Good things

 are happening.

I have the bottom and middle sections pieced for A Sparkling Sampler.

I have two quadrants pieced for Crimson Poppy, two more to go.

I have thirteen hats ready to donate.

A quilt, Windmills, got loaded on the machine. It is about half quilted. 

All this happened last week before I went to Son's house on Sunday. His new stove was scheduled to be delivered mid-day on Monday. I had planned to go early Monday morning but the weather forecast for my area didn't look good for Sunday night into Monday morning. So I made the decision to go Sunday and spend the night. That went well; my parent came over that day to bring Son some kitchen items since he was left with very little when GF moved out. That's ok, most of it was hers anyway. It was nice to see my parents although my dad didn't recognize me. I wore my mask and my hair looks different from the last time he saw me. As they were leaving, after he was safely in their car, I removed my mask. Then he recognized me! The next morning we woke up to this. Ice on everything.

I was worried the stove delivery wouldn't happen, but the ice was melting and the roads were much better by late morning. The delivery crew were quick, efficient, cleaned up and removed the packing materials, and WORE MASKS

He is one happy camper! 

The weather was not good at home and Son wanted me to stay to help him figure out the new appliance so I spent another night. Pork loin and rice for supper - all cooked by him. 

I don't think the dog minded either. 

We found him 'guarding' my pillows and quilt frequently.

I got a text with a pic of supper last night - salmon, rice, and cooked carrots. He is enjoying cooking. He was very concerned about what his life would be like without GF, but it is never good to stay in a relationship that is not working. He knew his decision would be life-changing, and it was, but he has a good support system and is in a good place.

Last night there was a lovely sunset.

I have trouble getting good photos. The color is never right.

This photo was taken a few minutes later.

The moon was beautiful this morning.

Same shot, different filter. The bottom one is more true to color. And now the sun is shining, which is nice, but it is very cold.

We had to make several trips out to get supplies/groceries. About half the people we saw were not wearing masks. That makes me sad. 

Stay safe and well.

Knitting and Sewing

 My pile of hats continues to grow.

There are 7 in this pile. Another was added last night. It is a small one that would fit a child.

I made the blocks for Week 3 

for the Scrap Buster Challenge.

These are darker, and the photo makes them appear even darker, but I really like the fabric. Sadly I only had a smallish piece and used most of it for these blocks. What was left is in the scrap bag to be used in another project. I will be adding some more dark teals along with lighter ones so it should balance out. I am also keeping up with stitching the bonus triangles together. Yay me!

A year or so ago I purchased a lovely purplish bluish (periwinkle?) top. After the second washing, I noticed a small hole in the middle of the back. (The color is off in this photo. I can't seem to get the colors looking right in my photos.)

I knew it would grow the more it was worn and laundered. My first thought was to patch it by weaving a matching thread in. I didn't have anything and was unable to find any that did. So I pondered some more. I finally decided to do some machine embroidery to hopefully cover it up while looking nice. 

I chose a thread that was slightly darker and a butterfly design.

The design didn't quite cover the hole which is in the body of the butterfly so I did some hand stitching to fill that in and cover the hole. I think it turned out nice. These are terrible photos, though. I may try to take better ones next time I wear the top.

While it is still cold here, the sun is shining today which sure does help with my state of mind.

