A Little Sewing

Good morning, my friends. Would it surprise you to know that it is snowing outside? Sheesh. All I can say is I'm glad the fruit trees haven't bloomed yet. And it might not matter. Fruit could be doomed already. Our weatherman informed us that we were in third place for the coldest, wettest April on record. Interestingly, the first-place finish was just last year. Okay, so I had to Google that...what I hoped to learn, I'm not exactly sure. In any case, I found this interesting graph...interesting to me, anyway.

It seems 2017 was no slouch either. We were just planning our USA Perimeter tour back then. So, I'm not really hoping to set any records for this year's April. On the other hand, when it's been so wet and cold, you sort of want it to set some kind of record. I suppose I could set a record for being the biggest whiner about weather in Oregon, as if living here for the past 45 years has taught me nothing about spring in our state.

Okay, so weather whining aside, it was a busy day yesterday. There were quite a few little things to take care of in the morning, and then we left to do our grocery shopping around 11:00 a.m. We had a long list, and then a very slow cashier, and then we were just happy to be home again. We had some lunch, and then we had naps. It was mid-afternoon before I was able to do any sewing. 

There were three projects on my to-do list for the day, although I had no expectation of finishing all three. I decided to start with the easiest, which was to make a back for Calendula Patterdrip's Cottage. Sadie gave it the pre-quilting snuggleability test.

You wouldn't want to do all that work only to have your quilt fail the snuggleability test, would you? When she was finished, I took a picture so you could see it....

um, could you just...I'm trying to...

There we go. I cut the binding strips while I was at it. Eventually, it will get sandwiched, quilted, and finished. For now, it goes in the quilts-to-be-sandwiched pile.

Sadie was 'zhausted after all that helping and testing and photobombing. She took refuge in her sewing room bed.

[Insert combo sound of purring and snoring here, although Sadie insists that torties do not snore.]

Okay, having cleared the decks of feline activity, I went to work on the next barn block for Moda's Barn Block Sampler. I've been doing these in the color of the month for the RSC, although I'm not intending for this to be a rainbow quilt. It's hard to decide things sometimes, and so the color-of-the-month gives me a place to rest my weary decision-making brain. I kind of wish I'd chosen something darker than that polka dot, but here's how it looks:

That makes five down and seven to go. Here are the five blocks I have for this quilt so far. The wood-grain patch is nearly a perfect match for our new carpet.

So I'd reached the end of my sewing day by then. You might recall seeing the Wind in the Whiskers quilt that hangs at the far end of my sewing room. Let's see if I can find a recent picture...hmmmmm...

here we go. You can see it just above Sadie's back in the image below:

As I was putting things away and turning things off, I noticed one of the kitties has lost its tiny eye. 
The eyes are no bigger than the head of a glass-headed pin.

Fortunately, I have some of that fabric, and I can fix his little eye. Bummer. I wonder how that happened since the eyes were quilted down. Maybe I missed that one.

When I went back upstairs, Mike was busying himself taking the trash can out to the road. It wasn't raining, and so I took some time to fill the bird feeders. I noticed our star magnolia is still holding off blooming. I hope it waits for some dry weather because the rain bruises its delicate petals.

Some of the daffodils near the front door have bloomed.

I like the yellow ones best.

Some other type of bulb flower is coming up here. Interestingly, these little mushrooms have grown right next to where the greenery is showing. They are nowhere else, which begs the question...what is the reason for this pairing? Maybe it's just slightly warmer where the greenery is? 

These appeared earlier, and now they've splayed open.

Also...OH HAPPY DAY!!! Some signs of life on the Red Cardinal clematis I've worried over this past week. IT LIVES!!!

The whiskey barrel tulips are getting some buds. These are located near the front door, mostly safe from deer.

Today I have my monthly pedicure scheduled. I'll need to get going for that soon. As for sewing, I'll spend my sewing day making the next Tiny House. This one letters from "C" to "L." I'm hoping I can finish it in a single day.

When that is finished, I'll be making the next vertical row of structures for the Painted Ladies quilt. Only the first row is finished so far.

Probably I won't get to that until tomorrow. So with that, I am off to do my slow-stitching and have some breakfast. Enjoy your Hump Day.