The boys were less than enthusiastic about the stuffed heads I made them out of fleece. Perhaps if I had gotten them done 3 years ago when I cut them out and they were younger they might have been more interested. The giraffe's horns weren't too difficult to get straight, likewise the deer's antler's, but the elephant's tusks I had to redo a couple of times. I don't know why they were so hard to get on right but they were. I have three more deer heads to finish and then I am done with stuffed animals, probably until I have great grandchildren, if then.

Although with Phillip turning fourteen in March the great grandchildren thing is looming nearer. My sister Sella is a great grandmother and she is only 5 years older than I. Her children started having children a lot earlier than mine did though, in their mid-teens. My kids didn't have kids until their middle to late twenties I am happy to say. Three of them don't even have kids although Timothy has a stepson. That's fine by me. After that school shooting last week I am glad I don't have a lot of kids or grandkids in school.

This morning I finished off the red comforter and 5 crib sheets. I now have baby gifts when I need them. After I was almost done I found a spot on the comforter so it's in the wash and I won't have a picture for a couple of days.

Back on piecing tomorrow morning and quilting on Monday. For today we have snow, lots of it and it's not done yet, it's supposed to snow until midnight. Am I ever glad I don't have to go anywhere until tomorrow afternoon!

Yesterday at the doctor's office I learned that I have lost fourteen pounds over the winter. My psychiatrist took me off one of the medications that cause weight gain last fall. I didn't realize that I would see such quick returns from that. Usually I have to diet and exercise. I'm on two others that he wants to wean me off of over the next year. I hope they produce the same returns!

This was bound this morning. I love it. I didn't take it outside to get a picture because I am planning to keep it and I don't need a good one to sell it with. It is from a vintage kit my sister-in-law Nancy gave me over 20 years ago. She had it for donkey's years before that and she didn't get it new either. I finally got around to doing the hand applique and hand embroidery this past fall when the upstairs was being worked on and I couldn't sew up there. Machine quilted. I don't know the name or who manufactured it. Anyway I am counting it as another UFO that is complete. When the kids finish the rest of the basement for us I will have a place to hang it.

We are promised a kitchen and a bathroom with in the floor radiant heat. There will be another bedroom for Anthony. They have to be able to afford it first. Dang! there's always a catch.

This was the next project out of the UFO tub. When I sorted through them I discovered that all that is left on them is handwork and stuffing so I brought them down to do this afternoon and evening. They are just too much fun! So I grabbed the next project. This wasn't in the UFO tub but in a smaller tub that has been sitting on the side of the stairs, but I needed the tub so I decided to go out of order and do them.

Years ago I used to make a living sewing these flannel crib sets: comforters, sheets, bumpers and crib skirts. Every now and again I run across some cut out and either use the flannel for something else (for instance the backs of quilts) or finish them for baby gifts. So this tub had a bunch of sheets and a comforter cut out and partially sewn. They will be finished tomorrow and I will put them away for the next baby boy gift I need. I used to make dozens in a week. I'm glad I don't have to any more, I'd forgotten how much fuzz there is on them. They make me sneeze a lot. It's kind of fun though to do something fast and simple for a change.

We got 3.6 inches of snow yesterday and last night. We are supposed to get four more starting in the morning. I hope it's winter's last hurrrah!

Monday morning it will be back to quilting on the last quilt I have basted. Payday I'll have to buy batting and backing for the next batch to be basted. I wonder if I can talk David into helping me again?

I didn't get much sewing done today, I had a 10:30 doctor's appointment, then a pharmacy run. Also Goodwill was sandwiched in so I didn't get home until after 1:00. However, last night's sewing before bedtime produced this:

Yes, another Drunkard's Path turtle top. This one is the fourth, for my grandson Ben. I have enough blocks made for at least one more top, maybe two. This makes all the grandkids out in Washington turtle quilts. The ones here are going to get cat quilts. We are cat people and the boys love their kitties.

Most of the winter I haven't been doing much sewing in the evening because it has been too cold, but I bit the bullet and have been wearing a coat while I do a bit of sewing at the treadle.

Ernestine and

Vanessa the New Home made by Janome. Still Drunkard's Path although different colors. This is where I am working on Turtles.

I did finish the quilting on this before my appointment. I even got the binding ready so first thing in the morning I will bind it and then get going on the next UFO in the tub. I think it will be stuffed animal heads. I have a huge tub full of batting scraps that are too small to be used in quilts that will work fine. The added attraction of that is one less tub in the way down here in the basement.

After my appointment this morning I slept all afternoon, it seemed like a sleepy sort of day. We were getting a lot of snow and I didn't have anywhere else to go.

Two to four inches of snow today and tonight and then more on Saturday. I'm glad I don't have anywhere to go until meeting on Sunday. We don't know how much snow on the weekend but the storm is coming from the Rocky Mountains. We may not go anywhere on Sunday either.

So another busy day tomorrow. That is always good.

Here it is a week on since I posted. I have been going gung ho on the latest UFO and I am happy to say it is a top now. I will quilt it in the next batch I baste.

