Comforts of home

So good to have a vacation and so good to be back in my "natural surroundings" again. 

We had a good deal of rain during the last couple of days in Cumberland. The rain along with wind really brought down a lot of the beautifully colored leaves. I was glad I had taken this picture before that. 

Again, I was experimenting with the panorama feature on my new camera phone. This one was a success. Also still getting used to writing a blog post on this thing!  I haven't figured out how to resize pictures, move them around, align type and pictures, and create a live link. Any guidance or tips are welcome!

Sharing a picture of a great quilt put together by Joyce--

The silhouette blocks were a printed panel. The choice of the colored leaves on a black background is the perfect complement. 

I added some rows to my applecore quilt. These are big, about 10" or so in the long direction, so despite sewing slowly for all of those curves, the quilt grows quickly. 

Just a couple more rows, I think, to get the size I want. I consider this a "free" quilt. That means no fabric was directly purchased for it! It was from pieces already in the collection or obtained from repurposed pieces.

Now to get busy on my list for the day!  Plenty to check off before I get to go play with Ian tonight!

stitch by stitch

A bunch of pictures coming your way!

The Girl Gang:

Back row:  Nancy, Lois, Sue, Mary
Front row:  Joyce, Leisl

 Lots and lots of partial seams in this one!  

The pieces are all together, now it needs quilting and binding.

Jambalaya by Prairie Sky Quilting

A partial tote bag constructed, but I am lacking a good chunk of fabric for the lining.

Mary Lee's Tote by Totes by Sandy

quilty keychains

 Leisl assembled these quilt guild blocks with her go-to sashing design.

This really pulls together a mix of blocks and makes them appear much more cohesive.

Thora Lee's Christmas quilt

 Then Leisl stitched up another Christmas quilt--

Lady Fingers by Cozy Quilt Designs

And I started work on some Christmas stockings for new members of the family.  

One for Ian, one for the next grandchild, and one for a spare!

I keep adding to our row of matching Christmas stockings, pretty soon I will need a bigger mantle!
 Pattern is out of print, designed by Thimbleberries.

 A traditional log cabin made from lots of floral scraps by Joyce.

We are enjoying the pleasure of living sorta worry free for a few days.  It's kind of surreal to be a short distance away from home geographically, but in a whole other space mentally.

I've been experimenting with the panorama feature on my new iphone, so I can show you our sewing room in one big view--

Today is our last full day here, so we are getting serious about getting some projects done!  

More to share in the near future!

things learned

Wisdom shared is wisdom gained.  

So here are things I have learned this week--

Our new favorite iron is the Turbo Steam Master by Sunbeam.

Purchased at Costco for about $30.

We have been using 2 for about 16 hours a day for 4 days with zero complaints.

Sometimes bigger is not better.

We were using up a large bag of wool strips to make felted pincushions.  The strips are wound up tightly and fastened with a rubber band.  They are tied up inside a nylon stocking, then washed and dried a few times.  They usually come out looking cute like these--

But we had a few casualties of the wraps that were on the large size, they sort of burst and turned out more like softballs than pincushions!

Pellon 44F is a good thing.

Tshirt quilts continue to be a popular choice for high school and college students, so there have been a couple of them assembled during our time here. 

The interfacing of choice is Pellon P44F, applied to the wrong side of the tshirt sections and then sewn into the quilt to stabilize the knit and make it much more useable.

Clear Windex is just the ticket 

for removing pencil marks from fabric.  

Who knew??

Squash can be delicious!

Even though I'm not a big fan of squash, I had a second helping of Nancy's squash soup at lunch today.  

Here is Nancy's recipe:

1 Sunshine squash

1 Sweet Mama squash

(or any squash of your choice)

Cook in the microwave until soft, then after they are cooled peel them and chop them up.

In a large pot, melt 1/2 cup butter.  Add:

1 large onion, diced

2 ribs of celery, diced

Saute until translucent.

Add the chopped up squash and chicken or vegetable broth to cover.  Cook for "awhile" until the squash gets very soft but not completely mushy.

Use an immersion blender and blend some of the lumps out.

Add 2 tablespoons (roughly) of Tuscan seasoning from Costco, 1 can coconut milk and salt to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

Fiber field trip

An outing to Spooner today to Thimbles
Quilt Shop!

And yesterday found us in at Busy Bobbin in Rice Lake. 

I took a moment to snap this example of some of the gorgeous fall foliage. 

Time to walk over to the yarn shop, Northwinds Fiber and Book. Trying to resist being pulled into the bakery on my way past. What a fortunate combo, fabric, yarn, books and bakery all in a row!

cute to boot

Look at these little gems---zombiekeys!  Now I have no doubt about which key is which.  

Thanks, Nancy!

I'm savoring some days of quilting retreat at Beaver Lake Landing in Cumberland, WI.  Here are some things I have been working on---

a soft cuddly quilt

borders applied to a well-aged quilt, taking care to get those miters even!

And Strip Ribbons by GE Designs.

More to come tomorrow!  Happy October to you!

autumn wanderings

We have had some very fun family time lately.  Our son, Dan, came from Whitefish, MT, for a very nice vacation.  We took the opportunity to take Ian for an overnight at our house and a field trip on a beautiful fall day.  We went to Chisago City to visit Winehaven Winery.  While Bob and Dan sampled their wines, which proved to be a good experience, Ian and I explored the building and grounds.

We meandered south along the St. Croix river and took a break for a little playtime at a small orchard.  Ian really liked the cornbox and scooping up the kernels and feeling them drop on his cap when Uncle Dan played, too!

We continued down the river to Stillwater for a lunch stop, then over to Pinetree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake.  We had such a great time and ended up with a very tired but happy little boy who had no problems falling asleep that night!  It is such a good feeling to know that he is happy to spend the day with us doing things that he is totally not used to doing.  He is at an age when separating from mom and dad can be kind of tough.  Helping him through that and spending time learning new things is the best thing ever!