At long last

I pieced the quilt top in 2013.

It hung in the closet until last Fall when I took it to the long arm quilter.

While at quilt camp, I prepared the binding.  I had hoped to sew it on there, 

but it was tight quarters.

Today, I took the final steps to finish the quilt.

Sewing on the binding, on the back and then I'll top stitch it on the front.

Many quilters hand stitch the binding, but that's not for me.

I like the look of top stitching.

These little clips are 'the bomb' when working with binding.

I got about 1/2 done and had to break to run to Owen's piano recital.

More about that later.

Muscling this big quilt in a small space is not my favorite thing,

but it got done.

The inspiration for this quilt was a set of original paintings by a friend in Maui.

These are sights you can see on the Island.

The artist's description: Here I’ve tried to capture a perfect beach day. The south shores of Maui are ideal for sunbathing and playing in the waves. This picture highlights the perfect blues you can see looking out from Kihei and Makena, under a bright sky with just a touch of soft clouds. I’ve used my favorite ocean colors, Prussian Blue, Deep Turquoise, and some Cobalt Teal. This is a fun memento of a sunny day at the beach.

The quilting stitch was made to look like waves in a pool of water.

 My idea was from the top of the bed, the sandy beach, the water gets deeper as

do the colors until reaching the deep blue sea.

At long last, I couldn't be happier.

Life is good.

96

Dad would have been 96 on the 27th.  

Coming up on 4 years since he's been gone, but I still think about him everyday.  On his birthday I headed to Luck to grab the old Christmas wreath from the cemetery.  It was really brown and dry, good to have that gone.  It's not quite warm enough to put a plant at the cemetery, but it won't be long.

On the way to the cemetery, I stopped at the boat landing on Little Butternut Lake.

Dad had told me that through the years, many times there was still ice on the lake on his birthday, this year is one of those years.

A muskrat swam by as I was snapping a photo with my cellphone.

A hooded Merganser flew in and swam around a bit.  I didn't have my good camera,
I always regret it when I travel without it.

The evening was spent at a concert by the string ensemble.

Great niece Milena is still playing Dad's violin with this group, 

and on Dad's birthday is was very sweet to see his violin making lovely music.

 Bach

I enjoyed the program very much.

After the show, I stopped at friend Bruce's for a cold beverage in salute to Dad's birthday.

I left there and stopped at Kyle's for a nightcap and visit with his family.

As I was leaving I saw a list on the refrigerator that I think is very excellent.

It was written by Ruby Anna at school.

So, on Saturday, I got some exercise, got a little organized and did a few outdoor projects.

 New super-sized mailbox to better accommodate my photo projects.

Hopefully this will save my projects from being bent and also save my mail mistress some steps.

This turned out to be a very easy project, now that the snow is melted.

I also raked the old canes off the day lily beds, pulled the big flower pots out of the garage,

and tried to blow the sand/salt out of the garage.

It got a start on my garage project and now, once it is warmer, 

I'm going to get serious about cleaning and purging that garage.

It was a nice day outside, I sat in the sun and drank some lemonade and got a little sun on my face.

Life is good.

Oh my gosh

I was talking to friend Mary on the phone to wish her a happy birthday.  She's a bird watcher like I am and as we were talking I saw the female Bluebird stop by one of my birdhouses and give it a look.

I got super excited, grabbed the camera and got a snapshot out the living room window.

I rarely see Bluebirds in the yard.  

They are not feeder birds, so unless I am outside, 

not much chance of seeing them, and they are such a pretty bird.

A few minutes later, here came the male Bluebird checking on the housing.

He didn't stay long.

Later I saw them looking in the old nesting box where Bluebirds have nested before.

I'll have to get the boxes cleaned out tomorrow, the snow has been so deep that is a task undone.

It would be a treat to have Bluebirds nesting in the Johansen yard.

***

I've been feeding the rabbits through the winter as best I could.

Not until March did I figure out that I could throw apples out the back deck door as far as I could throw and the rabbits would find them.

So, now I have apple loving rabbits and I'm wondering how many baby rabbits that will add up to be.

No matter, I love seeing them.

