The FWS Pony Club Quilt-Along wk 26 Discussion Page
 

I've been hibernating here in NC..the heat has been horrible..couldn't get online until last night..nose is still runny but all else seems to be getting better....I was feeling so happy when I finished July 4th yesterday...I said to myself I at least got one done for the week until I opened the book and realized that I'm a week behind....And I haven't even thought about the next set of blocks....Oh, woe is me :( I have another letter for you.

Letter # 16

Edwin Larson is such a common name that I initially had trouble
indentifying the correct person. I'm glad that the photograph on page 35 was
included, because without it, I don't believe that I could have ever figured it
out.
Edwin was born in 1904, and won his pony "Early Bird" in 1914. He was the
second of five children. Edwin had an older sister named Evelyn, two brothers
named Arvid and Elmer, and a "baby" sister Ines. Although Edwin was born in
Massachusetts, his parents Nils and Ida were born in Sweden. Nils sailed on the
"Amerika" from Copenhagen to New York in 1893 when he was 18 years old. Ida came
over four years earlier when she was 19 years old. I wondered if the woman in
the picture was Ida, because she looked almost old enough to be a grandmother. I
do think that it is probably Ida though, since she was 35 years old when her
firstborn, Evelyn, was born.
The last we hear of Edwin was in the 1930 census when he was 25 years old. He
and his four brothers and sisters all lived at home, but by this time his mother
was a widow. I cannot find a death record for Edwin's father, but he must have
passed away sometime between 45-55 years of age.

I've looked at the patterns and the first one is so like one we did before with y seams. I have no interest in perfecting that technique so will be looking for a substitute for this week. In the meantime, I'm working on a school house quilt for my youngest granddaughter who will be 2 in October. I'm feeling a little lazy in this heat and don't want to make a decision about which pattern/fabric I will use for PC so I'll put it on the backburner for awhile and see what turns up.

Ggal, I agree-that block looks just like Does & Darts (which gave me fits the first time around!!) I made a substitute block, will post later. My new bumper sticker: Life is too short to stress over Y-seams!
Anne, thanks for posting this letter and keeping us in line even when you're not feeling well.

Sounds like, Anne, you just might need a care package of good will & wishes to pert you up. Do take care in all of this heat, and stay cool. Thanks for the letter, too.

Hope the gentle rains will drown out the forest fires that are out West; that can be a mess. And the ashes move on into Iowa and Missouri as the winds blow.

The small round baby birds are indeed Quineas as oksewglad guessed. They are in training to come to Mama when I cry "chick, chick!"...reward is young radish greens which they love. Turkeys and ducks have been trained too well; turkeys crowd my dh when he works out there on various tasks. Turkeys love the dew berries I throw over the fence to them, its every turkey for themselves in a free for all!![ATTACH=CONFIG]346242[/ATTACH]

This is what I've been up ta.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...e-t193511.html
I don't know what ta do about those few picts that won't show up.:p

Golly, this is a smart bunch and talented...my fingers were just itching to get back into PC fabric, so I did this afternoon...have 3 blocks cut out ready to sew, and Indian Hatchet in the sewing process. Indian Hatchet you may know from its other three names: On the Road to Kansas comes to my mind. I settled on five inch squares with three inch squares in opposite corners...inner squares different from outer squares...match right sides together of the 5 inch and 3 inch squares in a corner and sew a diagonal line across the square, fold triangle down and press...do each of the four squares (5 inches) , then sew the four squares into a block.

Picnic inside is being very wise. Weather is suppose to break off Sunday/Monday. Jimmy Beyer Studio is in the DC area and has no power, no AC, and no store open. Those poor people in that area...that means no grocery stores open, no AC for anyone, no gas stations open so they cannot escape the area. After 3 days of no power in Northern Illinois, people were in a near riot to have access to food...back in the early 70s.

Yes, we are 'turkeys' now with fowl farming...learning to keep our ducks in a row, and 'tick' less to boot. " Egg-actly!!"

Awe, what cute baby birds!

