Author: missouristar

Welcome – my blog can be found at http://www.missouristar.typepad.com

As I may have mentioned before, I spent a lot of years wasting time coveting what I could not have. I have watched as my friends bought longarm quilting machines and the latest and best embroidery machines. Due to space and cost, a longarm is not an option for me, and I had to face the fact that a $10,000 embroidery machine was not in my future either. About a year ago I decided to return to my hand quilting roots and I have been so happy with that decision. Not only do I love the process, I am much happier with the finished projects as well.

Recently I have been rediscovering hand applique. First of all, I dug out a long languishing project, Loopy Tulips by Jaimie Davis of Sunlight Cottage Industries. This will not be on the front burner, but I'm plodding along on it.

My real love now has been discovering the designs of Erin Russek. She blogs at Once Piece at a Time. Go on over and take a look, but be prepared, as I did, to spend an entire day reading all of her back posts. She is a really talented designer and shares so much of her work for free. I have started on my Christmas quilt using her Jingle blocks. I was fortunate to have a gift card and really enjoyed being able to coordinate and buy all the fabrics at once!

I am using the freezer paper and starch method of preparing the pieces. I really like getting the block prepared and being able to sit down and stitch without having to worry about turning under the edges. I especially love making circles, although I found these little circles really taxed my skills!

Quilting has commenced on Abby's quilt and it's actually gone a little faster than I expected. I had told her to prepare for at least a year to finish, but maybe it will be done before then. No promises, especially as I seem to be distracted at the moment with preparing little circles!  I bought a wide piece of fabric – Wintergreen by Moda – for the backing and I'm loving it. Between that and the wool batting, it's like quilting through butta.

One piece of exciting news. Hang on to your hats!! I bought a new iron. Yeah, I know. Only we quilters could get excited about that. I've been using a Panasonic Cordless and as much as I really want to love it, I just can't. It's fine for pressing quilt blocks, but just doesn't stay hot long enough for pressing pillowcases and yardage. I did a lot of research – talked to other quilters, read blogs and reviews and then . . . . bought the one that was on sale at the Navy Exchange. So far I'm loving it. I like that instead of just a few large steam holes, it has lots of little ones. This provides for a much more even steam. And it heats up lightning fast. The real test will be if it doesn't start spitting down the road. I'll keep you posted as I know you will be holding your collective breaths!

One of the downsides of doing all this hand work is that it is slow going and therefore doesn't provide for a lot of ever changing blog fodder, so it seems only right to fill it up with exciting appliance news. I'll try to have more exciting news next week, but no promises!

 

As much as I love to knit, finishing those knits has never been my favorite part of the process. Maybe that's why I end up knitting so many shawls! But the pile was growing deeper and I finally decided to go on a marathon finishing process. Here are the results:

Acorn Trail

This was made using Amy Herzog's Custom Fit pattern. I think it needs a little tweaking here and there, but overall I am very pleased. It's probably one of the most well-fitting and flattering sweaters I've ever made. As much as I love the buttons, I may have to replace them. They are just a little too small for the buttonholes.

Ben's Shawl Collar Sweater

My son is always hard to buy for, so last Christmas I gave him a box of yarn. The goal was to knit him a sweater before this Christmas and I succeeded. The parts of it had been done for quite a while, but I was a little freaked out about doing the shawl collar. This is my own design and I was making it up as I went. I finally just dived in and the collar ended up being a piece of cake. He is enormously pleased with the result. GQ anyone?

Touch the Sky

This was made for my daughter-in-law by request to match the child-sized one I made for Mei Mei. I was able to locate the same yarn and now they have matching sweaters. I think this style is darling on both of them. In the interests of complete disclaimer, I have to confess that Mei Mei will not wear sweaters I make for her. We barely got it on her for the photo. So there probably won't be many more sweaters for her in the future.

Felicia Vest

This one also sat in the finishing pile forever. All that was needed were the armhole edgings. Despite my best efforts I wasn't all that enamored of the fit. Once finished I blocked severely and it's passable. However, I look like a dork in the model picture, so you get a picture of the sweater alone

So there you go! Not too many knitting projects going now because I'm on a quilting spree. I finished the piecing on Abby's quilt. I was going to have a friend baste it with her longarm, but ended up going over to my friend's house to hand baste instead. She has a wonderful large table and it was so easy to spread it out. I didn't even end up with a backache. I'm really enjoying the handquilting process!

