The first turtles quilt is coming along, picture as promised. I don't know exactly when I will finish it, I only work on it for about a half an hour a day. There are quite a few tops waiting their time to be quilted so I don't have to hurry. I stopped and counted the blocks and I made 650 of them. I didn't plan to make so many of them, they are addictive. I didn't know that I was making that many but I want to make them for the grandkids, I think there will be enough! The pieces dangling on the right are bird blocks that I am using between the turtle seams so I don't have to have long threads hanging everywhere. I am not planning on making 650 if of those though.

So that's about all today, I'm mostly just trying to catch up on my quilting to make up what I lost when the house was all a messed up. I still have a few things to get unpacked and I hope to do that on Monday.

The tatted doily finished. I didn't realize it would be this big. It didn't take all that long to make, I didn't work on it steadily, I had too many other things I was doing. Anyway it has satisfied my lace making desire for a while. I was planning the next hexagon quilt a the same time, and I decided on a design, sort of. I need to get some hexagon graph paper and draw it out with colored pencils.

I quilted on this during the morning. I had four bobbins wound with white thread and I didn't want to waste it so I put Starring Pinwheels aside for the morning and emptied those bobbins, then I could wind them with black and I wouldn't have to stop so often to rewind bobbins with black. I see more bobbins purchased next payday.

Starring Pinwheels is looking pretty good though. Each one of the stars takes a full bobbin of thread and a half an hour to quilt. There are 15 stars and they are 18 inches, so they are big. The white of the background and sashing strips is done, so I just have the pinwheel cornerstones, the pink stars and the border to do in black. It is time consuming since I am doing the stars in such small circles. I'll call them pearls, they are about that size!

I got a good start on putting the first turtle quilt together last night. I think it's going to be very cute and I will have a picture tomorrow or the next day, I think. Hexagon Stars is also getting near to completion. I'm not in any hurry for that one, I'm getting too many ahead of me to be quilted again. Losing all that time by having my sewing corner disrupted upstairs put me behind. Next year maybe I'll get the UFOs all completed. A person can always dream.

And I hear the boys are home, time to run up and see how their day went.

Starring Pinwheels is coming along pretty good. I forgot and wound all my bobbins in white, so that when I got to the black thread quilting I only had 3 empty bobbins. Each one of these big stars takes a full bobbin of thread. That is a lot of quilting! I like the way it is turning out. Each one of these circles is about the size or smaller of a dime which is needed going into the points. It takes a while though. I think I will pull one of the other basted quilts out of the trunk and empty the white bobbins on it so that I will have more bobbins to wind black onto. That way I won't have to stop so often to unthread and wind black bobbins.

It has turned off cold, I need to pull out my winter clothes and get ready to start bundling up. Sigh. Soon I will start to putting the heater on to take the chill off as I get ready to settle in to do my afternoon's handwork. Right now is about the time I start figuring out how many months it will be before it starts to warm up again. Not that it helps any. I know I can live through it, I've managed before. Every year in fact, just like everybody else! I do so love the summer though. At least this year I will have enough quilts to put on my bed!

I got my upstairs sewing corner back this morning. While there is still a lot of things to get unpacked 1st assistant Happy was pleased to get her quilt back. I got a little quilting done, but mostly just putting things away and getting myself reorganized. Tomorrow I will get a little more done, including cutting lattice for the turtles quilt. I am as Happy as Happy!

I am promised my sewing corner back tomorrow. I don't know how long it will take me to put everything back and put it all away, but at least I can get a good start.

Meanwhile down here I got quite a bit done.

Hexagon stars. Not done but getting there. These seams are all y seams so they take a little longer to get right.

All the turtle blocks are done. They still need pressing and I don't have a final count yet, I think it will reach about 150. Once I get the sewing area upstairs back I can cut out the lattice strips and cornerstones and start putting them together into tops.

I also finished all 6 of my "girl" blocks by hand. They were fun and fast with applique and embroidery, just don't look at the backs! They will be in a wall hanging so it won't matter that I have never been able to make my backs look as pretty as the front. I have the fabric to finish them already so I can cut it as soon as I get my sewing area upstairs back. I don't know when they will be quilted as tops are starting to pile up again since I haven't been able to quilt.

