I Like Thursday: Happy New Year!

I've been wrapping up my end-of-year posts and don't have a whole lot left over for this week's I Like Thursday.

I love the cards I got from my sister for Christmas. These cards are all prints from her original watercolors.  It was fun going through them saying, "I know where that is!"

I like that I finished the braid quilt (still yet unnamed).  I just need to think of a name to label it, then figure out how to get good photos that don't involve Rob balancing atop a tall ladder.

I like that 2020 is ending.  Amen.  The last few years I have come to the end of they year hoping the next year may be a little easier, a little less stressful.  Good grief - they were walks in the park compared to this year.  But this year I seem to feel a bit more anticipation of better things being just around the corner.  Fingers crossed!

I have very much liked being part of LeeAnna's I Like Thursday group.  I hope you've liked reading them!

Finishes for 2020

I didn't do a 2019 finishes post, because the entire year was wrapped up in one quilt.  Not the case this year!  I did lots of different stuff.

Bias tape dress, Switch bag, masks, name tag
book caddy, tank top embellishments, coil bowl and sewing machine cover

Blogiversary #10

A decade of blogging.  How can that be?

With my blogiversary landing at the end of the year, it becomes sort of a-year-in-review.  And what a year.  I thought 2019 was crazy with moving, losing guinea pigs and various health issues.  This year had the chaos of two hospital stays and a pandemic.  NOT a year to repeat.   

I Like Thursday: Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve!  I love this year's card.  Didn't my sister do an amazing job?  Those guinea pigs look like they're about to ask for some carrots. 

I've said it before, I'll say it again - I like Jeeves and Wooster.  We're watching it yet again (I've started to read the books, too).  Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry are SO YOUNG.  Always good for a laugh.  Now that I'm reading the books, I appreciate how well the TV show captured the characters of the books. 

Chinese Man With Abacus

I've veered away storybook characters for this year's ornament.  Instead, my inspiration comes from the classes my nephew is taking at the Chinese Immersion school.  

I had made a Chinese man many years ago for my godson and initially thought to do something similar.  Both ornaments are Chinese characters, but went in different directions.  I'm quite happy with the end results, even with the struggle to get there!

I had a terrible time with body proportions.  Feet are too big.  He ended up with a short torso and is kind of fat.  Plus his hands are huge!  The big floppy sleeves were an unexpected challenge.  Plus, as I stated in the prior post, this is head number three.  I had all my technical issues with the basic body - after that, the rest came together.

I really liked his hair bun - I wanted to do something more elaborate, but was afraid it would break off.  I put a twist in the hook so it wouldn't interfere with the guy's hair stick (it seemed a shame if I made that detail, then hid it behind the ornament hook).

Heads Will Roll

Well, two of them did.

I fought with this year's ornament for days.  Body parts all over the place.  I beheaded the poor dude twice (although the second time was by accident).  I nearly had to disassemble the one good arm to make the second one because I couldn't make them even.

I Like Thursday: Gifts

Wait.  What?  It's Thursday??  How did that sneak in?  Okay - a quick, late post today....

One of Rob's favorite quotes is "Leave the gun.  Take the cannoli."  (I love the fact that the line was improvised.)  So last Friday Rob left the foster guinea pigs and took the pastry.  

I can live with that.

Chocolate raspberry bomb, lemon bomb (our favorite), chocolate cake and chocolate caramel coconut cake.  It helped ease returning Panda and Mango to Dakin.

Foster Floor Time

My foster guinea pigs from Dakin, Panda and Mango, have so much energy!  There was much thumpa-thumpa-ing at random times day and night.  These guys were always curious and wonderfully people-oriented.  On the other hand... they got in each other's faces every so often.  So to keep the spats to a minimum and for extra entertainment, they needed floor time.  Any way to run off some of that youthful enthusiasm.

Panda and Mango were fearless!  Wood floors?  No problem.  So they went everywhere.  I sat on the rug, armed with a broom to keep them from wandering under the curio cabinet or towards the living room with all those tasty power cords.  

