Updates and Upgrades

I continue to be entertained by sunrises in their infinite variety. Yes, I am still getting up a couple or three times a week and taking a walk before I'm awake. This is from last week. Today it was kind of misting rain, so I kept the camera/phone in it's pocket. I only saw one other person out tramping in the damp today.

There is a new quilt block finished,(Two more to go) for the Austen Family Album Quilt, however the light is really not good at the moment.I haven't found any decent photo editing in the Windows upgrade, so will have to look further afield, I think.  I've played a little with Instagram on my phone, but haven't quite figured that out yet either. I seem to be in a private maelstrom of upgrades/changes/new programs that is taking me a little time to sort out. Maybe a trip or two to You tube or similar. I contacted my cell phone provider the other day concerning a difficulty I was having and the tech I was talking to discovered some upgrades that had never been sent to me. It's all change, I tell you.

I finally finished a Craftsy class that I got a couple years ago; Janet Pray's Jacket Express.  I have wondered about the Islander System for a very long time. I did enjoy myself with the "no pins" approach and the smaller seam allowances that mean less trimming. The jacket is finished except for redoing a button hole on one of the pocket flaps. Another day when the light was bad and I cut too close with my buttonhole chisel.

Are you are making some discernible progress in something in your life these days? I'd love to hear about it. It does help to keep engaged and moving.

Happy Birthday to my Fan!

I do have a fan. I am grateful for that. It of course it affirms my efforts. I have been gently reminded this week that it has been an awfully long time since I've posted here. So, since today is my fan's birthday, I will post a special wish for their continued good health and say that I'm looking forward to the January migration of Snow Birds.

Happy Birthday BD on the dawning of your Sixty-Eighth year.

Feeling Homesick for My Second Home

I received an email today from my dear Quilting Sensei in Japan. Her news was part good and part not so good and part just sad. I was left feeling quite nostalgic for my heart's home in Japan.

As a result of the email, my fond thoughts of town and friends and food brought me to cooking a batch of American Koshihikari Rice and trying to remember how to properly make a couple of onigiri. I had some lovely umeboshi - made by a classmate in that quilting class and mailed to me earlier this year. (I asked a Japanese person one time how long you could keep umeboshi. She looked confused, trying to imagine having some left over when this year's batch was being made.)

Putting it all together with some salad for dinner I got out the chopsticks, the little cat hashioki to rest them on, then realized - I have no cups for ocha. How in the world did I return to America from Japan four times with out an ocha cup?

Ah well, I'm finishing up a bit of yokan and feeling a bit better. Japan will always hold on to a part of me.

Before I'm Awake

I tell people that some mornings I literally roll out of bed before 7 and after abbreviated ablutions, dress in drab sometimes slightly smelly clothes. I put my house key in one pocket, my cell phone in the other and pull on my walking shoes. I'm on my way down the sidewalk before I'm fully awake.This precludes any real objection to the very thought of exercise.

I was aware that sometimes when struck by some scene in my view I pull out the phone and take a photo. When I return home, my phone reconnects to my wi fi and automatically and silently uploads the photos to a file in Dropbox. Easy, almost too easy. 

Today I looked at my little collection and edited a bit. Here are some examples of what I see and snap before I'm awake.

A mama Muscovy with three chicks

Some Sand Hill Cranes

Some flowers I can't name. They are growing in a small pond of water in the abandoned golf course

Some mornings are quite hazy

Some are overcast

Clouds attempting to obscure the imminent sunrise

Gradually being tinged with color

Or left drab and monochrome

Highland Games in the Gulf Coast Flatlands

Today's weather was glorious for our plans. We were going to this years Dunedin Highland Games. Just to clarify for my friends in the UK and in New Zealand, there is a small city in Florida called Dunedin. Google it, honest, it's really there.

