Summer vacation over

Just a quick post to get myself back on track. This summer was busy with traveling for me... Mississippi to Texas to Colorado to Oklahoma. 

I got a little side tracked. Row by Row had started by the time I went to CO the second time. So, of course, I wanted to join the fun of collecting some rows. I had the silly notion that I might to put together a quilt with 8 rows and be the first to turn it into my local participating fabric shop for a prize of a fat-quarter bundle... but by the end (almost) of the 4th row I knew this wasn't going to happen. Every store seemed to have designed their row using one of my least favorite applique techniques --- fusible webbing... 😏. Mind you, I'm not completely opposed to fusible applique. I can appreciate the speed it provides and ease of using tiny pieces for detail. But it just doesn't appeal to me as much as needle-turn or piecing (by hand or machine). 

.... And of course I had a mishap with the iron and the webbing...

Yes, that is paper backed fusible web stuck to my hot iron. The dark spot on the iron is a reflection of one of my daughter's paintings hanging on the wall.

Row from It's a Stitch in Humble, TX.
 I still need to stitch in the clothes line and add embellishment to the house window. 

Row from Down Home Quilts in Dumas, TX. Nice little shop. Last year she stayed open 1/2 hour later because I was driving thru from CO back to MS.  I had to stop by again this year (and happened to be driving thru during regular store hours)

row from OKC, OK. I love the name of the quilt shop The Savage Quilter, LOL! 

Row from Pacific Fabrics and Crafts - Sodo in Seattle, WA.
My friend Mable picked up a kit for me.
 Still needs boat embellishments and a few other things on the water.
Actually, as I'm looking at this pic, i realize it still needs a lot :p.

After stitching the skyline in the row from Seattle, I was ready for a break from fusible applique and I needed to clean up my sewing room a bit. 

As I was picking up some loose papers on the desk, I found a picture I had printed out from one of my FB groups Celebrate Hand Quilting that I had fallen in love with.

Quilt made by Shelly McAlindin. She calls it the Charlie Brown quilt.
Pattern is from the Merry Mayhems Mystery Quilt 136 from New Years Day 2014.

And this is what it has inpired. I'm a bit timid to go all scrappy. I can't imagine my fabrics would blend as beautifully as Shelly's did. So I made the big blocks with a focus fabric and scrappy on the little triangles. The light green squares seem to be very prominent in this photo. It's not quite as obnoxious to the naked eye. But I'm thinking I'm going to find something a little darker to take its place. I'm still playing with the colors and having fun.

I giggle at myself sometimes. Because I find that I really do enjoy the "process". Catching myself so pleased with the pinwheel corners that intersections make on the wrong side of the piecing... It seems like a trivial thing, but the realization that I am taking the time to iron these points down flat (and that they work every time!) and the fact that no one else is ever going to see them makes it a not-so-trivial thing 😁.

But starting a brand new project (even if it's using fabric already in my stash and hardly any new fabric purchased 😉) doesn't blind me to unfinished projects that I've put on my goal list this year.

So between all my regularly scheduled responsibilities, I was able to dedicate a good 5 to 6 hours marking the borders on the red and green quilt yesterday!! And I love this craft table that was gifted to me from MIL. Being able to spread out on a big flat surface is wonderful! Thanks, Mom :)!!

First I thought I wanted to use the Baptist fan circles in the border. The quilting stencil I was using was 5" wide and not filling the space enough. So I designed a template to echo the quilting in the appique blocks. I'm very pleased with the result. 

I saw a tip in the FB group Celebrate Hand Quilting that mentioned using washable markers  for marking quilting lines. I jumped in with both feet and used a washable marker without testing to make sure it will come out of my fabric first. But the tip is from a very accomplished quilter, Tim Latimer, so I'm pretty sure it will work just fine. Plus, the colors washed off my fingers without much scrubbing. That's got to be a good sign, right? I'll be sure to post another picture of complete and washed red and green quilt.

Alright! the school year has started. There's no big traveling trips in the near future. I can refocus goals of getting some UFO's completed. And adding some Row by Row's to the list :). And blog about it all! Until then happy quilting or whatever it is you enjoy doing :).

Spring is near in Mississippi (continued)

This is a follow up post from my previous one about Spring in Mississippi. I had talked about Magnolias being the state flower. One of the sites I linked states that Mississippians pride their Magnolias. I truly believe that's an understatement!