I Like Thursday: Some Holiday Prep

Another week has flown by, with several small good things to like.

I liked the snow on Saturday.  It was pretty, but heavy and sticky (and froze solid, which was extra work on the driveway).  I finally put up the candles, which look so festive against the snow.  I haven't put up any more decorations.  I need to dig out some more lights. 

Foster Christmas Photos

Gasp!  Could it be?  A holiday guinea pig photo shoot??

Absolutely!

I honestly thought after Mabel passed that we wouldn't do another holiday card photo shoot.  However, we had two adorable foster guinea pigs this Thanksgiving, so we decided to keep the tradition alive.  Last Sunday was wonderfully sunny, so I dug out decorations and we wrangled us some guinea pigs.

Mango and Panda are seriously energetic and were tough to corral.  I had to keep the treats coming to get them to sit still.  Bolting off the table was not allowed!

I Like Thursday: It's December?

It's barely December.  I am already behind.  And no vacation time to take off this year.  Admittedly, covid is forcing things to stay simple.  But there's cookies that need baking and decorations to put up - the seasonal stuff I enjoy doing (and can still do this year!)

I love we were able to keep one tradition this year:  the annual wrangling of guinea pigs for holiday photos.  The fosters from Dakin were hilarious and we got several good photos (that I still need to weed through so I can post them).  

Another like - the fosters came back from their checkup today.  Panda and Mango are cleared for adoption, so we have them until someone else scoops them up!

OMG November Finish

It's quilted!  Admittedly, this photo was taken before it was finished (the top border wasn't quilted yet) - but I wanted good sunlight to show off the quilting.  Today it will rain.  To top it off, I had run out of thread at this point and had to buy more.  I sat down last night with a new spool of thread and finished the border.

This was more of a challenge than I had anticipated because I started a new job halfway through the month.  I set out having a ton of time to quilt this, then it all disappeared.  I was also amazed at how much time I spent staring at this quilt.  I'd get a patch done, then have to sit and look at the next section before I figured out what to quilt on it.  Improv quilting looks so cool how it flows together, but for me, the actual sewing of it was far less than flowing!  My wall was plastered with doodled examples of what I wanted to sew and I still found myself stuck more often than not.

I had intended to quilt it with a mixture of freemotion and ruler, but once I got it underway I stuck with the freemotion.  I was keeping the border simple since the rest of it was so complex:  wavy chevrons, using a ruler.  Should be easy.  Ha.  I think I ripped out every third chevron.  I'm still learning the ruler work and I'm still having a lot of trouble getting it to do what I want.  Obviously I need more practice with it (and maybe watch some videos).

Snugglebugs

 

I haven't had a true lap pig since Eclair.  That was a long time and many guinea pigs ago.  Most of my guinea pigs have either been too curious or too anxious or never fully settled down.  So it was not relaxing for me or the guinea pigs.  Eclair and I spent many hours sitting together and watching TV.

These two boars I am fostering are lap pigs, even at 5 months old.  We sat and chilled for 45 minutes Saturday night.  They were chatty and wriggly for several minutes, but then they settled.

I Like Thursday: Work, Boars, Glasses

Wow, this week flew by.  Let's see - I'm working... there goes a lot of my time.  We took in a couple of guinea pigs to foster.  Wrangling pigs took up more time (so far these bad boars have been good).  Somehow I managed to finish quilting the main portion my quilt, too!  Yay!  I have to finish the border, which I hope to do this weekend.

 

Bottomless Pit

I am currently fostering a pair of boars from the Dakin shelter.  It turns out that Mango is a bottomless pit.  He's constantly demanding a hand-out.

In the kitchen?  Wheeky-wheeky!

Filling the bird feeders?  Wheeky-wheeky!

Rattle the chip bag?  Wheeky-wheeky!

