A Break

I've been doing this blog for two and a half years, and now I feel that it's time to take a break.  There are other things going on in my life right now, so that is what I'm focusing on.

I may be back later, however.  Just not sure when.

Update on Northwoodsy Quilt

Hi there,

Just a short post to show you the latest picture of the Northwoodsy quilt I'm making.  The borders are now attached, and I'm ready to sandwich it. 

I came across an easy way to baste large quilts without having to get on hands and knees on the floor.  That method is just too hard on my knees.  If  you are interested, the tutorial is here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnke_KzeT18

I'll let you know how if it's as easy to do as it looks.


Linking up with Sew Darn Crafty

Beginning of Canning Season

Now that it's mid-August, the time has come to get the canning supplies out.  I picked some beets this morning and canned them this afternoon.

We started with 6 pints, but one ended up with a hairline crack in it so I threw it out.


I also dug some carrots.  Something has been eating the tops, so I thought I'd get them out of the garden before they were completely gone.

These are called Red Dragon, red on the outside and orange on the inside.

Some regular orange carrots with one that is kind of yellowish--not sure where that came from.  I don't think we planted seeds for yellow carrots.

Mr. M dug the row of red potatoes today and a row of Yukon Gold a couple of days ago.  I forgot to take a picture before they went in the cold room.


While I was in the kitchen, I also made a batch of yogurt.  I haven't made any for probably 30 years, but wanted to try it again. 

We've been having some great August weather lately.  It's nice to be able to walk barefoot in the grass whenever possible in the summer; it's something I love to do.

Quilt Progress and Daylilies

Good afternoon! 

I finally have more of the "Northwoodsy" quilt finished.  The top is pieced, and this morning I laid it out on the floor so I could position the animal silhouettes.

There is one more silhouette that will go on the left side.  Now I can start stitching them to the top.

Hot here today and no rain in sight, so we'll be watering the gardens.  We've been enjoying lettuce and peas so far, as well as new potatoes.  Beets will be ready soon. 

I bought 2 boxes of Georgia peaches from the Tree-Ripe Citrus truck last week.  The peaches I've been buying from them for at least ten years are always delicious.   Yesterday I canned 14 pints plus put 3 packages in the freezer. And of course, we've eaten lots of them fresh. 

I love summer with all its wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables!

Here are a few of the daylilies in the flower gardens.  It's hard for me to pick a favorite since each one is more beautiful than the last.

This is a peachy one with yellowish throat (and a couple of pretty daisies--as Meg Ryan says in "You've Got Mail", "Daisies are such happy flowers").

This is more of a lemon yellow than appears in this picture.

Different shades of pink.

A beautiful big orange one and more daisies.

I never used to plant daylilies, but after trying one, I am hooked.  They are all lovely, and with several flower buds on each stalk, there are flowers for a long time.


I'm linking up to Sew Darn Crafty

On My Design Wall

We are almost finished with the new bathroom, and I have moved my sewing room back down to the original one on the first floor.  The one upstairs was nice, but I really feel more at home in my old one.  It just seems like a better fit; and now I can watch the birds at the feeder right outside the windows.

So, now that the room is mostly organized, I've been doing a little sewing.  This is eventually going to be a queen sized quilt for a couple who are friends of ours. 

I have almost 100 more blocks to make, and then once all the blocks are sewn together, I'll applique dark brown silhouettes of animals such as elk and bear on it.



Here's a picture of one of the Campanula varieties in my garden.  It's such a pretty flower.

Happy July!  Hope you're enjoying summer.

Busy and Flowers

I haven't posted for awhile because we have been very busy doing a remodeling project--converting a very small bedroom into a bathroom, and trying to get it done as soon as possible.  I'll show pictures when we get finished, or at least close to finishing.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of flowers in my gardens.  They all seem to be blooming a little later this year.

Peony

Light purple Siberian Iris

Weigela 'Midnight Wine'

Baptisia

'Johnson Blue' Geranium

Dark blue Siberian Iris


Now the gardens really need a good soaking rain, or if not, we'll be watering soon.

