Saturday, April 23, 2022

Same but Different, Coco updates, More UFO's

 I love seeing the same quilt made two different ways.  These are customer quilts, but this pattern is definitely on my "to-do" list.

Example #1 - dark geese with light background.


Example #2 - light geese with dark background.

COCO UPDATES

  • She's still terrified of DH.  I keep reminding both of us that we should expect to have 14 years with her, so calm down.  If it takes a year for her to get comfortable, then so be it.
  • We go out in the backyard in the afternoons now.  She kinda plays but not for very long.  She HAS barked at me a couple of times out there.  The first two or three barks really made me laugh - you could tell she hadn't used her vocal cords for quite a while.  You know how weird you sound first thing in the morning?  Transition that to dog barks. 😄
  • Morning walkies can be a bit of an adventure.  She likes to pick things up, carry them for a while, drop them, pick them back up, repeat...  She also likes to eat dirt.  Ick.  That can't be good for her, can it?  She also likes to eat grass (which might explain the middle-of-the-night puking).
  • The most recent "normal dog" event - twice now she's gone and picked up one of her toys from the dining room and brought them to her bed in the living room.  Is she corralling them?  Maybe.
  • She looked like she had fun at doggy daycare this week.  
  • I washed the floors on Easter Sunday.  OMG they were filthy with dog drool.  And that's all we're going to say about my housekeeping.

MORE UFO'S

Yes I need to have my head read.  I have two more ufo's on the go.

I'm working on a quilt for Ukraine with a friend of mine.  We're each making blocks, then we'll assemble them into a nice sized quilt (double bed size I think).  It will go to one of the refugee families.

Working on those blues & yellows has temporarily interrupted my other recent UFO.
I have 98 of those little blue/grey half-square triangle blocks, which are cutoffs from a baby quilt I made a few years ago.

JANUARY 2022


The are getting the log cabin treatment until they hit 7" x 7".  At that point I will make two baby quilts from them.
APRIL 2022

And speaking of Ukraine and the atrocities being wrought by the Russians, I just started to read The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn.  It's too early to say good/bad but it's about a female Russian sniper.
 

Monday, April 4, 2022

Log Cabin & Stars

 This is quilt work from January.  During the pandemic I didn't really have a lot of opportunity to go over quilting ideas in my studio - we were all afraid to get within six feet of each other.  Quilts would get dropped off on the front porch and we'd visit for a little while.  The quilt would stay in quarantine for at least three days, then I'd photograph it and email doodles to the piecer so we could kick around ideas.


This was nicely pieced, which makes it much easier to work on.

Feathers, with some nice contrast from the straight lines.

A beautiful combination of colours, don't you think?

My favorite kind of back...artsy-fartsy, using some leftover blocks. 

WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON...

  • First use of the solar dryer on March 18th.  That's always uplifting because it means sunshine and warm weather.
  • Our s.i.l. passed away from a brain tumor - just heartbreaking, she was only 62.  I contacted the hospice where she spent her last days and they would be grateful for flannel pillowcases.  I had offered them either pillowcases or a Dignity Quilt, but they already have a quilt.  I've got lots of flannel on my shelves (ahem) so that will be my little project for the next few weeks.
  • I'm trying to use up some of the frozen produce from last year - I made a nice pot of asparagus soup, rhubarb muffins, and cherry-almond crisp.  You can probably see my arse expanding from there.
  • Coco started doggy daycare with the scaredy-cat group.  The first day she spent two hours being a scared/disinterested attendee.  Then she must have figured what the hell and decided to play for the last hour.  Week two was even better - she got right into the fun as soon as she got there. 
  • I finished the Superbowl Sunday quilt.  Yay!  This goes into my box of donation quilts that will be delivered somewhere later this year.  Usually I bring them to the Women's Shelter in Hamilton.


  • Coco is starting to turn into a "normal" dog.  She woke us up puking at 3 am.  sigh.  Other big events:  she picked up a Kong ball and nosed it around, she's eaten the treats that were stuck into the Kong rubber bone (one of those toys designed to keep a dog amused for a while), she likes to roll around in the dead/rotting bird carcass on our morning walk, and she's chased the frisbee in the backyard.  Mind you, she only chases it ONCE.  Then I throw it, I go get it, I throw it, I go get it...  
  • I finished the 2021 bookkeeping and got everything off to the accountant.
  • Out here we all have those rural mailboxes at the road.  One of our neighbours has a problem in that their little mailbox door is usually open.  I guess it's loose and won't stay shut.  On our morning walkies today Coco jumped up and tried to rip it off.  Just for fun.  You know.  Thankfully she has bad aim!