Design Wall

 To see what other quilters have on their design walls go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I missed posting on Monday, but here is what I have been up to.

It took me about 3 days but I finally got all the fabric cut for Coral Reef. 

Then I got one unit pieced.

Yesterday I finished all the A1 units.

Again, Judy Niemeyer has wonderful pattern instructions from cutting the papers to keeping it all organized. And, Janet Spinks has provided great instructions and color photos with the kit for this colorway. I'm loving it!

I finished the Windmills quilt.

I got some more SBC2021 blocks pieced during some phone time with Son.

The purple, green, and white flannel/minkee quilt is on the frame.

I'm using the same quilt design board that I used for the Windmills quilt. 

I made some kitchen items for Son.

A kitchen towel to hang over the oven handle, or where ever works for him, some knitted dishcloths and scrubbies. Also, a mask made with camo fabric. Do you notice a theme? He likes to hunt, thus the camo and wildlife/deer fabric. I tried to use more masculine colors for the dishcloths and scrubbies. I used the No Hassle Kitchen Towel Topper tutorial from Nancy's Notions. I will make him more if he likes this one. 

I hope to see him in the next week. He is waiting for a delivery date for the bed that was ordered. When he spoke with the furniture store last week, they told him it would be within 10 days, so he should be hearing from them soon.

 Funny little story - he is on his own now and doing well. There are some things he just can't do, but he is learning how to get help. One of his smoke detectors started beeping, indicating that the battery needed replacing. It's on the ceiling and he can't reach it from his wheelchair. None of the family could get to his house due to the weather. The noise was causing his dog some distress. He called my SIL who is the landlord now. She called a policeman friend. My brother was a policeman and security officer and had LOTS of friends. The policeman friend was out of town but made some calls. Son went out to work on clearing his drive. Someone passing by stopped to help him. Next thing Son knows there is a fire truck pulling up to his house. Two firemen came in and replaced the battery and checked the other smoke detector to make sure everything was working. Before it was over there were four fire trucks in front of his house and they were all visiting in the driveway. These people knew my son because they knew his uncle. I did not know this was a service they provided but they said they would rather respond to this kind of call than a fire. They were all out and about helping people who needed to be shoveled out, etc. that day. I feel like my brother is still blessing us, especially my son, with his kind heart.

Husband had a birthday so a banana cake with brown sugar icing was made.

I had some glazed pecans so I put those on top. YUMMY! I make half the recipe and bake it in a round cake pan. While we would have no trouble eating a whole cake, this cake is so moist that it wouldn't take long for it to get moldy. We finished this half in three days. 

We have a lovely sunny day here today. It's warmer - about 36, but breezy so it feels colder. We have snow piled and drifted everywhere.

The laser light that puts pretty designs up on the house is completely covered.

Snow gets piled wherever it can be piled so it is out of the way.

Drifts as high as the ramp.

This drift looks like the wind whipped around the house from both directions and gave the yard a mohawk! These photos are few days old. Everything was looking the same day after day so I stopped taking photos. We had rain a couple of days ago that froze and made the roads icy and slick. The temps are now warmer and the sun is shining. The roads are mostly clear, the drifts are shrinking. Soon there will be puddles and mud, but moisture is needed. 

Last night we had a beautiful sunset!

Stay safe and well.

Design Wall Monday

 To see what other quilters have on their walls go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I really don't know why the font is different sizes on my posts. And, I can't seem to figure out how to fix it. I guess it really doesn't matter!

This past week has been cold, snowy, windy, mostly cloudy. 

 

 These are yesterday's temps at mid-morning. It is even colder today. 

The wind blows the snow into drifts, blocking the drive and making the roads almost impassable in places.

In the yard, by the ramp, the snow is as high as the ramp.

The rabbits should be snug in their little den under the ramp.

They have had to dig out every day, but that doesn't seem to stop them. They are all over the yard. 

After the freezing rain, we got a couple of weeks ago the branches of the pine tree were hanging very low. I think they actually froze to the ground. The rabbits are eating them. 

If you look very closely you can see a rabbit under the tree. 

I really don't know how any animal outside survives these cold temps. I know the rabbits, and other animals, are hungry. This snow and ice make it hard for them to find food. I don't really mind that they are eating the lower branches of the tree because those low hanging branches make it difficult to mow the grass around and under that tree. I just hope it doesn't kill the tree. Years ago, when my son was small, there was a plant nursery across the road from where I worked. One year I bought a live, balled Christmas tree that could be planted after enjoying it inside for a couple of weeks. This is that tree. I would hate to lose it.

