Unity--Post 10

Continuing with stitching lines

Determining what motifs to quilt in the next round had me thinking for awhile. I try to use a ruler in a different way or to quilt a motif in several sizes so I can practice a similar design using the same tools. My first thought when looking at the HSTs was to stitch continuous curves. I've stitched continuous curves often over the years and then there was the decision of what to do in the background of the HST. 

When I can't decide what to quilt, I will look at what I have quilted and determine if a motif could be repeated or changed slightly. The word repeated gave me an idea. Thinking a bit more I had a plan. I would stitch lines in the HSTs as I had done in the angled shapes in the center of the quilt. I used a 50 wt cotton thread in a color that blended with the fabrics in the needle and the polyester red thread in the bobbin.

I do like the effect. The bulk of the seams

Circle in the center of square in a square block

caused some of the lines to go askew. For awhile, I ripped and restitched; but, the result usually didn't make much of a difference. Also, any fullness that was in the square skewed the lines. I decided that I would aim for an organic line and leave the lines.

In the center of the square in a square blocks, I wanted to use the Westalee circle template. I wasn't able to use this template in the center block of the quilt because I was unable to hold it in place as I quilted the circle. The center of the square in a square block has no seams to cross so I was able to stitch a circle that was mostly round.

Detail of the shapes around the circle 

Again, I used thread that blended with the quilt fabrics. For this project, the piecing is what I want to highlight so the quilting should compliment the piecing and provide texture. In the large triangles, I stitched half a circle. In the corners, I stitched three quarters of a circle.

I liked the circles; but, they seemed a bit bare so I decided to add some shapes to the outer edge of the circle. It is just a doodle.  I didn't try to make each circle the same either; but, as I worked on the second border, I found a doodle that I sort of repeated. 

I used 50 wt thread in the bobbin and in the needle. Again, I matched the color in the

View of the quilted border

needle; but, used an off white in the bobbin. It took some time; eventually, I finished quilting this border! 

The skinny border is the next section that I will quilt. I plan to quilt circles and pebbles, like I did on the first skinny border. It is going to take me some time! 

I'l be linking this blog to Longarm Quilting on Tuesday. I added her linkey to my blog post so feel free to check it out. I encourage you to check out Cheeky Cognoscenti's blog as she writes interesting posts about a variety of quilting topics. 

In regards to Covid:

Worldwide: 17.9K confirmed; 10.6K recovered; 685K deaths

U.S.: 4.71M confirmed; 2.3M recovered; 157K deaths

Oregon: 18,492 confirmed; 322 deaths

Over all view of completed quilting

Umatilla County had so many new cases that the governor reverted the county's status back to staying at home! Cases in Clackamas County, where I live, continue to rise; but, at a lower rate. Still, we are all being cautious.

School plans are confirmed that distance learning will be in place at least until the end of October. Parents at that point have the choice of hybrid learning or continuing with distance learning. 

A vaccine is in the third stage of trials. It could be available as early as December. My fingers are crossed it will be available and effective then!

Regarding the protesting, it continues into the ninth week. Friday was the first night of media reported "peaceful" protests. The state police replaced the federal marshals in protecting federal property. The media reported that there were still fires started; but, other protestors put out the fires. 

We had a run of hot temperatures--upper 90s and day of 100 degrees! My daughter ordered a wading pool for the grandkids. It was supposed to arrive between July 19 and July 27. It still isn't here. The tracking says it is still on the east coast. A friend of hers had a pool her children had outgrown. Friday, my daughter and Miss J delivered the pool to our house because they don't have space for that size of pool. 

Filling the pool with air

 Daughter A and her dad repaired the one known hole. Miss J  supervised the project. It was a hoot watching Miss J as the electric pump aired the pool. She crept closer to the project. Bob asked if she wanted to air up the pool. Of course she did! She held the electric pump and then she got to hold her finger over the intake spout while her papa removed the pump. Her eyes got bigger with every completed section aired. 

When it came time to fill the pool, it was obvious she wanted in the pool! I asked if she had thought about asking her mama if it would be okay to take her shoes and socks off to wade in the water. Her mama said okay and in a flash, she was wading in the pool. Soon, it became obvious, she was going to get her clothing wet. I asked if she had thought about asking her mama if she could take off her skirt and shirt to keep them dry. Her mama said yes. . .The skirt was down in a flash. . .too quick to stay dry! Mama said, "let's get out of the pool, first."Mama hung the skirt to dry on the fence. 

Miss J loved the water. . .it didn't matter that the water was cold. Miss J bobbed about until her mama said it was time to go home. It was hard; but, she got out without any negative comment. It was movie night at their house and she had some cleaning to do. (Her sister, K, stayed home to have enough time to finish her cleaning chores.) J had told her papa earlier that her sister would have all the cleaning done by the time they returned home and that she would still be able to watch the movie. 

Enjoying the water

Her mama reported that there was vacuuming, toilet scrubbing and dusting which equaled the cleaning her sister did earlier. I still chuckled. I think that her thought process functions well beyond her actual age! 

Today, she and her sister will be coming out to swim in the pool. Their mom and dad are coming too although, this pool isn't large enough for all of them at once! If J's first experience is any indication of the fun factor, I hope that we have a lot of swimming days left in the summer!

I sure have missed swimming in the pool!