Featherstone Quiltworks

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, in no logical order.  First, The Ugly:  I bought 6 more yards from our LQS that sadly closed their doors Saturday.  It was 60% off though, so a good investment.  I used 1/2 yard from stash.  This week’s numbers:

The Bad.  April 5th, and it snowed this morning.  That isn’t all that uncommon in April in Minnesota, but it really has felt like we’re really going to get into spring any day now.  This wasn’t the day.  Plus these ups and downs in barometric pressure play havoc with my wrist.  Although I can’t predict the weather, I CAN tell you when change is on the way!

This little ol’ crab tree outside our kitchen window provides us a lot of  entertainment, between the birds and the tree itself.  Here you can see where the birds (mostly robins) have “harvested” the crab apples left over from last year.  I always wonder if they are a little fermented for springtime grazing, but I haven’t noticed any obnoxious behavior from the birds, so probably not.

There was one frozen morsel still tightly clinging to its stem. 

And The Good:  It’s Easter Week, and I have so much to be thankful for.  I have a wonderful family.  DS#3 turned 30 yesterday.   (DS#2′s birthday is Friday, we have a DIL who is very precious to us, and DS#1 plans to come home for a visit this summer — maybe around his birthday.)  DH found a sunny spot to read this afternoon (he always reminds me of a cat when he is enjoying sitting in the sunshine).  Pat, Carol & Marcia, do you recognize the plant sunning with him?  And do you get Vitamin D through the glass?  I think you do…

I finally finished my green stocks, and started a yummy red pair.  Rather, a started a yummy red sock (that pair thing takes time.)  These only seem to take forever because I don’t get much knitting time in during the week.  I wish I could crank out socks a lot faster because there are so many beautiful yarns and patterns, I will never get to make all the ones I want to make.  These are from patterns in Cat Bordhi’s book, Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles.  A photo:

Thank you to those of you who commented on my jacket post and gave me some suggestions.  Sandi, darn it anyway, you are absolutely right — it needs RIC-RAC (I would have NEVER thought of it on my own)!!!  So I’m going to take the collar back off and re-do it (that’s the “darn it” part!).  I would love to change the buttons, but they are the riveted-in type, so they are there to stay.  The cuffs are quite heavy and I didn’t want to cover them.  Thank you, Pam D., for the suggestion to REPLACE them!  I think that will be a good option (and one I hadn’t thought of), and will lighten up the whole look and feel.  I may also add some stars or flowers when I see how these other changes work out.

*whew*  That’s it for now – The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.  Maybe next time I’ll try for A Fistful of Dollars!  (Sorry, but DH loves those old spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood!)

Sue

Okay, we were on vacation two weeks, trying to catch up at home one week,  hubby in hospital one week, convalescing another week — I feel like I should add that the dog ate my notebook, except we don’t have a dog!  So here goes with a consolidated report:

• Yards IN YTD:                28.75
• Yards OUT YTD:            14.50
• Net for 2009:               +14.25
• Goal for 2009:              -75.00

In case you’re interested, I purchased fabric for my kaleidoscope quilt filler blocks (which I immediately cut up and added to the mix), bought some fabric for my Minnesota Quilters Challenge Quilt (bought batiks to go with those supplied in the kit), then changed my mind on the background and bought a DIFFERENT background fabric.  This is how stash accumulates!!!

Goals for the last two weeks of February:

• Pat & Patrick’s Irish Chain (working on the borders)
• Challenge Quilt — finish piecing
• Quilt & Bind Judy L’s Labor Day Challenge
• Catch up on Judy L’s Star BOM February blocks
• Laundry Start Judy L’s Bears in the Farmhouse

Okay, about the laundry.  I probably would have had half a chance to stay caught up if I had never happened upon Judy’s site, but this is a lot more fun!

And I’m not counting gifts of fabric in my Stash Report, but here’s what Handsome Son and Lovely Daughter-In-Law purchased for me during their trip to China:

Each piece is somewhere between one and two yards.  These aren’t cotton fabrics, but probably a poly or other kind of synthetic.  I can really see a couple of these as jacket lapels or panels of a jacket.  The bright red would make striking pillows.  Any other ideas to help me along would be greatly appreciated.

Sue