Strawberry Fields Quilt

Last night I finally finished the quilt borders of my newly named "Strawberry Fields" quilt. This was a super easy pattern by Kathy Flowers, published in McCall's Quilting magazine issue Sept/Oct 2015. The fabric and cutting directions were so generous that I used the extra fabric to make the quilt larger. I also altered the border slightly to make it more symmetrical and highlight the cute little corner 9-patches.

This is a pretty pattern for a red and white quilt. Because I like to be a little bit different to make each quilt "mine", I selected a teal floral print for the background that reminds me of my maternal grandmother. I am dedicating this quilt to her memory. Both fabrics were ordered from Connecting Threads, as will be the backing fabric I ordered today.

On a higher note, my airplane is in the shop for annual maintenance. My hubby says the bill will be somewhat higher this year, due to replacing two cylinders, one with a push-rod tube issue, sending out one of the magnetos for rebuild and replacing our ELT (emergency locator transmitter). Between the two of us, we flew over 75 hours this year! Soon 90B will be back in the air and my mood will soar along with her.

The Importance of Being 50

Okay, the world didn't end when I turned 50. I noticed a new wrinkle, that's all. And as a gift to myself, I am having all the recommended medical screenings - cholesterol, TSH, PAP, mammogram, and (ugh) colonoscopy. The first four tests are okay. I saved the "best" for last. Today is my all-liquids day. Fun.

Anyway, I wanted to show progress on my version of Strawberries & Cream. Just need to sew on the thin inner border, attach the pieced section and add the outer border.

On a higher note, last weekend the hubby and I flew our airplane two hours north to Corning, NY. On the way there, we actually had to fly past Corning and land at Penn-Yan Airport to wait for the low clouds to dissipate from the Corning-Elmira valley first. It wasn't a long wait, just enough to look around and visit the facilities. Then we popped down to Corning and parked at the local general aviation fixed-base operator (called an FBO) - Atlantic Aviation. We picked up our rental car and started on our to-do list.

First stop was lunch in the Gaffer District of Corning, then a drive to Watkins Glen State Park, voted #3 most popular state park in a 2015 USA Today poll. Seems like everyone else in the area had the same idea; it was crowded!  We hiked about a million stairs across 2 miles of the Gorge Trail. At least the sights were quite pretty. If you visit this park, I recommend hiking up the main Gorge Trail and taking the Indian Trail back down to the south parking lot. You avoid the crowds and steps for a more gentle trip back.

That evening we saw "The Intern" at the movie theaters of Arnot Mall. The movie was funny and touching. I think it might even encourage companies to hire retirees back for at least part-time work.

The next day we drove to Hammondsport, the cradle of modern aviation, to visit the Glenn Curtiss Museum. And surprise - they had a small quilt exhibit by local quilters!  For those who fly, Glenn Curtiss ranks even higher than the Wright brothers. He was an amazing man who died way too young at 52.  He invented the motorcycle, too. The museum had airplanes, motorcycles, cars, quilts, dollhouses, toys, engines, and loads of memorabilia. Something for everyone! We spent 3 hours there and could have spent even more time. Hammondsport was a delightful little town with a great view of Keuka Lake, where Curtiss tested so many of his designs.

Here are some equipment Curtiss designed:

And here are few pictures of some of the quilts:

On the way back to Corning, we drove along the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, visiting several wineries and buying some of their vintages.

The next day we visited Corning Museum of Glass. There was so much more to the museum than I ever imagined!  Of course we watched glass blowing and glass art demonstrations. The science section was very well done, with very interesting explanations about the history of glass manufacturing to hands-on activities. The modern art section was fun to walk through, to scoff at some of the more pretentious designs and to nod appreciatively over the beauty or uniqueness of other designs. We had to rush through the fascinating history section, so that's on my to-do list if we ever get back to Corning.

Our flight back home went well, in spite of a line of rainstorms threatening to divert our path. Originally we had planned to fly over Wellsboro, the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, but a cold front parked over its hills convinced us to just fly directly home.

I am so thankful we own an airplane which allows us to take trips like this weekend.  It was fun to explore a new area and have the flexibility to go almost anywhere and whenever we wanted.

Happy Jubilee Birthday

The passage of time is inevitable. I will be celebrating the 21st anniversary of my 29th birthday. Yes, I admit I will be turning 50.  Kicking and screaming inside. It's just another day, says a friend of mine. Hopefully I don't look [or act] my age.