And I've found my next project! These wonderful Christmas blocks by Erin Russek of Once Piece at a Time really caught my eye.

I love the combination of pieced and appliqued blocks. Let the fabric shopping commence!

 

Edited: I just checked my blog and was surprised to find out that I never posted this, but just saved it as a draft. So here it is a little late!

It seems as if lately I haven't been spending all that much time at home! Not that I'm complaining, although hubby has been feeling a little neglected, I'm sure. I appreciate that we have the means to take trips and engage in activities that make life interesting. But I am ready to stay home for a while!

My sister and I traveled back to Missouri to spend some time with my folks. The trip did not go exactly as planned. We arrived on Friday night and Sunday morning my Mom was taken to the hospital due to a heart episode. She spent the night and was released the next day with an adjustment in meds and an appointment with the cardiologist. They determined that it wasn't anything serious, but at her age something that does happen. What was gratifying was seeing how quickly help came to them in their remote part of the Ozarks and what a great medical facility they have nearby.

Going back home to Thomasville always seems like a step back in time. I was born there almost 65 years ago and nothing seems to change very much. You would think that the town would either grow or die, but it seems to have done neither. The population was probably around 75 then and numbers close to that now, although it's hard to tell since it is unincorporated – just a wide spot in the road. 

While we were there we visited The Hideaway Quilt Shop in the neighboring town of Birch Tree, where my father was raised. From the outside you would discount it, but you would be making a mistake, because inside it is one of the nicest shops I've seen. 

I didn't have room in my luggage for much fabric, but I did manage to score a couple of patterns and a specialty ruler.

But the highlight of the trip was being able to spend time with my Mom and Dad and my brother Mike. The only one missing was my brother Pat. We're hoping in the near future to be able to get everyone together.

On a completely weird and hilarious note, we spent an inordinate amount of time hunting down cow boats – those of you who are fans of Gary Larson will appreciate this.

I had no sooner arrived home than I was off again – this time to a three day quilt retreat. Fortunately it was right here on the island, only a 20 minute drive away. The facility, Willow Pond, was fabulous! A large house with a beautiful kitchen and just a short walk across the driveway to "The Barn", which really wasn't a barn, but a large open workspace. There were 15 of us altogether and we spend the time sewing, eating, laughing, eating, playing games and eating more. We divided up into teams for the cooking and each team only had to cook once. I had hoped to get Abby's quilt finished, but discovered that I still needed to buy one more border fabric. I did, however, get the center done.

I was also able to almost complete my 30's quilt. I finished the applique border and attached it to the center. All that's left is to finish off with flowers in each corner.

That pretty much brings everything up to date. I'm still knitting, but nothing exciting to show quite yet. And with Christmas coming, there are stealth projects in the works as well! Stay tuned!

Once again, time has slipped by and it's been almost four months since I last blogged! I've been meaning to try and catch up for weeks, but get a little overwhelmed trying to remember everything that's happened since I last posted.  So, rather than trying to do a recap, I'll just pick up with current events and go from there.

The biggest thing that's happened recently is that we took an Alaskan cruise on the Disney Wonder with the family. We left last Monday (Labor Day) and returned today. The trip got off to a little rocky start. There were two cruise ships leaving out of Vancouver that day, but due to the holiday there were only three custom agents to process over 5,000 people! It took us an hour and a half to get through, but we were lucky. The rest of the family got there about an hour after we did and it took them over three hours! Thankfully everyone kept their cool and we were a pretty happy bunch heading out of port.

We had gone shopping for princess dresses for the girls and were disappointed at the price and quality offered, so of course Nana volunteered to make their dresses. Mei-Mei was the princess from "Frozen" and Isobel the princess from "Brave". She was impressed that Merida carried a bow and arrow!

Once aboard, we quickly learned that much of our day would revolve around Food, Glorious Food! From the Disney character breakfast to the adults only formal dining room, our head server Paula and all the other servers made sure we were taken care of in grand style!

Our first stop was at Tracy Arm. Although we didn't get off the ship, we did get up close and personal with twin glaciers and hundreds of sea lions.

