Quilt Guild

On Saturday, the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild held their monthly meeting.  Nedim was involved with some activity that wasn't conducive to being parent on duty, so I brought Selim with me.  The meeting took place at the Newburyport Public Library and I figured that was an OK place for him to hang out for two hours.  He had his ipod and headphones and a decent attitude about tagging along.

I don't remember going to Newburyport before.  That seems silly since it is so close.  It is a very picturesque, old New England, maritime town.  I discovered that it has lots of one-way streets that I didn't know about when I was looking on my map.  Good thing the downtown area is fairly small and I had factored in a few extra minutes for the getting lost portion of the drive.  We pulled into the municipal lot with eight minutes to spare.

I think I'm going to like this group of ladies.  Their is a wide age range which I appreciate.  I was inspired by the show and tell part of the meeting.  I saw a quilt up close and personal that I had only seen up on a blog.  Fun!  These women are creating really interesting things.  One had fabric stretched like canvas on a frame and had done tiny applique.  Stunning.  It got my juices going and made me want to finish something, anything!

Five minutes into the meeting, Selim's ipod died.  He came over to sit beside me and he was so attentive and non-disruptive.  I felt badly for him...I offered to go out into the library and find the kid section, but he wanted to stay put.  During the hands on activity, I gave him one of the hexagon paper pieces and he basted around the edges.  His is the blue and teal leaf print.

Hexagon handwork

I have a hexagon project going that I started in Thousand Islands last summer.  I didn't bring my sewing machine with me on vacation, so I picked up a pack of hexagons and a fat quarter bundle and basted the hexagons in the evening.   I don't think I have touched the project since getting backbexcept to add more potential fabric.  This little demonstration made me realize that I can sew them together and that I should get on it. I have pulled some other fabric patterns to go along with the pack that I started with...we'll see if they add any value, or not.

Trying out color groupings

Sunday morning after our chocolate chip and blueberry pancake extravaganza, I went  down to my sewing room and made block #6 from The Splendid Sampler.  I love this block.  I dug around my scrap bag a bit and found more blues that I am very pleased with. This dark blue is darker than any other blue that I have used so far, but I needed the contrast.  I will be adding darker gray and maybe a deeper pink later on. The blue/yellow batik print that I used today I found in the bag, pre-cut to the necessary 1 1/5 inch width.  Score!

This is block #6 Focal Point by Natalia Bonner.

Focal Point

And here are blocks 1-6.  They look a little washed out from the direct sun on the deck.

Blocks 1-6

I've made a few extra blocks and I think they look nice all together.

Nine blocks total

Block #7 which came out Sunday is all embroidery.  I spent more time going through boxes hunting for my thread.  I didn't find the box with the green lid, but in my left over knitting tub, I found a few things of floss, some wool, and fine pearl cotton.  I think I can use the wool for the block.

This sampler thing has been interesting for me.  I'm really enjoying the online community and seeing the pictures of blocks from all the other quilters.  The blocks finish at 6 inches square -- ergo the more detail and complex, the smaller the pieces seem to be.  That has been a challenge.  And so have the two blocks with applique.  I have yet to finish the two blocks with embroidery.  I'll get there this week.

It is so interesting to see the interpretation of the same pattern by other quilters.  There seem to be three camps: those that follow the pattern as it was written, those that make slight modifications, and those that see the pattern and do something akin, but really different using the same technique.  I'm trying to stay as true to the designer's original pattern as I can.  In part, I think my skills will develop if I try new techniques.  And these designers are giving away their patterns and I'm not at the point where I want to take complete liberty with them.  Part of that is personality as well -- one test had me in the army because of my belief that if there are rules, they should be followed.  That being said, I'm in awe at some of the wild interpretations that these patterns spark in other quilters.

So may be part of the journey for me might be loosening up a bit.  Block #7 is embroidery in the vein of Japanese pen and ink -- very minimalist and linear.  I love it.  Selim did some of that in art class earlier in the year.  At the same time, I'm seeing online all these other quilters who made itsy-bitsy patchwork, filling in the lines.  Who knows, maybe I'll rekindle my love on needlework and make more than one of these blocks: one like the pattern and one with more embellishment.

I'm also trying really hard not to be obsessive about finishing the blocks the days they drop, Sunday and Thursday.  It is OK if I don't keep up or if I end up making them in a different order.  That's what I keep saying.  But it is hard.  I didn't get to Thursday's block until this the weekend.  Life happens.  This is supposed to be fun and no stress. I'm enjoying the online community and encouragement that everybody gives.  I noticed today that others are just starting.  So my three days late doesn't seem so big a deal after all.  And now I have until Thursday to figure out the embroidery thing.

Salisbury Beach

Saturday after the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild meeting, Selim and I headed up Route 1A to the Salisbury State Beach.  I'm not sure if I have ever been there before.  I might have been there after Hurricane Bob in 1991 to look at the coastal damage.  I can't remember.  Anyway, after sitting in the library meeting room for two hours, I was ready to stretch my legs.

We lucked out in that the wind wasn't too bad.  At first, Selim wasn't too thrilled to be there.  He stayed near the car while I walked down to the surf.  After seeing me climb on the rocks of the jetty, he decided to come down as well.  He found some sticks to play with and that was all it took to turn his mood around.

Finding sticks

Being goofy with sticks and daring me to take the picture.

He wasn't interested in taking pictures with me, but I am tenacious and got a few anyway.

On our way back to the car, we walked a top of the beach wall.  Selim noticed the sand patterns.

Crouching down for a better view.

We weren't sure if they were wind blown or high tide deposited.  But we did learn that they weren't made up of all sand.  It was just a fine layer upon a pile of snow.

Deeper and snowier than expected.

That broke the proverbial ice -- his feet and legs were covered in snow up to his thigh and now the real play began.  The wall had contained the blowing snow and made big drift piles as high as six and as low as two feet high, or so.  I had reservations about him jumping from the wall into the snow because I didn't know if there were rocks down below or if it was just sand.  As we aired our disagreement over the safety of jumping, a family with two really small kids arrived.  As soon as they got to the top of the wall, their dad yelled, "JUMP" and the did.  Selim looked at me; I shrugged my shoulders and gave him the nod.

He jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped.

Getting back up to the wall.

Making a seat.

"Mom!  Look!"

He rolled in the snow, got stuck up to his waist, and loved every minute.

My feet are dry, his are not.

I sat on a bench and watched him and the sea gulls, and tried to decipher the language of the group next to me.

Well, hello there.

When his feet were numb and he pants soaked, he cuddled with me on the bench.  A man walked by with his dog on a very long leash.  The man walked slowly and carefully.  Every now and then the dog would bark and look back, telling his man to speed up.  The group of four continued their lively discussion. As we sat on the bench, I tried to figure out what language they spoke.  It wasn't French, Spanish, or Turkish.  It wasn't guttural enough to be German.  Their words had soft sounds -- Portuguese?  When we walked past them on our way out, I asked. "Polish!  Polish power! We are speaking Polish!"  So cute.

I can see why people go to that beach in the summer.  We might have to do that once it warms up just a bit.