Drop Leaf Table

This is becoming a thing:  I find things on Freecycle, Craigslist or Nextdoor that come home with me to be refinished.  I like the results, but oof - I keep getting sidetracked with impromptu projects.

My latest was a drop leaf table.  Rob brought it to my attention and I thought it could replace the trestle table I'm currently using in my sewing room.  I could drop the leaves when not in use, but bring them up when I'm doing a big project.  The table was good solid wood, but in rough shape when I brought it home.  I don't think the wood had ever been finished - water spots, dirt, spots of paint all over, a bit of mildew, too. 

I removed all the hardware (after carefully labeling all of it) then gave everything a good sanding.  It was impressive how much just the sanding improved things.  The legs lightened up considerably, and I managed to clean off some of the paint and water marks.  The only bummer was that the wood was soft and marred easily - so I ended up adding a few more dents and dings in the process.

Headboard Layouts

I've finished my two color mystery blocks from Canuck Quilter's Two Colour Mystery.  I originally made six blocks, but I really needed eight.  The last two blocks were surprisingly difficult.  Not sure why.  I'm pretty sure I stitched them together the same way as the others.  It would have been better if I made them with the rest.  They're done now!

These blocks are pretty neat.  I've been playing with layouts.  So many combinations.  I need the quilt to be slightly wider than four blocks.  I will either add borders or sashing.  Ha!  Before I posted this, my mother has selected layout #4.  Hmm... I could still do a border or sashing with that.

I Like Thursday: April Foolin’ Around

April! It's been another full-throttle month.  Whew!  Let's see what I liked best...

It kicked off with April Fools Day.  My local librarian celebrated the holiday with a sign that said "Please excuse the mess while I reorganize the collection by color!"  Indeed, the first shelf is red, orange, green, white, blue and black.  If you flipped the paper over it said "April Fools!"  

The eclipse was pretty cool - no fooling!  We chose not to drive up to Vermont to see the total eclipse, but instead hung out on our front steps to witness the 95% coverage.  We played with the colander, marveled at the strange shadows and the drop in temperature (about 10℉). 

We wished there had been more leaves on the tree to better see the funny crescent shadows the sun produced.  The pine trees gave us a bit of little taste of it.  And I had eclipse glasses, so we could look at the sun.  It reminded me of the Cheshire Cat as the slice of the sun got bigger (a grin without a cat).

Moving Along

This week's clue for the two color mystery quilt was the block layout.  It's a cool looking block.  But boy, it was a struggle putting it together.  Even when I had the pieces put the right direction, I still felt like I was doing it wrong.  Lots of points.  Matching point to point was straightforward, but some pieces aligned a straight edge with an angle.  Those were trickier and it took me stitching (and ripping apart) a few pieces before I got the hang of it. 

I'll leave that on the wall as contemplate layouts.  I made the baby quilt size, but this is to become a headboard for my mother's full sized bed.  I may need to make two more blocks to gain the width I want, which I'm sure would also change the layout.

Sidetracked

Just as I was all set to start some serious work on my sweatshirt jacket, a few things jumped ahead in priority.

Years ago I some amazing paper-pieced greeting cards; I wanted to try making some myself.  So I bought windowed cards but never got around to piecing fabric to go in them.  Then I made a handful of postcards (most of them during this year's Project Quilting).  They're a bit bulky for the cards, but I can squeeze them in.  This lets me send the card with a personal note, then allows the recipient remove and keep the artwork, or pass it along to someone else.  I've added a sticker to the card:  Mini quilt is a postcard.  Keep it! Regift it!  Extra envelope provided.  Now I need to start sending them to people!

Rick Rack Ripples

I'm riding a wave of finishes - and this was the quilt that kicked it off.  I'm late to post about it, though, because it was only recently sent.  (The package needed some Easter candy for ballast.)

This is called Rick Rack Ripples.  My cousin asked for blue, green and yellow.  I love the color combination. 

In the Works

Busy weekend.  Glad I took Monday off to catch my breath!

I worked on my Two-Colour Mystery quilt.  Week five consisted of mitered blocks.  Following the assembly instructions produced a small stack of triangles, so I made a tiny stack of 1¾-inch squares.  Don't know what I'll do with them, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Easter Candy!  This year I swapped out toffee (I've been struggling with the recipe lately) for caramels (some with pecans, some plain).  Last year I tested out chai spiced cookie dough truffles as well as coffee buttercreams.  Both were such a hit I kept them this year.  I overdid the amount of chai in them this year (oops) but the coffee was perfect.