He's got Cannoli's wheekiness and Mabel's moochy behavior (and maybe a little of Pinniped's wavy nose).  The pellets disappear out of the bowl so quickly (well, Panda helps out a lot with that, too).  

 Oh, this pig needs squeezes! 

Bad Boars, Bad Boars...

...Whatcha gonna do?

Well, maybe spend some time with Auntie Sally?

The Dakin shelter had a plethora of guinea pigs come in two weeks ago.  I had passed on fostering any because I didn't want to juggle new pigs and a new job.  But I got a call on Thursday looking for an experienced guinea pig foster.  A trio of 4-month-old boars had a falling out.  The worst wounded piggy was separated from the other two and was staying at the shelter.  I was asked to take the remaining two pigs:  one boar with set of scars and requiring antibiotics and one unscathed piggy that wisely stayed out of the scuffle.  

Say hello to Panda and Mango.

I Like Thursday: Back to the Grind

Back to work this week.  I like that.  But I am wiped out every evening from learning and installing... and I haven't even started the real work!

Slowly making progress on the quilt - I'm just about three-quarters done quilting the top.  I suspect I'm going to run out of thread and time and not finish it by the end of the month.

When the bridge up the street was closed off, a sign was installed warning of the bridge was out.  That sign disappeared; then this one appeared.  Ever seen one like this?  The other oddity is that it doesn't face the north-bound traffic - it faces straight at the road.

Very strange.

I just finished The Orphans of Raspay, the latest in a series of short novels by Lois McMaster Bujold.  It's a fun set books (a continuation of her Five Gods world) about a mild-mannered powerful sorcerer possessed by bunch of wise and sassy female souls and the trouble they get into (and out of).

The Elusive Feather

 

I've just rounded the halfway point quilting the braid quilt.  Quilting this is still slow going.  I swear I spend as much time staring at is as I do physically quilting it.

I'm still struggling with stitch length.  It's certainly a lot better than past quilts.  I find that I'm watching more closely at the stitches as well as the pattern.  I now have the occasional problem of stitches being way too small.  But that's better than having them way too long (unless, of course, I need to rip them out!).

I'm loving the flowers.  I seem to do well with leafy designs, too, like the ones off this flaming swirl.

I Like Thursday: Indian Summer

A week full of good things.

My cactus is happily blooming.  There's two different plants in that pot and the other half is starting to bud. 

I never thought I'd put a trip to the dentist as something to like, but after nine months, it felt so good to have clean teeth! 

 

Slow Stitching, of Sorts

The braid quilt is plodding along.  I am about a quarter done with the quilting (sans border).  The design is not primarily floral, although I'm adding more of that.  There's leaves and circles, feathers and swirls.  (You might be able to see the stitching if you enlarge the photos.)  I like the flowers I've done so far - I will continue to do more of those. 

I love the thread I'm working with, although it's invisible on the cream fabrics.  The super slider and the new gloves make a huge difference, especially with the large quilt.  It's easier to stitch big patterns.  I still struggle with it, because I can't see the whole area I'm quilting at once.  However, I'm finding I can stitch more of it without having to stop and reposition my hands. 

I Like Thursday: What's That White Stuff?

Since so many of the I Like Thursday crowd have been showing off their early-season snow, I decided to get in on the action.  Seriously, I'd have been fine not keeping up with the Joneses.  I'm not ready for winter.

It's pretty, though.  The sun came out on Saturday.  Blue sky and sun-on-snow is a wonderful combination!  The grey and gloomy photo below is from Friday morning just after the snow stopped.  Sticky, heavy stuff.  Good thing I brought in the last of the green tomatoes on Thursday - this snow and cold killed off everything.

Last year we had absolutely no interest in the bird feeders.  It killed me because I listened to the goldfinches twitter in the trees all winter.  This year?  The goldfinches and pine siskins have been out in force.  Absolute chow-hounds.

November OMG: Quilt That Braid!

I'm realizing that a twin quilt is a lot bigger than a throw.  It is smaller than last year's queen... but now I realize why I like working with the wall-sized quilts.  

