The birds were bathing in here yesterday....

 today, they are renting skis!

Happy Spring in Indiana!

 

We only got about 2" last night and most of it has already melted.  Nothing stuck at all to the sidewalks and streets so it was just a pretty snow with no hassle.

(Don't let the snow distract you from getting those taxes in the mail!)

Winner

Hi All!  I was the winner of this cute Ruffles pattern from Pauline at Quilt N Queen!  She had a random drawing during the Ruffles blog hop and my comment was drawn.  Lucky me!

 

 

 

 

Here's the fun part.... Last week, I was working on this little hanging for my table stand.  I was putting on the finishing touches when I found out I had won the Ruffles pattern.  Guess where the cute snowman stitching came from? ...... Yup, Pauline at Quilt n Queen!  I won this snowman in September of 2013 from another of her blog hop giveaways and had not done anything with it until a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted to have it done earlier during the winter weather, but it continued to be put on the back burner for one reason or another.  I bordered it asymmetrically and will probably add some buttons on the left side... maybe some snowflakes.  

So here it is finished.... finally!  It's being displayed right now as we are expecting more snow tomorrow.  Like our last snowfall, this one will be short lived and won't require any shoveling. 

Thanks so much, Pauline, for both of these generous giveaways!  I'll be thinking about you while this cute snowman is making me smile!

Yesterday was a snow day and except for shoveling, I spent the day sewing.  We got pretty lucky with the snow, only about 5" and it was a bit powdery, making it lighter to shovel.  My back is grateful! 

 

My sewing machine needed a new cover and new mat for underneath the machine.  I have an extension table for my machine and my old table mat was too short for the extension table to sit on top of it.  Plus.... I just needed a change. 

 

 

 

 

 

There are eight pockets on the machine cover, six on the front and one on each end.  I like to have these little cubbies to store frequently used (and often lost) items, like my readers.

 

 

 

 

The table mat has six pockets.  Whenever I'm at a class or a friends home, besides using the pockets for sewing tools, I like to use one of the pockets as a thread catcher.  Sometimes a trash container can be hard to find or far away from where you are sewing.  This lets me be neat and not have to leave my seat.

 

This is a close up of the fabric.  It's that double sided, pre-quilted fabric.  I really loved this when I saw it and that's what inspired me to make the new cover and mat.  I found this fabric at Joann's and went back to get some more a few days after I bought it.  It was all gone!  The lady said the bolt sold out in less than a week.  They are expecting more, but you never know if that will happen or not.  I have a little bit left over and may see if I can eke out a bag to hold the extension table when it's not on the machine. 

 

And one last thing.... the binding on the cover and mat is a hot, bright pink.  These pictures (on my monitor) look really washed out.  It's nice and vibrant and really screams "happy" to me!

 

I made these blocks yesterday afternoon while the snow was falling.  This is the same block sewn with two different fabric lines.  This BOM series was offered by Sew Lux Fabrics and this is block #4.  Like yesterdays BOM series, I'm very far behind.  I have blocks #5 through #9 piling up in my sewing room.  And this is "times two" since I'm doing the blocks in two color ways. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm done shoveling for the day and now I can focus on more BOMs.  We only got about 5" of snow last night, but it was enough to make shoveling an Olympic event at my house.  I made my first round of shoveling around 6 AM while it was nice and peaceful.  Then I went back out later in the morning to tackle the driveway. 

 

A warm up is on the way for a few days and no more snow is expected until Sunday.  Of course in Indiana, this is subject to change at the drop of a hat (or snowflake). 

Just checking in with a couple of small projects.  One is my Designer Mystery BOM from Fat Quarter Shop.  This is block #6 and I have #'s 7, 8, and 9 waiting in the wings.  I'm really behind in this series and even more behind in the other BOM series.  I WILL catch up..... I will catch up .....

 

 

 

 

 

This is a little pin cushion that started out as a candle that my neighbors gave me.  Once the candle had burned down, I scraped out the residue and made a felted "coffee" insert out of some roving.  I put a quarter in the shot so you could see that the coffee cup is quite tiny.  It was nice to re-purpose it into something that I'll continue to use.

