Jason Yenter Quilt and the Caledonia Pandemic Update

This is one of those quilts that scares me a little bit... I used lots of the "stand-and-stare" technique.

I will probably NEVER tackle a quilt like this - so much applique and paper piecing, with an on-point medallion setting.

I think at one point I had seven longarm rulers out - straight rulers, curvy rulers, circles, ...

I also needed chalk, a blue wash-out marker, and the IQ.  Along with some collaboration from the Beach Girls. 

Beautiful back.

In my last post I mentioned that some things had been cancelled with the Coronavirus epidemic, and that the grocery store was out of hand sanitizer.  Here is a timeline of things that relate to me, starting on March 9th.

• March 9 - WHO declares a Pandemic.  The Bulk Barn will no longer allow shoppers to bring their personal containers.  Toilet paper has been flying off store shelves for at least a week.
• March 10 - I made a trip to Swiss Chalet and Costco with a friend.  I needed an emergency supply of Parmesan cheese and baking cocoa.  You can't have an apocalypse without brownies, right??  My friend SHOULD have bought toilet paper because they had some and it was on sale.
• March 11 - at a guild meeting, I jokingly tried to auction off a bottle of hand sanitizer with a starting bid of $20.00.  No one would bite.  Bummer.
• March 12 - this was the date that Mark Preece Family House sent the email advising volunteers to stay home.
• March 13 - Colleges and Universities in Ontario have closed.  Mark Preece House sent an additional email advising that the House was closing and all guests were being asked to leave, asap.
• March 16 - I sent the revised SOLO invitation to the Ontario longarm quilters, changing our meeting from April to September.
• March 17 - This was a big day, item-wise.  The Province of Ontario declares a State of Emergency.  This closes many establishments and releases additional funding to some institutions.  This was the day of my last face-to-face client quilt dropoff.  My little warning antennae started going ding.ding.ding when she mentioned that she's a flight attendant.  Aaack!! deep calming breath  This was also my last face-to-face social engagement, when I had my friend over for tea & toilet paper (see March 10 item).  She'd been looking in stores for four days, with no luck.  This was also the day the travel agent advised that the final payment in March for the Italy trip (scheduled for late August) was being postponed.  Aaand my optometrist called to reschedule my appointment to mid April.  They have been ordered to close.
• March 18 - the customer booked for Saturday the 21st has emailed to cancel our appointment.  I had invited the tea & t.p. friend for dinner on Saturday, but I cancelled that in light of the current directives to "social distance".  For the life of me, I cannot remember what date we were told to social distance, so I'm going to assume it was March 17th, when the State of Emergency was declared.  I received an etransfer from a friend refunding the theatre tickets she'd bought us for a May 2nd performance.  Tonight I sent a big long email to my Singapore niece (who's actually in Vietnam).  I haven't talked to her since Christmas, so I just wanted to bring her up to date on what was happening here in Canada.  Every time I googled the virus and Vietnam, information was a bit sparse.  I wanted to know what was happening in her neck of the woods, and a little assurance that she and her family were ok.
• March 19 - Singapore niece replies to my email saying that she has no time to update me, they are leaving for Canada tomorrow.  Well, let me tell you...that brought some real tears of relief! She's the daughter I never had and I think about her all.the.time. This morning I had my first Porch Pickup with a customer.  I left her quilt out on the porch but I couldn't miss the chance to chat for a few minutes so I went out (staying away from her) and visited for a bit.
• March 20 - the Canada/US border is closed.  Only citizens (?) and commerce are allowed to cross.  DH's sister and her husband called to let us know they are back home from their winter abode in Florida.
• March 21 - the Haldimand & Norfolk Public Health Department has ordered the closure of all "personal care" establishments.  No haircuts.  No tattoos.  No facials.  Suck it up ladies - we're going to start looking like our real selves soon.  My optometrist called again, and cancelled my new April appointment - now they've been closed "indefinitely".  And speaking of looking like our real selves - I skipped the part of my day when I get dressed in "daytime" clothes.  Ha ha ha, pajama day!!  I got caught though - one of the Beach Girls accidently hit the "video call" button on Messenger and one of them noticed my jammies.  Whoops. It was a fun call, though.  Scrolling through facebook tonight I see the news that an employee at a sort-of-local McDonalds has tested positive.  There go any hopes I had of an Egg McMuffin takeout. wah wah...
• March 22 - the second Porch Pickup happens.  I have another one tentatively scheduled for tomorrow, for a quilt dropoff.  DH and I realize that we must have transitioned to "mature-and-at-risk"...our neighbours did some grocery shopping for us.  💗  The Singapore niece has posted on facebook - they have arrived in Canada.  happy happy  I had a cheque to deposit from the March 19th p.p. so we went for a little drive, and I wore a bright orange latex glove to use the banking machine.

