Blissful sewing

A morning of blissful sewing! An appointment was changed to the afternoon I was as giddy as a schoolgirl hearing the announcement that it was a snow day.  There was snow on the ground but as I sewed I listened to the rhythm of the dripping snow melt from the roof. I thought this would be quick to sew, I did start it back in September and it would have been if I had cut all the strips the same size but I found leftover strips to use and then life happens with lots of distractions.

I’m calling this quilt Racoons in the sweet corn. The racoons are circling the patch a few have eaten their fill or are going to share the news with their friends and relatives.  —Ann—

Off the needles

These sweaters are finally finished a couple false starts on the sleeves because I’m numerically challenged. Why is it so hard to knit 4 sleeves the same? I have no idea but sometimes it’s hard to knit two sleeves the same circumference and length.  They are finished in time for birthdays. It is hard to believe my two little 4 pound peanut sized granddaughters are 5 years old.  —Ann—

Bigger slippers

 

I knit some bigger slippers for the little girls……so far so good they actually fit me before felting and then I over felted them and they were too small so knit another pair actually knit two pairs.  I had to order more yarn oh darn!! The weather has changed felted wool slippers feel pretty good.  —Ann—

Extra yarn

I packed extra yarn for the week at the river, I might have packed too much. The yellow bag had my projects to work on while hubby drives. It is a 4 hour drive to the river. And the brown and blue bag…..well I don’t want to run out of things to do.  I may have packed too much just in case I finish the 3 sweaters……I have yarn for stocking caps, I’ll let the girls pick which yarn they want for the pink pom poms, I’m going to use the white with the kid haze for the ribbing then one of the pink yarns in a mosaic pattern, more on that when I get to it. I brought a ball of the green yarn from Ireland so I could start swatching.  I plan on reading lots of books to the little girls too and a couple for me. —Ann—

Reading list #4 2025

A week without a bunch of activities………a week at the river.  Summertime temperatures, reading on the deck, knitting and coffee maybe some wine later.

1. The Girls of Ennismore by Patricia Falvey an Irish version of Downton Abbey the story begins in the early 1900’s Ireland’s fight for independence is also part of the story.  Good story. 
2. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir science fiction saving the earth from above normal temperatures from a star outside our solar system. I skipped over a lot of the technical stuff but the drama was good. 
3. Folded Corners by Jean Grainger #5 of the Knocknashee series 
4. Through Streets Broad and Narrow by Gemma Jackson Dublin Ireland 1925 about a young woman struggling after the death of her father her struggle to survive her poverty.
5. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen about a young woman still reeling from the death of her husband finds a postcard from her great aunt and drives to Lost Lake hoping to find here aunt and remember her happy childhood there. Good story.
6. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny three mysteries in one. The unfolding of the story of members of the investigating team being shot, unofficially reinvestigating the murder in the previous book ‘why would he move the body’ and the murder of a man obsessed with where was Samual Champlain was buried over a century ago.
7. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller takes place in a small town in Georgia some residents ban books in the library. Lula Dean puts up a little library outside her house with the books she thinks people should be reading. Another resident puts the banned books inside the jackets of the acceptable books. The books change lives and the town. Very good and very funny at times.
8. Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams takes place in 1920’s to 1940’s a woman pilot in the early years of aviation. For book club.
9. Camino Winds by John Grisham book 2 after Camino Island another thriller with a hurricane, a bookstore, some writers, a murder or two, nursing home fraud and lots more.
10. Heat Lightning by John Sandford —Virgil Flowers mystery takes place in Minnesota. Murder  and theft of heavy equipment going back to Vietnam 1975. He covered a lot of ground in Minnesota Mankato, Minneapolis, Bemidji, Red Lake, International Falls and back again. Those places are not close together.
11. no more tears the dark secrets of Johnson & Johnson by gardiner harris the good the bad and the ugly of drug manufacturing makes Camino Winds seem more fact than fiction but in that book it was the nursing home making fraudulent claims against medicare and medicaid. Not the drug manufacturers with fraudulent claims of what the drug will do and negligence with side effects. I’m going to walk and eat my veggies to avoid prescription meds. Two major law suits against J&J were won by the plaintiffs in South Dakota. 
12. Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah always a good story. About a little girl who has been living in the rain forest of the Pacific Northwest wonders into a town searching for food. A child psychologist is called in who is the sister of the local police chief to help the girl. Love and patience is the cure. Very good.
13. Camino Ghosts by John Grisham 3rd book of the series resort developer wants to build a resort on an abandoned island once occupied by escaped slaves, the last living descendant claims ownership of the island and will not accept any amount of cash.  Her ancestors are buried there. Very good story.
14. The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg just for fun kids chapter book. Two middle school age boys who have spent more time with adults than kids, they are helping the mother of one of the boys ready the contents of an estate house for sale, a retired opera singer, a small sketch by a famous artist, an art exhibit of “forbidden art”, nazi plunder and more intrigue everything gets sorted in the end. I may read all of  E.L. Konigsburg’s books
15. Night Road by Kristen Hannah for book club good discussion it’s about family, grief, and forgiveness. 
16. The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg a 12 year old girl has a miserable experience at summer camp, her great uncle rescues her from camp she learns that the towers her uncles constructed years ago were going to be demolished she comes up with a plan to save the towers. Some of the same characters that were in The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World only younger. Delightful story. 

