This poor quilt had a hectic road trip. Like so many before it, it was sent from a small town about 160 km away, but it ended up 455 km away and had to be rerouted. This took almost 3 weeks, and the sender, who sent it on behalf of a friend, had a terrible time hoping it wouldn't get lost.
I have started walking daily again with a friend. I am trying to lose some of the weight I gained over the winter, and she saw a beautiful dress available only in a size smaller than she normally wears; she bought it and is determined to fit into it this summer.
This quilter, from out of town, asked to book a time in July but waited for an opportunity to come to our city, which came up last week. She delivered this quilt with flamingo prints as the focal point of each block.
The quilt is for a granddaughter.
My RR time was over when I received this quilt. While quiet, I started reading an intriguing book about one of Jeffrey Epstein’s survivors. I soon realised I needed to get a system, or nothing else would happen. I let myself read one chapter, but then I had to finish a chore. This morning I made coffee, read one chapter, and loaded this quilt. Another chapter, started supper, the next chapter was followed by starting the laundry. This way, I did not have any guilt trips.
The Antrisite stove is installed, and although we haven't purchased the coal yet, we've tested it with wood and were pleasantly surprised by the heat it emitted.
Another quilt made by this very brave quilter. She frequently offers to use clothing worn by a loved one as a memory quilt. I am not that brave. I would certainly run out of fabric after choosing a design and then not know how to solve the problem. Hats off to her.
The back wall where the stove will go has been painted, and porcelain tiles have been fixed to the sides and back of the space for the stove.
I do love working on these pictorial appliqué quilts. I know the quilt maker had a specific person in mind and built the story around that person's life. This looks like a memory quilt as well, since I noticed shirt fabric being used.
The border has heavy machinery printed on it, and to keep the prints from disappearing behind the quilting, I kept it to a minimum.
After grinding through the cement that formed the tabletop, I could clean most of the house except the scatter cushion covers, the cushions on the dining room chairs, and the ceiling fans. Hubby will still plaster the wall before painting, and that will also create dust. I will wait until this is done before cleaning thoroughly. The gap for the anthracite stove has been created, and progress has been made.
This quilt maker is fortunate; she has a friend with a beach house who allows her to use it. She then decided to make him a table runner and wanted a motif resembling fish hooks, waves or shells. I think the closed curl is the perfect match for all of these.
We survived hubby’s first week after surgery, and for the first couple of days, he mostly slept. I am not sure whether he was all that tired or if it simply hurt too much to move. I figured out how to be the perfect nurse. With my gin in tow, I’d sit on the deck under the thatch roof where I had a good look at the main bedroom window, exactly on his position on the bed. He complained about the hospital noises and the nurses, doing their jobs, shame, bothering him. I vowed not to go into the room, and from this lovely spot, I could see any movement he made or whether he was awake and trying to get up.
Our dogs loved every moment he stayed in bed and did what they do best.
A while ago, the urologist picked up a groin hernia on hubby and referred him to a surgeon. He noticed another one on the other side. The surgeon booked a theatre and gave hubby the choice of which of two dates he wanted it done. Preferring to do it ASAP, he chose to have this done next Tuesday. He will have to stay over in hospital for one night and then, for 6 weeks afterwards, no heavy lifting. The latter part will be a nightmare for both of us.
Hubby is
extremely active and constantly busy with something. If not gardening, he’ll repair, build,
maintain or clean something outside. I
appreciate this. On rainy days, when he can't go outside, I am miserable.
He stays inside, and I suppose he feels he has to help me, and I really,
really dislike this. For years, with him
working 6am to 6pm, the house was my territory and mine alone. I had no help cleaning or cooking, and
suddenly having a second body around feels more like a burden than help. Oh, yes, I would love him taking over the cooking, but then he should clean up
afterwards, and his idea of clean and mine are not compatible.
I am
looking forward to Tuesday when he gets admitted. The hospital has a restaurant on the ground floor, and I have every intention to eat there and not cook for myself. I am not a big
eater, and having to constantly make something for a three-meals-a-day eater gets to me. Not as much making the food, but the thought of what to make for the next meal.
Usually
when I think I’ve planned something to perfection, it never works out, so I
might just end up making a sandwich for myself.
Then, I can’t see at night. With
it being winter in South Africa, it becomes dark early, and I will have to visit
him in the evening. Hopefully I’ll be able
to at least see my way home. Luckily, the
hospital is really close.
This pretty
panel quilt was the last of 4 received from an out-of-town quilter. Not having opened the bag containing this one beforehand, I was so pleased; even
though tired of quilting most every day, I looked forward to doing this.
I am up to date with all the quilts I had, with one booked towards the end of August and another somewhere in November. I can now use this extra time to continue cleaning out cupboards. I have a new way of thinking. When opening a cupboard, I ask myself whether I would like to take the contents with me should I ever move again. Those things I don’t want to pack and take along get thrown out.
I didn’t plan to quilt on Sunday as I invited the kids for supper. I made lamb liver cakes (similar to fish cakes but with ground liver) served with mashed potatoes and caramelised onions. My kids still enjoy traditional South African dishes, and I love making them for them, as very few youngsters nowadays grow up with or appreciate them. Not as if my kids are ‘youngsters’ anymore. Occasionally, when they have birthdays, and I realise their age, I actually feel sorry for them for being that old.
