Tuesday, Tuesday!!

There has been progress around here.  But, today before I could do anything else I had
to replace the handles on our log carrier.  Not a fun project, but a necessary one.


This charity quilt top is ready to be quilted.  Not the greatest picture, but I'm happy to
have this top done.  A January finish.......the top at least. 😊

Next up on the design wall is this very scrappy 9 Patch and Furrows.  I got a lot of
the little 9 patches in a box that I bought at an estate sale about 4 years ago.  I added
some of my scraps to have enough for a complete top.  I plan to put borders on this
one, but I haven't chosen the fabrics, yet.  Maybe a dark brown or navy narrow stopper border
Not sure what to use for the outer border, but I'm sure something will come to me.  This one is for me.

There is progress on the Old Dudes boot socks, too.  At just 2 or 3 rounds per day, it takes a while.
But, eventually they all get done.

I still have the Arrowhead quilt on the longarm machine.  It is too cold in that room to run the
machine lately.  We have been in the single digits lately and that really interferes with the quilting.
When the Arrowhead is done and off the frame, I  will put a little charity baby quilt on.  Picture later.
Till then........

Forming New Habits

Trying to get in the habit of posting is going to be a challenge, but I really want to do it.

I have been doing ruler work on my Arrowhead quilt.  Another challenge, for sure.
I have two more borders to quilt and then I can turn it and start on the side borders.  The going is
very slow, but it is progressing.

The String quilt is on hold and waiting for borders.  It is in the line-up with several others that I
hope to finish in 2018.

This is a mystery quilt that I tested for it's designer, Laurie Quinn.  I started it in 2012 and got it to
the point of rows so I could let her know that the pattern was accurate and the 'clues' were easy to
follow.  That is where it ended until the last week or so.  I now have one more seam to sew and the
main part of the quilt will be done.  It will then go into 'time out' to wait in line for borders....another
one that I hope to finish this year.

Not the best picture, but the light isn't great and the room is a little crowded.

I have been working on a baby quilt for our local comfort quilting group.  I will be adding the

borders and getting it ready to be next on the longarm on either Saturday or Monday when we

have a 'sew' day.  The day being determined by the weather and the health of all participants.  It

is flu season, after all. 😕

Till next time.

Beginning again, again.

Of course, I am surprised that it has been so long since I blogged.  Good grief!
Since I have chosen my "word" for 2018. The word is "FINISH".  I have so many
things to finish, including at least a dozen quilts in various stages of construction.
I hope to finish at least one project every month this year.
   I am working on a pair of boot socks for 'the olde dude', these will be a couple  more
months of knitting.  My shoulders won't let me knit more than a couple rows a day. So,
it takes along time to knit a pair of socks.

These are just a very plain sock with knit 1 purl 1 ribbing.  I only recently acquired some

SockEase yarn and that is what I am using.  Using 2 strands held together and size 2 US needles.  

With the temperatures we are having this winter our wool socks are getting a work-out.  I don't

know if these will be finished before winter is over, but they will be welcome whenever the get done.

   There is a lot of sewing and quilting going on here, also.  I finished the main section of a string pieced quilt today.

I hope to get the borders on yet this month.  My design wall is a bit make-shift, but it works.

I have over a hundred strings blocks to turn into quilts.  I will be making a baby quilt top on our next

sew day for our comfort quilt group to donate to someone who needs it.  I have a top that needs a border and quilting that will go on my longarm when I have finished the quilt that I have going right now. No picture on that one, yet

I am doing only the second quilt that I have used ruler work on right now.  I didn't get a picture of this quilt before I loaded it on the longarm.  It is the arrowhead pattern and I am having a really fun time working on it.  It definitely has some boo-boos and wobbles, but it's a learning quilt. Here is a pick of one small area that I did, so far.

I am nearing the half-way point on this one and getting excited to have it finished.

Paint Party!

Last week Kimmie, Karin and I had a 'paint night'.  We all painted the same picture and it
turned out 3 completely different owls.  It was so much fun!  We plan to do another
Paint Night the next time Kimmie comes to visit.  It will be my turn to pick the 'subject'.
I think it will be a 'northwoods', or 'lake Superior' theme.  Unless, something else strikes
my fancy before then.
Till later.....

