What a storm! I haven't seen anything like it in a while. It rained and rained at first, and I doubted the weatherman. We even had mini puddles in the backyard. But then the wind came and the temperature dropped. We had a half inch as I went to bed Sunday. Not bad, I was thinking. So why close the library and school already?
But then I woke up to lots of snow swirling everywhere. And nothing is going anywhere: no traffic at all. And white and more white snow over the ground, over the streets and blowing like crazy. It didn't stop till the afternoon.
Funny thing though, the birds were busy in the backyard eating seeds from the birdfeeders. All except the robins who were fluffed trying to stay warm. They at least at the leftover berries on the crabapple tree.
The remainder left from the storm is surprising to see. With all the drifting, it is hard to determine how many inches of that white stuff. At least it isn't 31inches like a couple hours north of here. Interstate 94 was closed with accidents and people stranded in the daytime over 5 hours or more.
So I have done a little sewing:
And I do have some cross stitch to share. I keep at it each night with my hubby in front of the television. This has been about 2 weeks worth. The leprechaun is from Not Forgotten Farms.
The stitch below is a reprint from the Prairie Schooler.
I was hacked as many of you have probably discovered. I have absolutely NO idea how it had happened.
What a time for it! I am eternally grateful for my daughter's intervention and searching of my site to get it rectified and then approved for release of " dangerous site" label. Hooray!
What a relief that she was able to take care of it. Funny thing, she used ChatGBT for help with diagnostic work on the site. Technology is amazing and sometimes scary.
So since I have been " absent" what has been going on in my life.
Firstly I had a retreat where I had unadulterated sewing time.
And the biggest completion was this quilt top which only finished at 73 inches square. It has been an ongoing project for several years and started out as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge making the curved log cabins.
Before and after photos.
Since then I have been working on since 2021, not as far back as I thought!
So now I am painfully assembling the border. It is a Judy Martin design which I started on an even earlier quilt and I still CAN'T find the dang book. But a friend kindly sent photos of the appropriate pages.
18 sections completed out of 28 plus the additional corners.
Additionally, I did assemble 2 of Lori Holt's project bags. With all the quilting, it took longer than I had hoped.
And I started a quilted jacket using a sweatshirt. It is currently waiting its turn. No photos, sorry.
But I also made a few of the Little America quilt blocks. Yeah, those 3 inch little buggers that are paper pieced.
And I caught a lovely head cold which put me out of commission for a week more or less. All I did was cross stitch and sleep.
Better now and as good as my blog site. Hooray!
I have been hacked and flagged by Google.
I am awaiting intervention from my tech guys. ( My kids) or a hired helper.
Time ...time....time.... Out of my control
As part of my New Year's goals I am working on Dear Jane blocks. I even purchased a 2nd edition of the Brenda Papadakis book. (Block drawings are the same; photos are a little blurry.)
Here are this week's 5 inch blocks:
Easy one
Tricky one which required some patience. First I made plastic templates. Then I traced the template outline on the block pieces. The combination worked.
Secondly, I had not started any of my Little America blocks from Sentimental Stitches in Michigan which sends a weekly paper pieced pattern. I finally made 2 of the 3 inch blocks.
And the big reveal: I have completed finished this wall quilt!
And I love it, even more after it has been quilted by my long armer.
The pattern is from a book by Karen K Stone whom I also took a workshop with after I had finished the top. It was great to meet her in person and see some of her new creations.
My objective was to use 5 colors for each block: red, gold, tan, background and black. I did use paper piecing for the border arcs as well as the pieced arcs. The rest was just pieced by machine using traditional methods.
I started it in January of 2021 as an online challenge. It was abandoned for a time, and finished piecing last year. My quilter returned it recently as I did not need it until my guild's show in March. She did a custom job.
And maybe you can find my mistake that I did not recognize until I got it back. I just had to laugh!
"Here comes the sun!" is my title.
I love watching the Olympics...and have for decades. I can even remember Peggy Fleming spinning away decades ago. I loved the ice skating then, and still do. I had dreams of skating away myself. I could maybe go backwards on the ponds in the park. Not very athletic am I.
But while watching all the amazing athletes and different winter sports or learning about Italian history and culture, it is great to do hand sewing or cross stitching in front of the television. I do have a binding to finish for my latest wall quilt. I can't wait to show you.
In the meantime, I have my last blocks for Baltimore Bliss completed. As they are only fused on, I have lots of stitching ahead before I assemble them and then get it quilted. But it is great to get the 12 blocks completed.
Additionally, I have finished a few more Dear Jane blocks. I have been able to keep up with the group on facebook and even add a few more of the geometric simpler blocks. The online group has been focusing on the center blocks. And that is good as I have done most of the top 2 rows and am now working on the bottom one. I have no intention of completing the intricate triangles in the border,. So I will need to create my own setting. ( a long ways off)
I have also completed a Valentine cross stitch for a bowl filler.
