Yesterday I had a blue jay and the woodpecker under the bird feeder. They both tried to stake it as their territory and then gave up and shared the space.
I couldn't get them to both give me a side view at the same time. I need to walk out in the fresh snow and fill the feeders today.
I decided to do some shopping yesterday on the warmest day of the week (30 degrees) before the snow started to fall in the evening. I finished a dishcloth in the afternoon and sewed a few more strips on the log cabin blocks. I'll play with layouts for the star blocks for a couple days before I make a final decision. I'm still thinking about a narrow sashing ( 1/2" or 3/4" finished) between the stars and haven't looked for a fabric for it yet.
I made 3 stars last night to play catch up. Now I have 24 to play with and make some decisions.
Two friends came over to sew yesterday and I worked on my plaid log cabin blocks while they were here. I also did some more cutting of plaids and stripes. I hope to show progress soon.
The 24 blocks are not in any particular order here, just a documentation of all 24 together. Then I did some dividing into groups and playing with them.
I pulled out the 12 that had the most purple in them and put them together on another design wall.
This batch had the most yellows, turquoise and oranges in them.
Then I removed 3 from this last group of 12 and this is the result.
The three I removed might make a nice table runner.
I had a red headed visitor to my back yard yesterday morning.
He was more than happy to clean up under the bird feeder.
I cut all five of the Blazing stars with my Studio cutter last night but only got two of them sewn. The navy and red fabric in the top star is from about 20 years ago and was purchased near the beginning of my batik collection. There weren't very many people buying the batiks yet then so I found it on sale at half price and got several yards of it. I have used it in so many projects.
I'm sorry you misunderstood the miscellaneous box that I talked about yesterday. It isn't fabric; I have no trouble categorizing that, and usually by the size of the pieces and type of fabric rather than by color. The miscellaneous box is all of the other "stuff" that finds its way to the cutting table or sewing cabinet and really doesn't have a place to call home. Some of it is notebooks with my lists and sketches, photo pages torn out of calendars for inspiration, a quilted handle for a bag that never got made (but I don't dare throw it away or I'll need it), end pieces of stratas that are waiting patiently to be trimmed, a binder clip with numbered slips of paper in it, etc. The list could go on and on.
I didn't shovel my sidewalk after Sunday's snowfall so yesterday I had the combination of two storms to shovel off, about 5" I think. It was light and fluffy and there wasn't any wind so even though it was only in the teens outside, it didn't feel that cold with the sun shining on me. The coneflowers and bird feeder have snow caps.
Jack Frost visited my kitchen window.
If you have asked me a question and I haven't answered you it is because you are either a Google+, a regular Google without your email enabled, or you are anonymous. I have an email link on both my right side bar and on my profile page.
I did lots of cutting and then grouping the five fabrics needed for each Blazing Star block. I also did lots of sorting and moving things both in the main floor studio and in the basement. There is always a pile left over that doesn't belong in any category. Unfortunately one container is always filled with the miscellaneous and probably it could all be thrown away and would not be missed.
Yesterday was the day to take the gifts to our church sewing circle for packing. They will be blessed next Sunday and then delivered in time for the Christmas party next week. I had a little time in the morning to sit and sew these 8 blocks together for a table runner before I left.
The roads were pretty clean but the temperature was only in the teens yesterday. It was down to 0 by the time I went to bed. More snow is predicted Wednesday so I rescheduled my eye appointment in Chicago to January. Wednesday is supposed to be the coldest day this week and there in no sense in risking my son's and my life for a 3 month check up. The black ice on the roads in these conditions is the worst problem. Now we just have to hope for good weather in the middle of January.
On the way home I stopped at Michael's and bought four of the square boxes for my shelf unit. They were on sale for $5.39. I have already filled them with my 'less than quarter yard' pieces of batiks.
I did three more errands on the way home and hopefully will be able to stay home the rest of the really cold days this week.
#19 is pretty wild so I hope it looks good with the rest. I thought the green was going to read darker than the orange but it didn't so they are in the wrong positions. I don't think that will make any difference in the end.
This paper pieced star has been waiting for its corner triangles for 10 months. I decided this Hoffman batik was just perfect. If you want to see it without its corners, click here.
We have snow on the ground now, about 3" according to the news. It was dark by the time it stopped snowing so I didn't go out and measure. My snow plow guy came and cleared my driveway last night. For the last 2 years the first time he needed to come was Feb.
I spent the morning yesterday doing the machine embroidery on 4 dish towels for the ladies in the apartments at the mission that our church helps support. We don't know anything about the ladies so it is hard to get them anything personal. A new dishtowel and dishcloths always brighten my day so I hope it will brighten theirs.
In the afternoon I started cleaning up an area of the basement and cut a lot of scraps with my die cutter. This is the 1 1/2" square die.
I store the squares in this Snapware container. I'm not sure where I bought this one. The top 2 layers are open and the bottom layer is divided.
There are lids on the two sections of the bottom layer.
There are 2" squares and 1 1/2" squares in it. When it gets too full to hold any more I'll come up with a project for them.