It has also turned out cold and we expect our first frost tonight. Ambrosina is going with the boys after school over to the garden and gather everything that is left. There will be more pickling and canning and freezing to come in the next week or so. David also opened the heater vents down here and cleaned out the lint trap of the small space heater so we are ready to go when it gets too cold. I will also spend more time upstairs to save heating costs.

I have started pinning Drunkard's Path bird blocks, which is the time consuming part of the pattern. I am not ready to sew them yet, but I will have the prepared when I am. I am hoping to use up the remaining solid color pieces I have cut out on the birds and then I can use prints for the fish that I have in mind since I will need a square the same color as the body of the fish. Sounds a little complicated, I need to sit down and draw the pattern I have in mind.

I am hoping that things will get back to normal soon, I am really missing Brunhilde my Viking sewing machine and have many winter projects planned. For now it's back to the hand work that I love so much!

Today was my monthly shopping day. A few things at Walmart. Then my favorite thrift store. And did I score big. Two bags of quilting fabrics!

This bag of lovely pink stripe combinations.

And this bag of shirting plaids, I know exactly what I am going to do with them but I have to wait  until I can sew upstairs again.

I also went to Joann's. Since Hancock and Mill Ends closed their prices are gone up. They know they are the only fabric store in town.

These blues for bird backgrounds cost 3 times as much as all the other fabrics combined. Thrift store availability is whatever someone donates, I can't often get what I need for a certain project unfortunately. I have to take what I can get and shop for particulars at Joann's. I like what I got at Joann's, I just wish it didn't cost so much; there weren't any sales there today either.

Well, the shopping is done for another month. There was an old Singer Touch and Sew machine at the thrift store but I didn't get it, it wasn't in very good shape and rusty. I liked the one I had many years ago, I used the decorative stitches a lot, but I don't need it for that I have Brunhilde the Viking for that now and space is always at a premium here.

My upstairs sewing corner is still unavailable, I know Ambrosina is working as fast as she can. The holes have to be taped and muded and painting touch up done and that takes time to dry between coats. It gives me a chance to work on patience, and heaven knows, I need that.

The first of the appliqued and embroidered girl blocks is done. I figured out last night how I want to set them when they are done. There are six in all and I love them! It's fun to do something simple and easy, makes a nice change. When they are done I will go back to the hexagons. The second is almost done so they won't take long to finish.

Now it's time to put my loot away and finish my coffee. There's work to be done!

The insulating is done, now comes the hard part--clean-up!

I couldn't get many pictures, just going up to the bathroom set off my asthma and got me wheezing. The furnace fan is going full blast to get the air filtered. Soon the plastic will come off and things will be going back into place. We will all be glad.

This was a major family effort. It was Malachi's job to turn the machine off when they needed to move the hose into the next hole to be filled and soon he was able to tell when the hole was filled without being told and turn off the machine, pretty good for a nine year old. It was Sammy's job to bring in the bags of insulation, a celulose fiber. The bags were big but not heavy and he took his job very seriously, no one had to wait, one was there waiting when needed. Phillip helped fill the hopper of the blower and made no complaints what so ever. Am I proud of those three boys? You bet!

I stayed down here and treadled at Ernestine. I also took the machine apart down here and did their major clean and oiling. I will be helping with as much clean up as possible; we are all anxious to have the house back to normal. Ambrosina is going to patch the holes room by room. She wants to repaint  this winter anyway, and I am sure it will be worth all the work to have the house warmer with fewer drafts. She is hoping she won't have to put plastic over the windows this winter because of it, but I don't know about that.

So, I am hoping my upstairs sewing area will be available early this week, I would like to finish the quilt I have on the table, but patience is important, the boys need their rooms put back to normal first and I will just have to be supportive, if I can do nothing else.

The cats were shut down here while the work was going on and they had a running battle all over the basement as a result. They knocked a lot of stuff over down here and I have to put that stuff away as well. I think I have too much junk! It is time to get busy!