A Cabin Meant for Dreaming..

See that upper window?

The part of the cabin that juts out a bit, forming the covered side porch roof?

That’s the window to the master bedroom.

You can barely see the west ridges in the right of the photo – those are the ones that will be hidden from view as soon as trees get their full leaf regalia.

I did some mighty weird dreaming last night!  It was weird enough that I can’t stop thinking about it this morning.

It involved ME riding on a very antique bicycle, evidently getting myself to my workshop a bit late.


No matter, the ladies were already deeply involved in the applique that went with their projects, so deeply involved that they barely gave me a second glance, even if I was huffing and puffing from riding this clunky antique bike and arriving at class a bit late.

In the time it took me to turn around after putting my stuff down, I found everyone napping on pull out sofa beds in sleeping bags.

It was at this moment that I realized I forgot to write this morning’s blog post because I was so busy with that clunky bicycle.

I really did awake laughing.  Number One…I do NOT teach applique workshops! LOL!

It was turning around to find EVERYONE asleep in sleeping bags on pulled out sofa beds that was a crack up! Where was I holding this workshop? The Furniture Barn? LOL!

And I think H#LL would freeze over if I ever “forgot” to write a blog post.  Unless it’s a giveaway drawing time evening one. Maybe.

What is it that plants the seeds for our dreams?  This was a weird one!  Often times I can remember bits and pieces of dreams, but this was so vivid.

Just keep me away from bikes for a while!

This morning’s short walk!

It is a GLORIOUS day today!  The wind has gone, and I am hoping….if I can stay up here long enough…to do some treadling on the porch today.  I was planning on going home by lunch time, but I think I can push it a bit later.

Yesterday involved this!

Remember that red string bin that I have been digging in for variety?  I remembered a deadline.  Um.  Yes.  I did commit to something.  And I used some of the time to do some kitting up so these parts are ready to go with me on my trip to Naperville for the Cocoon next week!

In Early February I received the following from Marianne Fons:

Dear Bonnie,

I'm heading up a small quilt auction to benefit Quilts of Valor Foundation.

There's a full-fledged consumer show in Des Moines in late May focused on QOVF, and the silent small quilt auction is one of the features. I serve on the QOVF Board of Directors, and this auction was my idea, so I'm doing the asking. My daughter Mary and I worked on the invitee list.

The quilts are to be no larger than 30 x 30. The theme is "America the Beautiful."
I hope you'll say YES. All the information is in the attachment. Quilts are due May 15. Don't worry, you'll get reminders. :)

Thank you for considering this and please let me know right away if you'll participate, okay?

Many thanks,
Marianne

Did you catch that?  DUE MAY 15!!!  And of course I said YES.  I'm in.  All in.
 

 

My Winston Ways from MORE Adventures with Leaders & Enders

 

This is my plan.  I’m taking 4 Winston Ways blocks, setting them side by side, and adding a couple of borders around them.  It will give me a quilt that is 30” square.  

It's patriotic.  It will be easy to do, and it will be FUN.

 

It will also give me something that I CAN share here with you!  

Do you want to make a small Winston Ways 30’’ quilt with me?  There are several sources for this pattern.  If you don’t have MORE Adventures with Leaders & Enders, you can find the block in Vol 3 of 100 blocks by 100 designers.  My block is #279. It’s found on page 65.

 

This block is also included in the 1000 blocks by Quiltmaker Magazine book. It is # 647 on page 331.

Because we are starting now, and this has to be turned in by May, you’ll have it ready by Memorial Day and it can stay up for Flag Day, for 4th of July in all of its patriotic goodness.

While *I* am sending in this quilt for the celebrity quilt auction, you get to keep your own quilt, or donate it somewhere else if you want to, but the fun part is that we can be working on these together!

 

My original block.

 

Or make it in your own colors. It’s only 4 blocks for a 30’’ quilt. It will be fun! I did a search on Pinterest to see other colorways HERE.

 

So yes,  yesterday I was gathering reds and neutrals that I could cut into strips for the 4 patches:

 

 

Tray loaded with hunks and chunks.

 

 

Strips with margins removed!  Perfection!

 

 

Ready to sew pairs!

 

I am often asked about the waste when working with the Accuquilt studio (same applies for the Accuquilt go).  No.  There is no more waste than you would find with ordinary rotary cutting, but I can easily cut through 10 to 12 layers with the studio.  If I were to use shape dies, there might be a bit more waste, but I mostly use my cutter for strips and some triangle units.
 
I can easily use specialty rulers to cut matched pairs from strip sets once my strips are cut down to size.  I probably do more strip cutting than anything else with the studio.
 

 

Treadle Time!

 

I was left “home alone” at the cabin last evening.  The Hubster had to return home for work, but I wanted to stay just a bit longer.  This is the benefit of having two cars up here! We can come and go as we need to.

 

I wanted to spend some time treadling to “Midsomer Murders” on Netflix, and  I had a perfect view of the TV because the treadle is right behind my comfy chair.  It might be weird to some, but function trumps aesthetics or feng shui hands down any day!

 

Strips were quickly treadled, pressed, pairs matched right sides together ready for sub-cutting into already matched sets ready to sew:

 

 

Sending pairs through!

 

You can see that I have marked parallel lines perpendicular to the blades on the die with a silver sharpie.  Got to keep things lined up so I don’t end up with a bunch of parallelograms!

 

((Okay, I just cracked myself up – how I wish my Junior High math teacher could hear me speak now!  I used parallel, perpendicular, and parallelogram in the same sentence! Ha!))

 

 

Ready to sew!

 

By this time it was nearly 10pm and I just didn’t have it in me to sew any further.  These pairs will give me enough for the blocks, and the border surrounding the whole little quilt!

 

Just because I didn’t feel like sewing, didn’t mean I couldn’t keep cutting for the rest of the project!  I chose blues and neutrals for the star points, blacks and golds for the other half square triangle units and I am good to go!

 

 

Quilt in baggies!

 

I’m looking forward to sharing my progress on this with you over the next while!

 

Remember, we are shooting for Quilt-Cam tomorrow night, Weds March 30th at 9pm Eastern.  Put it on your calendar, set the alarm on your phone, and get a project ready so we can spend some time together.

 

 

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

I admit it.  This is something I have to tell myself nearly every single day.

 

Working hard and pushing yourself to the limits doesn't mean you can't also be kind and gentle with yourself. Keep the focus away from your failures, and put it on your progress!

 

Vintage quilt found by my amazing friend Irene in Louisville, Kentucky.  Thank you, Irene!

 

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  What will you do with yours?

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