Tuesday 25 January 2022

Free Patterns, Small Topper Finish, Choosing Binding for Courthouse Steps

January 31, 1948
Sledding hills are open around the capital region and it always reminds me of all the "sliding" as we called it I did every winter growing up in wintry Corner Brook. Our "hill" was right outside my house, a dead end road so no traffic.  The year I got my own five seater toboggan for Christmas was memorable. Someone was always on the back with me. I loved every minute. And I can't help but think what marvelous exercise we all got traipsing back up the hill countless times on a Saturday afternoon. My Mom is in this story too because it was always wonderful to go inside to the warmth of the house and good smells coming from the kitchen. Saturday's supper was usually soup (often pea) with homemade bread and gingerbread with custard sauce for dessert. ( In those days in Newfoundland, there seemed to be set meals for each day of the week and these were pretty much the same all over the province. A fact I learned when I went to university in St. John's and stayed in residence with girls from around the province.)

Stitching News
Janet Winkel at The Spruce Crafts has collated this marvelous group of 14 free quilt patterns. Design a Quilt With These Free Block Patterns. #10, the Bento Box  caught my eye.

Thinking of Valentines coming up- another site I enjoy browsing, By the Bay Needleart, offers this free pdf pattern. Love is the Key. I think that is a major truth in all things in this life. John Lennon got it right.
I was very happy with this fat quarter bundle I received from  Missouri Star Quilt Company. I'm quite low on blender style fabrics and these will be pressed into service right away. Very delicate motifs on whites and creams. Hush by Riley Blake.
This little topper is finished. I tried various colours for the binding but I thought the black picked up on the moons the best of all and went with that in the end. Machine stitched to the front then hand stitched around the back. 
That's a dying Christmas poinsettia I took from Daughter's house to see if I could revive it somehow. Wish me luck!

 This is what is on my TO DO list this week and will be getting the most attention. I think of this as a "real" quilt as it is destined for a bed. 
It is my Elm Street OMG for January and is now very close to a finish. Discussing with myself...what to bind it with. I've been trying out a number of fabrics as you can imagine and I don't have much that would have enough yardage to get around this size for it is large. Happy dilemmas!
Rose Marie at Applique 'n Patch Quilting finishes each of her marvelous posts with 
Cherish your day, Cherish your life!

Sharing this post with Texas Quilt GalLife in the ScrapatchQuilt Paint CreateAlycia Quilts and My Quilt Infatuation.







26 comments :

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I think I have some of the fabrics in that neutral stack that you have - I got a couple good size stacks last year of blenders. I know what you mean about what meals served on what days in childhood - guess that isn't so common now. For us being Catholic it was always fish on Friday - what kind was determined on what was in the freezer in the winter or if fresh was caught the evening before in mild weather. The day before payday depended on what was left in the meager pantry that had dwindled down from the two weeks of shopping that my mom did. How mom stretched that food for a such a large family on dad's small paycheck is beyond me but I don't remember being hungry even if it was a fried egg sandwich or peanut butter!
I love your Chinese Lantern quilt in the reds and scraps

Softie said...

I am interested to hear more about the daily meals you used to eat weekly in Newfoundland.

Good luck with the Poinsettia!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Love that snow scene on the New Yorker cover! Lots of sledding in my growing up years, too. Pretty bundle of neutrals, Jocelyn! I go through a lot of those - I should find that bundle myself. Your Courthouse Steps quilt is do pretty with all the red. Maybe a scrappy binding would work?

Jackie said...

I wonder if it was our parents generation that had set meals for the week, as I grew up with that as well. The only deviation was a holiday or someone's birthday celebration.

Love your new fabrics.

God bless.

Ivani said...

Beautiful real quilt, Jocelyn. I agree, Love is the Key.

Brian's Home Blog said...

Elm Street looks beautiful and homemade pea soup is the best!

Nancy said...

We did not often go sledding when I was a child. I don't think there were many hills, or perhaps my mom felt the hill was unsafe for me to go alone. But, when my husband and I managed a group home when in our mid- to late-20s, we took the boys to a wonderful hill in the city where we lived. With 10 of us and no sled large enough nor a toboggan, we used inner tubes. What a smooth ride with a wonderful bounce they gave us!
Your courthouse steps is delightful. I love that bright red!

Libby in TN said...

In the company town I grew up in, the plant manager and town doctor lived next door to each other and their houses shared the "sugar bowl" where all kids in town were allowed to sled.

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

Great snow story! Your Courthouse quilt is very pretty - will you be hand quilting it? Seems like yesterday when you started the blocks! Time passes so fast! Hugs

loulee said...

It seems to me that a scrappy binding would be ok on a quilt with so many fabrics. It looks amazing.

audrey said...

