Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Honk, honk!

When I first got on the internet, some 10 years ago, the very first day I met a wonderful lady who became a great friend. One of our pet projects was a Flying Geese quilt. We did a swap with friends, had others sending us triangles from their stash and she designed a pattern so we could paper piece them. We had a great time with it and when we talked about the project, one of us would always type 'honk, honk'. Sometimes as a greeting or good-bye, others as a code word that we were working on our geese while chatting. I was reminded of the fun we had when I rediscovered my 'geese' blocks as I was labeling all my storage boxes.

So yesterday, I got the urge to 'honk'. I'm in UFO mode and feel the urge to be a good steward of all I've been blessed with, I don't want those old projects to 'go to waste.' I pulled out the cut fabrics, had found the patterns during my reorganization a couple of weeks ago and looked over the already finished blocks.

I refigured how many blocks will be needed and how I wanted them set, this quilt will be queen sized, as are many that I make.



Also on the agenda is working on my frame. Our kids had friends over while I was at my quilting bee last night so the house got spruced up before they arrived. When I got home, they all left for the Outdoor Theater (I got to quilt some more) so the house remained in good shape. That leaves me lots of time to quilt today! But I digress. I'm not sure what it is about it exactly, but the addition of this frame has me unbelievably prolific when it comes to hand quilting.




In the picture above, you can see the frame, it sits next to my bookshelf. Sometimes while quilting I peruse the titles, sparking some interest for later when I'm too tired to quilt but still have quilting buzzing around my brain. To the right, I've shown how the top comes off, making it so easy to put a quilt in it. It's just like putting a quilt in a hoop, so it's quick and easy to move to the next section.

To the left, there is a view with a quilt in it. I keep the thimbles, thread and scissors all right on top so even a few free minutes can be used for quilting.
Today I make my grocery list, but other than that I can mostly quilt. I plan to spend some time at my machine, honking away, some time at the frame and then later on this afternoon and into evening I'll bring the hoop project outside. I'll make a fire in the firepit and enjoy the beautiful summer day/evening while my little ones run around the yard, come join me for a bit of swinging and some hugs, and then run some more.

It doesn't get much better than this.

4 comments:

SuBee said...

OH.
My.
Stars!!
I've just discovered your blog and I'm SO impressed! What talent, not to mention energy, creativity and humor - what a great addition to Blogland. Welcome!

~Bren~ said...

I am shocked at the UFO situation at your house ;0) I was sure you had almost NONE...the framwe is great. I am envious.

Sue said...

hahaha, Bren, I also have the bow ties and a hunter's star cut and ready to piece (though I do need some more background pieces for the hunter's star) and also a few applique projects in the works.

Plus I consider tops put aside as UFO's, too.

So I have LOTS. I tried to tell you!! LOL. But I really do feel the need to finish some of them, and I'm making a pretty good dent!

Anonymous said...

I admire your patience for hand quilting. Interesting looking frame and lovely geese.