Snow Happens...

How does that saying go: "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"? Well, sometimes SNOW happens too! The best laid plans, one for a retreat weekend with my quilting friends at a not-too-far-from-here state park, was preempted this past weekend for this forecasted snow event. Since the retreat was supposed to commence on Friday I jumped right in at home. Disappointed, but resolute, I pushed forward with determination to  make the weekend count!

Working solely from precut Tumbler scraps I was able to get this lap quilt (58" X 70") pieced by the end of the day on Friday, the snow began falling in the early afternoon. This is one of many that I've made this way (Leader-Ender style). I will quilt it up later this year and pass it along wherever it can be best used. The scene at the top was taken outside the sewing room window on Saturday morning. We had about 4" of the white stuff and it was done snowing by dawn. 

Our son and his family drove out to our house for some outdoor fun: rural-road sledding and snowman construction. Gregory had already called it quits by the time Frosty was complete and was indoors with Nana making hot chocolate!

Staying snug and warm inside, the remainder of Saturday and Sunday (church was canceled) were spent getting "No Scrap Too Small" joined into a 60"X 80" flimsy. Another lingering UFO comprised of 4-patches that had gone together L-E style for the past year, at least, were finally set together; I'm calling this one done. ✔

Here's the 10" block. Each one has 43 pieces, the bitty 4-patch sub-units finish to 2". I loved using them up and combining them with Low Volumes that I have squirreled away. All in all, it was a productive weekend.

Naturally I missed my friends, but it's not like I was alone in the sewing room, not at all! Our group has already rescheduled and have our collective fingers crossed that the snow won't return again, at least not this season. 

And sew, the decks are cleared and could that be an entirely new project already in the works? You betcha! This weekend was a perfect illustration of the fact that we are not in control, He is. So, it is up to us to turn an unexpected event into something else, something positive; to learn and to be thankful for whatever comes our way. Sometimes the unexpected might just be white flakes falling from the sky, and that's okay. What a great lesson! 

Life is Good!

Who's At The Door?

Welcome! Mr. Snowman is all quilted, bound and is guarding the door to the sewing room for the winter months. This was a wonderful Country Threads pattern to stitch up, you can find it here. 

I used a straight-line quilting approach for a quick and easy finish. Somehow I made twice as many flying geese units than I needed (?!!), they were relegated to the back. 

And, speaking of people at the door... our doorbell rang yesterday after lunch. Outside stood our next door neighbor with this roll of batting, it was accidentally delivered to his house. I've been waiting for this order since the 11th of November! I have been piecing batting scraps together (and making door banners and table runners) since that time. From what I understand the batting companies are still running wa-a-a-a-a-y behind in their orders. Hopefully this situation will catch up before I find myself needing to order again; this 30 yard roll should last me a good while!

Life is Good!

Who's Under That Hat?

If you were playing along with the teaser from my last post, and you guessed a snowman, you were right! I needed a new sewing room door banner after taking Santa down last week. I saw this pattern on Country Threads website and knew it was just the thing! He measures 22" X 51" and is just the right size to fill the now empty space on the door. I have a series of door quilts that cycle through the year and really needed a wintertime one. 

This frosty fella sewed up quick and easily. (Thanks, Mary and Connie for another great pattern!) It probably took me longer to choose the fabrics and machine applique the edges to the letters than anything else. I had every bit of fabric in my stash. That background fabric, Debbie Mumm for South Seas Imports, has been in my closet for decades; it was just perfect! I used the reverse side of that same fabric for the letters and made my own pulled-thread fringe to trim out his scarf. I'll need to take care when quilting him not to catch that fringe! Also, after quilting him he'll get some handsome buttons right down the front. Hopefully, I can get this quilted over the weekend. I'm excited about this newest addition to the door banner line-up. Oh, and there's more good news:

...thanks to another new addition to the sewing space, this one from Santa, it's not "BRRRRRRRR" in here anymore at all. 

Don't worry, the snowman won't melt!

Life is Good!