Rona 10

Dan here ~

Today is Friday, that means that yesterday marked the end of week 4 of my walking project. The road had been horribly icy lately and I walk with ice-grippers on my walking shoes. This means that I stay on Old County Road, (which I will forever refer to as the Camp Rd) and walk back and forth or forth and back, whichever way I go first. Thankfully we had little bit of snow which brought the town in to plow and sand the road. Should be a little safer for a while. 

TBT ~ The Piano/Coat Rack

Carol here ~

If you are on my personal Facebook page then you have already heard the old piano story as I posted about it last winter. It’s a good story ~ thought it worth repeating.

This piano (circa 1895) was always in our camp that belonged to my Grandmother Lena Cushman here on Green Pond.

New Project

Dan here ~

What a wonderful stretch of walking weather we have had of late. I should finish out January with over 200 miles in my Walk Bank, well on the way to my goal of 2021 miles in 2021. 

I walk the same road several times a day and that road is icy in many spots. I walk looking at the ground in front of me usually doing quilt design math in my head. Works for me, I don’t notice how far I have to go and often forget where I’ve been. Yesterday I noticed a small stone on the ground. The stone was about 2-3” in diameter. What caught my eye was that for about 3/4” all around the stone the snow had melted down to the gravel road. 

Interesting that such a small stone could absorb and re-radiate enough light energy as heat to do that. Probably something wrong with me to notice things like that but I guess that’s just the way it is.

Walking and Weekend Stitching

Carol here ~

I have always been a walker ~ sometimes more consistent than other times. When we lived in Rangeley, I had walking buds. We walked early in the morning then went for coffee at a local restaurant. (miss you coffee klatch girls!) Dan and I would often walk again after we closed up shop so I had no problem getting my steps in.

When we moved here to the pond I was pretty consistent with my walking until I hurt my back in the fall of 2019. After three months of twice weekly PT I was finally able to walk again. Last January I walked a few times a week for the first of the month, when I started feeling better I walked more.

Today marks one year of walking every day. I am not crazy gung-ho like Dan is but my average for the past year is over 8000 steps per day. I’m good with that. I also know if I walked as many steps as Dan does I would be up all night with achy-breaky legs.

More on Rona 10

Dan here ~

I got the top up to the border assembled on Rona 10 but haven’t decided on a border yet. After I visited last Friday I discovered that I had miscalculated. Well, to be honest, I actually was looking at the wrong set of numbers for the chain blocks. Back to the sewing machine to create 35 more chain blocks.

Rona 10 consists of 3 different blocks. Two of them are very similar with the third being a chain block. The two similar blocks both started with 3” finished blocks. Many of these had been made when I was puttering and cleaning up stash bins and playing at putting various shapes together to get 3” finished blocks. These blocks are made up of a variety of combinations. There are many V-block stars, 9-patch units, some friendship stars and many that just were assembled because I thought they looked cool. 

Frozen Pond

Dan here ~

The frozen pond talks to us a lot this time of year. The cracking sounds of the ice expanding and contracting with temperature changes made me curious.

My internet research told me that the dense ice of this year was caused by having the pond freeze over and then get covered with snow. Then the snow got saturated with water when it rained. After freezing again, the ice is dense and creates low frequency rumbles and cracking sounds. It sounds really cool, but scary as hell. You hear the rumble all around you and even hear, as well as feel, the subtle cracking of the ice.

A Finish

Carol here ~

I finished up my BIRDS ON A WIRE wallhanging. As I mentioned in a previous post, the pattern is by Michelle R Hiatt of Sew On The Go.

The quilting is all free motion by me. I quilted curves in the triangles, filled the background with swirls and quilted curly-q’s in the black. 

This was the first free motion custom quilting I have done in almost two years. Talk about rusty! I felt all herky-jerky, couldn’t get my rhythm going even after putting the music on of my two favorite quilt along artists ~ Queen and Meatloaf. Sheesh.

The Pond and Rona 10

Dan here ~

A couple nights ago while Carol and I were enjoying our hour or so of data consumption ~ probably what most of you call watching TV ~ we could hear the pond groaning and carrying on as the temperatures got colder. Then we heard a loud noise as we felt the house shake as if in the middle of an earthquake. Yesterday morning when I looked at the edge of the pond I could see where the ice had cracked and lifted. The forces of nature showing off it’s power.

I am plowing away on Rona 10, a good portion of the blocks have been created and soon I will need to begin the assembly phase of quilt making. Lots of pieces have been sewn together already. Luckily, most of the blocks were started from orphan 3” finished blocks.

A Little Visitor

Carol here ~

Yesterday we decided we needed a change of scenery for our morning walk so went up to Norway to the Witt Swamp Preserve Trail. We ended up just doing the short loop as it was pretty icy underfoot. 

It was nice to get out and about somewhere else for a change!

Design Walls

Dan here ~

Saturday was a lousy day. I don’t know about where you call home, but what I am used to is not 35 degrees and rain all day in mid-January. What we had, we survived it, lost power for a few minutes. No problem, generator kicked in just like it was supposed to. Good thing too as I was cooking supper.

Lets just say Saturday was a withdrawal day with my walking as it was too wet and slippery to get more than my barest minimum of steps which is 5000. Most of them were obtained wandering around the kitchen island. Only problem is, if I go around too fast I get dizzy. Enough rambling.

Carol wanted me to talk about the design walls that we use here in our quilting loft. We have very little space, so we like things to do more than one function.

