WIP Update

Time for another work in progress update.

This is more for me than anyone else.

So bear with me.

;)

This is the current state of a table runner I'm working on.

When the square is finished off, it will be half the finished size.

Well... that's the plan.

I may like the square size and stop there.

That's the beauty of quilting.

You can make it however you want.

I find it to be quite relaxing to do the hand piecing.

As you can see, they're fairly small.

3/4" hexagons.

If I ever do hexies again, I think I'll try a bigger size.

I've been seeing lots of grandmother's flower garden quilts that look very tempting.

Maybe that should go on a quilting bucket list.

These awesome red clips were a Christmas gift.

I can't tell you how much I love my Wonder Clips!

They're like miniature close pins only better.

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I have batting on the way for Connor's quilt. So I should be sandwiching and basting it soon.

I still haven't decided how I'm quilting it, let alone if it will be hand or machine quilted.

Connor's vote is for machine quilting so he can have it sooner!

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I also ordered some flannel backing material for our king sized blue jean quilt.

I have lots of piecing to do on this quilt.

It's no where near being completed.

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Like all quilters, I have a dozen ideas floating around in my noggin.

I would like to try to make a backgammon mini quilt.

I think I'll make it out some of my dad's ties.

(I've got two bags of them that I saved just for quilting.)

It would be a nice tribute to him as he loved backgammon too.

I'd also like to tackle repairing some old family quilts. One of them is made from wool coats.

I call it the lead apron quilt... that's what it feels like to be under it.

I'd also like to make a half-square triangle sampler quilt.

That's a lot of goals for the year. I better quit and go quilt!

Evidence

More evidence of children.

We have a Christmas village we put up every year.

Lately, it's been the boys' job to do this.

The last couple of years have had Lego additions as well, courtesy of Connor.

One horse open sleigh.

Man shoveling snow.

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When I was quilting the tree skirt Connor was building a squadron of space ships.

He wanted to show them to me.

I told him to lay all the ships on the quilt and I'd take pictures of them.

I think there's seven all together.

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Evidence of ducks.

We enjoy seeing all the duck foot prints in the snow.

Several people have asked how the ducks fair in the cold weather.

Better than the chickens... which only come out of the coop to eat and drink.

God designed the ducks to handle the cold very well.

Dwayne read about how the blood in their feet somehow acts like antifreeze.

How cool is that?

For the most part they don't seem to mind the cold at all.

Unless it's a bone-chilling, colder-than-necessary Indiana wintry day, they aren't bothered by it.

I think there's only been one or two days where the ducks spent more time inside than outside.

We move the food and water pans out of the wind when necessary.

We caught them taking baths when it was 20 out!

They will sit on their feet to keep them warm.

It's funny to watch them walk a few feet and sit... walk some more and sit again.

Goofy things.

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Evidence of a Lab.

I wouldn't call this a pile, just a couple of things.

Earlier in the week she had more than a dozen things on the hill by the porch.

I've read time and time again that having a Labrador is similar to having a toddler.

I would agree.

She drags various tree limbs and her toys all over the yard.

The other day Dwayne found a toy stash under our weeping cherry tree.

She's enjoying one of her new toys that Grandma Knapp got her for Christmas.

It has no stuffing in it!

The stuffing beside her is from the last Lambchop.

Now that the snow has melted I can go collect the stuffing...

Christmas

The annual Christmas ornament picture.

We've had an ornament made with their picture every year since the year Nolan was born.

It's fun to get the ornaments out and see the differences from year to year.

Christmas photo with Grandma Knapp.

We spent Christmas Eve-eve in Mishawaka.

We had lasagna and played a new game.

Dwyane's new Cubs hat.

Christmas morning we started with some reading from Matthew.

After the important reminders of what Christmas is really about we divvied out the pile.

(Nolan's game system is not part of the pile... it just hasn't found it's new home yet.)

This is going to be a shock to everyone, but this is Connor's favorite gift this year.

Yes, it's a stuffed chicken.

And he loves it.

I'm not sure how the chicken ended up this way.

We really wish we had done this so Connor could have found it this way.

It's super funny because that's what our dear old Rosie did with a real chicken in the back yard.

All you could see were two feet sticking up out of the ground.

Yep, that's a stuffed worm.

It was full of  sour gummy worms.

Connor with his new machete.

Our writer received several books on writing this year... which he loved.

Funny story about this gift.

I was instructed to get any gift... so I reached into my stocking and pulled this out.

Oooo... BB's! That meant I was getting something that needed them...

which I hadn't opened yet. Oops.

So later when it was my turn again, I unwrapped something to go with my BB's.

Dwayne got one of these this last year and I've been wanting my own.

:)

Ironically, we got Dwayne targets and CO2 cartridges.

I'm sure he'll share with me.

We hope you had as good a Christmas as we had.

We made lots of food and snacks.

It was relaxing just eating and hanging out with family.

Christmas Tree Skirt Finish

A finished quilt!!!

It measures approximately 45 inches across.

It's machine pieced and hand quilted.

I think it took about a month to quilt.

This was a lot of fun to make.

I had originally planned on quilting free-hand as I went.

I quickly changed my mind due to the fact I can't stitch straight on my own.

Haha.

I also wanted each square to be different.

For the most part I stuck to that.

The exception came with the little triangles.

Each one of those has a star.

I used a wide variety of things to mark the quilt: old drafting templates,

bowls, french curves, cookie cutters, and even the quilting hoop.

When I couldn't come up with an idea to quilt I asked the boys for help.

They came up with some neat patterns to use.

I went with diamonds for the smaller border and clam shells for the larger border.

Wind is helpful when you're taking pictures...

I love the festive candy backing.

Some of the cookie cutter blocks.

One of our favorite cookie cutter shapes!

We really like the way it turned out.

In its new home.

Buckeyes

So winter has showed up.

This was from a week ago.

It snowed again this past weekend as well.

I didn't get any good pictures.

I didn't want to go out in it :).

I was enjoying some quilting and baking.

Pepper was running around like a wild banshee.

Labs love snow.

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It's been a while since I posted anything to do with "evidence of children".

This most certainly qualifies.

I found these pictures on my camera... and I didn't take them.

Then I remembered that Connor told me he took some pictures of his Lego gun.

This kid is always creating something.

It a break barrel gun.

So creative.

(Maybe he should put the Legos down long enough to find his camera...)

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And speaking of creative.

I've finished quilting the squares and the black border on the tree skirt.

Now I'm marking the final border.

I've decided to go with clam shells.

It will probably take longer but I think it will look cool when it's done.

When I learned drafting, it was all done on a drafting board with paper and pencil.

I even learned with wooden pencils and moved to mechanical ones later.

Yes, that makes me old.

I loved it.

Still do... which is why I still have all my templates, t-squares, and triangles.

Now I'm discovering new uses for them.

They're perfect for marking quilts!

(Maybe not with all the old templates... who wants plumbing fixtures on their quilt?)

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Last but not least, the buckeyes!

We made Sunbutter buckeyes.

They turned out awesome.

Sorry, I can't share.

They're almost gone.

But trust me, you wouldn't know they didn't have peanut butter in them.