I like to mark my milestone birthdays with friends, so I decided to have a party on Saturday. I decided to cater the food myself, except for the cake, Friday night I was a busy beaver. Both ovens were in use. Got it all cooked and made the salad the next morning. Ready to go.

And it was a FUN party and a good turnout. There were a several friends who were unable to come for one reason or another. There were a few who came that I had forgotten to invite. LOL  I even gave a speech. Here is what I said, more or less.

"  Thank you all for coming here to help me celebrate my fifth decade on this planet. Thank you to the EAA board for allowing me to use this facility. And thank you to my husband for making my dreams come true.

    As my birthday approached I realized it would come whether I wanted it to or not, I decided what I wanted most was to celebrate it with all of my friends. Funny, when I made of list of friends to invite, nearly all of these were "airport people". Six years ago when I went to my first EAA chapter meeting, I came home with a big grin, saying "these are my people".  Now, six years later, I can claim "these are my Friends".

   Jean-Paul Sarte wrote a play "No Exit" in which a character famously exclaims "Hell is Other People". Let me explain why. The play is a metaphor for a mirror. You can see your character, your essence, reflected by the people who surround you.  The character in this play is a mean, egotistical jerk so he didn't like what he saw. As I look around me, I see people who are interesting, intelligent, a little quirky, and fun-loving. That makes me feel good about myself. I like who I am. So I say "Other People are Heaven, not Hell".

    Inside the kitchen area is a table with a list of what I have accomplished in my First 50 years. There is also a page for you to write suggestions for my Next 50 years. Help me figure out what to do next!

    Before we eat, let's take a moment to thank our Creator.  Dear God, thank you for bringing us together to celebrate my birthday. Thank you for the beautiful weather. Thank you for the food that we are about to eat. Please keep us safe and bring us fair skies and tailwinds. In Jesus' name, Amen. "

For my quilting friends:  I decided my jubilee quilt was the "Broncos Crossroads" quilt I finished last December (see post here). It has 50 blocks so it seemed appropriate. I love how it turned out. The quilt is based on the "Carolina Crossroads" design by Bonnie Hunter. I made it a bit bigger, changed the border, and used one fabric for the background and one orange for the accents. 

Strawberry Fields Forever

After making all those potholders mentioned in my last post, I ran out of Insul-bright.  My go-to place to buy quilting supplies online is Connecting Threads.  To take advantage of the free shipping, I had to buy more fabric. <big fake sigh>  I bought yardage for finishing up a couple quilts ….and yardage for a new quilt.  I just HAD to--the fabric wasn’t whispering, it was yelling at me!  Which means I have fallen off the bandwagon again. But hopefully I will finish this one quickly and return with perseverance in finishing up more UFOs. See how I worked in my theme word for this year?

Check out the Sep/Oct 2015 issue of McCalls Quilting magazine for the quilt “Strawberries & Cream” designed by Kathy Flowers. I collect strawberries. Even though there is not a strawberry shape anywhere on this quilt, the title and strawberry red color caught my eye.

But I don’t want a white background. I am drawn to the teal/red combo, so that’s what I intend to use for this quilt.  I am also planning to alter the border slightly to give a bit more separation and attention to the little bitty nine-patch corners. This quilt has three sizes of nine-patches so it will serve as my participation in the nine-patch theme of 2015. And I will add strawberries to the back to make the name a reality.  I have some strawberry print yardage I have been saving for a special project such as this.  Kathy, the designer, sent a nice note to me when I told her that I was inspired by her quilt. Here is a quick view of Step 1 and a preview of the color combo I chose.

On a higher note, September is a lovely month for flying. During the Labor Day weekend while my daughter was visiting, we flew to a nearby airport for lunch. That's a favorite activity of pilots, flying out for that $100 hamburger.

Later that day, my husband took her up again as his first passenger now that he is a full-fledged private pilot. It was a gorgeous evening as you can see.

Piece and Plenty

After finishing a project, sometimes  you feel the urge to begin a new project even though you have thousands hundreds several unfinished projects waiting. So what's a quilter to do?  Make a few potholders!

I came across an adorable potholder set on Craftsy. Check this out:
 
My version:

This was SO much fun to make!  I had a package of InsulBright just waiting for the right use. Leftover batting scraps from previous quilts were recycled.  My stash was perfect for this and I only had to add a bit of terry cloth for the buns.

Speaking of terry cloth, my fabric store only had bright white terry cloth, so I bought it anyway and used a tea bag to stain a portion for the insides of the hamburger buns.

I found the instructions to be decent, but no help AT ALL on how to deal with the binding ends. I finally figured out the best way after finishing the last one.