I really like this pattern. I can't remember how I planned to set it together when I cut it out, but when I put it together I have 5 extra blocks. So I will put them on the back when I go to piece that.

I don't have enough of any fabric to make a back, it has to be a very light color so as not to show through. I will have to purchase something payday. There is no hurry; I still have two quilts basted, although one is small.

This is next under the needle. I don't know how long it will take. Not long, it's not very big. I am excited about quilting this one too. Even though I only finished the top last fall the kit I made the blocks from is very old. So one could say this is a UFO since I have been planning to make the blocks for well over twenty years.

David and I are getting up there now and I don't want to leave a big mess for Ambrosina to take care of. It will take several years to get everything I have started done, but finished quilts are easier to dispose of then tubs of scraps and partially completed tops.

I have been feeling better since I went off coffee so it has been worth it. I cleaned up our little sitting room. I need to dust and put away stuff on a couple of surfaces, tomorrow will be good enough for that. I also filled another box of stuff for Goodwill, it didn't make a dent it the junk I have.

Oh, David just brought me down a cup of hot cider. Isn't he sweet? Time for my hand work.

Only a month until Spring.

It's still cold, but Wednesday I wore my heavy coat to class and was too warm in the car. Spring is only just over a month away. It will still be cold but the warm days are coming. This Spring I have a huge cleaning job down here, I sort of let it get away from me. Again. As always. I won't show a picture because I am ashamed I let it get away from me again.

Upstairs in my sewing corner it's a different matter though. I am loving these little Ohio Star blocks I am making.

I am determined that the back is going to look as good as the front, since that is the way to get things to lie flat, always a problem for me.

I want to make sure the hours I spend watching Eleanor Burns isn't wasted. Spin those seams, press them flat!

The pile of completed Fancy Nine Patch blocks is getting high, while the stack of unfinished ones is getting low.

I got a little carried away cutting out triangles with the Accuquilt so I have been throwing in these little Broken Dishes blocks with the ones that are left over from the Stars.

That sort of means I have got another UFO doesn't it? However a Broken Dishes quilt has been on my bucket list for a long time. That is the first good look I have taken at the block and I see that I have got to make a repair, one of the squares is turned wrong. Oh well it gives me something to look forward to tomorrow.

Our little boys didn't have school today so they went over to Grandma's. Leon's parents are Grandma and Grandpa, David and I are Gramps and Nanny, it keeps everything perfectly straight and we never have any doubt as to which grandparent is the person under discussion. We get along very well, there has never been any in-law problem. Rose makes quilts also, not anything like what I do, so it's very interesting seeing each other's work. Rose is Leon's mother. She makes what she calls Indian Star quilts, other names are Radiant Star, Lone Star, Star of Bethlehem. Rose is Sioux and she prefers to be called Indian rather than Native American. Her grandmother taught her to quilt and Rose makes a pretty good living making and selling them online. She says that the missionary women taught the Indian women how to make the Star quilts so that they could augment their income. Rose's maiden name was Black Eagle, or Black Wolf, I can't remember which for sure. Rose's tribe is a very poor one, they don't have casinos on their land. Anyway, I find it very interesting. Rose is a good friend, kind and generous.

I hear David out at his machine, he is trying to get the current quilt top finished so he can quilt it. I told him he has to quilt the two tops he has before he can start another one. I said one person with tubs full of unquilted tops around here is enough!

I finished this yesterday morning before meeting, we didn't spend a lot of time taking pictures because it was COLD!!! I pieced this Drunkard's Path variation sometime between John's birth in 1989 and 1993. Not my oldest UFO, but getting up there. It is also the only two fabric quilt I ever pieced. I remember that I made a baby quilt with this pattern with cardboard templates and David took them out to his shop and made me some wood ones, which I still have some where, but I haven't seen them in a while. I remember that it was a lot of fun to put together. I love curved piecing. I must not have had many scraps at that time to do it in only two fabrics. I remember having ideas on other quilts to make with this pattern, maybe roads with appliqued cars but I never got around to them. Sometime in the future when I get the UFOs caught up. This year I hope.

An a pieced back, although big pieces. It was a fun quilt to quilt following the path all over the front.

After I finished binding the quilt I set up the current piecing project back up on Julia Juki, not shown, because I like sitting at that machine to piece best. Shown here is Happy, my first assistant, Julia Juki is off camera. I think I have about half of the Fancy Nine Patch blocks done. I am having a lot of fun with them and they are going very fast. Almost too fast, the fun will be over with too soon, then back to quilting on the two quilts I have basted. Of course that is fun too.

It's all fun, except basting, but I can live with that.

Sometimes it is nice to have a quick and easy project to sew for a change. This baby quilt of six inch squares was just such a project. I did it in about a week, just a little bit a day, I didn't spend a lot of time on it and it only took a couple hours to quilt. I couldn't resist throwing in some Drunkard's Path turtles and birds.

Naturally the back is pieced since I only had  the one piece of flannel to back it with. I wanted the center, at least, to be flannel; cozy and warm against baby's skin.

