I’m on a mission – to finish up two of my UFO’s before the year is out!  I’m hoping that by focusing on one or two pieces and spending 15 minutes a day, I’ll actually get something done.   Both of the pieces are table runners that are ready for quilting.

The first is a pattern I found on our 40th Anniversary trip to Alaska in 2005.

Rainforest Rings

The colors reminds me of  the mountains and ocean waters of  Juno.  It has already been sandwiched and pin-basted and I am ready to machine quilt it.

The second is the Mystery Quilt from one of our Quilters’ Retreat at the Watson Homestead.  The top still needs to be prepared for quilting.

Red and Green

Let’s see how I do.

There’s Always Time to Quilt!

Well the day of the wedding arrived finally.  It was one of our beautiful Central New York sunny summer days, mid 80′s, a gentle breeze, and blue skies with fluffy blue clouds.  A perfect backdrop for an outdoor wedding.

I thought that I would share a few highlights from the day:

Marianne being escorted by her father and son

The Happy Couple

They brought out their wedding quilt and put is on display.  I think they really like it!

Wedding Quilt on Display

Along with the traditional Father/Daughter dance and Mother/Son dance, Marianne and Dan invited all father & daughters and mothers & sons to dance with them.

Dan and daughter Morgan, Father/Daughter dance

Dan with his mother, Judy

Billy, Marianne, & Austin, Mother/Son dance

The Chorus Line

Now that the wedding has happened it’s time for me to get back working on my UFO’s.  My first project is a double bed quilt for our guest room.  I want to make it a bit larger than the original pattern, so I think I’ll add some Seminole patchwork to the top and bottom.

There’s always time to Quilt!

Well the truth can now be told.  The Celtic quilt that I started in March is a wedding gift for our daughter Marianne and our new son Dan.  I was having such a good time making the quilt  that I didn’t want to wait until the wedding to put it on the blog.

They were married  this past Saturday, July 25 at their home in Amsterdam, NY. What a perfect day – and no rain.  We haven’t had many days this summer that have been completely rain-free.

I decided to give them their wedding gift early because I wanted to see them open it. Wanting to keep the quilt a secret until the last possible moment, I put it in a space bag and removed all the air with my vacuum. The the hard, bumpy package was as far from a soft quilt as you could get. And to take it one step further, I had my son Tom give her the package as though it was a present from him.

We had started the evening with a barbecue of Hoffman Hots and Snappys (I always have to bring her some of these Central New York favorites whenever we visit) and ended with dessert waffles from her new waffle maker, a gift from my son. (She just had to try it out!)

Their crew just couldn’t wait until the waffles were finished.

I don’t think they could have been more surprised when they finally realized that their gift was actually a quilt.   Marianne liked the Celtic medallion.  She has always told me that she is more Irish than Italian.  Dan was very impressed by the Seminole Patchwork and my story of how the Seminole Indians made sure that they used every available scrap of fabric in their clothing.  They turned plain, utilitarian clothing into works of art.

Marianne & Dan show off their wedding quilt

There’s always time to quilt!

Since I first saw Seminole Patchwork at the A-Tha-Thi-Ki Museum at Okalee, FL this past winter, I have been looking for a book of patterns.     I finally found The Seminole Patchwork Book by Cheryl Greider Bradkin.  Not only does it have more than  50 patterns, but it also shows the patterns used in clothing and home accessories.  The book is out of print (it was originally published in 1980).  I was able, however, to find a used copy on Amazon.com.

I read through the instructions on recommended tools and materials, and construction techniques.  How quilting has changed over the past 30 years.  This book was written before the advent of the rotary cutter.  Acrylic rulers with 1/8-inch markings were described as “the most versatile” type of ruler that could be used for trimming the patchwork strips.   It suggests that the best scissors to use is Gingher.  This is not surprising to anyone who has ever used a pair of Gingher shears.

I own 4 different types:   from the 8-inch dressmakers shears to the classic embroidery scissors.   Today the technique of trimming the patchwork pieces is made easy  with the June Taylor Shape Cut ruler.  Initially the pieces needed to be marked with sharpened soft or chalk pencils, almost used up soap cakes, etc. and then trimmed with the scissors.

Now my dilemma – Which of the 60 patterns should I use on my next quilt?

There’s Always Time to Quilt!

Unfortunately all vacations have to come to an end.  Wednesday turned out to be a good day.  We spent the morning at the campsite – Tom going through the pictures he took earlier and me finishing the binding on my Celtic quilt and reading.

One of the books I read this past week was Jennifer Chiaverini’s latest novel, The Lost Quilter. It continues the tale of the fugitive slave, Joanna from The Runaway Quilt.  She  came to Elm Creek Farm via the Underground Railroad in 1859.  The new book chronicles her life after her return by slave catchers to her owner in Virginia.  This novel is centered  around the new quilt  that Joanna creates as she dreams of freedom and her return journey north.  In the quilt she skillfully hides clues to landmarks of the trail along the Underground Railroad.

Then in the afternoon we took the kayaks out again.  It was beautiful.  I can’t imagine anything more relaxing than gliding across the water in a kayak, listening to nothing but the sounds of nature.

Before we left to go kayaking Dan, the ranger at Forked Lake, invited Tom and I along with our RV neighbors, Harold and Charla,  to share some of his homemade clam chowder that he was making in the slow cooker that day.   (It’s a family recipe developed by his father).  So later in the evening we gathered at Harold and Charla’s campsite for  chowder.   It was great!

We decided to make it a progressive supper with dessert at our site.

Tom, Charla, Harold, Dan gather at our camper

So we put together a dessert that we could cook outside.

Tom’s apple crisp cooking over an open fire.

What a delightful way to spend an evening:  cooking over an open fire, gathering with friends and sharing a meal.

The big finish!

We ended the evening with a slide show of Tom’s pictures of Forked Lake.

We’ve camped there since 2005.

There’s always time to quilt!