What my backyard looks like. Only there's more snow now! And the sun is definitely NOT out today.

Well, we didn’t have much snow for a while, but it looks like the Upper Peninsula is going to live up to it’s wintry reputation this week.  It’s been snowing since Sunday.  I went out and cleared the driveway yesterday, but it’s pretty much filled back in already.  Plus the city plow left a BIG pile at the end of the drive.  Oh well.  Nobody here has to go anywhere today, which is probably a good thing.

Poor Andrew had oral surgery yesterday.  He wasn’t a very happy camper last night, but he’s feeling somewhat better today.  Having had oral surgery myself some years back,  I’d rather shovel the driveway with a teaspoon than to go through that!  But at least it’s over now, and he can focus on recovering.  I’m taking good care of him, and feeding him lots of soft food.

Enough with the non-quilting stuff.  Finally finished the diagonal strip quilt yesterday.  All I had to do was to bind it, but one corner just wouldn’t cooperate, so it took a bit longer than I thought it would.  But the quilt and I finally came to an agreement, and it’s now sporting a cheerful yellow binding.  A picture will follow after it’s washed.  Then I WILL mail those three quilts off to the ALS Quilt Challenge this week!

Today I want to make another block for the BASICS Home Gather that V is doing right now.  Plus I started a small free-pieced quilt the other day.  Just sat down and playing around with sewing scraps and strips together.  I want to finish that today, and get it quilted and add it to the pile for the AAQI.  Once I get three done, I’ll register them and send them off.

Plus I’m thinking about my next donation quilt.  I’ve joined the Heartstrings Yahoo Group, which is a group that makes string quilts to donate.  You can send them completed blocks, tops, quilts, or fabric, or you can make quilts and donate them locally.  I’m going to take the second route, since I obviously have a problem with mailing things off.  (Actually it’s hard to get to the post office.  Parking is impossible.  It’s easier to walk than to drive, but it’s too cold to walk down there right now, especially with a large box.)

My plans include making crib and child-sized quilts for the local women’s center, and maybe some 60″ by 80″ quilts for the Salvation Army, too.  So I’m thinking about doing the 20″ wide strips mentioned in Mile-A-Minute-Quilts by Sharon Hultgren.  Or I may just do individual strip blocks and quilt-as-you-go.

Why you don't go out on the breakwater during a storm...

This is a picture from last fall.  There’s a sign warning people to stay off the breakwater during storms because people have been swept away in the past.  Andrew was standing right at the beginning of it, but I was so nervous about him being there that he didn’t stay there very long, thank goodness.

Enough of this.  I’m off to sew!

The big news for today is that Brody made his appearance yesterday afternoon!  Sorry, don’t know what time he was born, but mommy and baby are both doing great.  Andrew had hoped to be there in time for the birth, but the trip took longer than he expected, and he wound up staying over in a motel north of Indianapolis.  I talked him into it, since I could tell how tired he was when he called from the road on Tuesday night.

And the quilts I sent along were a big success.  Nora was happily playing on hers when Andrew left for the hospital, and Elise, Brody’s two-year-old big sister, wrapped herself up in Brody’s quilt and in general acted cute.  So all the work last weekend to get those two quilts done was more than worth it!  I love knowing that they’ll be well used.

Can’t send any pictures of what I’m working on, since the camera is in TN!  But I’ve been working on a rail fence quilt.  Basically I sewed a dark and a light 2-1/2″ strip together, and cut them into 4-1/2″ squares.  Then I laid them out, alternating them, so that the dark/light was horizontal in the first block, and vertical in the second.  It’s pretty fast and easy.  I should finish piecing it this morning.  That will give me two more quilts to machine quilt, so I’ll work on coming up with backings for both quilts this afternoon.  Hopefully I’ll get them both quilted in the next couple of days.  After a trip though the washer and dryer, they’ll be on their way to the Hopes and Dreams ALS Quilt Challenge.

I’ve been looking through a couple of library books, Reverse Applique With No Brakez, by Jan Mullen, and Nature’s Studio, by Joan Colvin.  I’m intrigued with the idea of reverse applique, and I want to do something with it for my next AAQI quilt.  Jude Hill has some amazing ideas for reverse applique on her blog, what if.  So all these ideas are spinning around in my head right now…

I’ve also ordered some books interlibrary loan.  I can do it all online, which is very cool.  I have the original Liberated Quiltmaking and Liberated String Quilts, both by Gwen Marston,  and Fusing Fun! Fast Fearless Art Quilts, by Laura Wasilowski, on the way.  Don’t know when they’ll turn up since they’re all coming from libraries downstate, but that’s part of the fun.  It’ll be like Christmas when they do show up!

I’ll close with this video.  Nellie from Nellie’s Needles sent it to me cuz I have a kitty. It was so cute I just had to share it with you!  The scratched up bedframe and the kitty toys scattered hither and yon look a lot like it does around here!