Rainbow Scrap Challenge for March

Well, I'm barely making it under the wire for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of Aqua for the month of March.  I thought there was one more day in the month - you know it's harder to keep track now that we're all staying in place.  All of the days are running together!

This is how my lovely aqua blocks are shaping up:

And this is why I got a little behind in my sewing:

Yardwork!  I haven't been able to go to the gym so decided to do some yardwork for exercise.  I asked the lawn guy to cut the crepe myrtles for me but then to just leave them where they fell and I would cut them up myself for the yard waste collection.  And I did:

Bad timing on my part.  They just suspended yard waste collection in order to concentrate on and keep up with house waste collection.  Bummer.  I'm left with my buckets full and more limbs to trim with no buckets to put them in.  This is the side I haven't finished:

I'll figure something out.  If that's my only problem, then I consider myself blessed!

On the Frame Friday

I have been quilting a little this week. But not much.  I hurt my back at the gym and have been resting on a heating pad a lot.   You know they say that fresh air and exercise will kill you - lol - but I'm doing much better now.  The Quilts Beyond Borders Fat Quarter Challenge quilt is what’s on the frame today:

 

I have a new panto called Route 66 that appears to be very versatile – It can resemble chicken wire, ocean waves, sound waves, lace, etc.  I might just take my time and play with this one a little just for practice on how to do mirror imaging and reverse paths on my computerized system.

On my way to the dreaded dentist, I saw a plane skywriting – haven’t seen that for a while, since I never go to the beach where they often are.  This guy wasn’t very good since I never could read what he was writing!

Our friendly neighborhood cormorant was drying his wings as my dog and I walked by today.  The dog is walking much better and her limp is almost gone.  We go back to the vet for her re-check on Monday.

 

And some more backing fabric came in this past week:

Still stocking up for the deluge of tops expected after our Quilt Retreat in June!

Monday Musings

Dogs are magical. Not because of the special connections they have with humans or the fact that evolved from that mythical, magical trickster, the wolf - dogs are magical because they can sleep anywhere.

1. 

This dog's asleep. Wait, I mean "This dog's a-sheep." 

 

 

2. 

After your hound is planted, expect puppies to sprout in six to eight weeks. 

 

3. 

I'm actually not sure if this dog is asleep or just having a vulnerable bonding moment with the table leg.
4. 

Because really, isn't every water dish just a very small pool? OH does that mean that every pool is just a large water bowl?! 

5. 

Hey, I'm just gonna see if my Kong went under the couch 

6. 

All 2016 Hondas will have puppy sleep handles as a standard feature. 

7. 

Sorry, your patio furniture is now a dog bed. 

8. 

No, seriously. Your patio furniture is a dog bed. 

9. 

"I didn't fall asleep in the food bowl!" 

10. 

Somebody doesn't understand the concept of a pillow. 

11. 

And that was the day he discovered his dog had a shoe fetish. 

12. 

Although he loved music, it was Spot's greatest secret that he was actually tone deaf. 

 

13. 

Bitsy built her own version of Temple Grandin's hug machine. 

14. 

He didn't even rinse himself off in the sink before getting in the dishwasher.

 

15. 

Shifting into sleep mode. 

Saturday Sewing

I’ve been concentrating on getting a few more of the tops quilted from my on-line group’s retreat at Lake Tahoe.  I quilted up this one today using a panto called Simply Hearts.  Look at all of that lovely “reclaimed fabric” in those crumb block centers!!

And earlier this week, I quilted up this pretty blue one with a panto called Retro Leaves:

 

We had played golf last Thursday since the area weathermen were calling for rain and my husband wanted to get a little practice in.  There was a line at the golf course:

 

Cormorants being supervised by the White Heron

But we didn’t have to wait – lol!  It started out overcast and looked like Old Florida there for awhile with the wind blowing the Spanish moss:

But then the sun came out and it was a beautiful day – the sandhill cranes tried to give me golf tips but mostly they were concentrating on eating bugs:

 

Since this was a regulation course and I’m pretty much used to playing on the shorter executive course, I was pretty much pooped by the 14^th hole – and apparently, so was this guy!

