A few months ago I dug into my string bin and started several new string quilts. I usually start making a quilt with the longest and widest strings and then start several other quilts using shorter and shorter and skinnier and skinnier strings.
This Feather Bed quilt is the one that used the longest and widest strips. This week I've worked on and off on completing 25 feathers. I now have 38 of them and the quilt is ready to be assembled.
I'm not in love with the background fabric but it was about all I had at the time with enough yardage. It has kind of grown on me now. It's not as bright as in the photos. I used the flash on my camera and I think that brightened it up a bit. So, anyway, you know it's all about "make do" around here so make do I did!
Feather Bed is an Anna Maria Horner pattern. I picked up the pattern back when it was first issued and was free but now it is no longer free. I previously made a Feather Bed quilt back in 2016 using the pattern and hand quilted it.
For the feathers I pull out the longer and wider strings and try to group them together by colors that will work together. Then I sew the strings together into a long and wide enough piece of made fabric to cut left and right feather pieces with a template.
But before I assemble the blocks I need to quilt a few tops. I haven't had any finishes in awhile. Last night I pin basted a couple of smalls so I might get around to quilting today.
And sew on...
*****
CELEBRATE! (My word of the year)
Oct. 1 - Spent most of the day clearing scrub brush - mulberry bushes, honeysuckle, wild rose, wild raspberries. Also cleared a few patches of ragweed and pokeberries taller than me. How do the things I don't want to grow grow so fast? Well, anyway, it feels good to see progress! And I'm thankful I'm using my little battery operated chain saw on scrub brush and not trees that have fallen during a hurricane.
Oct. 2 - Spent most of the day an hour away at Univ. of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (UIHC). Hubby had three teeth removed and bone biopsy of his jaw. Now we wait for results. In the past he had fibula free flap reconstruction surgery on the jaw on the other side (they made new jaw bone from his fibula). All of his mouth problems (bone necrosis and lost teeth) are a side effect of radiation he had back when he had oropharyngeal cancer.
That's not what I celebrated...I do not like to drive in the dark and interstate has lots of road work going on and lots of semis on the road. We started our journey to UIHC at 5:30 a.m. Well, weather was nice but a little chilly and we made it there and back just fine. Well, my back kind of hurt a little from being so tense but no worries now. And hubby is doing fine - very little pain, thank goodness!
Oct. 3 - Daffodil bulbs arrived. I ordered some small and fragrant ones. Also received some allium bulbs. Deer don't bother either of those. Now I just need to get them planted. I'm putting them in the cutting garden tulip bed with what tulips I have left after the deer ate most of the leaves before they could bloom this year. I met a deer a few days ago in the middle of the afternoon when I went out to do some veg garden clean up. It was munching on my broccoli. This year deer have munched more broccoli than I have. So I pulled up all the broccoli plants and threw them on the compost pile.
Also - remember when I celebrated sending quilts to Wrap-A-Smile on Sep. 25? Well, the coordinator lives in Asheville, NC. According to tracking info the quilts were held up in Greensboro for awhile but they were able to be delivered yesterday. Thankfully, Ann, the coordinator is safe. She had 5 trees fall and was without power for a couple of days and still might be without internet. My nephew and family also live in Asheville and I've heard all are safe.
Those feathers are cool. I do like the green - it gives it a happy look. - Plus I like Lime green shades ;-) Glad your hubby is doin well - i hate having my mouth touched - he is a brave one!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad your quilts arrived to the coordinator OK, and that she didn't get flood damage. Even if she didn't have major damage, there's still so much to deal with.
ReplyDeleteYou're an hour away from Iowa City? What direction - I'm an hour away northeast-ish of there. Bummer on the DH's woes from radiation. I hope it gets resolved soon with no further issues.
I gave myself a giggle - I saw "clearing scrub brush" and my brain said "cleaning scrub brush" and I wondered why it would take that long to clean a brush. It's taking a minute for coffee to kick in this morning! :-)
Glad to hear your family in Asheville is safe. I've look at those feathers so many times but the vast expanses of background have kept me from making any. Wonder how it would look with a mix of low volume prints? Not high on my list, though. p.s. Glad hubby is mostly pain-free and you both are home safely.
ReplyDeleteThe flooding is so horrible! It's a relief to hear about people who are okay, whose damage was not as bad as it might have been -- but oh, all those who lost so much more.........."Hope is the thing with feathers," and your wonderful blocks are most hopeful.
ReplyDeleteThat green background is super! It’s a very happy color and works really well with your strings.👍🏻😻 That’s an amazing coincidence that Asheville is where those quilts were sent, and that they weren’t damaged in the hurricane. Serendipity, you might say! Glad your husband is holding up to his many health challenges; no doubt your support is a major factor. Keep on keepin’ on! NancyO
ReplyDeleteI like this color green. I use it a lot. I really like the feathers and have put this on my list for 2025!! I smiled at the thought of you with a chain saw, but maybe a battery operated one is smaller than the vision I have😁
ReplyDeleteYour feathers look very interesting, I'm looking forward to seeing a beautiful feather quilt top, I'm the fullness of time. Your hubby has a lot to contend with, with cancer treatment affecting his mouth so badly. I dont like driving in the dark either, but guess you have to sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI want to celebrate Oct 2nd with you. WhooHoo!! 🎆🎇🎉 I don't like to drive at dusk, or too early in the morning, or at night. The cars' lights are a killer for me. My eyes are very light blue and very sensitive to light. Newer cars have LED lights which are so bright, they are like needles in my eyes. So, I understand that your back hurts from the tension of driving so far away. But you made it and all is okay. Hooray! Also glad to hear hubby is doing fine after the surgery. Well done with the feather blocks. ;^)
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I missed this post. So glad to hear that your family, friends, and quilts are safe. I've started working on the strips for my featherbed blocks. I love the orange background you used for your 2016 one and I love this green as well. When I saw the pattern on the green fabric, I wondered if you were going to try to match it. I don't know whether you tried or not but it looks perfectly pieced to me. I whimped out and used a solid background.
ReplyDeleteTo deter the deer, try putting soap bars where the tulips are planted. Cut a Dial soap or an Irish Spring bar into thirds. Make a pouch from a square of nylon net or an onion bag around the soap and staple it to a stake or branch then put the stake in the ground so it's about 18" high. I put them 5' or so apart. When it rains, the scent renews. It saved my tulips in New Jersey. Where I ran out of stakes the deer ate every bud.
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