Friday, June 1, 2018

Sunset Queen

Hello!

So, I didn't take any of my planned breaks last year, and now I've been on an unplanned break instead. I am fine, it was my dad who went into the hospital with pneumonia earlier this spring. The following day we were met with a phalanx of social workers, and a host of pitying looks from all the staff. They sent him home. His dementia makes him extremely volatile, and they were happy to see him go. Of course, we had to get him settled again. The pneumonia is gone, thanks to the pneumonia vaccine he had a few years ago. And he is relatively steady now, so this week I've actually been sewing.

This little project below has been a finished top for six weeks. I used Ann P. Shaw's pattern Barnyard Queen, and I call mine Sunset Queen:


Ann is carrying on as the authorized teacher of Ruth McDowell's freezer paper piecing technique. For my first try, I liked the idea of a full sized pattern and a forgiving subject like this. I did alter the background and one of the legs slightly to give her a more forward stance. I found the method was very logical and well explained. You are on your own though, when it comes to choosing fabrics. But, I like that part, and it helps to have a big stash. The eye was a lucky find in Kaffe Fassett's brown Jupiter, which is also the long stripe in the tail. Basically it was an excuse to play with fabric!

I may or may not do one of the roosters, too. It was just the right degree of challenging. This week, though, I've been back to my UFOs, and this is the first photo of fabric I've taken in weeks:


Exciting, eh? Those are strings for the alternate string blocks in Rose Boll. I started them last summer, and they are slow going. I'm only about half way through, and I've expanded the strictly beige palette to include pink and yellow, just to keep myself motivated.

I've also dusted off (literally) my RSC 2018 project, and I plan to share the first step soon. I've read no blogs at all for months, so I hope you all can forgive me. It's going to take a while to catch up!

22 comments:

  1. It's nice to see you back. that chicken certainly has attitude.
    Blogger is giving everyone headaches these days and not sending comments to our email accounts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG, Chris, thanks for the head's up! I was shocked to see 7 comments here, when I'd received nothing on my email. What a nuisance. I'll have to think about how to handle that, I'd just decided to stop putting replies here! Grr.

      Anyway, thanks for the welcome back!

      Delete
  2. Glad you are back and I hope getting your dad settled lasts a long time. Love your background fabrics for Sunset Queen. It is a beautiful top!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is day by day, Terry. But, at least I'm managing to sew two or three times a week now. Thanks for the encouragement!

      Delete
  3. Welcome back - take all the time you need for your re-entry. We will be here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. PS -- If you post the first comment yourself and click the box to notify of any followup comments, subsequent comments will show up in youe email (although not in the regular reply-to format). Credit for this workaround goes to Dianne!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think quilters are the most helpful people on the planet! Thanks, Julie, and Dianne. I'll try that next time!

      Delete
  5. what a fun chicken! cluck cluck!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Queen indeed! I love the legs. So sorry your Dad has been ill and unsettled. Hard yards for you all. Hope a bit of fabric fandango brings you joy and some release.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the legs give her so much character, don't they? Thanks, Jillian! I'm striving for normal, at least.

      Delete
  7. Sorry you've had a difficult enforced absence, hope things have settled for you now.
    Your Sunset Queen is a beauty, hope you will make one of the roosters to keep her company.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly, it is day to day, Maureen. We're never sure what we're in for. But, I am trying to maintain a routine with some sewing. Thanks for the visit!

      Delete
  8. Ann is a good teacher and it can be helpful to work from a pattern at times so we can concentrate on other aspects of pictorial quilting.
    Yes, I am also trying to clear some tops and blocks. Must get them out of the bag.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I've decided that I still want to finish every one of my UFOs, and it's going to take as long as it takes. The good thing about being offline is that I haven't been inspired to add to the list! We'll see how long that lasts now...

      Thanks, Ann! I see you've had your own challenges this spring. Thank goodness for a little sewing to keep us looking on the bright side!

      Delete
  9. Thanks again, everyone. For now, I've turned on comment moderation, so I hope that will make sure I get the email notifications, and I can reply that way. The last thing we all need is to subscribe to every comment feed on every blog we read! These days it is Google accounts only for comments. I suppose we are safer...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your rooster is gorgeous! So bold and spunky! It's good to see a recent post of yours, but it's challenging enough to post during the best of times. Give yourself a pass this time--sounds like you were very busy doing something much more important!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love your little Sunset Queen. She looks a little cheeky and she don't care who gets in her way! Very effective use of the Kaffe fabric.

    I've missed your posts. Quilting is probably the best therapy for most ailments, so I'm very happy to see that you're back.

    ReplyDelete
  12. So, actually, it looks like turning on comment moderation made things worse, and there were more comments lost in limbo for a few days. And now everyone is a "no-reply blogger!" Google is turning us all into bad friends.

    ReplyDelete

I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...