Block Play: new prototypes

Hello, everyone.

With a new baby quilt in need of creation, new block designs are being tried out.

I looked at boot blocks on Pinterest, but they lacked something IMHO. One thing they tended to lack was a square shape. (I'm just not thrilled with the 5" wide by 6" tall kind of blocks. I'm also not thrilled with the various 5" square blocks...even though that at least allows the designer to have a symmetrical design around an actual center.) This boot block is, as usual, mocked up in glittery fabrics that are on my "sure to tarnish" pile. The half-square triangle boot heel is a little steep but it gets the idea across. It won't be quite as steeply sloped when it's in a matrix of other squares and the bottom 1/4" has been covered by the seam, of course. Likewise for the curve at the top of the boot's shaft--it won't be so "triangle-y" when the seam is chopping off the top 1/4" of the block.

The spiral on the bottom looks much better from a distance than it does in the hand--the light blue puppies print contrasts better at a distance.

Just for pretty: a flower

Hello, everyone.

This is a wild columbine that we saw at Pere Marquette State Park, outside of Alton, Illinois, in June.

It's a low-growing plant, like most columbines. It needs regular water and woodsy soil.

Progress is happening on various projects, but nothing to write about just yet.  And a new baby quilt has been begun. (Yay!)

Progress on the Fidget Quilt

Hello, everyone.

I have completed my first Fidget Quilt.  It was completed with items and fabrics from stash: some red corduroy, quilting fabrics, fuzzy knit binding, a bit of mesh web and a shaped cut of yellow duck, plus some Pure and Natural thin cotton batting for a little bit of body.

Echo quilting inside the flame

The underside of the flame

Layout of flame, zipper, and on the left a tassel and embroidery bits, with candidates for top and bottom edges. Only the cows and sunflowers print was used as the top then was the correct size.

The pool of bits n bobs. Used: the shell, the flame, yellow-bound zipper, flame, and some odd bits.

The zipper got a bead pull--this needed some special treatment, just because the person who gets the quilt will probably pull the zipper pull a lot. I used double stranded Fireline to attach a red bead and a black stone cross, with a small seed bead as the bottom stop for the set. Then I used more doubled
Fireline to go through all of it again. A loop of fabric was added near the top and a jingle bell tied on to it, also. The odd bits of things--an antiqued brass disc, a tiny dove, a beach shell--were securely sewn down. The zip was attached around the edge of the binding with a blind-hem stitch.

 The little barn on the bottom edge got outline quilted.


After all the quilting was done and the dangly bits added, a brown bias binding was added to all four edges.

Ready for delivery.

Walk Report: Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park and South Padre Island Boardwalks (birding center)

Hello, everyone.

As promised, a walk report for today.

The morning was beautifully cool yesterday...by South Texas standards at least. About 70F when we woke up, so we threw clothes on, gave creatures a little bit of fresh air for necessity, and jumped into the truck to go walk.

First stop, the Texas Welcome Center in Harlingen, where we got more detailed driving info for the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park. Friends, this is one of the national parks with no entry charge. (Enjoy it while you can!) We picked up pamphlets there, including a map of the Historic Battlefield Trail through Brownsville. Palo Alto is one of the end points of this approximately 10 mile long trail that goes from downtown Brownsville out to the battlefield along the old, abandoned railroad right-of-way.

At the battlefield, on Paredes Line Road (FM 1847), we found a lovely, clean visitors center with a park ranger in attendance, interesting and informative displays about the battle and its context, and a small, but clean, restroom facility. The restroom is accessible from outside--though I'm fairly sure they lock the front gate at the road when the park is closed.

Shaded picnic benches at Palo Alto Battlefield Nat'l Historic Park. The clumps of grass in the foreground grow on all of the higher ground in the area.

View along the Mexican Army's lines--pennants in red, white, and green for the Mexicans. On the other side, pennants in red, white, and blue for the Americans. The Mexican lines were actually on somewhat higher and drier ground--note the yuccas.

19th Century "shock and awe"--US Army large cannon--this view is from the American lines toward the Mexican lines.

 An overlook with shade and interpretive signage has been placed out in what was the "no man's land" of the battle.

Tracks of some of the many animals that live in the park. 

 We saw tracks and scat of various animals--javelinas, nilgai, possibly other deer, and some burrows that might have been homes for snakes or for crayfish. The ground is low and tends toward the swampy.

It's not easy to pick out at first, but the Rio Grande River was adjacent to the US Army lines at the time. (Or possibly it was already a cut off oxbow, called locally a resaca.) Where the old river bed was, there are no yucca plants or large grass clumps. It has defined banks that are concealed in the natural brushy cover, but the plants growing in the old bed are grayish and short. The plants on the former river banks and general area include Spanish Dagger yuccas, large clumps of pokey-leaved grasses, prickly pear cactus, and assorted wildflowers.

After visiting the park (about a mile or so stroll) we drove down to South Padre Island and strolled on the nature-viewing boardwalks at the Convention Center.

A heron looking for his lunch.

 We have heard that there is at least one American Alligator living in the mangroves and grasses and small water channels here, but we didn't see any.

A crab hiding in the roots of the grass. (The boardwalk is on the Laguna Madre estuary side of the island. No waves to speak of, and generally smooth water.

 While I didn't get any photos of them, there were quite a few diving ducks on the water of the Laguna. They were making splashy sounds when they dove under the ripples to fish.

View toward Laguna Madre.

 We didn't cover all of the boardwalks at the Island on this visit. We had gone over some very muddy, unused, rough road between Brownsville and Port Isabel and needed to clean the undercarriage of the mud gathered en route. Old Port Isabel Road is apparently only used within the city of Brownsville. Going toward Port Isabel, it's basically an unused track. Four wheel drive vehicles strongly recommended. Avoid this stretch if the weather has been wet, as the road surface was low-lying and full of ruts and mud pots even in dry weather when we went.

If you visit the battlefield and then want to go toward the beaches of South Padre, we recommend that you return to the expressway to get to Highway 100 to Port Isabel, or ask the park ranger if driving north on Paredes Line Road will give a good surface all the way to 100.

Just for fun: South Texas skies

Hello, everyone.

The Alzheimers fidget quilt is coming along. (Photos soon!)

Also, when the photos are transferred from camera to computer, there will be a Walk Report!

Blogger: surprise! We ate your link list!

Hello, everyone.

As it says in the title, the favorite blog list has disappeared. The gadget is no longer in the gadget list. Who knows why? Now there is a different link collection gadget.

Why can't people leave what isn't broken alone?

Trying something completely new: a fidget blanket

Hello, everyone.

Back at the computer again, and looking forward to getting some cool weather soon. We hope! It was 91F when we stepped out the door to walk a little this evening.

There have been, among the other sewing and quilting pins, a number of Pinterest items on my feed about Alzheimers fidget quilts. Or blankets. Or mats. Also called dementia fidget quilts.  It seemed like a good thing to figure out for gifts.

The pictures here are in-progress photos. (It's not done yet.)

Dangles and doo-dads to put onto the top side when it's assembled.

 I found a zipper to put on the top, and some dangly bits, and an old yellow shape that now has an orange mesh loop at the base to fiddle with. Also made a little tassel out of leftover fuzzy white binding.

The top side is getting another strip along the upper edge. 

I found some red corduroy to use as the back side, and a smaller piece that was full of embroidery stitch testing. I'm planning to add the white tassel to the piece of embroidered corduroy. The zip and the yellow shape will go on the brown piece, and the dangly bits will be scattered here-n-there.