Did you see the new header picture? If not, it is time to look at it and then you can read that this is our youngest son (44yo young) and his almost 2 month old daughter, Elsa. Think he is a proud Papa? You bet he is. And we are so enjoying seeing him with his new love.
And his twin sister didn’t want to be left out so she, too, has a new baby. This is her gift to herself for becoming an RN and getting a new job. Even if you can’t see it too well, her smile is every bit as big as her brother’s. 
Not to be outdone, Nature is having babies, too. Even though the temps have been near freezing at night, our trees and bushes are sprouting new leaves. I just hope they are hardy.
We live in the country but don’t have chickens. Well, we don’t own chickens. These are some of the neighbors chickens that visit every day to find goodies under the leaves. There are about 15 of them, about half hens and half roosters. They are fun to watch and there is crowing going on all day. And aren’t they beautiful? We love having them around and the dogs love chasing them. They don’t want to catch them, and aren’t allowed, but they do love to watch them run and fly.
And look how close to being done I am! I thought I might have been done yesterday but between phone calls, lunch out with DH and then assisting our daughter with her car buying, I wasn’t even able to get into the studio. So this afternoon, after housekeeping duties, I plan to get back in there and get some more quilted. I should be done by the end of the week. 
When I left the studio Tuesday evening I saw the beauty of the quilt in the shadows. I really love how my quilts look different with sun, shadows, and especially in the early morning light when I wake up under them. I am really looking forward to waking up under this one. 
And now it is time to get the dishes in the dishwasher, walk the dogs, and feed the birds. Then lunch and it will be STUDIO TIME!!
Something new on my design wall. This is what we have made so far in the Carol Doak Mystery BOM: only one more block to go. Right now she is having a contest to guess what her final layout will be. I have moved these blocks around several times and this is the way I currently like them best so this will be my guess.
Now, you may be asking about Easy Street. Well the blocks were are completed on January 31st and the center was sewn together on Feb. 1st.
Because it has held center stage for so long, it has been put on a back burner for at least a week.
Part of the reason for this delay is that I still don’t know how I want to border it. Look at all the little leftover parts I have. I am trying to see if there is something I can do to use them in a border or maybe they will wind up on the back, who knows.
And, finally, I am back to working on other projects.
Here are my heart placemats on the frame and being quilted.
And here they are completed.
One more picture to show the quilting. I did micro stippling in the blue and purple sections so the ribbon is nice and puffy.
I also have started my Wonderfully Fishy BOM for Feb. It is such fun to go through my batik stash, looking for “just the right” fabrics for these really cute designs from fatcatpatterns.com.
So here is part of this fish. I would have had all the parts there but I cut two of them backwards so I will be re-doing them this afternoon.
And while I was working in the studio, DH was redoing his B Western collection layout in the living room. This Roy Rogers grouping is now living over the fireplace. This isn’t all of it but it is fun to see Roy, Dale, and Trigger smiling out at us.
His really big display is of Hopalong Cassidy. This is the first time he has had so many of his Hoppy things in one place and it is really impressive.
Of course the above is only one of his Hoppy displays. Here are several different plates, cups, bowls, along with silverware. At the bottom is a Hoppy Radio, which works (AM only).
In addition to all the action above, I “taught” a longarming class (of 2) on Saturday. I was asked to share some tips on how to easily load a quilt on the frame and especially how to work with pantographs. I tried to explain that I don’t know that much and am not that good but wound up doing what I could to share some of the things I have learned. It turned out to be really fun as we shared experiences and what others have suggested to each of us. We don’t have a long arm group in our area so this was the first time I have been able to talk this type of quilting with anyone.
Well, that’s about it for me. Have a great week and come back again. Gari
I am so excited. I have only one block and one triangle left to make and all of the Easy Street blocks will be done. Also, I have sewn one large corner together as well as two long rows. This afternoon I will be finishing the blocks and sewing as much of this center together as I can. However, once the blocks are done I will have met my goal of getting them all done by the end of the month.
The funny thing is that a couple of days ago I saw a mistake up on the wall. It is already sewn in and I really hate the idea of unsewing so I am thinking of it being my “humble” piece. I then will be calling this quilt the Contrary Goose. It really doesn’t bother me but it does make me laugh.
