The Remains of the Day

 I must confess that lately my normally bubbly "can do" attitude has lost its fizz. It came to a head yesterday when I wanted to Zoom with friends and just couldn't manage it. The plasma infusion the day before had zapped all my energy. So... as I started my little pity party about the things I cannot do right now, then I picked up pen and paper and started a list of things I am thankful for.

I am thankful that I was able to attend my local quilt group meeting a few weeks ago. I had not been since May and it was so good to see everyone! We exchanged Christmas postcards. This is the little one I made.

And this is the one I got made by Nell.

That is my friend Jennifer next to me who had a big show and tell. She cut her long hair really short and it was a hoot for her to reveal it by taking off her Santa hat! My friend Kathy finished quilting my Betsey Chutchian circles quilt. She did an amazing job!!

I was finally able to hand this over to my friend Sharon who will take it to a deserving patient at the infusion center. 

I am also thankful that I was able to spend a few hours with my Seven Sistahs last week. We had such fun. We exchanged gifts and every one of them was so unique. Including my "glass bacon" ornament from Susie Karen.

They all joke about my love of bacon and this will now have a place of honor on my tree. Karen showed her amazing quilt that she started in one of the recent workshops. Look at those circling geese!

Tina showed us this fabulous top made entirely of leftovers.

And this one boggles my mind.

She took the cutoff pieces of my "Dear Jane" failed border and made the most beautiful design for the center.

So creative! of course there is never enough food at our gatherings...

I am thankful that my blog book will cost a whole lot less this year! Every year I use "Blog to Print" and make a book of all my blog posts. It is fun to look back through the year in one easy volume. This year's will be skinny and "cheap" to print! 

I am thankful that I am able to now sit and sew most days. I have to limit it to 15 to 20 minutes at a time in between rests, but I am very thankful to be back in the sewing saddle! 

And, most of all I am thankful for a wonderful family and network of friends who have been with me every step of the way. I feel better already!! 

Enjoy your day and hope you find lots of things to be thankful for!

November Monthly Mini

 November's monthly mini is aptly called "Leftovers". I used all the tiny triangles leftover from my October mini and pieced them in rows with a tiny strip of this fabulous Betsy Chutchian stripe and voila! I can't remember who designed the serpentine stripe border print, but I love it and it seemed to fin (almost) perfectly. 

 

I must thank all the merry minimakers for sticking with me this year. It has been challenging and I hope to get back to reading and commenting on a regular basis!!

Quilting Babcia (Amity Quilter)

Randy (Barrister’s Block)

Cathy (Big Lake Quilter) 

Cyndi (Busy Thimble)

Grace (City Mouse Quilter)

Barb (Fun with Barb)

Gladi (Gladi’s Quilts)

Shasta (High Road Quilter)

Nancy (Joy For Grace)

Joy (Joyful Quilter)

Julie (Julie K Quilts)

Kathy (Kathy’s Quilts)

Katy (Katy Quilts)

Sandy (My Material Creations)

Meredithe (Pomegranate and Chintz)

Angie (Quilting on the Crescent)

Barbara (Quilts, Gravestones and Elusive Ancestors)

Janet (Rogue Quilts)

Tazzie (Tazzie Quilts)

My Eight Year Quilt

 I started this quilt back in 2014!! At the time, I hadn't intended to us it as my "filler project", but that is just what it became. I finished all the 9-patches and hand appliqued and quilted all the circle blocks fairly quickly. 

 

Then, other hand work came along and I took my time hand binding each little 3" block (all 219 of them) whenever the mood struck. I even kept a tin of them in the car for "road trips" or waiting at extra long traffic lights (just kidding!). 

It took a few years to get all the bindings done and then they sat dormant in a box, waiting and waiting for assembly. 

So, after surgery in September, I needed something super simple to start my quilting journey again and the box came to light. I arranged the blocks as best I could and placed each row in baggies and started to assemble them. 

 

And, 3 months later... 

 

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True to naming my potholder quilts with some sort of cooking or food reference, this one has become "Donut Holes"!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving to all! 

I hope you get a little quiet quilting time amongst all the cooking!

Community Supper - the story lives on...

