Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Quilting, Sewing, Crocheting, Celebrating

Thinking to collect and purge them from my mind, I made a (too) long list of all the bad things 2020 has presented. Alongside the list I wrote scripture from Psalm 25:
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart, and free me from my anguish. 

Praying into this Word through these tough times - not only for myself but for others- is all I know to do. There's nowhere else to turn but toward God.

As you might deduce, I'm not happy about still staying at home. It's getting old. It makes me sad.

But I'm also trying very hard to count my blessings: manageable good health; mobility that I can exercise and take long power walks; (too) good food to eat; and a lovely, safe harbor in which to live and pass pleasant days creating. I'm also grateful that my dad is safe, though alone in independent living in a care facility; our kids and spouses still have jobs; our grandkids are returning to a different-looking school year; and no one in the family has contracted COVID-19. 

For us personally, everything is fine. It's just tough not to carry the weight of the world, including anxiety for all the people living in the path of Hurricane Laura. While at QuiltCon in February (that seems years ago, now) I met, for the first time, an Instagram friend @mtweedel who lives in Beaumont, Texas. I've been in touch, and she has evacuated.

Making hasn't stopped. I've continued to quilt my Hole Punch Ribbon quilt. The wavy designs I had in mind are coming along nicely. 

While this is mostly walking foot quilting, I've put on the FMQ foot a few times too, for some of the curves that are a little tight. 

To quilt this design, I used a blue wash-out marker to draw divisions along each side of the quilt. I drew about ten of them - five on each side of the center design. That "vertical" wave in the center is one of them. 

Then, starting at the bottom, on one side, I filled in that section. When it was complete, I moved to the opposite side (still at the bottom), and filled in that section. Thus, I've been alternating from side to side, section to section. I have two more sections to quilt. 


An aqua solid probably wasn't the best choice for backing, but it's the only fabric that looked okay with the front, and for which I had the yardage needed. To allow for an orange top thread and aqua bobbin thread, I change the Bernina's tension to 4.75. That's so the aqua thread isn't visible on the quilt top. 

The quilting texture is showing very nicely, probably due to using - for the first time - Hobbs 80/20 that's cotton and wool! I bought a king-sized batt to try, so will happily use this again in another quilt.

After 2½ years, I finished crocheting the Moorland afghan. It's 46" X 62", and it covers me nicely while watching TV under the ceiling fan. Of course, I didn't use the colors called for in the pattern, but substituted my own range of 15 Florida colors.


The other fun I've had is prepping to make some clothes. Using two different downloadable PDFs made for quite a bit of printing and taping paper together to get the patterns I wanted, so doing that as well as cutting out garments, took most of a day. But now I have four garments ready to sew: knit dress; chambray dress; knit top; and bottom weight shorts. Depending on the sizing and fit, I anticipate making more clothes so as not to make so many quilts!

Today is our 48th wedding anniversary. Our celebration looks different than past anniversaries, as we're staying at home, jointly preparing a special meal (I'm making French bread and sort of tiramisu dessert), eating by candlelight on the lanai (if it isn't too hot), and opening a bottle of Reverie wine we bought in Napa Valley in 2011. Here's my old blog post about that out-west trip.

We were so young! My talented mother made my wedding gown and created my headpiece. 

Book Recommendation #50! 

I've read, reviewed and rated 50 books so far this year!
 
The Light in the Ruins
 by Chris Bohjalian is another story that's told between two times: 1955 in Florence (Italy) with detective Serafina; and 1943 in the Italian countryside villa of then 18 year-old Cristina Rosati and her family. Serafina must find a killer, and that leads her to search for remembrances of her own war story. To figure out "who done it," the reader is returned again and again to what happened during the war among German and Facist regimes, as Cristina falls for a German officer and the Rosati family's villa becomes the scene of history, war, and lost innocence. The narrator is one you've likely heard before: Cassandra Campbell.

As much as I often like this kind of book, for a while I intend to lay off of fictionalized stories of WWII. I've read plenty of such books that are excellent - think Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, and The Lost Vintage by Ann Mah  - but I'm ready for topics that are a little lighter.

Linda's score: 3.8/5.0

If you comment on this blog post, you'll notice that I've added "word verification." That's because, since last week I've had more than a dozen smutty, foul and disgusting comments posted on old blog posts. Just as soon as I reported each one as spam and deleted it, another appears on the same post! I felt it necessary to put a stop to them with word verification. I'll return comments to the old format when I think it's safe again. Linda

17 comments:

  1. Quilting is coming along great! And happy anniversary!

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  2. Greetings Mrs. Linda!!
    Happy Anniversary!! Thank you for the 48 years of commitment you and your husband have exemplified for your family and the world! May you enjoy many, many more, just may they be maskless and offering more options and choices on venues for celebration. (Although our experience in 31 years has been that sometimes the home celebrations are even more relaxed and sweeter.) your wedding photo is so lovely, and your Mom’s skill and love are evident in your beautiful gown and headpiece.

    We are so grateful to know y’all are safe. After assisting the good folks of my hometown, Houston, following Hurricane Harvey in 2017, our prayers have been for all impacted by Laura. And we too are counting our blessings rather than our troubles - we Choose Joy!

    Your afghan is pure joy - truly glorious! Chuckling - Our family thought we were the only ones who used quilts or coverlets in summer. Your stitching is absolutely beautiful, and your Floridian colors inspire!
    And thank you for sharing the pics of your Hole Punch Ribbon quilting. I’ve always wondered how those curving sections were created. WHEN ;) you teach a class that’s available to your readership My hand is up!!
    And I’m with you - while I gravitate to historical, these times, just as I imagine they did for folks during WWII, call for some lighter, brighter, hope-filled distraction or humor to counter the challenges going on. Thinking that’s why the shenanigans and sounds of Bob, Bing, the Andrews Sisters, Ginger Rogers, and all the rest of our Fav classics were so popular. May we all be lifted above to see through with perspective from the heights!
    Thank you for your lifting post today!!

