Snow, RENT, and new fabric

Well, more snow.  More fluffy, white stuff:

Here is what my husband said this morning,"When you have to start shoveling off the tops of your snow piles to blow snow from the snowblower, then it is a lot." 

(Did I ever tell you what a wonderful guy he is!  He does all the snow blowing and lawn mowing. )

Here is how my grandchildren like it:




It has been a long and busy weekend. : We saw the school play of RENT.  I love the music and thought the kids did a really nice job.  It is a very mature subject with so many of the performers had solo features.


My spouse and I took a field trip today to the north of Milwaukee and  did some lunch and shopping.
Here was a cool tree that was under the eaves and had the icicles from the roof's dripping. Very unusual.



Several nights and in the car I have been knitting. I think I have done about 45 rows since the last post.



And I visited a quilt shop that has more brights colors.  I just had to have some spring prints to inspire me.


And then I bought the precut wool for the pattern of Wendy Williams that I already possess from a magazine. I didn't buy the pearl cotton,; it was another 60 dollars.


So I now have another project. And it should be fun!

Snow day # 5

In all my many years of teaching I have never had a winter like this.  5...count them ...5 days ...of no school. The kids are getting lazy and think they don't have to do work.  We get them back on track and ...another day off.


It is just beautiful.




So continuing on my bear paw quilt, some knitting, and of course, Valentine cookies.

Embroidery and more

I have finished the embroidery of my Over the River, the Crabapple Hill design.
2 and 1/2 years in the making of the tiny outline stitch with Presencia pearl cotton 12.
Love the brown color.



So happy and feeling accomplished!  But as I have other piecing projects in the line up, this one will be put on hold for a while to get all the blocks and borders together.

Here are my progress squares for piecing.   Only 2 blocks to finish and then the sashing which is also pieced. This is a Thimble blossoms pattern made with Bonnie Sullivan woolies in flannel. My couch has lots of brown.

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In between I needed some new needlework beside the TV to work on.
So I got out Henrietta the squirrel, her friends the crows all in pumpkin land.
It was dark while sewing, so I need to select my floss ahead of time to match it to the various shades and colors.



Sorry for the twisted picture.  I have 4 blocks done of the wool applique with 3 ready to hand sew and 2 to prepare. This is an Ann Sutton design that was a free BOM back in 2012. I started with needle turn; not my preferred method and switched to the wool.  Some of it is felted, but I noticed some of my browns are not. Another UFO to work on. But it feels so good to be making progress.

And lastly, I got out a knitting project.  I think it is 2 years old. I know I put it on hold, as I couldn't find the 2nd batch of yarn. And I did a mad scramble again searching all my yarn bins only to find that I had already included it.  I even found my pattern online. What luck!


Now the photos of the knitting are deceiving as there is an edge of stitches which makes it crumpled.
But you can at least see the pattern and the colors. They are a medium gray and a great self striping yarn.


'
Hooray for getting things done!

Wedding tree skirt

So, I'll confess up front that this was for a wedding last fall.  I just was stuck, stuck, stuck.

But with renewed vigor and energy, I have been on a run: finishing, finishing, finishing. I have enjoyed getting back to quilting and getting results feeds the impetus to do more. And so on and so forth

Last week I got over my issue of how to get my last 2 slices of this tree skirt. and worked out the kinks. Each of my 2 panels of strips was able to produce 3 sections.  But I needed 8 total. So I found a short cut to use cut offs for the tops and then only have to piece each bottom.
That got me going.  And yesterday I got to the finished stage.


Here is my machine image of the quilting process: just a domestic Bernina 34 years old.

Love the bright colors of the Timeless Treasures jelly roll.




Here is the front quilted.


Here is a photo of the quilting on the back.  Just follow the lines.


It looks more pinky/orangey  in color but is actually a red with those lime green dots.


I spent allllllll of the Superbowl hemming the binding, and a little longer.  ( Notice the focus light to aid my vision.)  I just wanted it done.


All it needs is a label!  Voila!!
(Hmmm   I think I will make a 2nd for the wedding in March.)

Over the river...

I am so excited.  After 2 and a half years, I am finishing all the embroidery for my Crabapple Hill design.

It all started when my husband saw this quilt made up in fall colors at a favorite quilt shop. He showed me the quilt.  He rarely has any suggestions of things he likes in a store.  So I purchased the pattern. ( I have liked the  design as well.)

It took me a week just to trace the 3 panels and baste the backing fabric onto each one.  And that was in July of 2016.

I started with the panel with the trees, followed by the one with the most embroidery and the beautiful bridge and sleigh, leaving the words for the tail end. I have carried it on several car trips, especially to my Mom's in Canada.  So lots of miles, lots of memories and lots of time have traversed these 3 panels.

And here we are on the final countdown:







Hooray!  I know I can finish it today.

Tree skirt put together!

I
We are still reeling from the ultra cold temperatures.  Mid morning it was still 25 below without chill factor.  But as the sun was up, our birds and squirrels still joined us. We  have a pair of cardinals and squirrels that come ever day as well as some chickadees, wood peckers, and sometimes mourning doves. I haven't been out of the house since Tuesday afternoon. And now my car is having a fit; tire pressure needed to be increased to normal and now either the battery or the starter is on strike.  I had a personal driver this morning: my DH.


But I did get this tree skirt together FINALLY!  I have been avoiding it like the plague and had a mental block for the next step as I was designing my own pattern from a template. The fabrics were from a tonga treat. This is the pattern I started with: tree skirt template.  I needed to make another set of strips as 2 complete ones were not enough. It turns out I was able to piece the top sections from leftovers and only had to add a bottom set to each ones. I was trying to save the remaining strips.

The center tree fabric I received from a friend at retreat which was the leftover backing for a  tree skirt she had made. I didn't quite have enough for another go round at the bottom.

Now to back it, quilt it, and bind it.   YEAH!    I load off my mind.