H-2 Jacob Anthony

H-3 Berry Baskets, I had the first one made before I realized it was wrong, so now I have an extra block.

 H-4 Abbey's Eyes

H-5 Michael's Motorcycle

 H-6 Pie Sale, so far this is my favorite, tiny pieces, curved piecing, it can't get any better!

These don't have names, but I have four of the right side border blocks. Yesterday I did four block, but three  in a mornings sewing has been about my average, anymore sewing and I don't have time for any spinning before lunch and it makes me awfully tired. It is not because it is hard work, but it takes a lot of concentration. I am pleased at the progress I am making and if I can keep it up I will make my goal.

The work is winding down in the other side of the basement. It passed the final electric and the appliances are being moved in tonight. The plumbing inspection is on Friday. Final paint touch-ups are happening and so is final clean-up. Soon I will be moving my furniture back in, I am pretty excited about that. Now, maybe the weather will warm up.

I made the decision to repeat fabrics in my Dear Jane. With only about half the center blocks done it is just not realistic to try to use only a fabric only once. The first reason is that I haven't been able to find enough yellows in Sioux Falls unless I wait for the new lines to come out seasonally and I want to get this quilt finished, at least until the top is done. The second reason is that I just cannot afford it. With so many other uses for my money I have to be practical.

I started it last June, I would really like to finish it by June this year. That being said, there is still a lot of work to be done and I don't know if I will be able to manage it.

 G-12 Gloriae

 G-13 Mollie's Muffin

H-1 Peek-a-boo, this is the first fabric repeat. I had already decided to repeat in the border, which is why I am doing the border blocks at the same time as the center blocks.

These complete the top border row.

To recap: I have finished rows A-G of the center blocks which makes those a little over half done; I have completed the top border row of triangles, so that makes the border a quarter finished. Realistic to complete the top by June? I am not sure, there were long periods of time when I didn't work on if for some reason or other, but we will see. At some time in the near future I will have to move my furniture back in and unpack all my stuff, then there is Spring cleaning and construction clean-up to be done which will limit time. But life happens to all of us and I will just have to take it as it comes along. All in all, I am satisfied. This quilt is not going to be perfect, that's not the point. It keeps me interested and it is fun. I am thoroughly enjoying it, and after all that's the reason I am doing it, isn't it?

I got this bolster pillow cover finished a few weeks ago, and never got around to showing it. If we don't have a long pillow the bed eats the small ones we use. It somehow slides away from the wall and we wind up with no pillows on the bed where we need them. I made two so we'd have an alternate when we wash the one on the bed. I am presently working on pillow shams for the small pillows. I hope to run out of the cut tumblers soon!

G-11 Decisions, Decisions, the fabric doesn't show how pretty it is in the photograph.

This is by the far the trickiest and time consuming so far but it's only the seventh, there could be harder ahead.

This one needs to be pressed and trimmed. I will do so tomorrow morning when I go upstairs to sew. I pieced it and then appliqued the piece on the bottom. I couldn't seem to get a very good picture showing the detail.

Anyway that's where I am right now.

We are expecting more snow tomorrow, joy of joys. 

I am hoping to get my loom moved tomorrow so I can weave again, that's how far things are progressing down here!

 G-8 Justin's comet

 G-9 Mary's Journey

G-10 Woven Meadow.

These were all pretty easy, straight-forward paper piecing which I enjoy, although a little time consuming. I have been having a hard time concentrating the last couple of mornings because I fell Monday morning and I am hurting quite a lot. No damage just a lot of pain.

Then these three triangle blocks which were easy but also time consuming. I am finding that these little blocks take more time than a large block would because it's essential to be very accurate if they are going to turn out. Almost all the pieces are very small so it takes a lot of pieces to make a block. I enjoy it, but I have to be able to concentrate well if they are going to turn out. I notice that the little oval applique piece on the top of the bottom block is a trifle lop-sided. Oh well, it adds character. And this quilt is going to be full of character! I am still quite a ways from being half done, I don't know how long I will be on it. I will have to take some time off of it to finish my dress and do some quilting. I will do that when I feel I need a change, I am not feeling that way yet.

The shower is almost done, the basement will soon be ready for final inspection.

We got 7 and a half inches of snow last night, which means several more days or even weeks before anything gets done on the car. I am sooooooo ready for Spring, and so is everyone else!

I have to say these triangle blocks are so much fun! 2nd one across the top, in the picture it looks slightly askew, but it's not.

