More snow last weekend.  This means the ducks still aren’t laying eggs.  Seems to me they have their days and nights mixed up.  They stay under the deck all day when it’s bright and beautiful.  When it gets dark or starts to snow, they go to the middle of the yard and they sleep there all night.  Isn’t that backwards?

Kacey doesn’t particularly like the snow.  The neighbor dogs always want to play, but she won’t have much of that!

The only great thing about this white stuff is that it keeps me inside and addicted to my sewing machine.  I finished my second baby quilt for the month, which in itself is incredible!   That big word, FINISH, isn’t usually in my vocabulary.  So here’s one of my favorite boys, Arvo, with his new blankie.  I used the abundant scraps I had from the fabulous freecycle giveaway to make a pretty cute bug blanket. 

Big brother, Nico, pointed out all the bugs for Arvo.

I’m pretty sure that Nico has much more fun when the boys come over than Arvo does at this stage of the game.  Arvo just wants his mama.  Understandable!

I am a thrifty kinda girl!  So much so that I can’t even bring myself to throw away scraps like this….

leftover from the multiple string quilts I’ve been working on.  Really now, what can be done with pieces so darn small?

I’ve got a new quilt, thanks to ideas from a few different quilters, Crazy Mom Quilts and I Love Baby Quilts.  Crazy Mom did this fabulous Ticker Tape quilt.  What a great scrap using idea!  And the mini size baby quilts are a super idea over at I Love Baby Quilts.  Why does an infant in a carrier need much more blanket than this? 

The finished size is approximately 24″ x 24″.  I started it last week during the Super Bowl and finished it mid week, which for me is an accomplishment just to finish something!  Does anyone else sew at times on their coffee table like this?

Absolutely enjoyable!  And if you want to make this little blankey, just follow my brief show and tell….

Start by making a quilt sandwich.  White cotton, batting and a soft flannel for the flip side. 

Pin together and now you’re ready to put your scraps on AND quilt at the same time. 

There really is no rhyme or reason to it.  Start putting pieces all over the top side until you’ve covered the whole thing.

Keep going and going and going.

I used a satin binding so when this little baby gets a little older, he’ll love to rub that satin right up to his cheek (or suck on it!)  and take it with him everywhere he goes ;-)  He’ll be addicted, just like my oldest daughter was to her first blanket!

Of course, the ultimate product is after it has been washed and has that great crinkle and softness.  The edges frayed really nice too! 

 Nope, I didn’t forget about you duck followers.  They’re hangin’ around the back porch during these cold days.  I’m such a nice girl, I put some straw under the deck for them. 

I guess I’m just ASKING them to poop all over my patio!

If you don’t freecycle, then I’m gonna show you how! First, go to www.freecycle.org  and look for your city.  FREECYCLE is a nonprofit group of people (you and me) who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns.  The whole purpose is to reuse and keep stuff out of landfills.  Membership is free!  I like free and I’m guessing you do too! 

The best thing about freecycle is you can get it right to your inbox.  Therefore, you won’t miss much if you’re around a computer.  I jumped on an email a few weeks ago that said “QUILTING, FABRICS, NOTIONS… cleaning out my sewing room”.  I replied quickly and was the lucky recipient of things I knew not what they would be, that’s the most fun! 

I decided the next morning, on my way to “Eula’s” house, that I better scoop the snow from my truck bed, not knowing how much stuff I would be collecting.  She did mention that her husband would LOAD it for me if I pulled up to the garage!  Let me show you my treasures….

You talk about a good time dumping all this stuff out on my living room floor!  Even the dog had to check it out.

There were bags and bags of fabric, quilt books, quilt magazines, thread, ribbon, etc.  Oh my gosh, did I have a good time!

I found lots of “quilts in progress” as I like to call them.  Squares, triangles, pieces, ready to be sewn!

Lots and lots of random squares.

And then there were multiple bags of plaids, perfect for a man quilt!  Unless someone can give me any other ideas??

But maybe the most fun for me was all the bright fish and bug prints.  OMG!!  Let’s just say these will keep me busy for weeks.  I’ve already started at least 6 quilts with just these prints.  I’ll be showing them off real soon!

SO, what are you waiting for?  Get yourself freecycling, NOW!

Right now my obsession really has nothing to do with ducks, except that I do worry about them a little too much. They spend most days sitting in snow drifts and tonight we’ll see how they do in the minus temps. So far they don’t seem to be fazed by any of our nasty midwest storms, except that I can’t find any eggs.

THIS has become my indoor addiction…

I found it on a fabulous quilter’s website, Film In The Fridge .  I dreamed about it so much that I HAD to make it!   I’m hoping to make it king sized if I can stick with it long enough.  Of course, Kacey makes sure all blankets in the house are up to code (her code….COMFY!).

But then I decided I needed something to work on while I watched TV, so I struggled for a day and knitted my first sock!

“WOW!” you say?  Yep, I’m pretty proud of this one only because it was my first attempt.  Let’s just say after hours of youtube instruction and another hour on the phone with my superb knitter friend, Lauren, I finished sometime around midnight.  Mind you I started at 8 in the morning with very few breaks! 

Hubby says the per hour cost of my single sock may not be cost effective. 

What? I have to duplicate it!!??  AHHHHHHH!!!

My perfect kind of day was today!  We had a beautiful rain, it was wonderfully cool, I had the day off AND it happened to be my birthday, so ultimately I also got to go out to dinner.  I usually start the day just making sure I count 6 heads, duck heads that is.  Today they were having a blast, all wet and muddy and on worm patrol.

OH, and let’s not forget the tomatoes!  They are likin’ the rain too and are starting to turn.  These are beefsteak, big and beautiful!

I LOVE to sew on a rainy day!  For all of you who sew out there, let me show you what I worked on today and maybe it will be something you might whip up too.  I first saw this curtain about 5 years ago in our local quilt shop hanging in their back window.  Of course, I studied it and ran home to create it from memory.  And then my squares sat in a box for a few years until I remembered to get them out again (very important to remember where all those lost projects are!).

This is how cool it will look when it’s finished, but would you believe this is a page from a book I picked up at the bookstore where I work.  Believe it or not, the original design is from one of my favorite artists, Kaffe Fassett.  What a treat to find a design I already had begun!

These are my own rough directions.  I am lucky to have box after box of various scraps of fabric.  Use lightweight cottons for the large blocks and a gauzy pale fabric for the smaller squares.  I made the large blocks 4 1/2″ square and the smaller blocks, 2 1/2″ square.  The whole piece ends up having a very “unkempt” look, so I freehand cut most of the blocks rather than using a rotary cutter.

Eyeball the gauze on the larger block.  No need to measure and be too accurate.  Remember, you’re going for that rough charm.

Topstitch the small block onto the large block WITHOUT turning under edges.  Stitch about 1/4″ from the edge.

When you’re finished the square will look like this…..

And the back is cut away so that the light can glow through. 

To get the back cut out I pull the two pieces apart….

Snip the back…..

And then cut around the back, close to the stitching.

Now make lotsa squares.  Really, as many as you like until you get your desired size.

This is what I have so far.

Made especially for my big girl, Kendall, who is going to put the whole thing together.  All I have to do is send her the squares, what a deal!  I think it will be a fitting curtain for her new rustic surroundings.

I’ll end this post with my forever helper.