Lovebirds wedding quilt finish, books, happy new year!

 

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve with all our kids and spouses and grand babies with us - 

And on Christmas day Tommy and Camille opened up their wedding quilt.  It was so fun (and challenging) to make and I hope they will enjoy it.  David literally laughed when he saw the finished top, so I feel a bit insecure about it, but, it truly was fun to make. 

Indigo for Tommy and the bright cheerful colors for Camille.  In the folky style they wanted. 

And not the last quilt I will ever make for them... 

Machine quilted very freely - 

Quick photo after church - 

Side note - look at the Carolina blue sky - one of the things I love about living here, even as I miss the beautiful quiet New England snow. 

And now I've eased into the new year by cleaning out, straightening up, rearranging,  putting away all the baby things (Kaela's family is moving to California - I'm still in shock).  I've started a new quilting process notebook, and a new bullet journal.  I love a fresh start. 

Here were my books in 2023 - I listened to many of them. 

Most memorable were Demon Copperhead, True Grit, Tom Lake (all on Audible).   Lessons in Chemistry, Our Missing Hearts.  

Happy New Year quilty friends!  

x

Cynthia 

Some progress on the Lovebirds Quilt

After posting my progress on Lovebirds (Tommy and Camille's wedding quilt) last week, I realized I wasn't happy with parts of it, so I chopped it up a little and eliminated a couple of things.  

I am really simplifying the design and making the appliqué center of the quilt a little smaller, still making sure I include the motifs Tommy and Camille want to see in the quilt.  

One motif they want is "glasses" so I created some glasses with pink variegated sashiko thread.  Not sure if it's obvious but that's meant to be a stack of books too. 

I also did their traced hands in sashiko, so fun.   There wasn't enough contrast so I simply wove red and dark blue thread through the sashiko stitches.

The next element would be "flowers" and so I piled up some fabrics to audition: 

I created this little flower arrangement yesterday, and machine appliquéd it.  The pot and stems are invisible machine appliquéd, and the flowers and leaves are raw edge appliqué, collage-style.  I really enjoy working in this improvisational way.  I see that it may need another element or two for balance, which I can easily do the next time I'm in the sewing room. 

I really had fun with this block and it reminded me how much I enjoyed making little collage quilts during the quiet covid years in Tokyo.  

It's a tiny detail but the yellow center below shows a figure reading a book.  Tiny fun detail. 

For now, I'm happy with how the center of the quilt is taking shape.   It will be a bit of a puzzle putting it together, and then on to some simple borders. 

Meanwhile, David has done a nice job with the front of our little townhouse, with only minimal input from me;).  The green birdhouse was my Mom's.  And, Happy Pride.

Big sis Charlotte turned three, what a love.  When asked what she wanted for her birthday she said "pink!" and when asked how old she would be, "three candles!"

That's all for now friends!

xo

Cynthia 

Lovebirds parts 1 and 2 finished, and peanut butter cookie recipe

I've finished piecing the first two parts of Tommy and Camille's wedding quilt.   It's really fun to work on.   The photo helps me to see a place or two where I might want to add a little more appliqué.  

I'm just working from a loose plan, sort of Jan Patek-style.

The main thing was figuring out the trimming sizes for each big block or groups of smaller blocks. 

A glance back at the sewing room as I shut the door behind me (childproof doorknob, lol) -

Charlotte spent the afternoon with us.  We had lunch on the patio, went for a long walk, made peanut butter cookies to share with a neighbor, rested and watched a show.  Back at Kaela's I made dinner for the family, and there we go, another day is done.  My sister-in-law Amy has come into town to help Kaela for a week, hurray!  This may mean more sewing time for me;).  

The following recipe is based on an old Cook's Illustrated recipe, but I don't add extra peanuts, and I increased the amount of flour.   

My Favorite Peanut Butter Cookies 

Makes 3 dozen. 

Ingredients: 

2 3/4 C flour 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

2 sticks (1 C) butter, softened

1 C brown sugar 

1 C sugar

1 1/4 C JIF extra crunchy peanut butter 

2 eggs 

2 tsp vanilla extract 


1.  Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

2.  Combine dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl; set aside. 

3.  Cream butter and sugars.   Add peanut butter, eggs and vanilla.  Mix to blend well.  

4.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. 

5.  Using your hands and a spoon, make little craggy mounds of dough, 12 per cookie sheet;  using a fork dipped in water, make "criss cross" marks in each mound of dough.  

6.  Bake at 350 degrees, 11-12 minutes.  They will be slightly puffed and browned around the edges. The centers will not look completely baked.  Cool on cookie sheets a few minutes until the cookies settle.  Transfer to a cooling rack. 

7.  YUM! 

Lovebirds quilt block 2.3 - house

Spring has sprung here in North Carolina.... 

and I finally started the Lovebirds Quilt for Tommy and Camille, who will be getting married in May (!).   The quilt is not "due" until Christmas;).  

The blocks are going to be very improv, in the style of folky Jan Patek quilts. 

I have made a basic sketch of the quilt, and divided it into five main sections, although I'm not making the blocks "in order."   Sections 1, 2, and 3 have 3-6 blocks each; section 4 is a side border with three blocks, and section 5 is tentatively a top border of leaves and flowers.

The overall vibe will be:

    primitive pictorial appliqué  (Camille and Tommy asked for certain motifs, totally cute) 

    random, asymmetrical layout 

    all the colors - with plenty of dark blue, green, lavender/pink, and pops of brights.

I started with the House block - the biggest block and closest to the "center" of the quilt.  

Last week I spent three days and two nights at Kaela's, to help their Au Pair, Ina,  with the babies and Charlotte while Kaela and Joe were out of town.   It was both great fun and super hard, all at the same time.  ;).   

Back on the home front,  I am finding such pleasure in spending time in the sewing room.   I listen to music, podcasts, or books, losing track of time as I putter or sew. 

Books I have read (or listened to) in recent weeks:  

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng - highly recommend it.  It is dystopian, so moving, thought provoking, really hard to put down.  

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.  An enjoyable listen, several narrators.  

Range of Motion by Elizabeth Berg - an oldie but goodie from 1995.  Really struck me this time, the lack of cell phones back then.  We actually paid attention to the people right in front of us - just something that occurred to me over and over as I re-read this thoughtful novel.  

I hope if you are reading this, your week is off to a beautiful start!  

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 

Appliqué update - Ladies' Aid and Poppy's Polka Dot

We get our COVID tests today, ahead of flying to the U.S. on Saturday.   We are in full prep mode and our apartment looks like a cyclone hit it.  

I'm trying to decide what handwork to bring on our trip. I'm paralyzed by indecision.  I've only had 11 months to figure this out, lol.   I will be gone a month, so this matters!  I know my fellow quilters will understand! 

I may bring appliqué - I already have some blocks traced and "kitted out" for back-basting. 

 

These blocks are from the Ladies' Aid New York Sampler - offered by Barbara Brackman on her Civil War Quilts blog.   I purchased the complete set on her Etsy site so that I could plan a little better. 

The latest block (this charming horsey) is offered here.    

Big 15" blocks.  

I am going for: 

• faded out, "taupey" 
• soft, subtle 
• sentimental and flowery
• plenty of  blue 

My other appliqué project is Poppy's Polka Dot Flower Garden, free patterns for 9" blocks from Sentimental Stitches here.   This is a long term two year project and I adore these little blocks!  

Here are my four most recent blocks: 

Am I the only one who feels anxious without some sort of handwork when traveling?  I'd love to know about your favorite portable projects! 

xo gratefully

Cynthia