Under the Needle: February

 I worked on numerous different projects this month, making progress on 8, beginning 1, and finishing 2 quilts and 25 blocks.

I'm not a tv watcher and  I don't have the television on during the day, but when I DO sit down in the evening, I need to have something in my hands and I just so happened to have a Christmas quilt that needed binding this month. Peppermint Bark Christmas was a good one to work on during the Olympics and it is now a finish.

I had excellent assistance with this pink quilt this month

 and after I made all the flying geese, I got it laid out and pieced into a top. Minky was requested for a backing and binding was chosen and made before handing it over to Jackie and Sandy for quilting.

I made the blocks for this flannel quilt last month and was able to get them all assembled into a top earlier this month. I pieced the back, made the binding and handed it over as well.

I then picked up 4 quilts from Jackie and got the bindings stitched to the fronts

I also made the binding for my S'mores quilt

As well as the bindings for the 2 Balsam Gnome quilts I pieced last month

On my list of quilts I wished to work on this year was a 2nd camping quilt, but I hadn't settled on a pattern. Last month, I saw this pattern called Layer Cake Scattered Stars from the Fat Quarter Shop and I thought it would be an excellent fit.

 So, I pulled my bin of leftovers from the first quilt and cut everything out. I downsized the blocks for this quilt and needed 42. I wasn't able to get this into a top, but all the blocks are ready. I laid out 6 blocks...this is going to be perfect.

I made 25 No Point Stars (12 1/2") for a QOV group 

And those netted some bonus triangles that I trimmed to 2 1/2".

 I was on the fence about keeping these, but I made a Broken Dishes block and decided they needed to stay

And to close out the month, I finished this Woodland Wonders Gingham Quilt

For a short month, I am happy with the progress I was able to make.  March is already filling up with things I hope to work on.

Woodland Wonders

I am often trying to come up with ideas for baby boy quilts and when I saw these fabrics, I didn't hesitate. I really like this neutral palette, and these southwestern prints are just perfect here in our corner of the world.

And it didn't take me long to cut squares for a little gingham quilt.

If you've been reading here for long, you know I love a good gingham quilt.

They're timeless and classic and come together so fast

And they're not so fancy that people are afraid to use them and when I gift a quilt, I most definitely want it to be used and loved.

I think this one fits the bill nicely.

The gray Minky backing makes it extra cuddly

This one is 49"x 59"... may it be a part of endless adventures in the years to come.

An Official Orchard

 Last week, DH and I layed out the pipe that will supply the orchard with water. 

We rolled out 280' from the orchard to our spring and plumbed it in

We're still researching watering systems for the individual trees and will add a few more hydrants, but we're leaning towards a drip system. This project will be a work on progress.

He also dug the holes for the trees 

and then we went to pick some of them up from Jaimee on Monday

I took her some eggs and she gave us a bottle of Mesquite Bean Syrup. It is so sweet and good. She said it is excellent on pancakes and that she uses it as you would use honey when you run out of honey. It is high in iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium, and I've now added that to my list to make.

She is grafting some specialty trees for us, but they won't be ready until September

DH wanted one heirloom apple tree that will be bigger, in the back of the house so he moved a few rocks

Dug a hole

And brought in a load of manure

We mixed  it in with topsoil and fertilizer and potting soil from Jaimee

And we have our first tree! 

And an official orchard!

Well, there are more to plant, but we got 6 in the ground on Tuesday.

Lots of time behind the shovel and that's about all I can handle. We're sore and tired, but excited about the possibilities

and hopeful that our project will one day bear fruit.

Peppermint Bark Christmas Quilt

 A few years ago I stumbled upon this Peppermint Bark fat quarter bundle at a great sale price and I waited for a pattern that would showcase those great colors and prints. 

The Cleo Quilt pattern from Kitchen Table Quilting felt right and in June 2024 I started pressing all the fat quarters. I also threw in these 2 plaid prints because I think every quilt needs some plaid. 😉

The chiddlers wanted Christmas snuggle quilts and I gave them each one last year so I'm looking to replenish ours and I think this will fit the bill. On another afternoon, I cut everything up and put it in a bin until I could find some time to sew. In July I sewed all the blocks and worked on trimming them in batches.

And then we moved. With all of our outdoor projects, it took a while to set things up in my sewing room, but this was the first project I reached for to work on in our new home. Once I made 4 blocks, I was hooked and I put it all together quickly. But then it sat for over a year as other projects took precedence 

But I finally had it quilted and made it my evening binding project just before and during the Olympics. Sandy quilted it with a design called Hot Cocoa. The prints are busy and it's difficult to see the quilting, but it shows up nicely in the back

It finishes at 72" x 92" 

The wind has been howling here for 3 days, making it a challenge to take pictures

I just really like the way the fabrics work together

These trees are my favorite

 A red Grunge from my fabric pantry was pulled for the binding.

Even though this is a Christmas quilt and it's February, we all know that we'll blink twice and it'll be time to drag this out

Everyone else is ready for spring, but I've enjoyed every stitch of this Christmas-y quilt while I was binding it.