The plan is to improv quilt this thing.  I'm now reconsidering how to tackle it.  Lots of doodles.  Lots of hours browsing Pinterest and Instagram photos and videos (which look so easy with a longarm!).

I wanted to start quilting it this weekend, but my ideas hadn't quite jelled yet.  Soon, I hope.  I'm mostly fixated on flower designs.  Loopy, leafy, feathery stuff.  In the end, that's my November goal:  get the braid quilted.  I want it done so I can move my sewing machine back to its regular spot and start on some smaller projects.

Creekbed

After the snow the sun came out bright and cheery.  When the wind died down a bit, I rushed out to get photos of Creekbed.

I Like Thursday: Lots of Plants

Another week already?  Where does it go? 

I tried out this recipe for  Apple Pandowdy.  It needed to be in a bigger pan with more apples.  Still, it was quite tasty (there's none left).

Apples!  I also made Apple Sausage Pie.  The house smelled delicious. 

Prep and Wrap-up

I met my goals this month with days to spare!  

My OMG was to have the braid quilt bordered and sandwiched.  Check.  I have ideas of how I want to quilt it, and picked the thread.  I should start working on the quilting by the weekend.  I've decided to do an all-over pattern (but... over the border, too?  Or do something different for that?).  I still need to do some more doodling so I feel confident when tackling the quilt.

Creekbed Progress

I finished the quilting on the creekbed quilt.  Lots of freemotion practice as well as some ruler work.  When I was thinking of quilting patterns, I was going to do an all-over pattern for each block.  The quilt fought me on that.  It also disagreed on an all-over pattern across the entire quilt.  In the end, it wanted each strip quilted - which was way more quilting than I had intended.  It seems better to let the quilt get its way.

I did a mix of patterns interspersed with simple wavy lines.  I got to try out a few new designs and practice several of my favorites.  My stitching is fairly even - probably because of the small areas I worked in.  If only my quilting was so even when working larger areas!  Well, I'll get to practice that with my next quilt.

I Like Thursday: Can't Keep Up

I haven't had a chance to write other blog posts this week.  I've made lots of progress on my quilt - I hope to have a post soon.

We were invited to a neighborhood pumpkin party, so I carved a pumpkin to display.  I haven't carved one in years - I forgot how fun they are to do.  I decided to do something artistic instead of just a jack-o-lantern face.  I love how this came out.  Not too sure how structurally sound it would be, but it hasn't collapsed yet.  

The pumpkins needed to be dropped off on Friday, for a Saturday evening outdoor party.  At the time I dropped mine off, there weren't many there...

I Like Thursday: Lots of Orange and Red

 

Lots of orange, red and green this week.  It started out with our misadventure last Wednesday.  We returned home to a dark house.  Yay for a generator!  Water and internet are a good thing (even if I curled up most of the evening with a book by the battery-powered lamp).  

This pretty picture was taken the next morning.  The brush/leaves in the foreground is a tree branch that took out the power line.  Great color!  But I'd have been happier if it stayed on the tree.

A Bit of a Misadventure

We didn't do much over the summer, so we were kind of excited to get tickets to the Naumkeag pumpkin show.  We've never been - so this would be a change and something fun to do outdoors.  We were to wear masks and keep to our scheduled time. 

It was a beautiful drive out to Stockbridge.  However, rain was predicted and we arrived just as a thunderstorm hit.  I was so glad to have pulled into the parking lot, because the wind and the rain pummeled and shook the car.  In less than 10 minutes, it blew down branches and took out the electricity.

Seriously impressive.

A few minutes later it quieted down and the rain nearly stopped.  Soon after we found the entrance to the walk we bumped into a couple headed out.  They told us the event was canceled; we could get our tickets refunded.

Backed Braid

 

The braided quilt is backed.

