Spring is finally here

Our weather has been very pleasant the last week or so... sunny, warm with some rain but just enough to water the flowers.  I see pink and white blooms on trees all over...and people are wearing tee shirts and light jackets to walk along the waterfront.  A friend who is temporarily living in Toronto ON Canada posted a message that they got 6 inches of snow yesterday, so I'm feeling pretty good about our weather.  Of course, the down side is that I have a lot of work to do to make my outdoor area look good; so far I've planted a dozen pansies to brighten things up ... and the daffodils are up... but that's about it.

  I love the garden after it's done but I'm not so sure that I like the work that goes into it.

I also made one more block for 'that yellow quilt' I'm making and even though I'm not very happy with my choice of fabric, I'm not going to do it over.  It looks okay with the other blocks but it doesn't look like the block in the book.  I guess that's all right, huh?

Here's the wall....

The turquoise color stands out but I'll use turquoise in a few other blocks and that'll help it blend in.  I want many more red blocks too so I'll be off to the fabric store again soon.  So far, I've only used fabric from my stash, except for the yellow.

My daughter has ordered more chicks and is waiting for delivery.  I can't wait to see them.

It's so nice having nice fresh laid eggs from the six chickens she has now and hopefully these new chicks will grow up and give us the same healthy, organic, free range eggs.  Yum!

My son's birthday is today and I've spent the past couple of days making him some nice big potholders (he's the cook at home).  And I made him a strawberry rhubarb pie and gave him a 1/2 gallon of vanilla ice cream to eat with the pie.

 The potholder picture shows them prior to the hand sewing I did to finish the binding.  I found the pattern here and just followed the instructions to make them... and also to make my own seam binding.  Made all the difference having matching seam binding.

And, through it all, my faithful (one of them) companion Jaik assists me..... can you believe he needed the entire table for his cat nap after all that work watching me cut fabric.  Tough job, but someone has to do it and Jaik is definitely the man!

Inconsistency, a trip and lack of imagination

First, my inability to maintain this blog may be frustrating but I really don't need to put pressure on myself to have to do something when I don't have the time or inclination.  Just sayin'... though I love keeping track of what I'm up to, I probably do it more for me than for anyone else.  I don't want to feel I'm failing... and I'm not.... I probably blog more often than I keep in touch with some people I know. lol

A trip that I didn't anticipate - spur of the moment - took me away for a few weeks and I've been catching up ever since.  I drove, with my daughter and gr-daughter through WA, OR, CA, AZ, NM, TX, LA, AL, MS, FL, GA, SC, NC and on the way back TN, AR, OK, NM, AZ, CA, OR and WA to arrive back home.  Long drive but I loved seeing all those States.  New Orleans in LA was the best but Asheville NC was a treat as well.

Grand Canyon in AZ

Houses on stilts-Pensacola FL

Pensacola Beach - gorgeous!

Looking a little chunky in New Orleans

Getting the finger in New Orleans

A pre-Lent parade

Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans

Coffee and beignets at Café du Monde

Sign in New Orleans shop

My 'wall' currently

#12 - 3rd row

Now it's time to continue on my quilting journey.

I've only made a couple of blocks to continue my 'yellow quilt' lately but since I expect it to take me at least a year to complete all the blocks so I'm pleased with my progress.

And of course, one of my helpers....  Jules (Julius Joseph Garfinkel).

As for imagination, I always wrack my mind to figure out what to give people for their birthday and it's time for my most helpful youngest son's birthday and I just can't think of what I should get for him.... or make for him.  He does most of the cooking for his family so maybe some great potholders like I've seen others make?   And maybe some of those great beignets that I had at the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans!

Slowly they go-winter and quilting

The third row of my Sylvia's Bridal Sampler/Quilt is coming along nicely.  I try to do a block a day but usually it's a block every other day... but I have finished six more of them.

 

I'm contemplating how I should position the blocks and how I want to sash it.  I think it looks good 'on point'.

I'm also continuing to hand-quilt to finish up my Dear Jane quilt.  Jules looks very innocent here but he likes to dig items out of the basket that I keep my quilting things in... and he's not as innocent as he looks in this picture.

He loves tossing around the little bird I made so maybe I should make him some little mice stuffed with catnip.  He loves catnip mouseees.

One More...

The 8th block of the second row of Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt was very time-consuming and not my 'cup of tea'.  It seemed to take forever to paper piece the various parts.  I think it would have been faster to make half-square triangles but it's done and I'm glad of it.  

That square took me the better part of 6 hours to get it put together, but I am also trying to read for 2 - 3 hours a day and I'm making some Norwegian slippers.  What? you ask.

I fell in love with these slippers as soon as I saw them.... and I'm not a knitter.  However, they didn't look that tough.... just knitting 8 squares, then performing origami to get them to look like slippers.  Washing them in hot water felts them so they're thick and luxurious.

So, one is done.  I had to felt it at once rather than wait to do both of them because I didn't want to take the time to make two slippers if they didn't come out right.  Believe me, looking at the knitted slipper before felting absolutely didn't look right.

Anyway, now I'm working on the other slipper.   Go here to get the pattern and make your own.  I'm sure they're very fast for an actual knitter to make.... takes me days to do one, never mind two of these.  But I like them.

Block looks better....

When it's done right, the block looks better.  See for yourself....

The star points are illuminated by being set into the blue block. 






It previously looked like this....

See the difference?  I'm surprised that I didn't notice it until long after I pinned it up on my 'wall'.

And, yup, the Christmas bird is still hanging there.  I forgot to put it in a box when I stored the decorations away last week.  So it will most likely stay there for a long while until I put it away... I'm getting attached to it.  lol

Today, we have snow on the ground... melting fast... but I'm going to finish up another block instead of going 'oot and aboot'.  That's my canadian accent; even after 50+ years, it's still there and people call me on it often.  I've got the american spelling down good... but talking, not so much.

And I've got some books to read too.... mysteries about Jane Austen by Stephanie Barron.  But first, the block!

Two More Blocks

It's been more than a few weeks since I added a block to my yellow quilt but today, I completed two of them.  Well, I started the first one yesterday but Jaik the cat decided to lay on the almost completed block and have a snooze... so I took his advice and stopped work.  But today I finished it up.

  It is the 6th block of the second row.












There was plenty of time to work on the next block.

Though I wasn't certain that the Kaffe Fassett corner fabric and the main fabric of the center would go well together, it seems to be quite striking.  I like it.











While I was looking at the first two rows of the quilt on the wall, I noticed that the 2nd block in the second row had been assembled incorrectly.  This is a problem I often have... sort of a dyslexia of the eyesight where I reverse parts of the block and notice it only weeks or months later.  I'm just happy that I noticed it now instead of after it had been put together... but it has to be taken apart.  Grrrr.....

The blue points should be facing the other way which will make a nice star around the center.  Tomorrow will be spent disassembling and re-sewing.









This is a picture of the wallhanging that my daughter gave me for Christmas.  It's lovely and I've hung it on the wall beside where I read.

A New Year

It hasn't been easy getting through the holiday season, but I did what I could while not putting pressure on myself.  I did almost no shopping so sent no gifts.  Some people got Christmas cards but not as many as I sent to last year.  After I sent them out to old friends and family, I got a call from one of them telling me that an old work friend had died suddenly just before Christmas.   I look forward to the new year.

Had a nice time with my family and ate some good food.

... and I did buy a couple of fat quarters of Christmas fabric on sale at Joann's and I managed to sew up a quick door hanging to decorate my front door.

And, I hung up my previously-made kitty cats.