The next day we got off the boat in Skagway. The weather wasn't too cold, but the wind was pretty brisk. There was lots and lots of shopping, but history too. Abby, Claudia, Isobel and I took a walking tour of the town and learned about the beginnings of the Gold Rush.

Juneau was our next stop and we were surprised at how small it is. Pretty small for a state capitol! There really wasn't much to see in town, but we did take a trip out to the Mendenhall Glacier. It was a little sobering to stand in the visitor's center and realize that in the 1930's you could have touched the glacier from that vantage point, but it is now over a mile and a half away. In another 75 years it may be gone altogether. 

That sign on the bench warns people not to carry any open containers of food because of the bear danger. When we returned to the ship the girls wanted to dive into the pool and go down the slide. This is them:

This is the lifeguard:

Brrrr! Ketchikan was our next stop and my favorite. Very quaint and pretty. And very, very close to where the ship docked. We attended the Lumberjack Show – a little hokey and touristy, but enjoyable nevertheless!

The rest of the crew went back to the ship, but my sister and I decided to explore further. I'm so glad we did! We found the charming Creek Street and at the end of it, a fish ladder. We kept on walking upstream and were astounded to see thousands and thousands of salmon swimming upstream to spawn! What a sight!!

I have never seen so many salmon in my life. You couldn't even see the river bed in places!

So there you have it – a wonderful family vacation, but it's certainly nice to be back home in our own beds. I did actually get some knitting done, although not as much as I expected. I promise to be back soon and catch everyone up on my creative ventures.

 

 

It's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival and this is my first year to enter. This North Carolina Lily is one of my favorite quilts and is entered in the Hand Quilting category. I had always wanted a red and green quilt and this fit the bill perfectly. I drafted all of the feather quilting designs myself. This quilt has won numerous awards and was juried into the AQS Show in Paducah. I hope you'll pop on over to the Hand Quilted Quilts Category sometime during May 24-29 and give my quilt a vote. You'll need to scroll down a little to find my quilt.

The problem with hand quilting is that the going is pretty slow and after a while all the progress photos look pretty much the same. 

 The good news is that I am on the last wide border and then all that is left are four smaller borders and some fill in quilting on the inside. The quilting I have on some parts doesn't quite fill up the space adequately and I need to add some more leaves or something.

 I really am anxious to get this done and move on to something else! After ten years of marriage I am finally making a quilt for my daughter-in-law. In my defense, it's taken me this long to really get an idea of what she would like. Once we decided, I quickly popped over to the quilt shop on the neighboring island and bought the fabric before either one of us could change our mind.

This is a little departure for me. I don't normally lean toward scrap quilts, although I like the look. But I just don't seem to be capable of being totally scrappy. For this quilt, I used Donna Lynn Thomas' guidelines for a more "planned" scrap quilt. I used the print as my idea fabric and Abby liked it well enough that it will also be the border. I'm especially pleased at all the beiges I found – I think this will add a lot of interest. The blocks will be Monkey Wrench, but I really haven't thought too much ahead on how to set them. Probably something fairly simple. The quilting will also have to be pretty simple, especially in the print border. I had thought to wait on this until October when I go to a quilting retreat. I thought it might be fun to have a new project to work on. But I doubt I will be able to wait that long!

On the knitting front I have discovered Amy Herzog. I took her "Fit to Flatter" Craftsy class and it's causing me to look at sweaters, and indeed my whole wardrobe, in a different way. I am determined to break away from my normal uniform of shapeless sweatshirts and jeans. I ordered one of her Custom Fit patterns and I'm anxious to see the result. The pattern I'm using is Acorn Trail. The back is done and blocking and I have started on the front.

I'm happy to report that Isobel's sweater was a big hit! There was a bit of a crisis when it was left behind at the dance studio just days after I gave it to her, but it was retrieved without incident. I have to chuckle at her photo – she was trying to look "cool". Nine years old and it has started already!!

Hope all the Moms out there had a great day. Hubby's gift to me was not only tomato plants, which he planted, but the promise to water them for the entire summer! It's a bit of a joke in our household that I start out with such great intentions on gardening and then forget to water. So this is really the perfect gift.

