Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Monday evening. No fire tonight, too wet and too cold. Chilly, rainy day today. It was a wonderful day to sit by the soccer field and watch Parker play. 

It was so wet I fail to see how no one got hurt. On one play Parker slid right through the legs of a member of the opposing team. I sure wish I had taken a picture of that. Carol did manage to get some action shots.

During half time it rained quite steadily as we sat under umbrellas with me in my full rain suit I use on the motorcycle. It is a good windbreaker as well. So with my heated jacket on medium trapping all the heat inside I stayed quite warm. Trying to keep the bandage on my finger dry was a challenge but I managed. 

I spend too large a portion of my days lately raking the beach of what the wind blows my way. Growth of un-needed vegetation starts quickly as the pine needles and the leaves get washed over by sand during wave action on a windy day. Very quickly the beach will disappear. I raked and hauled multiple loads with the loader on my tractor. I would first load into a storage container, then wheelbarrow over to the tractor to transfer to the tractor bucket. When the bucket is full I move them well away from the pond to a spot out of the way I have been given permission to dump them. It is not the most fun I ever had, but it does use up the day and wears me out.  I can’t sew all the time.

That said, number quilt #34 for 2023 is complete. The top anyway. As I mentioned last time, I used more 6” finished blocks of whatever. This time I separated them with a 2” finished sashing allowing me to create a 14” finished block. The sashing strip I chose for the block was really too dark and the star I chose was not bright enough to jump out well. A little disappointing, but I think the sashing strip and cornerstones I chose to go with the blocks brightens it up and causes you to go back to look at the blocks. In also carried the sashing strips and corner stones into the border to get some size this time. You know my mantra, in scrap quilts it’s all about the sashing strips and corner stones. Use the right sashing and the blocks disappear. The large blocks barely made it but the main sashing seemed to save the day,

2023-34

Quilt #35 has not really been started yet. I have been cleaning up scraps and leftovers from backs and trying to get them organized into the sizes I save, which is way too many. It’s been a while since I did a serious cleanup. I have been cutting up back trimmings and ruthlessly cutting them up. I will say that the scrap bins are filling up again. I guess there is no help for that. I’m throwing away more than I ever usually do. (which still isn’t very much) The big thing is getting the bins organized and getting the scraps of the same sizes all together. 

#35 will probably be another much like the last two. I’m thinking of using some simple 5” finished blocks with a 2” sashing between them. This will mean I will be working with a 12” finished large block. I have several choices available to me so I can get to my desired size. 

I could use a wide sashing between the large blocks and 2" borders would work. I don’t like multiple borders, and don’t really like wide sashing strips. The option I think I am headed towards is to use a 2-1/2” finished sashing between the large blocks and a single 2 1/2” border. I’ll get my desired size by adding another large block on one side and one end. More large blocks, but that’s ok, that uses more scraps. 

Wide sashing and borders usually come off the bolt. I suppose it doesn’t really matter as I have way too much of both, scraps and bolts of yardage. I’ll come up with something I’m sure. Many, many ideas to bounce around in my head. 

One of the voices, I call him Timmy, he’s the one who likes little, little, tiny pieces. He has proposed the idea of using all directional fabric, all going the same way. I am bouncing around thoughts in my head as I clean up fabric, wondering what shapes I will be able to use. Hopefully it will be more than just squares, four patches etc. You know what I say, time will tell.

Stay safe. Enjoy the rest of your week. I’ll try.