Sunday, July 10, 2022

Puffins and Penguins is a Finish

It seems like I've been away from blogging for a long time,  and I guess it has been.  Recovery from covid and Lyme disease took quite a bite out of my energy level, and that is still not where it was before they struck.  But I'm finally back to doing a bit of quilting and have finished another donation quilt destined for the annual camp benefit auction.  

"Puffins and Penguins" - the second edition of black and white triangles finished at 72x72 inches.  I'm thinking of billing it as an I-Spy Quilt for All Ages, there's a lot going on in many of the prints.  I do like working with the equilateral triangles, though when cutting directional fabrics every other cut results in an upside down pattern.  Not really a detriment though since if the quilt is flipped around on the bed, there's always a lot of prints that read right side up.  

I think I prefer seeing it with the black triangles pointing up, don't know why.  


There are a few older prints in  this, dating likely to the 1990s, though I think most are newer.  I think that little medical/stuffed animal print in the top row in the above photo might be the oldest one. You can probably spot it if you enlarge the photo.


I really lost interest in the hand quilting project started early this year.  It sits on the table next to the recliner untouched now for several months.  Not sure why because I really liked this little top.  Thinking maybe it's time to set it aside for a bit and pick up something else for evening hand quilting.  


Yesterday I dug out this small top I received last fall and found a backing fabric and got it pinned and put into the floor stand hoop.  Finally, I'm finding joy in hand quilting again!  Nothing fancy, just some curving lines to hold things together.   The beauty of this top is in the piecing and machine embroidered motifs. Working on it in the afternoon when the light is good. This will also go to the camp benefit auction this year.  At 35 inches square I should have it finished soon.  

This is the entire quilt top:


As I pinned this it felt like the quilting would be difficult as most of the fabrics are batiks and the backing fabric is slightly heavier than usual.  But thankfully the needle is going through surprisingly easily, one stitch at a time.  Really happy I chose to hand quilt this rather than attempt to figure out a good machine quilting design for it.

The garden is growing, especially the weeds of course.  Some critter came by and ate our first banana pepper plus most of the plant.  We have cucumbers almost ready for harvest, thankfully there are plenty of prickly leaves protecting them.  Tomatoes will likely begin ripening in August and hopefully we'll have jalapeno and banana peppers for the salsa we like to can.  Blueberries are ripening now, we'll freeze any that aren't eaten immediately.  Gibbs loves to wait while I pick them and chow down on the less than perfect ones.  He would probably eat them right off the bushes, except these are very old and large bushes now and the berries are all too high for him to reach (thankfully).

I'll leave you with the prettiest blooms we have right now.  A couple years ago Barbara from Cat Patches sent me a few seeds from her purple poppy plants.  Her plants did not survive for a second year, sadly, so I didn't expect much when I planted the seeds last spring.  We had a few rather scrawny plants that each had one blossom and that was it.  Well, those few blossoms cast their seeds all alongside our back porch and we ended up with these beauties this summer.  This is at the northeast corner of the house, getting only an hour or so of sun each day, with a lot of snow and ice all winter.  Unlike the red poppies, these apparently don't like full sun.  Who knew?!  


Full moon this week.  I love when the nights are clear and the moon shines in the bedroom windows. Somehow sleep comes easier under the light of the moon, and that's where I'm headed soon.


P.S. Blogger is suddenly not allowing me to reply to individual comments on the blog post page, so if I do not have an email address for you I may not be able to reply.  But, I appreciate your comments whether from old blogging friends or those of you who might be visiting for the first time.  Thank you!


14 comments:

Beth French said...

I like your black and white triangle quilt. So fun to use all those old prints. I made a purple quilt for my daughter years ago when she went off to college. And those poppies! They are gorgeous with that cool green foliage-pink and green, one of my favorite color combinations!

Kyle said...

I love your I Spy, For All Ages. It will be a real hit. Using the large triangles makes all those fun objects easy to see. Glad you're feeling better, but don't over do it. The poppies are beautiful. You must have them in the perfect spot.

Cynthia@wabi-sabi-quilts said...

It's nice to see your post! I hope you continue to feel better and better after the double illnesses. Your flowers are gorgeous. I have never seen purple poppies - they are so special. Your black and white Eye Spy will be so fun for whoever wins it. Enjoy your hand quilting!!

Robin said...

The black and white quilt is so fun! Isn't it funny how working on something different can get the enthusiasm going again? The oriental project is so lovely. I love the color of your poppies, so glad they're doing well this year. (And you too!!)

Hill Top Post said...

I love the batiks quilt, and definitely agree that the beauty is in the piecing and your oh-so-awesome machine embroidery. I also would definitely want the points going up on the triangle quilt. I love it. You know how I am about those black beauties you keep coming up with. Glad you are feeling stronger.

Chantal said...

I love Puffins and Penguins although I Spy for all ages is a very good aka. Sometimes a project needs to be set aside until we miss working on it. It's how it goes. I love the mini you are hand quilting. What a beauty! I didn't know poppies come in purple. They are so beautiful.
I'm happy you are feeling better and are back to quilting. Take care. ;^)

Barb said...

I'm glad to hear you are feeling better. What a double dose of exhausting illnesses.
Your B&W triangle quilt is fabulous!
I love those purple poppies! they are so so pretty

audrey said...

I'm glad to hear you're on the mend. It's not good times when sickness is hovering about. So interesting about the hand quilting. I think sometimes the lost mojo is simply in the fact that the color of the quilt is not 'doing it for us' during a particular season in life. Perhaps the blue in the current quilt feels more calming and peaceful to you right now. More needed for the total hand quilting therapy at the moment.:)

Nancy said...

You know, I still don't have my energy back from having Covid in January. I can hardly imagine how hard it's been for you with both Covid and Lyme disease. I hope you continue to feel better each day.
Puffins and Penguins is a delightful quilt. There are so many interesting prints! It was fun to see the old telephone. I wonder how many children will recognize what it is.
I love the quilt that's been laying by your chair. If a break it what it needs for you to enjoy quilting it, good for both of you. You'll pull it out sometime in the future and find delight in it again, I'm sure.
The Oriental quilt is beautiful. So pleased the batik fabric isn't too difficult to quilt.
Your poppies are gorgeous. I've never seen any that color.

Janet O. said...

Did you have those at the same time, or one right after another?!? Either way, YIKES! Glad you are seeing improvement, but can understand why you aren't quite back to original strength.
Three wonderful projects--each one made me smile for a different reason. I was tempted to drop everything and go cut triangles with penguins in them--not even sure I have such a fabric! LOL
Love the purple poppies! Not sure I've ever seen such a thing.

Barbara said...

So glad you are finally feeling better and back into quilting. Your triangle quilt is wonderful! So many fun fabrics and I like the black triangles pointing up, too. Love your hand quilting project :) Those purple poppies must be in the right location. They are gorgeous!

Sandy said...

It’s a beautiful quilt. I love the black and white with those little bits of color, and texture.
Good strategy on the hand quilting.

Nann said...

Nice to read your post. What a great I Spy design! Mary Fons came to our guild and did a workshop with equilateral triangles. I got as far as cutting out many and sewing a few rows. Technique was fine but my color choice was not. Glad to see the Asian batik piece again! Our church rummage sale is in a couple of weeks. I wonder if there will be other quilt contributions.

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

This triangle quilt is fabulous. Love all the beautiful fabrics you have used in it.