Is it really winter ? I must quilt !!

The weather in the mid-central south this year is unsettling, but don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. February normally the month we get our worst weather  .. aka 'tornado month' and I will appreciate not having any! I do like having 4 seasons -- a crisp fall with blazing colors, a crisp winter with chills and snow, then a budding spring giving renewal to the landscape and then comes summer, well it really goes to the extreme here in Arkansas, but we do have great weather until we reach the 100s.  But this year, the first frost came, we had some cold rains, clear crisp nights, a few thunderstorms. But then Mother Nature hit the reset button and has skipped right over to spring. The last week has been amazing -- high 50's, even a 60 or two, but daffodils which were just breaking the surface are now 10", some are blooming, and most trees and bushes that are supposed to be trimmed this month are budding out!  I look forward to winter, a break from the fall cleanup but I still get work done outside in the gardens by trimming, reworking the grounds and working compost and leaves into the beds. I guess I should have planted a winter garden instead  LOL  And I must admit, I am having the opportunity to do more with my chicken flock and ride/drive my horse!
During the 'winter' months I love to hibernate in my sewing room a bit more, playing with new designs, trying to recreate something I've seen, and trying to expand my use of my EQ7 quilt design software. The past couple years I have worked hard on completing projects I have set aside "to do".  They are bagged with fabrics and patterns and are technically UFO's, or unfinished objects, works in progress or projects in ziploc bags. As I look back on 2011, I did complete a  good number of quilts. And for the start of 2012, I'm on a roll! As with all good intentions, a distraction will always get in the way of the work-in-progress, ie need a baby quilt quick, or in this case, a homecoming for a friend that just completed cancer treatment for the past 3 months. It seems I always have a few 'in progress' and fit a quilt in between so it becomes a distraction. But I am never bored!

Now that this quilt is complete and labelled, it has been delivered to it's intended new owner and she loves it. Now to return to the 3 or so project(s) in progress that are on my table and the wall.  First is the tablerunner and stockings for my daughter for her new holiday theme. I did 3 stockings, need to add cuffs and lining, then complete the topstitching.

Second is the back for a king size quilt (104x110), it will be an offset log cabin blockfrom leftover fabrics from the top. Then there's the Civil War Tribute quilt I just had to do as I love anything Civil War. I have 2 block sets done and am ready to cut the third block commemorating the Battle of Gettysburg.

Next is a log cabin I pulled off the project shelf and am fervently stitching blocks. I started this one in early 2005. I made a quilt in this fabric line for a friend in WNY -- batted with wool and backed with a Thimbleberries flannel .. a toasty warm quilt! Now it's my turn to make a quilt for me. One thing I have realized over the past couple years is that I love to make quilts, I give them away freely, but I don't have any of my own and I have nothing to show for it. This is going to change!

Then there is the next minor distraction in my world. My niece had a baby girl in August that had a heart transplant in September. She is still in the Pediatric Cardiac unit @ Duke University, but she will be able to come home soon. So in September I found the most adorable layer cake by Deb Strain from her Meadow Friends line, along with a great pattern .. I thought QUICK baby quilt !  Thankfully she is still small  LOL

So today I have been sewing to my hearts content, and have made quite a bit of progress. There are 64 cabin blocks, so at the current size, only 6 blocks are fitting on a strip of fabric now. But I still have 2 more dark and light strips to add. On the baby quilt, I almost have all the shapes drawn for the turtles flowers and butterflies and will fuse them on different pieces and then blanket stitch with bright threads.

Dusk is fast approaching -- that means I must leave the sanctuary of my sewing room to put the flock to bed, feed the horses and feed myself so I can continue to sew. I plan on being able to add at least one more strip to the log cabin blocks and choose fabric for each shape and then fuse them tonight.

Stitch on !

Dee