Somewhere in there the upcoming meetings for my three quilt guilds were cancelled, too.  Every day I am GLUED to the news, and to facebook.  I hope that doesn't become a new bad habit.

Camelot Quilt, A Quilter's Day Out, and Zucchini Report

The quilt maker was kind enough to supply the following information about this quilt.
"Camelot", made from instructions in the Quiltmania magazine, starting with the Jan/Feb 2016 issue.

We discussed quilting ideas, then I sent her a few mockups that I drafted on Intelliquilter (which is the computer drive for my quilting machine).  She chose a couple of borders, and the pretty feathered wreath that fills in between the blocks.

The treatment in each of the blocks was up to me.

I stuck with straight lines, curved lines, pumpkin seeds, and feathers.

When I had everything done except the spaces between the blocks we discussed again, and settled on the bowtie-ish fill.  I really liked that choice because it echoes the circles of the compass blocks.

The wide border got a new-to-me feather design.  Love. 💓

The back.  Sooo pretty.

For those quilters who think "Oh, she's computerized, she doesn't really have to DO anything."...these are the rulers I used on this quilt.

So.  Do you want to hear about my day out this past week?  I had to go pick up my sewing machine which was in for service.  I picked up my friend who was keeping me company and we headed off to Sew Etc. in Burlington, where I got my Pfaff out of hock (a $10 surcharge for cleaning?  Really?).  After I got my machine safely ensconsed in the back seat, we were  discussing lunch locations and decided to head over to Swiss Chalet.  The Bulk Barn just happens to be on the way so we made a pit stop there and I filled up on Almond Butter.  Next stop:  Swiss Chalet.  BTW, they are hiring for all positions, if anyone is looking for a job.  Next door happens to be the CIBC so we walked over and I did a little banking.  Then my friend said:  "Oh look, a shoe store."  Well, dammit.

We tried to go to the Farmer's Market (even though I had NO MONEY left) but the farmers were all closed and heading home.  Up the escarpment we go, and I asked if she needed anything at Costco.  I had to stop for a double package of vinegar, and the ziploc bags that were on sale.  Well, as you probably know, you can't buy just two things at Costco.
So my day out cost me:
machine service: $147.45
Almond butter:  $10.90
Lunch:                $20.00
Shoes:               $185.43
Costco:              $51.45
=====================
Total:              $415.23

I'm not sure if I should go out MORE often so I don't spend so much in one friggin' afternoon, or LESS often which would mean I'd stay home and eat zucchini.  For free.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked this week:  18
Picked YTD:        104 ***Woo Hoo!  Broke the 100 mark!
Gave away this week:  0 none, zip, nada.

I didn't give any away, (well except to the compost, which got a few fuzzy ones)  but I did make six jars of relish, and froze 12 cups of shredded zucchini for the winter.

Quilts (of course), Bugs, and Zucchini Report

Here's a pretty little thing I finished recently for a customer.  I love that panto - it's very delicate & girly.

This is what I'm currently working on.  It'll probably take me a week...maybe more.  Tons of straight line quilting and s.i.d., and a mix of freehand and I.Q. work.  (I.Q. is Intelliquilter - my computer drive).

BUGS

I guess that sometimes we PAY for bugs.  DH inadvertently brought one home with him.  Normally I prepare broccoli by making a broccoli salad.  This time I think maybe I'll cook it.

Sigh.  Zucchini Bugs.  This is the underside of a zucchini leaf.  Do you see the small orangey dots?  Get a closeup look - it's a zillion eggs of  Squash Bug.  Here's a LINK.

This year my plan of attack is to cut that portion of leaf out, bring it in the house and flush it down the toilet.

This week's bit of zucchini humour: I usually do some gardening in the morning while it's still comfortably cool outside.  I come in, wash & put away the produce.  Then I go to work.  One day this week I was stitching away, thinking that the little tickle I could feel on the back of my neck was the chain from my necklace.  Um, no.  I grossed myself out when I realized it was a squash bug that had been hitch-hiking, probably in my hair.  gaahh... ICK!
ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked this week:  9
Picked YTD:        25  **this has been the haul from just two weeks
Gave away this week:  4

Sensational Solids and Wonderful Winnings

This beauty went home yesterday.