It's a very polka-dotty backing, isn't it?  The suns and moons are very blue and gold.  I was tempted to make a stripe with blue fabrics, but it would have ended up more purple than the blue on the front.  So I decided to go with rust and gold.  Not bad.  When it was done, the backing was a few inches bigger than the front all around.  Whew!

I layered it up, everything wonderfully aligned and realized one of the borders was wonky.  I hated to pull it up but I needed to restitch it.  So glad I did.

I Like Thursday: Feeling Accomplished

It's been a busy week.

Making progress on my quilts.  Creekbed is sandwiched and I know how I want to quilt it.  That's on hold as I get the braid quilt ready for quilting, too.  The borders went on without too much fuss (although I needed to tack on 3" to be long enough).  I stitched together the backing - of course discovering it wasn't quite as long as I hoped.  I'm now I'm piecing together a stripe to go across the middle.  I plan to have that assembled, then sandwich and baste the quilt before the sunroom gets too chilly to work in.  Then I can focus on quilting both quilts.

 

October OMG: Braid Borders

It's October already??  I may need to switch gears to Christmas stuff soon.  Maybe start working on my nephew's ornament - I need time to research and sculpt it.  And there's so many sewing projects I want to work on.  What to work on first??

Creekbed is sandwiched and basted; I just need to decide how I want to quilt it.  I suspect that will work itself out this month, because once I figure out how I want to quilt it, I won't be able to put it down.  What I'd really like to do is get the braid quilt off the wall, where it's been hanging all month.  I have batting and backing all set to go - it just needs the borders attached and binding cut.  So my October goal will be to have that ready to be quilted. 

Sharing with Elm Street Quilts - October One Monthly Goal

I Like Thursday: Colors Coming Out

It's October.  Seriously?  For being out of work and isolated, the time just seems to be flying by.  It's crazy.

We went out for a drive on Wednesday.  Technically we were running errands, but we took the long way around to enjoy the trees.  I'm really enjoying the fall colors.

Our yard is starting to change, too.  I swear the leaves on this bush are hot pink.  It was overcast the morning I shot this, which certainly affected the colors.

Various Progress

I worked on several things this week.  I am officially done with  my flimsy for my September OMG.  Yay!  I decided on doing the gold border.  I photographed it on the slate floor and I really like how that looks.  Makes my decision for a binding easy:  I'll do the pebble rather than the rust.  I have backing ready and can sandwich it as soon as I frankenstein some batting.  I have no idea how I want to quilt it.  

The long wavy borders wanted to crawl something terrible while stitching them.  The little blocks were more forgiving.  I had to use lots of pins for those borders.  I'll have to keep that in mind if I try this again.

I planned to do a wavy binding, too.  Squaring this could be a real pain, so a wavy binding might be more forgiving.  Although, with a border, it might look neat to finish it off square.  We'll see what it looks like after it's quilted.

Borderlines

The plan:  wavy blocks on point with setting triangles, then bind the result (possibly with the same color as the background).  But once I completed the flimsy, I wasn't so sure.  Against a light-colored wall, the setting triangles fade away.  

It needs a border.  Or a wide contrasting-color binding.  But I'm not convinced a wide binding would work with what I have in mind.  I dug through my limited stash and auditioned a dozen different fabrics of reds, golds, browns, blues and even greens.  It's funny how some fabrics just yell Nope! and other's keep you guessing.  The edges immediately rejected any cool color.  It wanted warmth.  I keep returning to a reddish-brown gold and dark rust. 

I Like Thursday: Coming and Going

The tomatoes are coming in!  Around four pounds so far.  I'm in a race with the meadow vole on who can "harvest" them first.  Not enough to make much sauce by themselves, but I'll add it to whatever we get from the farmer's market.

Youthful Exuberance

Our time with Charles and Bernard is running out.  Dakin called on Saturday that they've found a permanent home.  The piggies will be returned on Tuesday.  In the meantime, we are enjoying their antics.

Bernard no longer runs in terror each time we walk by the cage and has even learned to take food from my hand.  Big steps!  Charles is still the first to check out everything.

