Selvage Finish

 I needed to finish something today, purely for the satisfaction of getting it done. I had two spare selvage log cabin blocks, so I made two more last night. They became the front of a pillow cover. The rounded corners remind me of red heel socks!

The dates range from 1995 to 2014.

 

For the back, I pulled some long pieces of selvage to create this 20" square. I might like it better than the front!

 

It just so happens that the throw pillows that came with the couch are 20" square, so I shoved one inside my new selvage pillow cover. It's a little lumpy and not as full as I'd like, but it's done!

 

This cutie empties out the bird feeder as soon as Bill fills it. He trudges out through the snow a couple of times a week.

My quilting mojo may be waning, so I'm going to take a break for some desk work. I'll get back to the machine soon!

Progress and Backyard Friends

 I'm plugging away at the wedding ring quilt. I'm chain piecing 10 arcs at a time, which takes me about 90 minutes. So far, I'm getting 20 arcs done each day.

  

It's nice to see the pile of finished arcs growing!

On Sunday, I decided to take a break from the arcs and took out the Farmer's Engineer's Wife project. The last time I pieced any of these blocks was in March! I grabbed a bag full of recent scraps and cut out the next 12 blocks (#27-48). I got six of them pieced, in no particular order. The dark ones don't really go with the rest, but I like them anyway. The blue one is from my mother's tote that she carries every day now. And the olive and red one reminds me of Pete, with little bits of marpat desert camo.

These little cuties are growing up! There are plenty of yummy weeds for them to eat in our backyard. When they are feeling bold, they eat the day lily buds right up next to the house.

 

Bill spotted this praying mantis on the dining room window. Isn't it a great color?

 

 I'll spare you the pic of the scary looking stag beetle that was in my bathroom. It scared the crap out of me! I texted a pic to my husband at work and he assured me it was harmless.

A New Space

Julia has only been out of the house for a few weeks and I've already taken over her bedroom! It's the perfect place for my new sewing space. It's on the sunny side of the house so I don't feel like I'm in the dungeon. I can spread things out on the bed, the desk is the perfect height for cutting and I bought an adjustable portable table for my machine. When she comes home, I can quickly tuck everything away, back to the basement. The stash and supplies are still down there (safely stored in the dark), so when I need anything, I get some exercise going up and down two flights of stairs. And I have to walk across the hall to use the iron in my room. (My husband, the creature of habit, might have a stroke if I moved the ironing board in here!)

That's an Ikea print fabric attached to the wall with Heat & Bond.

Today I'm working on a table runner in all solids for the RI Mod Guild challenge. It is inspired by Little Miss Shabby's Triangle Toss pattern and I'm using the color palette I showed you last week.

I can't stop photographing these beauties. That's mama near the road.

Have a sunny day!

Furry Friday*

Meet my dinner guest!

This sweet little deer decided to visit the garden outside our dining room window for dinner!

*Shout out to Kate Spain's Furry Friday posts!

WIP Wednesday

It's been two weeks since my last WIP post, so I get to report that I actually finished something!
Actually, a bunch of small quilts...
A baby quilt (to be named later)
A Zig Zag quilt
and a City Quilts-inspired wall hanging.
Cherri House commented on my blog, which is just so cool!

These swap postcards were mailed yesterday, a week before the deadline! The swap was organized on Pat Sloan's Facebook page. I took a ton of pictures because I'm planning to write a tutorial for this paper-pieced, 4 X 6" zig zag postcard.


Today's project is the famous Gathered Clutch.
My nephew's fiancee (Hi, Jamie!) asked me to make them for her bridesmaids. She wants 6, but I have 10 different color combinations ready to go, including 3 shades of linen blend. The gorgeous colored zippers were purchased at my LQS.

Be sure to visit freshly pieced to see what everyone else is working on...

An early morning visitor, blending in.


If I can stop sneezing, I'll start cutting and sewing!

First Day of Summer

How we spent the first day of summer...

Watched two new fawns scamper about the back yard.

Mama knocked some seeds to the ground for her little ones.

Layed out my hexie table runner, in situ.

Watched Pete's team overcome a 5 run deficit to win a playoff game.

Unfortunately, Julia and Pete are still taking final exams. They'll be done tomorrow, then summer vacation can begin!