Fiber and Pulp

Happy Block Building

One of my favorite toys as a small child was building blocks. Mine looked like the ones above - with the alphabet on two sides and inked images on the other four. I built tall towers (well, tall to a toddler:) as far high as I could until they collapsed. Eventually I learned to build bridges and such like other little kids, too.

Here I am many years later, still building with blocks ... though the KIND of blocks I use has changed. :) Today, being Friday, is my designated Sewing Day of the week. Barbara is still on holiday so we could not meet at her house. Instead, Patty and I are both meeting with other members of Faithful Circle quilters via Zoom to work on Bonnie Hunter's 2022 mystery project, Chilhowie.

During my sewing yesterday I emptied another 1000 meter spool of Aurifil 50 weight thread in medium gray - my go-to piecing thread. That's a LOT of seams! I generally empty one every year or so and I celebrate each one (can you tell my cutting mat is wearing out?):

This week's clue, #6, built out onto the blocks we assembled last week. Here is how Bonnie's build-out looked - I managed to make one of these with the units I had on hand:

I like where this is going ... this block is about 2" smaller than the one I completed this past week (see my last blog post here for a picture). Here is what setting my second finished BH-sized block into a double-sized block looks like:

I had to add a small 'coping strip' of dark teal to fit the smaller (BH-sized) block into the larger (double-sized) one.

I'm liking the three different blocks I've made so far. I counted up all the block parts I had cut and/or made during construction of the first four clues and figured out what further bits I need to make to finish those parts into completed BH-sized blocks. That will be my sewing assignment during my 'free' time over the coming weekend and next week.

After that, I will figure out which of the three possible larger blocks each BH-sized block will become and construct those. Of course, there are still one or two more weeks of clues to come along, too. :)

I like this project and I'm enjoying the gentle construction. I expect my seemingly haphazard methodology would frustrate some quilters but it suits me. :)

Going to see Avatar: The Way of Water turned out very well yesterday. We could not get tickets to the matinee showing (because of all the holiday people who went to the movies:) so we sat in the 6 p.m. 3D IMAX show instead. Way, way cool!! I really enjoyed the movie and would gladly pay to see it on the big screen again. Beautiful!

The weather today was sunny and a bit warmer (mid 50s). Made my muscles and joints happier.

:) Linda

Flipping

Have you ever seen these? Free standing frost crystals, often called frost flowers. :) Luckily it has warmed up here yesterday and today so there are none to be seen locally! I can't remember ever seeing them display quite like this - usually I have seen them as a thin layer of crystals on windows and such. :) So pretty!

Yesterday and today were rather pleasant with sunshine and warmer temperatures (high of 50 or so today!). I spent most of it indoors but did have to go out this evening for several hours to visit with my niece and brother in their condo (3.1 miles north of me:). My niece is having mental health issues related to her medications and I went to lend her support/stability. I also helped my brother assemble the quilt rack I bought for him:

He has a nice collection of five or six quilts our Mom made for him and wanted a place in his room to keep them for easy access when he wants to use them. The whole thing is metal and quite sturdy. We built it together and I put all his quilts on it - we sat it up just above the head of his bed in the corner so he can reach it whenever he wants. :)

I did some sewing yesterday and am really happy with the results. I have been working sporadically on this year's Bonnie Hunter mystery project, Chilhowie. I had made two of the 'regular Bonnie-sized' block ... now I have completed one of the 'twice-as-big-as-Bonnie's' blocks:

This block is 18" square (well, 18.5" as it is with raw edge seam allowances). I found it much easier to be accurate with this size than the 'regular' 9" block. Shrug. Here's how they compare:

Here I just laid the 'regular' block in the center of the 'twice sized' block for comparison. I am sooooo happy with my fabric choices. My daughter was laughing when I talked to her yesterday evening (during our regular weekly conversation) - she says aqua/turquoise/teal will be the defining color choice for the 2020s for all future quilt (and decorating) historians.

