WIP Wednesday, 4/22/25

 

Did I mention that I was taking flute lessons? I had my first real lesson today. After my first introductory lesson a couple of weeks ago, where I was very discouraged about not being able to get any sound out of the flute, I practiced with just the head and was finally able to make a note fairly consistently. Thank goodness for YouTube. I watched a couple of videos before my lesson today to review how to put the flute together and get it aligned properly, as well as finger placement. One thing I have going for me is that I played piano for years and can read music. It will be a slow process, I'm sure, but I'm determined to prove to myself that I'm not too old to learn something new.

I finished the quilt top based on the bathroom tile at our air terminal. Originally I had named the quilt FYI (Fresno Yosemite International), but changed it to Flight 1080, for the number of pieces in the quilt top. I'm happier with that name.

Mark's brother, Pete, was here for a week, learning the ropes of fused glass. He picked up the process quickly and made this magnificent piece of fused glass.

We had such a great time. When he wasn't cutting glass, he and I explored independent coffee shops that I had always wanted to try. Mark had purchased tickets to Six back in fall for a Sunday matinee performance. He felt bad leaving Pete at home alone while we went to the show (and honestly, Mark is not the biggest fan of musicals anyway), so in the end, Pete and I went. Our tickets were for the upper balcony, but as we started to walk up the steps, he happened to say hi to one of the ushers, who then asked if we would like to upgrade to orchestra seats for free. Um, yes! We ended up in the center of Row S, really excellent seats. It was a great musical--highly recommended.

We were also able to get together for a family dinner at our house while he was here. And then I totally forgot to take a photo. So we drove over to Aaron and Christa's long enough to take this.

The same day Pete flew back to Idaho, we got to spend the afternoon and evening with Jessie, Timothy and sweet baby Nozomi. She is absolutely gorgeous. And because they visit Disneyland all the time, and I'm slowly handing out quilts, this was the perfect family to gift my Day at Disneyland quilt.

We celebrated Easter on Palm Sunday, as Gabe was going to be in Portland with Stacie for Easter weekend. But then Levi went to Utah with his friend Mason and Mason's dad for a golfing extravaganza, five golf courses!

Palm Sunday was lovely and we were happy to be together even though Charlotte and Levi were elsewhere.

We had our traditional dinner of crepes made by Mark, and of course the kids still like the Easter egg hunt. It was a fun and relaxing day.

I finished this beautiful puzzle.

And started a new quilt.

So, lots of works in progress. 

Quilt Auction Weekend

 A week ago was the West Coast Mennonite Relief Sale, that weekend here in Fresno where a lot of quilts, and other items, are donated and auctioned for Third World Relief. The sale this year brought in about $179,000, down from previous years, due in large part, I think, to uncertainty about the economy.

About every other year, I make a quilt for donation that is larger, with more intricate detail. This year it was Great Plains Star, a pattern by Plains and Pine.

Other than the background fabric and backing, all the fabric came from my stash. The center radiant star was made of individually cut diamonds. It was a lot of extra work but the impact was well worth it. It was beautifully quilted by my friend, Helene.

Each year, three quilts are hung to be viewed in their entirety (the rest are draped over large sawhorses until they are up for auction). I was thrilled that Great Plains Star was one of those chosen.

Knowing that prices were likely be lower this year, I told Mark I would be happy if it sold for $1,800-$2,000, and I was happy when it sold for $2,000.

Because I'm destashing not only fabric but quilts, I donated quite a few others as well. Gradient was purchased by friends, Jordan and Gia, which made me very happy. It's always fun when you find out where your quilts end up.

A few others were auctioned:

Some were on the pre-priced table:

The total of my donations for 2025 was $4,230, all going to a much-needed cause. 

Paint by Number Birds

 I have finally gotten around to documenting the rest of the quilts made in 2024. So here begins the quilt parade.

First up, #260, Paint by Number Birds.