My son recently made a hard decision and asked his GF to move out. They have not been getting along for months. They share a dog that she wants to visit often so they are trying to remain on friendly terms. She finally got everything she wanted moved out so now my son has to decide what he wants to keep and what he has room for of what remains. He also has to decide what he will need. It had been decided even before they started having issues that a new stove was needed. The one that came with the house is old, one of the electric burners is missing. Son can't use it as all the controls are on the back. He cannot safely reach them seated in his wheelchair. My parents said they would purchase a new stove and told him to start looking. He was also going to need a bed and mattress. He is currently sleeping on a futon which is not the most comfortable. I went with him on Monday to see what we could take care of. The first stop was the furniture store. We donned our masks and went in. We were the only customers that I could see. It is a big store though so there could have been more in another part of the building. Not one of the employees was wearing a mask. They were very nice and helped Son choose a bed, night table, and mattress that will work well for him. Sadly, the bedroom pieces were on display upstairs with no elevator for access. They have sold most of the bedroom furniture and have had a hard time getting more in so they had very little on display anyway so it didn't matter that we weren't able to go up. Son had been on their website earlier and had a pretty good idea of what he wanted so that went well. They will deliver and set up the bed for him, but it will likely be about three weeks before it arrives. The next stop was an appliance store that had been recommended as having good service. Again we donned our masks before we went in. There was another couple in the store, not wearing masks. The employees were not wearing masks either. They also were not friendly, at all. The man that finally decided to see if we needed help did look up some pricing for us, but I got the impression that we were inconveniencing him. We did not buy a stove there. At another store we stopped at all the employees were wearing masks as were all the customers I saw. At the next store, we did purchase a stove. All the employees and customers there were wearing masks. Son found a smooth top stove with a control display on the front that is easy for him to see. It is to be delivered next week. They will set it up and haul away the old one. Between him, my mom, and I there have been many texts and phone calls daily over the past few weeks. About half my day is spent answering texts and calls. I have found that the stand-up sewing set up works well while I am on the phone with Son. He had mostly been calling to vent, but now he is bored and lonely and just wants to talk or is thinking of things that need to be bought or done for his house. Some things he is unable to do by himself and is worried about that. I keep telling him it will all work out, maybe not today, but it will in time. Right now he is in a good place and has lots of support from family and friends. I am so thankful for that. I just wish he didn't live two hours away. 

Stay safe and well.

I have a plan!

Really, I do! Fabric arrived at my house yesterday. I did not just buy 

fabric to buy it, I do have a plan. 

My son has been sending me ideas 

for a new quilt for him. 

These are photos of quilts seen on Pinterest and Facebook. I have the panels featured in the two at the bottom. We both like the middle one, the one with the two men holding it, the best. I like all parts of that one and we both like parts in all the quilts. The hoof prints in the border in the top quilt - I'm thinking those on a light brown border between two darker shades of brown (like the middle quilt border). He wants them on white camo print. I don't think they will show up well on that but told him I would try it and see. 

In this pile of fabric that arrived yesterday are the panel that I had at the bottom, dark brown blender, tan blender, gold blender, green blender, white camo, all over camo, stones print, stones with leaves print, camo with deer print. I'm not sure about the dark brown. I'm also not sure I will use the green, but I think it will go well with the other prints. I like both the stone prints but will only use one of them. I want this quilt to be big enough to at least cover the top of his new bed which is queen-sized, although I don't think it really matters much to him as he won't be using it as the main cover for his bed. I mentioned I have that other panel as well. I am trying to decide if I should use it to make a two-sided quilt. Well, all quilts are two-sided! but that would make it so either side could be shown. Or should I make two quilts? Hmmm... what to do?

I also received these two pieces.

The football print will be used in a quilt I have planned. The John Deere fabric may end up as masks if there is a request for them, and there may be. If not used for masks it will get used for something else.

My stand up sewing has been for piecing A Sparkling Sampler.

I have the bottom section and the middle section pieced. They are both sideways in these photos. Don't ask me why I started at the bottom and am working up, I don't know! I work on this when Son calls. I put him on speaker and sew away. It doesn't require too much concentration and I need to be doing something as these conversations have been a bit stressful the last few weeks. I realized as I was piecing this that I wouldn't have enough of the solid tan to make the small inside border. I don't remember if it is Kona or another brand. I don't remember where I got it. I do have a Kona Color Card, but I have had it for years. None of the swatches was an exact match. I ordered something that would definitely be a different color so it wouldn't look I was trying to match and got it wrong but still go well with the rest of the fabrics. I knew that the image on the computer monitor might not show the correct color, but I am pleased with it.