G-7 Indianapolis, also fun and fairly quick, and I do love curved piecing.

 This is the yarn I got day before yesterday. This is the acrylic I got from Joann's, one pound each, happily it was on sale. I won't have to buy more for a while. Later this week I will stack up all the scarves and hats I have finished for a picture. I am about half done with a blue and white scarf for Timothy. That will make it 7 our of 24 sets done, I have a long way to go!

This is the yarn I really like. A fine sports weight wool yarn, I am trying to get enough for a Fair Isle sweater. Some of the lighter colors might get dyed so that I have enough different colors to get a good, distinct pattern. No hardship there I love dyeing, and would dye everything if I could afford it. I'd also spend a lot more on wool yarn if I had the money, but since I don't I will try to appreciate the things I can get, especially as I can't start my sweater until I get a lot more hats and scarves done. I like to get the work out of the way and then I can take more pleasure in the play!

Anyway all knitting is a pleasure even if some of it is with the acrylic yarn.

I have been busy spending part of my hand sewing time on basting hexagons for the next hexagon quilt. I have several jars, I like to put things in glass jars so I can see what I have, cut out that needed basting before I start putting it together, but since the basting part is pretty boring, I don't spend all my hand sewing time on them and divide the time between the basting and knitting, work first then fun. In times past, I always did the work and boring part first and then never had time for the fun part, now I am making sure I do both. Balance is good.

So speaking of work, time to get busy.

The temperature was finally up to 13 degrees yesterday so Ambrosina and I took the opportunity to get my errands done yesterday. Joann's, the quilt store and the yarn store. I got a few more yellow fabrics at the quilt store but I forgot to take a picture of them. I will do so tomorrow. I got yarn at Joann's and the yarn store. Wool at the yarn store and acrylic for hats and scarves at Joann's. I'll have pictures of those tomorrow too.

G-5 Poof.  I could have pieced the curved parts but decided to piece the background and applique the curved center, but if I do it again I will piece the whole thing, I am not all that good at applique.

I like this, it looks like a tree, this is the second triangle block and quite fun. The triangle blocks are not named.

The shower is coming along, she did concrete for the floor and there are now cat prints in it.

I started plying my red singles, it won't be a true fractal spin, there are too many breakages and I got some of them out of order, but it will still be very pretty. Plying doesn't take any where near as much time as spinning and I will have to decide on my next spin soon.

I am on my 7th hat and scarf set, that means I am a quarter of the way through so I am doing well on time, even though I don't care working with acrylic yarn I am keeping at it. The reward will be when I am done I will be able to cast on a wool sweater for me, I have a design and color in mind. All I have to do is keep going for a while.

And now it seems like time for a nap, I don't know why I am so sleepy.Tomorrow I hope to have a lot of pictures.

One decision has been made, I am going to repeat colors in the border triangle blocks and I did one this morning. It was fun and I think I am going to enjoy making them. If the car ever gets fixed so I can go places again, and the weather ever warms up and the ice melts, then I will see if I can get enough fabrics so that I won't have to repeat colors in the square center blocks. Anyway using some of the same in the triangle blocks will give me time to acquire more. As long as I am working on it I am making progress and it doesn't really matter which part. I am also using white on white fabrics on the border blocks because I am almost out of solid white.

Meanwhile, we are all longing for Spring. The kids in Washington State are inundated with snow this year. Usually, out there it snows and then that's that for the year. This year it seems they are having one snow storm after another, just like out here. The wives and children are having a blast, but David and Matthew are not enjoying it, they both hate snow. Well Spring is on it's way, another month and things should improve. We can hope anyway.

It is now a functioning bathroom, not completed, but usable, and I think my knees are starting to show some improvement since I am not on the stairs all the time. We still have to go upstairs for the shower, but that is starting tonight. I have no complaints whatsoever and I am just happy, happy, happy. I still have to shop for hampers and waste baskets and towels, but I will go to some thrift shops to look as soon as it's possible. I am having trouble figuring out where all my furniture is going to go and suspect I will have to get rid of at least one piece. Oh well. I have a pretty good idea of where to start, it means emptying one in my bedroom. Something I don't have the energy for right now, but will do it soon.

So things are coming along and it will soon be warming up (we hope), Ambrosina is planning her garden and she is hoping to start a butterfly garden this year. Life is pretty good.

 This one would have benefited with less white in the printed fabric. G-3 Four Leaf Clover, hand appliqued.