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  3. Oooo - am I allowed one more comment? Your clothing sewing! This topic is how I found your blog originally. What patterns did you find? What type of fabrics are those in your pics? This is something I really want to pursue and develop. Just makes so much more sense to me, to be able to customize and actually choose style, fabric, color etc. rather then floundering in someone else’s generic style decisions.
    Thank you again for inspiring us to stretch, reach, expand, and try more!

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  4. Happy anniversary. Time sure flies. This is such a challenging time for everyone, but I can tell you that your blog is always so uplifting, even if you are struggling. You keep on keeping on and making wonderful quilts, clothing, and other great items. Your machine quilting is sensational and I appreciate you sharing it with us. Hang in there, my lovely friend. This too shall pass.

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  5. First, a VERY happy anniversary to you both! Your newest quilt is looking absolutely gorgeous with all your quilting, and the loft of that batting is the perfect choice for this quilt. Will be trying the 80/20 cotton-wool batting next time I need to order. Yes, we're all becoming exhausted at the continuing restrictions that seem never-ending and changing constantly at the whim of our state dictators. And of course everyone who has ever sent young children to school already knows that the first month back is filled with everything from stomach bugs to colds and flu and most of the kids and probably their teachers are sick at some point during those first weeks. Happens every year.

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  6. I love this quilt! And you’re good quilting it yourself, I just don’t have the sos ever patience having used a longarm before, even tho I dint have access to one right now.

    And, that crochet quilt is lovely! I learned to crochet in college, but haven’t been able to get the rhythm of it again. And, Happy 48th! Staying close to home, safe, and exploring quieter times vs being out and about, busy, busy, busy, I feel is a wonderful gift. Enjoy it while you can,

    And, keep the word verification, easy peasy, keeps your mind at ease from all those who lurk in the big wide web.

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    Replies
    1. Hello Surya! How nice of you to comment, but I am unable to reply to you personally because your Google profile is set to "no-reply commenter." But thank you for liking the quilting I'm doing. I've tried a longarm, and couldn't quilt well, so, since 2002, I've quilted all my own quilts at home on my sewing machine. It's nice of you to like my crocheted afghan too. It was a fun piece to make, but I doubt I'll make any other crocheted items for a long time. Living in Florida as we do, we don't need any more coverings! :-) We appreciate your anniversary good wishes. We miss being out and about, participating in our community's recreation center activities. I haven't been able to line dance, play in my ukulele clubs, or attend two different quilting groups of activities. It's a sad time, when we have to watch the world go by. Thanks for the word verification tip. I'll keep it in mind.

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  7. Bon anniversaire :-) Your quilting is so great!!!

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  8. Happy Anniversary, and wishing you many more. How wonderful to have spent 48 wonderful years together.

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  9. I agree this is all getting old. I am happy though that I have many creative outlets. I know many people that are just watching TV or looking at the computer, with no hobbies. That makes me kind of sad, such a waste of time.
    Your quilt is beautiful and I love the crochet, something I have yet to master!

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  10. Glynis covered my thought well..... my old stomping grounds is Galveston Island which is not getting a direct hit.... yah! sounds like there will be plenty of water.

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  11. Congrats on 48 years! It's a true testament to your love and devotion to each other. I think you must have 12 when you got married though. All the quilting is looking so good. It's a lot of curved walking foot work. Lastly the colors of your afghan are so you and so pretty in the subtle gradation. I haven't a clue how to knit or crochet and have no desire to learn. Don't need any new hobbies as I can't keep up with what I do want to make.

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  12. Happy Anniversary! You must have only be 15 when you were married, surely! All your quilting looks fabulous! I also changed the setting on my comments too...I guess too many trolls sitting at home with nothing to do. Do you keep a record of the books you read, apart from at the end of your blogposts? I used to keep a written record for over ten years, but have lost track in the last twelve months or so.

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  13. Beautiful productivity from you Linda. I love the quilting, it is exceptional, and crochet, that blanket is a masterpiece.
    I am happy to read your adventures today. Yay covid.....
    And I am sure you are enjoying the convention this week I have been too
    Your wedding picture is adorable, you look like a baby!!! that is what hubbs and I call youngsters now, "just babies"
    And back then we thought we were old and wise
    I love you Linda, Have another fun day. Behave!
    I am leaving in a few minutes to go play with tiny grand girls and to hold a 6 month old grand boy that weighs a ton.

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  14. Well happy, happy anniversary! Your dress was lovely, but the headpiece is really admirable. I see where your talent comes from. And amen to your thoughts. Where do we go but to Him? I'm really loving my Bible Recap daily study. Some days have a heaviness about them and yet so much to be grateful for. Your wave quilting is just PERFECT for this piece. Looking really lovely. And the eye-popping toasty afghan- well done. I will look into word verification as well, because old posts all of a sudden have sketchy comments. I've removed some, but the word may help. Enjoy your special dinner celebration! (PS- the trinket tray I showed is a decoupage-style project-fun)

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  15. Beautiful quilt and I love the quilting swirls - Happy Anniversay!

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  16. Happy Anniversary--and congratulations on figuring out a way to celebrate at home! I hope for many more happy years.
    I've loved seeing your quilting take shape, and since I'm moving backwards, maybe the reason why your quilt was not distorted so badly was because the care you took to quilt first one side, and then the other? I love what you've done and it's good to get the technical side of things explained. Lovely, lovely -- both you as a bride and this quilt!

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