My photos are NOT color correct, they should be more goldish. Trust me, it looks good. 

Also, this happened. 

And, you know what that means! Well, if you are a paper foundation piecer you know what that means. It means the papers are coming off. It's kind of fun to tear those off, and exciting because the next part is sewing all those units together.

But it is messy.

So I got the units pinned up on the wall in quadrants like that pattern says to do.

Then, I stitched a quadrant.

So exciting! But, then I set it aside. My niece sent me a message over the weekend. Her favorite little fingertip micro pot holders and been placed too close to the stove burner and got scorched. Badly. They can't be saved. She was sad because she uses them all the time. She thought I had made them for her which made her even sadder. I didn't make them. But I told her I could make her some more to go with the bowl buddies I had made her a couple of years ago.

That made her happy! So I have been working on a set of heart-shaped potholders.

Green painter's tape works great for getting those quilting lines spaced evenly! One is finished, one more almost finished. I am using a layer of cotton batting and a layer of Insulbrite. It is very thick and my machine is struggling to go through all the layers, especially where the binding and hanging loop are, but I am almost finished. I don't think I will make these again. I am not enjoying it...at all.

Since the first of the year, most of my days have been cold, cloudy, snowy, icy.

If you click to enlarge this photo of the barn you can see the snow.

Today the sun is finally shining. There are still patches of snow, but once the sun moves that will melt.

Stay safe and well.

Design Wall Monday

 To see what other quilters are working on go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I am making progress on Crimson Poppy.

I have made the blocks for the second week of the Stash Buster Challenge 2021.

There are bonus HST being generated - 8 per block. I am immediately sewing them together. I have no plans for them yet, but I am sure there will be enough to make something.

And, I have started working on piecing together the last exchange project -  A Sparkling Sampler.

I still need to make 50 HST units which I am doing between piecing the blocks and other units together.

Stay safe and well.

Stand Up Sewing

I am giving it a try. At my annual medical appointment in October, I was told everything looked good, except for my blood pressure. It was high. I was told to monitor it daily, lose weight, exercise. If it doesn't come down I will need medication. My blood pressure fluctuates but it usually in the acceptable range. My clothes don't seem to fit any differently so I don't think I have lost weight. If I have it isn't enough to notice, I have stopped using salt, have a cup of coffee with breakfast every morning, then water the rest of the day, cut out snacking, am eating more fruits and veggies. I have a hard time getting exercise. It's cold, snow, icy here and the wind blows most of the time. I do not enjoy any of that for outside exercise. I am trying to go up and down my stairs but my knees don't like that. I tend to sit for hours at the sewing machine. I have everything I need right there.

TV in front of me, cutting and ironing stations to the right. I don't need to get up for much - bathroom breaks and to refill my water glass.

I need to move more. I have been standing up to sew for a little bit every day for the last few days.

I sew a seam, take a couple steps to the iron or turn and take a couple steps to trim or cut. It seems to be working well. I know it really doesn't qualify as exercise, but at least I am moving a little and NOT sitting.

So what am I sewing? I got two blocks made for the Stash Buster Challenge 2021. I cut more this morning.

I made one butterfly block using the RSC color of the month - pink.

I am determined to clear out some of the 'stuff' in my stash this year. I have a lot of small amounts of yarn left from other projects. None of it is really enough to make anything big, like a sweater or afghan. I decided to make hats to donate.

Now I just need to find somewhere to donate them. I used my Hall canister for a model! It worked perfectly.

The weather has not been nice here all year. We got ice, snow, freezing temps, freezing fog, dense fog. It has looked much like this since January 1st. 

It did begin to melt some yesterday but was still foggy, hazy, gloomy.

The sun did come out for a bit today causing the ice on the trees to start to melt and fall.

You can't see it in the photos but it was raining ice chunks for a while! It sounded like drums on the ramp.

Stay safe and well.