I’m long overdue to write up a post, so thought I’d share the state of things here at Pieceful Thoughts and our peaceful home. A little news of what’s up in the quilt room, and the other fun going on here.
Our daughter turned 30 yesterday. My baby girl is 30. I’m not sure how that happened so fast, but here we are. Enjoying our kids as adults is one of our favorite things, and we are so grateful they are close by and want to have us around.
Since this birthday was her golden birthday, Molly had some fun events planned to celebrate, one of which was hiking across Isle Royale, an island on Lake Superior only accessible by ferry or sea plane. She and two friends ferried to the island from Grand Portage, MN. Once the ferry dropped them off, they took off on their first hike was 11 miles. Yes, you read that right. In 5 days, the three yound women hiked nearly 50 miles in all kinds of terrain, and one hike was 6 hours of pouring rain. Not my cup of tea, but I am really proud of her.
While she was doing that, our state of things here looked a lot like this:
Much to his dismay, Tundra was not invited along on the Isle Royale hike (dogs aren’t allowed). So he came to stay with us. This is Tundra’s reminder that it is time for breakfast, and I’m clearly not paying attention.
Wilbs and Tundra get along pretty well, as long as Tundra doesn’t get too nosy, if you know what I mean. Wilbs has gotten much braver around Tundra, and really wants to check him out, if Tundra would just lay still . . .
As soon as Tundra flinches, Wilbs is outta there. Haha. Anyway, we all survived, though by the end of the 8 days, Tundra was really missing his girl. He was so excited to see her when she got home!
The state of things in my quilt room is a little messy. Before I show you that, here is where I’m at with the Union Square blocks. They are now a quilt top.
This has come off the design wall for now, because I am pondering borders. My plan is to use a narrow inner border followed by a wider border. Coming up with colors for those borders has me a bit puzzled, so I’ve set it aside for a bit.
In place of that quilt on the design wall, you now see these when you walk in the door.
These are sample blocks made by my mom. My sister-in-law Nita recently gave them to me, and we are thinking about how to use them. They make me smile. I sure wish I would’ve been able to quilt with my mom, but just having them up is little bit of her in my quilt room, so I’m just going to let them stay there for awhile.
The state of things got a bit messier as I pulled out my scrap bins the other day.
As I was looking for something, I came across a foundation paper-pieced pattern by Karen Stone. The pattern had all the papers ready to go, so out came the bins. Before I knew it, I had the first units done.
And the second units are underway. There are sixteen blocks in the pattern, and each block has three units. So it will be awhile before this is done.
I know these photos don’t make it look messy, but trust me, once I get started sewing those units, there are piles of fabric all over that cutting table. You know how it is, right? I have to clear the board to trim the units, so it’s keeping me from total chaos!
And that’s the state of things here at Pieceful Thoughts. What about you? What’s going on in your quilt room lately? I’d love to hear all about it!
Happy Stitching!
Wendy
Wendy so got to hear an update! Isle Royale is still on my list of places to go, although that kind of hiking won’t happen for me. Your mom’s blocks look great on the design wall, I look forward to how you put them together.
Molly sounds like my kind of gal (at least when I was 40 years younger)! Tundra is so stinkin’ cute, glad that Wilbs is not opposed to him. Love those blocks your Mom made, I did not know she was a quilter. Your Union Jack quilt is pretty! How neat are those paper-pieced units! All you need to do with “messy” is get Wilbs in there to paw everything back into place.
Happy Birthday to your girl! That sounds like quite an adventure for her. Our youngest recently turned 40, so I know how you’re feeling! The Union Square top is wonderful, Wendy – I love how you set them. Gives them a more modern look. How neat to find those blocks made by your mom, too! I love those paper-pieced blocks – I’ll enjoy seeing what comes next with them. You’ve been busy!
That’s a great way to ring in one’s 30th! I’d be proud too! I’m so excited to see what you do with those units. They look rather exceptional, and so crisp (and kinda have me thinking of doing some paper piecing again). How fun to make something from the blocks your mom made! My mom did mending and she made a garment here and there when she was younger but she really didn’t enjoy sewing. I think she was a bit baffled by how much I (and one of my sisters) was obsessed with it. But, there are certainly other things I wish I could do with my mom now! I enjoyed your update. You’ve been getting lots done :o)!
