Unfinished business

It’s a sad day when you are invited to raid another crafter’s home. I didn’t know this woman but friends did and her widower kindly offered to give away her fabric stash and library.  I’m not an opportunist, but got more involved in weaving after I acquired equipment, I couldn’t even name, at an auction of another local crafter’s home (raddle and bobbin winder).

In both instances, the saddest items to see were the unfinished works in process.   Were they abandoned earlier or still active projects? The family had already gone through everything and this is what they didn’t want.

A baby quilt, which only needs a few seams, with Dresden plates I would probably never make myself.
Dresden Plate baby quilt

 

Or a larger version.

Unfinished business 008With a separate patch  quilt.     Unfinished business 003

Some patches and more Dresden Plates.

Unfinished business 005

 

And, what I thought was a reasonable amount of fabric.

Unfinished business 010This made it imperative to organize my fabric, which had been stuffed into shelves.  I try to make it seem as if I don’t have a lot because, not only do I have a store of fabric,  there is raw fiber for spinning; spun and purchased yarn for knitting; weaving cotton for weaving; and fabric for quilting.  It will be much harder to find my entire stash because  it is literally tucked away all over the house.  In what appear to be empty suitcases, in an old trunk, in various baskets.  I read about one woman who stored her yarn in the  “boot” of her car.

All of this made me think  of organizing at least my fabric, craft library and weaving cotton.

First, all the fabric went into piles with similar prints or colors.

Unfinished business 011

 

Then it went back on the shelves with more  order.  Now if only Tim would straighten out his stuff.

Unfinished business 012

 

Almost finished projects were kept together and I will piece them in a pinch.  In the meantime, I went back to working on my blue and white quilt with a clear head.

 

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

Mother Nature’s hot flashes

She’s experiencing them now.  We’re in the middle of our January Thaw.  It’s a well accepted phenomenon at mid-lattitudes, and here in the North Country, that the week surrounding January 25 has higher than expected temperatures.  It’s described as a sinusoidal pattern, the curvy line from highs to lows.  The swings in the temperature increase during the January thaw to more than 10 degrees above normal.  It’s more unusual when it doesn’t happen.

Our weather station reports that yesterday hit a high of 51.  And the wind blew all night, with gusts to 37 mph ( which beats all of 2012, with a high wind of 36 mph) the birches swayed, the house creaked, rain fell in buckets, and I was tucked happily inside.

Two days ago, this was my view.

A sweet little cabin in the woods

A sweet little cabin in the woods

Today I see this out the window.

Jan 31 thaw

I’m pretty sure this will come with a rainbow sometime today because it’s sunny, cloudy and snowing lightly.  The temperature is already dropping and is  supposed to fall to 7 degrees f by tonight.  The good news is six months from now, July 24, is predicted to be the warmest of the year.

 

City folks just don’t get it

20130130-182846.jpg
I’ve begun to take rural living for granted. Not much surprises me. I answer the door in my pajamas because I don’t expect visitors. I never think of stealing a car, left running in a parking lot, while the owner shops. I wave to everyone I pass (and they wave back). I love listening to the eerie sound of coyotes howling at night and following all the critter tracks during the day.

We are blessed with awesome neighbors. You never know who you are going to live near and we lucked out. We can’t see one another but we know they’re there if we need them. Too bad there’s not a review site like Yelp or Trip Advisor to find out about your potential neighbors before you move in.

I took a double take the other night though while watching TV. An ad appeared for farmersonly.com, “a dating site for farmers because city folk just don’t get it.” Really? Is dating so much different between city and country folk? I used to work crazy hours but didn’t have a dating site devoted to sleep deprived medical residents. I think the work hours are probably the biggest difference. Here’s a link to one if the commercials on YouTube. I would love to know if this commercial plays in urban/suburban areas too.

As predicted, the weather turned nasty today. It rained, was very windy and most of the beautiful snow melted and turned to mud. I stayed indoors (maybe I got dressed today) and am knitting mittens for a birder friend.

