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 

a blur of babies, and Tommy and Camille are engaged!

 

The biggest news out of October was that our son Tommy and Camille got engaged.  Yay!  We are so happy with this news - it just makes me smile!  They make a great and easy-going couple.  Tommy has started his job in San Francisco and they are thankful for the new quick and cheap direct flight from SFO to Provo, where Camille is in her senior year of college.  Lovebirds!   They will get married in May. 

We saw them a couple weeks ago.  We all convened in Boston for the weekend and drove up to a wedding (the daughter of dear friends, and she's one of Tommy's best friends) in New Hampshire together.   We saw so many great old friends.  Everyone, young and old, danced and danced, and it just felt like a joyful break-out from the Covid years.  It was so wonderful, just what we needed.  

Then, David flew directly to Japan for 10 days, and I flew home to North Carolina and back to this crew!

 

On Monday, Noelle came over to help with trick-or-treating.  It all started really early and the atmosphere on their street was so festive.  Afterwards, finally a chance for a family photo: 

David and I loved tending the babies while watching the parade of cuteness!  Joe, and then Noelle, passed out candy, while Kaela walked with Charlotte.  

The fall weather has been just glorious here and it's making us feel better about living in North Carolina.  Kaela loves fall and loves the "Fall Festival" quilt (Jan Patek pattern).  I love seeing her use it! 

I've been spending 10, often 11 or 12, hours at Kaela's every day.  She just needs so much help.  My sisters-in-law are helping some, as well as Noelle, and my niece Alyssa.  The church ladies have set up a "hold the babies" signup, now that Joe has gone back to work.   

I did take the morning "off" this morning.  I organized this-and-that in the townhouse, just puttered really, which felt great, then took a walk solo in the sunshine.  This is our street looking back towards our place from the mailboxes.

One of the things I love about this little neighborhood of townhomes, is that there are stairs leading up and in to a small "meditation garden" behind our ring of townhomes - nothing spectacular, but really lovely and sort of hidden.   I feel so grateful to live in a walkable neighborhood.  Now I just need to re-establish the actual habit of walking.   

Now I'm writing this blog post, and it's suddenly afternoon.  I can't even believe it.   After lunch with David I'm heading for a Walmart pick-up and then back over to Kaela's.  My sister-in-law Janette is there now, bless her.  My other sister-in-law Dottie drives two hours each way to come help sometimes - bless her too!  

Eleanor on the left, Amelia on the right.  Kaela paints their toenails - Amelia frosty white, Eleanor bright pink - and yes we check their toenails often!  

No quilting going on over here yet, but I did organize my quilting space in the bonus room:  

I keep my books in the adjacent hallway with all our other books, and I use a guest room closet for the other machines, extras, etc.  I de-stashed and gave my sister in law Dottie a bunch of fabric.  THAT felt great.   I have put child-safe "locks" on several drawers.  

The other half of the bonus room is for KIDS young and old! 

Oh! 

Yesterday morning on the way to Kaela's I early-voted at a nearby community center.    

PLEASE VOTE!  

xo

Cynthia 

Great little quilt shop in Provo UT

David and I took a quick trip to from North Carolina to Colorado and Utah, and wow, over the week we saw a lot of family -  my step mother, then David's brother and family, his parents, aunties, cousins,  my niece and her boyfriend, and our son Tommy and his girlfriend.   David's Dad made dinner for 20, on Mother's Day. It was just so wonderful to connect with so many loved ones, most of whom we hadn't seen in two or three years.   

I had one "quilty" connection on the trip, in Provo, and thanks to Tommy's girlfriend Camille, who took us to her favorite fabric store,  Harmony.  It is absolutely my kind of shop!  They carry a small and carefully curated selection of fabrics, as well as yarn (Camille is a knitter), dressmaking fabrics, gifts, etc.  The place was hopping, friendly, fun, colorful.   I met the owner briefly and expressed my appreciation for how the fabric is organized mostly by color, not "line"or designer's collection.   She said she never buys all the fabrics from any one particular line.  We agreed that being able to browse by color is the way to go! 

I was also aware that David hates being in fabric stores (actually, he was really patient), so I made quick work of picking out some fat quarters, just for the "stash" - 

That's Tommy and Camille;).  I'm going to make Camille some pot holders when I have enough batting scraps again. 

See how great it is when stores arrange quilting cottons in rainbow order? 

I also picked up two pieces of broadcloth (?) for my mother in law, who wants to make some aprons. 

Absolutely love this Ruby Star Society print.  The centers are metallic.  It will make such a cute apron!  

  

The shop has some wonderful novelties, and low-volumes: 

For me, the rainbow layout is so conducive to creating interesting, spontaneous combinations.  And yet I realize that a quilter who likes to create a cohesive top out of mostly various fabrics from one line or style, would be really frustrated by this approach in a fabric store.   

I'm so curious - which way do you prefer? 

Back home now, regular life resumes.... and tomorrow, my thoughts will turn back to the quilts for Baby A and Baby B (all is going great with Kaela's pregnancy and with their plans to move to North Carolina this summer - I can't wait!).  

xo

Cynthia 

Boston and Maine... and Indigo Sofa Throw finish

During my month in the U.S. we went to Massachusetts for a few days and reconnected with several good old friends (I wish I'd taken some selfies with each of them!).  

I do love Boston and it was so great to be back home-home for a few days. 

Then Tommy arrived and we headed to New Hampshire to our storage unit.... he found a few things he wanted to take back to college, and I sifted through some old photos for fun. 

The Christmas my brother and I got new bicycles, 1975: 

We rented a little house in Ogunquit, Maine for a week.  It was so cozy and homey.  I loved the trees and it was walking distance to cute shops and restaurants as well as the little beach.   We watched the Olympics each night.  I did a tiny bit of handwork.  I brought so much, but just worked on ONE block, lol. 

Beautiful gardens to admire in the neighborhood - 

Kaela, Joe and Charlotte were with us all week - 

Playing with Grandad on the beach: 

Soaking up Charlotte time: 

Noelle and Keenan joined us from North Carolina for a few days: 

My three children - my heart: 

Sweet Noelle:

Kaela did some haircuts on the porch: 

 

Beach baby: 

In our happy place: 

We celebrated Tommy's birthday and I gave him the indigo sofa throw.  How I forgot to take photos, I don't know.  But later he sent me some: 

It measures about 45"x65" - I used a mix of new and vintage indigo.  No batting.  Soft thick indigo backing.  

Susan Briscoe gives excellent instructions in her book The Book of Boro.  Highly recommended. 

When the throw was "finished" I added little patches here and there - with needle turn appliqué - to create the balance I wanted. 

Without batting, it is very compact but substantive with the heavy backing.  

I added our family's Pawlonia kamon to the lower left hand corner.   

David flew back to Tokyo from Boston and I flew back to Texas for an extra week with Charlotte.  You know the rest of the story from my whiny previous post, lol.   I am now back home in Tokyo with ten more days of quarantine - but we are allowed to take walks close to home, so it doesn't feel too restrictive at all. 

xo

Cynthia