It's called the "Bleak Mid-winter" for a Reason

February - the words of the song "In the Bleak Mid-Winter" fit it perfectly.  Snow on snow on snow.  That is apparently what we are going to have for a little while longer.

We had almost seven inches of snow yesterday and it's supposed to snow again tonight and Friday.  It is so satisfying on a snowy day to know that there are several quilting projects waiting for me to keep me busy.

I have loved working on these little six inch block of the week patterns from Moda.  The project has come to an end now and I just have to figure out how to set them together.  I have 63 blocks.

I am going to redo the Snail Trail block because my rust and yellow fabrics don't seem to have enough contrast.









This weekend I finished this little wall quilt, except for the tabs on the back to hang it .  Right now it's just pinned on top of another quilt.  It will be a gift.

So I content myself with the whir of the sewing machine while the wind blows outside and the snow flies and Chloe remains contented to curl up on my old afghan created in a bleak mid-winter long ago.

Ice Storm, Stitching and a Little Nap

The weather guys were right. The rain last night turned into a frozen mess this morning, followed by snow and hard winds. It was a good day to stay home and watch the flakes fly by the sewing room window.

In honor of the snow day I stitched this little snowman to go with my other six inch blocks. Isn’t he just so cute?

It was a great day and I even worked in a little nap.

An Approaching Storm and a little Stitching

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind..."  What was Shakespeare thinking?  Word has it that a winter storm will be blowing in tonight sometime after midnight, with freezing rain, snow and wind.  The sky has already started to turn gray in anticipation of what's to come.  I have to say that I'm not looking forward to it at all.  I love the pretty soft falling snow and enormous flakes. But anything that involves ice is a different story.  

Above is a photo of one of our ice storms from a couple years back.  It was not a fun drive home from work!

My cat has the right idea of how she will spend the rest of today and tomorrow while the winds are howling.

As for me, I am hoping to spend some quality time adding to my six inch blocks. Below are what I have so far for the Moda Blockheads block of the week.  It has been a fun journey.

This little guy below wasn't one of the original patterns but I found him and couldn't resist.  Isn't he just so cute?

As the storms roll in I hope you all have some fun stitching to do, the warmth of a fire, good conversation and a nice cup of tea.  

New Ideas and Looking Back

I have enjoyed myself the last couple of years reading blogs but haven't seemed to have the energy to keep mine going.  It's not for lack of anything to share because I have certainly been busy, but I guess I enjoy reading them instead of creating my own content.  Since this is a new year and it's beautiful and sunny outside I am going to make another attempt to keep this one going.

I have had quite a few quilty projects going this past year along with a couple of knitting projects that have been in the works for a while and need to be finished.

The above quilt was a Christmas present for my oldest daughter.  It's machine pieced, hand appliqued and hand quilted.  This was the first sampler quilt I had done in years and I had fun with it.  

This second quilt was the first big quilt I machine quilted myself.  It was a struggle but I was proud of myself when it was finished.  This was a Christmas present for daughter #2.

There are several quilts that have been put on the back burner as I worked on Christmas presents.  One large one is being hand quilted along the final border and should be finished this spring.

In December I made five different table toppers in different designs.  The one below is one I made for my mom with the MSQC ruler tool that I borrowed from her.  I wrapped up the tool to return when I wrapped the gift.

My younger grandson will receive the quilt below.  He will graduate from high school this spring and is an awesome guitar player.

This one still needs a couple borders added but it's well on it's way to being completed.

I've also been doing a Moda Blockheads little six inch block of the week.  This has been a fun project and is almost completed.  I think I have 42 blocks done so far.  Below is one of them.

But the most exciting thing by far is that our older grandson who joined the Navy last fall got to come home for Christmas.  My heart was full as we met him at the airport.  The photo below shows him greeting his brother, with his sister peeking over their shoulders.

I don't do New Years resolutions and have never done a "word of the year".  But I decided that this year I am going to try to be intentional.  My goal is to be in the moment with my family, friends, faith and crafts.  I hope you all have a great year.

Shared Spaces and Laughter

""Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.""

Author: Stanley Horowitz

This autumn weekend was definitely a mosaic of beauty, fun, creativity and friendship as I took part in the fall quilting retreat that our little group has each year.  The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful as Mary once again welcomed us into her beautiful lakeside home.  We had everything we needed, sewing machines, fabric, rulers, seam rippers, ironing board, food, snacks and wine.  What more is needed for a weekend with friends?

We arrived at Lake Panorama on Friday night and after claiming our sewing spot and our bedroom we went back into town for a great Italian dinner at Billy Vee’s.  Great, food, wine and service!  Then it was back to the house where we threw open all the windows and listened to the sounds of nature.  I could have sworn there were whales in the lake because of all the noise the fish made jumping out of the water after bugs.  Aside from setting up our machines and getting cozy for the evening, no work was done but we had a good time chatting and laughing and breaking into the snacks.