The slightly paler yellow in the wide outer borders is linen.  Very soft, and makes for a beautiful quilt.  On the down side, I found it a bit 'shifty' - think flannel or homespuns.  I suspect it would have been more challenging to piece with too, because of the loose weave.

The maker is giving this to her brother, so she didn't want "girly" quilting, and since music is his hobby that's what went in the wide borders.

Because the cross-hatching was interrupted by the squares, I chose to mark the quilting lines.  And I'm a big scaredy-cat when it comes to worrying about permanent stains.  I used tailor's chalk.  No muss, no fuss, brush or vacuum away.

An added service I offer is binding.  See the "PRICING" page for options.

WONDERFUL WINNINGS

The Caledonia Guild finished out the season on Wednesday with a pot luck supper.  All year the members have been bringing fat quarters for the year-end draw.  Each f.q. = 1 ballot.  The collection totalled 100 f.q.'s, so the pile was split in half and two winners were chosen.  Guess who won a pile of 50 f.q.'s?

GARDEN UPDATE

The asparagus is slowing down, but the strawberries are ready.

Tackling a Sampler Quilt

Usually, the first thing I do with a sampler quilt is take a photo of it.  Looking at the quilt on a computer screen gives me the opportunity to see the distribution of colours and shapes.  And sparing no expense (OMG, seriously!!  Do you know how expensive INK is for the printer???), I will also print this out so I can doodle some quilting ideas.  It is always a good idea to take a GOOD LOOK at the piecing here - you may find that some of the patches have been stitched in the wrong orientation.  You still have time to fix that - it is much easier before you load the quilt.  Trust me on that.  See HERE.

Step one will be s.i.d. the borders, the setting triangles, and the black chain.  I'm using black thread for that.  And my favorite ruler Janet Lee's Favorite.  This is actually my second of these rulers and I think I'll be buying a third.  It seems they are 'consumables', especially when you zig when you are supposed to zag and take a large chunk out of the edge.  Thankfully said chunks have never come flying at my eyes.

Then, I fire up the IQ and stitch the motifs in the setting triangles.  Pretty, eh?

The IQ is also used for the border.  As you can clearly see (ha ha, pfftt) this border design matches the above motif.

Okey dokey - we are finished with the black thread.  Changing over to olive green... I just love that little border design - Bluebells by My Creative Stitches.

And now we move on to the blocks, with olive thread.  More s.i.d. and some, I dunno, emphasis quilting.  Through the whole quilt, in every bit of that red print I am doing 1/4" inside quilting.

The centers of the blocks are all getting an IQ motif. That is an interesting process because the block centers come in four different sizes and the motif should FIT the area, while leaving a bit of negative space around the edges.

Once the olive green quilting is finished I move on to the cream thread.  For hours and hours of cross-hatching.  Can you say "hello, massage therapist"?

If you click on the pics to look at a large version, you may notice that I have NOT quilted the side borders.  Usually, I quilt the sides as I progress down the quilt.  In this case it would have been done when I was using the black thread.  Then again when I had the olive thread loaded.  This definitely leaves tiny spots on the back where you can see the stops & starts of the stitching as the thread is anchored.  On this particular quilt, the motif was too long to fit in the available space.  When I am ALL THROUGH with this x-hatching I will take the quilt off and reload it with the short sides attached to the leaders and do those other borders.  At that point the whole quilt will get a once-over.  I will likely find a couple of spots where I have missed a motif, or missed some s.i.d. (I have already found some, actually), or neglected to clip some thread tails.  Hopefully I won't find any tiny pleats on the back - they can be a nightmare to fix.

IN THE MEANTIME, here is my salute to spring.  A plastic bag.  Ha ha ha - yes.  But it is covering up my geranium cuttings.

Sampler Quilt, Canning Update, & Zucchini Report

I love sampler quilts.

I love sampler quilts in spite of the fact that they require a ton of stitch-in-the-ditch.

I had fun with this.  Lots of straight lines, pearls, and motifs.

This quilt was rolled back and forth several times.

1. all the black s.i.d. work and black straight line work, with the big base attached.
2. all the black freehand background swirls with the big base off.
3. put the IQ tablet on, quilt the black borders with the IQ.
4. change to red thread, quilt red sashings & red motifs using IQ.
5. put the big base back on, quilt straight lines in red thread.
6. change to green thread, quilt straight lines (big base still attached).
7. remove big base, quilt green IQ motifs.
8. change to gold thread, quilt IQ motifs.  Demonstrate risky behavior and quilt a few diagonal straight lines without putting the big base on.
9. Whew.  Done.  Unzip and check back, clip threads, reload and requilt a tiny spot.  Ok, now it's REALLY done.  Cocktail hour.  :-)

CANNING UPDATE
Oy.  Tomatoes.  This week I did 12 quarts of basic tomato sauce with Italian seasonings, and an additional 6 quarts of Marinara Sauce.  I also tried Carmelized Onion Relish.  Recipe here.  This is good, but (I think) a bit too sweet.  I may try it again some day and skip the brown sugar.  To be fair to the recipe author, I used those gargantuan sweet onions instead of red onions, and that may account for the sweetness.