I am going to make as many 'regular' sized blocks as I have cut pieces to construct and then create as many 'large' blocks as I feel like making. When I get done I will think about how I want to assemble to resulting quilt - probably using 'modern' quilt principles. :)

Tomorrow the Condo Crew and I are going to see the new Avatar movie at a matinee showing. I am looking forward to it!

:) Linda

Happy Christmas

Today has been a happy day, despite the bitter (comparatively) cold outside. :) There was glorious sunshine this morning. I got up at a little past 10 a.m. (thanks to my beloved) and went into my sewing room as soon as I ate a small breakfast and put our dinner ham into the crock pot. Yesterday I had taken out some string pieced blocks I've been making with my scraps on a deli paper foundation ... and today I decided to finish the colors I had sorted out (yellow through gold and orange). I ended up with 25 blocks (they measure about 5.5" square so will finish at 5"). 

Here's how I sewed them together:

Next I will start sewing up the assorted green strings ... then blue and gray. I plan to add those going around the ones above until there's at least a single layer of 'border' squares. If I have enough to make this a 6x6 array, I"ll stop adding to it and make a single baby quilt for charity with the piece. This is a long term project approach that will use up the strings in my scrap basket to make a comfortable donation. My modern guild's charity project uses 'baby' sized quilts for donation to the Kennedy Kreiger Institute'sBaltimore city Head Start program.

After I took a shower and dressed, I hunted out my son and we made savory sweet potatoes, mashed white potatoes and peas to go with our ham for dinner. Yum! Sparkling Apple Cider to drink is a tradition here chez Schiffer, too. 

 

Now that my tummy is happy, I am settling down to knit and watch a movie on Netflix. My idea of a cozy winter evening. :) Here is my knitting project:

This is a scarf-let in process. It will get quite a bit larger before I"m done with it. :)

Tomorrow is the federal holiday for Christmas so offices and such will be closed. I'm expecting to pay bills and maybe write some letters. It is supposed to get warmer this week (fingers crossed!!) which I heartily look forward to!

:) Linda

PS. Linking to Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday post for today. Take a look at all the pretty projects!

Brr! Cold Lights

Winter has come on us with a big bang (metaphorically) this year! The high today was about 17 degrees F! I finished writing my holiday cards this morning and then went out to the post office to mail them. I had some stamps but had to buy more. Even though the post office itself was closed (no clerk/purchase counters), the automated machines and mailbox areas were open. There weren't many people in the PO, but I did have to wait a bit as the automated machine was busy.

After I mailed my letters, I went to the grocery store (with a bit of worry as I thought it might be really busy). There were very few people there, too - I think the cold had lots of people staying at home. I bought a few treats and some things I needed for tomorrow's Christmas dinner. 

By the time I got home it was down to 15 degrees. So glad to walk into my warm 68 degree house! Shivers!!

I spent some time sewing and managed to assemble two blocks for clue 5 of the Bonnie Hunter mystery:

I _think_ this is working. The scrappiness of my block certainly makes it busy. :) I have not made anything this scale (with such small pieces) for some time and my sewing accuracy is fading away. Shrug. I still like the color palette which I'm grateful for. :)

I took my 'condo' group of three folks (my brother, niece and her boyfriend) to the Symphony of Lights here in town this evening. It was pretty, especially in the cold dark.

Tomorrow will be a quiet family day. A good dinner and some sewing ... maybe an afternoon nap.

:) Linda

Baby It's Cold!

This is my Mom's high school picture. Today was her birthday ... she would have been 91 years old today, were she still alive. I miss her every day - remember, life is precious. TALK to your loved  ones! :)

Even  here in urban Maryland it is COLD outside. The wind has been howling around the house for most of a day and a half and the temperatures outside are brisk to say the least. It rarely gets below 20 degrees F as a high temperature around here and we have been breaking that record hourly. Coldest Christmas in years I'm told. Brrr!

I spent most of today sewing happily. Even though the wind was stiff, the sun had come out by the time I got into my sewing room around 12:30 pm. Love sitting at my machine with the sun in my eyes!

