In The World Without A Modern Day Sewing Machine

These day in what we call the Modern age, we can't image what it would be like without all the wonderful gadgets we now use to make our quilts.  There is the rotary cutter and heavy duty plastic rulers of a variety of sizes to guide us along our most current pattern or quilt. 

The modern age of quilt is so much different than it was say 10 or 20 years ago. Much less when our own "more experienced" quilters were younger. When their mothers or even our grandmothers took to quilting.  

We recently had a bitter pill to swallow recently, as I have to look around on the situation i guess the silver lining is that I enjoyed hand work of any kind.  And that is a good thing.  If you remember back on the 14th  I mentioned that I was beginning a new hand project that I was inspired by my friend Gretchen Ann over there at her great blog! So this is where my Blue Radiance is at the moment. 

My Blue Radiance #1

She ain't much to look at yet, but as it is said " slow & steady win's the race".  I haven't given much thought to what I'm going to do with the piecing yet, but as you can see it's not going need to considered anytime quite yet.

As things tend to be this time of year, the pace picks up around the little cottage by the river.  This year I tidied up my little plot of dirt that I play in.  On the eve of Summer Solstice, I poked around and added some old seeds of sunflowers, cosmos, alyssum, lettuce, onions  and  bachelor buttons.  I had bee balms, parsley and sage that came back. I had wanted to do more but that just wasn't in the cards.  The chipmunk we have around sure didn't like the onions and it appears that he did like the sunflowers seeds as he dug them up and left me the hulls in a nice neat just like I had planted. Bloody cheeky of him for sure!

Let's see in the reading side of things, I'm currently reading:

• The To Do List  by Jillian Stone
• Inside the O'Briens  by Lisa Genova
• Deadline (The Bayou Secrets Saga, #1) by Judy McDonough 

I recently got approved to read  two new books.  The  first one is an ARC from NetGallery in exchange of an honest review  called  The Perfect Bargain (Entangled Love struck) by Jessa McAdams and then I just received  Irish Meadows by Susan Anne Mason in the mail from Bethany House Publishing. 

The "Girls" have been watching that cheeky chipmunk come right up to the deck screen and chirping at them like no body's business.  So... well... I decided that the Girls could do with some introducing to the outside and with a few strips of fabric I fashioned this quick & crude harness & leash for them. But isn't easy to get good pictures of cats big-eyed and thinking "OMG! I'm outside!!! LOL.  Go figure ... right? But I will get a better harness system together and get them back outside soon. 

I dug out the Farmer's Wife supplies again and thought I would show those finished blocks. I have a journal with it that I added notes and I even have some bits of the fabrics that I used in the blocks with the name & number jotted down next to them as a fun bonus.  It would be like an "I Spy" to match the little fabric tidbits to the blocks in the quilt.

FWS Items Up Close

Those Finished FWS Blocks

Pretty Covers To Keep Everything Nice & Neat

If you happen to want to ask, those blocks are stored in a pillowcase packaging with a zipper on that is good to keep them all nice & neat, but also clean. What didn't make the picture is the spiral notebook that I have a running list of the blocks as they was assigned.  Once I catch up on those in it, I will start to flip the book open at random to pick the new block.  

I have several quilting projects that I'm working on depending on the "where's &when's" .  I have been doing some testing for The Quilt Pattern Magazine that is due on the 4th, and that baby quilt that is still in the floor hoop for my evening work. I have those travel projects that I rotate from Redwork, Cross-stitching and I'm getting re-familiar with the FWS items again.  So I'm never at a loss for things to do.  But then a quilter and needle artist never does.

Well I'm going to sign off now as it's time for that baby quilt for that special little one across the pond.  Until next time...

Toodles,
Tricia