Sorry Bev, I melted my MM's into Kix Krispie Bars. Didn't have any Rice Krispies:shock:. Here try one.
Okay here's a couple reasons why I'm eating Pony Trail dust.
First a "liberated courthouse steps" made from random width strips. Blocks measure 3 x 4 finished overall size about 20 x 13. Not bound yet. Second pic shows my zigzag quilting. Used clear thread on the top.
Third and Fourth. Mini crumb and strip blocks. Crumbs are 1 1/2" finished, strips are 2". Will share later the results. Lower level sewing areas are a godsend in the summer![ATTACH=CONFIG]346746[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]346747[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]346748[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]346749[/ATTACH]

OK--some fun finishes with your scraps. :)

Trying to stay cool here too...Crystal came out today and we spent our time cutting fabrics for PC blocks...were able to get several done (also able to get our fabrics organized so we know what colors we need more of). Then we will be getting together again Monday at a restaurant in a nearby small town with other ladies for a sewing day. We wanted to get fabric ready so we can just SEW! :)

Besides PC, I am also working on helping kids finish quilts and also a baby quilt needed in August.

My thoughts are with those folks without power, it reminded me when we were hit by Cyclone Yasi and were without power for 10 days, definitely not a fun time.
Hope everybody is cooling down, I am sitting here in a track suit with ugg boots on keeping my little toes warm:D

Mirabelle...stay warm. We have one small window AC on the kitchen window which really helps but the house still gets really hot. We went to a shopping mall yesterday afternoon and came across a mattress set that my DH actually likes so I'm going to try to finalize the deal today. He had been single for many years so there was a big valley in the middle and I have to hang in to the edge to have my own space. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will work out.

OKSewGlad...I remember the drought of '88 and I think the crops look worse here than they did then. A couple of fields looked past the silage stage and they had never even tasseled. This heat is so hard on everything a farmer does. I wish you all the best to make it through this summer. It can't be easy.

It's been very dry and hot here, too, but last night we finally got rain. And Hail!!!! I've never seen hail this big before--it was at least the size of quarters. And loud!! We have an old house that has aluminum siding (not vinyl) and it sounded like we were inside of a popcorn popper. I was actually afraid the windows would break. And it seemed to last forever-went on for at least 15 minutes without letting up. Few dings on car roof and a large tree down at neighbor's but we were lucky compared to some neighboring communities. Very scarey but we got a few hours of much-needed rain afterwards. Still hot-upper 90's all week. Thank God for A/C.

What I have been working on:[ATTACH=CONFIG]346893[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]346894[/ATTACH]Chains of Love, for Prairie Star Quilts by Julie Larsen, Prairie Star Quilts, Elk Horn, Iowa. Queen size is noted to be 8 wide and 9 down, (93 1/2 by 107 1/2) but my main chain is four wide and measures 92 inches. Unsure how they count the secondary chain ring, then mine is seven and one half chains wide.

But I 'had' to stop and do a few more PC blocks.

I love your quilt, QNS-beautiful colors and piecing. Really neat pattern, too.

QNSue...thanks for the blocks even though you are so busy with that beautiful quilt you posted. Will you do the quilting too?

All....just got a reminder about the malware that could be active this next week. Here's a link to the FBI site that explains it. My computers check out okay for which I'm thankful. It's my connection to the rest of the world, and wonderful people like you all. http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011...malware_110911

QNS--WOW! Lots of squares in that quilt. I am going to check out the pattern now...

Thanks for the nice words. No, it will go across the street to the Moss Sisters and their LA Grammill (?)machine. It is for my Father-in-law's sister-in-law, the last survivor of that generation. I suddenly felt the urgency of 'do it now!' so trying to work it through yesterday. Hitting my head against one stone wall after another, spending a lot of time with the seam ripper 'cause I misread the instructions, size of pieces, etc. Dh helped too. Third try is a go to the fourth chain circle down.

WOW you ladies have been busy!!! and I have done nothing but run around the countryside having vacation with my sister :O not one single block to show :O

fire update: now I know what thousands of firefighters in one place looks like....and hundreds of firetrucks too!... the sight is truly holy to behold!!! now, I dont have a kink for firefighters or anything... but the sheer numbers... is enough to make any girl gasp!!!

stay cool ladies :D

QNSue that will be a beautiful quilt when it is finished, please post a pic when it is quilted. Would love to see it. I am sure your FIL's SIL will love it.
I have been trying to catch up, my carpets are still not cleaned, that is happening on Thursday, so should be posting pics of my sewing room soon.

yes, Im counting my blessing every day!!! and Saturdays TWICE :D