On Monday,
National Women’s Day, as I started gathering ingredients for supper, hubby said I should not cook, as we have several plates of leftover food in the
fridge and we should finish that first.
Music to my ears!
The weather
bureau warned about a sudden severe cold front from Monday with wind, rain,
hail and snow, but when we got up, apart from being cloudy, nothing much of the
forecast was seen. I just finished
cleaning the house when it started to rain.
By then, the wind had also gathered speed; soon afterwards the hail
started. It was bitterly cold!
With the ambience from the fire, I didn’t feel like doing anything chore-related, and we settled by the TV and watched no less than 2 movies. I took a mean afternoon nap under a thick, warm blanket, and for once I enjoyed National Women’s Day.
With me
having plenty of R&R on Monday, it was back to normal yesterday. I got to finish this one.
Not all
quilters name or label their quilts, and then I try to come up with a name, just
not to start every post with “another quilt”.
This is exactly what happened here.
I got this loaded right after I finished the first but had some grocery shopping to do and only started the actual quilting later in the day. Being for one of a twin, the same edge-to-edge motif was used.
When I
opened this and saw the blue background, I wondered if I had the sexes
right. I initially believed the red was
for the boy and the other one (whilst still in the package) would be for the
girl. Now I am not that sure
anymore. It is, however, nice to see how
different the same main fabric turns out when used with different colours.
I managed
to finish this one too.
Friday turned out to be a rather normal day as per daily routine, and I appreciated it. I did some quilting but didn’t push myself, did laundry, ironing, lunch and supper and watched rugby on TV.
This grandma
made two of these owl quilts for her twin grandbabies, who are turning two in March
2027. That I call organised!
I started
with the red owl quilt for no particular reason; it was just on top of her package, and since it was for toddlers, we needed nothing more than an edge-to-edge
design. She wanted the same
motif on both quilts, so not too girly or boyish, as the second quilt will be
for the little girl.
I woke up
on Saturday morning and started quilting before I even showered or got dressed, but managed to finish this one before 8 am.
A productive start to the day!
This is only one version of a quilt going by this name and from out of town. This quilter used to be local but, after retiring, moved away.
Yesterday I
had this quilt on the frame after the interlocking squares, and hopefully this
won’t take 14 days to complete. I took
out frozen soup, which we enjoyed with cheese buns and for the little one, I made
pizza for lunch.
The quilt
maker purchased a fleece blanket with the size noted on the tag, but when I
measured it, one side was not remotely as long as the tag said. I will barely have enough space on the sides, but luckily this won’t need any ruler work.
I might just get this to work.
It turned out to be a productive quilting day as I finished this before we had to fetch the little one after school. I still have 3 quilts in my house and 3 more on my waiting list.
House hen is losing her feathers. Whenever I took a break from quilting, I walked into a scene like this. It feels as if I am constantly bending over to pick up either the feathers or their poo.
Hubby is fixing and levelling the paving around the swimming pool and has selected an intricate brick pattern, having to grind through them to get them to the size he needs. I can already see all the dust gathering in every nook and cranny. Looking at his pattern, I think he should really consider quilting.
We had a hectic two weeks; everything that could happen, happened. Our plans collided with others; appointments overlapped; I had more-than-normal social events; and it felt like nothing got done.
When we
moved into this house 4 years ago, the layout was everything I wanted: enough
bedrooms, enough open space for the grandkids to go bonkers and the private
spaces separate from the living areas.
During the first winter, though, we felt the living areas were as cold as a
freezer. I am not the toughest cookie
when cold. This year I even decided not
to watch TV in the lounge at night but to get into bed on the electric blanket
and enjoy the TV in the bedroom.
We had 4
humongous palm trees by the swimming pool.
Soon after moving in, hubby chopped down one. I cannot recall the reason for this one being
chopped down. Still 3 by the pool left, and I
think a cold person gets colder when older, as we really did not have a harsh
winter this year, but I am struggling more.
I layer so badly, I can barely bend my elbows to work.
I made a
sudden decision: the remaining palm trees had to go; they block most of the
light and sun from the house, and something needed to be done to improve the
situation. Made the call, and the tree
fellers quoted one day, started chopping and finishing the next. Shame, they really worked tirelessly, and I am
glad I got them to do it, instead of hubby, which would take him months. When I decided to get them, hubby added to
the list of trees to be chopped or trimmed, and since moving in, we’ve now
chopped about 23 trees in this garden.
The palms around the pool gave the look of an
island resort, but I prefer comfort before beauty. We definitely have more natural light, although I cannot say the heat has improved.
I will have to find new ideas without using electricity, as this has
become a luxury in South Africa.
In between the chaos of life and the trees, I received this queen-sized quilt from out of town, and it took me 14 days to complete. I just didn’t get time to quilt. I forced myself to at least do one of the 56 blocks a day; if I managed more, all good, but one a day meant progress.
With the blocks done, I started with the sashing and again hoped to do one row a day, and finally I just had the border to finish.
