Man, Did It Rain Here Yesterday!

Which in truth is a very good thing. I only hope the deluge didn't wash away the carrot seeds we sowed Thursday. "We shall see what we shall see." ~Lucia Lucas

This, however, has curtailed my running schedule somewhat. Two weeks from today at approximately this hour of the morning, I'll be heading to the starting point of an adventure. With my cousin, who instigated this and my daughter who aides and abets me in all areas of nonsense, by my side (and possibly on either side dragging me across the finish line) I will plog 13.1 miles.

What else can I relate? Oh yes.... this! We started a new BOM at the shop

So cute!!!!

and I rushed home Thursday with my packet and feverishly began tracing the fusible and sorting out all the designated fabrics for the different pieces (oooh so exciting!!!!) and fused everything down. Did I say everything? Yes... I am very thorough. I began carefully cutting the pieces out and laying them down on the pattern. Oh it was looking so cute! That's when it dawned on me that I had fused all the pieces to the front of the fabrics, instead on the back. Where it is supposed to be fused.

Nobody tops me when it comes to stupid! So after Georgia rushed me new fabric and fusible, I concentrated and did it right the 2nd time. I have a good excuse for being distracted, though.

I love Netflix streaming and recently they uploaded the Frasier series. I never watched these back in the days it ran on TV so picture me in the workroom, crying with laughter while cutting out those shapes. This show was hilarious! It isn't often that I laugh out loud during comedies but lately this one and The Big Bang Theory have really gotten me roaring. Again, I am late to the party because anyone I ask if they'd seen these say, "Yes. Years ago!" Gee.....

Hey, ever get the Wolfermans English Muffins catalogue in the mail and wonder if they are worth trying out? The answer is a strong affirmative. They are wonderful! And so many varieties to choose from, you will be in a quandary as to which to try first or next. Have fun!

I can't believe how quickly this short month February is passing. Even with the leap day, it's gone fast. Mardi Gras is in two days and once more I will avoid all parades with reckless abandon. Instead, I shall hang out with the chickens and throw them stuff! They are as silly as any parade goer I've seen, except they don't lift their shirts. They surround me and jump up to grab stuff and cluck at me. Seriously, if they could talk, I swear it would be the line, "Throw me something!" And I do! And just like parade crowds, what I throw is never enough! So I throw more.....

Hey, that's how I roll.

If you do go parading, stay safe. If you don't, come join me on the Back Two.

Do the Funky Chicken!

Okay, here is the first month of the Funky Chicken BOM. So silly and whimsical.

And now I have excavated these to UFOs.

IS this on it's side? Or right-side up? Hard to tell.

A little washed out in the photo. The batiks glow

I had made, oh some 10 + yrs ago, a couple of mariner's compass wall-hangings and one huge quilt. These were the left-overs. Too much to throw away and not enough to make a lap quilt. What to do? I started by making blocks like a string quilt (although I didn't know back then that these are string quilts) and then just let the composition take it's own course.

THe one on top is very loose and reminds me somewhat of a Rothko painting. Blocks floating inside blocks and thin lines breaking the surface.

The bottom one, Angles, is much more controlled. Very balanced and 'equal', with the contradictory blocks making a break-away for the eyes.

Now I am back at the indecision as to where to go with them. I want to complete both or either.

Back to the Applique

After taking quite some time off, I am back at the applique and was surprised to find I had made this many of the Jacobean applique last year:

The photograph doesn't show the true deep purple of the background, but you can tell how vibrant the other colors against it. It glows.

When I was at the shop last week, two of the fellow Sharp Needles came in and showed me this new applique BOM, Funky Chickens from Fat Cat Patterns, with the most whimsical chickens I've ever seen.

This is January

So, being the grabby stitcher that I am, I immediately pulled some fabrics off the shelf at the shop and paired them with what I have in the stash of leftovers and have begun making this BOM as well as the Farmer's Wife and 4th of July by Judy Niemeyer.

All this is ok because while the word 'bored' doesn't ever apply in the world of quilt-making, for me it is fun to take a little time off from each project in order to see it again later with fresh eyes.

Well, I am pleased and pained to report that yesterday I plogged the entire 11.5 scheduled miles. Pleased that even though I was fairly exhausted at 9.75, I continued to the bitter end and only had to take the shoes off for a quick massage. Pained in that although the feet made it through this time, the calves were whining and the knees weren't happy either. I hobbled into the house after walking around another 2 miles out with the chickens just to make sure I didn't cramp up.

I will definitely walk another few miles outdoors today as well. I am worried that tomorrow it's going to be bad. With me it usually follows that the real pain occurs two days after the exertion.

