Yard Art & More

Yesterday this lovely new piece of yard art was delivered.

Shortly after that, scaffolding was erected around all four sides of the house. This morning the crew showed up around 7:30 (I'm usually still asleep at that hour!) By 9:30 the front of the house looked like this:

Yes, we are having new siding and windows put on the house. After peeling off the old siding it was discovered that they "cheated" when the house was built some 31 years ago -- you will note there is no sheeting or anything under the attic portion of the house. The original siding was just attached to the studs!

As you can imagine, it's been quite a stressful morning for the Spotted One. But, the "happy pill" has finally taken effect and hopefully he will sleep through the rest of the day. He's not quite sure why he's staggering around like a drunk but I'm sure thankful that the incessant barking and howling has ceased.

I have finally managed to get out of the quilting slump I've been in. Back in June Crazy Mom Quilts started a Quilt-Along. I resisted for a couple weeks but finally caved after deciding that the pack of Bali Pops that I've had for over a year would be perfect for the project. Naturally, I chose to make the quilt queen sized instead of twin. Once I got started I didn't stop to wait for each week's new step. I'm too impatient, besides, I was on a roll.

I quilted this with Plumage pantograph by Jodi Beamish. The backing is flannel and I used Quilter's Dream Orient for the batting. This is WONDERFUL batting. It is a blend of bamboo, silk, tencel and cotton. It is super soft, lots of drape, no fuzz, warm yet breathable. I will definitely be using this batting again.

Oh yeah, while working on piecing this quilt, I also started another quilt, using the leftover Happy Camper fabric from the bus curtains from last year. Sorry, no pictures yet.  I've also pulled out a UFO from a couple years ago that I was challenged to finish.....it's coming along but I need to find something to use for the setting triangles since I ran out of fabric and cannot find a match. Everything is close, but not quite.

Now I must get back to playing with paint schemes for the house.......

It's Not My Fault!

Greetings -- I haven't been very motivated to do much quilting lately -- the job hunt is still going on. The stress from the last 6 months of uncertainty has definitely taken it's toll and I've been in a major quilting slump. I've been doing more virtual quilting than anything else. But, I did start another new project. But it's not my fault, really. I saw this and fell in love. I didn't want to start another English paper pieced hexagon project. I already have one that's been hanging around for longer than I care to admit. I've been following Cathi's blog for over a year now. She uses Inklingo for all her quilts AND hand pieces them.

It was Cathi's blog that inspired me to hand piece my nosegay blocks for my Fruit Ladies Christmas  challenge last year. I discovered that I really enjoy hand piecing. So, I took the plunge and tried Inklingo. Naturally it meant that I HAD to upgrade my ancient ink jet printer to a newer one that didn't jam like my ancient one liked to do. In case you can't tell, these little hexies are .5"! Yes, I am crazy. And no, it's not going to be a full sized quilt.

I can finally show pictures of the graduation quilts. This one is for my niece in Colorado. It's Moda's Spring Magic jellyrolls.I had a hard time giving this one away.

Next up are the quilts for the high school seniors at church. We had 5 this year. The other quilters were not too happy with me....there were a LOT of half square triangles in these babies. Here they are hanging over Sally's railing.

Here's the one I did. My senior was a runner so the border fabric has running shoes. I quilted this with daisies (her favorite flower) and running shoes.

Keep your fingers crossed for us that the RIGHT job will come along -- SOON! 

This & That

I know, I've been MIA lately -- but, well, life hasn't been worth writing about lately. Not a whole lot of quilting has been happening, or much that I can show here yet (graduation gifts).

First up, as you can see by the picture above, Red & White Snowballs are DONE! Quilted, on the bed and doggie approved. Doesn't The Spotted One look cute? Reality is he would much rather prefer to be UNDER it than on top of it.

Last year Janet gifted me with some spotty dog fabrics to make a quilt for Arlo. Well, I finally got around to it.

 The border fabric, red & black were from Janet, "thank you Janet". All the rest came from my stash and we won't talk about the embarrassing amount of doggie themed fabric still awaiting use.......

 Do ya' think he KNOWS it's his quilt?!?!?

If you're reading this, send some good thoughts our way....we certainly need them.