Introducing Gracie

 We didn't have pets when I was growing up. But as an adult I have discovered that I am definitely better off with animals in my life. This was brought home to me with some force in recent days. When our sweet Luna passed away a little over two years ago I was determined to try to live without a dog. 

 Living with a dog has been a real adjustment for Hubby as he wasn't raised with pets either. He would be content to live without any animals in his life. However, he has come to realize that I actually need the companionship a dog provides. I'm alone a lot due to his work schedule and the fact that my multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) keeps me pretty much home-bound. So I have been on the hunt for a new companion. It has not been without it's ups and downs, let me tell you. If I go into a shelter (because I do not need a pure breed) I will be ill for at least another day afterward. I was prepared for that prospect if there was a good reason to suffer in that way. I filled out applications online for nearly all the shelters and foster organizations in our immediate area. Sometimes I received a response in a timely manner and other times not. There were a couple of potential adoptees that fit my criteria - Chihuahua mixes for the most part. But they seemed to get adopted out to others before I could arrange to see them in person. 

Finally, a local organization with volunteers who foster dogs and cats listed a black and tan "Chi-weenie" on Petfinder.com. She was cute (sometimes the photos of the dogs online aren't the best; you can tell folks have had a hard time getting them to be still) but I was a little nervous about the Dachshund aspect of her anatomy. Turns out she's well proportioned after all. 

She's young, about a year old, and came with the name Gracie. We see no need to try to change that. 😊 And so far she looks to be a very good fit for our household. She's also a good fit on my lap.

 The trick may be to convince her that she can't spend all day there!

Stars for Pat

 My sister-in-law enjoyed sewing and was an avid hand quilter. Sadly, she developed macular degeneration and now can no longer see to sew. She asked me if I would be willing to make a version of a quilt I'd made a few years ago out of fabrics she'd accumulated and saved. Of course I said yes. 

This is the quilt she referenced:

And this is the one I made out of her fabrics:

About 65" square

 They were some lovely colors and prints to work with but they turned out to be highly toxic to my system. They'd been pre-washed in one of those laundry detergents that chemically bonds to the fibers. Even though I re-washed every piece they let off toxic fumes with handling and especially under the iron. It was a struggle, but I was happy to be able to assemble this quilt for Pat. I only hope her vision will last long enough for her to truly enjoy the fruits of my labors.

In the Pink

I'm not one to wake up in the middle of the night with bright ideas. They tend to come to me just as I'm falling asleep or as I'm waking up. And they tend to come in bunches, not singly. I had such an experience just the other morning, inspired by the set of four batik blocks I showed in my last post.

Regular visitors will probably remember that I've been looking for ways to use up the older prints in my stash. As dawn broke the other morning it dawned on me (pun intended) that I could probably make Scrappy Trip quilts in several color families, effectively using up or at least making a serious dent in some of the stacks in my stash. After jotting down some notes to myself the events of the day took over.

The next time I was able to spend extended time in the studio I went to my collection of pink prints and pulled out those I was tired of seeing and those that were the equivalent of a fat quarter or less. I cut 60 strips at 3" each. Then I had to go down to my LQS to buy enough of a black print to fill in the rest of the design I had in mind. Of all the black fabric in my stash I either didn't have enough of a single print or they weren't appropriate in some other way. Of course. And on this particular occasion I didn't want an assortment of black prints.

The plan is to make twelve pink Scrappy Trip blocks (15" finished) with a single black in the mix.

My hope is that the pinks will blend together reasonably well while the black will stand out in that distinctive diamond pattern the Scrappy Trip blocks can make.

So far I've completed four blocks.

I can't say this photo is an accurate representation of the colors but you can see what I'm shooting for. There's every possibility I'll change my mind about the final arrangement of the blocks but we'll see. My plan is to keep this on the small side, 45" x 60," partly so it can be finished up quickly but also so that I don't get bogged down in this color family. I really have to do something about the stacks of green (and orange... and yellow; we won't even talk about the novelty prints).

