It's been a minute...

 I didn't realize I had been away so long. Oops.

In my defense, I have been busy!

The Jack in the Box quilt that was on the frame has been finished. 

My mom said she thought it was pretty so I asked her if she wanted it. Yes! Yes, she did. She has it draped over a chair. Every day when my dad (he has dementia) passes by, he stops and says 'That's pretty'. 

I've been asked to make a quilt that will be used for a fundraising raffle.

We The People was chosen, the fabric was bought and piecing has commenced.

The quilt designer, Debbie MacInnis of Piecing the Past Quilts graciously granted permission to use her pattern. 

I've debated for a long time but finally decided I need a better way to store my fabric. I have to remove an entire stack of fabric to get to what I want and then put it back neatly. I ordered comic book boards and have started the process of wrapping and labeling my fabric.

I decided to start with this pie-safe turned fabric storage cabinet. Because of the shelf spacing in this cabinet, I am wrapping sideways. I am also measuring and labeling each one.

This is what I got done on the first day. I am in no rush and plan to wrap a little bit each day.

This is after day two. Only cuts of fabric a yard or more gets wrapped. Anything under one yard is folded and stacked. 

My quilt group has started another Exchange using A Very Coriander Christmas pattern by Cory Yoder. This link is just one place the book can be ordered. I found several options when I Googled it.

This is my block using my fabrics.

These are JH's blocks using her fabrics. I made the block on the left, and she made the block on the right.

These are JB's blocks using her fabric. She made the one on the top left, a group member made the one on the top right, and I made the one on the bottom.

I've been doing a lot of work around the yard - pulling weeds, redoing some areas, transplanting some plants, planting new plants, watering, etc. 

 

 

 

  

 

 

See, I've been busy!

A sad story follows. 

Early this spring we had a litter of six kittens in my FIL's barn. You can only see five in that first photo.

 

 

The mom was pretty skinny and so were the kittens so we began feeding them extra. Then one day Mom disappeared. A few days later we found the runt of the litter dead. The next day we found another one dead. Then the remaining kittens disappeared one at a time. Now they are all gone. We haven't found them. We have no idea what happened but are assuming that a bigger animal has gotten them. The black and white cat in some of the photos is a male, not their daddy. He is friendly and lets us pet him. He was not aggressive at all with the kittens.

Now, some happy photos of my inside cats.

Belly rub time!

A cat on a cat quilt!

I was trying to fold this quilt to put on the quilt ladder. Hoppy said, 'Nope! I'm taking a nap on it'.

Skippy says, 'Whatcha doin'?

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!

March 27

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

I feel like I don't have much to show this week.

I started loading Jack in the Box last week, but one thing or another has come up and I just haven't gotten to it yet.

The kitties like to 'rearrange' it.

I got the borders on the HST Challenge quilt. I will buy a wide back for it, but everything else came from stash. That purple border is made from leftovers of a wide backing for another quilt.

It has been added to the pile of quilts waiting their turn. 

You can see I will be busy for a good long while getting all these quilted.

I have been working on piecing the sashing units for the Exchange quilt - A Very Coriander Christmas.

And, I got my block pieced.

We will start this exchange at the next retreat which is the second week of April.

I got all the blocks pieced for the Construction Trucks 4-Patch. Here are just a few to see what it will look like.

I will lay it out at retreat so I can get the placement of blocks just right. It should go together pretty quickly.

The cats are having fun looking out the picture window. The bird and rabbit activity have increased which they find very interesting.

Last time I was away from home for the day Skippy laid his paw on my foot for a little while as if to say "You stay home now!"

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting.

UFOs and Wide Backing

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

I'm still working on trying to clear out some fabric and UFOs.

I got Jack in the Box to the flimsy stage.

A wide backing has been ordered.

I finished piecing the Farmland/Tractor quilt.

The colors are really not accurate in the photo above. They are more true in the photo below. I don't know if it was the cloudy day or my phone camera. 

The green tonal fabric in the upper left and lower right corners of the 9-patches really is a nice olive green, almost the exact same as the darker green of the tractors.

I had a block left over so I framed it with bonus triangles made when snowballing the blocks in the top.

I pieced the back together in order to use up the rest of the tractor fabric. I think it looks ok. This one will go on the quilt frame soon.

I finished the top for this Woodland Bears quilt while at retreat last month. 

Since I am trying to decrease my stash I decided to use the leftover blocks and large fabric pieces to piece a back. I ended up with this. 

I wasn't sure I liked it and debated taking it apart. When Husband saw it and said, "What is that at the bottom?" I knew it just wasn't working. So....

I took it apart.

I will now have two quilts! One will fit a twin bed and the other will be nice for a small child or as a lap quilt. I will be backing the smaller one with the green bear print that was used for the border. I have ordered a wide back for the twin-size quilt. 

And, that folks, is why I end up with UFOs and why I like wide backs. By the time I have finished the top, I am ready to quilt it and be done. I find trying to make fabrics fit together to make a back frustrating and time-consuming. I worked for two days piecing that backing for the bear quilt. So even if I end up with scraps I will be using wide backs as much as possible.

The sweater I am knitting is slowly growing.

I am seeing no progress yet in the winter sowing containers.

Stay safe and well.

Happy quilting!