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

and a good time was had by all

Last night was the Christmas party for my quilt group, the Ham Lake Piecemakers. By the way, who names a lake like that? Maybe there are just too many lakes to think up something more lovely than a chunk of hog. Sunset. Flower. Whisper. Rosebud. Those would all work better in my naming system. Anyway, back to the party, which was held at the home of Carol C. We have our regular meetings on the second, fourth and fifth Thursdays at Cedar United Methodist Church because it is sort of centrally located for our members and it is FREE! That made a big difference when we were informed that our previous meeting place (Ham Lake City Hall) could no longer accommodate our group. Since I was a member at Cedar UMC (and still am!) I hooked us up with the powers that govern the building. It's a small church, basically just the sanctuary, 2 offices, and one large multi-use space with a kitchen thrown in. But it has turned out to be a great place for the quilters on Thursday nights because we pretty much have the place to ourselves. And like I said, it's FREE! So to compensate for the utilities and wear-and-tear on the place, we have a tradition of collecting a Christmas donation of cash and cookies. And I got to bring the cookies home before delivering them to the church today so they can be used on Sunday. They are amazing!

Since they spent the night at myhouse, I had the chance to look at them a little more closely, and picked these out as my favorites:

What a generous group, it makes me happy to take these boxes of cookies along with an envelope stuffed with cash to the church office. Thank you Piecemakers!

We had a great potluck meal last night and Carol nearly ran out of counter space for all the goodies! I do have to say that her punch was yummy, and considering she confessed that she had never made punch before, I would say she should be our Punch Person from now on! Her home was great for our group of 25 (or so), roomy enough to enjoy our meal and then all sit together for the rest of the festivities. We play a little dice game for doorprizes, then we have an exchange of gifts. We draw names early in theyear, and then make something for each other. What a range of gifts and talents in our group! Everything from whole quilts to flannel slippers to pincushions to tablerunners, each gift a treasure.

I drew Jenny's name, and since I knew she loved Moda fabrics I wanted to do something with that. Here's what happened:

I sorted through my selvedges and used the ones that had come from Moda fabrics to make this little sewing caddy from a pattern by Graham Cracker Collection. I opted not to add the pockets on the outside of the pouch because that would have spoiled all those pretty selvedges! The pincushion on top is detachable from the tile base and the pouch is detachable to make emptying easy.

The edge of the pouch is made firm by a ring of plastic tubing sewn inside, which makes it flexible but resilient. The secret about this particular tubing is that it was scavenged from my nursing past (not used, I promise) and finally found a useful place. Pretty good re-purposing, don't you think?!

Sharon had drawn my name this year, and look at the cool spools she made for me! These will be perfect to hang on the wall by my thread rack.

Sharon found the pattern on a trip to Washington state at the Lavender Rabbit, if you look at this link you can see the neat idea for a hanger that I think I can contrive from some of my old wooden spools. What a great gift!

Today brings more sunshine and another party tonight, this time at a further distance (2 hours) so I hope the weather holds out, I don't want to miss Nancy's fest. I am cleaning, sewing, knitting, quilting and keeping the home fires burning (literally)!

pile o' quilts

Look what I picked up last night at my Piecemakers' meeting--

NINE (9) new little quilts for donation to Twin Cities' Quilts for Kids! Thank you, thank you, thank you! The little monkeys on the top are too cute!

I recently took a class at Bead Monkey to learn how to make soldered jewelry, and this was what I made--

It was fun and something I had wanted to do ever since I picked up a book and supplies at Urban Arts and Crafts in Kansas City over a year ago. Or was that 2 years ago? (If it's 2 years ago that is really bad because that means we are way overdue for a Posse Road Trip!) Anyway, I now know how to handle a soldering gun, just a little one, but enough to make me dangerous! These pendants are 2-sided, so there is another related picture on the back. Our teacher was very nice and made it look much easier than it actually is! Practice will help, and I have enough glass squares, copper tape, solder and flux to last me awhile. And Bob will be missing the soldering gun from his workbench!

Today at the store I got totally sucked in by these little hedgehogs, and ended up with a whole pile of fabric to put into a quilt. They are sly little guys, looking so cute and friendly, but troublemakers! When Dan was in high school sometime, he had a pet hedgehog named Nermal. Nermal was a nice little pet, but sadly, perished. Dan took such good care of him, but I don't think they have a very long lifespan.

"I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something."

Jackie Mason