June so far

Before the sudden departure on the 5th for a road trip to Florida, I did manage to get quite a bit of sewing accomplished, starting with my mother's June walker banner.

Your eyes don't deceive--the strand of 'pearls' is shorter on the side that faces her. I managed to inadvertently crush some of the spheres that I'd meant to use, so one length ended up shorter than the other. The female residents had received these 'pearls' as part of a Mothers' Day gifty last month, which inspired the left block for June.

Pure 'poke the (Red Texas) bear' mentality inspired the right panel, but the only comment I've received about it was appreciative.

Following the May meeting of the Community First! Village Quilters, I came home with three BOM kitted blocks I promised to finish. It was a partially-done project donated to the group and will be finished and used as a fundraising opportunity quilt.

I completed one block before the mad dash to FL (upper right), then finished the other two on Tuesday.

This is how I discovered I don't like doing BOMs! The legend was very difficult for me to wrap my head around, probably because the patterns/designs seemed so contrary to the fabrics they depicted.

Really? A heavy b&w mottle for a gently-marbled pink??

Despite the fact that it took me probably three times longer to assemble the blocks, thanks to double- and triple-checking the fabrics to the legend (even after I wrote the fabric description down as for Fabric 14), I persevered and got them done to the best of my ability.

Until I stood back and double-checked the finished blocks against the instruction sheets.

Well, damned if I hadn't turned some 4-patches the wrong way! I'd assumed they were symmetrically placed, but that was not so, so half of them were wrong. Were it my project, I'd've probably left them that way, but for a group project one does one's best. Having had lots of practice with removing and resewing one block from many, I took out the two offending 4-patches, gave them a quarter turn, and sewed them back in. NOW they match the picture!

(And even now, while writing this, I'm still scrolling up and down double-checking that I have everything correctly positioned!)

My new Juki is up and running, and I've been quilting the Vet quilt on it, getting used to the stitch regulator feature. It's disconcerting to hear the machine sound as jerky as I am, as it sews in fits and starts to match my uneven movements. On the flip side of that, it's encouraging to hear when my movements get more fluid.

This machine can be converted to a stand-up frame, hence the handlebars. For sit-down use, the bars hold extra LED lights. You can never have too much light when quilting!

It had been my intention to bring this quilt to my visit with my mother on the 5th, but.... This past Monday I brought it in with me and she worked on removing the Glad Press'n Seal, which she really enjoys. She peeled while I buried threads (I was afraid she'd snatch up the scissors and clip them off before I got a chance to deal with them!)

On that note, time for me to bundle up the quilt and head out for my near-daily visit. Eight more Press'n Sealed borders quilted and ready to peel away!