Happy hiking, Molly! I haven’t heard the term ‘golden birthday’ for a long time. I think it’s a fun way of making special days even more so! I remember mine as if it were yesterday…I turned 18 on the 18th of (month/year) and even my college classmates were excited about that! 🙂
As for messy quilt rooms? Yours is an inspiration – keep up the great messing up!
Happy Birthday to Molly!! Wait till she turns 40-then you really feel old, LOL. Your quilt looks great, is that a teal block in there< what about that color for a small inner border? Your new project looks intriguing!
I think that the blocks you mom made are in the perfect spot. They are art on the wall that bring sweet memories even if they’re never made into anything else.
Happy birthday to your daughter and wow, the hiking adventure sounds like a really fun way to celebrate. I found seeing the blocks pieced by your mom on your design wall to be beautiful and emotional; I’m sure you will treasure the time you get to work with them. And I love all the bright colors you are working on with the paper piecing design. Lots of fun things going on!
First of all, Happy anniversary of becoming a Mom (mother of Molly). Love all the pics and projects. Need to write more but leaving to see the darling Granddaughter. Give Wild a big hug for me.
sounds like a really great summer to me. Gotta get messy in the middle of projects, it’s a rule. Tundra grew up into a fine big lab reminding me of my lab Chelsea who was all about the food. My fiance was staying with me and said he’d watch chelsea when I went to work the late shift one evening. I came home to her big food tin opened, and she was hang dog and urped up a tremendous amount of kibble all night. He forgot to put the lid back on and she thought, jackpot ! til the throwing up started
LeeAnna
you have a lot quilts going on and all are looking great. I think it is great that the girls went hiking together – I remember a time years ago when it was thought girls shouldn’t do something like that with men with them! I’m always happy to see girls doing that kind of thing over recent years and that one sounds fun.
Happy belated birthday to Molly! Sounds like you stayed strong with Tundra. Was your mom taking a log cabin BOM? Fun that you get to work with them now, Wendy! Those Karen Stone pieces are so good and colorful!!!
Wow – the paper pieced units are all so bright and pretty. Can’t wait to see what they become.
You have fun projects to play with!
How cool to have blocks from your mom on your design wall. Love how your Union Square quilt is looking and can’t wait to see it with borders.
Well, I enjoyed this post, and yes, I’m well aware of the mess from paper-piecing. You have my sympathy. Those pieces are so colorful!
Well done Molly on marking your big birthday in such a memorable way.
Your mother’s quilt blocks are so special and I am fascinated by your latest project — is it going to be big wheels that keep on turning ?!
Wendy, it sounds like your summer is cranking along splendidly. My only “baby” will be 45 next month. I know that where or why did time go feeling.
The Union Square blocks look great together.
Your mothers blocks remind me of Christmas or the colors in children’s toys.
I am looking forward to your post on the paper piecing project. It’s exploding with vibrant colors. Thank you for sharing.
Oops, sent my comment as a reply to Barbara
That new scrappy project looks challenging. But yay for the mess you’re making and enjoying!
50 miles – wow! Sounds like a great way to celebrate her birthday! Love your works in progress – wow!
Happy belated birthday to your youngest. The hiking sounds like quite an adventure. Our daughter is job hunting and we’ve been kitty sitting. Our daughter was gone for 5 days last week and her kitty was more than excited to see her when she got back. The cat’s pretty laid back, I can only image how happy Tundra was. You’ve got some fun projects in the works. How fun you get to play with blocks your mother made. Sometimes being creative makes a mess, you can clean it up when it starts to mess with the process.
It is hard to believe the numbers sometimes…your daughter turning 30, a 50th high school reunion coming up for me…but we survived it all and are still having fun! It will be fun to see what you do with the Karen Stone found units! Very cool to have those blocks from you Mom. I did get to sew with my Grandmother and that was always fun…my mother didn’t sew at all…I did all the mending.