On the needles

 

Little sweaters for the little girls I’m using Cobasi yarn which is cotton, bamboo and silk it is spun so it has some stretch to it and feels wonderful and machine wash for the busy mom. I have to take turns working on them so I will finish them at the same time or close. Can’t pick favorites you know. 

This is the exact same sweater and yarn I knit last spring. Why am I knitting the exact same sweater? Because I gave the first one to a cousin in Ireland, the one with the two little kids in the fused appliqué a few posts ago. She was so wonderful to us. And I needed to make some room in my bag for new Irish yarn. Why are all those markers hanging on the sleeve? I was spending too much time counting my decrease rows and I couldn’t remember from one day to the next how many I had completed. Im still counting but at least it’s quicker. —Ann—

It’s so quiet

All of us were busy painting and Olivia says “it’s so quiet” and it was, everyone was concentrating.  Fun weekend with the little girls—they will argue that they are big girls—I’m just not ready for big girls.  They brought over their bag of stuff—things to do at grandmas— they had paints and brushes…….I reached for some art paper from the closet and I found the prang paints that I bought special for them because the colors are so much brighter.  Is there anything more discouraging to a young artist than anemic looking paint on cheap paper?!!? Nice mixed media paper I cut the sheets in 4, bright pure paints eventually I will get them better brushes.  I showed them how to drip water into each color to moisten the paint. They were very serious about each drop of water. I was painting water on my paper for a sky, Madeline asked why I was doing that I told her and showed her how the colors would mix and spread on the wet paper.  She said that’s a good idea so she tried it. Later I was mixing a green on the lid she asked again what was I doing she thought mixing paint that way was a good idea too and tried it.  To see their little creative minds at work. Then they asked me to cut out more paper dolls to paint so I did. —Ann—
 

Lazy borders

 Quilt top together and I even sewed the backing! I did not have enough of any one fabric for borders that’s what happens with fat quarters so I kept it scrappy.—Ann—

New project

 

Hubby was off on a fishing trip…..I had uninterrupted time in my sewing room.  First I made the appliqué for a cousin sewing lots of stops and starts, going slow and turning lots of corners like driving around town.  Getting to the sewing on this buggy barn pattern was like hitting the open highway in South Dakota where the roads are straight and long with a full tank of gas or rather a freshly oiled machine the roar became a hum.  I also found a new use for my knitting blocking tiles…..put the buggy barn piles on the tiles and I can slide the tiles away as I sew the big segments together, everything stays in order.  Another little trick I learned long ago was to put a sticky note just below my markings on my big square up tool so I cut every block the exact same size—no oops.  Those white spots are the reflection of the ceiling lights. —Ann—

Finished

It’s ready to be mailed! I’m going to let my cousin finish this, she can either make a pillow which is what I was thinking when I started it or make a small wall hanging.  Easier to mail small.  Savoring the memories of Ireland. —Ann—
 

Progress

 I like this better……and then as I was clearing my table to clear my head I found some more greens that play better with the other greens than the little patches at the bottom corners. My first stitching in months, I started with the presser foot then switched to the free motion quilting foot so much easier and fewer puckers. I also layered a sheer yellow piece over the black and white buildings, toned them down. 