I forgot to ask the name of this pattern, but without the sashing in between, it can count as an interlocking squares quilt, so I’ll stick to that. When writing this post, it was 5 am, not a good time to ask someone the name of the quilt.
This little baby quilt, dropped by the courier on Friday, was a quick finish as the quilt maker just requested an edge-to-edge design. Any quilt for a baby, toddler or even child needs no more than this. They see the picture and colours, don’t care about the quilting, and never use these for too long.
On the very first day of Wimbledon and during a Sinner match, a quilter phoned to ask if she could fetch her quilt. I had no problem, as this is usually a rather quick transaction. I, however, did not know she’d be bringing another huge quilt along, and this part takes time. I have to make sure that we are on the same page regarding what needs to be done.
This
completed top was inherited by a non-quilting daughter after her mom passed
away. She had no clue as to how it
should be finished. At a gathering, my
client met her, and they talked about hobbies. This is how she came to
hear the story.
My client
then helped her with batting and backing and gave me the quilt to finish. Knowing it is for a non-quilter, I did not
want to overwhelm her with dense custom quilting or the price thereof. I would have loved to do custom quilting, though. I settled for meandering with
the knowledge that she at least has a useable item to remember her mom by.
I ordered 34 frozen meals and soup to be delivered on Thursday. I basically spent most of my food budget on frozen food because Wimbledon starts tomorrow. I am an avid sports fan on TV, though I am not fit enough to do any of these myself. However, I take Wimbledon more seriously than any other sport, and I do become rather unsociable during this time. Don’t visit me, don’t invite me, just let me be.
With this
quilt being the last one I have with me currently, I am quietly hoping for a
break. We will have the little one
over, seeing as it is school holidays in South Africa, but she is now old enough to
understand.
I also
spent the morning cleaning all the surfaces in my house. The little robovac can do her thing at night, leaving me with just a little mopping to do and then Wimbledon is
all mine.
After the quilt maker and I decided on a motif, I laid the 3 layers out on top of each other to ensure I load the right sides and not end up with a backing shorter than the top. Before taking the top to the machine, I decided to quickly count the blocks across and down. It was 9 blocks across and 9 rows down as I used the sides to count.
After
loading all three layers onto the frame, I started quilting and thought it would be a quick job. Before
long, I was done with row 3, which, at that stage in my confused mathematical
frame of mind, was a third of the quilt done.
Not far to go.
I quilted,
advanced, quilted, advanced, and when I got to row 9, I still had almost three-quarters of the quilt on the roll, still to quilt. That’s when it hit me, these blocks were on
point. In between each of the 9 block
rows, there were still 8 additional rows with 8 blocks each. Talk about a
disappointment!
Finally
done, I could return it to the quilt maker.
This is from what I regard as my “kind quilter”. She tends to bring me a quilt just after I worked on an intricate custom quilt, and I really just need an easy motif to take a break.
She made
this for a dog lover and thus used dog prints in the quilt.
When receiving this quilt from an out-of-town quilter, all my skills, creativity, patience or whatever you would like to call it, were tested.
Along with
the two quilts sent, computer-printed motifs came with instructions to do them on the quilts.
Now, as much
as I’d like to improve my skills and get better at what I do, I am sadly just a
freehand quilter and not a computer. I won't be able to get the left side of any block exactly like the
right or the bottom like the top.
I explained
this to the maker, but she was adamant I had to try my best or at least do something
similar to the prints she sent me.
I drew out
heaps of motifs on paper diamonds the size of those on her quilt and finally
came up with something I hoped would work.
For that, though, I had to make cardboard templates, two per block, and
these had to be marked on the blocks.
The tiring part was that both light and dark fabrics were used in every block
(diamond), and I had to use the blue water-erasable pen on the lights and a
chalk marker on the darker fabric. Time-consuming to the extreme.
I started
out quilting, all the while hoping for the best, and as I progressed, I could
see mistakes. Backtracking was not very neat,
curls not ending exactly on the same spot on both sides and echoes not spaced perfectly. I did my best, and that is what I can offer.
Once off
the frame and all the markings removed, I was pleasantly surprised by the
outcome. Very few of the problems I
noticed while standing by the quilt were even visible once it was off the frame
and seen as a whole.
The maker
has not seen the quilt yet, but liked what she saw in the photos I sent, so I am
hoping she’d be just as pleased once she sees the real thing.
The maker of this does not regard quilting as her craft, but as a mother of 3 boys, with the 2 younger ones getting married early, both with 2 kids, she had her oldest, who got married late and was unable to have a little one of their own.
Many
treatments and heaps of money, and MUCH later, they found out they were
pregnant. The scary/funny part is that
he is now 47 and his wife is 42. Never too
old to try something new.
Grandma
decided to make this quilt for this rather special little one. We chose a
denser meander to hide all the puckering.
Grandma did her best, and the result is still pleasing.
I received this beginner sampler, and the maker, as well as the local teacher, claims she did not do any sewing before doing this quilt. I looked closely at her seams and points and found it really hard to believe, but I don’t think they’d lie to me. We might just have a master quilter in the making.