 This one was fast and easy, a lot of fun. The little center triangles measure about a quarter of an inch. It is paper pieced. Imagine doing it by hand the old fashioned way. I could do it but I don't think I would! G-4 Shutter Bug.

This one was also a lot of fun, but not as fast. These tiny little triangles were even smaller. It was all I could do to manipulate them and although I did paper-piece them I was wondering if I shouldn't have tried to do it by hand, but in the end I did do them on the machine with a very small stitch. G-6 Papa's Star.

I was wrong when I counted what fabrics I had left and I had more than I thought. I can do a couple more blocks tomorrow and then go from there. While the weather is so cold and everything outside is so slick I can't get to the fabric store but will work on something else after that, thus putting off the decision of where I go from here as regards to fabric.

Ambrosina finished laying the tile in the bathroom. She plans to grout on Friday, tomorrow is her shopping day and she won't have time to do it before then. It is steadily coming together. There is a lot more to do, but every little bit helps.

David went out to take the car for a test drive, but the battery was dead, no surprise there, so I still don't know whether we have transportation yet. Too cold to go anywhere anyway, so I shouldn't grumble. At least with the rest of the basement insulated and heating ducts run it's warm enough down here. We haven't had to use the space heater, except when the furnace wasn't working. That saves on the electric bill. The rest of the house is warmer too without the cold seeping up from the basement. So glad it's getting done.

 This is the flooring going in, the office/Anthony's bedroom and

the bathroom which is tile. It is almost there, can't wait!

G-1 Hattie's Hen House. Fast and easy, but then I love curved piecing.
G-2 Mohawk Trail. This one should have been fast and easy, but wasn't. The pattern soft ware didn't reverse the design and no matter how I did the paper piecing it didn't come out right. Then I decided to do it the half-square triangle way but I measured wrong and they were two small, the block was almost done before I realized it. I decided that two mornings were enough time to spend on it so I decided to add a small white border to get it up to size. After all, who but me is going to know there is a difference?

I am now down to three pieces of unused yellow and after that I have to decide whether or not I am going to repeat.

I wanted to go to the fabric store and the yarn store today but Ambrosina didn't want to take out time from tiling the bathroom to take me. Besides that, it could get down to -29 with wind chill and it has been snowing all morning.

The good news is that Phillip, the oldest grandson put a new radiator hose on the van over the weekend, so when David gets around to it he is going to take it for a test run to see if that was the problem. The hard part is motivating him to get around to it. If that is the problem I will be so happy, I figure it is just another year until we can afford to get a new car. In the past year we have paid off four doctor bills, and next month we will get one of the credit cards paid off, if all goes as planned. We have to be grateful for the small things in life!

 F-10 Potholder, I couldn't resist the kittens.

 F-13 Tour de France, I suppose it does look a little bicyclish.

 F-12 Starburst, this one is a little off-kilter I might redo it and then again I might not.

F-11 On Target.
So that finishes the sixth row. I am fast running out of different yellows and will have to decide if I am going to repeat fabrics is other blocks or not.

Of course, with no car I can't get to the fabric stores easily and it's been so very cold, what with the Polar Vortex this last week. Today it was so slippery out Ambrosina though I shouldn't go out even though it had warmed up to 29 degrees today.

Although I have been busy it doesn't seem like I have accomplished much these last few days. These blocks, while small are very time consuming, so it won't seem as if I am getting much done until I start putting the quilt together and that is still a long time away. I am not quite done with the center blocks and I haven't even started on the border blocks yet.

This next week I have other projects I need to work on, so I'll probably give Dear Jane a rest for a few days, I hope to get some shopping done if it gets less slippery out we will have to see on that. But I'd love to get to the yarn store and get some things before the money slips all away. Tomorrow we have and appointment with the lawyer and we are hoping to get some things settled. Things are looking up.

This one is called Star Struck, F-6. It's basically a framed Ohio Star.

This one was a little tricky, and took quite a bit of time, there are 37 pieces in it and the little squares a slightly less than half an inch finished. Fun though. F-8 Church Window, and I am over half done with the seventh row. I have another block partially finished and will finish it this afternoon, the basic block is done and the last 8 pieces are hand applique.

Getting there, I will print off some more patterns this afternoon although I don't think I will get enough time to do much this weekend, it's going to be busy.

The basement has sort of stalled, every one seems so busy, or alternatively are not feeling well. There's another bug running through the family, no surprise this time of year.

So, I am practicing my patience, sigh.