the march lamb

Do you believe in the old saying that if March comes in like a lion it goes out like a lamb? And is the opposite also true? Here on the frozen tundra it has seemed pretty lambish for these first days of March, cold but no storms. That does not bode well for the end of the month! Our March weather is typically snowy inshort periods, often coinciding with high school tournament time and snarling up plans for people traveling from all over the state to St. Paul for the final rounds of hockey, wrestling and basketball games. The good thing about any snow we get now isknowing that it won't be around for long, as compared to the snows of Nov/Dec that you know will remain as icebergs for months to come. It's all a mind game at this point!

I am loving my morning at home today, it's quiet, I have noplace to go so I can keep my jammies and robe on for a bit longer, and the fire in the woodstove is keeping me toasty. I've been taking some pictures to share with you---

This is a nice little woolen penny rug that I handstitched not too long ago. The little circles were all cut out for quite awhile, patiently waiting for my attention. If I remember correctly, this started out in Wisconsin when I was on a retreat at Beaver Lake Landing. We walked across the frozen lake to visit the home workshop of a wool dyer, and ended up with assorted woolens that someone (maybe Marilee?) started cutting into little pieces so we could exchange and get a better variety. I might have the facts wrong on that, but I doknow that it was a cooperative project, which always makes it more special.

I finally finished the binding on this baby quilt:

I really got some sore fingers from this one because I made the binding just a titch too small, or the seam allowance just a titch too big, because it really needed some pushing and pulling to turn around the edges neatly. I showed you this here before when I was blocking the yardage to get it squared up. These are not individual little pieces that I sewed together, they are just designs printed on fabric. I quilted them as blocks with a coordinated blue backing that has words about babies all over it. It finished up about 36" square and will be heading off to Arizona soon for a new baby boy in Laura and Rommel's family.

Still doing some winter-type knitting, making an "infinity scarf", which is basically just a big loop to be worn around the neck. The colder it gets, the more it encircles the neck!

Nice bulky washable wool yarn, pattern free here.

I spent part of my morning yesterday making up kits for quilts to be made and donated to Quilts For Kids.

My club, guild, gang, whatever you want to call it, officially the Ham Lake Piecemakers, is having a sewing fest next Friday and Saturday to see how many donation quilts we can generate. So I am getting some prep work done for that, using fabric from my own accumulation and a little support for key pieces from the quilt shop. I think these will bring lots of comfort to some little ones.

Putting my new design wall to good use as I construct these rows. The top row has been sewn together with triangles, but I am not loving this fabric. I might have to have a do-over on that one. I have 4 other rows done and this one just doesn't go with the flow.

Three more rows to go!

And the sorting, reorganizing and purging of my sewing stuff is winding down (alleluhia!). I have prepared a bundle of patterns that I am ready to part with.

These will go to the Piecemakers for a little fund-raiser that we usually do at our retreats. If you are part of a quilt group you might want to try this, it has been a success in adding to our treasury and helping us buy batting for our charity quilts. Here's the deal:

members are encouraged to donate a few items that are likely desirable, not junky. These can be fabric bundles, a basket of notions, a bag of thread, a group of patterns, etc. The coordinator places a few of them on a display table with a little basket next to each item. During the next few hours, group members can put their name into the baskets that they are interested in. $0.25 per name! You can put your name in as many times as you want, but it costs each time. At a pre-determined time, one name is drawn from each basket and that person is the new owner of that treasure. And we start it all over again, until we run out of items! It's fun to see what is in demand, and how many quarters some women are willing to part with!

Time to get on with the day and I will leave you with this parting thought:

"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." Sophia Loren

putting the puzzle together again

I am thoroughly enjoying the state of my sewing room! It is sort of in pieces, and I am taking my time putting it all back together again. I showed you some pictures not long ago that depicted the "before". Then I left on vacation, not quite sure if this would be something that Bob would be interested in doing without me. Well, I can tell you that I have the world's best husband! Not only did he carry out the original plan to repaint, he also ripped out the old carpet and laid new laminate wood flooring! This DIY project started out with the need to hang my fabulous Vanishing Design Wall, a gift from Bob for Christmas (which shocked my socks off that he remembered I liked it from some brief conversation awhile back, I guess he really does listen sometimes!). Here is my new design wall in place:

When I decided which wall I wanted it on, we took down some shelves and knick-knacky stuff and posters, etc., on that wall. That left some big screwholes on a basically ugly sponge painted wall. The original blue was Dan's request when we built the house in 1989, then added the white overlay about 10 years later when the room became my "studio" and Dan moved to his new kingdom in the remodeled basement. So it was due for an update. That brought me to decide to just continue with the removal of "stuff" and picked up a bucket of pale gray paint for the walls. Since the closet was all full of built-in shelving and bushels of fabric, I decided it didn't really need painting like the rest of the room and just left that all there. I departed on my trip, and Bob and I chatted on the phone about the state of the paint. To my surprise, he decided this would be the time to change the floor, too, which I totally agreed with but was a little leery that this would be a long project, plus I wasn't home to pick out color and type. Well, I needn't have worried because when I got back home there were only about 2 board-widths left to be laid! And it looks maaah- velous!

I am taking my sweet time with putting things back in there because I wanted to cut down on the clutter and distraction that was in there. So it looks kind of bare, but that's OK for now. Because the flooring needed to extend into the closet, Bob had to clear that out and remove all the shelving units, which was a daunting task. The only downside for me is that he ended up handling every bit of fabric that I had tucked away in there, bringing him to the realization that there was enough to keep me going for a long time! Ooops! I am sorting and weaning the collection down a bit as I make my way back through it, and thinking about the best ways to organize it that might be an improvement on what I did before. The drawers hold my small cuts (fat quarters and less) and are sorted by color. That part is done.

There's a bit more to go.....

But I was inspired to add a saying to my wall to reflect my thoughts--

No heavy hearts allowed! Now back to the sorting!