I had a productive day.  —Ann—

Small steps

Look at those little shoes!  Each little part was a small step. I worked on one person at a time, I think I found the perfect fabrics for each. The hair was found in a pheasant print. A light spot between the barns was perfect for the sunlight on the boys hair and the tall grass was perfect for blond pony tails.  The shoes were fussy because the parts were so small.  It fuses best if I remember to remove the paper from the back.  It’s been a long time since I used the fusible.

Still not ready to stitch but close, I see some things I might want to change I see little things in the photo that I don’t see as I’m working on it.  In the actual photo ( previous post) there is a little ridge in the grass on the left side, I can duplicate that ridge if I cut an “up” curve. I’m not sold on the lightest green in the foreground either. I’ll think on it before I stitch.  —Ann—

Another no sew summer

 

My no sew summer has come to an end. So far I am just choosing fabrics and enlarging the figures but soon I will be sewing. My monkey brain has been all over the place, work on the background then on the figures then I see I haven’t changed the calendar in my sewing room jump up and then stand there….what was I going to do?  Go back to the table look around ahha the calendar! Cutting these parts out isn’t so hard……oh time for coffee……maybe write a blogpost haven’t done that for awhile……maybe the caffeine will help me focus.

I’m making a pillow for my cousin in Ireland that’s her daughter and grandkids.  They took me to the beaches around Portrush.  Savoring summer memories—Ann—

Ireland

 

I call all of my relatives cousins in Ireland it’s to complicated to identify first cousins, second cousins and then the removing bit…….we all have the same great grandparents however to a couple they were grandparents. This is the house my grandfather grew up in, there were 11 children in a good Protestant family. The house is no longer in the family someone bought restored and modernized it the sky lights in the roof are new.  The moat was dug out on the lower level, some windows had been covered because property taxes were assessed by the number of windows in a house.  The house is probably 300 years old and was originally an abbey. We just walked around the outside, a young family lives there now we were invited in but I didn’t want to ruin my memories of when I was there in 1981. 

This is the only family photo of them all together probably the last time they were all together, my grandfather came to America a short time after the photo was taken, he is standing between my great-grandparents.  They were all dressed up for the occasion the dresses and shoes the girls are wearing are beautiful.  I met seven of the eleven siblings many years ago. Two of grandpas brothers, Harry and Robert, (second row left and right) came to America a few years later they also farmed. A sister, Jess, (sitting on left) came to America she worked in office jobs and was actually a roommate with my grandmother which is how she met my grandfather. That great aunt also worked as a nanny in South America it’s rumored that she sent cheerful letters home keeping the higher ups abreast of Americas preparations to enter WWII. We will never know for sure.  My great aunt Elsie ( standing on bottom step) is the one responsible for my love of wool. She came to America for a visit in the mid 1960’s and knit a sweater for me I’m sure I wore it to school every other day.  The youngest boy, my great uncle Sandy, came to America in 1968 and stayed for almost a year he visited all the American relatives he talked about the big snowstorms for decades. I met Sam ( boy sitting) in 1981.

Scenery along the coast

The monkey puzzle tree at a cousins farm.

A walk up the lane at another cousins farm, I walked all the way up that hill 44 years ago. The terrain looked a lot wilder this time, maybe the sheep had grazed it shorter years ago.  I saw a couple golden hares one struck a pose on a stone fence.

A cousin took me to the local yarn shop I found some treasures.

A trip to Ireland isn’t complete without a couple pints of Guinness.  —Ann—
 

Where have I been………

 I will give you a hint……

The shamrocks

The Open at Royal Portrush on the north coast of Northern Ireland what I know about golf could fit in a thimble but it was exciting and amazingly well organized to handle 48,000 or so people a day for 4 days. I went opening day hubby went all 4 days.  I spent my days with my cousins and had a wonderful catching up.