Things are popping here now that Spring has arrived.

Life is Good.

I love camping

No, I don't love sleeping in a tent.

I love Quilt Camp.

We stay in quaint motel right on Lake St. Croix, the decor in the rooms is strictly Up North.  The view of the lake from the banquet/sewing room is priceless and there is a bar.  

My kind of camping!

The packing up for this trip is pretty crazy.  

I take EVERYTHING!

The car is full, barely room for suitcase, mostly just sewing stuff.

This trip I made a list of the projects I had hoped to work on.

1. Sew flannel Brick by Brick lap warmer 

2. Cut Brick by Brick out of corduroy 

3. Sew place-mats out of autumn leaves fabric - DONE

4. Sew zipper bags out of Wisconsin fabric for graduates - DONE

5. Sew napkins out of Crayola fabric

6. Sew American Flag quilt kit

7. Cut & sew mail sack out of musical fabric
8. Cut & sew mail sack out of Coors fabric

9. Sew tortilla warmers - DONE, but...

10. Bind quilt for my bed - BINDING SPLICED / PRESSED AND READY TO SEW

11. Un-sew borders on Coffee Time quilt 

12. Sew napkins to make place-mats - DONE

13. Sew Danish Hearts table mat

It doesn't feel like I got much done when I look at my list, 

but there are a fair number of finished projects in the pile.

 My friend Mary has had a project on her list for several years.

A friend had asked Mary to make a bell pull out of the logos on golf shirts of her departed husband.

Last quilt camp, Mary did the bell-pull and it turned out so nice.

Mary's friend was over the moon and immediately asked Mary to make one for each of the children.

So, this camp, Mary worked on 4 more bell pulls and they are sweet and sentimental.

We all felt like we knew this man a little from handling the shirts.

Mary cut off the logos and I cut off all the buttons.

I'm going to try to adapt this idea to baseball cap logos and see how that works.

Mary and the golf shirt bell pulls.

 One of my projects was to make 2 placemats and 2 napkins for a gift.

I had some fabric that I liked and thought would work well, Mary had a pattern.

Mary made a set while I worked on another project, but I wasn't crazy about her pattern.

Difficult and not the look I wanted for this fabric.

On Saturday afternoon we took a walk to the little quilt store in town and we found a wonderful 'quilt as you go' pattern that was exactly what I needed.

Lots of little pieces and exact cutting is so important.
I actually had to recut one of the stacks as I must have been distracted and was off by 1/2".
Of course, this was cause for some un-sewing to correct my error.

The pattern was written for 4 place mats, so before I knew it, I had cut enough fabric.

So, instead of 2, I made 4.

It will make for a nice set with the 4 cloth napkins I made.

I'm quite pleased with the place mat project.  Some of my best sewing to date.

Mary and Sharon and I all bought the same quilt kit

It is a flannel subway tile type of pattern.

All the flannel looks like old wool, very retro and cozy. 

I had mine at the last camp and had cut the fabric.  

Mary and Sharon did their cutting at this camp.

We had thought we might sew them at the same time, 

but my place mat project was more important to me.  

Mary and Sharon made good progress on theirs and now I'm anxious to work on mine.

Mary is very particular and spent a lot of time with color placement.
It is good to have design walls to work with before sewing.
I likely will not spend much time on layout and do more of a random placement.

Sharon's version.
My kit had slightly different patterns of flannel, so it will be fun to see them all when finished.

With graduation nearly here, 

I decided to make some zippered bags for gifts.

The fabric is from a Quilt Shop Hop from last year, it has names of Wisconsin towns and other Up North themes.
These are fun to make, I'm going to get going on a few more to have on hand.

I ordered little sewing kits to put in the bag 

and will also include a small credit card sized multi-tool in the kit.  

A gift that will work for both the boys and the girls. 

I also tried to make tortilla warmers, not my best work, no photos 

and I'll be reworking those after thinking about it for a few days.

Packing up to come home is easier than the packing to go.

Kristi, the retreat owner, gave us each a starter impatiens as a table favor.  

She also has a greenhouse.