 

Wood Stork

You’ll notice, my golf game consists of a lot of nature shots – I assure you that’s because I don’t have much of a game.  But I sure have fun!

So does anyone else see the chicken in this cloud - it's facing to the right?

Monday Musings

I was mentioning recently that I needed a teenager to help me navigate my new Kindle Fire – I have it all set up now, but we all know kids are the best at that kind of thing!  And then last weekend, I was wondering what happened to all of the teenagers that used to be in neighborhoods “back in the day”  - the ones that would mow lawns and do odd jobs for extra money … hmm.  I guess they are all now glued to their electronics.  The reason it came to mind was that I was outside digging a hole:

And believe you me, that counts as exercise!  We have mostly clay soil and the hole had to be 18 inches deep.  That pigmy palm is now in the ground and looks nicer than sitting in that pot like it has been for a month.

A quick update on the quilty front.  This one (from this post) is now a completed top:

And this one is bound and waiting for a full box to go somewhere:

And this one is on the frame:

Now for the periodic segment on this blog known as “Seen on My Walk”.  This is a poor picture (no – I won’t complain about my camera again - you've heard enough of my whining) of a pair of Hooded Mergansers:

These are uncommon in my area and very cool to see.  They were skittish and kept going to the far edge of the little wooded pond.  They can raise or lower their hoods.  In the above, his is lowered and hers is partially raised.

This is a better stock image so you can see the male more clearly:

Lovely and wild. 

WIP Wednesday

Today is Three King’s Day, aka Epiphany, aka the 12th Day of Christmas, and is the day celebrated in much of Orthodox Christianity as the day that the Magi delivered gifts to the Christ child and later as the day of His baptism.  In many countries, hay is left out for the camels (much like cookies for Santa Claus) and in return Christmas gifts are left for the children.  I didn’t put out hay and didn’t get gifts, but I sure can count my many Blessings of late!

And Wednesday’s are the day that I will be showing what I am currently working on.  My WIP (work in progress) for this Wednesday was on the frame until this evening when I finished quilting it.  I first showed it in pieces in this post on New Year's Day.  The digital quilt design is called Surf’s up by Karlee Porter:

The pattern was a New Year’s Eve Mystery that was originally designed by CindyCarter in 2011.  Link to the Jelly Roll Mystery:  https://carterquilter.wordpress.com/jelly-roll-mystery-quilt-2011-photos/

I especially like this pattern when the jelly roll and the background have high contrast.  Mine doesn’t since some of the jelly roll fabrics are almost identical to the background (I didn’t open the jelly roll to know that until after I had picked my background fabric).  I did substitute a few of the most egregious offenders with some of the leftover pieces of the jellyroll (rip it – rip it), and I think it is better  now.  But, as I've said before, you would certainly have to like orange!  This one is now in that ever-growing “to-be-bound” pile.

Nature shot of the day:

This guy is in a pond that I sometimes walk by.  Don’t know if he is a Koi or a giant Goldfish.  Both of those are a type of carp.  According to Wikipedia:  “In general, goldfish tend to be smaller than koi, and have a greater variety of body shapes and fin and tail configurations.  Koi varieties tend to have a common body shape, but have a greater variety of coloration and color patterns. They also have prominent barbels at the lip.”  I haven’t been close enough to this guy to see if he has barbels!

 

Goldfish that outgrow their tanks often grow larger when released into ornamental lakes.  Guiness Book listed the largest known goldfish in the world in 2003.  A fish from the Netherlands that measured 18.7 (47.4 cm).  It seems that the record still stands.  The second largest was a goldfish named Goldie that was kept as a pet in a tank in England.  That fish measured as 15 inches (38 cm) and over 2 pounds (0.91 kg).   On the other hand, Koi can reach length of about 1 meter (39 inches).  I expect this guy is really a Koi since he appears to be about 18 inches.  I like him and I’m calling him Nemo, just because …