Cranes and Daisies

We went to Madison, WI, and watched the USA- Canada 2022 18U Women's World Championship Ice Hockey preliminary game. It was fun but the arena is somewhat crowded which didn't bode well with Ray and his new knee so we watched the rest of the games on TV. The USA beat Canada that night and was undefeated going into the finals. Then Canada got their revenge and beat the USA in the gold medal game! We were delighted to have access to the games and enjoyed watching them. 

The day after we saw the game in Madison, we went north to The International Crane Foundation near Baraboo, WI. We walked the path around the exhibits. A few of the cranes are inside because their outside enclosures do not have netting over the top and other birds can get in and may carry the avian flu. We were able to view more than we missed and it was an enjoyable walk. I've shared a few pictures.

Sarus Crane

Blue Crane

Black Crowned Crane

Black Crowned Crane

Black-necked Crane

There were wild flowers and water lilies.

Many of the enclosures had murals. 

And there were beautiful gardens, sculptures, a fountain, prayer wheels, a Zen Garden, and hiking paths.

I loved the message by the fountain:

I will write peace on your wings

and you will fly all over the world.

                      -Sadako Sasaki

We plan to return to see the cranes we missed and hike some of the nature trails.

A number of weeks ago, I sewed with some friends and we made a quilt for one friend's granddaughter. The granddaughter has CRPS and is undergoing treatment in Arkansas this summer. She asked her grandmother for a quilt and a few of us helped make it happen. The grandmother chose the Fresh as a Daisy pattern. It turned out beautifully but I didn't get any photos.

After making pretty pastel daisies all day with friends, I wondered what the quilt would look like with just one color daisies. So...I decided to use my stash and make a donation quilt. Of course, I was and still am in the middle of trying to finish all the quilts I began over the last year. But, hey, it's always fun to begin another quilt! I decided I didn't need to buy the pattern, I knew the measurements for the daisies and I'd just wing it from there. 

I made a couple daisies. All was well. I was thinking mostly white and maybe a few yellow flowers. Do you like the centers? They are fussy cut from some leftover fabric from a recent project. 

I went ahead and cut out all of the daisy pieces. And then OOPS! The petals were to be cut at 2 1/2" by 4 1/2" as I did with my prototypes (above) but I cut the pieces 2 1/2 by 4". At first I thought I'd just set the pieces aside for some other day but there were a LOT of pieces so I made one daisy. It was smaller but still cute so I adjusted and went forward.

The left block is 1" smaller in height and width than the right block.

I finally decided on one yellow daisy - thus the name One of a Kind. Then I just assembled the quilt the way I thought would look nice. It ended up being 50" by 56".

I quilted this with Glide thread. Not considering that the thread was 40-weight (heavier), I decided the bone thread would not show too much on the quilt. It shows more than I like but will be fine. I used an overall meander design.

The backing is one of my new favorites. I do love bright colors!

I have a few more quilts started that I'd like to finish. Tomorrow I might be going on a shop hop so who knows what new inspiration I'll find.

Another finish!

Things are going pretty well here and I'm spending a little more time in the studio most days. That means I'm making progress on some UFOs. 

Supernova is finished. I saw a quilt made with the this pattern a number of years ago and decided that I'd like to make one. I don't have the pattern but decided I'd just make my version. I used 'solid' reds and a white with a swirl tone on tone pattern from my stash. I used HSTs for the whole quilt.

This donation quilt is 60" square. For the quilting, I used Aurifil 50-wt Dove Gray thread #2600 on the top and Aurifil 50-wt Deep Red thread #1103 on the back. I decide to free-motion quilt this with a loop-de-loop motif which has given it a nice texture. 

The backing was a wide back piece in my stash. It contains all the reds from the front and more.

Quilting is so much faster with the long arm and I really enjoy using it. 

Life is getting better around here. Ray still has a ways to go but is progressing. I am gaining more and more stamina. Every day is a blessing.

We are watching the 2022 18U Women's World Championship Ice Hockey games on TV tonight. We watched the USA beat Sweden night and will be able to attend a couple games later in the week. We know a young woman on the USA team - she is the daughter of one of our son's best friends in K-12 school. So we know her parents, her grandparents, her aunts and uncles and cousins ... It is very exciting - GO USA!

Everyday is a blessing!