Neither one knew what to do with the egg-cersizer.  No matter what I put in it, it remained untouched in the middle of the cage.  The paper bag filled with hay was more appreciated, although these two haven't figured out the joy of shredding it to pieces like my pigs did.  I guess they're too young to figure that out?  They needed to be introduced to using the tunnel and the cozy, as well.  Charles loves the paper bag, Bernard loves the tunnel; the hammock is nearly forgotten.

But zoomies?  That's one thing they know how to do without any encouragement. 

Creekbed Flimsy

My September OMG is to finish this flimsy, which is complete.  Well, maybe. 

I love the setting triangles, but I'm not sure of the overall look.  Too much contrast?  Should have made the triangles a bit darker?  It's funny, because I did exactly what I intended... which so rarely happens.  

It's draped over a chair for now.  Maybe I'll hang it on the wall and gander at it a while and see if anything else comes to mind.  I cringe at the idea of pulling this apart, but I may end up doing that if this doesn't start growing on me. 

Sharing with: 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict - Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Love Laugh Quilt - Monday Making

Switcheroo

I put two brown, white and black piggies into the car, closed the door, then later opened the door and two younger tan-and-white piggies came out.

Presto!

I think Dakin was as surprised as I was that the two boars I brought home on Friday were immediately adopted.  They asked if I'd like two more piggies when I returned Charlie and Wilbur on Tuesday morning.  Since I had set up the cage, bought pellets and greens for a couple of weeks, I figured why not?  Maybe this pair can stay a little longer?

I Like Thursday: Pigs!

The highlight of the week was guinea pigs.  Coming.  Going.  Staying.

Charlie and Wilbur arrived on Friday, but were so damned cute online that they were immediately scheduled for adoption.  Just before I was to bring them back, Dakin asked if I'd foster two more?  Sure!  So we came home with another two boars (I'll post photos of them tomorrow).

Could I Borrow a Pair of Piggies?

And borrow is the operative word!  By the time this post will publish, they'll be back at the shelter.  Likely, by the time you read it, they'll be in their new home.

<sigh>

We brought Charlie and Wilbur home on Friday afternoon.  No more than 24 hours later, I was called to say they have an adopter.  Well, that was fast!  That's what I get for fostering these two cuties. 

Charlie has the black nose.  He's much smaller than Wilbur, which makes me think he's younger than the 15 months as listed.  Wilbur, on the other hand, is a full-blown loaf.  They are both very curious and amazingly sweet.  As much as I'll be sad to see them go, I am thrilled they'll be going to a home with someone who will love them.

Tick Tock

I was given a wall clock years ago - there were guinea pig drawings at each hour of the day.  It always made me smile.  Rob had pulled it apart a few years ago to replace the clockworks.  So when the paper background started to get moldy, I got it in my head to keep the clock and replace the paper.

I rooted around for pattern for a pieced 12-pointed star.  I found two free patterns and picked this Poinsettia Star.  The pattern is for a 12-inch block, so I shrunk it down to 8 inches.

I wavered between a light background with dark points, or black background with light points.  I thought the black background with black edge may be too dark.  However, I hadn't thought about the fact that the hands were black.  Once I had it assembled, I realized my mistake.  Out came the gold and silver paint to fix the hands - that seemed easier than choosing more colors and starting all over.  

I Like Thursday: Kick up Your Heels

How can it be Thursday already?  Another crazy busy week.  Still managed to snap a few pictures.

This little peeper had been sitting on the garden hose.  When I got close he leapt off and stuck right to the wall.  Pretty cool!  Love his patterns, too.  I'm amazed at how pretty they are.

Squirrels

No sooner do I choose an OMG project than I go off in other directions.  I will get those setting triangles done.  Really.  But in the meantime...

Now that we have a washing machine that doesn't add random black splotches to everything, I washed the border fabric for the braid quilt.  Buying the fabric was challenging - I didn't want to unfurl the quilt at the shop to fully compare.  I threw it up on the wall so I can get a good look at it.  Ideally I was looking for something a little more brown; maybe darker or paler?  But this works - it doesn't fade into the cream colored braid and it compliments the blue and red.

