Birds, Weekends, and Sausages.

One of the real pluses of life in Wisconsin is that it's such a great bird place. This week we've been visited by a family of Indigo Buntings--dad, mom, and young ones. There must be a nest nearby. Hoping they are here to stay--much of the interior of my house is blue and it's nice to extend the decor outside too.

Once again I'm going to make the pitch for commenters to enable email addresses. So many interesting comments, and I'd like to be able to respond to all of them. Decaf,please: I can't email you but I owe you thanks, big time. Wow! Thanks for posting the link for Quilt This!, online retailer selling the gorgeous toile in this quilt shown in my last post.

Quilt This! stocks the fabric in not one but three colorways, and it's been on sale. I scored six yards of it, ordered and received, all since my last post.

This kind of great service deserves a shout out and I'm happy to give it. I'll order from them again for sure. And yes, I'm seeing a strippy quilt in my near future.

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We had a great Memorial Day weekend. Daughter Caro flew in for the weekend and got comfy for a few days with the livestock.


We managed to pack a good deal of activity into her limited time with us--a shopping trip, a cookout with friends, a baseball game,



lots of family time, lots of talking time, AND a preliminary fitting for her wedding dress. It was great to have her here. Now she's gone and it's time to get serious about that wedding dress project. I've procrastinated just about as long as I can.

Above? Milwaukee Brewers Sausage races. Don't ask--it's a Milwaukee thing...

Canned versus Fresh

All of a sudden, EVERYONE I know is making quilts from kits.

Kits have been a mainstay of the quilt show vendor booths for years but all of a sudden it seems that so many shops are kitting. And they're just flying out of the shops. Quilters--at least those in my orbit--are just lapping it up.

A kit quilt is something I never, even in my wildest dreams, thought I would have been tempted to try. I have a room full of fabric--not much need to ever, ever buy more. And the thrill of the hunt is part of my joy of quiltmaking. It's such fun to put fabrics and colors together into a combination that's mine alone.

Often, kitted quilts are showcasing a particular line of fabric. I've never wanted to make quilts based on just one group of fabrics. It's too easy, somehow, having it all picked out and coordinated for you. It's fun to throw in the zinger print or color and most of the time I think the quilt is the livelier for it.

That said, I DID buy that blasted Sue Spargo kit a couple years ago...

And one of my favorite area (not quite local) shops, Country Sampler In Spring Green, WI, has made an art form of the quilt kit. This is a Country Sampler kit quilt:


That toile used in the strippy set is just TO DIE FOR. And the shop moved enough of these kits that, unless you were there the day the bolt came off the truck, the only hope of scoring yardage of the toile was to buy the kit.

This quilt below was available in a kit that very nearly sucked the money out of my wallet a while back. Sigh.


And shops are putting the fabrics together with such charming packaging, it's hard to resist. Pricey though--pictured below are the $100+ kits for the above quilt. I did buy the pattern (Toulouse from Miss Rosie's Quilt Company), though. For future reference.



Most of my kit-making buddies like to pick up a project like this for a retreat. There's a good chance of completing a top during the concentrated sewing time of a weekend getaway. Not a bad idea.

I haven't weakened yet, but oh, I saw a couple really yummy quilts when we went through Spring Green last weekend....

It would probably be best to never say never.

Time Away

Back from an outstanding long weekend in Mineral Point, WI, at the Jones Mansion. Who wouldn't be pleased to call this gorgeous brickpile home, if even for just a few days?




Nothing like a few days of concentrated sewing in an inspirational setting to re-focus and re-light the fires. And time with quilty friends--just the best.




More pictures here.

I had a great time in Mineral Point and got a good deal done, even though there is relatively little to show at this point. Freddy Moran would say that I'm building up the Parts Department for this Double Ninepatch quilt. So, here's where I'm at:


My blocks are made, and I pounded out nearly 200 Peaky and Spike units that will become block sashing. Still needed--a raft more little ninepatches to serve as cornerstones with the sashing. This quilt is taking a good deal of pre-construction, but that's hardly a news flash.