This is what is new at our house. I saw this at an antique mall but didn’t buy it. However DH really liked it, too, and decided that if we could display our Parrot Depression Glass pieces in it, we should get it. So Tuesday we picked it up (100 miles away) and the two of us old folks hauled it in the house, and then collapsed.
Yesterday I moved furniture around all morning to find the best place to put it. It is sitting in an opening between two false walls that contain our dining room.
The dishes fit in there perfectly but because the cabinet is not lit I will be putting mirrors behind the plates and serving pieces. Right now I only have two 12x12 mirrors so we will be buying more and then will be cutting them down to fit (oh goody, more projects).
Behind the new cabinet I have placed an antique piano desk we have had for years. It has moved with us from IL to KY, to AL, to FL, and back to AL and shows some of the wear and tear but I love it. The funny thing is that I can peak at the TV in the living room through that little space to the left of the cabinet.
The picture on the cabinet back is one that DH bought at an Arts Festival a couple of years ago but we never had a wall to hang it on. And we hung it on the back with velcro. 
Well, that’s about all that is happening here. And I need to get off this computer and get to the studio before the month runs out.
Any chance you are getting tired of seeing the same thing on my design wall? I know I am. So, even though I have 4 block As, 3 large triangles, and 2 small triangles left to make, I started sewing blocks together. You can see the corner in the upper left (1 blocks, 2 large triangles and 1 small triangle). It doesn’t seem like much but I was really excited to see this move toward completion. And I have continued to sustain the one block a day (Friday I did 2 and then was gone all Saturday). If I can do 2 a day this week I should have all the blocks done by the end of the month: wouldn’t that be great?
And guess what else I got done. I completed the quilting of my feathered star table topper. I guess I , once again, need to thank Judy of Patchwork Times for her lessons on quilting feathers for even though I am still learning, I am very pleased with the results on this quilt.
One other great thing that happened for this quilt this week is that I found, buried in my stash, more of the background fabric. I had been fretting over what I would use as a binding so I began digging in the “yellow” section of fabric to see if I had anything that would compliment these two. “And what to my wondering eyes should appear” but the very fabric I was trying to match.
So Sunday I cut, pressed and sewed the binding on this little quilt. Today I will finish the binding and this quilt will be residing on our table. DH has already decided that his “new” globe will look great on it so that will be our table decoration…….for a while. 
On Saturday DH and I took off to do a little antiquing. Although several of the antique malls we have loved have long since disappeared, there are still a few in and around here so we try to do our best to keep them in business. I really do not like shopping except when we are wandering through looking at old things, some of which remind us of our childhoods. It was a very pleasant day.
And now I leave you with a picture of our most recent grandchild, Elsa Grace, lying on the Frog Quilt made for her by me. Most of you will have already seen this quilt but I also wanted to share it’s being put to good use.
Have a great, productive, and inspiring week.
Gari
There is something new on my Design Wall. These are sets of 2 2 1/2” squares. And these are all I have sewn.
But I am set up to continue (as soon as I have my sweater fronts done). I will need to cut more so I will be setting those fabrics aside while I begin to clean out the studio.
While I was doing my little bit of sewing I made the label for Easy Street. I started this quilt on 12/1/12 and completed it on 2/23/13. It is a queen sized quilt that was full of little tiny pieces (Bonnie Hunter) so for some reason I ran out of steam before the label could be made. However Easy Street is going into our guild quilt show in November and is required to to have a label: I guess it was finally time.
Last Friday my car was used to transport a Homecoming Queen in a parade. Prior to the parade the car was “spiffed up” by my son-in-law. Left on the floor was this sign. I had throw it out on the driveway when I left to drive SIL back to work on Friday afternoon and for some reason didn’t see it when I came home. On Saturday morning DH left very early for his Jr. Miss judging. On his way to his car he found the sign and, with his crazy sense of humor, he taped it onto our storm door, and left with a big grin on his face. I got up later, went to take the dogs out and was confronted by this smile. Now I do have to say that while I have been dealing with health issues DH has been doing more and more to make life easier for me. He has taken on almost all of the cooking and does the majority of the pet care around here. So the statement on the sign really made me smile even as I was laughing at Mr. Smiley Face.
And finally my nature picture. I don’t know the official name of this bug but I call them “stick bugs.” This one is almost 9” long and was located right outside the door of my studio.