Love your REAL quilt on the to-do list.:) Beautifully scrappy! I was just thinking about all the many hours my siblings and I spend sledding when we were kids. Oh the exercise and happy, happy times!

PaintedThread said...

That table topper is cute! I forgot about my OMG - I need to finish that up soon! Yours looks lovely.

QuiltGranma said...

Love the Courthouse Steps/Chinese Lantern red and scrappy quilt! Looking forward to however you finish it.

gladiquilts said...

Love that New Yorker cover! You brought back many memories for me - I grew up on a large hilly farm and used to go sledding with my neighbors all the time! My mom also seemed to rotate meals over about a 2 week time - nothing too fancy compared to the at least 3 month rotation I have, plus regularly trying new things!🙂. Your Courthouse steps is looking great!

Sherrie said...

Hi Jocelyn,
I like your opening photo, we had a hill to sled on when I was little girl. My sister and cousins would spend hours going up and down the hill on our sleds. Thanks for sharing this. I hope your Christmas Poinsettia makes it. I've tried for years to get one through the season, with no luck. I love your beautiful red quilt...so pretty in red, maybe put black around it for the binding. Thanks for stopping by my place, Food for Thought. Have a great day!

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

Daily meals, my ex husband's family was like that, depending on the day of the week you always knew what you were going to have. Love your bundle of low volume fabrics. Great memories of tobogganing. We had a toboggan, but also a runner sled, usually the runner sled was used because the hill in front of our house would ice up, we could get quite the distance. Love your table topper, and courthouse steps.

Scrapatches said...

That New Yorker cover brings back many memories. As a child I lived on a "designated sliding street." The city posted signs and all the kids in the neighborhood would bring their Radio Flyers and slide all day. The best place on the hill to start decent was directly in front of our house. My Mom would make hot chocolate with Hershey's cocoa in a big pan on the stove and call us every once in awhile. We would bring our sliding friends of the day and we would sit outside on the back porch and drink our hot drink and leave the empty cups by the back door. Occasionally, my mother would have a child knock on her door and ask if they could please have a cup of cocoa. She always gave them a cup. One time I came up the steps when she had a strange visitor and she asked me to introduce my friend. I had no idea who the little girl was but we drank our hot chocolate and left as new friends. Your courthouse steps quilt is wonderful! May the poinsettia live on to bloom another Christmas ... :) Pat

Carol Andrews said...

Jocelyn that New Yorker brings back memories for me as well. Some of my childhood was spent in Manitoba and we often had snow over the rooftop of our PMQ. We had to be tunneled out from the outside and often walked across the roof when going to school. Regular meals? We had them as well because my Mom was a working Mom. Beautiful neutrals! You’ll have fun with them. I had great friends that came from CornerBrook. My grandson’s partner is from Port Aux Basques. My DH’s family is from Newfoundland. It’s fun to hear your stories of “home” and compare them to the ones I hear. Good luck with finishing your beautiful courthouse steps. 😉

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Your table topper is so cute - and so perfect there with the red pot! Love that courthouse steps!! Stay warm!!!

grammajudyb said...

What wonderful memories! Sledding, sliding, whichever it’s called! When we cut a Christmas tree while in Northern California this past Christmas there is a sledding hill near a snowmobile park. There were lots of kids, all types of sleds! A fun thing to watch!
Good luck on your REAL quilt! It’s fabulous!

Elizabeth V Kelbaugh said...

Thanks for sharing and inspiring.

The Joyful Quilter said...

What a sweet table topper, Jocelyn, and best of luck on finishing up that "real" quilt!!

K Reeves said...

We live across the street from a fabulous sledding hill(on the golf course) and we have many happy memories from watching the girls sliding down the hill with Mx barreling after them barking with joy! Your courthouse steps is wonderful! A controlled scrappy binding might be just the thing for it!

Linda said...

Your childhood memories are so sweet. I often think of my childhood and how Mom would call me to dinner and had to do so several times before I would finally mind her. Eating was not nearly so important in those days! Courthouse Steps looks so pretty, I didn't realize what a big quilt it is becoming! Good luck with the poinsettia, and that little topper it is sitting on is lovely.
Thank you for linking up with To Do Tuesday!

piecefulwendy said...

I somehow missed this post until you mentioned it in your recent one. Sledding is such a fun memory for me. For us, it was the one hill in our town. One year, my brother and his buddies blocked traffic at the bottom of the hill, diverting the cars down to the streets around our house. The adults didn't seem to mind, at least for a few days. We had runner sleds, and one person would run and hop on, and then as many of us that could would flop on top of that person. The fun was, as the driver, you could choose when to whip the sled with a sharp turn, sending all the people on top flying in all directions. Ah, to be a kid again!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

I'm glad you referenced this post in a more recent one. I missed it! Set meals. . .how interesting and what wonderful memories of sledding! Love your red quilt!