I didn’t even hear the thunder during the night and was surprised to find the deck wet when I woke up.  We spent a leisurely time procrastinating on the deck, while we drank coffee, shared favorite vacation spots and watched the occasional fishing boat glide by, causing gentle waves to lap at the dock.  A pair of loons surprised me.  I didn’t know we had them in this area.  They were fascinating to watch.

I had thought ahead and had all my fabric cut before this weekend.  The cutting part is my least favorite and I wanted to spend my time at the retreat doing actual sewing.

Jean was even more efficient.  She had color coordinated her fabric squares and strips into cute little boxes ready to be plucked out and worked into a quilt.  I will have to keep that idea in mind, although I’m not sure I’m quite that organized.

It’s amazing how much varied interest there is in our group.  I just love to see the intricate, fun patterns that my friends create.  Lynette was working on a wonderful bag to carry her laptop.  She had fun fabric and finished it before she went home.  I failed to get a photo of the finished product.

Mary was eager to give Lynette, the Home Ec teacher, advice on figuring how to cut her pattern.  There is no shortage of advice in our group!

Nancy got the baby quilt for her newest grandchild completed.  This new baby is only a few days old and will surely enjoy being cuddled in the soft fabric.

Karen has a finish.  Her beautiful appliqued poppies looked gorgeous against the batik background.  I’ve got her pattern now so hopefully I will find time to get to that one.  It will look great on my wall, and since she didn’t offer to send the actual quilt home with me I will have to make my own! 

Here’s another finish from Lynette.

And a new cat quilt top that Deb has been working on.

This is what I was working on.  I still have the bottom two rows that will get sewn on this week.  I just pinned it on the quilt on my wall while I was working on it, which reminded me that I had never posted the finished photo of the quilt that I was working on in my last couple posts.  Here it is hanging from my quilt rack in my hallway.

And this is what is currently in my hoop.

A quilting group shares more than just fabric and patterns.  We share, laughter, tears, celebrations of weddings and births and give comfort to each other during the changes that inevitably come as our lives play out amongst the tapestry of our years.  This weekend we shared beautiful weather, great food and made fun of each other when the quilt measurements didn’t turn out quite right.  But mostly we shared and created memories that will be woven into the fabric of our lives.

“Blessed are the children of the piecemakers, for they shall inherit the quilts.”

Roses, Star Trek and Quilts!

It has been a while since my last post.  I'm not sure how that happened.  June went by in a series of one rain storm after another.  My garden has certainly been challenged after the hard winter and then the continued pelting of rain.  My rose bushes are definitely not as vibrant as last year but the ones that survived the winter are holding their own.  Between raindrops I have been working at the Texas size weeds that seem intent on taking over everything.

A couple weeks ago my mother, sister and I went on the Master Gardener tour.  We got a wonderful reprieve from the rain that day to enjoy some beautiful gardens.  I am sure the people who opened their yards to us were holding their breath for good weather.  I have attached just a few pictures that inspired me from that tour.

 I loved this door that led nowhere.  This particular yard was very wooded and landscaped beautifully.  It was surrounded by a heavy woods and deep ravine.

 When we first stepped into this yard I thought they had a CD playing somewhere and was fascinated when I stumbled upon the real thing!  The music was beautiful and added to the charm.  My photography skills aren't the best as you can see that I managed to cut my sister in half on the right side of the photo.

 I loved these lillies and hostas that surrounded a sweet little statue!














Last weekend we took our grandson and his friend to the small town of Riverside for the Trek Fest.  Not really a Star Trek fan myself, I was not particularly looking forward to the day, but was surprised at how much fun it actually was.  As we waited for the parade to begin the dark clouds rolled in but miraculously brought with them no rain, only a nice cover from the hot sun.

I hadn't been to a "small-town" parade in many years.  They did a great job of weaving the futuristic Star Trek atmosphere in with the small town patriotism and enthusiasm.  I never expected to see Klingons tossing out candy from a float but here they are.

After finding the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk we relaxed in the beautiful town park, listening to a fun band and eating barbecue.   Then hubby and I decided to drive to the Amish town of Kalona to look around while the boys enjoyed the rest of the Trek fest.  We enjoyed poking around in a couple of cute shops.  I was on a mission to find ice cream but instead stumbled upon a great little quilt shop.

I am still hand quilting my current work in progress.  I took a little hiatus from it for a while but am back now going strong.  It is about 80% quilted.  In the meantime here is a little wall quilt that I made about ten years ago.  Half the time I forget to get it out until July 4th has come and gone.

This weekend we are painting my granddaughter's bedroom.  But will also find time for a little family cook-out and of course, fireworks.  I hope you all have a great weekend, filled with fun, sparkle, family and friends!