It's so good to be outdoors with no coat, scarf, gloves, etc.  I hope you are enjoying June as much as I am!

Trip

A few days ago, we got back from a trip out west.  The main reason for the trip was to visit Mr. M's Dad, sister, and brother-in-law in Colorado.  We saw them last year at Mr. M's Mother's memorial service, but it was nice to see them again this year. 

Our younger son's visit there overlapped ours by about a day, so it was nice seeing him also.  He is moving back to our area from Las Vegas this summer, so he brought along a car load of his things for us to bring back with us. 

On our way home, we visited the Black Hills.  We've been there a few times before, but it's always nice to go through such a beautiful area.

 There's a tree growing right on the top of this rock formation.

This is a view that we missed the other times we were here.  It's the side of Mount Rushmore.

Here's a close-up of that same view, showing the side of George Washington's head.  It was a surprise to be able to see it from this vantage point.


Below are a couple of interesting cloud formations that we saw as we were traveling across South Dakota.  We had such great weather the whole time we were on the trip.

This one was several long strings of clouds, which I thought was quite unusual.  Maybe not, but I had never seen any like this before.


And a cute little duckling near a pond at Al's Oasis.  There was a second one but it wouldn't stand still long enough for me to get a picture.

It was a good trip, but it's always nice to get back home again.

The garden is entirely planted and mulched.  Now we wait for fresh veggies, although we have been eating lots of asparagus the past week or two.  So good!

 

 

 

 

New Embroidery Floss Storage

A few weeks ago when I was visiting my daughter, we went to a few estate sales.  One of the things I found was a small drawer unit. It was full of nuts and bolts, etc., all of which I gave to Mr. M.

There are 60 drawers, and I thought it might work well for storing all of my embroidery floss.

It is perfect! 

Plenty of room for all the floss wrapped around those little cardboard holders.

Plus enough room for the floss that I haven't put around the holders and any extra skeins.  There was even a drawer for the extra cardboard holders.


On another note, the birds are coming back.  This morning we had an indigo bunting join the group.  They are such a beautiful blue.

I am so happy that Spring has arrived!  We've planted seed potatoes and onion sets, as well as carrots and lettuce.  Hope to get the tomato, pepper, and artichoke seedlings set out this weekend.  Then the rest in a week or so.


I'm linking up with Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party

New Quilt Top

I finally finished the quilt top I started at my friend's house two weeks ago.

It's made with one layer cake plus the fabric for the stars.  This one doesn't have a border, so what's left is to find something in my stash for the backing and then get it sandwiched, quilted, and bound.


Linking up with Sew Darn Crafty

Fabric Collecting

Well, I haven't accomplished much in terms of quilting lately.  I am working on a new quilt top but am not far enough along to show any pictures.  Perhaps later this week.

I've had this hanging on my quilting/sewing room wall for several years and sometimes I think I might be more of a fabric collector than a quilter/sewer. 

I do love beautiful fabrics, and I often find it hard to cut them up to use in a quilt.


Spring has finally arrived here in the northern half of Wisconsin, so I've been outside working in the yard.  It is so nice to be able to go out without a jacket, etc.  I love this time of year when everything looks so fresh and new!

Happy Spring to all of you!

Doorstop

What fun it was to make this doorstop.  It's from a pattern in the latest issue of "Quilt-it...today" magazine.

My quilting friend has a studio that she has named "The Hen Den", so I thought this hen would fit right in at her house.  And since I am going to her place to do some sewing and quilting, I'll just bring it along with me.  We're also signed up to take an afternoon Stampin' Up class which should be fun.

Baby Items and a Trip

This past week I worked on a couple of things for a baby. 

This first one is a cross-stitch pattern I've had for years.  I just stitched it last year and then a few days ago finally finished the project.

The second one is a very cute pattern that I found on SewMamaSew by Abby Glassenberg.
Baby Butterfly Tutorial

I did change it a bit.  The eyes, eyebrows, and mouth were supposed to be made of felt.  I used a marker to draw them on instead.

These were both fun to make and really didn't take much time.