What I did not love was realizing as I sat down that all the triangles I had sewn yesterday were WRONG. :P Here is a photo showing what they _should_ have looked like and what they actually did:

This is my work on clue 3 of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt along for this year, Chilhowie. After a few seconds of kicking myself around (mentally:), I decided that it would be faster to make entirely new triangles than to rip the wrong ones apart and re-sew. I put the 'wrong' ones aside - I'll use them when I go back to make more of this clue's units (just reverse the other side's triangles, too).

I sewed until about 3:30 before my stomach said 'Feed Me!!' and I quit. :)

I must not have slept well last night because I fell asleep after I ate my lunch and did not wake up until 7:30! Not a very productive day, on the whole. I had intended to tidy our dining room and finish writing my holiday cards (I got up to the Ts in my contacts list yesterday:). Oh, well, tomorrow will have to do.

My niece Kim gave me my Xmas gift early - a painting she made last year:

I have not yet decided which way I want to be 'up' and am still debating exactly where in the house I will hang this ... but I love the colors. :)

I decided to treat myself and the 'condo three' to Symphony of Lights tomorrow (Christmas Eve seems a good time for lighting up the winter, eh?:) and bought tickets online. Looking forward to that!

:) Linda

Things Happening

As a sewist, I am more than familiar with selvedge printing on fabric. The photo above is the first example I can ever remember seeing of a candy wrapper selvedge, though! Am I just way too  unobservant? LOL! Who knew (not me!)?

I can't believe it has been three weeks since I posted here. I have been doing lots of things but most of them have not been sewing, sadly. I did manage to sew some last Friday afternoon with my friend Barbara. I talked myself into tackling Bonnie Hunter's Mystery quilt, Chilhowie, this year. Actually, the fabric talked me into it. Grin! I found a palette of orange, turquoise and yellow that really lit my fires and so far it is keeping me interested. 

I don't know whether I will make  big bed quilt with it but I am enjoying the colors and sewing. There have been five steps posted so far (I _think_) and I am up to working on step Four. I am only making a few of each step (typically, whatever one strip set will sew into) ... I may decide to make my blocks twice as big (like my friend Patty does) after I see what the results are like. Generally I don't like mysteries (too controlling, I guess:) as I prefer to know what I'm making beforehand. Shrug.

 

What HAVE I been doing? Taking Kim and Kevin (my niece and brother) grocery shopping, Xmas shopping, running errands, buying furniture, visiting the doctor, etc. My last post was made when I was still in WI ... had a fine drive home though the weather was not as pretty as when I drove out (colder and cloudier). I was driving eastward when coming home so I actually got a real life demonstration of the time shift. It started to get dark at what I thought was way too early a time by my car's clock - and then realized that, yes, it was getting to twilight at 3:30 midwestern time ... because I had passed Indiana and the time zone meridian line some time back. :) When I set the car's clock back to 4:30, everything looked as usual. LOL.

 

Sunday afternoon was the monthly meeting of Sew&Tell. Six of us met that day. As usual, there was great food (we pot luck for luncheon) and we had our annual gift exchange. I was mortally embarrassed by the fact that I could NOT find the gifts I bought, wrapped and stowed away back in MAY for the swap. Grrr! I have to devote some time to finding them for our January meeting. It was a great year for goodies, as usual. :)

 

Here's a couple of interesting facts I saved back from my science reading recently:

The world’s earliest needle was discovered in a Siberian Denisova cave. The Denisovans were an archaic species of humans before Homo sapiens. This needle is under 3 inches (8 cm) in length, has an eye, is made of bird bone, and is thought to date back some 50,000 years. A point from another possible needle was found in a cave in South Africa and is dated around 61,000 years ago. The oldest known sewing thread is flax; it’s about 34,000 years old, was discovered in a cave in the country of Georgia, and was probably the result of naturally occurring rotted flax stems.

And:

The earliest evidence of cotton fibers was found recently in the Jordan Valley. The fibers probably arrived at Tel Tsaf from the Indus Valley region that is present-day Pakistan thousands of kilometers away.

 

Just to put some quilts in this post, here is one example of a beautiful quilt (imho) - one of many shown recently at Quilts Yokohama in Japan (click through and take a look at gorgeousness!):

:) Linda