Learning Curve

Although we did not get as much snow as the coast, Saturday was still a very blustery and snowy day.  Usually our feeders get chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, and the occasional goldfinch and woodpecker.  Juncos prefer picking seed off the ground rather than eating from the feeders.  Not the case on Saturday - they spent the day mobbing the feeders.

The suet feeder was a first.  The juncos spent most of the morning hovering around it, as if trying to figure out how to land on it.  One of them managed it in the early afternoon.  After that, they all tried to get in on the action.

Chickadees and nuthatches simply fly up to the cage, grab the wire and start pecking away.  I've never given much thought to the process of landing, bracing, and pulling off chunks of suet.  It was clear that the juncos were newbies at this.  Some tried to hover without landing, then had trouble pulling off any suet.  Some managed to hook a foot or two on the wire but had to spread their tail out wide to brace themselves and still fluttered their wings to keep stable all for one single bite before flitting away.  It was exhausting watching all the effort

Sandwiched Jigging Squares

I persevered through a switch of sewing machines and completed my January OMG.  Yay! 

I finished sewing the top together before I messed up the tension on my regular Singer.  I pulled my Singer 99 out of the closet to sew together the backing.  It's a great little machine and was fine for doing the piecing, but it got a little unwieldy once I got to sewing the bigger pieces together.  I need my usual machine back up and running.

I Like Thursday: Too Many Things!

Another week is flying by.  I'm working on several projects at work and a few at home.  It's a lot to juggle at once.  Time for a break to share the good things of the week at I Like Thursday.  

My regular Singer is still out of commission (I certainly don't like that).  I have not had a chance to clean and reset the tension.  But my little 99 is chugging along!  It's such a pretty little machine, but I can't sew too fast - if I do, it causes the whole table to rock back and forth!  

I found a local guy that repairs sewing machines.  So if I can't fix the tension myself, I know who to call!

Project Quilting 13.2: Cat Silhouette

Finishing the Project Quilting 13.2 was more of a challenge than I anticipated.

I picked this lovely cat paper pieced pattern for my silhouette.  (Ulas has some great patterns!)  I had considered enlarging it, because 6" is small for a mug rug.  In the end I stuck with the original and added borders.  I really like how it turned out!

I was worried all the pieces in the tail would be bulky, but it's not bad.  The whole thing went together quickly.  I forget how much fabric a small thing like this takes - there's a lot of seam allowance!  

I started quilting with my new thread - which is thinner than what I've been working with.  In trying to adjust my thread tension, I screwed up the whole machine.  I broke out my little Singer 99 to quilt it.  I've never been happy with my walking foot and it added to the problem by jamming.  Anyone have a recommendation for a low-shank walking foot that they like?

I Like Thursday: Chillin'

Yay for Thursday.  I'm looking forward to a weekend without being on call or the backup on-call person for the first time in weeks.  Joining up with Lee Anna sharing the good things of the week at I Like Thursday.

Brrr.  It got chilly over the weekend.  (I know - y'all up in Canada and MN are laughing at me).  I was happy enough to be stuck at home Saturday morning.

The frost on the windows were pretty.

Channeling Goldilocks

Wow - peach is a tough color to match.  So easily it can swing to the pink or swing to the orange.  I was told: no pink!  The three fabrics I bought two weeks were too pink.  Of the four I bought this weekend, one was too pink, another too orange.  Which was a surprise - it looked fine against the fabrics I brought with me, but once I put it on the wall, no go.

However, I finally had two that were just right.  And voila!  A finished flimsy.  A win for Goldilocks!

I rearranged the diamond colors to my satisfaction.  The row of dark squares have the medium square colors in the middle and vice-versa.  I'd like to get this in some good light so you can see it better.

I Like Thursday: Keeping Busy

Thursday!  Time to share my good stuff from the week at I Like Thursday over at Not Afraid of Color.

The foster guinea pigs continue to entertain.  Brownie and Twix have certainly settled in.  Brownie's eye has improved a lot in the last few days.  Yay!  He is a total lovebug - and certainly knows how to sack out!

Twix continues to hassle Brownie and demanding treats at the top of his lungs whenever one of us is in the kitchen.

Feed us!

A Little Foraging

My current Dakin foster guinea pigs are a pair of very active boys.  They demand treats whenever we're in the kitchen.  So to keep Brownie and Twix from getting bored, I make those two work for their treats.  I don't hand them the parsley and cilantro; instead I hang it around the cage.  The boys run around trying to find it.

Brownie is more methodical and persistent and has learned to follow his nose.  Twix often simply follows Brownie around.

Project Quilting 13.1: Colorful Mug Rugs

Project Quilting has started again!  The first challenge was to make something with at least five colors.  I grabbed the little pieces cut off my kites for the last two projects.  I paired up the odd little triangles, and ended up with this zig-zag.  When I stitched them all together, it turned into two mug rugs.  Originally they were the same size - a matched set.  But I had issues with binding and one of them shrunk a bit.  I've been playing with rounded corners, but I need to work on how to bind that properly.

They're fun.  Bright and cheery.  Something different.  And done on time!

Sharing with:
Persimon Dreams - Project Quilting 13.1

I Like Thursday: Getting Started

First Thursday of 2022.  How did that happen?  It's time for the weekly good stuff with Lee Anna at I Like Thursday.

 

In an attempt to clean out my sewing room, I got Shady Lanes sandwiched and basted.  My wall looks so bare without it hanging there.  I need to hurry up and finish these to get more on that wall!

I'm still playing with the neutrals baby quilt.  I'm sidetracked this week with the first challenge of Project Quilting.  I've got it sandwiched - I need to figure out how to quilt it.  It's due on Sunday!

January OMG

Project Quilting starts this month.  That's going to eat into my time.  Regardless...my goal is to get the second baby quilt sandwiched.  I think it's doable. 

I'm still wrestling with the colors and the layout.  I have centers for the squares now.  Originally I thought I'd make a mix of colors for the squares and diamonds, but now I'm thinking I need to focus on the squares and make the diamonds either all the same color, or at least stick simply with the pale yellow fabrics.  

Sharing with:
Elm Street Quilts - January OMG