An April Day in the Park with Rusty
The last two weeks have been spectacularly beautiful in our southwestern Ohio neighborhood. I took my hound dog, Rusty, to our township park to enjoy the daffodils that line the trail that leads into the woods. Rusty normally spends 90% of his time in the park sniffing and he wasn’t sure what to make of the pretty yellow flowers.
The trail is a very natural setting, just like walking through the wooded area of an old farm.
Rusty enjoys nosing among the dry leaves, inspecting every tree and bush, and generally giving the park the once-over.
Rusty and I enjoy the park the year-around but I think spring is our favorite time.
Springtime Hoodie
When we visited Holmes County (Ohio) Amish Country last September, I saw some delicious Moda fabric that I couldn’t resist.
I didn’t know what I was going to do with it until I started thinking about a hoodie for spring similar to the one I made for fall which I liked very much. I had only bought one yard of each of the Moda fabrics and got enough additional Kona off-white fabric to make the jacket. I used a pattern I found in my local quilt shop, A QUILTER’S HOODIE #0351 by A Little More Effect Pattern Company, 10736-125 Street, Edmonton T5M 0H1. The pattern is for an unlined jacket, but I wanted to make mine reversible and basically made the jacket twice and then put it together with a reversible separating zipper. It turned out to be very comfortable, the right weight for our Southwest Ohio spring weather, and with the colors of April. This is one view of the hoodie.
This is the reverse side of the jacket. I like the deep pockets.
Whenever I make a jacket, I use the scraps to make a small purse to carry in quilt shops, antique stores, malls, etc., to avoid lugging around a heavy purse. This purse has a flip-out section for credit cards/cash and a holder for my sunglasses.
Sunny Day Dog Wash
Sunday was so beautiful – sunny, blue, bright, cheerful. I took my hound Rusty for our early morning walk and was surprised to see a sign taped, of all places, on the fire hydrant. We got closer to read it and I had to admire the marketing strategy – some teenagers were advertising a Dog Wash.
For $10 they are willing to wash your dog – provided he is friendly. That leaves Rusty out – he’s very friendly unless someone comes at him with soap and water.
It was so nice to be able to walk in the neighborhood and see the grass getting greener every day, the spring flowers starting to bloom and have the weather be warm enough to wear just a light jacket. It has taken awhile, but spring finally arrived yesterday.
STAR SPIN QUILT BLOCK/PILLOW
When we visited Amish Country in Holmes County, Ohio, last fall, I noticed so many quilts and wall hangings with a spinning star design. I had never seen this particular block before and was happy to find a pattern for it in one of the many quilt shops in the area. They call the pattern #124 STAR SPIN QUILT OR WALLHANGING. I finally had a chance to try out the block in a smaller size which I made into a pillow. This is by Oregon Treasures, 4790 North Road G, Vale OR 97918. (I received word on 5/13/08 that their phone has been disconnected, so this address might not be valid.) UPDATE: I received an e-mail on 7/17/08 (thanks, Jeanne) that a free paper-pieced pattern is available on the Quilter’s Cache website under the name, “Spinning Color Wheels”.
UPDATE: On 2/5/09 received word from Dan that this is the correct phone number: 541-473-3754.
I like to make backings out of my huge pile of scraps.
It’s an interesting block to make and not that difficult although it’s easy to get the various colors mixed up. The quilts on display in Amish Country used a very large version of the block in the center of the quilt and then smaller blocks (such as I used on the pillow) to accentuate the center. I may try a large quilt some day but for now, I’m glad to have another interesting block to add to my files.
