JUST KNITTIN'

So grateful I can knit and enjoy a textured yoke on a top-down sweater!!  I'd go crazy just laying here!

And a shout out to my parents who are celebrating

 their 72nd wedding anniversary today!!!!

 

PUT THE BRAKES ON!

No biggie, but I am down with a head cold! 

 It's been a long time since I have had a cold but here it is, 

uninvited but manufacturing snot in abundance. 

 Down time and plenty of fluids; I know the drill.

Watercolor, 8 1/2" x 11"

 

WOOD AND WOUND!

Now this is a wooden bowl! 

 I am thrilled with the way this turned out!  

It weighs 7-8lbs, is made from a Live Oak Burl, 

16" long and 8" wide, and 5-6" high.  

This is a back  side of the bowl.  I think it needs a permanent place of honor on the shelf so I will need to do some rearranging to give it a proper spot!  It is too heavy to put on the table where I would have to move it for meals! lol  What an adventure!  

Here is how my ankle looks now--I have no pain or discomfort,

 I am very happy to report!  I have to change the bandage around noon;  I am very interested to see how it looks compared to the crater on my forearm, which is healing beautifully.  

Mary and I had a great day yesterday, shopping and then lunch at Applebee's then more shops-we even included a stop at a local quilt shop!  A perfect day!

 

MIGHTY STITCHING!

I cut all the pieces I needed, and all that I could eke out of the Jelly Roll, for the Christmas in July quilt.  It will be 56 x 72" which will be a nice size for a wintertime snuggle!

I put all the pieces in a shallow box like this so that I can grab and stitch a block when I have a minute!

I also decided that the diamonds needed to be bordered

 so I cut the pieces leftover from the fat quarters do make it.  

All of the squares are attached to the central panel now! 

 I only have three rows of borders to attach now!

This morning I will drive into St Augustine to have the other 'spot' on my ankle removed since the first skinning didn't remove all of the cancerous cells.  Mary is going with me so we can do some shopping and lunching afterwards!  Nice way to sweeten the day!

 

A NEW OUTFIT!

The sweater is done, blocked and ready to wear! I even sewed a new skirt to go with it!  The sweater is a wool/cotton blend that is very comfortable and makes the sweater less heavy and it holds it shape which would not be the case if it was 100% cotton in most instances.  I have another skirt ready to stitch up today!  

I forgot how much I like making clothing also!

 

JUST PIECING SOME MORE!

I sewed the diamonds into a table runner--

but now t I have to decide on borders.  I do have enough of the fat quarters leftovers to make a mixed border for it.  

The rows went together pretty easily 

with only a few re-sews for some point matching!

These blocks are fun and easy--I will  have  blast arranging them--in an orderly manner or very random?  As soon as I get the all of the strip pairs sewn, I will have a lot more units to choose from for each block.  This will be larger than the lap quilt I usually make but I am just going to make blocks and see what happens!

 

TWO NEW DIRECTIONS

I pulled out last month's FQ's and cut them up for a new table runner.  I was inspired by this pattern from The Fat Quarter Shop's YouTube channel.

Only one 6 1/2" strip of each of the 6 fabrics plus my own background fabric gave me a table runner size!  I will be making several so they can be gifted!

And I couldn't resist putting one row under the needle to see how it would go--and it was very easy!!!

Feeling like I was on a roll, I took out some of the Jelly roll strips and paired them up so I could make a few blocks for the Christmas in July quilt.

I can see this will be another minimum effort for a big result project!  I only stitched/cut two of the paired strips so these will not be all the same ones together in the actual quilt but you get the idea.  This is the free pattern from The Fat Quarter Shop.

And here is a sad tale;  Bill clipped the leg of my raised bed  

of veggies while mowing.

The leg was weakened by rot but still---I didn't give him a medal for 'Seeing who could mow close enough to the bed so he didn't have to trim" award......

 

HAPPY FOURTH!

Appropriately, this plant is called a firecracker fern!

(Cuphea Ignea)  We have two healthy plants that are

 a riot of colorful pops right now!   

I completed hollowing out the bowl portion of this project 

and I even finished the sanding! I also have most of the outside sanded and today, I am going to begin the wood finish which is going to be shellack. I can't wait to see how the grain appears when I apply the finish! The wood is so dry now and looks so pale, but afterwards it will be darker and richer in color!

I did have to quit working on it because of the

 '3 strikes and you're out!' policy! 