On the personal side of things, the cardiologist found 80-90% blockage in one of Hubby's arteries. I assume they cleared that out as much as possible before putting a stent in place. He was aware of what was going on but is fuzzy about the details. I wasn't able to stick around in the hospital to get any information firsthand. There are a couple of follow up appointments to keep so I'm sure there will be more information forthcoming. The important thing is that he already feels better and we expect to have many more years together. 😊

Another New Start

I seem to be starting a lot of new projects lately. I guess Spring is a good season for such activities. 😊

Now is not the time to share one of the projects I've just started. I'd kind of like to keep this second one under wraps too but I don't think that will be entirely possible. For the time being, suffice to say it's another set of 15" Scrappy Trip blocks.

I'm pondering what I'll do for the upcoming Scrap Happy Day. There's no shortage of scraps or old fabric to put to good use. I could also just make something up out of the Parts Department. Hmm...

On a personal note, Hubby has recently been experiencing episodes of angina. When he finally got in for a stress test (on a treadmill only) he failed spectacularly. He's now on a beta blocker and nitro glycerin pills and unable to do anything more strenuous than watch movies. I'll be taking him in tomorrow for an angiogram. My hope is that they find any blockage and take the opportunity to clear it out while they have him there. It will mean a little longer in the hospital but I'd prefer that to having to go back in the near future for another procedure. Or the other, rather permanent, alternative!

So far as I know Blogger/Google still has not come up with a fix for comments. You can leave them, but the only way I can respond is to leave a reply on my blog. I miss having you come directly to my Inbox. 😔

Starry Flimsy

Between other events happening around The Nest this week I managed to get all my sawtooth stars sewn together.

But I wanted it just a bit wider. It's only 56" (finished) wide at this point. Once this is quilted and laundered it won't even be that wide. So I decided to add two inches all the way around. I didn't have enough of the dark brown batik that surrounds the outer stars to do that but I did find another brown batik in my stash.

So now the top will finish 60" wide by 76" long. Wonderful! Now all I need is a name for this quilt. Well, and a backing (and batting and binding!). I'm considering some delicious hand dyed yardage that I've been hoarding for years for the back. They are single-yard cuts, and don't really go together, but I can't bring myself to cut them up. I knew from the beginning that I would keep this quilt for myself so I may as well put some cherished fabric on the back, right? ;- )

And now for the really big news:

Our son has purchased one of the long-arm quilting machines that were in the shop in which he was working and is going into business for himself!

We've been moving furniture and things around to make room for Freddy, as this particular machine is known (christened by it's first owner), in what was James' bedroom. There's fine tuning to be done but we expect things to be up and running within the week. Woohoo!

I'm linking up with the other RSC bloggers.

Because It's So Hot...

I'm sharing shawls!

My mother and her two sisters were all knitters. I think my mother was the most dedicated and prolific of the three. I did not get the knitting gene but fortunately my sister did. Many years ago she made this shawl for me:

She was a little shocked at how worn it was looking the last time she visited. Since then she has been on a mission to make The Perfect Shawl for me. :- ) Happily she hasn't hit upon it yet! (That means I get several shawls before she's done.)

That first effort has been wonderful but sometimes is too big and gets in the way. The next one was made of a wool and alpaca blend:

I think the pink and aqua yarn is a hand dye. I've had this one for a couple of years now and don't remember the details anymore. I especially like the lacy edging she created.

The most recent addition to my collection just arrived the other day:

This one is made from a variegated sock yarn in a color called bittersweet. The colors range from orange through red to purple. Just yummy. And look at the gorgeous knitting!

It's too bad my birthday is in the summer, otherwise I would be using this beauty daily!

A Modern Day Wedding Ring Quilt!

The time has come to show you the secret quilt I've been working on. It is a wedding gift for our eldest son and his new bride.

They are big fans of the video game Portal. Me, I knew next to nothing about it. Fortunately I had an in-house resource. :- ) Between us, my younger son and I designed and pieced the top. He did the quilting on the Avante (by Handi Quilter) at the shop.

The game involves creating portals through which your character can move from room to room in a lab/testing environment. In this case the portals made ideal representations of wedding rings. There are also "companion cubes" in the game. My son did some of his first piecing to create the cubes out of the basic tumbling block pattern.

Not too shabby for a first effort! Well, technically, his first efforts ended up on the back of the quilt. After he'd pieced them he decided they weren't big enough so he made a second set.

A previous test subject has left evidence around the laboratory. His hand print for example:

And a clue that the promised reward for completing all the assigned tasks is a lie:

The quilting really helped to complete the imagery of the quilt and to fill in the negative spaces. It was laundering that truly brought the quilt to life however! That never fails to amaze me.