I have been in love with this print for the longest time. It might be one of my most favorites ever. I never bought any when it was first released. And then price for it kept going up. It came in four colorways--this beautiful red, along with pink, aqua and green. 

When I turned 60 and my parents asked what I wanted, I told them I would like 1/2 yard of each of the colors. By then it was $15 for half a yard, which at the time, 2012, was very pricy. But in keeping with the age I was celebrating, I guess they thought $60 for two yards of fabric was okay.

Then it sat on a shelf for years because I never knew really how to best show it off. I had made two quilts from the pattern Hidden Agenda by Angela Pingel. It's a good one, with all different sizes of blocks. By then, the designer had released a few other lines of paint-by-number fabric--roses, wildlife, cats, etc. I never bought any of the cats, but I did had some of the other prints. This was the perfect pattern to spotlight my precious fabric, and use a lot of the other paint-by-number prints.

I loved adding the feather print (shown below in the top middle block)--the colors were just right, and the feathers were perfect for the theme.

I had an idea of photographing it with the birds at our local zoo. It seemed like a good idea in theory, but it turned out to be quite difficult to get a good photo. If you look closely, there are a couple of white birds in the top right corner.

When the print was released again, it included the birds on a cream background--perfect for the backing.

I enjoyed every moment of  making this quilt. I'm glad I waited to make it as I was able to include a lot of other fun paint-by-number fabrics that make it even more special.

Quilt: Paint by Number Birds

Quilt Pattern:  Hidden Agenda by Angela Pingel

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Completed: May 2024

Size: 57" x 72"

Gifted to: Liz Gunther

I have some catching up to do...Part 2

Years ago, junior high or high school maybe, I had a fountain pen. I remember it had a cartridge with emerald ink, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. I had sealing wax, also very cool. Well, what goes around comes around, I guess. After Aaron started using a fountain pen, and then Charlotte started, I thought, hmmm, it might be fun to revisit that era of my life. So I went to the art store and purchased this this Lamy Safari pen in my favorite yellow. 

 Books I read in February. The Last Letter was probably my favorite.

Mark spent a weekend working a high school basketball tournament.

I finished another puzzle. For a 1,000-piece puzzle, this was a quick one, as puzzles go. It was really fun.

I have long wanted to learn another instrument, after playing the piano for years. My grandson says it's never too late, and a friend was kind enough to lend me a flute. We took it in for refurbishing and new pads. Tomorrow I have my very first flute lesson. So excited.

In February I taught a class on my selvage pattern, Spool Play, and I received this photo of a finished quilt top. Way to go, Bethenny!

Our niece, Rose, has gotten into stained glass. First she gifted this to us when we saw her last month.

Then she sent me this photo of two pieces she made based on quilt blocks. The top one is based on one of my original blocks.

I finished a new color way, Amethyst, for my Glow quilt.

This year I continue to make quilts from patterns I have long collected, just making them because I want to, and using fabrics that I have had for a long time. 

I had the Positivities quilt pattern by Rachel of Stitched in Color. She ran it as a Block of the Month, but true to form, I never get started on BOMs until they are all over. I had originally planned on using the remaining bits of Anna Maria Horner fabric, but hey, last year I made six quilts with her fabric, and decided I needed to use something else, so I chose my collection of Carolyn Friedlander. Over the years, I have had quite a bit of Carolyn's fabric, but I slowly destashed a lot of it and just kept those prints I really, really loved. Most of that fabric went into this quilt top.

I will save the finished quilt top for another day. Suffice to say, it was tricky at times. I wasn't always happy that I had chosen Essex linen for the background. But by the time the final seam was sewn, I was in love with it!

After this quilt, the king-sized radiant star, and all those squares in the embroidery vase quilts,  I'm ready for something quick and easy. More on that to follow soon.

These two quilts were accepted into the Sisters Quilt Show in July. Very excited about that.

And that's about it.