The sun was shining, a breeze was blowing and the expected high temperature was in the low 70's. Lovely. Our group comprised a Kennedy, a son of a Kennedy and me. It had been nearly 20 years since I had visited this Celtic Festival. It has grown and improved. We had a great time.





We saw some dancing.









We visited the Clan village.















Saw lots of cute dogs.

And a well turned out sheep or two.











Some bales were tossed over very high bars.














Some cabers were cast (but very few were turned!)



















Even the fry cook at the Chippie's was well dressed.







I was also introduced to Utility Kilts that you can see here. I keep trying to make this concept make sense, but have failed so far. I guess I thought that the main reason for kilts was to display your tartan. I looked for an explanation from a shopkeeper who sported a nice twill kilt in kind of a pismuckledun shade. He said, "Well look if you wear one to the pub and spill beer on it you don't have a big dry cleaning bill." His kilt had a loop for his IPhone case and another for a neat tool pouch. Still thinking here. Maybe there are men out there who, if given a practical alternative, would opt for a Utility Kilt rather than a clan tartan (or trousers.)  What do you think?

Thank you for your patience

Those of you who have stuck with me through the Austen Family Album Quilt project so far, Thanks. It's been more than two months since I posted anything about any thing. So here I am. I have finished another block today.

Block #32 (of #36) is Ladies' Wreath in honor of Jane's sister-in-law Elizabeth. Please visit Barbara Brackman's blog here to get the story of her life and a discussion of female mortality during the Austen's time. Elizabeth died at age 35 after the birth of her 11th child.

The block which is to represent a mourning wreath for a woman like Elizabeth. Because of the solemnity of the subject I chose a dark fabric with just a touch of green in the center to accompany the basic taupe theme fabric.

You might also like to scroll through some of the more recent blog entries to see some examples submitted by people who didn't stall near the end and have actually managed to set the quilt top.

In reading through these it appears that if the sashing is kept fairly narrow (finishing at around 1.5 inches) the quilt will be Queen Size. I think I can live with that. So on I go, four more blocks to make and then I can look at further steps.

Lady of the Lake, remembering Sir Walter Scott

Block #31 is called Lady of the Lake. This is the title of a poem by Sir Walter Scott who was a contemporary of Jane Austen. Read the story of their interactions here.

The block bears some similarity with a couple of previous blocks but is a degree more difficult. Lots and lots of points to match. This is the block I spoke about in the previous blog. I had difficulty with a couple of the fabrics growing when I pressed them. I took at least half of the seams apart, repressed and resewed before coming up with this:







Even though it was frustrating and has taken a really long time to complete I can't say I'm not pleased in general with the final product.

If you're keeping track of the block numbers you will see that I got slightly out of sequence. I think I am back on track now. On to #32 Ladies Wreath.

PhD or UFO?

This might seem a strange question with no sensible answer unless you are an avid crafter/sewist/quilter. In these creative circles PhD is an acronym for "Project half done", and UFO is an "Unfinished Object."

Postings of new quilt blocks have been completed for the Austen Family Album Quilt. There have been some further postings concerning how some people are finishing their projects. If you are interested you should visit Barbara Brackman's blog here. I still have several blocks to make.

The latest one I finished is this one: Block 29 "Lend and Borrow." Not overly horrible if you really pay attention.

I'm currently working on the block called " Lady of the Lake." It is quite similar, but made more difficult because two of my fabrics have the unfortunate tendency to grow a bit with sewing and pressing. So, when I tried to put it all together I found I couldn't and have needed to unsew two sections and repress, remeasure and square up. I haven't gotten back to the sewing machine.

I have a couple of friends who would say, just do it. Get 'er done. But I have always felt a need for a "want to" in times like these.

This is probably the watershed between Projects Half Done and those that remain Unfinished. I know in my heart that I need to continue and finish this project. On the other hand I cheer myself with the thought that I don't ever need to make another quilt.

Don't be shocked. I'm a garment sewist and this quilting gig was always an experiment.