On a Whim

So far, this month has been a bust for quilting.  Life has been busy and I'm tired by the time evening rolls along.  Now that it is mid-month .... I had better get my butt into gear and get something done!

I did pull out my donation box looking to see what was in there that could be used.  These two blocks were pulled out and I wondered what could be done with them.  There were other blocks but .... blah .... they just didn't work.  So, these blocks stayed and then I started to play.

At night guild, we were shown a new block to do and once instructions were sent to me, viola, here is the block.  Except, I did a boo-boo and didn't quite make the block correctly.  I'm ok with my mistake and all four blocks will stay as is.  No, Jack the Ripper is not coming out.

Then, in the box was a strip of these pinwheels and they got ripped out and used.  Four churn dash blocks got made.  The blocks are starting to add up and fill in spaces.

Then another four blocks of this one.

Below is what my top is looking like so far.  There is still one more block to do and I'm searching for a pattern.  I'm thinking of doing the potholder method to quilt this top.  I've been wanting to experiment with this method for some time now and think this will be perfect.  If it doesn't come out the way I envision, it will be a utility quilt for the cottage.  If it looks nice, then it will be up for donation.

Last week, my sister and her two daughters and I had a marvellous evening out dining in a dome outside on the restaurant patio!  We were told to dress warmly and in layers.  The dome was heated but we were provided with blankets to wrap around our feet and legs.  The temps was just above freezing and we just sat back, drank and enjoyed the food and company.  We had a blast!  My sister's hubby did the driving of us back and forth so that we could drink and not worry about who would be the DD.  Below, is my sister (on the left) and I.  There is a photo somewhere of the four of us, but I just couldn't find it in my files or phone.   

The month of January and half of February were like spring.  No snow and daytime temps were above freezing.  The snow was melting.  Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.  Then, we had a dump of 6" of snow yesterday.  So, so happy to see that for this summer and forest fire season.

Two deer came around this morning and nibbled on our euonymus plant.  We think it is the same deer that decimated it last winter and remembered and came back again.  No problem, the leaves will grow back in the spring as it did last spring.  No photo of the deer, just their footprints in the snow.  Hubby woke me up at 6:15 a.m. this morning to show me the deer.  After admiring the deer, I crawled back into bed.  We were busy later shovelling the snow.

From time to time, I receive emails from followers who have been reading my blog for many years now.  They just want to say how much they enjoy my blog and how much they have been inspired.  Some, I can reply back to but most are no-reply addresses.  Thank you, kind readers.  I'm getting close to 1.3 million views, so I know that I have reached out to many quilters over the years.

Yesterday, I received an email from a gentleman whose wife has terminal cancer.  She is an avid reader of my blog and he reached out to me to tell me.  So, if you are reading this and you are the wife of Jason Burnside, 'hello' and thank you for reading my blog.  I hope that you also have been inspired by something on my blog over the years and have enjoyed reading about and seeing my quilts.

So far, I have made over 200 quilts ..... from NICU blankets, to runners, place mats, lap size to queen size quilts.  You, dear readers, have been part of the reason for me making so many items.  You have kept me motivated to show something on my blog and the results are there for me to see.  Many of the quilts have been kept for hubby and I ..... but quite a number of quilts have been gifted or donated and I'm moving into more of the donation period now.

Next week, I will have been blogging for 17 years.    As long as my eyes and my hands work and I'm alive, then I will be blogging for many more years.  Heck, I have the stash to keep me busy!  LOL

Cherish your day, cherish your life!