Ladies' Aid New York Sampler finished!

 

I finished the Ladies' Aid New York Sampler (this was a BOM from Barbara Brackman in 2021).  I really loved using Barb's big fan stencil for the quilting.  

The backing (and binding) is Petit Bloom by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.  The batting is Dream Wool and I love the texture and loft! 

Walking to our little (tiny) neighborhood park:

David's folks "Nani and Poppie" are in town from Utah this week and we are having fun!  This weekend we will be driving to Virginia together for our niece's wedding. 

xo

Cynthia 

Progress on Ladies' Aid appliqué quilt, and catching up

Hello hello - 

It has been a busy month.   In quilting, I am finishing up my Ladies' Aid New York Sampler which was a Barbara Brackman block of the month from 2021.  

Each block features appliqué hearts in the corners.  I added sashiko hearts in the border to sort of complete that four-hearts motif.  

I used Fun with Barb's excellent fan stencil to mark the top! 

The batting is Dream Wool.  I have never used it before so I'm curious about it. 

Machine quilting one fan at a time, with my walking foot.  Notice how green everything is outside already.  I have to say, spring in North Carolina is really nice.  The hay fever is brutal though! 

And in other news... just some very random recent snippets in an effort to "catch up" with my blog! 

I got notice from the New England Quilt Museum that one of my quilts has been accepted into an exhibit this fall.  I'm tickled pink!  This exhibit of Gwen Marston-inspired quilts is being curated by Barb Vedder.  Thank you Barb!  

Tried to get some photos yesterday before Easter dinner ;) 

The Easter bunny brought a few eggs to Gram and Grandad's home for Charlotte to find!  

Last week David planted some herbs at the entrance to our town house - love it! 

We continue to make our house feel like home.   I love this small kintsugi-inspired print by the young artist Paige Payne:  

It was my birthday the other day and I felt properly celebrated!  Kaela made us a beautiful carnitas dinner and homemade birthday cake.  

David and I saw an amazing performance by Yamato Drummers, on tour from Nara Prefecture.  

A quick strawberry picking outing with Kaela and Charlotte last week - 

Forty days until the lovebirds Camille and Tommy get married!

xo

Cynthia 

January project inventory and Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year!  That's Ellie on the left, and Amelia on the right, at four months.  I just can't get enough of these babies... and big sister Charlotte.   I'm still pinching myself that we have three grand daughters living so close by.  We have all made a good adjustment to living in North Carolina.  I think 2023 will be a much more settled year for us all.  Knock on wood? 

In 2022 I made three quilts - and all three were a joy from start to finish because they were baby quilts!  

Amelia's nine patch: 

Eleanor's nine patch: 

Goldie's one patch: 

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to MORE quilting time in 2023.  

Today I took an inventory of my "in the works" projects:   

1.  Japanese Tenugui quilt, with 9 star blocks from Barbara Brackman's 2021 Hands All Around block of the month.  Blue and white, with pops of red.  Currently working on finishing sashing. 

Cornerstones cut from scraps of tenugui: 

I did most of this in Japan in 2021 and now I just need more sashing and cornerstones: 

I am loving this quilt and it makes me long for Japan (which was inevitable!).  

2.  Ladies' Aid appliqué quilt in soft blues - from Barbara Brackman's 2021-2022 Ladies' Aid BOM .  I love these blocks!  Finished the last appliqué block the other night: 

3.  Poppy's Polka Dot Garden (from Sentimental Stitches) - ongoing hand appliqué, still working on the blocks, long term project, no rush, no perfection, just fun.  Check it out here.   I stayed up to date in Japan, and fell totally behind in 2022.  But finished this block recently! 

4.  Folky wedding quilt for Camille and Tommy - they are getting married in May, so the quilt will be "due" by their first Christmas married, next December;).  

While I had Tommy and Camille (I like to call them "the lovebirds") here at Christmas, we looked at fabric from my stash  - 

And we looked at lots of quilts and talked about what they want (folky appliqué, in all the colors, their themes, my corny design - challenge accepted!).  

We spent some time at Cary Quilting Company getting some quarter pieces and border fabric as a jumping off point. 

 I look forward to sharing the quilt here, block by block as I make it.  I'm sure I will call it "Lovebirds" ;). 

At home, auditioning fabrics and checking for contrast: 

And that's it for me this chilly January night.  David is in New Jersey on business for a few days.  

I can recommend a fun book I finished today.  The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman if you'd like a really well written cozy mystery with humor, and characters you will just love.   One of my goals for this year is to read a lot more and "randomly scroll" a lot less.   

Happy New Year all!  Thank you for reading!  Happy Quilting! 

xo

Cynthia 

Project updates, and out and about

 

Last week I ventured solo to Tomato in Nippori, to find some fabric to try (heavy emphasis on TRY, because sewing garments is just not my thing) making a myself a tunic.  I've been having some issues keeping me from outings, but really trying to get back into my walking habit again.  

I chose out some inexpensive light blue cotton/linen - 

My pattern is from Grainline Studio and the instructions are very clear, for beginners like me.   Still ... hours and days later... I'd rather be quilting;).   I'm more or less stuck at this point because of a dart issue - no pun intended;).  I'm thinking of this as practice.  My mind has a hard time with 3-D things.  Quilts are flat - clothing is not;).  

And today my friend Julie W and I went to Sakurahorikiri, a washi paper and craft shop in Asakusabashi.  We drove and it was a short walk from the little parking spot.  I'm in awe of my friends who drive here in Tokyo.  Grateful, too. 

Isn't it hard to believe this is paper, not fabric?  I picked out two of two sheets for a little project.  

Only after returning home, did I notice on the map that we'd been very close to a shop called Cotton Family. It might be a good resource for ordering fabric online (!) at least from within Japan.  

Meanwhile, at home...  in the evenings I am steadily making progress on my hand appliqué projects... 

Poppy's Polka Dot Garden (free patterns each month from Sentimental Stitches)

And Barbara Brackman's  Ladies' Aid Sampler 

I've also decided to call it quits and go ahead and make a quilt top with the blocks I've already made from Barbara's Hands All Around pattern posts.  I'm alternating my stars with various blue and white tenugui, with some simple blue sashing in between.  It's going to be a simple graphic quilt and will hold good memories from Tokyo.   

I love organizing projects in drawers like this: 

My sewing area gets messy (here's some napkins waiting for ironing;)).... but I'm so grateful for it! 

Also grateful to quilting friends.... local (I'm starting a little "stitching with friends" interest group at our church)... semi-local over a recent Zoom meet-up... and long distance over blogging.  I know I'm not alone in just simply loving quilts!  

xo

Cynthia