On the Road

My weekend begins at noon Wednesday, a very good time to begin the weekend IMHO. I'm off to Mineral Point, WI, with about a dozen like-minded friends. There will be quilting and knitting done, there will be wine and maybe some other fancier girly cocktails enjoyed too, all in a huge and gracious 1906 home.

It's a rainy day, but I'm prepared with my trusty Bernina, my duck-like Keens,

my cozy Beetle, a choice of three audiobooks, and several scheduled fun stops along the way. Wheeeee!

Back Monday with a full account.

It Came Out of the Sky

I'm not making this up: I set out from the library for the Post Office last Thursday morning--on foot, which is one of the true pleasures of working in a tiny town. I crossed the street, and what should be laying in the road but an Omnigrid 6 X 24" ruler? It's stretching my mind to come up with a scenario for how this happened. Did someone accidentally lay the ruler of the roof of their car? How could it exit a car in the middle of the raod?

It's left for me to assume that this is some sort of reminder to me from the universe, underscoring that I haven't been doing much sewing lately. I know, I know. I hope to get going on that this coming weekend. I'll be heading to Mineral Point, WI, with friends for our annual May retreat at the Jones Mansion.

I spent most of Sunday doing prep and cutting sashing components for the Double Ninepatch, which is going to have one heck of a lot of sewing in it by the time it's done. Lots of little triangles packed in little ziplocks... But with cutting done, I should be able to whiz right along with the production sewing at the retreat. It's high time this quilt got fully underway.

Finished Object!

Finally! A finished object to show...

This is the Noro Striped Scarf, as described at Jared at Brooklyntweed in this post. This uses two colors of Noro Kureyon. It's a K1P1 rib, alternating the colors in two-row stripes.


It's darned monotonous knitting, but it's fun to watch the shaded stripes as they form.



I showed this scarf in progress here a couple times and whined that I wasn't super happy with the colors as they were developing. Things were looking awfully PINK for awhile. The pinkness got submerged in with everything else, and I have to say I'm fairly happy with the scarf as a whole.


Still, my intention had been to make something with subtle coloring, like this one cited by Jared as his inspiration. I'm noting that both were made with Noro Silk Garden, rather than Noro Kureyon. Maybe the Silk Garden colors are a bit more meek and quiet. That's the effect I had hoped for. So there's nothing to be done except pony up more money and try another one.

That won't be happening right away as other sewing projects are beginning to loom. More about that soon.

Unrelated to anything else, here's Lucy in a favorite and somewhat shabby chair, enjoying a lie-down.

Social Networking Confessional

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I have been neglecting my blog and indulging myself with other online pursuits.

Confession #1. HEAVILY into Facebook. Who knew what an addictive time sucker this would be? I got involved with Facebook after a library workshop a year or so ago. The presenter was talking about all the standard Library 2.0 topics, mentioning online social networking as a way to connect with "millennials" AKA younger library patrons.

I signed on, poked around a bit, and created a library page. Then I connected with library people, some family members, and friends of my kids. Gradually, more and more decidedly non-millennials started turning up on FB--people I knew as a kid, friends from other places we've lived, a good number of the online quilting community, and on and on. Lately Facebook just seems to be exploding with people I know. It's a bit of a guilty pleasure--there's a voyeuristic quality to it all that keeps you coming back.

And how could I not immediately join a Facebook group called "I Grew Up in Bradford, Pennsylvania"??

Facebook has now become an important part of my day and a place to keep in touch with everyone. If you're on Facebook, look me up.

Confession #2. Next came Twitter, the land of the 140-character status update. I've had a love-hate relationship with it and have entered and exited Twitter-world a couple times. Right now I'm IN.

The main problem is that not many of my friends are on Twitter and most users I've encountered seem more eager to sell me things than to be friends. It IS a great way to get late-breaking news. You can "follow" news organizations or such luminaries as Anderson Cooper or David Gregory. And Rachel Maddow! The real beauty of Twitter is for those truly on-the-go types who live on their iPhones. There is no such thing as being out of touch when you're tweeting and being tweeted at.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Gradually, some friends are turning up on Twitter. If you're there, look me up--I'm Kateri_. We can trade pithy status updates about our mundane little lives.