But I also want to reiterate my love for the pressure canner.  No water boiling all over the stove.  Low temp on the range.  Shorter processing time. 
Here's an example from all these darned tomatoes:

• follow directions which say add 3 quarts water to canner
• I put the empty jars in there and heat them up while the water is getting hot
• fill the jars & put the lids on
• close the canner - it now takes about five minutes at high heat to start spitting steam
• allow it to vent (steam) for ten minutes.  I can turn the burner down to mid-high for this part, as long as I still have steam venting.  (for once the steam is coming from somewhere besides out of my ears! ha ha)
• turn the heat back to high and put the weight on the steam vent, allowing pressure to build to 11 lbs. - this takes about eight minutes
• when 11 lbs. is reached, time the processing for ten minutes.  Again, here I can turn the stove down to low, or to off, to maintain that pressure.
• done.  Total stove time - 33 minutes.  For about a third of that time I have turned the burner either OFF or down to LOW.

I think (?) if I were using a water bath these would have required 45 or so minutes in the canner.  I know the canner was expensive (over a hundred bucks) but I'll have it forever and those benefits I listed make that outlay worthwhile to me.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked this week:  5 (one of these was huge - bad DH foisted it on our favorite neighbour)
Picked YTD:       54

Sampler Love and Bad Thread Day

I'm just going to BORE you and tell you again about how much I love sampler quilts.

With every block being different, the neurons are FORCED into firing.

It's important to use similar elements in the blocks to create continuity & rhythm.

My Janet Lee's Favorite ruler gets a very good workout on all the stitch-in-the-ditch and straight line quilting.

Ooh - love the border!!

WARNING.  POTTY-MOUTH ALERT.

Who was the fucking rocket scientist who decided we have to step outside our box and try something new?  Jesuschristgoddammit.  Look at this shit.  Every damned row of the panto the thread shredded AT LEAST once.  Often more.  Fucking polyester.  This is being BANNED and sent to the drawer of bobbin-thread-only.  Once again, I am swearing off of poly and promising to stick with my tried-and-true cotton threads.  But just like ya go back to the 'bad' boyfriend because he's changed his ways (don'tcha know?) I will probably try this again in a few years.

Pineapple Quilt and Dust

What a great use for 'braid' piecing.

The pineapples were treated to s.i.d. both outside and inside.

Border treatments, x-hatching, and a motif in the background squares rounded out the quilting.  I premarked the x-hatching with blue washout marker before loading the quilt.

The backs always look so great.

Do you have a piece of furniture that acts as your 'dusting barometer'?  We were having company for dinner, and when I removed the tea cozy that had been sitting on the dining room table for... um, I'm not sure how long, it had apparently been quite a while since I had dusted.

Now, this looks so much nicer.  And let me tell you - those lilacs smell awesome.  And awesome is a word that I don't use.  There are not too many things that inspire 'awe' but every time I get within 15 feet of this bouquet I stop and take a big sniff.  Joy.  Maybe the word should be joysome.

Today I'm nursing a bit of a sore back.  This past weekend (May two-four: planting permission weekend) I emptied out the compost bin.  The nice, finished stuff from the bottom of the bin went in a bucket and is destined for my flower containers.  Everything else, including what just got dropped INTO the compost bin, was shoveled on the east part of the veggie bed and DH tilled it in.  Feed the worms.  Love my worms  :-)  The gruesome part of shoveling out the bin is the nests I always manage to disturb.  This time it was mice.  Twenty little mice along with their mommy and daddy went running for the hills, which really means they are now living in my phlox.  Last year I dug up a nest of bumble bees.  That time it was ME that went running for the hills.  Yesterday was plant-up-a-lot-of-the-garden day.  In went:  Potatoes, onions, tomatoes, peppers, beans, carrots, beets, spinach, zinnias.  I've already transplanted a bunch of volunteer garlic, lettuce and cilantro.  Hopefully I'll be harvesting lettuce in the next couple of weeks.  Over the next few days I will get in the seeds for butternut squash, cucumbers, and of course zucchini (heh, heh, heh).