Starting a new project

Hello,everyone.

As y'all know, it's pretty difficult not to have a project to work on. (In fact, that may be the most difficult part of going on pilgrimage for me: lack of crafting en route, for WEEKS AND WEEKS. Part of the homesickness is lack of creating.) True to form, I have begun a new project.

This is a patriotic wall hanging from a purchased pattern. I have attempted to reduce the size, as the original is 70 inches tall. That's quite a bit of something to find a hanging space for! The project card is oneof the photos. The other is an in-process photo of the field of stars for this bunting.

The stars are created very cleverly in my opinion. Instead of making a standard star block, the pattern calls for adding smaller squares to corners of a contrast square, then arranging the squares in a surrounding square around a central square that matches the little corners. There are also squares of background that have the white surrounded by contrasted pieces. All of the little squares get trimmed to become triangles after attachment.

The fabrics are quilting cottons, a lovely deep batik for the main blue, an assortment of whites. Soon an assortment of reds will join the party.

The plan here is to make the flag bunting, add a backing and binding and hanging sleeve, and call it done. I don't intend to quilt this one. It's just a seasonal wall decoration, not a throw or other kind of blanket.

Pretty pre-dawn sky

Hello, everyone.

Tge other day I saw a piece at spaceweather.com about a beautiful sky display of planets and the moon. On the twenty-fourth, I woke up before dawn, and, since I was awake anyway, went outside to see if the promised view of moon and planets was available. In my area, especially in the summer, clouds come in after sundown and the morning is still cloudy for a while. This time, though, I got lucky.

The sky was crystal clear, and I was able to see at least two planets. There may have been more, but I was only able to fit a couple into the phone camera. It was so pretty!

The Third Machine Cover

Hello,everyone.

Today the third in the set of matching dust covers was completed. Like the others, it has a pocket for the operating manual. As it happens, there is a lot of extra pocket space...I suppose I could have made a smaller pocket, and less deep, so the book would be centered. There was plenty of the gold porthole mesh as it was, and I don't want to redo the pocket.

The fabric for the top is, again, the Australian aboriginal themed print. The fabrics in this line are really pretty, even the ones with a more regimented pattern There was still some of the golden hash-marks print for the pocket binding and handle. And the ends and back are in the same purple solid. It's my theory that the repeating fabrics will help the unify the room.

On a sadder note, my favorite local quilt shop is closing. The owners have decided to retire. One cannot stand in the way when people do what makes sense for them. One can only give good wishes to them for the future. Best to y'all, B. and R!

Window box flower

Hello, everyone.

I have a photo of the first blossom in the "trough" window boxes. This is a canna lily, a tropical tuberous plant with huge leaves.

Also I am trying to learn how to get readable text while posting from my phone. The working theory is that I need to learn some HTML to do this. So we'll see what happens!

Second new project for the sewing room

Hello, everyone. Today's post is a companion to the last: another dust cover.

This is a set of views, because I am unreasonably proud of having adapted Cindicrafter's machine cover system to my somewhatsimpler needs. The ends were spiral quilted with the walking foot. The back was wavy quilted, using one of those neat multicolor threads. And, yes, I am using Cindicrafter's idea of the manual-pocket. I like it better on the front, so I can see where the book is. (That doesn't work with the serger, with its bumpy front profile, but it works very well with the sewing machine.) The fabrics are the same, golden porthole mesh pocket and quilting cotton, with the same Australian themed prints for the front and handle.

A new project for my sewing room

Hello, everyone. Today I am sharing a photo of the first part of a new sewing project: dust covers for my machines. The sewing studio is not a large room, like some of the ones we can see in Youtube that are garage conversions. This room is a smallish bedroom in an ordinary house. The machines all live together on a table, and to keep down the feeling of being crowded I decided to make these new ones the same color as an older one that is already there: purple. This is the cover for my server.

11I took an idea from a lady on Youtube, if I remember, I will give a link to her video when I can work with my desktop again. She not only has matching dust covers for her multiple machines, she has included a pocket for the operating manual on the cover. That way it is always easy to find. I put the serger book pocket on the back of the cover, because the front has various shapes in the profile. I think the other covers will have the book pocket in the front so I can see it. Fabric: quilting cotton in an Australian themed dot print for the fronts. Plain purple cotton for the ends and back. Plain cream quilting cotton for the lining and every scrap of batting in the stash for structure. Golden porthole mesh for the pockets. Some of this is from stash, but the dotted print is from my favorite local quilt shop, A Block Away. The pieces of the covers are being quilted before assembly. Quilting a three dimensional object would just be too difficult!

The Great Rivers museum

Hello, everyone. Continuing on yesterday's topic, we visited the museum at the amazingly large lock and dam setup near where Lewis and Clark prepared for their survey of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Yesterday's post showed a beautiful native shrub in the parking area. Today I will mention a few of the things inside.

This display shows the purpose of lock and dam systems. This one is on the Mississippi, but there are many others around the world. It is always interesting to see a barge and tug group go through the locks.

Beautiful native flowers

Hello, everyone. We visited a museum on the famous Mississippi River recently. I may have another post or two about it. This post is to share with y'all the beautiful native plants growing on the grounds outside.

I believe I have seen plants like this at the web site of Plant Delights nursery.

Cutest tire cover in the world

Hello, everyone. I am posting this from the road. We were driving today and saw this Casita trailer with the most adorable spare tire cover.

This was so cute! I don't know if the lady of that family made it, but I am blown away by the pieced design of mountains and a trailer. (Y'all will note that I obscured the license plate in the photo. This is to protect the privacy of those folks.) I love to see pieced items and embroidery and quilted items.