 

 

I'm "anxiously" awaiting our next snow storm.  Another 6" is supposed to begin falling within the next hour, continuing through until tomorrow morning.  I may not be thrilled to have to shovel so much snow again, but I am thrilled to think that these snowfalls just have to be over soon.  The good thing is that tomorrow will be another snow day and I'll be working on more of those BOMs.  Hurry up spring!

Baby, it's STILL cold outside!

I'm sorry that I've been AWOL for such a long time.  The weather has been horrible and I'm simply laying low in survival mode.  Between the most snow in our recorded history and some of the coldest temperatures in our recorded history, I'm just frazzled!  I've also been hit with the flu and that too, has knocked my on my hind quarters.  Oh... and let's not forget that with the cold temps came broken water mains.  Two times so far, with the streets flooded and cars frozen in ice up to the middle of their hub caps.  Uncle..... Uncle!!!!   

 

Here's a picture taken yesterday of my driveway.  For reference, the little white, ball blob in the center of the photo is the top of a grape vine post that is 6' high.  For those of you that know the joys of shoveling, you understand that this means with each successive snowfall, I've had to HEAVE the snow up and over this mini mountain.  Without any thawing, the mountain just continues to grow. 

 

 

This is the sidewalk that runs from the side of my house to the garage.  No point of reference here, but the snow is about 2' high on both sides.  This is pretty well level with the snow that is on the ground.

 

On a happier note, here's a sweet Valentine's gift for your quilter friends.  I found this as a free download from the Moda Cutting Table and thought that it was really cute. 

 

 

I think you can read the words a little better in this shot.

 

Hope you are all doing well and surviving this harsh winter.  I'm hopeful that we are at least half way through the season and spring will soon follow.  I can't wait to retire my shovel for the season! 

Baby, it's cold outside! 

 

Our first major snowstorm of the year arrived yesterday and has left quite a disaster in it's path.  It's our second worst snow storm in history.  As beautiful as it is, I'm glad that it's over for the time being.  We are under a snow emergency so no one is allowed to travel on the roads outside of emergency vehicles.  It's quite peaceful without the sound of even one car.  (I did hear several snow mobiles out last night, however!)  Because of where I live, I will probably be stranded for 4 or 5 days, but that's OK, I've got everything I need right here in the house. 

 

This was taken in my back yard, somewhere in the middle of the snowfall yesterday.  I had to shovel every few hours to even try and keep up with the snow.  I was forced to quit by early evening as I was just too beat to shovel one more scoop.  Oh..... my aching old body!

 

 

 

Here's the back of my garage.  You really can't get an idea of the amount of snow out there..... white is white and it's hard to appreciate how deep it is.

 

 

Overnight, we got several more inches of snow and I went out first thing this morning to make another round with the shovel.  The snow storm is over, but the bitter cold is approaching fast.  I shoveled around 8 AM, at the warmest time of the day.  It was -4 with a wind chill of -35.... chilly burgers!  I was able to get things cleared fairly easily by keeping my back to the wind.  Our total accumulation was somewhere between 18 and 20 inches.... it was kind of hard to guesstimate the grand total because of the drifting.  I can only attest to the fact that it was a lot of snow.... too much snow!

 

I'm snug inside now, showered, fed and planning on a quiet day of sewing or reading.  It's supposed to be -20 later today with wind chills at -50.  As unreal as this storm has been, it's predicted to be in the mid 30's by Friday so relief is on the way.  It's hard to grasp how bazaar these extremes can be.  Nothing to do but go with the flow!

 

Is it almost Spring yet? ;) 

It's For The Birds Blog Hop

Well, it IS for the birds today (more about that at the end of the post) .....OK.... the birds aren't exactly happy today.  Here it is, March 25th, and we have had another major snow storm in Indiana.

 

Here's my bird bath..... you will notice that no birds are using it or even coming near!   

 

 

 

My lawn chair...... care to join me for a cuppa!

 

 

The good news is that I'm all done shoveling today and warmer weather is on the horizon.  I suppose we only got 6" to 7" last night and I was able to get all of my shoveling done in an hour and a half.  It's a lot of work, but it surely is amazingly beautiful.

 

Now.....back to the birds...... there is a new blog hop..... "It's For The Birds."  You'll notice that it isn't until May, so there is still great hope that the weather will actually be bird-friendly.  I've joined and hope you will too.  All you have to do is make something bird themed.  Click on the Birdies below and let Madame Samm give you full details! 

    Happy Spring (or so the calendar says)!