20130130-183031.jpg
And I measured a warp for my next weaving project, twill placemats.

20130130-183123.jpgThere is so much order at the outset of a weaving project. Then the fun begins.

Winter woods

 

Our house surrounded by snow

Our house surrounded by snow

We received about 4 inches of fresh powder yesterday while I worked.  When I woke up  I jumped out of bed and put my skis on.  Well not exactly.  I lounged around the house until 12:30 or so, then clambered outside.  I hit a new low today when I accepted a package from the FedEx man in my long johns.  My pride thrown out the window in trade for a package.

Snowy evergreens

 Skiing was awesome.  The woods were quiet and I cut new tracks along the river.  Occasionally a pine tree threw a snowball at me and freed its branch  when I skied near it.

 

There were all sorts of treasures in them there hills.

Winter view

 

 

This is the view from the hill in back of  the old homestead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next off to the little ski area next to my house.  It still operates on a quasi-private basis,  mostly on the weekends.  During the week, it’s all mine.

Rusted abandoned ski tow equipment in the woods

Rusted abandoned ski tow equipment in the woods

 

This is the first rusted equipment I found on my journey.  It’s right below an abandoned ski lift.  Supports still stand on  the hill but there aren’t  any chairs.

snow cat

snow cat

 

 

 

 

 

This guy never made it up the hill.

 

 

 

 

 

The newer equipment still shines.  Here’s the gear to get you up the hill.  Notice the benches in the bed of the truck? Sweet.

Snow cat people mover

Snow cat people mover

 

Rusted snow cat in the woods

Rusted snow cat in the woods

 

Still stream in the woods

Still stream in the woods

 

I’m glad I had a chance to play in the snow today.  It’s supposed to be 50 f and raining the next couple of days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lobster and chips

I took a trip across the lake today to the big city. Big, as in town with a grocery store where I can buy tarragon. It was a lovely day for a ferry ride, there was some chop, the boat was rolling and sea fog drifted across the water.

The view home was pretty sweet.

20130126-213210.jpg

During my last trip to the state liquor store, where the taxes and therefore prices are lower, I met a Mainer who sold lobsters. I don’t trust or eat much seafood in the Adirondacks and I had a hankering for lobster.

I picked up a couple of beauties and decided this time I would cook them humanely by pithing them first. Maybe it was good for them but it was a little traumatic for me.

Last year I bought a healthy chip maker made by Mastrad and wrote about it here. It was stuffed away in a cabinet and I had forgotten about it. I dusted it off, sliced and salted a potato and made a delicious, low calorie batch of potato chips.

20130126-213918.jpg

It couldn’t be easier and the key is the slicer, which cuts the veggie paper thin. Then they are laid out on a silicone cooker, zapped for 2 minutes and away you go.

20130126-214109.jpg

Don’t try it with kale though. I almost burnt the house down as outlined here.

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

The (quilting) universe delivers

Well, actually my email delivers.  I’m headed off to visit family today, and like Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, “I never visit empty handed.”  But what to bring a couple who have everything.  Maple syrup is always a good standby because we have delicious, local syrup in large quantities.

I opened my email yesterday and found a new video was uploaded by Missouri Quilt Company.  The tutorial demonstrates a french braid table runner.  I told Tim I was thinking about making a table runner and he said, “that’s the most useless gift ever.”  Perfect.

I found some stash material. My work area was already set up because I’m working on a large quilt.  By noon, I had it pieced and by dinner it was put together and quilted.Image

I stitched in the ditch with my walking foot for the borders and then practiced machine quilting.  My little Singer featherweight doesn’t like any of the free motion foots I have tried.  So, I use my regular foot, cover the feeder dogs with a business card and loosen the presser foot.  It seems to work.

Once again the universe delivers.  I have my gift and a lap blanket for the ride since the thermometer read 19 below zero this morning.Image

Image

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

It’s the little things

I know several very talented quilters. They often have an idea of what they would like to create and improvise along the way, cutting shapes to fit in, pulling beautiful colors together.

