May 27, 2024: Shopping; Project Updates; Earthly Delights

Greetings dear readers! When I travel with my husband, it’s never a priority to locate quilt shops and buy fabrics or supplies, but every once in a while there’s an opportunity to do so and it happened in Santa Fe. I had time on our next to last vacation day to explore Santa Fe Quilting, a lovely shop not far outside the downtown. This decoration had me laughing:

Actually, the only thing I was looking for was quilting needles 😊. It seems like a lot of my usual #10 betweens (John James, Roxanne, J. Kimball, Bohin) have been bending too easily with my current hand quilting project. This shop had these, which I’d never tried so I bought 2 packs:

Wow – these are fantastic!!! I’m totally in love❤️. They are super strong – no bending at all so far – and they really do glide through the fabric! If you are a hand quilter, I highly recommend them! But, of course, I did look at fabric too 🙂. When I’m not looking for something specific, since I have a sizable stash already, I try to buy only “unique” fabric that I’m unlikely to find anywhere else. This shop had a few shelves of authentic Japanese fabrics and I came home with 2 pieces that are interesting additions to my Japanese stash and already sparking some ideas:

The indigo is darker than in the photo. Both fabrics are lovely from a tactile standpoint and I look forward to incorporating each into something eventually!

When I got home from vacation, I realized that I was actively working on 6 – six! – projects. Too many! I can handle 3-4, but 6 is a bit much. So, I have put “Winterberries” and the “Red and White Crib Quilt” in temporary time out and am focusing on the following 4, for now.

Hand quilting “Time of Plenty.” This is the only one with a deadline- November. The center has 16 pieced blocks, 9 appliqué blocks, 12 appliqued setting triangles, and 4 corner triangles. Completed – 15 pieced and 8 appliqued blocks, 8 setting and 2 corner triangles! The center is almost done and then I’ll have several months to finish the border – doable!!

”Ursula’s Spring Baskets” – gradually getting the sashing made and connected and getting rows sewn together:

Once the top is together, I’ll get it outside for a photo so you can appreciate the lovely colors that don’t show off well in the poor lighting I have for my design wall. I have now formulated a good idea for the border and will share it when the center is together. It’s going to be more work than I was originally thinking, but that’s OK!

The Tiny Nine Patch Challenge. Latest photos – outdoors where the colors show better!

The latest batch:

I love how they look on black – I think I need to make a 9 Patch doll quilt with a black background 😊. A reader asked me to show the back. I am pressing all seams open and using a strip piecing method of making the blocks:

When I finish this week’s blocks, I’ll have 360 – 3/4ths of the 480 done.

The fourth project is my new “long journey” appliqué project, Kim McLean’s “Whimsical Vases”. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might remember that I bought the pattern last summer and finally found the background fabric for it in March. There are 13 large 16 inch blocks in the center, on point, with 8 setting triangles and 4 corner triangles, all appliqued and 4 heavily appliqued borders so this will take a while! I’m using the “prepared edge” technique for the appliqué and have the first 2 blocks done!

I’m well into the third block and very much enjoying the process!

Earthly Delights: What a wonderful thing to come home from vacation to SPRING at long last! I’m reveling in the beautiful greens. Not far from the house the woods’ floor is covered in ferns – looks a bit like the northwestern rain forest on a smaller scale 🙂:

The ferns are unfurling:

The reddish sheaths of the shag bark hickory buds look like draped fabric folds as the leaves emerge:

The walk to the pond is all green:

At the pond I hear numerous “plops” as the frogs at the edges jump in as I approach. I’m unable to capture a photo. But I do see 2 separate spider webs!

I continue down to the river:

As I walk along, I see this:

It looks like a dinosaur!

I’m glad I got a photo because yesterday when I went back, the “head” was gone 🙁. But I got this photo on the path:

Another dinosaur with a horn! I’m going to call these “dinotrunks” 😊!

Lots of gorgeous textural lichens:

I saw this pileated woodpecker in my neighbor’s yard:

I hope you are enjoying whatever season nature is currently providing for you! I hope your stitching is bringing you comfort and joy.

Be kind, be grateful, and cherish each day, Gladi