It is a sweet little plant and the first bedding plant of the year for me.

Table favor Impatien, lovely pines in the background.

On the way home I tried to drive in to check on the Sandcastle.

Most of the snow had melted and the roads were clear, but there was mud.

I got within about 5 miles of the cabin before I faced a low spot that was not worth the risk.

The road was soft even on the parts that looked dry,
this mud-hole was beyond what I wanted to drive through.

So, I retraced my drive and headed back to paved roads.

A quick stop to see Craig and Mary Jo in Gordon seemed like a fun idea.

They were gracious hosts, offered me one their prized Yuengling beers, (bootlegged from America's oldest brewery in Pennsylvania) and stopped what they were doing to visit for a spell.

I gave them a show-and-tell of my finished items and they seemed to like what I had made.

Then it was head-for-home time.

One stop to pick up beer and then home to unload.

Each time I go to camp I reorganize my stuff and get a slightly better system.

This time was no different.  I repacked a bit, decided how I want some things to work, and ordered a small desk chair from Amazon to add to my kit.

The set up at this camp is a little wonky in that she doesn't limit the number who can come.

This camp, the banquet room we sew in was a little smaller because the motel owner has a corner for storage and that had grown in the off season.

The tight fit wasn't my favorite set up and it made for too close quarters for chats between only Mary, Sharon and I.  Some quilters talk A LOT more than we do, so that can be a little bothersome.

But, all in all, we had a great time and it was fun sewing with Mary and Sharon and the others.

The food was great and like I said, the location is a beautiful place.

Spring has come to Rice Lake!

While I was gone over the weekend, most of the snow went and I can see my yard again.

I can finally put away the Christmas candles that have been stuck in the ice all winter and my beloved daffodils are up about 6 inches.  

I can't wait to see flowers in the yard!

I'm ready for Spring and hope it is a nice longgg summer.

We are signed up to go quilting again in the Fall though and I'm  already looking forward to it and planning my project list.

I love camping!

Never Underestimate the Power

Handwritten notes, 

whether they are to say Thanks, 

or just to say hello, 

have power.

I'll never forget a note I received when I was working from our company chairman.

It was unexpected and made me feel appreciated.

I try to remember to write notes and I always am delighted when I receive one.

Today there was a pleasant surprise in my mailbox.

Jack made my day.

Record Setter

We are on the melting side of a record setting snow storm.  The last time there was this much snow in April was in 1983, but this storm outdid that record and then some.  I just heard that it was 58 hours of snowfall.  I think I had about a foot of snow, although it is hard to really tell with the drifting.  The good news is that today it warmed up a bit and already there is melting.  My driveway is almost clear and the bird feeder is accessible again.

I didn't mind being home, I can always find something to do around here.  Sometimes it is not productive, but this time I managed to get a few things done.

I made another table topper with the Danish Heart pattern, this time with dark accents, 

I really like how it is coming together.

Seeing the dark trim and liking it.

Stitched in the ditch for quilting.

Adding the binding.

I'm pleased, I love the dark colors in contrast to the red and white.
I'll make a couple more like this one.

 I sewed off and on today too.  

I do take time to keep up on my crossword puzzles & computer games!

I made some tiny name banners for our upcoming Quilt Camp.

I'm not sure where or how we will use these, but we will.

It's nice to have your name someplace for folks, it makes it easier to chit - chat with new friends.

I had some left over felt scraps from another project and decided to cut triangles and make a little banner for the Johansen kids over in Luck.  Maybe they can hang it on game day this fall when ever cousin Noah has a game.

 This was a fun and VERY easy project.  I have more ideas for felt pennant banners.

Okay, back to sewing.

I'm trying a Cinco De Mayo project now, will update later on the progress and results.

To the wire

I usually knock out the taxes early, but this year, I kind of forgot about getting that job done.  So, today, I finally did the deed.  It's not hard using TurboTax, and it didn't take long.  This year for the first time, I only qualify for the standard deduction, so I guess next year, I can do the short form and save a buck on software.  O well, it's done, and I'm happy.

While I was sitting here working on the laptop, I watched the birds as they came and went on the feeders and suet bags.  It can't be much fun to try to survive in a late storm like this.