It is snowing again as I write this with wind chills below 0. The forecast says we may get up to ten inches of snow by tomorrow evening. My front door has been frozen shut for at least a week. The water hydrants are starting to freeze, making it difficult for Husband to water the cows and bull. He was up and in the barn in the middle of the night trying to thaw things out. The drifting snow makes it hard for him to drive the mile and a half to his parent's house to take care of the cows. He takes the tractor and clears the way as he goes. Then he goes around the section and clears the neighbor's drives. 

With this weather, I don't care to step outside. I feel guilty that I am inside, nice and warm, while he is having to brave the elements to take care of the animals. I have been keeping busy inside, though. When I did the reorganizing in my sewing room I came across a few projects that I would like to get finished. One of those projects was the Hands on Design - A Year of Celebrations.

I have finished February and March.

I have started April. 

I am using a mottled light blue linen instead of the Dirty Belfast the pattern recommended. I had known all along that I did not have all the recommended floss colors. I have placed an order. I have not received a shipping notice yet. It will be interesting to see what I receive since I have been reading that other stitchers are finding that a lot of the floss they order is not available or is on backorder. 

I made a couple of cards. 

The hummingbird card has been sent and received. My friend's birthday is on Valentine's Day. I knew she would appreciate this card. She did!

This one with the butterfly I made for Son's GF. I used a butterfly applique leftover from the quilt I made for her sister who was having a baby.

The baby has been born and everyone loves the quilt. 

Even though Son and GF are not together anymore I have intended to send her a little something for her birthday. But, now I am rethinking that. They had decided to remain friends and she wanted to be able to come to visit the dog. She said she would help with his meds and take him to the vet when needed, but none of that is happening. It seems that their friendly relationship is deteriorating and I don't want to cause Son any issues. Her birthday is coming up at the end of this week, so I don't know what to do.

I had a piece of fabric leftover from another project. It was sold as pieced flannel and minky-type fabrics. It is not perfectly pieced. You can see the seams do not meet well in several places, but I thought it would make a nice donation quilt for a young girl. All I had to do was add borders, then quilt and bind it. It has been sitting in a basket for several years. I decided to just get on with it and get the borders added. 

I swear I thought those fabrics were just randomly placed! I did not realize they were in a 4-patch design until I placed this photo in this blog post. Had I known I would have removed the last row on the right and bottom, but I am not taking it apart now. I don't think the recipient will care.

I pieced another set of blocks for the SBC 2021.

And, I began cutting the unit pieces for Coral Reef. 

I ordered this as a kit.  The designer, Judy Niemeyer, has very detailed instructions for organizing the papers and piecing the units for the pattern. The shop owner, Janet Spinks - Empress Quilts, who designed this colorway has very detailed instructions for cutting the fabrics for this colorway. I appreciate all the work both of these people put into this pattern and kit to keep things organized. That makes it so much more enjoyable.

Stay safe and well.

Design Wall Monday

 To see what other quilters have on their design walls go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I got all the papers cut for Coral Reef and need to cut the fabrics. The space I work at in the TV room is not big enough for that.

But the big cutting table is in the unheated garage and temps have been well below freezing, even falling into negative temps lately. And, the space I work at in the sewing room (used to be Son's room) needed some cleaning/decluttering/rearranging. I had decided to put a bed in their for when people might need to spend the night. Well, we hardly ever have overnight guests. The only one I can think of that will need to spend the night here is Son and that will be when he visits during fair week. So I decided to give myself more room and take the bed down. Husband wondered why it took me so long to decide to do this.

 

The mattress and box spring are now leaning against the wall so they can easily be laid down on the floor in the rare event that the bed is actually needed. The slats and side rails are nearby in the closet. Years ago Husband worked at a printing plant that went out of business. They allowed the employees to take or buy items that were going disposed of. He was able to bring home a couple of office cubicle walls. They make pretty good design walls. I moved one in to lean against the mattress/box spring and immediately moved the Churn Dash blocks onto it. 

 

 Now I have more room and a bigger design wall! There are still a lot of things in this room and I try to use every bit of the space well. 

 

 

This is the closet filled with projects. But let's face it, this room is just too small! HA. It certainly can't be that I have too much stuff, right?!

Even though I haven't cut any fabric for Coral Reef yet I did get some other things done.

I cut all the fabrics for the 

Quilter's Exchange Mystery.

And, got Week 6 blocks made for the 

Stash Buster Challenge.