This hasn't been the only project in the works in the Magpie's Nest of late but it has been the one with the highest priority. We thought we were sitting pretty in terms of having it done in time but then the second set of tumbling blocks had to be made, we couldn't find the same prints that were used the for the first set, more background fabric had to be purchased and it was out of stock as well... In short, I inked the label the day before my family took off to be present at the wedding. Whew! And via the magic of Skype I was able to witness the ceremony while it took place in another state! Hurray for modern technology! :- )

Quick Project

For the last week or so I've been working daily on a project that involves a lot of hand work. I'm not ready to share it with you yet. Julie might be interested to see some of the elements I've been using though... ;- )

But then I realized that my twin granddaughters have a birthday coming up in less than two weeks. Eeek! Daughter and I conspired on a purchased gift but I wanted to contribute something more personal as well. Something from Grandma.

Em sent me a selection of girly prints a while back, and all along I've thought they would be fun to turn into a doll quilt. Or two doll quilts in this case! I added only one print, sewed up some Rail Fence blocks, and in no time had this (well, before borders):
I hope you can see it, the colors are very light. In fact, those prints were so unlike anything I buy for myself that I had a hard time coming up with a border fabric I liked. The one I ended up using was also a gift to me - about 15 years ago! It happens to have been purchased by the twins' great grandmother. I think that's pretty neat.


Here you may be able to see the prints Em sent me. There's Glinda the good witch from the Wizard of Oz and another sprinkled with crowns and wands, and the yellow is covered with purses and things. Very cute, just very pastel. I'm not a pastel kind of gal. ;- )

So with Ruby Blue's speed we were able to get this pair of quilt tops put together in an afternoon. The quilts will finish at about 22 inches square. I still have to find backing and get them stitched together but that shouldn't be a big deal. I don't plan to use batting, just the two layers so the quilts will be easy to use to swaddle a doll. I'm also planning to make pillows to go with the quilts. Hopefully you'll get to see those in a few days. :- )

Eventful Week

One of my brothers, who I rarely hear from, called early in the week to inform me that our father had fallen down a flight of stairs and broken his arm. This was not just a simple stumble and fall either. He was moving a table, by himself, up or down those stairs. Apparently he damaged the shoulder socket and had to have surgery to repair it. Turns out he also has hairline fractures in his pelvis. The most recent report is that he's well but he's going to be laid up for several weeks. I pity his caretakers. He has never been a patient person and needs to be engaged in some activity most of the time. Meanwhile his wife (not my mother; she passed away several years ago) is having to be moved into a care facility. Fortunately her daughters are nearby and can help a lot with those arrangements.

The next call I had was from my sister, informing me that our one remaining maternal aunt had been hospitalized with bacterial meningitis. Less than 24 hours later she had passed away. This is a real blow to my sister who lives close to this aunt and was more like a daughter to her than a niece. Well, it's just plain hard anyway because she was the liveliest of the three sisters and the last one surviving. She would have liked this pillowcase I put together yesterday:



I made this pair as well, out of yardage I purchased some time ago.

They will complement the flannel Lincoln Logs friendship quilt that will soon be on my bed for the winter months. They may even work with the Pioneer Medallion quilt I've been working on ever so slowly. In fact, I wonder if I have enough scraps from the pillowcases to make the last Spinner block I need?

Messy Desk Monday

Changes are taking place here in the Magpie's Nest. I finally have the opportunity to set up a more permanent work station for hand work. Yippee! It's not going to happen all at once, no little organizational fairies are coming over to make the job go more quickly (darn it!) but it's going to happen. Pretty much all that means is that I'll be exchanging one mess for another here on the desk, one corner of which you can see below.


Did you notice the really tall fellow sticking up out of my bookmark cup? He just came to live with me this weekend. He was created by one of my sons.

This son has been making replica wands from the Harry Potter movies, turning them on our little wood lathe. This happens to be an original design created just for me. *VeryBigGrin*

He used wood burning to create the patterning just below the head and then various paints or stains for the rest of the coloration.

