Euro Cup Challenge

 

Since I am plopped on the couch all day anyway watching the games I am determined to get the big center blocks of the squares quilt done before the tournament is over and the Tour de France begins. I have four more to do. 

I did have a scary moment with the marking pens this week. I forgot to iron the marks out and left them in for a few days. I was worried they wouldn't iron out but they did. Whew...that would have been terrible. It still feels wrong to use a pen to mark up your quilt but so far these pens have been great. I'll never go back to chalk. 

I usually work on the table in the sewing room but I have to say curling up on the couch in front of the TV makes this project much more fun. So much fun that I find myself wondering if there is something else in the orphaned top pile that could use some hand quilting when this one is done. 

Pillow Talk

 

I've been wondering what to do with Tracery. It's too small. Way, way too small. 

It doesn't even come close to closing in front and the fit is a bit awkward. I tried to turn a pullover vest into a button up and it just didn't work. 

I don't want to part with her because we have a history. A long, long history. I've been working on her since 2014. Arne and Carlos have been all about the knitted pillows this week and I remembered I had several of these pillow forms in the stash so..........

......I think I just might have a plan. I think she'll make a beautiful pillow.  

Wednesday WIPs

 

Festive Doodle is getting a sleeve. The interesting thing about it is that there is no sleeve shaping at all. Just a tube. I tried it on and it seems to work which is great because I hate increasing or decreasing when I am working with colors. It does something to my brain. 

I shamed myself into finishing the body of the first of the the thrummed mitts and started the second. I'll do both thumbs later at the same time so I don't have to figure it out twice.

Here's an inside out look at the mitt. It's a soft cloud of warm in the winter. I love these things. 

The big blue man sock is so pretty. This is my favorite Hawthorne colorway so far. It's Irvington. 

This week's Audun blocks look like this. I was going to lay all of the finished ones out together for a family photo but a mosquito chased me back into the house. Darn things. 

A Very Tiny Needle Tuesday

 

The tiniest of all my needles, my quilting betweens, have been hard at work this week on the scrappy hexie table runner. 

I've been watching Euro Cup soccer and paper piecing at the same time. I've got one more whole row done and just started another. 

I've discovered if I join just five pieces at a time and then sew them on leaving the last one unsewn for future joining it's a lot easier than trying to sew on a whole row of 20 pieces at one time. 

Here's a view of the back for those of you curious about the process. The paper comes out when the whole thing is done. Kate at the Last Homely House on You Tube has been giving excellent tutorials on the process and you should see the full sized quilt she is making for her granddaughter using this method. It really is a work of art....and patience. 

Brood X

 

I don't have any cute cicada photos to show because I haven't seen any-alive. We don't get them here on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay because....well, they really don't know why but we don't. However what apparently we do get are lots and lots of dead ones. Look what washed up on the beach over the weekend. Millions of the poor dead things. They think they might have washed down from up north after all the rains we had. 

The beach patrol was sweeping them up by the bucket full from off the boardwalk where the winds and waves have tossed them. They missed a few here and there. 

They've been keeping folks off the beach but the geese don't mind them. In fact now we've got flocks and flocks of Canadian geese living it up on the buggy buffet Mother Nature just served up. Messy beach indeed. It's pretty terrible out there right now. 

Growing Things

 

All this rain we've been having has made my outside plants very happy. I've got lots of little tomatoes on the way and two little green peppers.

My herb pot is happy too. I thought I was going to lose my basil but it bounced back once it got hot. 

My pot of Black-eyed Susan's bounced back too. A late frost almost did them in. 

The deer haven't eaten all the hostas yet and they are getting ready to bloom.

The hydrangea is already in bloom. I want to replant the front beds one day and fill them with hydrangea. They remind me of weddings and little beach cottages and I really like weddings and little beach cottages. 

Under Cover

 

We haven't been out of the house in days. First it was too blistering hot and then it was rain. We thought be might dodge the rain yesterday morning but as soon as we started walking the skies opened up.

We didn't feel like going home so we drove around town and came upon the new parking garage for the local resort down the street.

This is some parking garage. It has an attached bar and restaurant and quite a spectacular view. The whole place was practically deserted and Pup had a good time running around out of the rain. 

From the roof you an see all the construction going on. 

In June 2022 the place is supposed to look like this. It won't be empty or Pup friendly then I suppose. Too bad.