Circles, Spots, and Dots

Long time, no blog. I can't even claim crazy busy. School is school, and at this time of the year it can wear on me. But I can say that I unwind upstairs in my sewing room. Meghan asked me months and months ago to make Taplin a quilt for his second birthday for his graduation to a big boy bed. Well, his second birthday was last week, and I actually had the quilt finished. Not mailed. Not labeled. Finished. It measures about 72" x 84" which is about a twin size. I am calling it Circles, Spots, and Dots. I think it looks pretty much like a little boy, and I hope it will suit Taplin for some years to come.
The quilting is just simple channels across the quilt about an inch a half apart, and then a vertical row for each 7" block to anchor the batting. I figure it will get washed and really used, and this would stabilize everything.
I used a leftover patch for the label. I am not always good about putting labels on my quilts, but since it's a gift...
With the leftover backing and a Michael Miller blue dot fabric, I made a pillowcase. I found a slick little pattern online, and although I put off making it for a week after the quilt was finished, it only took about 45 minutes to put together. I'm sure I'll use the pattern again.
Meanwhile, I hand pieced and hand quilted this Cheddar Checkerboard. I found the pattern on Barbara Brackman's site, and it was fun to stitch in the evenings. I did big stitch quilting in the black and green boarder, and I added some little buttons for fun.
Finished, I guess it is in the neighborhood of 24" square. I am not a great hand quilter, but I sure had fun putting this together.
I love my guys, my Oz and Allen. Last week, Allen was in Denver, and Ozzie and I had a bonding week. He is a full time attention hog. I am glad Allen's home this week, and so is Oz. His favorite spot is on Allen's lap. And although I walk him three times a day, it's just not the same as Allen taking him out all of the time and letting him play with the neighbor dogs.

What's New?

New size. Look how BIG Ozzie is. We keep thinking we should have named him Hank the Tank. He is sweet until the evening when he is pretty wild - until he crashes. Lucky for me, Allen walks him. Lots. Love the Oz.
New closet. Allen's put the shelves in my sewing room closet. I'm moving in. It's like an addition to my room with feet and feet of shelf space. I'm cleaning and reorganizing and loving every minute of it. The room is newly painted, and I even have a new Olfa cutting mat.
New quilt project. I have 120 of these patches made and 80 little patches, one quarter this size. This will be Taplin's Dots upon Dots quilt. Hmmm. His birthday is in less than three weeks. I don't know if I can finish, but I will enjoy working on it this week seeing if I can get close. Today I put together half of the little blocks.
New to me, but actually old, pewter candlestick holders. New flowers, of course. I found the candlesticks at an antique store and could not believe the $15 price. They are Gorham and match my Octette pewter from our wedding in 1975. I wanted these then, but we did not get them as a gift, and we certainly couldn't afford them back then.
New recipe - Turtle Pie. Lets see, chocolate morsels, cream, caramel, pecans, more chocolate. The recipe's a keeper, but it won't be made often! I'm just sad that Nathan and his mom were both sick today and couldn't be with us for dinner. Ham dinner. Mmmmmm.
New print - birthday present from the girls and their husbands. It is a watercolor of wine bottle corks. It is realistic watercolor, so much so that I was sure it was a photograph. I've tried a few times to get a good picture, but the glass keeps reflecting, so I know it is hard to really see it. I do love it and how it fits right into our remodeled kitchen.
New pottery! Allen found me not one, but two wonderful pieces by Guadalupe Robinson. These two both are "dress" pots, featuring dresses for women. The one on the left focuses on texture, especially in the skirt of the dress, and the right one has unusual light blue pottery vests. They are wonderful pieces and make an outstanding birthday present!

The Big Picture (but no pictures today, oddly enough)

Allen finally came out of the closet -- that is to say, he worked in my sewing room closet for hours and hours putting in shelves all the way around. We (he) re-fitted a different closet and moved all of his things out of my sewing room. Then I had to revamp the linen closet space from two sets of shelves to one to accommodate what his new space dislodged. Finally, now I can reshuffle all of my sewing treasures around in my sewing room to best use the new shelf space in my closet. All in all, we've spent several months on these projects. We've thrown away a good bit, moved more, and sold some (or Shannon did at her garage sale yesterday). I still have some work to do, but we've made a big change overall. We're close.

This afternoon, I spent a good bit of time moving our years and years of photos into new, white photo-storage boxes. Some of the pictures are from my childhood and ancestors. Some are from college and our early marriage. BC. Before Children. There are family birthdays, our girls at Christmas and prom and with first boyfriends. Pets, dinners, vacations. Trips to Colorado, remodeling projects, new cars, new houses, engagements and weddings. Sweet moments.

I got to thinking about how when I work as a quilter, I scrutinize each color selection, each seam, each point, each stitch. I'm not an award winning quilter, but I am pretty detail oriented, and I want it all to be just right. But I like that we use my quilts. I like that they get dirty and used. We spill things on them on the table, we rumple them when we sleep, and Ozzie walks and sheds all over them. As I ate lunch today, I noticed the quilt on the table right now as I wiped a smudge of dressing off of it. When I made it, I agonized over each detail, but you know, I think it looks good, and it doesn't bother me to have a stain here, a spot there, and the sewing details are pretty much forgotten.

It's kind of like our lives. I know I wake at night to worry about money or relationships or school or the kids or health or the house or whatever. I analyze conversations with Allen, and I plan and plan for family events. I hope that each detail of a birthday is just right, and I wonder (agonize) if I'm doing well enough at work or as a wife or mother or friend.

And then today I saw those pictures. Our almost thirty-five married years in those pictures show a rich, happy family. Day to day struggles and irritable moments are just an added layer, but they don't seem to matter in the big picture. When I look at each seam, each stitch, it is easy to see flaws or spots for improvement. But when the quilt is in use, those spots don't matter.

