Double Irish Chain

Except for a couple of setbacks, I had a good day yesterday. I got up early and went to exercise class. This is what the sky looked like when I left the house. 

Well, not much came out of it. In the afternoon it sprinkled a little and that was it. The cloudy skies did keep the heat down some, so that’s a welcome relief.

In my spare time, I have been working on LaLa’s Irish Chain. A little at a time, but I’m getting there. I got in a hurry a few nights ago, and made some mistakes. 

I went through the pile and fixed anything that wasn’t sewn correctly. I need 32 of the large squares with the frames around them, and I’ve managed to do 22. 

I’m using white with 1930’s repro prints. I normally use an off white with the 1930’s, but I was trying to not buy anything. 

I was trying to lay them all out, but I had too much interference.

So I have 10 more to do. I have all the big squares cut, but I will need to cut out more of the frame rectangles. Once I get the last 10 squares framed, I can move on to the next clue. Right now, I am only one clue behind which is better than I expected. 

Two Quilts and a Recipe

It’s a little too hot for comfort. I am watering the outside plants every other day, and I’m not sure it’s enough. There are a couple I need to give up on and throw away. According to the weather forecast, next week should be a little better. There are no days above 93 degrees forecasted. In the meantime, we could sure use some rain. My starfish cactus is blooming again, plus has two more buds that haven’t opened. It’s so unusual. 

It’s good weather to stay inside and quilt. I was able to put the binding on one of Marian’s quilts. 

It was one Joycelynn started for her son before she passed away, and Marian finished the top. The back is pieced.

I finished quilting one for Martha. I think it’s one of the prettiest quilts I have quilted.

The backing fabric was the inspiration for the colors in the top.

It’s pretty big—92” x 109”.

I had bought some imitation crab at the grocery store, and I didn’t really like it.

I buy the boiled shrimp a lot and really like it, but the crab not so much. I decided to chop it up and make some crab salad.

I also chopped up some fresh parsley and celery and added it. I can’t really give you an amount, but about a quarter cup of each. I also finely chopped a stalk of green onion. You don’t need much, but it adds a little flavor.

I didn’t use all mayonnaise—I mixed mayo with nonfat Greek yogurt to cut the calories. I added enough to moisten the crab and added a pretty generous amount of Old Bay Seasoning and Morton season salt.  It is so much better than the plain crab legs! So not really a recipe, but an effort to use up something I didn’t think I was going to eat. 

I’m still doing weight watchers and this was pretty low in points. I counted one point for the mayo and three points for the crackers.

Summer Challenge

Let me be the first to say I’m not setting the world on fire here, but progress is pretty steady. I have been doing some crocheting. I got my Summer Challenge quilt quilted and bound and texted a picture to Sarah so I can be entered into the contest. 

Mine is super scrappy. I used this cute plaid on the back.

I think the plaid is cute — I used the leftovers for the binding.

I’m not sure I like it on the binding, but it’s on there, and I’m not going to re-do it! I’m mostly just happy it’s done. 

I think I had a burst of energy yesterday. I got two quilts quilted. No pictures since I still need to bind both of them. I also got one loaded to quilt today. I was way behind, but I feel like I can get caught up soon!

In the evenings I try to get a little sewing or crocheting done. I am working on another disappearing nine patch, but so far I’m just putting the nine patches together. I’m using five-inch squares so we’ll see how that goes. I crocheted two more of the facial puffs.

And I try to add at least a couple of rows each night to the second baby afghan.

I went to my Debbie’s wedding on Saturday. I went with two other high school friends. We were all in the first wedding, and it felt a little bittersweet. Kind of hard to explain. 

Then: 

Now:

47 years later. 

It’s Finished!

Yesterday was a pretty intense day. It seemed like a lot of things were going wrong. Someone brought me a king sized quilt, and the back is just not working. She pieced it so it’s wider than it is long, and it’s directional, so there is only one way it can go. I’ll have to work more on it today. 

I was able to finish the binding on Rhonda’s antique quilt. It turned out really well.

I’m really happy with it. I left the right bottom block unquilted so she can record the provenance.