 I have good news for all of you who participated in the "Community Supper" potholder quilt. I decided the best way to share this truly "community" quilt, was to donate it to an institution where the public would have a chance to view it from time to time. My first choice was the New England Quilt Museum and I was pleased to have them accept it! You should all be very proud! I will do my very best to contact each participant whenever the museum puts it on exhibition so you may be able to see it in person. Thanks once again to all who had a hand in it!

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So much has happened since my last post. I fully intended to be a better blogger, but, I still have very limited energy and since I have been able to quilt again after the infusions, I have a choice of quilting or writing posts. Hmmm.... I will be better soon!!

One thing that happened (while I was sleeping) is that my "Petaluma" quilt (made with a pattern by Collector with  Needle) was displayed at the Houston Quilt Festival.

Dawn took some wonderful videos of the exhibition. I hope to someday go down the rabbit hole and attend the festival!!

I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!! Hope your holiday weekend will be filled with quilty fun!

October Monthly Mini

 I am so thankful to be feeling better that I had to make something "cheerful". I love this fabulous cheddar color all year long, but it is particularly fun to use in the fall. Just a few simple appliqued circles and some broken dishes around the outside and voila, another mini is born. I'm calling this one "Unbroken" as I am feeling better each day. So happy to be quilting again!! 

I used one of my favorite cheater prints on the back. Don't worry Kyle, the label will go on soon!! 

Hope all of the mini makers had as much fun as I did this month!

Quilting Babcia (Amity Quilter)

Randy (Barrister’s Block)

Cathy (Big Lake Quilter) 

Cyndi (Busy Thimble)

Grace (City Mouse Quilter)

Barb (Fun with Barb)

Gladi (Gladi’s Quilts)

Shasta (High Road Quilter)

Nancy (Joy For Grace)

Joy (Joyful Quilter)

Julie (Julie K Quilts)

Kathy (Kathy’s Quilts)

Katy (Katy Quilts)

Sandy (My Material Creations)

Meredithe (Pomegranate and Chintz)

Angie (Quilting on the Crescent)

Barbara (Quilts, Gravestones and Elusive Ancestors)

Janet (Rogue Quilts)

Tazzie (Tazzie Quilts)

She's Back! - But where do I start?

 So much has happened since my diagnosis in May. I'd like to say the summer flew by, but in fact, it was indeed a struggle. My surgery (mid-September) was a success and although it will be months before I am back to "normal", I am making progress every day. I'd like to say that I will be all caught up in my blog reading and commenting soon, but I have to be realistic and say that I just hope to move forward as quickly as I can and backtrack when time allows. 

After 6 months of low to no energy for quilting, I am finally back in the sewing room! I am trying to finish all the things I was working on last spring. 😂 Well, I am making an effort anyway. I can see some of the UFO's will be passed on to an unsuspecting friend!

I was able to finish this top consisting of 255 four inch blocks. All the hand appliqued circles were done so I just had to assemble them. Each fabric is a different Betsy Chutchian print. It is a true charm quilt with over 500 different fabrics!! I am calling it "Charming Betsy". I promise to get a better photo after it is quilted and bound! 

I also finished two quilts which I will be donating to the Infusion Center. I have a whole new respect for people who have to go through this process having spent over 40 hours there! 

The center of this quilt was donated by my friend Kathy Boudreau to our UFO auction last year. I don't even remember buying it, but... I simply added the Barb Vedder lolipop flowers and borders and voila! 

This second one was from a kit I bought by Pam Buda called Needle and Thread. Almost all the blocks were done last spring so I just needed to put them together. I will admit, I made it smaller than the original layout. It needed to be this size to fit on laps during infusion treatments. I will use the other blocks in another quilt I'm sure! 

 

And, the most amazing the most amazing thing that happened (while I was sleeping 😂) was this: Thanks to the fabulous Cecile Denis who wrote an article about me and my crazy potholder method for Quiltmania magazine. 

 

I was in very good company with my friend Cyndi Black (Busy Thimble) and her fabulous potholder quilt. 

Cecile not only wrote the article, but put together sample blocks for an article on the construction method. 

And, my friend Laurie LaBar wrote a fantastic article on historic Maine potholder quilts. If you don't already subscribe, I recommend doing so. In my humble opinion it is the best quilt magazine! They always have something for everyone. A great mix of traditional and modern. I am so very honored to be in this fabulous publication. Thank you Cecile and Carol et al! 

That's enough for now, I need a nap! Hope to post more soon!! Hope you all had a super summer. Happy Fall!