I have managed to weigh one pound less this week than the last 400 weeks. I wonder if this is because I have cut back on all the coffee. It isn't the coffee; it's the half and half. So if I am drinking only half the half and half I used to, it follows that I have taken in fewer calories that are normally consumed every week. Nothing less has changed. I look the same. One pound doesn't register to the eye. Oh well. whatreyagonnado?

Great Sunday!

Yea!!!! The Oriental Leslie BOMb is finished!!!!! Okay, I still have to quilt it, true......

ANd the Red White and Blues is complete as well. Yes there is only the simple single border but really, there is enough going on with the color scheme, any border fabric would just scream.

I had fun finishing this silly project I bought to make as long ago as last year (or was it 2 years ago.....) The Stick Chicken!
too cute. I have already made the Cat Stick but have it at the shop as a sample.

Speaking of cute....
Q. Usually she hangs out in the sewing room, taking up space on the ironing board. Shasta beat her to it today.

Shasta has been trying to be helpful as well. Here she is scrambling a quilt-top I was attempting to pin a border on. Such a help.

And to top the day off nicely, I made a loaf of seeduction bread. Very close to the loaf you buy at Whole Foods. Except lighter.

How Many Men.....

...does it take to install one electrical meter?

3 and here are 2 of them.
AND

And

and they arrived in ..... wait for it... 3 separate installation trucks. True.

But this means we have illumination in the barn. So how cool is that?

Also I have finished the second Leslie BOMb, the Christmas Quilt.

So that a plus.

Yesterday was splendid outside and took advantage of the warmer weather to plant the leeks I started weeks ago and they are still quite small. I used the English method of growing and planting and got 28 seedlings started now in the beds. We ordered row covering last week that I hopes arrives quickly.

I love leek soup but here's a question...... why are they so darned expensive in the grocery? Because they take so long to grow? Then why are lettuce so expensive? They pop up overnight! Short shelf life I suppose. I am grateful to be able to grow our own.

Last week we had a forecast of exceptionally cold nights so we covered the peas and I think that really helped them. Alas, the lettuces, chard and onions took a direct hit. I think they will revive with the covers.

The chickens are slowing down on production now... the hours of light have diminished to less than 12 each day. And daylight savings has changed the dawn from 7 am to 6 am but that doesn't stop Stu from screaming at what is now 3am. Fool. They see me coming and make a beeline to the gate in hopes of treats. Have they got me trained, or what!

I Give Up

I'm still trying to learn how to use this Mac ....... I can crop a photo using iPhoto but I can't figure out to save the altered image.

Anyhoo.... here is the first Leslie BOMb, Blue and Gold...... I like the borders.

Now the dealio is: I challenged myself to make these quilts, one of six, using only the fabric I had in my stash. Which is sizable. So although it might have been better..... or maybe not, it wouldn't have been in the spirit with which I began.

It is large. 81" But small enough that I can quilt it all myself on my machine.

So. What do you think?

Harbingers of Spring

include robins and asparagus and we planted the latter two months ago. We bought those bags of "crowns" at Lowe's and John prepared a proper bed and chucked them in and we have been diligently watering the patch.

And we wait. But nothing appears. It's Spring everywhere here but no sign of asparagus. This has us concerned. So, once again to hedge the bet, we called in an order of newly-dug crowns from Johnny Seeds catalog and we wait for the arrival.

Yesterday, we spied 7 asparagus tips coming up through the mulch; out of 16 planted. So far so good, right?

We have 25 on their way. Great.

All the potatoes are up and thriving. The beans are looking good as are all the tomatoes and peppers we started from seed. The tomatillos are already flowering! and I am very excited about that and happy we planted 6 of them. If I had to wait for 8 tomatillos to be ripe on 1 or 2 plants, I would never have green salsa.

And here are the 2 new centers for the BOM I continue working on, 1 bright and the Christmas.


Y-seams galore. I am getting better at them but I think the pattern is not perfectly accurate. Still, the block measures out at 33.5" after trimming up so that's the goal.
I like the bright one alot.

More Gardening Goodness.

I whined the other day on Facebook that a whole day had come and gone with my not having a thing to show for my existence. However the same cannot be said of yesterday.

I began the day on the quilt below....

My aunt did the piecing and will be here next week so I'd like to have it ready for her return to Houston. Each square has a different quilt design and I think I might take photos of each one to remind myself when my imagine turns to dust and I don't know what to draw on another quilt. I do this to myself.... get all excited about quilting on the machine and then draw a blank as to what to stitch on the top. Luckily, Patsy Thompson has lots of great ideas from which to springboard and I found another machine quilter, Leah Day, who taken upon herself the task of coming up with a new design each day for 365 days. Very inspiring.