And more gardening goodness:

 

 

Last year, after Abby and I completed our first half marathon, we were asked if we would do it again. We gave an emphatic, "NO!" One year later found me lining up at the starting line for another half and Abby running her first full marathon. It's kind of like childbirth – you forget the pain and remember the glory. So, this year, about a week after the races, Abby threw down the gauntlet. Although we have run three races together, we have never actually run together – she is much faster than I am. However, she made me an offer. If I would commit to running a full marathon, she would run with me, step for step, and we would cross the finish line together. That's quite a concession for her because she's very competetive. The crazy part is that I am actually considering it. I told her that I would train in earnest for next year's Whidbey Half Marathon (my training was only half hearted this year) and if I could get my time down to 3 hours, I would sign up for a marathon. We have several options. I am slow, slow, slow, so we need one with a generous time limit. Another option is one with no hills that would run faster. So – stay tuned for more craziness!

One thing about hand quilting is that it is such a slow process that progress pictures look remarkably the same. I'm continuing on the border and seeing the beginning of the end. I finally decided on a design for the purple borders – little marching leaves.

You can also see in the picture the marks I'm using for my quilting lines. I've discovered Frixion pens and am in love. They make a very visible mark but erase easily with heat. You can use an iron or steam. I think I may even experiment with using a hair dryer. I've done lots of research on them and apparently they can come back in the cold, but since I have no plans on putting my quilts in the freezer, I'm not worried. But I'll do my own testing to how that works once the quilt is washed.

I've found a new quilt designer that I like very much – Donna Lynn Thomas. I saw her on an episode of Quilters Newsletter Workshop. She has several books out – I got two from the library and bought one.

Patchwork Palette is her color theory book and lays out three different methods for color planning. For someone as color challenged as I am, especially in planning more scrappy quilts, this is going to be a huge help! One of the best things is that she lays out a plan for all three methods that suggest buying fabrics just a little at a time. You don't have to go out and buy fabric for a whole quilt at once and break the budget. The second book is on her technique for flipping corners. Think the old basic snowball quilts and you'll have the idea, but she takes it to a whole new level.

These two were from the library – the third one that I bought is On Point Patchwork.

This book has designs that utilize her diagonal ruler. Let's say you want a square that is 2 inches, measured on the diagonal instead of the sides. You don't have to do the math – you just use the 2 inch mark on the ruler and it even adds the seam allowance for you. Easy peasy. This is the quilt I'm working on from the book:

Once again – you could use her color planning method and buy small pieces of fabric over time to get a pretty, scrappy quilt.

Easter was so much fun with the girls around.

 

As usual, the girls exhibited their unique personalities – Mei-Mei picking flowers for a princess crown and Isobel looking for something to climb! It's hard to believe that Isobel will be turning 9 this week. Just yesterday I was knitting little baby things for her. Her last sweater was so well received (she's hardly taken it off in two years!) that I have knitted her another one.

It looks absolutely huge, but I have a feeling it will be none too large on her.

I leave you with this picture of our church on Easter. These beautiful flowers were made all the more special because at Thursday's service, the altar was stripped bare and draped in black. What a marvelous testament to the joy and rejoicing of Easter!

Several times over the past few months I've considered discontinuing my blog. Readership is down and I honestly struggle over what to blog about. But in looking back over the years I realize that this blog is about as close to journaling as I will ever get. I love looking back and reading about meeting my daughter-in-law for the first time, the wedding and the birth of my two granddaughters. So I will continue to blog, for myself if nothing else.

I will, however, consider a new direction. As those of you who follow me know, I tend to dabble in several areas of artistic endeavor. At any given time, one will capture my attention more than the rest, which will be relegated to a back burner. Not forgotten entirely, but taking a backseat. Currently quilting seems to have grabbed my attention and I'm enjoying tremendously what will probably always be one of my first loves.

I posted several months ago about embracing the hand elements of my quilting and that has brought a whole new enjoyment to the process. I am currently hand quilting this beauty:

I'm actually beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Of course, in hand quilting terms that means not days or weeks, but months. But I'm currently working on the outer white border with the vines and flowers, so that puts me awfully close to the end. I'm anxious to get this done so that I can start quilting on this as soon as I finish the top:

The center is done and I've started the applique work on the border:

I'm using the freezer paper and starch method of preparing the applique and am loving the results. It's a little more labor intensive than straight needle turn, but I like the finished product. I'm especially loving making little circles using Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circle templates:

I think I could happily sit and watch episodes of "Fringe" and make little circles all day long!