The most fun item was the tomato. You'll see.

The most difficult was that #$%@# lettuce. Those ruffles were so frustrating! What worked for me was using my serger on the cut edge of the ruffle to keep the fabric from raveling. I marked the ruffle at each quarter point to ensure the gathers were evenly distributed. Next I basted around the edge with a doubled thread (single threads snap too easily). Then I pinned to the green circle at each quarter point and began pulling in the gathers. A few more pins and some careful sewing and it was ready to stuff and complete.

These potholders were so much fun, I couldn't stop. Next I made this one based on a free pattern from Jacquelyn Stevens (it's free on Craftsy).

Then I made another one.

And then there were three:

Here is a view of the back side:

All of the fabrics are from Connecting Threads from previous projects. This combo was so cheery! And it was a great way to use up part of my stash of scraps. I hand stitched the binding down because my skills at machine stitching binding are still under developed.

On a higher note.... a milestone birthday is approaching so my daughter painted this as a gift and gave it to me early. She did this freehand from a photo of my beloved "Bravo" Cessna 170B. Great job on this, sweetie!

College Quilt

My little girl is growing up!  We made the big college move yesterday. However, after making her bed and putting up a few decorations, she was ready for me to leave. What? Already?  My baby doesn’t need me anymore (except to pay the bills, I guess). This move is a big transition for both of us, not just for her. It was a totally stressful time this past week as she procrastinated then packed in a huge flurry of activity. At least I already had her sheets and towels washed and packed up, plus cleaning supplies and various odds and ends.  I also finished up her ‘College Quilt’ and she snuggled in it the night before her move. She loved it!

Dorm rooms have changed significantly in the new millennium. Each room or suite has its own bathroom. She has a unit with one roommate and they have their own bathroom with a shower. The two-sink area is just outside the bathroom door and each girl has their own closet. Storage is about the same, just four drawers plus a desk with its own drawers. So most kids find ways to maximize the empty area under their beds. Clear plastic tubs were a great choice for us. She is able to see what is inside, plus use them for under bed storage. One kid lifted his bed to almost top bunk level so he could fit plastic three-drawer units underneath. That will work only until the first time he gets drunk and tries to crawl in bed. Ha!

One of the best things I did was to compare prices and order some of her books from Amazon, then ordered the rest online with her college bookstore. It’s amazing how the used book market was so well established.  Then again, I deprived her of the “fun” of waiting in those long lines at the bookstore. Ah, those rites of passage. Maybe she will get that chance when she sells back the used books.

The night before her move, my daughter was a big sobbing mess. She was so nervous and worried about school and about leaving home behind.  I sat down and asked her to list her concerns then we could address them one by one. One of her concerns was if Home would still be the same. I told her that we were gutting her room and turning it into a quilting studio. At her shocked look, I laughed and told her that I would simply close the door and leave everything the same. (Ugh, I didn’t want to walk in to that mess anyway!). Concern addressed.

She was also worried  about her class schedule. She wondered if she would have to walk all the way across campus within 10 minutes between two of her classes. Every student worries about that!  I pulled out the campus map and we checked where each building was in relation to her dorm and dining hall. Her classes were in adjacent buildings, so no worries there.  I also suggested she walk through her schedule a couple times to make sure she knew where everything was.  Just like she did in high school. Concern addressed.

We talked through her worry list one by one. This was a valuable life lesson for her. If worries pile up, make a list and plan how to address each one. You may need to prioritize them. But it’s easier to deal with the worries one-by-one than to let them fester. Worries grow into big thunderstorms of stress if you don’t find a way to deal with them.

Anyway, back to the big move-in. Her college housing association had it all nicely organized. You pull your car into a close parking spot, unload then move your car to a farther lot. Post-it notes with your room number are placed on every box. Older students carry your things up to your room while you check in to get your key. It was so fast and smooth!

We arrived about 30 minutes before my daughter’s roommate, so we had time to organize and unpack a bit before the room filled up with boxes again. That’s about when my daughter wanted me to go, way before I was ready go. Oh well. On the drive home, I turned on an oldies station and sang along to make the trip enjoyable. 

Then I came home to an empty house. An empty, very peaceful house.  I poured a glass of wine and began texting my daughter. So, what did you do after I left? Did you remember to get your mailbox key?  Mom, where are my hangars? Mom, where are my headphones?  Ah, she is gone but definitely not forgotten.

New Pilot

Congratulations to my hubby who became a licensed private pilot today!  I am very proud of him! Now we just have to work out how we will share control of my airplane.....