Manual Labor

The weather last week was warm and sunny, so we gathered up our gear, the tractor and mower, then headed outside for some much needed yard work.

Picture me, dressed in overalls, ball cap, and boots, armed with a hand-held mini chain saw, hedge clippers, and a rake. Although there's no photo evidence, I'm definitely a redneck Southern woman when I need to be. Not quite the sweet little old quilt lady you're used to, huh?

We attacked prickly wild rose and blackberry vines, overgrown weeds, crabgrass, unruly shrubbery, nasty poison ivy, stubborn privet, dead bushes, and a couple of fallen trees. We stripped out all the shrubs around the house to create a clean slate for new landscaping later. 

Even though there was sweat, sore muscles, bruises and a bit of blood, overall we had a good week. We were out in the sunshine every day.  We got lots of exercise chopping, loading and dragging brush and logs. I lost two more pounds. We took our time, laughed, enjoyed the breezes and admired the fall colors. The yard looks better and Jerold bushhogged the back field. 

I'm not sure how it got so out of hand (well, maybe because we played instead of working) but it's almost whipped into shape, at least near the house. Out in the country, there's always something that needs to be done. Could be time to think about a place with a smaller yard so I can sew instead of doing manual labor.

Wave The Flag

Wave The Flag

I started this quilt in April during our spring camping trip, then set it aside. Fast forward to September, when we headed to Dale Hollow again. I took along more scrappy red, white, and blue half-square triangles and finished the blocks.

Ocean Wave is a vintage design that was published in several women's magazines around the 1930's. I've seen this classic quilt many times and always wanted to sew one. It's a bonus that I pieced it on Annie, my Singer Featherweight. 

Once home, I added the light blue corners and completed the quilt. Wave The Flag is 48” square, quilted with light blue thread in a simple 2” grid pattern. I finished it off in a red and white striped binding.

Accuquilt dies used:
55039 Half Square Triangles 2½” multiple
55031 Half Square Triangles 4½”
55017 Strips 2½”

 

Tilt-A-Whirl

Tilt-A-Whirl

Last week I teased a story about the quilts I worked on during our rainy camping trip. This brightly colored scrappy quilt is the first one to be finished. I cut the pieces before we left so I could focus on sewing the 4” Washington's Puzzle blocks.

Once we got home, I laid them out on my design board, then added sashing using white on cream fabric.  I used two utility stitches for quilting: a multi-stitch zig-zag on the sashing and a small serpentine across the blocks.

Tilt-A-Whirl finished at 44” square, and may be used as a baby quilt, wall hanging, or table topper.

I'm convinced that I can never use all those remnants that I create from making quilts. But that's ok, because it provides plenty of little pieces for many more bonus quilts.  I love getting the most out of my fabric stash!

Dies used:
Accuquilt
55602 Washington's Puzzle 4” finished
55159 Rectangles 2½” x 4½”
Blue Wren
6047 Rectangles 2” x 6” finished

Camping, Scraps, and A Clever Substitute

Obey River, Dale Hollow Dam Campground

We're home from an interesting trip to Dale Hollow Dam Campground. First, it rained every day...Hurricane Helene remnants...but thankfully no flooding or wind damage at our campsite or our house. I'm so sorry for everyone who has been devastated by this unbelievable storm.

After we determined we were safe, our stay was actually very quiet and relaxing. Soft rain on the roof was nice and the campground was less than half full because of cancellations. A few days there were only a dozen sites occupied. We had plenty to do: tablets loaded with books, movies on a hard drive, and fairly good internet access. We cooked some nice meals, ate delicious Mexican food at Los Primos in Celina, and walked the trail in between showers.

Of course, there was sewing! I brought along my Featherweight (Annie), bins of cut pieces for blocks to make two quilts, plus some random scraps. As I set up my sewing station, I realized that I forgot my thread stand. Huh. I tried putting the cone thread in a cup, but it wasn't working well.

My clever husband pulled two items out of his tool kit: Vise-grips and a long screwdriver. I added a little binder clip to the top as a thread guide and it worked a treat! It never hurts to have a backup plan or the ingenuity to create an alternative.  A bit of redneck in us, I guess.  We could have gotten extra points if we had also used wire-ties and duct tape. 

We made the best of a rainy escape, plus came home relaxed and happy. And I have two nearly finished quilt tops ready to sandwich and stitch. That's a story for another day. See ya next week!