DWM: Orca Bay 6 and Tomatoes

Has it really been six weeks since we began our journey to Orca Bay?  These Ohio Star blocks are pretty snappy as they are -- but I know that Bonnie will combine these with the red string triangles, the blue string squares, and the black/white 'orcas' in another memorable design.    Here are other Orca Bay  and  Design Wall  updates.  

DH's Christmas Eve dining:  the last two tomatoes from our vegetable garden.   The vines were pulled out in October. These have been ever-so-slowly ripening in the refrigerator.

I made this bookshelf quilt for a coworker who is leaving the library at the end of this month.  I've lost track of how many bookshelf quilts I've made. Thirty, perhaps? 

Merry Christmas!

 

Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.

Hamlet: Act I, scene i

DWM: Orca Bay 5 and Postage Stamps

 Here's step 5....little orcas swimming in a circle.

A couple of months ago I bought a box of old quilt magazines at a thrift shop.  This photo -- in the Spring, 1987, issue of Quilt caught my eye. Their pattern called for 2.5" squares resulting in an 18" block.  I thought it would be great with 1.5" postage stamps and thus a 9" block.   

I had enough of the pink fabric (a Jinny Beyer 'blender' from years ago) to make 26 blocks, of which 25 are shown. The 26th will most likely be pieced into the back.

Here is the block deconstructed preconstructed.  I cut a template for the trapezoid.  The triangles are cut from 2" squares.  The postage stamps are 1.5" squares. 

Take a look at other Orca Bay blocks and see what's on other design walls on Monday.

Taking notes

"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night."

Thanks to Nancy for finding this image and for reminiscing about  Gregg shorthand on her blog this weekend.
My mother learned Gregg at Grace Martin's School in Pittsburgh. She used it professionally and personally, whether taking dictation or taking notes for a club or committee -- or whenever she wanted to make a list that we wouldn't be able to read! 

When I was a senior in high school I took a one-semester version called "notehand."   The one phrase I remember is "ch com," for "chamber of commerce." (And now, in 2011, I am on the Chamber of Commerce board.)   I used notehand the first semester of college, but because I wasn't proficient it was easier for me to take 'regular' notes. I soon figured out that the professors used an outline, whether explicit or not, and it wasn't hard to follow along.

I had not read Nancy's posts until today. It's purely coincidental that among the things I bought at an estate sale in Zion yesterday were four steno notebooks.  (Wide-lined Pitman rather than narrow-ruled Gregg.)  They were just .25 each. Three are completely unused. The fourth has four pages filled with Gregg -- many repeated word-forms, so I assume the writer was just practicing.

I've found that estate sales and garage sales are great sources for home office supplies. In addition to the steno books I've acquired a stack of legal pads (it doesn't matter to me if five or ten sheets have been used; the remainder of the pad is still good), felt tip markers (out of a box of ten, three may be dried up but that leaves seven), Avery adhesive labels, and more.  And I use them!

UFO no longer....but another flimsy has been created

Do you remember this quilt?  Probably not.  I started to quilt it about the middle of 2008.  I was not pleased with the way the quilting was going, so I put it aside.  For two winters the semi-quilted, still-pin-basted UFO was rolled up to serve as a draft stopper for the fireplace (which we do not use).  My DH asked me to bring out the draft stopper this year. I unrolled the poor UFO and realized I had quilted more of it than I thought (=too much to rip out).  I filled some bobbins, put navy blue thread on the top, and got to work.  As of last evening, ta da!  A finished object, all quilted and bound.  And, yes, sure, it will still work as a draft stopper. But nicer than it was before.

Another ta da!  Here is The Geese Flew Around  the Prairie Queen.  I made the geese with the cut- away corners method (rather than the fast flying geese method) because I wanted a lot of variety in the geese. (The fast method results in four identical geese.)  The green inner and outer borders stabilize the edges of the geese.   The flimsy is 90 x 90 so I will have it professionally quilted. 

As of 5:30 this evening I am on vacation for two weeks -- well, I have a meeting tomorrow and one on Monday -- and a report to write, an article to edit, two audiobooks to listen to and review.   I've got an equal list of quilty things I want and need to get done.  And DH and I plan a couple of days in the city, too.

Blog Hop Winners!

Here are the names of everyone who left a comment as of last evening.  (Three more people commented today, which is lovely but still past the specified time for the drawing.)

I chose the winners at random. They are GrannyAnne  and Mrs. Pickles   Congratulations, ladies!  I will need your mailing addresses in order to mail the FQ bundles to you.

 

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Quilting Gallery blog hop!

DWM: Orca Bay 4

Orca Bay, step 4:  128 string-pieced triangles.  I have no idea how these will fit with the hourglasses, HSTs, and little blue string blocks.  (The fabric is RED!  In the photograph it looks orange, but I assure one and all that it is RED!)

At the Waukegan Area Branch AAUW holiday luncheon yesterday we drew the winning ticket for Christmas Cards, the 2011 holiday raffle quilt.  The winner (Virginia C.) was delighted.  The $295 proceeds will be divided among AAUW projects.  (I need to get going on the AAUW spring 2012 quilt!)

Be sure to see what's on other design walls and check up on Orca Bay progress!

Blog Hop!

You can win a fat quarter bundle!  Leave a comment.  On Wednesday, December 14, I will draw two names at random from those who've commented, and award those people a set of four fat quarters. 

Thanks in advance!

THE DRAWING WAS DECEMBER 14. WINNERS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED AND NOTIFIED. If you're visiting after December 14, you are welcome to leave a comment but you're not going to win anything.   :)

DWM: Gift Bags, Prairie Queen, and Orca Bay

These gift bags are made from fabric stiffened with Pellon Craft Fuse.  (Inside each is an amaryllis, ready to force into bloom.)  The basket blocks are 5" square.

Orca Bay, Step 3:
350 2" (unfinished) HSTs. 

 I decided on scrappy neutrals to sash the Prairie Queen blocks. I was about to cut plain borders when I got the idea to try flying geese. These geese are 3 x 5.5 unfinished and I'll need about 121 of them.

Another postage stamp quilt is in the works! 


.....and take a moment to see how other Orca Bay mysteries are coming along, as well as what's on many design walls walls as this week gets underway.