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.