Episode 123: Weird Summer

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Summer is always weird, no matter how much I plan for it. This one’s no different, with kids off to camp, lots of rain, and weeks of being Willfriend while Will’s friends are on vacation.

I’ve extended my design wall and redesigned the mosaic quilt. Here’s a rather bad photograph to give you an idea …

IMG_0282Not much quilting done lately–hope that changes soon!

14 Replies to “Episode 123: Weird Summer”

  1. Hey Frances >>> GREAT podcast despite the vocalization of the kids>>> I am getting so use to that type of noise as my gdS is non stop NOISY. >>> You are lucky we are not your neighbor…. hee hee

    LIMITED quilting going on here… painting the house again.. all the rooms I did not get to last year. Plan to do the entrance and the hallways. .. Then this fall new carpeting.

    Love the new look of the MOSAIC quilt pattern and yes that is a great alternative… one I have used many times… I have been doing similar with FMQ in the negative spaces… best part of the quilt making process.

    Nonnie

  2. We are having a weird summer two. My two youngest kids did not get jobs, so they are home, sleeping most of the day and up most of the night. The good news: no one would attempt to break into our house during the summer because someone is up, and usually warming up pizza, 24 hours a day. I have been watching Breaking Bad this summer and love it! Here’s a link for your husband: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nWjNgV_6yc Breaking Bad, the Musical done by middle schoolers.

  3. Hey Frances! Glad you’re back, even though I won’t get to actually listen to the podcast for a couple of weeks…going out of town. If you’re breaking up mosaic with plain squares, I like it. Lots of space for pretty quilting. You could set it all on point with the plain squares, too. That might be nice. I like on point settings. Looking forward to listening.

  4. I was just wishing for a podcast by you when I clicked open my Podcast app and there you were!

    I think I prefer the Mosaic with the increased negative space, personally.

    My hubby recently binged on Breaking Bad. Not really my kind of show, but does have really good writing- so he would just tell me what happened on each episode so that I could keep up with the story without actually having to endure the yuckiness. Have watched Portlandia? I got such a kick out of that show. Chloe and I are rewatching the entire Downton Abbey series, prepping for the new season.

    Glad you are back!

  5. A bad picture? That’s so cool looking. It has a 3D quality, it looks like a raised design, like blocks with some kind of Lego-like surface, angular instead of the round thingies Legos have.

  6. I just loved this episode with the sounds of your neighborhood in the background, although the sounds of the kids in our immediate neighborhood are not so desperate! Although – I thought my neighbors behind us were having a very bad domestic and I ran to the back of the yard to see if I should call the police and realized it was the man’s incredibly loud video game.

    I thought this summer as a newly retired person I would start sifting and sorting through the detritus left around after decades of being a working mom. Now I am telling myself it will start as soon as my husband’s school year starts.

    The mosaic quilt is beautiful. And I think the plain blocks for quilting will enhance the overall design.

  7. I understand the noise thing. We live out in the country, beyond the sidewalks, and for the past 24 years it’s been very peaceful, except for the 4th of July and New Years. I think everyone sets off bombs, not fireworks!

    This year however has been different. The hill I live on ends at the bottom. Directly across the road from the bottom of the hill, one of the members of my church owns over 100 acres. This year they set up an informal shooting range. Being less than 1/4 mile from my house, it can be really really disturbing. None of my neighbors like it. Surprisingly it is completely legal. They feel like they are providing people they know with a safe place to shoot, but I gotta tell you listening to someone unload a 30 round clip, semi-auto, over and over and over can really rattle your nerves.

    I am going to have to talk to them again, since I’m the only one who knows them. I am hoping they can at least slow it down. To top that off they tell me there is also someone else they don’t know who has shooting on their property. Bang head against wall…

    I am glad to hear from you, I miss your voice when you haven’t posted for awhile. I haven’t done much quilting either, although I have sewn lots of clothes for my granddaughter and great niece I put a few pictures up on my blog. I am particularly pleased with the leggings I made for my granddaughter out of one of my youngest (14) daughter’s discarded t-shirts. I have really big gaps between my kids. My youngest is 14 and my oldest is 32. Liz, is my 32 year old stepdaughter who had the granddaughter I sew for. Then I have my 30 year old son Flip,(he changed his name), my 23 year old son James, and my 14 year old daughter Cassidy. Liz is the only one with any kids. I don’t know if the boys will ever grow up enough to be parents. In the mean time I am just grateful they aren’t. My 2 daughters are both very responsible. Cassidy is more grown up and responsible than either of her older brothers…sigh.

    Hope your peace returns. The kids really do sound distressed.

    Fran

  8. Another great episode Frances. I started listening to your podcast a LNG time ago because of the quilting topic. But I continue to listen because I love the political/religious/family/book talk even more. You are a joy to listen to. Thanks for putting out your podcast for us all. 🙂
    Also, I have 2 girls. Ages 7 and 9. We are reading more chapter books together ie Caddie Woodlawn and The Penderwicks. Which of your books would you suggest to start with for girls of this age?

    Thanks again,
    Amy

  9. Okay, back from out of town and had a chance to listen to your podcast. I enjoyed it, even with limited quilting. As a listener, you get used to hearing someone and it’s kind of like you haven’t heard from a friend when they don’t post for a while. So, glad to have you back! I’ve been quilting a lot this summer. I try to have one machine set up for quilting and one for piecing so I can have choices. Plus, I’m actually hand quilting something and really enjoying it. I highly recommend it for tv/being with family time productivity. Plus its relaxing in it’s own right. If the screaming, stressed out children are that bad maybe you should call DHS or whatever agency investigates such things? Lastly, so far the state legislature hasn’t interfered with my quilting, but I don’t doubt the government will find a way.

  10. I’m glad you took the time to post this podcast. It’s always enjoyable to catch up with your quilting and other parts of your life.

    I wanted to urge you to give JohNny Depp’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a try. I LOVE the original, but found the newer version enjoyable also.

  11. I enjoyed the podcast. The mosaic quilt is looking good! I like the new concept. I have had a couple of pieces of fabric sitting here for you for ages. I keep forgetting to mail them.
    Sorry to hear about the new neighbors. That can be frustrating. I wonder if they might have special needs kids. I know one of our friend’s kids who can’t speak vocalizes with shrieks when he is excited about something or having a lot of fun and it really sounds like he is in pain. I know it is hard even stressful to have the kids in the house making that kind of noise so they (he and his brother) spent a lot of time in their yard. Perhaps the situation is similar.

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