Is it almost spring?

Spring break project! Allen moved his hobby "stuff" out of the closet in my sewing room and into his own closet space, so this weekend, he started on my closet. He's taken out all of the old shelving and the clothes rod, patched everything, and painted the walls. He's going to install shelves all the way around for me. We think we last painted this room about ten years ago, and yellow seemed like a good idea then. Really, it's been a bright, happy room for me, but I am pretty tired of the yellow. I picked a neutral called Wicker, and I know I'm going to be happy with it, but next to the yellow, ugh. These two colors clash horribly. We have two walls with one coat. After another coat in the morning, we'll shift everything to that side of the room and do the rest.
I am proud of this little guy. He is 24" x 24" -- called a Cheddar Cheese and Crackers quilt. I found the pattern on a blog(Humble Quilts) and decided I couldn't resist trying to follow the directions. I guess it looks like a simple piece, but it was challenging enough to piece (and get everything in the right place for the colors), and then machine quilting always is a stretch for me. I finished it last night while we watched George Clooney in "Up in the Air" which is a good film, but not a happy film at all.
This last week has been a long one. It was the last week before spring break, the last week of the grading period, and Allen was gone to Denver. Last Sunday, Shannon and I decided to brighten the week with a trip to an antique store, one we haven't been to, and the pink elephant was my big purchase 0f the day. He's not in great shape, and I probably should not have bought him because of that, but he's a good partner for the blue guy next to him on top of the kitchen cupboard.
Spring? Well, almost. It is cold and dreary and wet and pretty unpleasant outside today. A little grocery store bouquet is a reminder that warmer, sunnier days are around the corner. And how bad can it be? Allen and I are both on vacation! Woohoo!!!

Sunny Sunday

I am finishing up the binding on the batik quilt, and I'll post pictures when I'm finished, but on to the next one. I saw this small quilt called Cheddar Cheese and Crackers and decided to give it a try. The piecing isn't too complicated, although I can really tell I've learned a thing or two in the last year. The trickiness comes from the positioning of the fabrics. The directions say "on your design board" and "be careful of the placement of the fabrics" but I guess I read right over those cautions until I was well into the project. What I thought would be an afternoon quick quilt is not quite that simple. I admit quilt addiction.
We took Mr. Ozzie out for a walk along the greenway after lunch today. Allen took him yesterday as well, and he says Oz was much calmer today. Calm? Running back and forth, unable to walk on the blacktop because he was so excited by every little smell, looking ridiculous with mouth full of grass. What a goof.
And look! Shadows on the ground. It was sunny in Huntsville! We have had gloom and gray for weeks on end. Today's 60 degree sunshine was spectacular. A little vitamin D never hurt anyone.
Home from the walk and relaxing in the family room - what a pug life! Sublime Sunday afternoon at the Etheridge home.

Quilt Therapy

During a snowy, rainy, gloomy January, I had some bright hours piecing this batik quilt. It's from a pattern in Quilt magazine - easy and quick to put together. I had all of the brights left from other project, or I pulled them from my stash. I did buy the white batik background because I don't usually use whites like this, but the colors really pop on the white. I now have it put together, and this past weekend, Allen and took another happy little trip to Stitcher's Garden in Franklin where I bought, among lots of other things, the backing. Yesterday, Oz helped me (right!) pin the sandwich.
The pattern is reminiscent of the pattern in the quilt I made for Shannon and Nathan. One of these days I need a picture of this whole quilt, but I found it folded on their couch arm Saturday when we stopped by to feed the cat and the fish for them while they were in Atlanta.

January and February also seem like such dark, looong months to me. I am having a hard time remembering what the sun looks like. We had our yard cleaned up recently, and it looks like we're ready for spring - mud and all - but the weather just won't cooperate. I think the pug Oz and the quilting are keeping me out of the winter blues as much as anything can. Hey wait, only about five weeks until spring break.

Monday morning musings

So it wasn't just a one time thing last week when Ozzie decided to plant himself on my head. He climbs up there whenever he can now, especially if he is not feeling too playful and I'm sewing. Pretty sweet sewing pal. No, Ozzie, it does not make up for having a little pile of an accident in my sewing room under my chair. Yes, the chair rolled over it. It is a very good thing you are generally a good fellow.
We had just a wonderful, lazy Saturday and Sunday. Rainy, quiet days make for good sewing. My basket is getting full. I have about five sets left before I can put them together into blocks. I was figuring out the number of pieces in this quilt. [( 9 x 4) + (3 x 4) + (6 x 4) + 4] x 25, I think. You do the math. I know why I teach English, but there sure is a lot of math in quilts.
I've been wanting to make a needle book or pin book, as Sue Spargo calls it. I saw a sample one at the Country Living Fair back in September made from a Sue Spargo pattern, and then I ran across a pattern for one in the October issue of Patchwork and Quilting. I used felted wool for the outside and the pages, and just part of a fat quarter for the insides. Hers did not have the pocket on the right, but I felt like I would use it.
Here's the front cover. The whole thing is about 6" by 10" opened up. I think maybe I need to figure out a way to fasten it when it is closed, but I haven't settled on a plan for that. Anyway, it's Monday morning, and woo-hoo, no school today. Unfortunately, I do have a dentist appointment this afternoon, but that is just for a check up, not a major deal like the last times with two (Expensive) crowns. Also unfortunately, Allen had to go to Decatur today, but maybe I can think of something for dinner. He's been the chief cook lately, and that has been a treat. Shoot, we had a turkey dinner on Wednesday. Ozzie's still sleeping, so I might sneak in showering and getting dressing before his puppy activities begin.