Going Coastal

On Thursday I'm getting on the Amtrak Coast Starlight train and heading up to Portland Oregon. I took the train once before, from Philadelphia to Washington DC, but I was by myself and think I napped most of the way.  I barely remember it. This time I'll be sharing a sleeper car with my youngest sister in a space the size of Harry Potter's cupboard under the stairs, and I imagine there will be lots of giggling and snorting into the wee hours.  Portland, bless that beautiful city, will only be about 75 degrees when I get there.  I will be leaving 100 degrees behind at home. I might have to dig my jeans out of the "winter" side of the closet.
I finished 5 squares on my popcorn stitch blanket so far.  I know the picture is only showing 4, but it was hard to photograph an odd number, so you get the idea. I'm hoping to make a few more on the train.
 I had some help from the dog going through my scrap bin to make several nine patch blocks.  I want to set them on point but I'm having a difficult time deciding on a background color.  Usually I reach for a cream color (safe), but I feel like all my quilts are starting to look the same. I might need to take a chance on this one and branch out of my comfort zone.
Lastly I'm making a linen project bag to take on the train, and I decided to work a cross stitch motif on the front, found in Alicia Paulson's Embroidery Companion book.  Since she lives in Portland, I thought it would be a fun reminder of my upcoming trip.  Have a great week wherever you are!

Hanging with the Dogs

The Dog Days of Summer are here.  The forecast is calling for 4 straight days of over 100 degrees, and I wish I owned a shady cabin next to a creek, high above this hot valley up in the mountains somewhere. Anywhere.  All I would need is some sewing and a coffee pot.  I could leave right now, stick my bare feet in that cool creek and not come back till October.  Instead I've got a wilting garden and brown grass and I'm so done with the pool chores (I know, I'm actually bitching about having a pool), because it's really too hot to swim, and the only one who goes in lately is the dog.   Blah.  Oh well, just turn on the AC and finish up some quilts.....like Hillside Houses.....

It's wall hanging size 30 x 37, and the free pattern is from prettylittlequilts blog.  I used some of my American Made fat quarters and added a few Kaffe Fasset shot cottons.  I love the backing fabric.  It's a Moda (?) bird panel that I've had for years but never found a use for it.  It shares a lot of similar colors with the house blocks.

My next scrap quilt will be made up of a lot of half square triangles.  I love this block, but hate bending over the table squaring them up.  So I ordered the Quilt in a Day HST ruler and people, trimming these babies just got a whole lot easier.   Wish I 'd bought one long ago.

So yeah, just me and the dogs next week, staying inside, sewing and crocheting while the yard burns.
When I told my daughter I didn't really like summer, she said "Mom you like summer.  You just don't like it here"  Amen.

Baseball and Yarn

At Scottsdale stadium

Buster Posey (catcher) and Tim Hudson (pitcher)

Brandon Belt signing autographs before the game

We're back from Spring Training in Arizona.  The weather was beautiful, the hot dogs plentiful and we had a great time (even though the Giants lost all 3 games. Pooh).
The hotel was amazing too!

We rented one of those cabanas for the day and hung out by the pool...

Every evening between 6 and 7 the bagpipes were played on the golf course.

There was shopping and restaurants all within walking distance, and if you ever find yourself in Scottsdale, I highly recommend you splurge on a dinner at Mastro's Ocean Club. At first I thought how can you dare call yourself "Ocean Club" in the middle of Arizona?  I should not have doubted.
 I had a delicious piece of blackened Halibut and they serve a decadent side dish of lobster mashed potatoes that will make you weep, it's that good. I wish I had some right now.
On the way out of town, the family was kind enough to indulge me in a brief stop at Jessica Knits, where I picked up some souvenirs.

