Really March 18, 2019
It always seems so long since I last wrote. This is something I enjoy, but find hard to be consistent. Life keeps happening. After my husband's kidney transplant (our blessing), I was simply exhausted. Went to the doctor this fall because my heart was beating strangely (PAV) and I simply felt depleted. I started with a medication and vitamin D. I cannot believe how much better I'm feeling after a couple of months of vitamin D. My skin and nails are so much happier than they have been in years and my husband is doing awesome! My back has been giving me trouble; he's been doing all the snow removal and I haven't had to help!
So, now today is February 14, 2019. About the time of my last entry, Phoebe got knocked out of commission. She had a thread in the bobbin case that I couldn't remove. I was afraid I would have to pull apart the bobbin case in order to get her working again. I don't know enough about the bobbin area, so I called a local person to come to work on Phoebe. That was back before Thanksgiving. Finally, I bit the bullet and worked on Phobe myself. It took me hours and hours to work through what I needed to do, BUT the money for the repairman ended up in my pocket. So finally, I'm back quilting on Phoebe...Yay!
Quilt #8 Last quilt of 2018 finished in November
This quilt was given to my third son. I made this quilt top about 1980-82. We had a mill in Lowell, MA that was still producing fabric then. We could go in and purchase a brown paper grocery bag of scraps from clothing produced in the mill. That bag of scraps was $3. I made two of these quilts for him. The first was tied rather than quilted. I thought I would make a second top back then figuring that quilt would not last long. My son had that quilt on his bed for years. He took it off to college with him and into marriage 7 years later. I thought that it had seen its end to find out he still has it in 2019. When I walked in the door with this quilt, my expectation was that it would be used on the beach when they head there....noooo. My son claimed this quilt for himself! end of story. I guess all four of my sons would like quilts for themselves, especially seeing that their wives and my seven grandchildren all have quilts. With Phoebe it is possible!!
This is the quilt that I was working on went Phoebe went down. I started this quilting in 1990 by hand. The three borders were put on in the early 2000s when I finally found something that I really liked with the patches. The the white areas are hand quilted. I finally got to a point where I simply couldn't sit and work on this one. My neck would get so tired. I took it off the frame a few years back, then this past fall thought I would simply put it on the long arm frame and finish it by machine. I'm so glad I did. It would still be hanging around waiting for me to work on it!!
This shows off the Single Irish Chain pattern. It has just been washed; it smells so good!
The Pumpkin Seeds in the nine patches are done on the long arm. I really like the way this came out.
The quilt was sitting in the sun in the window. It really showed off the border quilting. It is invisible otherwise.
This is the backing along with the binding and the front border. I simply liked this picture :-) This quilt went to my second son and his wife as a thank you for all there help.
So, this year I'm hoping to start and finish eight quilts again. So far, I have two quilts pieced and quilted and trimmed. I need to attach the binding on one, cut and attach the binding on the other. The third is in need of borders, then it will go on the frame for quilting. Liking the long arm. Best purchase I could have made. I Still have another six or seven quilts that have been waiting for years. I'm enjoying the quilting process more than I ever have and I'm a person that has always enjoyed hand work! But it feels so good to be able to finally get them finished. And it really stimulates my creativity!!
Enjoying my blessings!!
d
