ABC Wednesday W is for...

Winning!

The kids treated hubby to a baseball game

 for Father's Day,

so we found our way to Seattle on Sunday,

for our first visit to "The Safe".  Safeco Field.

The Mariner Moose

was part of the pre-game activities...

...but later found his way into the stands to watch.

I think this mother and daughter
sitting in front of us
would have been satisfied
no matter who won.

W is also for "The Wave",

which traveled around the stands at least three or four times.

 Ichiro at bat! He got on base and scored in the sixth inning.

It would have been enough, but another run in the seventh made the final score 2-0 Mariners.

We were pleased to "root root root for the home team"

ABC Wednesday is here.

ABC V is for Valley

I had decided on VALLEY for my V word and startede gathering pictures that woud illustrate the idea. And then...

Yosemite Valley

What more can I say?

ABC Wednesday

U is for an Untold Story--ABC Wednesday

This morning I was reading what Liz had to say over at Finding Life Hard and I wanted to link to my similar story. But when I went to find it in my blog, I discovered that it was something that had happened several months before I started blogging, and so the story went UNTOLD. Does that make it adequate fodder for an ABC post for the letter U? I hope so.

You see, it was during spring break several years ago when two boys rang my doorbell and told me that their ball went into my yard and could they go get it.

And I said Yes, go around through the gate over here.

And they said but he went in over there.

Now, bilingual kids (and adults) often have a problem getting their pronouns straight, so I didn't think too seriously about their calling their ball a "he."

So, pretty soon this is what I saw:

 Okay, not a problem with pronouns, just a little accent on the vowel sounds there.

The boys tried to get the bull to go home with them, but he though our grass was greener, I guess. So they said they would be right back, and pretty soon they came back with their dad.

...who was leading a cow.

 Who led the bull out of the yard...

and down the road toward home.

So that's my untold story--that's all it is--and I'm sticking with it.

But now it isn't untold any more.

If you liked this you will find Liz's bull story interesting.

And you will find more fof U at ABC Wednesday.

ABC--T is for Tree

What's under the tree?

Look straight up.

In the tree.

The tree.

It's a Mountain Ash.

ABC Wednesday

ABC Wednesday--S is for

Spaghetti !

which I am cooking for about 125 people tomorrow--ABCWednesdayS.

I will add pictures after dinner.

☺

ABC Wednesday is here.

Oops! Guess what?While preparing spaghetti for over 100, you don't think about the camera in the bag. The sauce was perfect and I cooked too much pasta. I think I used every pot in the church kitchen.

ABC-R

R is for Rainier.

Known to local tribes as Tahoma, Mt. Rainier's name was given it by George Vancouver who named it for a friend who never came near the area.

ABC Wednesday is HERE.

ABC -- Q

After temporarily abandoning my ABC quilt project to hopefully pick up where I left off next round, we come to the letter Q. What could I post but a quilt. This one was made by my grandmother for my brother Don. I do not know the name of the pattern.

You can find other ABC Wednesday posts listed here--even ones posted on Thursday.

Oh, Phooey! ABC Wednesday catch-up--O and P

I haven't given up my quest for the perfect collection of ABC quilt blocks, but life has thrown an obstacle course in the path these last few weeks. In an already ordinarily super busy time of the year in my volunteer year at church, we have the added "pleasure" of a multitude of doctor visits, a hospital stay of a week, and a less than ideal diagnosis for my dear husband. I have added the duties of chauffeur and a number of his usual errands to my routine. Last night I mowed the lawn. I've even taken over cooking dinner and grocery shopping again--these are things he has done almost exclusively since his retirement.

As this can be expected to continue while the docs put together and implement a treatment plan and his  energies and enthusiasm are restored, I will return to the quilt blocks in the next ABC round. For now, let's see what O and P I can find in my photo archives to keep in the round. How about these?:



Overpass from under
Aurora Bridge, Seattle

 

Purple iris in my garden.

 

ABC Wednesday, Round 8

ABC Wednesday N

N is for Northumberland Star.

Hubby is out of the hospital, but it will be a while before I get a chance to stitch up my ABC blocks. Here is a sketch in the meantime--the Northumberland Star.

I like this block and will try to make it in fabrics similar to the ones in the sketch. The name of the block reminds me of our hike in Northumberland National Park on our UK trip last summer.

Hoping the docs can get to the bottom of my hubby's problem and get him well enough for some hiking this summer.

ABC Wednesday--more Ns right here.

ABC Wednesday--M

This block is known as Mexican Star. Best laid plans of mice and women--my intentions were to make my sample today and post a photograph, but hubby is in the hospital for a couple of days and I spent the day there with him.

ABC Wednesday links are here.

ABC Wednesday --L

This block is called Lincoln.

It was published with that name by the periodical Hearth and Home, but known as Album in other sources.

ABC Wednesday entries can be found here.

ABC Wednesday K

There are several quilt blocks which come from Kansas or Kentucky, and some with a biblical reference such as King's  Cross, but today I  challenged  myself  to do this one,  which  is  called    Key West Beauty.

At first I thought this was going to be fairly simple to cut, and fairly straightforward to put together. There are no inside seams to place, and I thought the angles in the center were all 45º. But the green and the blue meeting in the center are different angles. I printed the block out and used a method called paper piecing to do it. With paper piecing, you place the fabrics one at a time in sequence and stitch on the printed lines of the paper to get the seams exactly right. I did it in four sections like that, then put the four together.

Have you ever seen the same pattern with different colors in different parts and not realized it was the same? Different values--intensity of color or lightness to darkness--in different places can make a block look very different with different parts coming into dominance. Check it out in this comparison sketch of the Key West Beauty in two different sets of fabrics.

Find ABC Wednesday here.