A while back, I had offered to pick up my friend from her house. She gave me her address and proceeded to give me directions to her house. They were easy directions, turn left and turn right, 5 houses in... "Can't miss it. My house is the one with two big Magnolias out front!" ... *giggle* I haven't bothered counting the Maggies on that street, but hers are exactly as she said and they are magnificant :).

~~~~~~

I know I have at least one follower on my blog, Ms. Jenny. I know this because I learned about putting the "sign up for email" button at her request. And I know it works because she told me when she received her first email when I added a new blog post. And I also know I have "comments" set up right because she has commented on some of my posts. 

Ms. Jenny is my first Mississippi friend. I surprised her when I walked into the Starkville Hoopers Thursday morning meeting unannounced. She was quick to welcome me and explain to me the Hoopers is an informal quilt guild. Informal in the way that there are no officers and the weekly meetings are "sit and sews" rather than formal business meetings. She encouraged me to come back and also sent an introductory e-mail to a member of the Possum Town Quilter's guild which is in my home town, Columbus, MS. Hehe, I received an e-mail from the PTQ member the next day which led me to believe that Ms. Jenny sent the e-mail immediately after meeting me! So sweet and considerate, and I was awe struck by that well known Southern hospitality.

Ms. Jenny has a calm demeanor, talks quietly, listens attentively, and I can feel her joy for life, her delight in small miracles(and big ones too) most of us take for granted. And for me, having just moved here and EVERYthing seemed brand new to me, I instantly felt she was a kindred spirit. 

And so, when Ms. Jenny read my previous blog post, she sent me this picture of the Magnolia next to her mom's house. As you can see it is huge! 

This is what she said about it: "Naomi,,, I wanted to show you this Southern Magnolia in front of my mother's house (now mine and my sister's). It was perfectly shaped until the big storm of 2011(?) took a limb or two."

I asked her, "Do you think it was struck by lightning or broken by winds?"

Ms. Jenny: "the branches were broken by the wind from the big storm that went through in 2011. One tree hit the upstairs corner of the house and 20+ big oak trees were just laid over..."

Me: "It looks much taller than the 25 ft which is suggested growth height in all the info pages I found. Do you know how old it is?"

Ms. Jenny: "Wish it was blooming in this picture. It has to be between 50 and 60 years old.. I remember when there was another tree there when I was little.

They let it grow like you are supposed to - no trimming of lower limbs so you can mow under them!"

~~~~~~~~

At the mention of being able to mow under the tree. I remembered our last visit to one of my favorite historical sites around here, the Waveryly Mansion. And I got a picture of my MIL with my kids under the possibly oldest Magnolia in Mississippi. The trunk is wider than the three of them standing side by side!! And I'm sure the branch's spread must be at least 30 feet across. I know I couldn't get a good picture of the whole tree with my phone camera :). (Of course, I didn't catch it in bloom either, maybe this year.)

Looking at the trunk here, it's not the same tree my family is standing by. But it is a magnolia tree at the Waverly Mansion, and quite interesting to me :).

According to Town and Gown magazine,  "Waverly is also the site of the state's oldest Magnolia tree, estimated to be 250-300 years old..." It's just amazing! If you're ever visiting Mississippi, I recommend taking the tour of Waverly Mansion and her fantastic Magnolia! 

Spring is near in Mississippi! Birds and Blooms.

(some how the original post got copied over :(. I will try to rewrite as much as I can.)

I love Springtime!

I love the first blooms.

I love the critters that are coming out to enjoy the nice weather. The birds are just as colorful as the new bloom. Some come help me greet the morning at my kitchen window when I'm preparing my cup of coffee. I can easily identify the bright red Cardinals, Bluebirds, and red-breasted Robins. I have tried getting a quick snapshot of my beautiful visitors, but by the time I run for my phone and put it in camera mode, they are long gone. One of these days I will be prepared and wait patiently with my camera and coffee.

I used to try to identify what kind of birds were around by their calls. Soon after moving here, I learned the joke is on me when I learned that the Mississippi state bird is the Mockingbird. According to State Symbols USA "Mockingbirds have extraordinary vocal abilities - they can sing up to 200 songs, including the songs of other birds, insect and amphibian sounds, even an occasional mechanical noise."  To look up any state symbols you might be curious about go to www.statesymbolsusa.org.

The birds are very vocal all day long. As the afternoon fades into the evening, the singsong lyrics fade and soon the owls start their conversations. Actually, if you take a moment to sit and listen, you would find Mississippi is very noisy at night... cicadas, crickets, frogs, owls, and oh so many night time sounds!

All this talk about birds and critters and I don't have a single picture. But I do have a picture of my neighbors blooming Magnolia. And I had to find out what variety of Magnolia. 

 I believe this particular variety is the Saucer Magnolia. It blooms in early spring, even before the leaves form. 

 I first started researching Magnolia's three weeks after moving here when the Possum Town Quilters invited me to participate in their Ultimate Guild Challenge 2016. The theme was "Magnolia", which happens to be the Mississippi State flower. Lucky for me they had just started forming buds and I got many snapshots of the different stages. I can't share with you all my pictures though, because they were taken with my previous phone, except for these two that I pulled from my FB account :).

 

There are many facts about Maggies that I found extra interesting.

• There are 200+ varieties
• Fossils were found with identified Magnolia plant dated over 20 million years old
• Magnolia evolved before bees showed up and therefore are pollinated by beetles instead of bees.

And this is the quilt wallhanging that was inspired by my research. I wanted to include every stage of the Magnolia cycle, from bud to flower to seed pod and even the dropping of the seeds are shown in the heart-shaped swirls. My quilt is hand appliqued and hand quilted with only the binding attached by machine. 

"Faith of a Seed....
                   Beauty of the South"
completed Fed 2015

I will leave you with a photo of a beautiful Mississippi sunset. Wishing you many beautiful sunsets too.