I even saw a Yellow Rumped Warbler.  I'm pretty sure he didn't expect snow when he headed North on his migration journey.

The Mourning Doves look miserable.

I'm guessing there is another 8" of new snow, and it is still snowing.

 There are some remarkable drifts around the yard as the wind really wailed most of the night.

The sliding door to the back deck is frozen shut with a 2 foot drift across the path to the lawn.

 They say it will snow off and on all day long, so I'm glad I don't have any plans for tomorrow.

I'm no fan of risky driving conditions, I'll leave that to others.

So, for today, I'm off to the sewing room while the kitties sleep in front of the fire.

Life is good.

Stayin' in

I had planned to visit a Quilt Show today and then take in some 8th grade girls volleyball after.

Earlier, I drove the car down the slippery driveway to get the mail and newspaper, I left the car out planning to go out later on.

But, the weather did not agree.

It was sleeting all morning and then the wind kicked in for real.

Now it is snowing hard.

After I was dressed and thinking about going, I looked out again, and then put the car back into the garage for the weekend.

I'm IN!

(The Minneapolis Airport has even ceased operations, it's not a nice storm.)

So, I got busy working on computer games and crossword puzzles and hot coffee.

I happened to see a small hawk fly into the yard after dove.  Several doves took off with the hawk in pursuit.  I didn't get a good look at the hawk, just a basic idea of size and was guessing it might have been a Cooper's.

Later, I just caught the hawk swooping in on a dove and taking it down into the ditch.

Brutal.

Again, I didn't get a good look at the hawk.

Eventually, he came back looking for another victim, this time I got lucky.

Not the greatest of photos, but through the window, into a snow storm, it's the best I could do.

They are a beautiful bird, but I hope this Cooper's doesn't want to hang around my feeders,

it's hard on the regular customers.

Working on taxes, watching movies, and generally enjoying the day.

Let it snow.

This and That

There is still about a foot of snow on most lawns and in my backyard, I'm still looking at about 2 feet.

None the less, while parked at Walgreens on Monday, there was a hatch of little flies.

All the cars had swarms of these little pests on them.

I guess that they couldn't wait.

Pennants strings are a fun sewing project.

I decided to make one for each graduate.

Quick projects are fun and not so fussy, so I thought this is a good rule.

Getting the letters organized is the hardest part.

Having enough of each letter or number takes a little figuring.

Once the letters and numbers are ironed on,

stringing up the pennants is the fun part.

I had the birthday pennants done, so finished up all 3.

Fun stuff.

I've also been making some posters for the graduates with photos from my files.

I have basketball photos of Jack from his earliest play.

And this past season of course.

 It's been fun mining for old photos and finding actions shots of Jack.

This year, Jack played football too, so I made a couple of my favorites from that season.

 Walgreens does a good job on these poster boards and with 40% off coupon, the pricing is good.

Breanna doesn't get in front of my camera as often as Jack.

I found some fun photos from a Colorado visit in 2007, Breanna wasn't so shy then, so this made for a fun trip down memory lane.

 I also made a poster of Breanna playing softball from a few years ago, I guess I didn't take a picture of that one.

I hope that the graduates will enjoy having these poster boards for their graduation parties 

and beyond.

Today I had piano lessons.  Jim and Sherry are really getting into hobby farming.

Right now they have about a dozen chicks, 3 full grown chickens, 1 rooster, 2 ewes and now 3 little lambs.  One of the Mom's didn't really get into the motherhood deal, so 2 lambs have to be bottle fed.

I was there to see the feeding and help a little bit.

Oh for cute.

I have a feeling it's quite stinky in the barn right now, 

some times it is a bonus to have no sense of smell.

 I drove past Rice Lake on the way home to see if the ice was going.

There are some spots that look like they are soft, but it is still shore to shore ice.

 Last year I was taking photos of geese and ducks and babies.

This year there is a big storm headed our way.

The forecasters are saying 6 - 20" of snow could fall.

I sure hope that they are wrong on this one.

So, that's what I've been up to, thanks for stopping by.