That’s Rory McIlroy on the first hole.

 

We went to some beaches some were sandy with sand as fine as sugar others were rocky and my little cousins fished for golf balls with their little nets. On other beaches we gathered shells and sea glass. It was just fun watching them be kids. 

We had lovely days at the beaches —Ann—

Connections — Reading list #3 2025

1. The Life Impossible by Matt Haig a retired widowed teacher inherits a house from someone she befriended decades ago, she also gets a letter from a former student.  She moves to the house she inherited on the Spanish island of Ibiza and retells the experience to her former student.  The story is about loss, guilt, nature and natural phenomena beyond our understanding and preserving nature over building big resorts. It was a good story but I liked The Midnight Library better.
2. Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout another story with a fictional writer writing a book that makes 4 so far this year. But that is not really what the book is about.  It’s set during Covid and the lockdown. It’s about marriage, family and dealing with Covid.  Very good. And we lived through it. The main character, Lucy talks about how blue the sky was with fewer car on the roads and fewer jets in the air, I remember noticing that one day too when I was sitting outside with my cup of coffee and a flash back to when I was 4 or 5 years old sitting in the tire swing while mom hung clothes on the line.  The sky was that blue. I will definitely read more books by Elizabeth Strout.
3. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout the same character as Lucy by the Sea but 30 years earlier in her life. She tells the story of her life as if you are sitting beside her and just talking. 
4. Sincerely, Grace by Jean Grainger book 4 of the series Grace and Richard are still writing letters to each other.  WW2 is still raging across Europe and the Pacific. Canon Rafferty is still making life miserable and has his fingers in some other things. Book 5 comes out the end of June.
5. The Mystery of the Teacup Quilt by Jodi Allen Brice quilt shop mystery with a pet goat and a woman writer who lives in a RV just for fun and a relaxing afternoon with a book. 
6. The Scenic Route: A Short Story by Christina Baker Kline a woman who loses everything steals the RV from her ex husband’s driveway and begins her new life on the road. Her teenage son finds her some years later…..
7. Dark of the Moon by John Sandford murder mystery takes place in southwestern Minnesota not far from the South Dakota border and not that far from where I live. Decades old secrets in a small town.
8. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil T. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg this book was mentioned several times in a book I read last winter don’t ask what book because I can’t remember so out of curiosity I read the book. It was delightful published in 1968. A brother and sister run away from home to hide/live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  They also figure out a mystery concerning a sculpture of an angel.
9. Mary Coin by Marisa Silver a story about a contemporary historian,  a woman who survived the depression years and photographer who recorded life during the depression.  Very good 
10. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel for book club French resistance during WW2 and forging identity papers to get mostly Jewish children safely out of France very good.
11. The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine slow going at first about a woman who inherited a house (estate) on an island on the west coast of Scotland, human bones are found under the floor boards of the house. The mystery goes back to 1910 with a tormented artist and his beautiful young wife.

Do you ever read a book and have to stop and think about a character or event that was in a previous book and get a little confused?  I do then I have to think it through and sometimes it’s just the name of a character or occupation that is similar. This reading list is making connections…..Life Impossible main character leaves home to live in house she inherited…..Lucy by the Sea Lucy leaves New York to live in Maine, Lucy is a writer My Name is Lucy Barton same Lucy.  Sincerely, Grace dealing with loss of loved ones and destructive secrets…….The Mystery of the Teacup Quilt more secrets and a woman who lives in an RV….Scenic Route  woman in an RV…… I really had to think to make a connection to Dark of the Moon  teenage boy runs away from adoptive family dysfunctional family/characters. From the Mixed-Up Files run away children and a mystery. Mary Coin the photographer had polio as a child like Grace in Sincerely, Grace, Mary Coin lived an itinerant life like the character in The Scenic Route. The Book of Lost Names recording the identity of the children who were relocated…. and the child of Mary Coin in the photograph who was adopted off the record and his questions about his origins. The House Between Tides inherited house and developers impact on nature which brings me right back to The Life Impossible and a good place to end this post.  —Ann—