Re-joiniing myself on this blog.

Good Grief!  It's been about a year and a half since I posted anything here.  I think it is
time to get back to blogging.
I just finished a quilt top and want to have a record of it.  Time to get this blog rolling
again.

This quilt will be gifted soon and then I can get going on finishing another
top and get it quilted, too.  I have about 14 tops 'in progress', so I will be
a long time getting caught up.  All the better to keep from being bored.

I will be loading a friends quilt on the frame tomorrow or Monday and
will be happy to get that in the mail, finally.
It is so nice to be able to quilt again.  I have really missed it since I hurt
my knee last March and then again in May and finally in July.  I hope that
is the last of the knee injuries for a very long time.....ever.
Till next time......

Pkgs. delivered

On Monday my packages were delivered and I received pictures of the socks and mitts in action:

All were well received and I am so glad of that.
Now if the yarn would just arrive for my next projects.   Thank you FedEx for taking a
over a week to get my yarn from Ohio to MI.  Really, I see why they removed the word
'express' from their name and just say 'ex'.   Pony express would have had my yarn here in 3 days, no doubt. 8-(   I am definitely no a fan of Fed Ex.
Till later......

Wildlife visitors

This little fella is a regular visitor to our back yard feeders....he can't get into the feeders, but he sure does a lot of clean up work on the ground around the feeders.

This little guy has what seems like miles of tunnels under all the snow.  It is hilarious to see him pop up here and there all over the back yard.
We also have a lone grey squirrel that shows up several times a week looking for lunch.
Our doves are back feeding around the feeders, too.  We didn't see the for several weeks and worried that the harsh winter had been too much for them.  We don't know where they have been, but they appear plump and healthy, so they have been eating well, wherever they have been.
I have some pics of a very special visitor to our yard that I am saving until I can edit out the neighbors house number sign that is at the bottom of our yard.
tell next time......

Better late than never....yada, yada

It's late for this winter, but yesterday I mailed these to a couple of special people:

 These cozy fingerless mitts went to one special person.

These socks and fingerless mitts went to another special person. Yes, they are fraternal socks and mitts.  Sometimes that is just how I roll. hehehe!

I hope these will all be enjoyed and warm the ones who receive them.
till next time.......

Sock knitting happenings

I have had some sock requests....
the first pair:

 

these are going to someone special, who can't be named cuz it's a
surprise.  And yes they are 'fraternal', hehehe. Even so,  they should warm her toes in this frigid Michigan winter.
Til next time....

At long last a post

I don't know why I haven't posted in so long, but I do think it is ridiculous.  I need to start posting my quilting and knitting adventures again.  
Here is what I am working on now.

 I made the 'string' blocks while on vacation in Illinois last month.
Last night I added the black sashes.  I saw something similar on Bonnie Hunters blog....she used 9-patch blocks where I used the string pieced blocks. Bonnie called hers 'dancing nine patch'.  I liked the way this unusual sashing arrangement made the blocks 'sashay' around the quilt.  I will be making more blocks, right now it is only 24 blocks and measures about 32 inches by 48 inches and I would like to make it bigger.  So I will be piecing more
string pieced blocks.
I have a pair of socks that need the toes finished for the Mr. 8-)   I want them done in time for him to wear them for deer hunting and that starts Nov. 15.  Needles will be clicking around here.  There is another pair that I would like to have ready for him to wear ice fishing, too.  It will probably be Jan. before we have ice on the lake, so that gives me a little more time. 8-)
till next time.....

Someone New

This little person joined our family on August 31, 2012.  Isn't she just a little dolly?

Little Miss "M" has been home for about a week, now.  We are getting lots of nice pics sent by her Mommy and her Mommy's Mommy. 8-)   So there will definitely be more pics here.

We went fishing over at Seney today and only one small pike was caught.  We did see these:

We believe these are otter tracks.  They were along the banks of C-3 Pool.

We saw evidence of Bear, but it wasn't tracks so there is no pic. 8-)

Big Fish and Wolf Tracks

The old Dude and J.B. spent the afternoon at Seney National Wildlife Reserve.
They had a good afternoon of fishing and brought home dinner. 

 

They even released several of these monsters!

 

They also found this:

 

 

Last fall the boys saw a large wolf cross the road not far from this area.

