn't always open.) Batiks are there specialty. I don't think I've ever seen so many in one place.

Here's the address, in case you want to visit:

87 East 2580 South

St. George, UT 84790

(435) 652-1867

For cuteness this week, here are the grandchildren in their Halloween Costumes. First, the pirate crew:

Then The Boxtrolls:

And finally, Velma from Scooby Doo:

Speaking of Velma...er, DGD1...I should be getting my car back today. She'll be picking up her own car (paid for with her own money) at the dealer. Wait for it....Yaaaaaay!

What's on my needles: The hexagons for the Busy Bee Throw and hand-quilting the Delectable Pathways.

What's on my Featherweight: Kaleidoscope Quilt. No progress this week.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Banished Love by Ramona Flightner, another WhisperSync deal from Audible (a free book from Book Bub and low-priced audio if you had the Kindle book) and then went on to the sequel, Love Reclaimed. I wasn't very impressed with the narrator, but the story was good and a good picture of what life was like in 1900 and why the suffragettes were so determined. Also finished Auld Acquaintance by Ruth Hay. It was a good story, sort of like a vacation spent in a rustic farmhouse in Scotland. Now I'm listening to Just Deserts (which the narrator pronounces "Just Desserts," as in the saying, which I'm sure the title is a play on, but it's set in the desert, so I wonder if she knows the difference). It's written by Jinx Schwartz. The narrator seems good otherwise, and I'm enjoying it. Also just started reading Three Silver Doves by Deborah Garn on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Apothic Dark. Wonderful, dry and slightly fruity. I don't know if it's as good as the Apothic Red. Guess I need a tasting.

What's my tip of the week: Keeping your sewing machine plugged in to a power strip saves wear and tear on the plug.

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.

Heading South

The Pine Burr Quilt is finished. (Well, it still need a label, but it’s as good as.)

The pattern was from McCalls Quilting, May/June 2012, "Pine Burr Made Modern." Paper-pieced. Fabrics from multiple sources: local quilt shops, Connecting Threads. Quilted by Stephanie at Quilts, Etc., Sandy, Utah.

I posted a photo on Facebook, and Franklin Habit said he liked the colors. I’m feeling so honored. (His blog is so much better than mine, well worth a read.) I do think the colors would make a great Fair Isle sweater.

In the meantime, remember the Kaleidoscope fabrics? I added some fabrics from my stash.

I’ve made a mock-up of the block I think I might use.

It would be roughly a 24” block. The background is Kona Snow. The inspiration quilt (“Fresh” from Simply Retro With Camille Roskelley Fresh Quilts From Classic Blocks) had 16 blocks this size, and was made up of mostly 4” (finished) HSTs. There are lots of extra seams, so I eliminated a few. Construction is a little more complicated, but I think it’s worth it.

Also in quilting news, the last pieced “First Ladies Quilt” is pieced. It’s the Mary Todd Lincoln Block is done. 

Just the appliqué blocks to finish.

This past week Vintage Stitchers had their first quilt retreat. We met at Julie’s place in Washington, Utah, just outside St. George. We took our fifth wheel and parked a couple of doors down from Julie’s winter home. It was hot with no AC, but we had basic power (Julie ran an extension cord from her house), along with water and sewer, and the location was so much nicer than the overflow parking next to the trash bins, even though we could have used the AC.)

DH and I did some hiking with the pups, and the three of them hiked alone while I was having some quilting/knitting fun.

We did have some knitting, as well. Julie has her mother and aunt making Little Cotton Rabbits animal friends for her grandchildren. Julie is working on the kitty, with colors picked by here granddaughter. Here’s the head:

I’m hand quilting my Delectable Pathways quilt. We had some show-and-tell, as usual. Julie is also working on a wool felt/flannel quilt, a wall hanging, which is embellishing:

Marilyn has finished this appliqué block:

Julie’s mother is working on this quilt from Pennies from Heaven by Gretchen Gibbons.

Rebecca inherited this great partially finished Christmas quilt from a friend:

Remember Barbara's Poinsettia quilt? She just has the binding to go.

Here’s Julie’s witch, Hazel, well, the body, at least.

I can just see Hazel with the kitty head….

We did a sort of impromptu quilt-shop hop in St. George. Watch for my report on each of the three shops we visited in the following couple of weeks. 

I can’t go too long without yarn in my hands, and the crocheted hexagons for my Busy Bee Throw are coming along. 

One hundred hexagons done and 36 to go, and they go fast.

What's on my needles...er, hook: More hexagons for the Busy Bee Throw.

What's on my Featherweight: First Ladies Quilt, last pieced block finished. Now for the appliqué. Unnamed quilt using Kaleidoscope fabrics.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey, an Audible Deal of the Day. I really enjoyed it, although it isn’t my usual kind of book. Finished Miss Goldsleigh's Secret by Amylynn Bright on my Kindle app. Good story, but the sex seemed gratuitous, as if the publisher insisted on the author’s including it to sell the book. I would much rather the publisher had provided an editor. There were missing words from time to time and spelling errors, such as “shown” for “shone.” Very distracting.

What's in my wine glass: Nathanson Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. With the frog on the label. Of course.

What's my tip of the week: If you plan on changing the colors in a quilting or knitting project, try copying the photo in your pattern in black and white. Then choose your fabrics or yarns and copy them in black and white. The contrast shows up better, so you can see what colors to put where, while avoiding the distraction of the colors in the original.

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.