Welcome back to Sew & Tell! It's been a cooker here and I have been hanging out with the AC on. My mind was buzzing with the sound of fans, but I am not uncomfortable because of heat. "This too shall pass," is what I keep telling myself.
The constant sound of fans has interrupted my sleep, and I may have been just a little grumpy for a day or two. It was on the second day that I decided that something had to happen... I pulled out the violet cross-stitch blocks that came from the sister of a friend... similar to the vintage rose blocks from January.
But first! Let's take a look at this week's Sew & Tell feature. Sally at Crafts, Cavies and Cooking shared her Hundred-Acre Wood quilt.
The original ask was for sage green fabrics. Sage green covers a lot. At the time my sage bush had mostly silvery-green leaves. At this time of year, they are far darker green on top - more like the darker greens of the quilt. My Russian sage still has that silvery color.
While green is not my favorite color, I do love using green fabrics in quilts... and the varying shades Sally used in this quilt are right up my alley. The pieced backing is a treat as well! Make a visit to her blog to see it and learn about how the name of the quilt came about. I love hearing the stories and "process" of decision making that one goes through from start to finish.
The landscape in Southern Colorado doesn't have even a hint of green currently... that's how bad the drought is. The water restrictions have been increased, including no use of a hose in the yard except for watering 3xs a week for just 1 hour each. No filling pools of any size or spas (good thing our hot tub {set at 90-95 deg f} is good for now!
While he worked on that with a friend some credit card thief was enjoying the use of the business cc. Grrrr... Thankfully, it was a quick resolution, and we appreciated the cc company's attention to the matter.
After a few hours of quilting I realized that my frown had turned upside down and my mood was much improved! To drown out the worries in my head I turned on my audio book. I finished two this week.
Both of the historical fiction genre. I enjoyed the story of how Clara Kelly, an Irish maid and how she influenced Andrew Carnegie. I know it is fiction but still loved Andrew’s transformation from ruthless industrialist into the world’s first true philanthropist.
Our local library bears his name - Trinidad Carnegie Public Library. Speaking of which... my quilts get to remain on the art wall for a second month! I've not had as many sponsors of the quilts slated to go to the two pregnancy centers I have chosen to support but there's now even more time to gain support for the cause.
A Pair of Aces was a story set in New York City in the 1930s and wove the story of a black, female assistant DA and a well-known Madame who was a Russian immigrant together to bring down a mobster. I was surprised at the end when the two authors shared the fact that both women's characters were based on real people and actual names.
Last week we sewed squares to rectangles to create corner stone units. Are you ready for the next step? All of the links for this sew along now have a tab at the top of Melva Loves Scraps.
One last quick 100-day thing I created was one final aqua block for the RSC. A new color will be selected soon. I'm guessing
I've been keeping with the 100-days of creativity challenge... baking or cooking (breakfast) on the grill has qualified as "creative" a couple times... and I have a crock full of pickles on the kitchen counter currently. Somedays I consider the time of writing here on the blog as my creative time... It all keeps me going!
How is YOUR "voice of creativity" expressed?
I just read a thing on-line about how fabric has been used as political statements for centuries. I learned during the Pieces From the Past sew along that the Double T block was such a statement. It was quite interesting!
Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!
Keep Piecing,
Melva
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It's hot, hot, hot up north here, too! We don't have any AC, because 70s three bedroom ranch houses never needed them until the last few years. A break from the 100s sure would be nice! Your star block is so pretty - I love that butterfly fabric. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres - Marie Benedict writes such good ones! Have you read The First Ladies, also by Marie Benedict and Victoria Murray? I really enjoyed that one, and learned a lot!
ReplyDeleteBeing too hot really does affect one's body and mood! I'm sorry that the temperatures have been so high in your area. For your sew along, I've cut all the printed squares. I need to check my math again to figure out if I have enough of a fabric that I want to use for the background to cut the large squares and rectangles.
ReplyDeleteWe've had heat here, too, and it continues this week. But not the water restrictions you mentioned--that's pretty extreme. Your embroidery quilt is looking pretty. I've been wondering if purple is next for the RSC, also. We haven't had yellow yet, either.
ReplyDeleteYou will really love having the central AC, yes it can be very pricey but our comfort level is important. Sending good thoughts your way that you get much needed rain soon. It's toasty and humid here again this week.
ReplyDeleteDroughts are rough. We were lucky to get lots of rain this year, but we've been where you are with the water restrictions. Fingers crossed as fall rolls around you get some rain. I don't know how we'd manage without air conditioning, we've had triple digit temps for most of the last week. Happy stitching. It does help keep one's mind off all the other not fun stuff. Hope this week has much less annoying stuff.
ReplyDeleteLow 100s here, but the humidity hasn't been too bad. Still, our vegetation is getting quite stressed, and it does little good to water things. No rain in sight for at least the next 10 days - ugh. You are lucky to have a well, I hope you can get the equipment you need for it.
ReplyDeleteI have not started the QAL. In fact now I am looking for a pink fabric like Lala's!
I am nearly done with adding the corner squares to the background rectangles and so look forward to the next step. I was so thrilled to be able to use what I have on hand for this sew-along, and I think it's spurred me toward actually completing my first one. Thank you so much for hosting this!
ReplyDeleteI hope you can stay cool and keep enough water to help things stay alive there.
Melva if I wanted to make one unit, or block to test it (and my patience) do you show somewhere how the squares/rectangles come together that way? I'll be using random 2.5" squares of colors/ and random white to tan backgrounds
ReplyDeleteSend me an email and I can help you out. :) MelvaLovesScraps(at)NolanQualityCustoms(dot)com
DeleteMelva it does seem as if everything piles up at once, but it’s a good think we can keep stitching to improve our moods. The heat here is high as well, but the smoke from both American and Canadian wildfire is making it feel cooler. Thank you for hosting us all. Now I’m off to check out your QAL since I’m behind in reading blog posts 🤗
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful display of quilts on the art wall! :) I'm kinda hoping for purple too or yellow!
ReplyDelete