ABC J

Visit Wikipedia for a quick bit of info about the plant Jack in the Pulpit. Do you think that the quilt block by that name suggests the plant? I have not yet made my sample of the Jack in the Pulpit block, having been gone out of town for five of the last seven days, so you will have to settle for the sketch. I will play catch up next week.

ABC Wednesday is here.

ABC Wednesday -- I

It can be really interesting to follow the names of quilt blocks. I post this one for the letter I because one of its names is Indian Meadow. It is listed with that name in two early historic quilt resources. But the same sources and another also call it Queen Charlotte's Crown. One other has it as Basket Design.

Meanwhile, both of these blocks are listed in some sources as Indian Meadow (along with other names.)

Basically, it means that a similar block may be developed in different times or regions and be given different names.

Why any of them would be called Indian Meadow is a good question.

 ABC Wednesday can be found here.

ABC Wednesday -- H

Eight Hands Around

Pattern originally published in 1929. Also known as Swing in the Center and Joy Bells.

ABC Wednesday is here.

ABC Wednesday--G is for Goose

In quilt piecing terms, most of us consider this unit to be a flying goose.  In this sketch you can identify the goose and the sky by color--they are even referred to that way sometimes.

There are numerous quilt blocks with something about geese in their names, and nearly all of them contain this element of three triangles. Flying geese are also used in creating a number of stars and other blocks.

Or you can have a whole quilt of flying geese.

ABC Wednesday, Round 8

ABC Wednesday F

This blog has never been about politics.

 Long back in the days before suffrage, in the times when the United States was a young and growing nation--expanding into the frontier, women didn't necessarily have much say in politics. But they could express their opinion in other ways, and in quilting they often did. During the 1844 Presidential campaign, expansion and war were big issues. With dispute over the border in the Southwest continuing, could the nation afford to add possible war with Britain over northern boundaries with Canada to the ongoing unrest with Mexico. Oregon fever swept the nation in the 1840s, and an 1818 treaty allowed for joint occupation of the Oregon territory for Britain and America. At a time whe it was realized that that was no longer going to work, candidate James Polk campaigned on a slogan of 54-40 or Fight. Polk, a relative unknown, insisted that the border would be set at the latitude lines of 54-40. Public sentiment on the issue won him a landslide victory over Henry Clay.

When reality set in after the election, Polk fairly readily agreed to the British suggestion that the border be set at the 49th parallel.

The quilt block known as 54-40 or Fight was a popular statement in support of James Polk and still a great graphic image. I made this one for a project a friend is doing as a fundraiser and memorial quilt for a regional Kiwanis project. What I love about the 54-40 or Fight block is the illusion of curves that you get from the elongated triangles combined with other elements of the block. Do you see the almost circles in the sketch below?

You will find
ABC Wednesday
participants gathered
at the dedicated site.

ABC Wednesday--E

You may know that I have chosen quilt blocks for a theme for my ABC
Wednesday posts for Round 8. My plan to locate and plan the block, then make it in time for the Wednesday post is meeting with many unexpected roadblocks. The B block caught up at D, the C blocks were made before the computer design was drafted for the blog, and now it's E and it will be another week before I sit down a the sewing machine for any major work as the leg with which I operate the pedal is the one with bursitis. So here we go again with just the computer sketches.

A comment was made last week that others than an avid quilter would not consider that different fabrics would make a big difference. I will someday (after bursitis) remake that block with different colors to display the impact. The star I show here in sketch, though, would be a good one for comparison as to how differently it looks in different colors.

Here, side by side, is a star that has many names in many sources. But in some it, as well as others, is calle the Eastern Star or the Star of the East.

Se what a different background does to the colors? Which do you prefer?

Some other color choices:

When I am back at the machine, which color scheme shall I choose?

See what others are doing for the E in Round 8 of ABC Wednesday.

ABC Wednesday--D

The quilt block I have chosen to represent the letter D in this round of ABC Wednesday is the Dogtooth     Violet.          The irregular shapes and many bias edges of the pieces make it a challenge to match all the points and get everything to square up, so my sample is a bit off. I think the tans  should be a bit more intense color and the outer pink lighter for a better impact.

If you were following my blocks back at the letter B, you may remember that I did not get the block sample made. the block was Block Island Puzzle, and I couldn't figure out what or where Block Island was. A commenter from the team--Cheryl--told me it was off the coast  of Rhode Island, and that sparked the memory of why it sounded so familiar. In 1635, my ancestor (not sure if a great great great great great great great grandfather or uncle) John Oldham was murdered on his boat off Block Island. He had had a rather checkered history, as he had been kicked out of Plymouth Colony on two occasions--one of them having to do with pulling a knife on Miles Standish. So, I guess you could say that Block Island Puzzle is a family block. So I had to make one:

ABC Wednesday Round Eight is here.

ABC Wednesday--C

 Okay, I admit it. I have not made the B blocks that I sketched last week.

This has been a strange week with lots of transportation issues. Last Wednesday I had to drive 40 miles to pick up my hubby who had blown a head gasket in our PT Cruiser. Saturday he had to come 40 miles to help me with a sudden power draining in my old Honda. We were reduced to coordinating our errands using the old pick-up that is usually reserved for trips to the dump.

Today we picked up the Honda--it was a simple issue with the battery. Hubby got a ride to pick up the Cruiser, and when he had been dropped of and our friend had left, the mechanics discovered that there was still an oil leak from the replaced gasket. The new part will be available tomorrow.

I don't have sketeches for my C blocks. These were made not long before I started in on the ABC--as part of some Bible related blocks that I am working on.

Thsi one is Crown of Thorns.

 And this is Cross and Crown.

Find other C posts in the eighth round of ABC Wednesday here.