Irene Aftermath

We were spared the worst of Irene's wrath. My family in upstate NY had it much worse with so much rain, the Mohawk River and its tributaries flooded. We were without electricity for 72 hours, but we managed just fine. Luckily, we have a gas stove and hot water heater and town water, so we were fairly comfortable.

Bill and Pete spent Monday morning cleaning up the yard of small branches and leaves. No large limbs or trees fell in our yard, but there are several still blocking streets all over town. The start of school has been delayed until after Labor Day. (3 missed days this week to make up at the end of the year : p)

We entertained ourselves with a camp fire and Pete's flashlight last night.

My mother's building had power restored quickly, so I brought my machine to her place yesterday to get my August Teeny Weeny Paper Piecing blocks done. I was sad to see that this bee will be folding next month.

I hope our cable will be restored soon so I can have internet at home again! I've been picking up internet access when and where I can, namely at Panera Bread and at church! When I have access at home, I will return to the planned posts about our trip to Italy. See you then!

Ciao, Amici!

Did you miss me? We spent 10 glorious days on vacation in Italy!

I took over 2100 photos that will take me quite a while to sort through and edit. I'm planning a few blog posts focusing on specific topics like food and artistry. (Are we bloggers required to photograph our food before we eat it?)

Today, the basics of our itinerary:

Venice

Florence

Pisa

The Vatican

Rome

Now, I need to batten down the hatches before Hurricane Irene arrives. We should see some rain, wind gusts and storm surge along the coast. We live far enough inland that we don't need to evacuate, but we expect to lose power. Hope to see you soon.

Zen Quilting

Julia and I took a class with Pat Ferguson to learn Zen Quilting.

Here's what we did...

1. Draw a Zentangle on a 3.5" tile.
2. Enlarge to 7".
3. Julia and Mary are transferring their designs to fabric.

4. Free motion machine quilting in black thread.

5. Rinse out blue pen.
6. Add black ink details and color if desired. (This part reminds me of Inklique.)

7. Add white thread quilting around edges and fill in bare spots.
8. Bind or finish as desired. Julia wants to add a border and turn hers into a pillow.

I've used corners and dowels on the back of minis before for hanging. Pat's flat wood and picture hangers work even better.

Here's mine hanging on the bathroom wall! It is so satisfying to start and finish a project on the same day. I'd call that a successful class!

I'm going to be taking a blogging break and will return with a giveaway!
Ciao!

Zentangles

Have you heard of Zentangle? It is a fun and easy new art form that quilters are embracing. If this is new to you, I encourage you to visit the Zentangle gallery to see some lovely little art.

At our guild meeting last night, certified Zentangle instructor and award-winning quilter, Pat Ferguson, gave us our first lesson.

The top two tangles are mine. The bottom two are Julia's. Each piece is 3.5" square.

Pat has taken Zentangles to the next level with Zen Quilting. We are looking forward to taking a workshop with her today!

Yummy Fabric

As I drive Julia around New England looking at colleges, of course we need to find all the quilt shops! Recently, we stopped at Franklin Mill Store. It was a great shop and worth the trip.

I'm trying to cut back on fabric purchases, but there were some pieces I just had to have!

Raspberries are my favorite fruit!

Aren't the scooters the cutest?

Delicious dots.

Library Quilt Show

We're visiting family this weekend in upstate New York. There is a little quilt exhibit on display at my sister's local library, so we had to check it out.

Look at this gorgeous library!

Q.U.I.L.T. North Guild was showing some small quilts and table runners.


This tulip basket was made by one of my mother's old friends.

This was a really interesting piece with lots of machine embroidery and quilting.

This is a happy applique piece.

We really liked this piece with curved piecing and hand painted fabrics.

WIP Wednesday

It's been a busy week and I actually got some cleaning and de-cluttering done. The house feels much more peaceful when I'm not surrounded by clutter! Now on to this week's quilty progress...

New Project:
I decided that I really didn't care for the first camera strap cover I made. So I ripped it off and made a cuter one!

Ongoing:
Nonna's Garden- I finished piecing the last row of dark green. I'm trying to decide if I will hand- or machine-quilt it.

Girl Scout Quilt- Two blocks were completed this week. Maia's...

and Julia's...

Here are half of my Block Lotto African violet blocks for August.

Finish:
Christin's Doll Quilt- I've been giving beginner quilt lessons to a neighbor and she completed her first project this week!

On Hold for a little while:
4X5 Modern Quilt Bee (I'm not completely happy with the blocks I made this week)
For the Love of Solids Swap
Kaleidoscope Quilt Along
Wedding Ring Star
Red & White Swap
Polka Dot Swap

Then there's all the stuff I still haven't touched all summer.
This Week:
Finishes- 2
New starts- 1
In progress- 20+

Now off you go to see more...

August Block Lotto

Well, I haven't won a block lotto yet, but I'm still plugging away at it. My goal was actually to use up stash, so I have been successful in that regard.

Here are my violets for August. This is a fun, fast, effective block. You can find Sophie's free pattern by clicking here.

I'd love to win this month. My mother-in-law always has several African Violet plants in her living room that are simply beautiful.

Block Party!

We had a block Party weekend!
Doesn't Julia look like she's partying?

Julia finished her block for the Girl Scout troop quilt. I don't know if it has a name. She drew out the design on graph paper.

Maia came over on her day off between Counselor-In-Training sessions to finish her paper-pieced block. It looks like a Carol Doak pattern, but I didn't write down her source. (There were books everywhere during the design meeting!)

I was able to finish a couple of blocks for the 4X5 bee, but I'm not completely happy with them. And I tore apart or re-made entire sections of both of them at least once.

Too pastel? It would make a great baby girl quilt.

And this teeny weeny block came in the mail from Fran. Thank you!!

This swallowtail was pigging out on the butterfly bush. Julia and Pete both went out with the new camera. Julia got the best shot, below.