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Only 59 more days until the Vernal Equinox

Who was it that said they weren’t going to buy any more Eiffel Towers? Hmmm? Oh that’s right ~ it was me.

This was too glittery to resist. I actually DID try to resist it. I saw it in a little shop around Christmas time and I averted my gaze and kept walking. Today I was back in the shop and the rest is a little hazy and, well, there you have it.

I mean, come on! It’s the Eiffel Tower AND it’s all vintagy glittery.

I’m surprised I have any money left over for anything since I seem to be spending every last cent I have on gardening magazines.

I love them all but I really love The English Garden. You know in 70’s sitcoms when the star is gazing off in the distance and then the picture gets all wavery and then you can see what he/she is fantasizing about? That’s me when I read this magazine. I’m striding down my mown lawn pathways in my Wellies and knit jumper with my Felco pruners in one hand and a trug in the other. Billowy perennials on either side of me and Belle close at my heels.

I didn’t plant any bulbs this year. The Fall was just kind of busy I guess. I have daffodils that come up in ever increasing splendor each year but the tulips and hyacinths need to be planted anew every Fall. I’m going to have to see if I can find any pre-chilled bulbs for sale.

Years ago we bought a house and about two days after we moved in our elderly next door neighbor passed away. Her house remained vacant for months and I remember in the Spring that followed her entire property just exploded with teeny grape hyacinths. Just drifts and drifts of pale lavender to the richest, darkest purples. It was stunning. In my wavery fantasy I have fields just beyond the low stone fences that look just like that.

In real life I have this:

From little acorns…

Let’s go back to the Gremlin discussion. Of course now I’m feeling a little guilty at how I disparaged it in my previous post and I’m feeling a better appreciation for the solid craftmanship and general reliablity of it. But I think the Gremlin name is going to stick.

One of the comments on the post was from Bren who also has one of these classic babies. When I get comments I always click on the commenter’s link if there is one. I love checking out everyone’s blogs and it’s a great way to find undiscovered (by me, anyway) ones. Well imagine my absolute utter astonishment to find out that Bren is Brenda Riddle from Acorn Gifts & Quilts.

She is my January table topper quilt project! I bought the pattern and fabrics last year and tucked it away for when I can muster up the nerve to start it. The pattern is For My Grandmas and I picked a palette of pale blues with the palest cream for the background fabric.

Bren has a certain way with colors and design that really appeals to me. I’m always drawn to her patterns and while I don’t set out to buy a certain designer’s patterns it turns out that all the patterns I have purchased have been hers or another designer, Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs (and they just happen to be good friends).

This particular pattern instantly appealed to me because the cover photo looks like the quilt is done in 30’s reproduction fabrics and we all know how I feel about them. The pattern is an homage to her Grandmothers and the other women in her family who were/are quilters.

I am still a quilting newbie. I have actually restrained myself from getting too ahead of myself with fabric purchases (patterns don’t count)(nor does the occasional fat quarter)(or charm packs) until I get a little more experience under my belt and maybe finish the projects I have bought. I’m just a little timid – it’s hard to start cutting into all that pristine, beautiful fabric and then not have it turn out quite the way I envisioned.

After reading Bren’s comment and then picking myself up off the floor I sent off a gushy email to her. In her reply she left me with this sage advice

"Just remember that it is simply one step at a time ~ "

Go check out her website. If you haven’t tried your hand at quilting then she’ll be just the inspiration you need. And if you are a quilter then I’m just preaching to the choir, aren’t I?

I’m thinking Gatehouse might be my May table topper….

12/4/1925 ~ 1/20/2004

And did you get what you wanted
from this life even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved. To feel myself
beloved on this earth
~ Raymond Carver

Come on in!

This is the table in our entry way. It is the first thing that you see when you come in the door. Beyond it you can see the living room and the big picture window looking down towards the creek. The view is pretty spectacular so I have to create something eye catching in way of a tablescape otherwise people just drift in saying ooohh and head over to the window to look outside.

I’ve been struggling with this since I took down all the Christmas decorations. I want something kind of Victorian looking and fresh at the same time. I think of house plants and layering of items when I think Victorian so this is my interpretation. Something about the configuration just isn’t working for me – I’ll keep at it. I have this uncontrollable urge to make things symmetrical. I need to get over that. I think that is what is limiting me.

Since we are in the entry way step on in and look to your right ~ there’s my kitchen. Still need the tiled back splash but it’s almost done. We’re kind of like the Winchester Mystery remodellers – we don’t ever want to finish in case we get haunted or something:

And finally – this is too humiliating – even more so then the ~~embarrassing~~ very collectible, highly sought after sewing machine. This is the view to the left when you come in:

Yes – that is a Christmas tree. Still up. I’ve taken the decorations off of it but somehow we haven’t managed to get it taken apart and put back in its box and up into the attic. In my defense the thing is heavy – really heavy and I can’t manage it myself. I keep meaning to get Rick to help me but then the day just gets away from me.

And the thing is much more pathetic looking when it’s unplugged so I keep turning the lights on. I should just hang some Easter eggs on it and leave it up until April.

The Gremlin

This is what I sew on. A Kenmore circa 1979. It’s like the AMC Gremlin of sewing machines. It’s a bit humiliating to be honest but it sews in a straight line and that is pretty much all I ask of a sewing machine.

It weighs about four hundred pounds but I dragged it down to my Dad’s this week ~ determined to make some progress on my Valentine’s table topper. Which I did. Mostly of the seam ripping variety but progress none-the-less.

My sisters are very accomplished quilters. Very. Jaw droppingly accomplished. Kate just finished the top to a bargello quilt done in gold, peacock blue, black and cream Asian fabrics that looks like a jewel. Nicki consistently produces quilt after quilt all done in really well thought out color palettes. She loves a scrappy quilt and can find forty different fabrics in the same shade of pale buttery yellow to work into a quilt design. She is so patient and meticulous and methodical when creating a quilt. I’m all about the instant gratification which is why I buy fabrics and then pretend I will make quilts out of it some day. She’s the one I go to when I need help with a calculation or a tricky intersection of fabrics.

Anyway – said sisters both do their quilting sorcery on Berninas. Nicki hosts a monthly quilting get togethers and everyone shows up with their fancy machines and I’m always kind of ashamed to lug in my old Kenmore. But like I said – it does the trick.

What I would really love is one of the old Singer Featherweights. What I wouldn’t do to have a white one. They are small, portable and they sew in a straight line. I need to apply myself to finding one – they are all over e-Bay but I’d rather buy from a local restorer.

I want to finish this quilted tabletopper so I can get on to my next project. I want to make this quilt in the Moda Poetry collection (exactly as depicted in the pattern – only bigger). We (my sisters and I and seven other quilters) are going on a quilting retreat in April and I think I can accomplish this quilt top during that trip. We are going to a monastery in Danville – we have booked one of the conference rooms for our sewing and the monks don’t care how late into the night we sew as long as we are quiet.

I’ve never spent more than an hour or two at a time working on any of my admittedly meager quilt projects so I’m looking forward to having two full days of uninterrupted quilting with so many accomplished quilters.

I’m sure they will all be too polite to comment on my sewing machine.

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