 I smacked the back of my hand trying to loosen the tool rest and immediately bruised it--one of the joys of aging is the ability to bruise superbly!  

Second, I pinched my last two fingers by not waiting for the bowl to stop turning completely before I reached in its way--

they are swollen and colorful, too!  

And thirdly, I caught my cord while making the last few passes with the amazing carving tool; I didn't get a shock or blow a circuit but I knew enough to quickly unplug it and lay it aside! 

 Splicing a new cord on will be a project for Bill, the electrician! 

 I know my limits! lol 

I think I am not as coordinated as I could be and am a bit out of practice again--I need to slow down but after TEN months of slow I am ready to MOVE!  

The next wood project will be a much simpler one.

Have a wonderful day;  ours will be a quiet one for us but the neighborhood will be living it up late into the night!

ALL THE PARTS

Yes, all of the parts are now cut out for this quilt! 

 I finished all of the squares around the 'map' panel. 

 Today I will begin to stitch each of the rounds!!!

And I already have the next project planned out! 

 It will be a Christmas in July quilt!

 

JUST IN TIME

I didn't get the bowl finished for a post today,

though I have continued to work on it!  

BUT I did get the July table runner done  by the first!  I love the pop of patriotic colors when I walk through the dining room!

 

SNEAK IN A SPRING

David and I had a good adventure yesterday,

 we took a little hike -almost a mile down this trail-

to arrive at this beautiful hidden gem--a freshwater spring! 

 After a brisk swim and some 

underwater explorations, we headed back down the trail

 to beat the afternoon rain. 

This is a native hibiscus, called a scarlet rosemallow, 

which is always a beautiful pop of red when you spot some!

This is a bass--the way the light reflected it made it look like a ghost!

And a selfie just because we were having fun!

I was so happy to be able to take a hike, to breathe and have only my usual MS pain without all the extras like anemia and know that perhaps the worst of this chapter of health is behind me!

 

IT'S LOVE

Bill is great about bringing me a 'just because' bouquet at least once a week.  They go on my dresser in the bedroom where I can see them first and last thing each day!  

And every once in a while he will buy me this bag--all for me! 

 A secret (well, not anymore!) indulgence of mine! lol

The quilting is now finished; 

the table runner is trimmed and I will get the binding on it today! 

 I wanted it done for July  and I did it, just in time!

 

LEARNING

So way back in September when I got sick, I had this cool piece of wood loaded to turn into a bowl.  Ten months later, and I am finally getting back to it with some help from my grandson!

This is a knot of Live Oak and as hard as a rock!  It has cool grain and I could 'see' a very primitive bowl when I originally loaded it.  Unfortunately, it has languished.  Well, David helped me clean up the long unused lathe area but first-

he told me I needed a hand grinder with a carving wheel to help make this job possible!  Hooray for Amazon!

He carved out a lot of the unwanted wood and showed me how to use the tool.  I gained confidence as I worked and appreciated his strength to spell me as I tired a lot quicker than he did!

In no time, the bowl I envisioned began to emerge!

I then had the pleasure of teaching him the technique for using a bowl gouge to hollow out the bowl portion of the piece.  

He was used to working with a metal lathe and there was a little bit of a learning curve but he is a very handy young man and picked it up in no time--especially when this was such a bear of a piece to learn on!  I hope to have this finished for my post on Wednesday !  

Today we head to church and then will pick up some Chinese take-out on the way home!

 

A QUIET DAY

I pieced one side of the quilt---using two different 'frames' for the 6 1/2" blocks.  I also made several more of the blocks for the patriotic stars.

I noticed that the Lifesaver cactus is in bloom--this one is almost done blooming.

And this one is fresh;  the botanical name is Huernia zebrina. 

 

 

PREP WORK

I did a ton of cutting for the pieces for the Shop Hop quilt--I will post pics when I actually do some piecing. 

 In the meantime, I keep on knitting;  this is a waffle weave variation.  It is an easy 4 row repeat.

 

NOTHING LIKE A NEW PROJECT!

I am making a bunch of these blocks 

for Alycia to donate to her QOV group.  

I cut a pile of squares and then mark the lighter color to make the HST's.  The blocks go together very easily.

And I pulled out this year's SHOP HOP Quilt project and began to cut out the fabrics.  This will be the center!

And these will be the center of the blocks to surround the panel!  I do enjoy starting a new quilt!