I'm off to visit Kaci tomorrow.  We'll mostly be sewing and visiting a couple of quilt shops, but she also signed us up for an afternoon Stampin' Up class.  We might even get a chance to stop at some thrift stores; you never know what kind of treasures are to be found there.  So it looks like a fun and busy week.

March Sewing/Quilting

If you read my last post, you know that I didn't get much done in the sewing room in March.  However, here is what I did finish.

 This is an apron made from a kit, but I adjusted it a little by adding the bib part and straps to it.  I prefer an apron that covers my entire front since I'm often a messy cook.

This is a small wall hanging, or it could be used to set a centerpiece on.  I like the floral and the yellow and blue fabrics; they remind me of flower gardens, sun and sky.


Winter is still hanging on, even though we did lose a lot of snow yesterday and the day before. But I just know that Spring is just around the corner.


I'm linking up with Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party

Back

Gosh, an entire month has gone by since I last posted.

I've had some health issues the past few months and have been spending a lot of time doing research on the internet and in books (which means I haven't spent much time sewing and quilting, or doing much else).  I've also started seeing a new doctor, one who does regenerative and integrative type medicine.  She has me on several natural remedies, and so far, things are looking much better.  Today, the temperature is in the 50s and the sun is shining, so I spent about an hour outside taking in the warmth and healing effects of the sun.  My Vitamin D level has been pretty low over this long cold winter.

Anyway, yesterday we visited the neighbor's farm and saw all the new lambs.  They are just so cute and such fun to watch when they play with each other.

I like the speckled face on this one.

And this black one is my favorite.

Oh my gosh, as I'm sitting here writing this post, I can see a robin out the window!  It's the first one I've seen this year.  It must mean that Spring will be here shortly; yeah!


Tomorrow I hope to post pictures of the sewing I did in March (not much, that's for sure).

Finished Pinwheel Top

Hi there.

Just a short post today to show you the finished quilt top I've been working on.  This is 38 inches square, so it will make a nice table topper.

The dark blue for the first border came from my stash, but nothing I had looked right for the second border, so I ended up buying some more of the print that goes with the pinwheel fabrics.  I may do a pieced backing with some other fabric from the same line, since I like the colors and prints so much.

I love the cheeriness and Spring-like feel of this small quilt.

Crescent Moon and Venus

I woke up about 6 this morning and was going to go back to sleep until I looked out the window.

These obviously aren't the greatest pictures, but I just had to take them anyway.  It was the crescent moon with a very bright Venus not too far from it.  It was just beautiful, much more so than these pictures show. 

I took a couple of pictures from inside the house, but went outside to take these.  (I sure didn't stay out there long though, with a temperature of -12 degrees and a wind chill of -30.)

I've really been in a sewing and quilting mood lately, which is a good thing.  Last evening I was looking through a quilt book by Debbie Fields of Granola Girl.  All of the quilts in the book are made with flannel, although any fabric could be used.  So I pulled out all of my northwoodsy type flannels and have almost enough on hand to make one of these quilts (except for about a one yard piece which I'll have to buy).  I think I'll get started with the cutting today, especially since the weather isn't very conducive to being outside.

Winter has to be over soon, doesn't it?

On My Design Wall

Just a quick post to show you the new project I've begun working on. 

I'm using a charm pack with tone-on-tone white for the background.  These eight blocks are each sewn but the blocks aren't connected yet since I have finished only half the blocks needed for this quilt. 

I hope to get the other blocks done today and get them all in an arrangement that I like.

Stay warm.  Still very wintry here.


Linking up with  Design Wall Monday         and  Sew Darn Crafty

More Winter and a Pinwheel Runner

Good morning on this wintry day!  The huge snowstorm from yesterday and last night is over.  The weather people predicted up to 16 inches of new snow.  It's hard to tell how much we got because the wind is blowing it around, but it was a lot. 

I shoveled part of the deck because I wanted to get out to the beginning of the wind-blown path and stand next to it just to see how deep it is.  It was halfway between my knee and my hip, so pretty deep.  This path is several feet long and goes from the house to the driveway.  It will be a challenge to get through it with either the shovel or the snowblower.  The good news is that the guy who plows our driveway has been here already, so at least the driveway is clear.