I also embroidered over the pencil writing on this block.

My green wasn’t an exact match, but I didn’t really care. It’s pretty close.

Speaking of provenance, we know the exact date because this young man was smart enough to add the year to his block. 1935

On some of the blocks, we don’t know the names, just mother and daddy.

I find the entire quilt totally charming. It would have been nice to have it hand quilted, but at least it’s preserved and will last for many more years. I have a signature quilt somewhere—I’m going to look for it when I get a chance, and I’ll post it here on the blog if I find it.

Customer Quilts

I have been trying to get caught up on customer work. I get behind when I have a lot of meetings and appointments I need to go to, and of course there is always work to get finished. I’m not complaining! I’m lucky to have so many loyal customers. 

I’ve had some of these done last week, but I tend to put off getting them trimmed until I know they are going to be picked up. I did two for Chris.

She does a lot of cool scrappy quilts. This one was all batiks except for the solid black.

She said she got this panel from the “free” table at her quilt guild. 

The doggies are cute, and she used the little bit of leftovers for the back.

I also got three done for Susan. She’s been on vacation, but she is picking them up tomorrow.

It seems like the colors show up a little better in a closeup.

The back is a Susan Allred floral. I have a yard or two of this same fabric. I think it’s so pretty. 

This one is autumn-toned batiks, I don’t think the pictures do the colors justice.

A 1776 panel. Perfect for our 250th anniversary!

The border fabric is directional, but she cut it so it runs the right way. It always bugs me a little if they don’t.

The back is pieced. The batik (the larger pieces) is also directional. It’s got national monuments on it. I’ve never seen it before, and I thought I had seen everything!

I need to get another one on the frame today. I should have done it yesterday before I left, but I was tired and wanted to go home.

A Finish

I got my potato chip quilt top put together yesterday!

It’s 60” x 72” in case I didn’t say that before. This pattern was the Summer Challenge from Seams Like Home. Mine is totally scrappy. 

It doesn’t have to be quilted to get entered in the drawing, but I would like to go ahead and quilt it before it ends up on the shelf with its unquilted brothers. I didn’t have an exercise class yesterday morning, so I had some sewing time at home after I walked the dogs. I had finished all the blocks and gotten them laid out on Sunday or Monday and just needed to get them all together. I can’t wait to get it quilted! 

I had told myself I need to finish one of the current projects before I started the Irish Chain sew along. Since this top is finished, I went ahead and started cutting out the Irish Chain pieces. I ran out of white and will need to get some more. I was having a hard time choosing a pink. These are the two I have. 

I decided on the one on the left. I really like it the best. It’s probably a little brighter than the one on the right, but it will be okay. It will brighten up the whole quilt! I was planning to cut up my 1930’s jellyrolls, but I found a charm pack and some mini charms—also 1930’s—so I will start with those.

While I was at the shop yesterday, I finished the quilting on Rhonda’s antique signature quilt. I went ahead and got the binding made, and I am looking forward to getting it trimmed and bound today.

Weekend Wrap Up

The weekend really went by at warp speed. I think that’s what happens when you are busy. Not much sewing, although I did finish all my potato chip blocks and started putting the top together. I also sewed some jar openers for our craft sale. 

I got 22 done. That’s probably enough. It will have to be enough as I don’t plan to make more.

We started vacation Bible school at church yesterday. Ours is in the evenings so parents and children can all attend. There are classes for each age group including the adults. We serve a meal at 5:15, and break-out sessions start at 6:00. I am part of the kitchen crew—I’m sure that’s no surprise. We cooked tacos and chalupas yesterday; today is spaghetti and salad. The decorations are awesome.

The decorating crew did a great job! My youngest grandson had his 10th bday party at the city splash pad on Saturday evening.

On a less than happy note, I think this cat is pregnant.

Her belly has gotten pretty round. I was planning to take her to the low cost spay and neuter clinic, but I thought I had a little more time. She’s not even full grown yet. I am going to wait and see how many kittens she has, and maybe I can find homes for them. Once they are weaned, I will get her spayed.