I also invested in her thread set, so I am all set for whatever color may come my way:

In knitting, I'm also heading off in another direction. I've been known for knitting lots and lots of elaborate shawls. I do so love the process, but as I put away another shawl into the already packed drawer of shawls, I had to come to the conclusion that I have more shawls than I can possibly wear. I recently became aware of Amy Herzog and her "Knit to Flatter" book. She also has a Craftsy class that I signed up for when it went on sale. I am very excited about her outlook on the whole sweater knitting business – that we tend to make sweaters that look good laid out flat on a table rather than sweaters that look good on our bodies. I'm beginning to see that I really favor the simple, classic sweaters that she designs and am getting materials together to knit myself a simple, stylish, well-fitting sweater. But first I need to finish this:

This will be for Isobel's 9th (!!) birthday in May. She has worn the last sweater I made her nearly nonstop, so she deserves a new one.

Last, but certainly not least, you might remember that I ran a half marathon last year with my daughter-in-law. Immediately after we swore we would never do it again. So this year, she ran a FULL marathon and I did the half! It's kind of like childbirth – you have to forget it before you try again. So proud of Abby – her time was great! Mine was not so great, but my training was not up to snuff this time. But we both finished (and I was not last) and that's what counts!

I hope to be a little better about blogging – next post I'll go into a little more detail about the sweater knitting and will hopefully have  few more happy little flowers to show.

I just checked my blog and can’t believe it’s been since November that I updated! It’s not for lack of activity in my life, but rather too much. At times I’ve considered giving up the blog, but it’s probably the closest I will ever come to journaling. I love going back and reading about all the things that have happened in the last ten years. Just think, when I started the blog I hadn’t even met my new daughter-in-law and grandchildren were just a dream!

So, let’s begin to catch up, shall we? In January we had the opportunity to visit friends in Whitefish, Montana. Eight of us boarded the train in Everett and arrived in Whitefish 12 hours later. Our friends picked us up and we spent the next few days in their lovely log home settled in 25 acres of snowy beauty. We spent a lot of time visiting and relaxing, but also got out and snowshoed. We drove up to Glacier National Park – surely one of the most beautiful places in the United States.

 

We were delayed a day and a half coming home because our train got stuck in Chicago due to the extreme cold. But no one, including our hostess, seemed to feel that was a hardship.

 

 

My renewed love affair with quilting continues. I’m In full piecing mode on my 30’s quilt. As you can see, creative minds are rarely tidy and when I’m in the midst of something I tend to have piles all over the place.

The quilting is coming along on my no name quilt. I still need to come up with some filler for the small purple border and the corners of the big triangles. But they are secured down, so that can wait until I’m further along and inspiration hits. Sorry for the fuzzy picture.

On the knitting front I’ve been concentrating on baby afghans. We seem to have a baby boom among our circle of family and friends. On our trip to Montana I was working on this one – Moving Mountains. It seemed very serenditous that I visited the little yarn shop in Whitefish and discovered that the designer, Aimee Alexander, is the owner!

 

I’m currently working on the next one, Mountain Chickadee, also by Aimee. I love her designs! And if my son is reading this, not to worry. I am working on your sweater too. But miles and miles of stockinette do not make for great photo ops.

I am also gearing up for the half marathon in April. Last year after we finished, Abby and I vowed we would never do it again. But, like childbirth, we forgot about the pain and signed up again. Only this time, Abby signed up for the FULL MARATHON! Way to go girl. I am only doing the half and this year will walk it. My sister promised that if I walked instead of ran she would do it with me, so I agreed. And honestly, I’m such a slow runner I don’t think it really makes that much difference.

So there you have my life caught up until now. Lots of fun things to blog about in the coming months – the Madrona Fiber Fest, a trip to Utah to visit state parks with Bill’s brother and wife and a cruise to Alaska in September! Oh, and let’s not forget cataract surgery in May, which I am very excited about!