These two skeins are produced by local Arizona artist Mary Gavan.  On the top is a lace weight raw silk, in the color Pewter and was made up in the store into this shawl.  The drape was beautiful. The bottom skein, which is actually more of a pink than it looks here, is a sport weight rayon/cotton in Sandcastle.
I'm also in a Ravelry group which is making a scarf using the colors of your favorite baseball team. The pattern is called Crackerjack, and these are the colors I bought for the San Francisco Giants.
The idea is to knit 2 rows using the color assigned to wins or losses.  For example a home win could be orange, and a road loss, white. There are 4 possibilities, therefore 4 colors are chosen.  The striping would be determined by the wins/losses of the season and you never know how it's going to turn out. Sounds like a fun project to work on all year long doesn't it?
I'm unpacking, washing clothes, grocery shopping, and cutting the grass this week.  Next time around I'll show you the hand pieced quilt blocks that are making me jump out of bed in the morning.
Until then, here's a little crochet and Charlie.  The dogs were very happy to see us come home.

 

Sewing with Charlie and the Lunatic

Charlie sits on Luna like this all the time.  He has clearly made her his bitch bench.

Sometimes these two dogs make me think I'm raising toddlers again.  As I write this out on the back porch, drinking tea, soaking up some sun, watching blossoms falling lazily from the pear tree, Charlie prances by with a branch from one of the bushes by the pool, proudly waving it around like a banner.  I'm thinking that bush won't make it through the spring.  The Lunatic, fresh from a dip in the pool (never mind that the water is about 45 degrees. I can hardly stand to put my arm in there when cleaning the baskets), shakes her wet self all over my laptop and proceeds to push her big plastic water bowl noisily across the patio (running into my feet several times) trying to turn it right side up.  Note to self, get rid of that bowl.

We are having a birthday party barbecue on Saturday. Tri-tip roast, rosemary potatoes, salad, green beans and garlic bread.  My oven is working /not working, and I'm waiting for a new part to be installed, which won't be until next week, so my husband will be busy at the grill. I bought a huge sheet cake at Costco the size of my kitchen table, and had to take it over to my parents house because it wouldn't fit in my refrigerator.  Several Canadian relatives are flying in, including an Uncle I haven't seen for over 30 years, and his wife and son whom I've never met.  Part of the preparations include tidying the porch and backyard, and I can't believe just how much these dogs have trashed the place this winter.  Thank goodness the puppy stage is almost over.  For a Lab, I think this must go well into their second year.

The baby quilt is almost done, but will have to be hidden away in the cupboard during the party, so my niece doesn't see it.  I also ordered a quilt pattern, Sweet William, that I have been drooling over for some time.  I plan on using some of my hoarded reproduction fabrics for this one.  The bottom half of each block is pieced, and the top half is applique and embroidery, so a bit of everything.  I made a sample block, and will be machine sewing the basket half, even though her instructions call for sewing by hand.  I know how I operate, and I want to get this done before I'm too old to thread a needle, and not let it become one of those half finished projects you find in a bag at the Goodwill.

I love it when the kids go down for their nap.

September

I dug out an old crochet blanket WIP the other day and added more blocks.  I have four (!!) crochet blankets on the go, in various states of completion, and this one seemed as good as any to work on.

Still not feeling the quilting love.  Guess I'm a bit burned out. And September is here with all it's seasonal changes so I'm distracted.  Here's what I notice about September...

I want to crochet something warm and cuddly

Noisy Canadian geese flying overhead

Baseball and football on television at the same time

No one is interested in swimming in the pool lately except the dog

The leaves are raining down from the willow tree in the front yard reminding me to rake

Halloween candy is on display at the supermarket

The grasses and fields are dry.  Farm equipment stirs up dust in the air while harvesting wine grapes and the last of the tomatoes

The nights and early mornings are cooler so little dogs need their hoodies

He has black whiskers on one side and white on the other. Cute eh?

I feel like baking

Irish soda bread, recipe here.  Tim thought it was a giant scone.  Don't do what I did and substitute half the white flour with spelt flour.  It was really good, but too heavy.  Like, I could have used it as a stone on the curling rink, heavy.  All it needs is a handle.  But yummy with jam.  And tea.
 
