A great break at the lake

     One of the beautiful blessings of NYS geography is the Finger Lakes region. I just love to visit and drive through it. For our anniversary (celebrated late), we did an overnight in Watkins Glen which is at the bottom side of Seneca Lake, a crazy deep Finger Lake (over 600 feet). It is loaded with wineries dotted all around. I did some research on TripAdvisor and came up with a bed and breakfast in Watkins Glen called Idlwilde- a huge estate house built in 1892. The current owners have had it for 5 years and still have a bunch of work to do. It has a main house, a carriage house, an absolutely gorgeous gazebo, a tremendous view of Seneca Lake and is up a steep hill directly from the center of Watkins Glen. Watkins Glen has a racetrack that used to host the Grand Prix that my husband always attended. Now it holds some NASCAR and classic events. Too bad for the Grand Prix.
    We had breakfast on the unbelievable front porch and spent the evening after dinner in the gazebo marveling at the woodwork and view. It was quiet and the architecture outstanding.
    When you travel between the Finger Lakes, there is a high ridge between them with beautiful landscapes. Between Canandaigua Lake and Seneca Lake is Penn Yan with a great Mennonite fabric shop called Golden Lane where I stash enhanced with some clearance batiks and others.

Idlwilde with porch, side view

Hubby on porch drinking coffee and relaxing

Gazebo ceiling, original to house

Gazebo floor, phenomenal octagon

View from house, Seneca Lake at left middle.

    Since we were at Seneca Lake, we stopped at a few wineries. Lakewood lets you explore their land and look at the vineyards besides offering tastings and a gorgeous landscaped facility. They actually have a decent dry red wine, unlike most of the Finger Lakes wines.

    Hopefully, you have enjoyed the tour, especially Alycia who always bowls me over with her Colorado photos.

An unusual quilt and start of another

     My husband's mother and grandmother quilted and sewed clothes. I learned a lot about quilting from them. My husband's mom, Rosemary, was a wonderful woman and mother who left us too soon at 66, younger than I am at 68. Very sobering. She used to make improv quilts before anyone claimed them. She used polyester double knits left over from sewing clothes (six kids) to create lap quilts and hand sewed the pieces using the herringbone stitch and perle cotton. These quilt wear like iron, never fade, are warm and have a certain charm that many dismiss.
    Victoria Findlay Wolfe had a grandmother, Edna, who made them and shared some of them on her site a while back. I have only two. One Rosemary made during our infamous Blizzard of 77 that uses black and orange featuring a palm tree. Sometime, I will find that one and dig it out to photo and share. The other quilt we have used in our family room for over 40 years. It shows no wear or fading. It has been used by my kids and now my grandkids for play and covering. What has given up the ghost is the perle cotton- totally disintegrating. I could not bear to not use it anymore, so I am slowly restitching the pieces back on with perle cotton even though I hate hand stitching. Using the machine would diminish its charm to me.

    On the Upstairs, Downstairs front, I have completed set 1 of 8 for the quilt. Watermark is the fabric line. Love it.

A Sparkling Happy Gift

     I have been gifted parts for a top for another wonderful comfort quilt from Quiltdiva Julie complete with backing and binding. This one is called Flaneur, you can read about it here. It is chock full of happy HSTs with Tula Pink's Fairy Dust as the background fabric.
    Julie's original layout was sent to me and when I put it on my wall, it made my eyes ping pong and I could not appreciate the colors, fabrics and designs. Some patterns just do that to me.

    I thought about how I could focus attention on the quilt, not add more blocks or subtract any and certainly not mess with the blocks themselves. I thought a darker value could balance out the bright, but not too much. If it was all sashed, it would be too diluted. I tried one section of the quilt with 1" strips of this fabric as I don't appreciate solids as much as some print interest.

    I went ahead and added the strips to the rest. However, I did not sew long strips in the rows or columns. Since the fabric was only 1", I was afraid it would wibble and wobble between the blocks. Some people recommend to cut it bigger, then trim it down. I did not want to trust myself to trim long sewn strips. So, what I did was sew a strip to the side of each block that needed it and sew the blocks together webbing style with the strips already attached. The blue fabric was forgiving as you can't see the seams between the blocks. And I got it all straight. It doesn't change the size much or interfere with the design but brings a focus to it.

    The last thing I am going to do before seaming the backing is add 2.5" strips (finish 2") borders using the Fairy Dust fabric that Julie included. I think this will give those HSTs some more air to sparkle.

    Julie also sent leftover HSTs which I am going to use to make the block for the front of the tote bag for the comfort quilt. Most times I use orphan blocks, but this block will match the quilt.

Bits and Bobs

    I always wanted to use that phrase. I continue on my Leader and Ender project, which is Scrap Jar Stars. I have all the components done leader ender style, and now putting them into a block is a full job on its own. I try and sew 2 at a time. I have 11 more to assemble. These will get a white lattice strip with another color square in the intersection. I realize I put the blocks up not all oriented correctly- the 16 patches need to start with the color square in the top left corner. When I web it, I will make sure of the orientation. I love the cheerfulness.

    Also, I am sewing the strip sets for another Upstairs, Downstairs with the Watermark jelly roll. I have all the sets marked and am working on the first one.

The kit that dragged its feet

     Years ago, Craftsy used to have great deals on kit closeouts. I don't usually buy kits, but sometimes the price with fabric was too good to pass up.  One kit had batiks that seemed just to not jell together, so after I made the 16 patch blocks, it sat in a bag.


    Then I got the bright idea to make 2 quilts and add borders to make them a good size. The orange and gray one has been made and is waiting for someplace to call home. The more pastel one has been a top, but when I got a request, this one was quicker to quilt and get ready. Quilted with Glide Cleopatra on top and Dove Grey DecoBob in the bobbin. The back is a beautiful batik, wish I had more.

    This is the bag that the quilt, pocket quilts, card, book, CD are packed into and then it all goes in an XL ziploc bag to keep pristine. This quilt is going to a woman who has had multiple cancers since October. She is a friend of a neighbor's sister who lives out of town, so it is being mailed.

Ludic headed home

      Not the home Ludic came from (QuiltDiva Julie), but its forever home to do its work. The quilt package went to a woman with ovarian cancer that is the wife of a friend's coworker. I don't know her, but honored the request for comfort. I trust it made the mark like all great quilts do.
     I added 2 borders to it to make it a bit larger. When I was searching for binding fabric, the resident quality control inspector tested it out.

    Upon his approval, the binding was added as well as the label (yes, I know it is upside down on the backing pattern). Washed and ready to pack. I was in a hurry to deliver to the friend and don't have a shot of the bag packed.
    Thank you, Julie, for the top to quilt and gift!

Scrappy Trips Finally

     Another long years marinating WIP sewn. Scrappy Trips, Bonnie Hunter's pattern, has been languishing in a bag for a while. I finally webbed it and noticed a problem. I put it on the wall to study it and see where it was messed up. One block was turned the wrong way. I started this before A Left Handed Quilter showed me how to sew Upstairs, Downstairs her way, which is much superior to how Bonnie does it. I had to finish it the harder way since it was started already.

    Had to rip it out and turn, but here it is. I sewed a blue border around it so I don't have all those seams in the binding (not pictured).