A Teaser, Retreat Project, Great Friends and Stupid Weather

This hasn't been picked up yet...stay tuned for next week.

Here's one of my drag-around projects that I was working on at retreat.  I am hopeful that I can finish piecing the top when I head up to Margaret's in May.

It's made from 100 of these.  It starts with 100 strip sets, then you add corners to two opposite sides and square 'em up.  Those corners are a pale muted yellow.

I have two go-to aprons and THEY WERE BOTH IN THE WASH.  How was I to cook???  The pink one was made by my friend Jean, and the aqua was made by my friend Karen.  I think of those girls every time I wear these, and that's a lot.  I met Jean somewhere's around 30 years ago, when we were both working in Toronto at RBC answering the Operations Help lines.  Until I started answering those phones, I thought I already knew everything about branch banking.  Whoa baby - I had a major come-uppance.  We connected again doing the same thing in Burlington several years later.  She's currently recovering from a broken femur after a fall on the ice.  **If you are taking a bone-builder make sure you get checked regularly - one of the side effects (oddly enough) is fractures in the femur.  Karen (of the aqua apron) is one of my Beach Girls. In the quiet part of my head I always think I'm the only person with any dressmaking skills but Karen slaps me down over that on a regular basis.  It's good to have friends who keep you grounded. 😘

And BLOODY HELL.  WTF, Mother Nature????  It was so warm on Friday I ditched the winter coat.  It poured rain on Saturday.  Sunday morning I wake up to this???

It's not going to last.  Tomorrow should be +10c.  But I'm still whining about it!

Some Pretty Spring Inspiration and Retreat Quilts

This was quilted last month, when I R.E.A.L.L.Y. needed something pretty.  It's Rainbow Trip from the book Garden Fresh Quilts.

The maker chose a lovely panto featuring feathers and flowers which suited the quilt perfectly.  I'm always so impressed by quilters who can tackle a challenging project like this and keep all their pieces where they belong.

RETREAT QUILTS
Every year the Binbrook guild goes on a three day retreat to Crieff Hills in Puslinch.  It's less than an hour away from home so it's a really easy trip to take.  The retreat center feeds us three meals a day and we take care of our own snacks and (ahem) adult beverages.  I also buy a one litre jar of honey there every year.  There's a local apiarist who sells product at the center.  The last several years we've run these as UFO retreats, instead of having a class.  I have so many UFO's I think I only did the class one year, so there has not been much change for me.  We also have Sew Little Time come on Saturday and set up her shop.  I showed excellent restraint this year and did not buy a single bit of fabric.

I promised myself I would not start any new projects in 2019 until I got some of my own sh*t finished, AND got rid of some yardage.  Last month you saw that I finished up two little panel quilts, and here I've done two more.  Yay me!!  These will go in the donation pile for either the Women's Shelter, Children's Aid Society, or ...I also plan to talk to the local food bank.  They put together Christmas hampers and might want gifts for families. These were assembled from my own stash.

Still about the Binbrook guild, one of our very important members passed away last fall.  Her mission over the last several years had been piecing small quilts for St. Joseph's Hospital, for the kids who are in there for some kind of treatment.  The newspaper wrote a story about her when she was up to 600 quilts.  By the time she passed away someone said she'd hit the 1000 mark.  Apparently her sewing room was still FULL of fabric.  A few of our gals helped the family with a rescue mission (so to speak) and the guild members are working through the remaining fabric.

I took two kits:  they'd been prepped with pre-sewn rail fence blocks, and a hunk of fabric already cut for a border.  I pieced the blocks together, added the border and brought the tops home.  Last weekend I got them quilted and bound.  They have a cozy flannel backing which makes them super snuggle-worthy.

STASH
So far this year I've managed:

• use up 32 m. 
• deduct the 8 m. of fabric added 
• net -24 m. of fabric in projects that are COMPLETE.  

That's my rule - if it's not COMPLETE I can't mark it off my stash report.  I have a list of  projects I want to complete this year, which in all honesty is the same list for the third year in a row.  Note to self:  stop watching so much tv.

Leftovers from February and Book Recommendation

Clearly, my schedule of posting weekly has flown the coop.  Organizational skills must have gone to Florida, where the inspiration for this quilt's colours could have originated?  By the beach, where the sky and the water blend so you can't see where one ends and the other begins.  Where it's warm.  Oh, sorry - my mind is wandering again. 😏

Reality comes crashing in with a winter inspired quilt - full of holly and poinsettias.

It's very pretty, but I'm awfully tired of cold and snow.  I added angels and "Joy" to cheer myself up.

Lots of straight line quilting to emphasize those Jacob's Ladder (?) blocks.

This was a gorgeous view of the full moon rising on Feb. 19th.  Living in the country can often be a real pain in the arse, especially in the winter.  But there are also many uplifting moments.  I'm quite sure that two minutes after taking this pic I had to add a few more logs to the fire.

This winter DH has left the firewood HUGE.  I don't know if he was trying to save gas in the log splitter, or if he figured I needed the weight-bearing exercise for my bones (or maybe just some exercise for the aforementioned arse?), but Geez Louise.  I get a workout whenever I pick up a few slabs.

BOOKS

I have a new FAVORITE author:  Elizabeth Berg.  I'm very glad I discovered her because last weekend I threw my back out.  I spent three days flat on my back either watching tv or reading books.  Much of that time was spent in a hot bath loaded with epsom salts (and that's where I'm heading when I finish this post!).  I am back at work but can't work a full day yet.  Sadie and I have returned to our fair-weather walks but not our full length outings yet.  Because I KNOW you're curious, it wasn't an overly heavy log that damaged me.  It was getting out of bed.  Jesus Murphy.  I thought I had the art of bed-getting-out-of mastered, but apparently not.  As I departed said bed I thought "huh, cranky back this morning".  By noon I could hardly move and it went downhill from there.  

While I was perusing Ms. Berg's site I happened upon one of her friend's essays.  Hah!  A little ZUCCHINI inspiration. Read it - it's fun.  As much about marriage as zucchini.

Anyhow, I'm on the road to recovery.  Another week and hopefully I'll be good as old (ha ha...).  In the meantime I'll continue crabbing at DH to P.L.E.A.S.E. vacuum. 

Next week, assuming the blog-posting schedule has resumed 😊, I'll show you the little quilts I pieced at retreat the first weekend of March.