Farming the Wind

I took advantage of those snow days

and got an old top quilted.

When I travel I often sketch ideas for quilts from what I see.

Wyoming, one of my favorite places to visit, is

home to quite a few wind farms.

You can see these huge windmills for miles.

Makes me think of Don Quixote.

Made me sketch an idea for a quilt.

Now, almost three years later...

My "Farming the Wind" quilt:

On a windy day, no less.

On a "farm".

Ironically, this quilt was made with the leftovers from my

"Heated Air Conditioning"

quilt that I made during a June 95 degree heat wave

when my air conditioner conveniently gave up the ghost

and had to be replaced.

Its nice to get one of these old tops quilted and moved into the

done pile.

Hmm, maybe I'll get some more WIP's quilted,

or maybe pull out some more travel sketches.



Snow Day!

FINALLY!

We have our first (and likely only) snow day.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Yep, thats us on the Weather Channel.

Welcome, Winter Storm Q.

I did manage to get out this morning before we became white

and ran to Wally World, picked up my wine shipment from a friend,

got an oil change, hit the grocery, and got an update on the status of my refinancing

(going to save over $32,000, wahoooo!) at the bank.

Can't waste a perfectly good snow day sleeping in!

So what else is a gal to do once leaving the house is not advised

(and the governor declares a state of emergency)?

Fire up the sewing machine, heat up the iron.

My friend Mary Claire had this great wallet that I coveted.

So I bought the pattern and made my own.

But first I decided to really challenge myself and make my own fabric.

Huh?

Well, I've been collecting/saving selvedges for a while now.

Got a gallon sized bag full.

Time to do something with them.

So after sewing them down on muslin backing, I got to work making my wallet.

But I forgot to grab my camera and take photos.

So... you will just have to make due with the finished product.

Ever so happy with the "made" fabric.

Here's the inside.  

So professional looking,

and can hold everything! Two big pockets for my moolah,

six card slots, and the zipper change pouch.

The pattern has a really easy method of inserting that zipper.

Love it!

Now its time to settle down with a good book, glass of wine, and a nice fire.


Happy snow day to you!

Randomness #97.2

I keep my furniture covered with quilts for two reasons,
which are actually the same reason.
Meet the reason:

Floyd.

I think he is in constant shed mode.

And he is on a chair I had cleaned off not more than 20 minutes ago.

*Sigh*

So I tossed the couch quilts in the wash and put my new

Madrona Road challenge quilt on the couch.

And I realized the pillows I had did not

complement the picture. 

 So I real quick sewed up this pair of pillows
with some left over fabric from the challenge.

I kinda like the way the sixteen patch pillows play nice with the circles on the quilt.

(Ignore the messy mess. I had only managed to vaccum before I was distracted.)

In other news...
Headed to the store today.

Here's what I bought:

Soap.

Firestarters for the fireplace.

 (there's a rumor of maybe some snow in our future)

(don't believe it)

(the groundhog said spring was coming early)

(*sigh*)

Flashlights.

(I did not own a decent flashlight. How did that happen?)

Bakers Chocolate for these bacon bourbon brownies.

Cucumber and peppers for salad.

Lemons. Gotta have lemons.

('cuz they're pretty and smell good)

And a can of Pringles.

I haven't had Pringles for at least 14 years.

Mmmmmmmmm.

Maybe shopping without a list is not the best idea for some.

I think lists just restrict the fun.

Happy shopping.



Randomness #83

Took a stroll through the "local" farm store for enterainment.
Local is a bit of a misnomer, as I had to drive out of town about 20 miles.
Sometimes you just have to go with your curiosity.
Even with gas jumping 30 cents in three days.
But, I digress.

Just gotta love places like this. You can find everything your heart could desire,

from plumbing fixtures to halters to ammo to kitchen spices to socks.

But best of all, these:

Oh My Goodness! Don't you just want to take home a handful of

that downey sweetness?!

Might be time to invest in a new magazine subscription.

Spring is on its way.



Duffle Bag

As you may have guessed, I like to take road trips.

But sometimes I just don't want to haul around a big 'ol suitcase.

What's a girl to do?

Hop on Craftsy is what!

Found this great travel duffle pattern on Craftsy.

I prequited some fabric from my stash

(really trying to use up some stash, I just have too much)

Here's a really out of focus photo of me sewing on the straps.

I of course altered the pattern and switched out the jute straps for

duck cloth. I just can't get past the smell of jute.

On go the ends. Probably the hardest part, and it wasn't hard at all.

Except that I broke three needles doing it.

Darn zippers, seems I hit them every time.

One end on, one to go.

My finished bag.

Its big!

It could easily hold enough for a week long trip.

Vera Bradley, eat my sewing machine dust!

Loaded up and ready to go!

Madrona Road

So I promised to take some better photos of my

Madrona Road challenge quilt(s)

So here they are:

Side Roads

Gravel Road

Notice what a lovely spring day it is... except that its February.

The FIRST week of February.

Sigh.

BUT! the wonderful part about living in St Louis is that if you don't

like the weather, just wait 15 minutes, it will change.

A lovely 4 inches of snow fell last weekend.

I acutally had enough to shovel the drive and walkway.

Unfortunately, it was all melted within 24 hours.

And then it was in the 50's.

sigh.