Jelly Roll Jitters

So, work in progress Wednesday and I actually have something from sewing world to show.  A weekend of snow, sleet, rain, hail, and cold weather made it easy to stay inside and play with fabric.

 Since I'm still working from stash, I rummaged around and found a jelly roll of Australian fabric that was given to me last year.  I liked the patterns and colours, but I've never used a jelly roll, so my brain went into blank mode.  Luckily the internet was working despite the crazy weather and I trolled through way too many ideas and finally decided to randomly sew two strips together two and start playing.

 

Somehow, it wasn't working and I really didn't like what was happening, so back to the internet I went. I found a very jolly lady on YouTube demonstrating a jellyroll technique, and decided to give it a try.  To give credit where due, it was Missouri Star Quilt Co.  So I  sewed, sliced and diced like a dervish and came up with a number of blocks that are OK I guess, but seem very busy when put together.  Maybe with the right sashing the blocks could pop, so I'll play with a bunch of solids and see what happens.

I love the fabrics in the next block.

We'll see how far I get this week, but the sun is shining and there is still a vegetable garden to finish planting!

My morning walk today was through the woods which smelled of wet undergrowth.  It was wonderful and  the dogs had a grand time.  We jumped a deer and I worried that a fawn might be vulnerable and nearby, but the dogs listened and came away with me.

We came across an old tree fort that the kids used back in the day.  It still looks good and I almost climbed up to check it out.  If I hadn't been wearing my good turquoise pants I would have done it!  Next time I'll wear jeans.

I'm a Winner

You know how we all enter giveaways and figure we'll never win anything?  Well, I did and what a lovely win it was!  I have been reading Candy Glendening's blog, Candied Fabrics for a while now and enjoy her sense of colour and design.  I have no desire to start dying my own cloth, but find it fascinating to see the different colours she gets.  Anyway, the scarf is silk and wonderfully lightweight, so it's perfect for warmer weather.

I wore it this afternoon when I went to play duplicate bridge and received many compliments on the colours.  I guess it's a keeper!  If you have a chance, pop over and visit her colourful world.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Well, it's Blogger's Quilt Festival and after admiring everyone else's work for the last few years, I've decided to plunge in and add one of mine.

Last December I decided that I had too much fabric and went on a diet--no fabric in at all.  When the scrappy quilt-along sprang to life in January, I thought it was a bandwagon I could jump on.

So I started pulling out the oldest of my fabrics bought from who knows where. Even as I used them up I wondered why I bought some of them.  Others brought back memories of quilts made and given away, with no photos taken.  Somehow when I was still working and quilting, I didn't know anything about the blogging world and how much fun it was to keep a photographic record of each handmade treasure.

This quilt is full of the memories of a stressful time of my life--my 92-year old mother had a stroke in February and with all the hours spent in hospital rooms, my quilt made only small progress.  (My sock production increased though!)  It ended up being bed sized, which in this case was VERY large.  It is on the extra long bed made by my husband for our extra long son.  I wrestled mightily with it in my home sewing machine and was not at all adventurous with the actual quilting.  Straight lines were all I could do.  But, I love it with all its wacky fabrics and colours and am in the process of making another. Needless to say, I still have fabric and I still haven't bought any!

Now I'm off to enjoy everyone else's quilts and marvel at their creativity.

Fiddleheads Continued

Still knitting, but very slowly!  In between visiting my mother in the nursing home and spring work, there's not a lot of time left over.  I really like this yarn--it's a good weight for a thicker winter sock and the self striping makes a nice pattern.  It's a Patons Kroy sock yarn if anyone's interested.

But I have been percolating a new quilt idea and hope to get that drawn out and the fabric cut sometime soon.  I hate to walk by the sewing room and see the pile of fabrics waiting, so my solution is to shut the door!

A couple of people asked me about fiddleheads after last week's post, so I thought I'd add a few more pictures.  Today was the last pick and we're both feeling very sorry about that.  There's something about that first taste of spring that can't be matched, but tomorrow we'll start on asparagus and that's a longer season.  (and equally delicious)

As you can see, as they just poke up out of the ground they are tightly furled with a papery cover that can be rubbed off easily. (Or you can blow them with an air compressor and that works a treat!).  As they grow they start to open out and get a sort of Day of the Triffids vibe about them.

