March 2024

 March has come and gone so quickly.  I have a few finishes to show. I loved the little orange and pink baby quilt I made earlier this year, so I made two more.  They are for a friend of mine. One for each of her two year-old grand babies. And yes, made from my scraps.

Then I finally finished this paper pieced one, pattern by Bonnie Hunter called Morning Glories.

The next happening at our home was the loss of our 15 year old kitty, Jesse Neutron. We are pretty sure his health degraded from the normal things that affect senior cats, heart disease, and kidney disease.

He had gone from his high of 14.5 pounds a few years ago to a skinny little 6.5 pounds.  He coughed, was obviously uncomfortable, and wouldn't eat.  By the time we took him to the vet for the euthanasia, he was severely dehydrated.  Yet, he still purred, jumped up on his stool to be brushed, and was still his sweet self.  It was very hard for both of us, but it was time. He was in pain. We gave this little stray a wonderful, full life, and he gave us much in return.

The vet office was super.  Send us a card, signed by the whole staff, and even prints of his paws and face.

I saw a cute little pattern online for my next baby quilt.  Finished it yesterday. It is for a young woman, who was my grandson's kindergarten teacher, who is having her first child, a girl, in a couple of months.  It was great to again, make a gift quilt out of my scraps. This one was quick too.

Springtime is time to change out to spring quilts, so I spent a little time doing that yesterday, for the beds in our upstairs guest room.

It's been such a beautiful week, I tackled the door project.  Our front door is fiberglass but has woodgrain look to it.  The stain that was put on when we built and moved it had faded a lot from the sun.  I was not sure about reapplying the gel stain myself, but it was very easy. I did that earlier in the week and applied the finish/protector on it yesterday.  Looks so good.  I had purchased several faux fern branches a few weeks ago at the At Home store. I buy ferns for our porch every year, but I'm a terrible plant person, so I don't take care of them like I should.  Not anymore, plant people, don't judge!  I think they look great.  The only issue is if we have a big wind, I"m not sure they will stay in the pots.  I have them stuck in florist blocks but not sure they will stay.

And today, the Easter Lily (given to us by friends) reminds me of the price my Savior paid for me. And today is Resurrection day!  So, so thankful for Easter.  If he didn't rise, there would be no salvation, no escape from a sinner's hell, no eternity with God and Jesus.  So very thankful.

February 2024

 The husband didn't get to go on his annual two week fishing trip to Florida this winter so I didn't get to do my list of projects. However, I'm almost finished with one of them.  I loved my big white bed I made a few years ago (my first wood project0, but it was so heavy I couldn't move it to put a rug underneath and with Jim's handicap he can't help me do that. Our bedroom was pretty but I really wanted to be able to put a rug under the bed that I could change out. I know, maybe silly, but a woman wants her bedroom pretty! also, I'm about over having furniture that I can't move myself.  So I sold the bed, nightstands, and lamps and am in the process of trying to make this simple, lower profile bed pretty.

I'm still waiting on one of the new nightstands.  I bought two, and they were "in stock." Only one was delivered and now I'm on about the 8th week of awaiting the other one. Oh well.

In quilting news, I received the fabric today for one I am making for the McCall's Quilting issue out this fall. I'm excited and a little nervous.  Hope it turns out good.

Snowstorm of 2024

 We finally got a good snow!  And in good, I mean about 8-9" The most I've seen since the famous blizzard of 1993.  So I've been stuck inside for the last couple of days, and it looks like at least one more as the temps are not above 23 today, and expected to stay below freezing for a few more days.

Puzzle, our golden retriever, LOVED the snow!!

Me, not so much.  But, the good thing about being stuck at home is I have more time to sew!  I looked at my scraps and potential baby quilt ideas and came up with a cute traditional design using pinks and oranges, a favorite color combo.  Starting cutting on Sunday. I love it.

This is for the new granddaughter of a dear friend of mine.  I hope she likes it!  This will be the second finish of the year for me.  I did the lion quilt for our Church's Music Director. He is expecting his second grandson. It is an Elizabeth Hartman design.  The second lion I've made.  Really, it isn't difficult.  The cutting takes longer than the sewing.

   

Back to sewing working on this one.  Maybe I'll finish it in 2024.  :)