New Bird Sighting and Nanook

We were visited today by a pair of Pine Grosbeaks in the kitchen window feeder. I had to check the Audubon book as I had never seen them before. The bird book says that although they are uncommon, they are quite tame (similarly tame like the Chickadees that we have flocks of) and that they are known to start nesting in January. They are drawn by the cedar trees and obviously like a good sunflower seed meal. There is always something new to see here in the forest.




I was only able to get a pic of one, the other directly on the feeder was to the outside.

And here is my "Nanook of the North" husband using his snowblower for the first time. His eyelashes and mustache were totally encrusted with ice when he was done. It was hysterical!!! We are getting a good blast of the white stuff and it is not supposed to let up for a day or two. 10 degrees is the temp here at 1:30 so this is probably the days high. The woodstove is keeping it nice and toasty and believe it or not, we have not had to use the furnace yet.

Latest Quilting Arts & Etc...

I changed the format of the blog around a little bit so please be sure to look at the links section as I put some of my favorite tutorial sites there as well as some pattern sites. I hope you enjoy it.
The latest Quilting Arts came yesterday. It was chock full of good reading and loads of inspiration. I really enjoyed this issue.


Monday I dumped out the " big tub" of the fancy scraps.

No rhyme or reason, I just started cutting 7"x 2" strips.

I dread the cutting as I have to do the floor thing on my knees.

Here are the piles stacking up.

OK... now what?? I flipped and sewed them to a lightweight interfacing.

Somehow fans got into the equation.

This is the top after I stitched it together last night.

It was interesting setting in these fan corners. I had never attempted anything like this. Although the points don't line up, they blend in. As long as the main blocks aligned , I was happy.


From the back... the seams are bulky but ironing does make them lay down better. I am thinking this will be a table topper or couch back throw. I have a yellow fringe to finish the edges with... but I am not sure yet what other kind of stitching to do to it.

This is the last bag of "church cloth" I am recycling at the moment. I have been working on a large bag of alter cloths and vestments that an old coworker gave me quite some time ago. Her church bought new and the lady knew about my love of sewing and brought the old stuff to me. The first time I looked in the bag I couldn't believe it! The silks, satins, and brocades were nothing like what I was used to and the colors were my colors. I have been slowly cutting it up and removing some of the embroidered motifs and fringes for use on other items. There are whole banner pieces yet that I just can't bring myself to cut up at all.

The Christmas cards I was making are done. A couple gift cards and lotto tickets and I am all set. Of course I will have to find something for Dan but I don't know what yet.

The sky was really clear this week before the snows came. Its one of the neat things about living here... sitting on the couch and still seeing the clouds like this.

Have a great week, everybody!

From the Inside Looking Out...

The view from my kitchen window looking towards the road... 5 more days and we will all be free to enjoy our uninhibtated romps and rendevous outside.

And here are the forlorn looks of the "pups" who have had their wings clipped due to hunting season. They look to say, " If the red scarves aren't bad enough, must you take our pictures to show our agony over this whole "grounding" thing ???

I removed Tangs pic because a friend brought it to my attention that his dog tag was giving out all my personal info. Ever since I saw that creepy movie where the photo developer guy saw everything in these peoples house and could therefore terrorize them, I try to be careful of stuff like that. That one definitely slipped by me.

I think I have the photo dilemma solved. If I save my pics to the most outside part of a file they load... the further the program has to go in, the longer it takes, and I time out on the upload. Again, we'll see.

Dan is cooking today and I am up in the "room of creations" scratching my head, tracing on fusibles and plying my head.

Some pics from yesterday

I am able to get a few loaded but ran into a problem again. My ISP is either dialing my power back or it could be a program that my husband had me download for him for one of his sports shows. I think it has some shareware issues and I may be un-installing it. Maybe it is still Blogger,we'll see. I use a dinasaurean system anyway so when it doesn't work, it reeeaaallllyyy doesn't work, if you know what I mean. I enjoy blogging, but it when it comes to the photos (which make or break a blog) it takes so dang long to do it, that I lose some of my gumption for wanting to post.

Here is an idea of the fabric cards I'm stitching up. Its a good way to use up the bits and pieces that I have kept... now I know why I kept them.


There is more to this one than meets the eye... for now, it is secret.

I am finding little patterns everywhere and I am mixing and matching; taking part of one pattern and using it with another.


Here is some of my progress on the Blue & Black block... I find that if if I don't particularly like the color scheme or the subject, my stitching shows it. I guess there is still a niche that I am hoping to find where I can do both CQ and regular quilting together. Could be that on top of my grey hair and falling face, I am also losing eyesight. Without glasses I can not see a thing close and am sure I may need bifocals with my next pair. This photo reads chocolate brown, not black- how weird.

Till the next time.... hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Quiet Days at Home for Thanksgiving Weekend

Sorry, I tried numerous times to upload photos, but none today folks. Everyone and their uncle from around the globe must be trying to put their turkey photos to Blogger today.... so text only.

Thanksgiving we had planned on going to town for buffet and watch the Lions game, but since we found out Wednesday that we could get it through national broadcasting we decided to stay home. The game was terrible but the food was good. We cooked a 1/2 turkey and the side dishes we like and enjoyed the peacefulness of the fire, the snow, and the fur family. I called my mom and dad and spent time reflecting on all my blessings which are many. Grace, forgiveness, and joy being paramount.
Many of the hunters have went home to their wives. One more week and gun season is over.Amen! We seem to be missing 1 of "our" deer but we will see who comes to the feed when its all said and done.
Christmas is going to be a different one this year. I doubt I will get home to see the family and I really don't have the money this year as I have in the past. The adage, "You can't buy health" rings truer as the years go by and no one I gift for needs any thing more than just that. My desire to defy the consumerism bloat for my own spiritual self is one of the reasons why we moved up here. So instead of heading to the stores today , I headed to my stash and made up some Christmas cards. These cards are one of a kind, personal to the recipient, not to be duplicated, works of my hands and heart. You don't have to wear them, accessorize with them or display them. You don't have to return them, they don't need batteries, no strings attached. How could a gift get any better than that? No obligation, no guilt, no hassle, just sincerity's of the Christmas blessing, the real one, from our house to yours. My nephews love their "gift cards" for games and CDs and I will make sure they get those, but that's it, that's where I am at this year. I best get cracking with my list and my cutting.
Maybe photos tomorrow, Blogger ??