Two "Home Is" Wallhangings Are Done!

I spent some time working in the yard today and then rewarded myself with time in the sewing room! Tiger was hanging out with me, because she was missing her Karen.




















She spent the majority of the evening on my left foot. This was interrupted occasionally by crawling to the other side of me and giving me the Woebegone Sad Face, propped on my right knee.
















Eventually, her Karen came home from her class and I was deserted. Without a backward glance.

In the meantime, I put three quilt hangers from Ackfeld on the wall over the sofa in the den. (Michael gave them to me on our anniversary in November!) I grabbed a block from my stack of "Home Is Where The Heart Is" blocks, and sandwiched it with batting and backing, minimally quilted it in the ditch and a few strategic midpoint areas, and then bound it. I made two tabs and used buttons to hold them....















Voila! April is hanging! (Click to embiggen)

Yes, I know it's only January. I meant to grab March, so that I could work toward getting January, February and March on the wall. Figured if I ran into my usual good (?) luck, I would surely be able to finish February and March, by the beginning of March. However, it went quickly. So quickly that I had time to do another one. That's when I figured out I had my months screwed up. Oh well! I grabbed the Real March block and finished it too!
















I think it's going to look nice. Me Likee!

















My goal eventually is to have the current month in the center, and the next month on the right, the previous month on the left. Each month I'll bring out a new block and put one away, and there will always be three displayed. Yay!!

Tomorrow, back to my "Do What You Love" project. I have some hand embroidery waiting for me - ugh. I'm not real fond of hand embroidery, mostly because it makes my hands hurt.... but I am determined to get this small amount done, and then get to quilting that wall hanging!

The year of the UFO is shaping up nicely!!

Wrong Dance!

Okay, I got careless. That much is obvious! A bright whitish orb showed up in the sky and I saw a rainbow and....

I did the Happy Dance.

I could swear it was the Happy Dance!

And the downpour returned.

I obviously screwed up and did a Rain Dance. I'm sorry!

I'm going to go take a nap now.

That's safer!

Here comes storm #2

Don't forget your umbrellas!!

StormWatch!

Every time it even gets misty around here, it seems like the media goes crazy and suddenly, we're on Storm Watch on the televisions.... It's normal around here not to have rain from spring until fall.... and to have pretty much clear weather punctuated with brief monsoons (just kidding) during the late fall, winter and very early spring. You can pretty much plan on an outdoor event around here and not even make backup plans in the event of rain. What rain?

Well, then something like this week's forecast comes along, and we're kind of pooh-poohing it and thinking, "yeah.... right."

Here's what the news predicted for the week, when I read the on-line headlines yesterday afternoon....

The National Weather Service has issued a new and disturbing forecast for this week’s series of storms, saying Orange County could receive “potentially epic” rains, with as much as 20” of precipitation in the Santa Ana Mountains and 4” to 8” along the coast.

Santa Ana averages less than 3” of rain for the entire month of January.

“We’re giving a lot of advance warning so property owners and emergency planners can take action ahead of this,” says Rob Balfour, a weather service forecaster.

The U.S. Climate Prediction Center said today the upcoming storms “finally show El Nino traipsing in” to Southern California. El Nino can greatly enhance rainfall. Forecasters said the upcoming storms could rival the damaging El Nino rains that hit Orange County in January 1995.

Balfour said the polar jet stream “is extremely strong; it already extends from off Asia to Hawaii and up higher.” The storms will tap some of that sub-tropical moisture, strengthening the storms.

The first storm will arrive late Sunday night or early Monday and will drop 1.5” or more of rain. The surges coming Tuesday and Thursday/Friday will be stronger. By the end of the week, hillsides will be soaked, raising the prospect of mudslides. Ski resorts in the San Bernardino Mountains are expected to get 4 feet of snow.

I decided to stick a precise (not!) rain gauge outside at 4 p.m. yesterday, when the first droplets appeared. The rains came. And came, and came, and came. Then at 4 p.m. today, the clouds scurried away, and the blue sky laughed at us as we walked around the backyard in this.

And here's my "precise rain gauge".....

2.75" in 24 hours. Hmmm. Maybe they're actually on to something this time! If that's the case, the rest of the week could get interesting!

And here's how Michael warmed up today after he got home, soggy and cold, from the Land of Lost Packages..... he asked for help from his personal space heaters!

Sewing Saturday!

I took some time this weekend to join our dear Ellen and Jenny for a Sewing Saturday! We're working on a sampler project together and the three of us wanted to do our block together. There are five of us doing it: Ellen, Jenny, Karene, and I here in So Cal, and my sister Jacque in South Carolina!! Karene and Jacque had already done their block for this month. We tried, tried, tried to twist Yvette's arm into joining us, but she managed to escape without us enabling her into another project for this year. She has promised to come and join us sometimes when we are working on this sampler, and work on her own UFOs at the same time! Sounds like a plan to me!

Here's a view of each of the five blocks (name of quilter is under each block - click on pix to embiggen!):
















Karene's block

















Jenny's block


















Ellen's block


















Jacque's block


















and Joy's block.

We "done good!!" Thank you Ellen, for letting us sew at your house. I can't wait for next month's block! We will sure know a lot about half-square triangles when we finish the next one!

:)

Saturday Sampler Month One is Done

Got the third 5-inch square one tonight.... Here are the three together:

This one gave me fits for some reason.... some creative cursing and un-sewing took place. But, I won! Now I am looking forward to working on "Do What You Love" for the rest of the week when I get time, and Saturday, I will join Ellen and Jenny to make block one of the Web Sampler!

Thank heavens, a new post!

It was brought to my attention by one of my many five readers that it has been quite a while since I posted. The Happy Holidays (which were neither) have ended, thankfully.... and life at Chez Bury has been rather tame and quiet. But here's a little Quilty Stuff that I've been up to!

I'm continuing to work on my "Do What You Love, With All Your Heart".





















I used my embroidery machine to make the signs, top and bottom, because my hands just don't handle huge amounts of embroidery too well any more. I like how it turned out! I have to finish blanket stitching around the signs at the top and bottom, the fabric on the sewing machine, the teacup, and various little things like pins on pincushions and threads dangling from spools....































and then put hearts in all four corners of the border, and VOILA! It will be time to sandwich it and quilt it and bind it! Yay!

Also, Saturday Sampler started last Saturday at Orange Quilt Bee! Here is my first ten inch block.........
















And here are two (of the three) five inch blocks I must make this month. These little guys are small! Many little pieces (though not as many as Yvette's Insane Block!) scattered all over everywhere.....

















And this appears to be one of the easier five inch blocks!


















I have one more 5 inch block to piece tomorrow and I'm done for January!

Then I will hopefully organize my UFO list, and get it on my sidebar to keep me on target, and start busting UFO's!!