Bedside Book Caddy

Motivation comes and goes in fits and spurts.  When I have time to work on something, I can't seem to get into it.  But then I suddenly develop interest in it when I really need to be working on something else (like job hunting).  

Ugh. 

My OMG is sprawled across my design wall and what do I do?  Dig through my fabric drawer to make a bedside book caddy.  At least it forced me to clean up the sewing room to find enough table space to cut fabric.

My nightstand has always been a place to put books, lamp, hair ties, and a few other odds and ends.  Since March it has also taken on my smartphone and meds (plus a water bottle that was banished to the floor).  Last week as I blindly dumped several items on the floor, I thought it would be nice to have a pocket on the side of the nightstand.  A bit of googling later and I discovered a pocket that could hang off the bed.  Ooh.  I could make that.  Down the rabbit hole I went.

I Like Thursday: Getting Stuff Done

My quilt is on the wall!

We got to use our laser level, which was wonderful to have, considering I had just busted our regular level.  D'oh!

We installed a garage door opener - that was an adventure (including mangling the level).  Took longer than we had anticipated, but it's done!

September OMG: Creek Bed

This quilt has been an on-again, off-again project.  I was still in the groove of making wavy blocks when I finished the blocks for Ebb and Flow.  I changed the direction, colors and "rules" of these blocks (instead moving diagonally from dark to light, these are straight mixed strings).  Now I need to finish the setting triangles before I forget what I was doing with the or worse yet, use up the scrappy pieces in some other project.  I didn't make any notes on my approach and I've already pilfered some of the pale gold and blue for two other quilts.  I will be seriously peeved if I come up short.

Ebb and Flow

My August OMG is finished, with time to spare!  I've added a sleeve since I took these photos.  Now I just need to figure out how to hang it.

I'm pleased with how square and flat it was, even after quilting.  It rippled a bit on some of the binding.  Blocking it has managed flatten it out (although I may need to hit the bottom bulge again).  This will look great on the wall!

It ended up with twice as much quilting than intended.  The first half of the quilting was curved lines that flowed around the quilt.  It made me think of the tide coming in on the flats on Cape Cod.  However, once that was complete, the unquilted sections puffed out quite noticeably.  I feared those section would sag as it hung on the wall.  I quilted the remaining sections with long wavy lines and swirls going the other way.  That's when the name Ebb and Flow popped into my head.  

I was going to freemotion quilt the black stripes, as well.  In the end I simply added a few lines with my walking foot. 

I Like Thursday: Still in the Garden

We've gone from summer heat to the first inkling that fall is around the corner.  The sun is warm but the breeze is cool, and it was a bit chilly walking yesterday morning.

I started to pick tomatoes.  Yay!  This one looked beautiful from the angle I was looking at it.  After I picked it, it was obvious that someone else thought it was beautiful, too.  I hope they enjoyed it, because I did not! 

Quilted Ebb and Flow

The quilting is done.  Well, mostly - there's a few fixes and one unquilted spot I just noticed as I type this.  But for practical purposes I'm on to the binding.   

Several times while quilting this I wished I had picked a simple overall pattern.  My initial design was lopsided - too many bare spots.  Adding to it was challenging because of what was already stitched.  I am unhappy with some sections close up;  I contemplated  ripping it out.  The quilting looked better from several steps back, so I let it be and forged ahead.  

Gah!  Lots of technical issues.  I had to swap needles at one point because the top stitching refused to catch the bobbin thread.  I still have a number of skipped stitches - backing fabric contributed to that.  I had a few thread breakages as well, always at inopportune spots.  Some of the curved pieces had more fabric than others - so there's odd rippling in spots (luckily no pleats).  The humidity made everything a little tacky and I need new quilting gloves.  My hands would slide and the fabric would not!