The Flag

 Ta-da!

I  have finished the sewing of the flag throw.

My plan is to present it to Andy tomorrow.

The piecing part was a lot of work, but the finishing was not exactly simple.

I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the best way to do the trimming.  In the end, it was quite easy. 

Trimmed, ready for binding.

The cutting of the bias binding was a breeze. I had watched a YouTube video on the folding technique  that made it really easy to cut a bunch of binding quickly.

My walking foot acted up while I was sewing on the binding, but I was able to finish with a regular foot without any trouble.

I love the clips for this job. But even with the right tools, it is work to sew on the binding.
I sewed it on the back first, and then used a decorative stitch when I sewed it on the front.

I forgot about attaching a label until I was done,  but I made it work.

I'm really happy to have this completed and am looking forward to gifting it to Andrew tomorrow. 

A Memorial Day quilt of valor for my nephew.

❤🇺🇸❤

Michelle & Andy
Quilt delivery day
May 30, 2023

Uninvited Guest

 I did not put out the hummingbird feeder today as I needed to make sugar water.  I also left the oriole feeder inside as I have not seen a single one and plan to put that feeder away.  I did refill the birdbath, but I didn't put the usual line of seeds on the plank today.  And all of that turned out to be good planning.

About 6:15pm on Saturday evening, an uninvited guest made an appearance on the front deck.

I started to open the window to move him along but that really scared him.  As much as I wanted him to leave, I hate seeing any wild animal in panic mode.  So, I just left him alone.  He found a way to jump off the East side of the deck and then I saw him cross the backyard and head into the woods.

I'll have to be careful to leave the garage door down and not leave anything outside that might interest this young bear.  I don't want him to hang around.

My apologies to the birds, feeding is over.

I'll only keep the bird bath full.

Milena is a graduate

 Great niece Milena celebrated her completion of her high school studies with a party at oak Forest near Luck, WI, on Saturday afternoon.

It was a very nice gathering.  Good food, nice crowd and Milena did a fine job of greeting her guests and also visiting around the room.

I asked to have a photo with her.

I had finished up sewing her gifts on Friday.

I came up with an assortment of item to fill the 2 zippered adventure bags. Rather than gift wrap anything, I whipped up cinch bags for almost everything. 

The main gifts are the wallet & credit card holder.

The rest is just foo-foo 😁.

The smaller adventure bag also has a little glass 4-leaf clover inside a clear pocket.

This turned out to a very fussy addition, but it turned out just ok.

Hopefully Milena will find uses for these bags as she decides where her future will lead her.  She's currently a barista and loves it and also works as a cook at Oak Forest.  She is a very nice young woman, & we share a birthday.

The future is bright 😎.

8th grade ends

 Luck School still celebrates their 8th grade students with a Promotion & Awards night.  This year it was Ruby's turn.

Ruby had produced the slide show that opened the program and was one of the class speakers.  It was a nice program, with many awards and comments by teachers and it moved along. After the program, there was a middle school dance.

Great Aunt Wanda, Ruby Anna, Great Aunt Lois

Ruby had a nice cheering section.
Brother Gage, Great Aunt Wanda, Aunt Jessica, Ruby Anna, Sister Stella, Mom Heather, Grandma Lois, Cousin Megan, Great Aunt Lois & brother Jude (out front).

Congratulations Ruby.

❤❤❤❤❤

Falls

 

On my way from Port Wing to Superior last week, I stopped off at Amicon Falls State Park.  Lots of snow and a rainy Spring so far makes for a spectacular run off. 

The sound is what makes this view so amazing.

Upper Amicon Falls

I was driving out of the park and saw a sign that said 'Now and Again Falls'. 

I went back to have a look.

Very glad that I did.

Very glad I stopped by.

Here are a couple of short videos I took of the Upper Falls.

Video 1

Video 2

An Adventure to the North

 On Friday I headed up to Port Wing to drop off my latest quilt top for long arm quilting.

Along the way, I had a few interesting stops.

I made a stop at our cabin to replace batteries in my trail cam and to check on things.  All was well, a little snow left and a precariously leaning smoke stack.

As I left the cabin, I ran into a Ruffed Grouse, casually crossing the road, in no apparent hurry.

Then I headed up to Lake Superior.  The wind was very brisk, 39 degrees.

White caps as far as the eye can see.

At my favorite place, Wisconsin Point, the waves were moving some sand.

