First finish

Bigfoot's Forest is all together and ready for quilting!  Measuring about 65" x 72", it will be a nice size for Chris, and I hope to get it to Marie for long arming tomorrow.  She is fairly speedy, but I am sure it won't be ready for his birthday next week.  I made him a card which I'll give him along with an Amazon gift card ("One size fits all," he always says). 

The scrappy checkerboard border took me a long time due to the variety of greens and neutrals along with some 2" squares from the panel I cut up for the previous border.  The center figures were taken from Elizabeth Hartman's Legendary pattern.  I have enough of the green print left over for the binding once the quilt returns home.  Green has always been Chris' favorite color.

The weather here has been typically frigid (in the single digits) with blowing and drifting snow.  I haven't left the house - not even to go to the mailbox - in three days due to icy roads.  If the roads are OK, today I hope to go to the post office to mail a small package and to yoga.

The weather is supposed to moderate a bit tomorrow, and then I'll get out to the quilt shop and maybe Joann Fabrics for "notions."  We are running low on fresh vegetables here, too, so I'll probably shop for them along the way.

I always feel a little let down after finishing a quilt top, so I keep busy with blocks of the month and some scrappy string projects until I feel ready to work on something more seriously.  I have the fabric all ready to cut for an Exploding Heart quilt which I may start later this week.  Meanwhile, I will try to take a nap after yoga today and then read more of the latest Number One Ladies Detective Agency book.  Nothing much is happening, but somehow it's cozy enough for a winter's read.

Thinking about the new year

Projects!  That's what my life has always been about, whether I've been working or retired.  Projects seem to keep me going.  A member of our quilt guild posted a great worksheet for the year's planning, and I think I'll give it a whirl. 

Over the years, I have been keeping a little notebook of details about each quilt I'm working on - size, date begun/finished piecing/finished, some info about the techniques.  I can stuff the worksheet into my notebook although I doubt if I'll fill in the section called "did I sew this week?" which is totally absurd for me.  I sew almost every day!   

My main project right now is the Bigfoot quilt for Chris' birthday January 15 when I hope to have the top ready to show him.  I will ask Marie to quilt it since it's going to be bigger than I like to quilt on my Elna.  I am halfway around the scrappy checkerboard border now.  I know it's risky to add one side at a time, but I decided that, if it doesn't work out evenly on the last round, I will put an appliqued Bigfoot corner on instead of finishing the checkerboard.  Then there will be two plain borders and then I'll be finished. 

After I get the checkerboard done, I may take a day off and work on a few blocks of the month, for the first blocks of Aby's "Optimism" quilt and the guild's BOM.  After I finish the Sasquatch quilt, I will try to return to Dear Jane for a while.  I have made and quilted half of the interior rows and would like to make the other 7 by the end of the year.  There will be distractions, and that's OK.  

I watch more TV during the winter and like to knit while doing so.  I'm working on a red hat, teenage sized, for Bags of Love while I figure out what to make with the gradient bundle of fingering yarn my sister gave me for Christmas.  I would love to make a small shawl for myself, so I'll spend some time rolling these lovelies into balls while I decide what to do.

It's coming along

I've taken lots of time off, but the Bigfoot quilt is still coming along fairly well.  I am ready to put a set of borders on... maybe tomorrow.  I cut each of the little panels out and bordered them to make a border.   This was fun as the "Legends of the National Parks" are quite hilarious.  It seems every park has its weird creature.  Before attaching these borders, I will add some coping strips which have already been cut out.

When I finish adding the borders, the quilt will be about 45" x 57", which will still be too small for Chris, who is 6' tall.  So I will need to come up with another set of borders before a final print border in the "Bigfoot" line of fabric.

I'm thinking about flying geese or four patches using some of the left over small panel scraps and dark green and brown scraps.

When those borders are on, I think the quilt will still be a little too small for my 6' foot.  I've been thinking about some footprints around the outside before the final border.  It's very much a design as you go quilt, which I enjoy.

Today we went grocery shopping very early, I changed the sheets on the bed and did some laundry, and we met our friends Samantha and Vicki for a nice lunch.  It seems to be becoming our holiday tradition, as Vicki is a teacher and very busy most of the year.  Now I am heading for my easy chair to read a little more in Letters from Skye, a newish novel told in letters.  It's a gray day, so maybe I'll doze off a bit, too!

A bonanza of sweet treats!

I got a message a few days ago from UPS saying that a package would be coming yesterday, Dec. 19.  We watched and waited, but by 7:30 pm, hadn't seen or heard a thing.  Then at around 7:35, we got a message that a package had been delivered.  It was from Peter's Gourmet Market, a Dutch store in Michigan that Mom and I shop at regularly.  I hadn't ordered anything recently, but obviously Mom had - and it is wonderful!  Three layers of yummy Dutch goodness!

Paul hasn't had many of the goodies in the box, but of course, I have and am delighted.  

I was going to bake cookies today, but that isn't necessary.  I think we have enough for a while!  I'll put some into a tin for Chris and then serve the rest when/if company comes or we get a hankering for sweets.  

This leaves me with a little more time to work on Christmas cards and make Chex Mix today.  Maybe I'll even get back to sewing on the Bigfoot quilt.  Some additional fabric arrived yesterday, too, so I am ready to add a few more rounds.  This afternoon, we're getting together with some neighbors and tomorrow afternoon with other neighbors.   These are folks we see almost every day when it's not winter, but in winter we all hibernate somewhat.  It's good to get together during these dark months.