They can grow a foot in a day, so it is quite remarkable to visit the spot every day to see the changes.  As they are almost open, they look like any other fern, but are still covered in pollen which rubs off on everything as you walk through the patch.

So now I have to wait until next May to enjoy them.

In this area we also have miles and miles of apple orchards and vineyards.  Right now the apples are in full bloom and are truly beautiful.  I like to roll down the car window and smell them as I drive by, or just spend time watching the bees in the trees close to the house.  It's amazing how many "wild" apple trees appear all over the countryside, just like the lilac bushes that seem to have no house in sight.  You never know they're there the rest of the year until the deer (and the dog) start eating the apples.

I have a small crabapple tree on my regular walking route that is so lovely that I just have to stop a sniff at it.  I love crabapple jelly and hope to get to the fruit before the various creatures do and make a batch this fall.

I am anxiously waiting for the rhubarb to grow a bit more and then I'll start to attack it.  Last year I made rhubarb orange marmalade that was wonderful and I'm all out of it.  Can't wait.  Not to mention rhubarb coffee cake, rhubarb pie and so on and so on.  I think I'm fixated on food!

Where Does Your Food Come From?

It's a frenzy of manure spreading, plowing, harrowing and  seeding going on around here.  We're having a freakishly long warm dry spell and everyone is working night and day to get the crops in.  The giant manure tanker trucks are hauling pig and cattle manure, spraying the fields and the smell is almost physical.

I heard an interview with Dr. David Suzuki on the radio yesterday, where he spoke about the dangerous disconnect that many people have with the environment.  I really agree with what he said as so many have no concept of where their food comes from or how much money and effort is involved with its production.  So many children and adults spend no time outdoors and the only reality that exists for them is what they see on the screens in front of them.

I find great joy in the cycle of local foods.  I don't mean that I'm a locavore, because in winter it's unrealistic, but starting now, I will eat what is in season and eat it to excess, knowing that I won't get it fresh for another year.  I know you can get "fresh" vegetables all year long, but they come from so far away and have so little taste.  Right now it's fiddlehead season, so every afternoon the dog and I go to the woods and find the fiddlehead patch and pick a whole bunch.

Once you get them home you have to pick out all the brown papery covers, but once that's done, it's pure eating pleasure!  It's amazing how quickly they open out and within a day, turn into a sea of ferns.

Once the spring work is done I hope to get back into the sewing room, but I'm still knitting in the evenings and have another sock to show for it!

Let's Just Clean Everything!

Not a lot of creative work going on here this week, unless you call sanding and varethaning floors then painting ceilings and walls and washing windows creativity.  It's been a tremendous amount of work for both Neil and me, but it will all be worth it.  I'm hoping to get the furniture back in downstairs tomorrow and then decide what goes back in and what doesn't.  I'm in a dangerous purge mode!

While all this was going on we decided to get back to our camping roots and set up tent in the back yard--within WIFI and cordless phone distance you understand.  We had many offers of beds, but it wasn't too bad, except for the first night when it was -5 degrees.  We both wore tuques!  The dog found this was wonderful as she has never been allowed to sleep with us before.

It was so nice to hear the owls all around us, but less wonderful when the rooster started crowing.

I have taken lots of lovely walks lately, enjoying the many signs of spring.  The cardinals are nesting behind the house and the orioles came back yesterday.  I always wonder if they use last year's nests, but never actually see them there.  But my favorite sound of all is the spring peepers.  They are tiny frogs that sing in their thousands in the ponds and wetlands nearby.  It can be almost deafening, but only lasts for a few weeks during the mating season.  When you are inside most of the winter it is such a joy to be able to connect with the outdoors again.

This wonderful mound of moss covered rocks is right beside the stream bed.

It is rare for the water to be absolutely still, so it was a treat to see such a perfect reflection (that is, until the dog jumped in.)

Here's a gratuitous shot of noble beast before she barks hysterically at figments of her imagination.  I've never had a dog that yodels when she barks like Reb does.