Summer is leaving.  I can run the oven without breaking a sweat, work on wool blankets and drink hot tea in the afternoons.
Oh yeah, I love September.

Country Music

If you live in the city and think the country is quiet, you need to spend the night at my house.  The last few days I've been waking up about 4:30 am.  Now that it's spring/summer (106 degrees here yesterday), we sleep with the bedroom windows open, and by dawn the noise is almost deafening.  Let's start with the birds.  Mockingbirds are the leaders of the noise brigade. Anyone else get to listen to these bastards sweet cherubs?  They usually begin the symphony along with the occasional rooster.  Then there's cattle behind us that arrived during the night by the truckload.  I like to pretend they are gentle Jerseys, doe brown, little bells tinkling around their neck, quietly munching on meadow grasses, making cream for my coffee. Nope.  These are Angus beef cattle, led down metal ramps, hooves banging, bellowing loudly because they've arrived in a strange pasture, milling around trying to locate their kin in the crowd, and irritated as all hell.  The next stop for them is probably a local CAFO.  I'd be screaming too. (now I know where the phrase "have a cow" comes from)
Dairy trucks bump down the country road, frogs and other birds join the fray, a tractor starts up somewhere, a train blows through town......
At some point I just get up and sneak down to my sewing room so I don't wake the dog.  She is 8 months old now and has a full set of adult teeth which she sharpens daily on anything not nailed down and sometimes that doesn't even matter. The casualties this week include 1 pincushion (thank goodness there were no pins in it!), 1 coaster, 4 inches of baseboard in the den (nailed down), 1 shrub, several zinnias and a steak waiting on the table to be put on the barbecue.
And it's only Tuesday.  Dog training continues.
So I finished the Haiku shawl, it came out smaller than most shawls I've made but it is oh so pretty and blocked out quite nicely.  My girls are going to a baby shower next week, and I was requested to please make a quilt with a safari theme.  I found some novelty prints on sale and backed it with a flannel from Joann's.  It's for a boy, and I think it turned out pretty cute.

Watching for Mockingbirds.  Good girl.


Shawl: Haiku found at Quince
Baby quilt fabric: Safari Soiree by Dan Stiles, border Kaffe Fassett shot cotton.
Pattern: By me, just made it up, 44x34 inches
Local grass fed beef: Eat Wild

Simple shoo fly

 

Insert dog picture here

I've wanted to make a shoo fly quilt ever since I saw this one on the Susan Branch blog (scroll through the post).  I used scraps from my stash and ended up hand quilting it.  The background is my old standby in Kona snow.  Since I had a $20 gift certificate, I finally broke down and bought the entire bolt from my LQS, receiving an additional 20% off.  Deal! I've already cut into it quite a bit.

The spool blocks are from a Thimble Blossoms mini pattern called, you guessed it, "Spools".
I thought I would torture challenge myself further by sewing more tiny blocks.  I'm making these as part of the Strip-easy Quilt challenge over on Pieced Brain (see the button in my sidebar).  The idea is to use leftover strips from your stash to create a project (up to 3) and submit them by the end of May.  Last week I made a table runner with my low volume strips (I just need to sew down the binding and I can take some pictures).  I have a lot of leftover strips, and it's been pretty fun (and challenging) to sort through my stash to see what I can come up with, but I think 2 submissions might be all I have time for this month.

I just noticed I used the word "challenge" 3 times in this post.  How about you? Trying anything new and challenging? (4 times, haha).

A Disturbance in the Force

The last of our little Star Wars Clan has left us.

It's been a tough year

 

First Solo the Cat

Then Chewy the Boston Terrier

Princess Leia the kitty

And now our Luke

 

                                                                        RIP Luke
                                                            May the Force be with you

I will be back soon with my Nordic Shawl finish.