Scrappy Ohio Stars quilt finished!

 

This quilt was a joy to make start to finish.  I wrote about it here.  

Very scrappy "anything goes" Ohio Stars, sparked by Repro Quilt Lover's Instagram sew along last year.  

A few blocks made with Carol Younce's scraps: 

This stripe and the pink and white stripe are from  my Grandma Mary Lou's shirts: 

And some green pieces from David's Aunt Masako's stash here and there throughout. 

I was going for "summer".  Soft red, all of the colors of the rainbow, with plenty of glowy blue (oops, our first photos were upside down) -  

The backing is Liberty tana lawn, which David got for me in London during a business trip.   I love this backing, for this quilt. 

I used wool batting, and machine quilted it with Barb Vedder's great fan stencil.   

What I love about a scrappy, simple quilt like this, is that it is just begging to be used and loved, washed often, not treated too preciously.  

I always feel like my quilts aren't finished until they are used and loved.  I think that is what "wabi sabi" is all about: Loved objects that show the maker's hand, and the user's hand.   They gain more soul as the years progress. 

Summer is in full swing in North Carolina.  But we spent some time in Denver and San Francisco visiting family. 

The twins are growing like weeds! 

Gorgeous beach near San Francisco.  Freezing water but so fun. 

Outings - 

Noelle was also in town, on business, and visited Kaela at the salon: 

Backyard birthday party for little missy: 

Tommy and Camille made us a delicious Udon dinner on Sunday - 

And then back home in North Carolina, I was so happy to finish up this quilt! 

xo

Cynthia 

Scrappy Ohio Stars with Carol's pieces

I really got into the flow of making these scrappy Ohio Stars, something sparked by Taryn (Repro Quilt Lover) on Instagram.  I've incorporated a couple of my grandma's shirts, as well as fabric from David's Aunt Masako. 

And then on such a poignant note, my dear friend Tona's Mom (and Masako's dear friend), Carol Younce, passed away after a battle with breast cancer.  Carol was a prolific quilter and such a generous, smart, cheerful person.  Tona sent me a pieced star and a bunch of star pieces, with a note saying the pieces were found at Carol's sewing/ironing station.  

I immediately recognized that Carol must have been following along with Taryn's Instagram too! 

I don't know how to quite put this, but it seems I've reached an age where my peers' parents are starting to pass away.  My own Mom died in 1999, at age 55, when I was 35.  It was so rough (also cancer) and I still miss her, so so much.  I so wish I'd had more years with her.  But I had my Grandma for many years after that, and I have my step mother as well as many motherly figures over the years.  For my kids' sake, I hope I live into old age (what age is old??).  

Last month David and I went to San Francisco for a week.  We had a wonderful time.  

The bus system is easy, clean, convenient: 

Out and about with the girls: 

Snuggles and cuddles -  

Botanical Garden with Tommy and Camille - 

Camille is wearing her Grandma's jean skirt (from the 90's I'd guess?) - how cute is that?!  

Back on the homefront... just for fun, I made this easy sixteen-patch made with my bin of 3 1/2 inch squares, and blues from my stash.  It will be for donation.   

Very fun yellow "cat" backing - I got it long ago in Japan, for a song.  I can't remember why I bought it, but it enlivens this little quilt nicely.   I'm in a stash-busting mood. 

Speaking of stash, with David in Japan again for business this week, I've gotten out my stash of indigo (vintage and new) to contemplate another sashiko throw.  Contemplation quickly turns to piecing.  I just love this kind of improv piecing, and working with indigo.  I'm thinking of adding in some Liberty Tana Lawn as well.  Why not?  There are no rules. 

xo

Cynthia

 

Quilts at the NEQM! and new kitchen!

Last weekend David and I went to Massachusetts for a brief overnight to see a few old friends and visit my Medallion with Sashiko quilt hanging at the New England Quilt Museum;).  Many thanks to Barb Vedder for including this quilt!  It was a thrill to see it within such a wonderful exhibit of creative, quirky quilts.  We sort of dashed through because somehow I didn't realize the museum closed at 4:00!  We then went on to NYC for a couple of days.  It is very easy to fly between Raleigh and New York City, happily.  

This one of Barb's was my FAVORITE in the show, so timely - 

In other news, my brother makes fine cabinetry, and he has re-done our little kitchen.  It was so fun to plan this with him in terms of the cabinetry.   We kept the footprint, flooring, and lighting, but replaced cabinetry and appliances.  The cabinets are painted Sherwin Williams' "Alabaster."   The counters are quartz Miraggio Gold. The electrician's assistant took the old appliances, and the plumber took all the old cabinetry, so that was a win-win for everyone. 

I absolutely love having my cookbooks close at hand, but behind glass.  My recipe binders are in the little cubby.  New white KitchenAid, coming full circle to the white KitchenAid I inherited from my Mom and later gave to my daughter.  

The green of the island and backsplash was color matched from an old floorboard found in the 1740's home we had in Massachusetts.  "Hartwell Green" we are calling it.  It is very moody and I love it. 

I'm so happy with the slightly deeper hightop counter my brother made, in such a lovely Cinnamon stained oak. 

There are a couple of little things to finish with the kitchen but it is all but done, and such a pleasure.  

The day my brother finished, our step-mother Denise visited for a week from Denver.  Noelle came over from Raleigh to see her one day.  

Back to quilting...  I've come to a sort of deflating decision to stop with the Mathilde Mystery quilt.  I adore the quilt, but some of the choices I have made are just..... no.   I'm going to put all these pieces into the "parts department" and challenge myself to use some or all of them... someday.... maybe in some baby quilts, who knows.  

And so very happily... I am going to continue making scrappy Ohio stars.  I will either set them in red like this, or do my favorite setting, a split square for a diagonal stripe-y vibe.   I'm looking to make it a wintery quilt appropriate for December - February (or anytime really).   I love this kind of scrappy piecing because I know eventually the quilt will be so "wabi sabi".   

I am loving the cooler, sunny days!  Where did October go? 

xo

Cynthia 

Catching up

Another month has flown by, super busy.  I'm quilting here and there when I can.  In the sewing room I'm hard at work finishing up the Lovebirds quilt top. 

And, I'm loving the "Scrappy Star Stitch Along" from Repro Quilt Lover (Taryn) on Instagram, info here.   It is not too late to join in!  It is really fun.  I'm not being too fussy about reproducing the blocks super closely - just using what I have.  This reminds me of the "stars in a time warp" project years ago.  Love it so much.  

For the following block I broke out some vintage Japanese indigo: 

And there is also the Susan Smith Mathilde mystery quilt, in Quiltmania magazine.  I'm catching up -  

Again challenging myself to use only stash!   I hope it all fits together nicely in the end.  I guess you never know.  

David went fly fishing for a couple of days in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains - to catch up in terms of contemplation and renewal. 

Look, he saw a barn quilt - what a beautiful setting! 

I've been enjoying reading, and also listening to books as I quilt.   I finished listening to Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (narrated by Meryl Streep).  I'm a big Ann Patchett fan and this novel was just so delightful, funny, poignant, relatable.  

Before that, I had read Lessons in Chemistry which I also highly recommend.  It sort of felt like a companion novel to the Barbie movie!   

And before that, Abraham Verghese's epic The Covenant of Water.  A masterpiece.  I carried it around ALL summer long.  

Do you have any good book recommendations? 

Meanwhile the twins turned one recently - "young" in their development, having been preemies, but catching up!  

xo

Cynthia