The joys of country living- and a sewing day!

Welcome to July! Not that the flip flops aren't cute, but I wonder why no one can think of interesting motifs for the summer months???



 I have been asked for updates on the critter story.  The raccoon has not been sighted since there was a very loud noise aimed in his direction last week around this time.  (actually I think it was a momma and babies).  I didn't do it, but it seems to have worked.  The red squirrel is going to meet a similar sound very soon.

The robins are trying to build a new nest for the second hatch of the season, and think my front porch is a prime location.  The ledges above the doors and windows are all of 2 1/2 inches wide and the darned birds keep hauling in dry grass mixed with mud and leaving a mess.  So I started by employing my dress form, who I call Ethyl, to stand guard.  That worked,but Ethyl is not made for rain.  Once she came inside the robins came back.  Plan B- used cd's and plan C wires sticking up to prevent them building were not effective at all. (In fact , the wire seems to have made nice "rebar" for the foundation of the nest).

So I pondered a way to make the ledge smaller and hit on a solution that is working so far.  Yup, Cheerios boxes cut to bow out and block the ledge. It's a lovely decoration as well, don't you think?
There are bunnies everywhere, but I haven't found any babies so far.  I hope we don't find them with the mower!!!
I hope no one gets the impression I don't like sharing my habitat with the wildlife!!   I love watching the bunnies frolic, having the occasional frog in my rain barrel (which is sunk into the ground), and especially things like the Yellow Warbler's nest we discovered last weekend!
The destructive ones just have to be shown their boundaries.  :-)

OOPS- forgot to rotate. 

Meanwhile, during the week of rain we had, I found time to sew!!!  I had an actual sewing day, where I wandered from one project to the next with merry abandon.
This is the project I worked on at the Guild UFO day- my first One Block Wonder.  I never got around to putting the top together once I got the block laid out.  This is a long skinny quilt that will either dress up my new office or warm my side only of the bed when it is needed.  The borders are a nice purple that I would not have chosen but for some friends who made me see how perfect it was!

Just some random bits made from scraps and strips.  Not sure what they'll be yet.

I learned to make "Kanzashi" flowers last week. The first one matched this bag I made last year, so I moved into the bag to show it off.

"Posey Tote" with Kanzashi flower

This is from a "Liberated Quiltmaking class I took with Janet Root a year ago April.  I made my blocks into a cover for the little shelves in the studio.  The Patchwork looked so nice there I have never had the incentive to quilt them, but decided it was time!  I'm playing with fillers and straight line quilting for now.

I just remembered a looming deadline, so I will have to put this aside and do that in my next sewing session.



I am grateful for:
How much Jake loved his quilt!
Lunch with some friends and a nice break in my road trip.
Magnum ice cream bars (double chocolate!)
Cool nights.
My deep blue funk has passed for the moment.