What happened to Winter

Every winter I have these wonderful dreams of quilting all day till Spring. As usual it didn't happen.
It wasn't my health this time but the health of the world when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. No, it didn't reach us, but I did sew less because of it. I would quilt with the ladies at church or at Studio 3 and that all came to an end. Temporarily I spose but nobody knows for how long. I did make a pile of facemasks to spread around mostly to family.

My friend that I help hasn't been well either. He has gone to Rehab. We took the opportunity to give his home a deep cleaning. We also brought his cat, Meatball here. I couldn't turn my back on her and our cat, Bob for a little while, but now they get along ok. 








Since Mark has retired and we  own 20 acres of woods and wetland across the street I've enjoyed our new hobby of cutting and burning brush in winter. We average 11burn piles each winter. Some we build earlier in the year, some brush we stack the day before we burn. We always cut more and add to it once it's lit. It's a dirty smelly job, but I really enjoy it. The fires remind me of campfires I always liked. And I like the way everything looks cleaned up. I have to remind myself that I am working in the woods and not a park and not to go overboard with cleaning it up too much. I like the exercise and being outside, even in winter. One thing is for sure, we will never run out of brush to burn. The ash trees are dying from the Emerald ash borer. The elm trees die from Dutch elm disease and an occasional oak dies from oak wilt disease. Add to that an understory of non-native invasives such as buckthorn. The woodland was not maintained as an  oak forest and had become quite overgrown but not nearly as bad as I've seen. It's looking pretty good but still there is more to be done.
  I did do some sewing this winter besides the masks. These Bears Paw blocks were made by my friend, Lucrecia before she died. I added the sashing and border. I'll get it quilted soon and we will raffle it at church this fall.

Now that Spring is here, no doubt I will be busy among my wildflowers in my yard and across the street. Maybe I will finally picnic out there this year. I likely will do little quilting.

Stay home and quilt everyone, or take a hike for some fresh air.

4-patch fun

 Oh, I've had lots of fun quilting lately. I made the blocks for this first quilt late last year. I made the blocks before (the 1930's prints) and in fact I wanted to make the quilt again just in the 1800's fabrics.
I couldn't find a sashing fabric I liked, so chose to change the setting. Finding setting triangle fabric was easier.  Finally I decided to border it first with sashing fabric then border fabric to match the setting triangles. I wanted it to fit my table in case I was in the mood to use it there. I'll leave it on the wall a few days to think about how I might want to quilt it.

I mentioned last post how I have been cutting my scraps. Since them I've made more blocks.  The pile on the left goes together with the cornerstones shown. I still have to piece the sashing. The pile on the right can go to charity. There are a dozen blocks in each pile. I think. Do I have cataracts or are these pictures really dark? hmm. They could be tops soon but I've been using the longarm in the evening. So not likely.

 I quilted a 2012 top last weekend and I've got another small one ready to quilt next Yes, everywhere I turn I have another one to quilt. It seems if I decide how I want to quilt it then that's what gets quilted next.

JANUARY JOBS

There is no question, its winter in Wisconsin.  I love it! Christmas is past and spring is months away. Many years ago I used to browse seed catalogs. But for a long time now it only meant one thing and of course  you  know its quilting.  I'm knee deep in lots of projects and having a blast.  This is some of what I've been doing. 

I made a decision about the 2" mystery triangles, finished 30 blocks and set them aside. But that wasn't till after I arranged some on the wall like this. I may not do much more with it than sew them together but something  else caught my intrest.

I pulled out 3 of my own tops to quilt and 1 is done. I added it to 2 more waiting for binding and started a pile. I don't mind binding at all but I'm in no hurry.  Maybe I'll save that job for summertime.

At Studio 3 I finished my plaid 4-patch and shoo fly top.  I love it. I should have planned it bigger.

Also, I pulled a 2 yr. old ufo out of the closet. I need to cut a few more blocks.  Maybe even a few more cause I havent decided how big to make it. I have enough fabric for bed size. I imagine once I put it on the wall I'll want to go bigger.

I have my boxes of Civil War scraps here from Studio 3 and I've been cutting for kits. More fun. I love cutting and kitting. I ran out of project boxes so I guess I should go sew now.

The best alternative

It's winter in Wisconsin. We don't have snow now, but it's coldish. The best alternative I know to being out in the cold is spending time in the sewing room. Our temperatures have been a bit above normal the last month, so I get outside on good days for a hike. Now that hunting season is over Mark and I have started to work in the woods again, thinning the understory and stacking brush and wood from fallen trees. It's great to work in the woods when there is no snow and the leaves are off the trees. You can easily see all the trees that came down that you want to clean up. We don't aim to pick it all up cause really leaving it is good for the woods, but with much more forecasted to fall down, it'll be a real jungle in there if we don't clean it up some while we are able. And if feels good to work of those Christmas goodies.

In December I was able to finish my 1930's quilt I call my
porch quilt cause I think that's where it would look best, On someone's enclosed porch in summertime. Maybe with white wicker furniture. Sorry the photo is so pale.

On New Years Eve I finally put the borders on the Delectable Mountain Quilt that I made several years ago. I never took a good picture of it cause the border was never on it. I'm just showing you a quarter of the quilt here - my evidence that it's done.  It's big so I'll get it on the bed for a shot and I will get it on the flannel wall too, but that will wait till Mark moves some of His Christmas stuff in the way.

I told myself that I wasn't going to start anything new till I get the borders on 3 quilts. Then I found a 4th, then I made a 5th. Then I bordered 2. I still have to get a border for the 16 patch I did last month and I found the fabric for one other. I'm still using the excuse Mark's stuff is in my way. That should tell you that I started something new. 4 quilts actually. I just dove into my scraps and started cutting. Not without making some plans first. So I cut and kitted up a few more new quilts.That is always so much fun. Some plans aren't final. I didn't do any counting. I didn't even draw up any plans. For 2 of them I had a picture I put with the pieces.

The other 2 are mysteries. That means I don't even know what I am doing with them. There are 2 different sets of triangles. One set is 3" finished Civil War triangles, both light and dark. Do I sew them together for HST units. No, I don't think so. I went to EQ and tossed around a few ideas and quickly made a decision. But I need to cut more background and squares before I proceed. The box of scraps for that is at Studio 3. I'll pick those up tomorrow.

The other set I didn't cut just now, they have been accumulating for probably a few years. When I cleaned out the closet a few months ago, I noticed the box of 2" finished pieces was quite full and then I saw Nann  at WithStringsAttached had the same issue so made a quilt with her surplus triangles so I figured I ought to do the same since I was taking a break from quilting downstairs. What else is a quilter to do? I had a few ideas of what to do with them. First this block came to mind. Nope.

Then I decided I would make a block with the triangles arranged around a light center square like the first block in this picture. But where do I want to go from there? I tell you, it's a mystery. I'm still not sure. Look at the options. And there are more I am not showing. Nope, not going to EQ with this one. Well, I have been having a good time. I hope you have been busy quilting too.