The skull was sculpted free hand out of polymer clay. I think he did a darn good job! Now I just have to learn how to use the thing... hehehe. ;- )

Puzzle Quilt Part 3

Sorry to keep y'all waiting so long. I've had my nose to the grindstone (no, not literally!), the pedal to the metal (if you count my sewing machine's foot pedal), and been working my fingers to the bone (raised a blister on my needle finger - I've never been comfortable with a thimble). The puzzle quilt is nearly done as I write this but let's back up and show you how I got to where I am now. Or at least another step in the path I've taken.

My friend C~ brought these orphan blocks to me a little while ago. I think they were actually from someone else's stash:


You may have noticed the Dresden Heart block on the design wall in the last picture of my last post. I tried out all three blocks in this quilt at one time or another. The Dresden Heart is the only one that made it into the final product. It acted as a great anchor for the lower right side of the quilt. What I needed, however, was something to then fill the hole between that and the big Contrary Wife block on the left side. First I tried a ten inch Spinner block:

Too much blue all in one place for my taste. How about this Churn Dash, also ten inches?

Maybe. But what if I sewed some five inch blocks together to make a 10" unit?

I rather like that. Now, how to fill in that strip between the small blocks and the big one?

What about a strip of strips? I'd been piecing these odd strips together while I was over playing with the 15 Minutes bloggers. I first saw Sujata doing it for one of her quilts (the one she calls Confetti I think). I find I have a lot of those short little strips in my scrap basket. They work okay when you're first starting out a liberated log cabin or crumb block but I wasn't using them up very quickly that way. This seems like a good idea and may become part of my standard repertoire. Sort of like sewing those odd half-square triangles into sawtooth strips.

Meanwhile, my lovely canary officially has a name now: Mr. Bingley. Those of you who are familiar with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice may recognize it as being the name of one of the characters from the story. The description of Mr. Bingley's personality just seemed to suit my little bird. Darling Daughter came up with a unique and accurate moniker too: Colonel (kernel) Corn (as in the color of my bird). Fitting, but I just couldn't go there. ;- )

I promise to be back soon with the next installment of the construction of this quilt top.

Puzzle Quilt - First Steps

Because I can't do anything easy or simple (as evidenced by the dry spell I had to go through after making the easy, simple quilt for our dear son-in-law) I decided to make a quilt to send to Japan out of my collection of scrappy and orphan blocks. The Bow Tie blocks were first up:


Meh. Maybe if I start with a different block?

That covered more territory but I still wasn't completely happy with it. All those blocks came off the wall and I started over for a third time.

I have a couple of bins of UFO's and experimental starts that I hadn't looked through in a long time. When I got into them this week I realized it's time to go through them again and redistribute things. Projects that I expected to finish someday have now become fodder for orphan block quilts. One of those was intended to be a wall hanging for the fall season. I know now that that will not happen. But it was a fun addition to the odd Shoo Fly block!

After that blocks with pointy bits became the focus of my design.

At this stage it measured roughly 30" x 39." The finished quilt needs to be a minimum of 45" wide and 60" long. Time to audition more blocks.

I like this strip of blocks but I'll tell you right now they didn't make it into the quilt top. At least, not yet. Stay tuned!

The new studio canary is still nameless. I want to give my daughter a shot at naming him because she seems to have a gift for that sort of thing. I expect her and all the granddaughters over later today. Have to say I'm excited to introduce the older grandgirls to him (he will not be leaving the cage however; canaries are not that sort of pet). After living with him for a week I admit to seriously thinking of calling him something like Loudmouth or Pretty Piggy. It's gratifying that he's comfortable enough to sing so often and so loudly. I'm surprised at how much interest he seems to take in what's going on outside the cage. And boy, does he love his mirror with the bell on the bottom! Who knew canaries could be so entertaining?!

Time Out

It's been another of those rough weeks. As a result I've done no sewing at all in recent days. Last week I was playing around with stick blocks.


Then I read about Victoria's challenge over on the 15 Minutes of Play blog to make two blocks using only dots, stripes, and plaids. I found an old bit of strata that happened to be mostly dots and stripes and a big ole plaid. So I played around with that a bit until I had these two blocks:


Sent those off to V~ and haven't sewn since. I haven't even been back to see what V~ is doing with the blocks. But I did get some grandbaby time over the weekend. :- )

Unfortunately I still don't feel well enough to get back to sewing. On the other hand, I only have a few more days if I want to complete any February challenges by the end of the month!