Anyway tomorrow it's back on full size quilts to get the ones that are now basted quilted.

And, as usual, I got the extra help. She tangled up the thread really good this time.

And was very frisky when I tried to untangle everything. But I finally got some work done, I am getting the final pieces on the Fancy Nine Patch blocks as well as a quite a few little Ohio Star blocks, and I am having so much fun I almost don't want to go back to quilting. The new will wear off, it always does.

My mouth is still very sore but getting better so I can't complain about that either. Life is just to good to waste time being unhappy, sometimes I have to work at it, but when a person gets over a toothache everything is brighter!

The abscessed tooth was extracted yesterday morning. I had to be up at 7:00 am because the emergency walk in dental clinic only has 12 spaces a morning and it's first come first serve. I'm not complaining-it's a wonderful service for people who have no other options, but I am not an early bird. Anyway it's over with and before the anesthetic wore off I basted the baby quilt.

I seldom do anything with large squares, six inch, because I love little pieces, they are more interesting. However, I wanted this one done quick because the baby is already here and it has to be shipped. I quilted it this morning and tomorrow I will bind it. It is for the Maribel who is the sister of my son Matthew's wife Tina. Needless to say a baby girl with all that pink! I threw in a few Drunkard's Path turtles and birds just for variety. It was fun and fast and helped keep my mind off the pain in my head.

These Fancy Nine Patch blocks are coming along pretty good too. I cut these out with my first rotary cutter. It was before anything but the basic rulers and I was still using cardboard templates, drawing the line with a pencil and cutting along the line. It was huge improvement over scissors, but not as accurate as the rulers we use now and it was a little hard to get these to lie flat. I don't care it is going to be finished!

I also worked in these adorable little six inch Ohio Star blocks using my Go Baby die cutter, so much fun. I am going to use them in a border around some Feathered Star blocks that I made a long time ago and would like to turn into a quilt soon.

As usual, I got a lot of help from this sweet little girl.

All in all I got quite a bit accomplished these last few days despite the pain. If fact, probably, because of the pain. It helped to keep busy. Now, of course, I can rest. I am still having a significant amount of pain but nothing like before and I can take a pain reliever to get some rest which will help heal faster.

Going off coffee has really helped the other physical problem, and although I miss my coffee feeling better is worth going without. I wish I liked tea, I need something hot to drink in the afternoons while I have my feet up doing my hand work. Well it's only six weeks until Spring and when it warms up outside it will warm up down here. If we look hard we can always find something to be glad about.

I hear the little boys upstairs. Time to see how their day went.

ii

Woo-hooo am I ever excited.

I have been wanting one of these for several years, so for the last few months I have been sticking away a few dollars and this month I finally got enough together to get one. I could even afford a die! I even have enough money left for my co-pay to the dentist on Monday. I only put a few strips through this morning when I got back, I didn't want to get carried away but I would have been easy to just keep turning them through. I think I could get addicted. So much fun! The triangles are for an Ocean Waves quilt I have been planning for several years, I am going to use them for a Leaders and Enders (Thanks Bonnie Hunter) project while I am working on the baby quilt. Can't wait to get started in the morning. For the rest of the afternoon I am holed up under the covers with my tooth ache and Ibuprofen.

Three more days until I can get into the dentist. Between a tooth ache from an abscess and labor with a baby I'd rather be in labor.

On a happier note: 6 weeks until Spring. Ambrosina is making lists from the seed catalogs, a really positive sign, even with the toothache I am feeling pretty positive.

Every time I have gone into Joann's the last year they have had a Go Baby like I wanted. Do you think they had one today? I've never seen it fail. We had to go another place called Heirloom Creations where they sell mostly sewing machines, and I was really surprised it didn't cost more than Joann's and they have a greater variety of dies. Fun! I also saw a sewing machine I would like to have, musn't linger on that idea!

Second finish of the year. The pattern's name is Joy and it was designed by Jacqueline de Jonge. I don't usually do other people's patterns, but I wanted to learn this technique and boy did I learn a lot! With the piecing as well as with the quilting on it. As you probably can see it isn't precisely flat and perhaps I should have done something simpler to start paper piecing with. I doubt if it would have been as much fun though.

MMmmm, David just brought me some hot apple cider laced with whisky, he said it might help with my toothache. I don't drink much, boy is it good though. A treat is nice.

I always show the back, even if it is just a sheet and not pieced. I got this one at a thrift shop with the folds from being in the package still in it. It is pale yellow with brown checks and went really well with the front of the quilt.

Tomorrow I will start cutting for the baby quilt, I don't anticipate it taking more than a few hours to make the top and then the quilting a couple of more hours, I won't quilt a lot, I want it to be all fluffy and warm for a baby.

Another nine patch block. I made my mother a dress out of this lavender when Ambrosina was little. Mother loved lavender. I made her several lavender dresses over the years.

Time for hand sewing, I have about 45 minutes until the boys go home and things get lively again. It's nice I can just enjoy it and not have to be responsible for it. Being a grandmamma sure has it perks!