Gratitude and Glimmers #110

Welcome to my post of glimmers (of joy and wonder) and gratitude for the month of August. You can find links to more posts like this one at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color.

Not all storms come to disrupt your life; some come to clear your path. 

--Anonymous

1. We enjoyed a two-hour cruise on the Detroit River with Windsor Premier Cruises this month. It was one of the offerings during Windsor's Prohibition Week. During the 13 years of prohibition in the US, Windsor became a major site for rum-running, as it was a short boat ride across the water, or, in winter, car ride across the ice (though many fell through) from Windsor in Canada to Detroit in America. As much as 75-80% of the alcohol smuggled into the States went through this corridor! (source: Tourism Windsor Essex) Rather disappointingly, there was only a few minutes of information given at the Hiram Walker distillery in Windsor. The largest distillery in North America, it is currently owned by Pernod Ricard, a French company. "They produce 170 different brands under the Pernod Ricard, Hiram Walker, and Corby labels." (Windsor Star)

downtown Windsor as seen from the boat

Take Two - Eden Quilt

Like a bug bite you just have to itch, I just had to make the second quilt with the Eden and Blenders 10" squares. I don't have any in-process photos, just a few finish ones.

This one is going to be a comfort quilt, most likely destined for the Windsor Sexual Assault Centre. I give them one or two quilts each year.

Kitty Karma

I’ve been making a real effort this year to work through some of the precuts in my stash. I recently turned my attention to 10" squares, aka layer cakes, according to Moda. Here is another, originally intended as a comfort quilt for perhaps the Ronald McDonald House. However, the quilt had other ideas as to where it needed to go.

Lounging on a lounge chair.

A New Quilt Top and RSC Yellow Update

Somewhere around mid-July I started a new quilt, one that Dayna had sent a screenshot of and asked if I could make. Out came the graph paper, then came the math, followed by a test block, more math, then a TON of cutting, and, three weeks later, where I sewed nothing but this quilt, I have the top!

On average, one star block took me one day to make. The quilt is big. Lots of white. Pretty dramatic! I’m positively pleased (as punch😉) with all the pretty points. And Dayna loves it, so mission accomplished. 

Gratitude & Glimmers #109

Welcome to my post of glimmers (of joy and wonder) and gratitude for the month of July. You can find links to more posts like this one at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color.

Peace is the strongest power, yet unrecognised.

--Sri Chimmoy

1. You know my lifelong love of trees. You may recall me talking about that time in 1994 driving through and stopping (for not long enough!) in Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island. How I wish I could fly out to Vancouver to see this current exhibit about the magic of BC’s ancient forests.

Lifesize model of an 1800-year-old Mother Tree.

New Quilt Update

If you follow me on Instagram, which is increasingly difficult, not to say most aggravating, these days, then you may have seen a few posts of the new quilt request I am working on. Since I like to track my quilting and bit of life journey here, I’ll show you what I’ve been preoccupied with of late! It started with a screenshot Dayna sent me, a post of cozy room décor that happened to have what looks like a quilt or maybe a printed microfleece blanket artfully draped over the back of a couch.

“Can you make me this quilt?” she texted.

I zoomed in on the photo, seeing that it was basically an Evening Star surrounded by… a TON of HSTs. Gulp.

“Sure!”

Zephyr

I’ve turned to my modest stack of layer cakes, aka 10” squares to get them used up and into quilts. This one is a stack of 14 bought from Connecting Threads several years ago. Inside were 16 squares! This is a Rashida Coleman Hale line by Cotton & Steel supplemented with a few solids.

The impetus for making this quilt is twofold: first, way back in April I made a mental note of the block Yvonne Quilting Jetgirl made for a charity quilt block drive she is a part of, and two, I needed something mindless, fast and satisfying to sew after all the work, mental and sewing, put into the release of my latest pattern, Diamond Baby.