March Highlights

full river, "ice out"

Ice jams on the Musselshell River were the news of early March. Caused by all the ice of winter breaking up and flowing out, they are an amazing spectacle each year, temporarily flooding lowlands as the water makes it's way around them.  Thankfully, the flooding did not affect our little bend of the river!

my guys, on a bright warm-ish day!

sentinels?

ice feathers? butterfly wings? the patterns of the Creator repeat themselves :)

it was fun for this Mom to spy her kid up a tree again :)  he has always been a tree climber, but the opportunities are a bit limited out here, compared to the midwest.

blusterous winter light

a couple little notecards I made using 4x6 index cards :)

Sandhill cranes are always a highlight!

I could take a picture just about every morning...I never tire of that first brilliance of the day:)

And one final note...have you been aware of the "Modern Madness" taking place over on the Fat Quarterly blog?  It is a fun take on the Basketball mania, where all the fabric lines of 2013 are "bracketed" and voted on each round, by us, until we have a "Champion" collection!  It is time for Round 2 voting...so sorry for not posting about this sooner...but there is still plenty of time to root for your favorite collection!!! A few of my favorites are still "in the game" :)

Unburdened

or:
 "The Quilt That Wouldn't Be"
or:
"Work (No Longer) In Progress"

In which this rather pleasant,
albeit impulsive,
little stack...

became difficult ...

 then incorrigible...

leading to it's ultimate undoing.

When I finally realized that not "sticking with it" was an option, it really caused me to breathe a sigh of relief...and the seam ripper became a tool of stress relief, instead of the other way around.

Ahhh....Peace restored.

Free HSTs!!!

Two different projects this year have afforded me two sets of free HSTs (Half-Square Triangles).  You may or may not know that I will take an HST any way I can!  They are truly my "first love" of quilt units, and I haven't left them yet :)

I thought I would share how I came by these freebies, in case you get a chance for some yourself, down the quilting line!

The first bowlful came from a quilt near and dear to my heart:

Sweet Treasures

The free HSTs "came from" the corners inside the white band.

It is no mystery how to do this, it just takes an extra step or two...

When drawing the stitch line from corner to corner, simply measure 1/2 inch from that line, and stitch it too.

Cut between the two lines of stitching with scissors or rotary cutter, and voila!

A bowl full of free HSTs!  80, to be exact!

And here is what I made with my little bowl of pretties:

 Spring Windows is tiny, measuring 12" x 14"

and is just in time for my Mother's spring birthday, and spring table :)

My other set of HSTs came from a quilt that is still in-progress

Happy Stack/Fly Home quilt

for which I made my first ever "flying geese" blocks!

Another wonderful opportunity for some freebies!

Again, after marking your stitch line from corner to corner, mark another line 1/2" from it...

Stitch both lines...a little extra sewing now, makes for a free, fun project just ready and waiting for later :)

I will have some fun with these....

I hope this has been a help to some of my new quilty friends :)

Happy Quilting Day!

Do you remember this pretty little stack?

My Happy Stack!

It has been a "stack unto itself" and in plain view since sometime in August.

What you don't know is that I have been quietly cutting this stack

and it now looks like this:

In honor of National Quilting Day(?!) I think I will just not-so-quietly begin to sew these together!

I am excited!!!! 

And in other news, my little flock is growing...

Summer, Spring, and Blanche :)
(Thank you Avis!)

And while it may have seemed a bit slow around here ...I have been quite busy, albeit stealthily :)

Here is a little peek of a couple little somethings I've been working on for ...the FatQuarterly!

I know, right?! shhhh!

 Can't wait to share in full!!!

 Happy Quilting Day to you!

Chickens and Ducks

 Chickens and I go a ways back...

The first place hubby and I lived as newlyweds was in this wonderful old brick farmhouse at the very end of Chicken Run Road

built in 1814...2 years before Indiana became a state...
all original leaded glass in the windows, 9 exterior doors, wonderful porches, and a large bell in the little tower!

the awesome barn, built in 1856, by the son-in-law!
(and my first "non-class" quilt :) 

newlyweds.....circa 1985

but I digress...

fast forward to little boys and farm stores in March....

glam shot with our little flock...circa 2004

Imagine my overstimulated delight when I happened upon this post, found randomly by "clicking through" on a comment, left on a friend's blog, by ...GrannyMaudsGirl ... Perhaps you know her?

Did you follow that link?  Did you see them?  Don't you love them?

I know! I do too!
So here's the scoop...
Avis @ OhSewTempting has set up a global coop of sorts...with a photo gallery of the growing flock, and ongoing giveaways, as the chickens wing(?) their various ways around the world! be sure to check out all the details! She has dubbed it:
 Chicken Run!!
I was impatient for the next hatchling to be given away, so I jumped in to gather my own little flock:

And in the midst of all this fowl, no! clucking, no! broody excitement....I got mail!!!!

Did anyone else happen to hop around with the recent Moda Spell It With Fabric blog hop?

Well looky what!!!!  I'm a winner!!!

I've never even held a Fat Quarter Bundle before!

Quite the pleasing heft, I must say!

Ducks in a Row, newest collection from American Jane!

oh my goodness!

A little preview is in order, don't you think?

are these not sweet?

the soft-ish green is so intriguing to me...

do you see the new "pezzy"-like print? I would call it "tictac" :)

I just love these "illustrations"....I foresee a couple of those soft block toys for babies... 

yep, tied right back up, by pattern

Whew! What a fine and colorful time I've had around here!

And 60 degrees to boot!

I can't really believe this little trinket, from a first grade friend, has continued to remain in my possession!

that poor thing peeking from the back was the teething object of choice for both boys!
I'm glad they did not get splinters!

                                           

                                                     chicken and ducks, taking some sun in the window :)

I hope your Spring is about to bust wide open, wherever you are!!!

1 + 1 = 1?

Yep. 

You gotta build 2 cabins to make 1 ....CHICKEN?

Stay tuned..... :)

February Highlights

getting after Pete Puma!

frosty winter morning elk

always fabulous light

love from Mom!
yes, the home movies are epic...a compilation from my Uncle, mostly! ending with footage from my own wedding that I had never seen! (you can find the soap here and on my sidebar...it's very wonderful!)

big, fat, fluffy snowfall

another "radiant orchid" morning!

All that beautiful snow invariably results in something like this...not so pretty!

a "weather-ish" photo by one of the boys on an excursion of theirs

view from The Knoll...an obvious "highlight" :)

I will leave you with this...

a little fun on a windy day, featuring "Cap", Tug's brother