They love the process. And they’re talented.

Not me. I have my own process. I take hundreds of little pieces, according to a pattern, and arrange them just so. It’s a process alright. I cut and sew straight lines and, in this case, use a classic color combination.

20130120-183623.jpg

I am happy to say it looks like it is going to work. I’m not at the halfway mark yet but can envision how it will look. My favorite quilts have optical illusions. This quilt uses squares and rectangles to create a curved line. Love it! Curves without curves.

20130120-183922.jpg

Another example of an optical illusion is the kaleidoscope quilt I made a couple of years ago. . There’s not one curve and it’s comprised of (lots of) four inch blocks.

Here’s the almost finished quilt. It’s our winter quilt with a heavy filling and is on top of a luscious alpaca blanket I found in Tasmania.

20130120-185124.jpg

Illusion or not, there’s nothing better than sleeping under a quilt.

How to avoid cabin fever

Log cabin
Cabin fever comes in two forms: the hyper-energy from staying indoors too long; and the flu,  from venturing out in to winter crowds.

We noticed the latter when we went to a concert in Montreal around Christmas. It sounded like a TB ward. Everyone was coughing, sneezing, blowing their noses and unwrapping noisy candy. I shudder to think about it. One thing a moderately isolated life provides is less germs and more health. I’m not exactly a germaphobe – yes, I taught my kids to wash their hands before putting them near their mouths; and yes, I loved the scene from Curb Your Enthusiasm, when Larry David washes his hands to the Happy Birthday song (as recommended by the CDC); and no, I never eat from buffets. OK so perhaps I am a bit of a germaphobe.  I like people, I really do, just not as much during the winter. Despite the flu vaccine, the flu is hitting hard and I just don’t feel like getting it.

So I mostly stay in the cabin or venture outside. I avoid movie theaters, or other venues where a bunch of sick people pack themselves in. I do however, work in a hospital one day a week, so I make up for it the rest of my time.  Yesterday, we went for a lovely cross country ski tour in the woods around the house to prevent the other sort of cabin fever.

Field

Conditions were perfect. The temperature was in the 20’s and the fresh snow was lovely. Of course I fell on my first little downhill but was mostly fine after that. We saw the work of beavers and coyotes.

It looks like they tried to dam this lovely river without success, or perhaps they had in the past.
Beaver work

Boquet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We often hear coyotes behind the house, especially at night. We found the remains of  one of their dinners in the woods. A well picked deer skeleton and lower jaw.

Deer spine and jaw

 

We capped off the day with a soak in the hot tub when the temperature was about 10 degrees, the air was crisp and the stars were abundant.  You don’t catch cold from being outdoors, you catch germs from being inside.

The woolly bear awakens

Remember the woolly bear caterpillar from a few weeks ago?

20130117-153143.jpg
The last time I checked on him, he was curled into a tight little winter ball. He resides on the stairs to the cellar. A few days ago, he was gone! I thought a strong wind must have blown him off the steps. When I looked beneath the stairs, he was back in caterpillar form. I watched for a while because I thought I detected movement.

He’s a sly one. Yesterday he made a run for the house and I found him on the doormat trying to get in.

20130117-153528.jpg
Now I know why. It snowed again today.

20130117-153600.jpg

http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js

Crazy quilting

Scrap quilting makes a lot of sense. Old pieces of fabric were reused to make a blanket. The method I use is quite different. I buy large quantities of beautiful fabric, cut it up into little pieces and then sew it into a large beautiful quilt. It seems like a crazy process when you think about it. Here’s what I’m talking about.

These little scraps

Image

Get pieced together into bigger squares

Image

And will one day soon become a large quilt with some optical illusions, my favorite type of quilt project.

My horse neighbor is wearing a very sporty coat. I’m not sure why he was wearing it when the temperature was in the high 40’s but he knew he looked handsome!

Image

My little amaryllis, I was so happy with, has quadrupled! Four times the pleasure, four times the fun.

Image