We seldom have overnight guests so a second bedroom is unnecessary and just takes up too much space. Hence the use of the built in Murphy beds that we can pull down when needed.

Grands Kailey & Jakob 2/2020

Rona 9 Complete

Dan here ~

Rona 9 top is complete. For the most part it is the same as Rona 8, at least conceptually. The blocks were created the same way but many of the inner orphan blocks are different, making for a slightly different look.

Rona's 8 & 9

Rona 10 is following the starting phase of Rona's 8 & 9, using many orphan blocks framed  first with one of two lights, then the same dark grey as in Rona's 8 & 9. 

This grey and the two lights are using longarm backing leftovers from when Carol trims quilts. So technically, I guess I am still just using mostly scraps. To go with these blocks I am using a chain block.

There are a great many blocks (72 framed blocks and 71 chain blocks), these will take me a fair amount of time to fabricate. I’ll keep you posted and maybe show you a few teaser pictures next week.

My walks have been going great in this weird January weather. Lots of banking days (good bank days are days that I get over my 5.55 miles daily needed to achieve my goal of 2021 miles in 2021) Yesterday was Thursday so that means I am another week into the year. After 2 weeks I should be at 78 miles I am at a little over 105 miles. 

Kinda like diets ~ we’ll see how long I stick with it. No, I’m not on a diet, I have heard about them though. 😜

Have a good weekend ~ stay safe!

TBT ~ Atlantic Sunrise

Carol here ~

When we were quilt shop owners we would close the shop down for the month of March to take a breather and enjoy some vacation time.

Some years we would visit our daughter and family when they were stationed in Maryland and then Virginia. For several years we traveled to Jekyll Island GA, one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands.

We rented a Villa right on the beach on the East side of the island. We walked the beach (miles of it) when the tide was low and stitched away when the tide was high.

Yep, we brought our sewing machines and kits we had made up before we left home. We pieced shop samples, pattern samples and sometimes show quilts while we were there.

Sunrise on Jekyll Island

Technology

Dan here ~

One of the issues we have had to learn to live with in our retirement home is technology. Sounds easy…think again.

Usually when people think of where to go for internet it is their local telephone company. In the old days you move to a new location, you call your phone company to get a phone and later internet. We called, we can get a phone but no availability for internet. We don’t want a phone. We have cell phones.

We get notices in the mail from Spectrum all the time saying to call to get great deals on TV and Internet. (almost as often as I get phone calls about my auto warranty) They came out and said sorry, no way could we get service from them.

Internet is a necessity in today’s world of isolation.

Lena Longarm

Carol here ~

I finished up the Birds On The Wire wallhanging over the weekend. Not my best work but it will do.

Pattern by Michelle R Hiatt

I loaded it on Lena Longarm, then I had to decide what to quilt on it. I knew it would have to be freehand as the computerized part of the machine is out of commission at the moment.

Plugging Away

Dan here ~

I am still plugging away with Rona 9. There are three different “blocks” being used in this quilt top, where only two were used in Rona 8. That change along with changing the cornerstone and sashing color makes Rona 9 a companion to Rona 8.

I described two types of framed orphan blocks last post. I mentioned that I had thought of another way to frame the 3” finished orphans rather than attempting to put them on point and sacrificing some of the points. I decided to leave them as 3” finished blocks and frame them first with a light 3/4” framing border than another 3/4” framing border of the grey like the other 2 blocks.

Request

Carol here ~

It’s Friday again all ready?

I have not had a very productive week, I guess. Seems my get up and go has got up and left.

I got a little further along on the “Birds of the Wire” project but nothing to get too excited about.

Rona 9 In Progress

Dan here ~

I am currently still working with orphan blocks and small partially completed blocks and units. I am having fun and using up quite a few pieces of scrap.

Unfortunately, if I were to tell the truth, although I am using up quite a few pieces of scrap, the bins don’t appear to be receding very fast. 

Mamie's Famous Applesauce

Carol here ~

I make the best applesauce. At least that is what my grandkids tell me. The secret is this old fashioned strainer/masher/sauce maker canning sieve that was given to me by Dan’s mom many years ago.  

Anyone else have one like this?

Here is how I make it ~

First Finish of 2021

Dan here ~

While I waited the few days for my replacement fabric to arrive so I could finish Rona 7, I started Rona 8. I decided to reuse the concept of the 1-1/2” finished squares going around the framed blocks, like I used in Rona 7.

I started looking through the bins of pieces and scraps in the closet beside my sewing station. I see several edgings that Carol has deposited in my area to “dispose” of that came from when she trimmed a quilt. I also see a couple bins of leftover and orphan blocks.

Rona 8

My Weekend

Carol here ~

Snow day-sew day! We finally got snow again ~ probably about six or so inches came down on Saturday. 

Memory Lane

We got our walk done in the morning then I spent the afternoon up in the quilting loft working on a wall hanging called BIRDS ON A WIRE. 

Rona 7

Dan here ~

A couple posts ago I talked about the quilt top I was working on. It’s called Rona 7 (read about it here) The unimaginable had happened and I had run out of the background fabric. 

An order had been placed and the fabric came in the mail on Wednesday. Between then and Thursday afternoon I finished piecing the last border and sewed it on. 

Carol says that it is too darn big. It is kinda big. When I first designed it I had no intention of adding an 8” border. Good thing the pond is now frozen 'cause it is about the only large enough flat area to lay it out. It ended up being 89” x 110”. I guess it could have gotten a little bigger.