Joining In On A Swap

I've decided to join in with some of the swapping fun that goes on on the "Net, and I'm starting with  a Mug Mat swap being hosted by Brynwood Needleworks.

My swap partner can be found over at her beautiful blog, Art of Mine. When you check out her very romantic-looking blog, you'll see that she loves pink.  I don't have a lot of that around, so there's yet another reason for a road trip. This should be fun!

What My DAughter DId

during Wednesday's snowstorm.

She crocheted herself a hat. The design was her own, and as you can tell, she is very pleased with the result.

A close-up of the gorgeous yarn, which is a wool/silk blend from Japan, that I got for her last year at the incredible Metaphor Yarns.

Metaphor Yarns also happens to be attached to one of my favorite quilt shops, A Notion To Quilt, and they are both just a little bit  down Route 2 from my favorite coffee shop, Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters. Maybe it's cabin fever, but I'm feeling the need for a road trip. I wonder how I can work this into the schedule?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Everybun! Here's to a great Year of the Rabbit for all our Bunny friends and their Humans, and to all the Humans reading this who are silly enough to not be pampering a rabbit.

Weasley says,"Does this mean I get extra treats?"

We hear that red means good luck, so that should mean this is an extra-special year for us, beyond just the fact that it's the year of the RABBIT. And if you've been following along over the last year, you know we can use it. If it works out, we'll try and send some luck your way, also. 

Want To See My Vegetable Garden?

Yeah, I'd like to see it, too.

It's under there, inside that fence. The top of the fence is about 3 feet high.

It's going to be a long time till I can get at the greens I started last fall.

The snow is still coming down, and now it's mixed with the sleet that was supposed to stay south of here. I'm so glad I don't have to be out on the road, and I hope that anyone who does go out is very careful. This is no time to be in a hurry. Stay safe, everyone! 

It's Doing It Again!

There's a road out there somewhere.

I'm trying to pretend this isn't happening, so I'm playing inside today. I decided to try the  flour-paste resist technique on this not very interesting piece of snow-dyed fabric. The funny part is, the fabric looks much better in the photo than in real life.

I added the flour paste, using a thinner layer than last time,  so that it would dry faster. I'm wondering if when the paint gets applied, it might seep through this thinner layer . I also scratched some arch shapes into it with a skewer.

  

While I wait for that to dry, the first thing that I will do (before going out to shovel) is sew a label onto this scrap quilt I have been making.

The white fabric is leftover strip piecing from a Christmas project, and the blue is an orphan piece of Year 2000 fabric picked up at a guild meeting. It was fussy cut to omit the "2000". The next picture shows the quilt set up on my table, ready  for pin basting.

I pinned on some tissue paper with the design for the center. Since I wanted a thread-sketched look, I sewed this once, then took the paper off, and went over it two more times.

An outer section of flames was free-handed, and the other areas were filled in with various spirals, echo quilting, and stippling.

I finished the binding, using the rest of the Year 2000 fabric a couple of days ago, and I will attach the label now. Not a bad use of leftovers. I'm going to call it "Winter Sun", in hopes that we might see some!