 

Tomorrow the guys will be off-roading all day.  They are having

great fun and the old Dude is really going to miss J.B.  when he goes home.

 

HAIN Summer Games Challenge

On the Heavenly Angels in Need site we are having our own 'Games'  this summer to keep

 our hooks and needles going.  No Ralph Lauren uniforms required....LOL

The first event is the 'Hat Hurdles"

My entry in this event  is 6 baby girl hats and 7 baby boy hats. Wish I had used a different

'background' for my pics.......next time. 8-)



The next 'event' is the Baby Bootie Relay.

I have some other projects to work on before I can start that event.

This event was fun and didn't take long....most of the hats were

made in the car.

The Bluebeary Hunters!

We had fun hunting the elusive wild blueberry, today.  This was the first indication that we were on the right track.

Oh, yes!  That is a real bear track.

He must have eaten breakfast nearby.

There actually were edible wild blueberries for our picking  pleasure.

Not a lot, but some.

Even ttho th' pickin's was slim.....we

'catch'd these:

Not many, certainly not enough for a pie.  But, they will be delicious on our oatmeal for several days.

We discovered another place where they are more plentiful on our way home. 8-)

So, you know what we will be doing on Saturday morning if the old dude doesn't have to work.

We found that the St. Johns Wort is in bloom.

We thought these might be wild bachelor's buttons, but they

are called Ragged Robin.

We did see deer on this trip, but not one of them would stand still long enough for a portrait.

Hrrrmmmppphhhh!

Elk Pictures

We went by to pay a visit to these gorgeous creatures this afternoon:

Other tidbits:
we have lots of tomato blossoms and some squash blossoms in the garden.  We have had quite a few salads with the mesclun, arugala and spinach from the garden.
The wood for next year is nearly all stacked neatly in rows in the backyard.   We have 3 more
cords coming for next year and then we need to finish getting the wood for 2012's winter.   This unseasoned wood was available now and at a very good price....so we made hay....er, wood while the sun shined(or is it shone?).  Whatever, we'll be warm either way. 8-)

Lots of crocheting going on right now, for a change.  pics later.

Bit of this and that

I've been sewing on a couple quilts.

I actually have a couple rows sewn together on that one, since I took the pic.  All those triangles are fun to put together and keep them lined up and not stretch them out of shape.  This was a mystery quilt on the quilt talk yahoo group and if I had known what it was like in advance I wouldn't have used  the fish fabric since it is only one direction and doesn't really work well with the blocks on point.  Lesson learned....don't use directional prints on mystery quilts.  Oh well, it will be warm anyway.

I'm doing another mystery quilt, but not using directional prints, that's for sure.  I had quite a bit of brown prints in my stash, so that is what I am using for this one.  One of my prints has sort of a burgandy in it and it isn't really playing nice with the other prints, so that block might be replaced with something else.

I don't have individual pics of two of these blocks:

The brown background on that block on the left gets lost and overpowered by the print. Bummer.

This was the block for week 4 of the mystery quilt.  I'm looking forward to block 5 which will be released tomorrow.

The moon was gorgeous on Monday July 2.



Fish...we have fish.

The Old Dude and Terry went fishing and got a bunch of pike.

3 of them were keepers.

Terry tried all week and didn't catch a fish, until The old dude took him over to Seney National Wildlife Refuge and shared his favorite fishin' holes. 8-)

Like the rest of the state and country we are having really hot weather...93 degrees today.

The lettuce and spinach are going crazy and want to bolt and go to seed.  tomato  plants and squash are really growing in this heat, too.

Iced tea, anyone?!

Even more natural beauty

These gorgeous Lady's Slippers are growing wild very near our house....just a short walk away..

 

I don't remember ever seeing Lady's Slippers in person before.  The are so unusual and just beautiful in person.  There is a very nice  little patch of them.  I hope nobody finds them and starts digging them up.  We are hoping that if they spread enough, then we may be able to get a plant for our yard.

If not, we will just enjoy them where they are.

Shortcake, anyone?

It will need to be a very short shortcake for these:

Tiny berries, big on taste.  Loaded with flavor even if they are smaller than a dime.

Want to see more size?  How about these?

and these tasted yummy, too: