Tag Archives: Pink Ice quilt

Pink Ice Block 26

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… is partially stitched.  Once the middle star and the 4 partial stars are put together, it’s nothing but lots of lovely continuous stitching which makes it a much quicker block to put together than it may appear.  I may get it finished over the weekend, but this is the weekend that I will be devoting pretty well entirely to quilting Chintz Circles.  I don’t know if I’ll get it finished this weekend, but I’m going to try.  I’d like to get the binding on and wash it before next weekend so that we can take it to be photographed.

I think I’ve decided on how I’ll set these Pink Ice blocks — on point with perhaps 9-patch blocks.   The back of block 26, so far:

Thursday was, as they had forecast, another incredibly hot, humid and smoggy day.  Today is supposed to be somewhat cooler, with a humidex of about 33C (91F) which will feel a lot better.  And we’re supposed to have thunderstorms and rain which I hope will clear out some of the smog.

There are a few lilies that are popping up here and there in the flower beds out on the roof garden.  There’s a very pale coloured one which I think will open today or on the weekend.

Our Internet connection has been rather iffy this week, which makes me wonder if the power outage earlier this week had some effect on our ISP.   However, by Thursday night it seemed to be better and, all of a sudden, missing blog comments showed up in my inbox Thursday night.  Strange to have e-mails that are 2 or 3 days old appear suddenly like that, but I’m glad they did finally make it.  Today and over the weekend I will catch up on replying to comments and visiting blogs.

Lester spent some time on the windowsill on Thursday.

While Smudge was lounging on the couch.


Pink Ice Block 25

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There are enough of these blocks done to make a lap quilt, depending how I set them.  That said, I have the pieces ready to make five more of these which would make it a slightly better size — again, depending on how I set them.  The blocks finish at 9″.  They’ve been sitting for so long now that I think, although it’s a given that I’ll have trouble sticking to this, that I shall just focus on them for a week or ten days to get them all finished and ready to put together.  Of course, this may well be because I’ve named the quilt Pink Ice and ice of any sort sounds very appealing at the moment with the heat wave. I’ve used so many various shades of pink and rose for the stars/partial stars that I may need to use a different colour when it comes to setting them.  I’m leaning towards setting them on point.

The back:

I’m working on another POTC block now as, when I went through those left to be framed with the cream hexagons, I found a few that really don’t fit with the rest.  But once that block is done I think I’ll start on the next Pink Ice block and try to stay focused so that these blocks at least get put together into a top, ready for quilting.

It was incredibly hot here on Monday.  A temperature of 33C and a humidex of 44C (91F and 111F respectively)  made it a bit like walking into a wall of heat when venturing outside.  More of this all week until Friday when it should cool down a bit.  On top of that, we have smog advisories which is typical for us with a heat wave.  And just to top it off, huge parts of Toronto were affected by a blackout Monday afternoon as there was an explosion at a transformer station. Thankfully, we weren’t affected but I immediately thought of those with whom I used to work on a high floor in one of the skyscrapers.  I cannot imagine walking down 45+ flights of stairs in this kind of heat in a building that had no air conditioning. The blackout occurred right around the time when people would begin to leave the office for the day.

The planters outside buildings around here are very bright and cheerful.  This is one that’s in front of a building right across the street from us.

And this one is in front of an office building across the road.

Both boys were pretty quiet Monday.  Lester draped himself over the arm of the pink chair.

While Smudge, when it was his turn to have the pink chair, curled up in it.


Choosing the Right Quilt

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My cousin responded to my question regarding my aunt’s favourite colours, saying that they are pinks, rose-coloured pinks rather than baby pinks, and greens.  Now I’m trying to decide what to do.  I did a rough calculation on the weekend and I think it will take approximately 7 or 8 weeks just to piece the Summer Picnic Dish top, which would only leave me 2 weeks to get it quilted and bound.  There is very little wiggle room in that timing.  Could the pansy floral be considered anything close to a pastel rose colour?

I’ve been thinking about it most of the weekend and, as I see it, I have 3 choices at this point although there’s a fourth idea that I will look at more later today.  The three choices?  The Summer Picnic Dish:

Second idea?  Adding a few more rows around this first quadrant of the Spring Circles and making that a lap quilt for my aunt.  Not all pinks and greens but I think the overall feel of it is along those lines:

The third choice is to add another 12 or 13 of the Pink Ice blocks and turn that into a lap quilt.  Not sure where the green would come in, although I suppose I could add two borders — one in a pretty green and then a pink.  These are very quick blocks to make, and I could easily have them done within a few weeks.

Or I could add a very thin mint green sashing around the blocks.

My fourth idea?  I’m playing with the idea of a Winding Ways top done in a  pink fabric that almost reads as a solid and a very pale small sprig green with tiny pink buds on a creamy white fabric.  I will get those fabrics out today and have a look at them to see if they work together or not.

It was a very cold and incredibly windy weekend.  There was damage done in areas of the city from the wind and we had wind chills of -3C.  It was warmer in March than it is now.

Lester spent a bit of time on the windowsill, but not much.  I think nice warm kitty beds were much more enticing this weekend.

Smudge was — well, being Smudge.

Pink Ice Block #24

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… is finished. Six left to do and the blocks for this will be finished.


The back:

Looks like our lovely lengthy January thaw is coming to an end. While it was quite mild on the weekend, by tonight we’ll be back into the minus temperatures and snow is in the forecast for later in the week. It’s odd to think of snow now. I always feel by the time we get to the end of January we’re through the worst of it. This has been such an odd winter so far that I’m actually hoping we get a real spring, which we haven’t had for years.

I am slowly working my way through the comments left late last week. When my wrists were really hurting, I was limiting my use of the keyboard. Now that they’re feeling better, hopefully I’ll get caught up.

The cats were pretty much doing this all weekend. I think they’re getting rested up for the Olympics. Lester with a teddy bear:


And Smudge — well, perhaps he’s practising for the lounge competition.


Pink Ice

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I tried to do some applique last night but that slightly different movement was too much for my wrist. I’m dying to try some of the Dresden applique collection, but that will have to wait till my hands have recovered from this latest flare.

So I grabbed an envelope from one of the boxes and started this pink ice block. While I clearly won’t have these blocks finished this month, I’m still aiming to have the blocks finished before winter is over.


The back of the centre of the block:


Thursday afternoon I had an eye doctor appointment, after which I had a raging headache. I think I reacted to the drops used. But I found out some great news. There’s now a contact lens for dry eyes that sounds like it may be the solution for me. I wore contacts for decades, until about 7 or 8 years ago when my eyes just got too dry to wear them comfortably. I can’t wait to get a trial pair to see if that will be the solution for me.

Lester resting:


And Smudge showing how he guards a toy while he’s lounging:




Pink Ice Block #23

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… seemed to go together in no time. So now there are 7 left to make. With any luck, I’ll reach my goal of having the 30 blocks finished by the end of January.


The back:


I seem to be in the midst of a flare again with my hands, so am limiting my time at the computer for a few days. If I don’t respond to a comment, please know that I am reading and appreciating them and will respond as soon as I can.

Lester, in some serious training for the lounging event:


While Smudge is getting ready for the events which he’ll be watching, rather than participating:


Happy New Year!

Pink Ice Block #21

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… is finished. Nine to go!! This is the palest of the pinks I’ve used for the blocks. The colour doesn’t quite show up accurately in this picture. It’s more pink than the peach that it appears in this.


The back:Our weather has been really topsy-turvy. Extremely cold and then mild enough to rain. I can’t believe how close we are to Christmas!! It finally got me motivated to get baking supplies to ensure that I have on hand what I’ll need.

Smudge curled up with a teddy:


And Lester snoozing in his kitty bed.


Pink Ice Block #20

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… is done. There are four more blocks for which I have the pink diamonds ready so now it is just a matter of printing enough diamonds on 6 other pink fabrics and a few more of the triangles and squares on white and I’ll have everything to finish the remaining 10 blocks.


The back:


It was rather cold and very windy here on Thursday, so the kitties were curled up in cozy warm spots. This picture of Smudge is one of my favourites — but I think I say that about almost all of them.


And I love this shot of Lester. He’s so alert in this!