Since we choose to live in Wisconsin, and since there's really nothing I can personally do about the weather, I am trying to see the beauty in it.  Everything looks so clean and fresh after a snowfall, and the trees and bushes are pretty with new snow on them.

This long hard winter has impacted the wildlife also.  We are seeing many fewer birds at the feeders these past two months when the temperatures have been so nasty.  I've also heard reports of people seeing dead deer and turkeys, evidently from the bitter cold temperatures.  This deep snow and the below zero lows for the next week are going to be a further hindrance for them.

However, winter is more than half over, the sun has just come out, and Spring is coming in another month or two.  Yeah!


Here is the latest table runner I made.  It's supposed to be a Valentine's Day runner.  I am obviously a little late getting it finished for this year.

The reason I didn't get it done on time is that I've been sidetracked for the past couple of weeks.  I have been thinking of taking the wallpaper border off the walls in our hallway and painting the walls and trim a different color.  Normally I would wait until we could open doors and windows to help with the paint smell, but I tend to be impatient about some things and decided I couldn't wait any longer to get this done.  Our hallway has seven doors and one window, so the doors and trim took a long time to paint.  The walls haven't been as bad except for the fact that I ran out of paint just as I finished the second coat on the ceiling.  Now I have to wait to put the second coat on the walls until I can get to Home Depot to buy more paint (the closest one to us is about 80 miles away).  I will be over that way in a week, so hopefully the painting will be done soon.

In the meantime, there are plenty of quilting projects I can be working on.


I'm linking up with Sew Darn Crafty

Black and White Runner

At the end of January, I posted about a table runner I was making (Decisions).  I wasn't sure the original end pieces I had planned on using were what I really wanted.  Well, I finally made a decision and this is how it turned out.

I really spent way too much time on such a small project, but I do like it.

I have another runner to show you very soon.  It's been sandwiched, so now it just needs to be quilted and bound.  Hopefully, that will be done in the next couple of days, so then I can post pictures.

The temps are warming a bit; in fact, today's high is supposed to be above freezing.  Yay!!
But, more snow on the way in a couple of days.  The days are getting longer though, so that's good.

Organizing and Some Finishes

Wow, February already!  As they say, time seems to fly faster the older you get.  However, I am not particularly sad to see January go as it was brutally cold for several days with a pretty good amount of snow on the days that it was not brutal. 

On to something much more pleasant than the weather.  I spent most of the weekend organizing rather than actually sewing.  I am a big fan of Lori Holt's work and blog, Bee in My Bonnet.  In one post, How I Save My Fabric Scraps, she explained what she does with scraps of fabric.  It sounded like a perfect method for me to try. 
I used to have all my scraps in one big box, so it was always a mess and I never really used more than an occasional piece from it.  I decided it was either organize the mess, or just plain throw out all the scraps.  My somewhat frugal mind told me it would be better to organize them.  So I spent a good part of the weekend doing just that.


These are the 1 1/2 inch and 2 1/2 inch strips.

The 3 1/2 inch strips and squares and the 5 inch and 6 inch squares.

The 7 inch squares and some leftovers that don't fit into the other categories.

Now that the scraps are all cut and organized, I am sure I'll be using a lot more of them than I otherwise would have.



I have also finished a few projects.

This is a runner I started some time last year.  I really like the blueberry fabric.

A candle mat from earlier in January.

This runner is one I also started early in January.

For the back of the runner, I used a piece of fabric that was in my stash; not a great match, but it does have a bit of purple in it.


You may be noticing that each of these finishes is a rather small project, which means fast.  It is my tendency to finish the easy ones first, and then tackle the larger quilts, although that means some of the large quilts literally wait for years to get finished.  Maybe someday when I get more focused, I'll get all of the large quilts finished--gosh, did I really say "all"?  Don't hold me to it!

Enjoy the slowly warming temperatures and lengthening days.  Soon it will be Spring!





I'm linking up with Linky Party at Freemotion by the River