The driftwood is piling up.  I'm not sure of the rules around snagging driftwood and carrying it home, but do I know that some of this will be used for bonfires later in the summer.

This little deadly beauty was sitting on a log on Alouez Bay on Lake Superior off Moccasin Mike Road to Wisconsin Point.  He stayed put for me to stop, roll down the passenger window and snap a few pics.  I only moved on when traffic pushed me to do so.  2023.05.05

Merlins are small, fierce falcons that use surprise attacks to bring down small songbirds and shorebirds. They are powerful fliers, but you can tell them from larger falcons by their rapid wingbeats and overall dark tones. Medieval falconers called them “lady hawks,” and noblewomen used them to hunt Sky Larks. Merlin populations have largely recovered from twentieth-century declines, thanks to a ban on the pesticide DDT and their ability to adapt to life around towns and cities." All About Birds

It was a fine adventure.

Spring Quilt Camp: 372 Pieces

 I picked up a kit at Blueberry Line Quilt shop a few years ago.   I had it in mind to make it as a gift of valor for my nephew Andy, who is a retired, Wisconsin Army National Guard Major.  

The kit traveled with me to several quilt camps but never made the 'doing it' status.  About a year ago, I found some batik fabric that I felt would be good backing for the quilt, so then I had everything I needed.

No more excuses for this kit to be ignored.

I had it in my head that this quilt kit was an 'easy' Bargello pattern.   I was expecting the directions to have me sewing strips and then hacking them up to create the 'Bargello' effect in the quilt.

 The idea of a Bargello quilt is to have long strips of fabric sewn together to create the appearance of movement or waves within a quilt. This can be done with many little pieces or there are techniques where strips or tubes are sewn together to form loops and then these loops are manipulated to make the Bargello pattern design.

I started cutting fabric according to the kit directions.  It soon became clear to me, that I had taken on a slow-going, tedious project, with many pieces.

The strips that made up the blue field of this flag-like project fooled me into thinking this was going to go pretty good. I started hanging my finished strips on the design board.

I was getting the idea.

Once I had all the blue strips done,  I decided to sew those strips together to see how the construction was going to go; staggering each strip 1/2",  to make the 'wave'.

Then I went back to sewing strips.  I finally figured out how to string stitch to make creating the strips go a little bit faster.

I kept thinking that there could have been an easier way to do all this piecing, but once the pieces were cut, I was committed.

✂️✂️✂️

The other women at camp were very interested in my project. One woman was chatting with me and after looking at my pattern picture, pointed out that I was supposed to have a red stripe along the bottom edge.

Uffda, that had to be fixed, so I got to spend some time with my favorite seam ripper.

It turned out to be a minor bump in the road.  The fabric is quite raveley, which was the biggest problem with reworking.

Once it was fixed, it really improved the look and made the dimensions seem more appropriate. .

Slowly the flag took shape.  

It seemed endless.  

Several mistakes were make cutting the fabric pieces 

and

 a few stitching mistakes were make as well.

Finally, the last strip was sewn.

The "ta-da" moment.

✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️

Final display on the design board.

The light and dark fabrics & the staggering if the strips sure does create an illusion of a flag waving in the breeze.

I finished this on Saturday night, it had taken most of Friday & all of Saturday.  

I would never have taken this on at home.  

It really cut into my normal quilt camp productivity!

But it is nearly finished, yay!

✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️✂️

Today I did my final pressing & seamed the fabric for the backing as well.

I cleaned up all the loose thread on the front but this back is a mess with the fabric unraveling.  I snipped as many of the threads on the back as I could stand.  

The next step is the long-arm quilter.

I consulted with her about cutting the edges into the curve for binding, she and I agreed that it should be quilted first.

The original pattern called for applique of 13 white stars in a circle, Betsy Ross style. I did not want the quilt to BE a flag, so I decided to skip that step. 

I am hoping that my quilter will have a stars & banners pattern that will fill in the blue field with some interest, maybe using a silver thread.

The final step will be for me to cut a gentle curve along the top & bottom edge.  Then, it will be ready to bind it with a bias cut binding,

✂️✂️✂️

More to come on this project, but the bulk of the work is done.

Not counting the binding, nor the backing, this project involved 372 pieces.  

I am pretty sure that I cut at least 400 pieces due to errors.

It was a real education, beyond what I would have said my abilities were, and I am proud of the result.