I think I might set up a quilttop with simple 5" blocks and practice some of the designs she demonstrates on her blog.

After coffee and the newspaper, John said, "let's go burn!" and we did. All the remaining piles except the huge one that CAME with the property are all gone now. It was a good day for burning. AND I got to drive the tractor for the first time. Talk about GOOD! No, not me, I am lousy at that driving but the tractor is FUN!

Once the fire became totally manageable for one person (I'm talking 3 hours later), I headed back to the house to transplant the seedlings we started 3 weeks ago. These would be the 2nd set of the staggered plantings, but I wonder if they will catch up now to the 1st set. Below you can see the center two trays are the 1st sets and the outer two trays are what I planted yesterday.

And I have certainly gotten my technique down pat this time around. No more washing of the roots to "save" a plant. This time I will snip out the lesser of the two seedlings in each pot. I shall be ruthless.

Additionally, these will not have the stress of being in moldy pots so they are bound to jump and grow quickly. I have been taking the 1st sets out each day to enjoy the sun but man they got a little wilted yesterday. The raised bed garden is really beautiful now. The mustard greens are in full bloom and the bees are having a blast. Nothing else is in flower here yet so the plants are loaded with honey bees buzzing. They haven't bothered me.

Rooster Stu is a hoot. I love that big bird and am going to start carrying my camera everyday out there to shoot him because one day very soon he will have found a new home. His spurs are starting to grow but still no crowing. And he really is beautiful. I should ask the lady who gave the chicks to us if she would want him back with her flock.

I have not been sewing much but I did manage to crank this out:

Yes the image is blurry but I did not realize it until I had uploaded it to the computer. I'll get a better shot later. In the meantime, what is it, you ask? It is the center block (quite large, too) of what we at Sharp Needles refer to as Leslie's BOM. I skipped ahead of the routine in order to be certain I had enough fabric in the Christmas project to get that one completed. And I am glad I did because the individual pieces are larger than you might think. Now I must do the same with the other 5 quilts I have in the makings before I go back and proceed with the 16" blocks. I have sewn 5 of those blocks each. It's getting there.

Here is the February Mini-BOM from Bright Hopes Quilting:
Except Easter falls in April this year. Oh well.

Adding to the List

I have made an additional two blocks for the BOM I posted last week. And I believe I will have more to come as well. It's addictive!

The quilt group has begun showing techniques to each other as a "theme" once a month; a way of branching out of the doldrums. Last week, Leslie demonstrated English Paper Piecing and has given me yet another addiction. I have been making these hexagons for a Grandmother's Garden quilt.
In an effort to pictorially explain how my brain functions, follow the photos below:

I started to lay out the hexs on the floor and Q moves in. She has this need to check out anything on the floor



So I think "How Cute!!" and proceed to try to get a good shot:


And after approximately 7 clicks where she manages to look away as the shutter opens, I finally get this:



where she looks possessed by an inner light
This one is only slighter better, She stills looks off to me. Notice her underdeveloped chin. She will always look like a kitten to me because of this feature.


Shasta watches from the presumed safety of the ottoman and I turn my attention towards her as she shies away. And why not? She is above all nonsense.



I leave with this: Delectable Mountain

Y-not with Y-Seams

I am a member of a quilt group here in SELA and we have begun a new Block of the Month project that will carry on for a full year. (no skipping ahead!)

Several members were bringing in different ideas last week and we'd pick the final one as a group to do together, once a month AT THE MEETING. One candidate was WONKY TOWN, and as much as I like the quilt, I didn't think my time spent on it would improve my sewing.

Another one was really good but I chose to do one of Leslie's EQ quilts. And I really look forward to making this one because a lot of the blocks have techniques of sewing that I am woefully poor at: Y seams in particular.

So to begin, I thought about color scheme. We were told to bring in the equivalent of 3 fat quarters. (remember now, none of us have seen the quilt design possibilities at this point, we're going to choose the final BOM that day at the meeting).....and I promptly dropped that because if anyone has fabric laying around the house, it's me. Why not use up all these scraps?

So I dragged out a baggie of scraps from a project I made 3 years ago and then unearthed another bag of Christmas (Nancy Halverson) fabrics. These two I took to the meeting and the one on the left is the one I made there. The one on the right was the one I made when I got back home: (notice all the Y-seams)


I thought, well, why not make two at the same time. And that got me thinking, what the heck, why not keep dragging out scrap collections and make LOTS at the same time. Imagine that, at the end of the year, I can have lots of finished quilts to compare.


Another Bright and an Oriental.

I'm going to keep doing this.