I am cutting ahead with this project so I can just pick up a pile and sew. That is handy when Son calls. I put him on speaker and head to the sewing room and stand-up sew while we chat. I pulled fabrics from my stash for this project. Sometimes there isn't enough of a fabric to cut two blocks, like the ones above. Sometimes there is just enough.

This is all that was left after cutting one set. Not much left, but most of these pieces went into the scrap bag for a future scrap quilt.

I also made the yellow block for the 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

When moving things around in the sewing room I came across some cross stitch kits. I decided to pull one out to work on when watching TV (like I need another project!).

And, that made me think of another project I wanted to work on - A Year of Celebrations by Hands on Design.

 

 There is a design for each month. I had finished February and started March (I didn't get the pattern until after the first of the year and just jumped in will-nilly!). But, where was it? It wasn't in the cross stitch kit drawer. It wasn't stuck in any other project tub. I spent the better part of yesterday afternoon thinking and looking and looking and thinking. Where could it be? At one point Husband asked me what I was looking for so I described the bag to him - orange with blue floral print, about this big. 

I turned around and there it was. Then, I remembered that when hung it up there on the corner of the mirror that I would probably forget that I had done that. I was right. It has been there, in plain sight, right where I put it weeks ago.

When cleaning I also came across lots of memories. Things from high school that my mom had sent home with me the last time I saw them - my track shoes, letter jacket, Who's Who books, newspaper clippings, old photos. Most of these memories are specific to me only. I don't know what to do with it all. I know my son won't want most of it and there is no one else that will either.  

I am keeping this though. My dad as a young man. Isn't he handsome? 

And, now he collects rocks from their driveway. He puts them in egg cartons and hands them out to family like they are some kind of treasure. These were given to me a year ago. Dementia sucks.

Stay safe and well.

Making and Making Do

To see what other quilters have on their design walls go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

I haven't done any more quilting on Windmills.

But, I have been busy with other quilt-related projects. I finished piecing this top, Crimson Poppy.

And, this top - A Sparkling Samper.

I also got out this project yesterday - Coral Reef. 

I got all the foundation papers cut and organized. But I need a bigger surface to work on to cut the fabrics. Before I can do that  I need to clean up in the sewing room.

I started piecing the Churn Dash blocks together over the weekend. 

I divided them into piles - dark backgrounds, light backgrounds. I may regret it later, but for now, I'm just picking up one from each pile and sewing them together. I got one row sewn yesterday. 

My little design wall above the big ironing board is only big enough for a few blocks, not for complete rows.

Plus, I keep pinning things up there so it is slowly getting covered with things that are not quilt blocks. The big ironing board and cutting area are covered with the Churn Dash project and the RSC (yellow for February) block for next month. Somewhere in there are also blocks for the Stashbuster Challenge for 2021 by Border Creek Station. 

So, I am making do with my fabric stash by pinning things to the fabric in the cubbies. 

I like to take photos outside but that isn't happening right now.

And, one more thing to add to my list of projects; My Quilter's Exchange group has decided that since we are unable to meet in person, but are all wanting to have some kind of connection during Covid we will be working on a mystery quilt. It is being organized by our 'leader' and the first clue will be posted today. I have chosen a fat quarter batik bundle and added some more fabrics from my stash. 

The colors aren't true (I just can't seem to get that right) but you can get an idea of what they look like. I will have to use the lighter fabric in the middle as the light because I don't have enough of the darker one. The dark teal on the left and the dark green on the right are border options. I will probably not decide which one until the rest of the top is pieced.

I can't believe it is already February! Winter has made itself known here the last few days.

We have gotten snow. Not a lot, really, but enough to cause problems. 

It all started Saturday afternoon with rain, that turned to slushy rain, that turned to snow. Cold temps and wind have made for icy, drifted roads that are hazardous. 

There are some rabbits that live under the end of the ramp where those drifts are. I think the drifts probably help keep the wind out, maybe.  

The drifts haven't blocked them in. There are a lot of rabbit prints around the front garden.

And, it appears, at least one cat has been lurking about! And, that is fine by me. I hope he is keeping the rodent population under control.

Husband set out early this morning to travel the 1-1/4 mile distance to his parent's house to feed the cows. He had to turn around and come home for the tractor. The roads had drifts large enough that made getting through impossible. A snowplow has just now gone down my road so hopefully, the roads will be better soon. The sun is shining now which is quite deceiving. It looks like a pretty day, but the wind is picking up again and it is COLD!

Stay safe and well.