Snow Day

I guess I should have waited a day to take the pictures of the Christmas quilt I posted yesterday because this morning we woke up to this

The mountain had disappeared into the clouds

When you hear 'Snow Day' what do you think?

 Curl up under a quilt with a good book? Sew? Do a little baking? Sit by the fire?

The answer? None of the above. Although I did spend time by the fire.

DH came in at 7 and said he was burning the brush piles and would I please monitor the one below the house while he went to burn others.

So I slipped into shoes and went out in my jammies. It wasn't very cold - 29 and it was super toasty next to the fire

Once it had burned down enough, I trotted back up to the house and changed into real clothes, grabbed gloves, donned my Stormy Kromer hat, threw a shovel over my shoulder and climbed into the Can-Am next to Skeet. DH had 7 piles burning 

and we went around with a pitchfork and shovel  

tossing outlying pieces into the middle

Not a great picture, but I had been working and that fire is hot!

Skeet has always loved the snow

At 9, 

he still acts like a puppy

when the ground is white

It was an absolutely beautiful day

And I think we'll sleep well tonight!

Hashtag Christmas

When I saw this pattern from Cluck Cluck Sew, I immediately thought it would make a great scrappy Christmas quilt.

I made a different scrappy Christmas quilt in 2018 

And I thought it was time to make another and hopefully whittle down my Christmas fabrics a little.

I like that the pieces in this block are big enough to show the fabrics.

The white is a white on white print from my fabric pantry called Architextures.

I made the first block in January and finally pieced it all together and handed it off to Jackie and Sandy in August. The fun quilting design called Holly Ribbon is perfect and shows so nicely on the Minky I used on the back

The fabric I used for the binding is from my pantry too...it was $2.00 / yd at a quilt shop that was closing probably 10 years ago and I bought what was on the bolt...probably about 8 yards. 

I really like this pattern and I think I now need flannel, western, and fall versions. At 75" x 85", it'll be a great cuddle quilt. 

The kids can decide which one they want. As soon as I hung the quilt out on the deck, it began to snow

It was 44 out, too warm to stick

The flakes were itty-bitty

                                                     

           

And the sun was shining through the clouds

It makes me happy that the kids request and enjoy and use the quilts. One day they will be saturated, but they haven't reached that point yet! 😉

Welcoming Winter

 I think this is a magical place to live every day, but it turns into a Hallmark movie when it snows (a shot from last year)

We've enjoyed such a lovely fall, and we're still waiting on our first snow of the season, but it was 16 the other morning. I know other parts of the country have already been covered up and it's caused messy, difficult commutes. Thankfully, we only need to commute to the barn. 😉

It was 24 on Sunday when we walked out to cut and haul firewood.

                                                              

But anyone that has cut firewood knows it doesn't take long to warm up (and no, he's not holding the maul backwards - he's got a wedge in the stump and is hitting it with the other side)

It was such a pretty day

I was pooped, but I think we're stocked up for the season, ready to welcome winter

And enjoying the fruits of our labor

Under the Needle: November

 I'm trying to be extra cognizant of the days in hopes that they won't whizz by so quickly. It's not working.  LOL. What's a girl to do? I'll just keep being grateful for and finding joy in each one. 

DH was away tending to our cows at the end of October and into November and I don't sleep well when he's not here so I filled the pre-dawn and post-sunset hours by stitching, resulting in progress on projects

I finished piecing this Into the Woods quilt into a top, made the backing and binding, and took it to Jackie. I neglected to take a photo of the whole top so this is just 2 blocks.

I cut and pieced another quilt top and took it to Jackie. It's a gift so I can't show it yet, but here's a peek of the fabric

I pulled all the fabric and am presently cutting pieces for the Balsam Gnome Quilt

Then, when I ran across a panel at the bottom of a bin of western fabrics, I pulled it and coordinating fabrics to make this top. Again, just 4 of 30 blocks shown, but it's pieced and next up in line to be quilted.

I cut these fabrics for another Gingham - Buffalo Plaid quilt

A couple of months ago, I had made a ton of potholders, but I had yet to bind them. I love to hand bind and I hand bind all my quilts, but I'd rather spend my time hand binding quilts than 30 sets of potholders. However, my machine binding left a lot to be desired. But I wasn't giving up and I tried it again and it worked! Don't laugh, but I was so tickled. Just 1 set so far, but I feel like I finally figured it out. 

I'm still binding the Christmas quilt I started binding last month

And I had a couple of quilt finishes this month:

This Blush & Butterscotch 16-patch

And this Cowboy Up quilt

They are both now in Texas and have been well received and that makes this quilter's heart happy.

OK. Ready or not, we're sliding into the end of the year. I'll be hiding out on my mountain. 😉

Week in Review

We had a pretty quiet week.  This is the only visitor we had although he brought friends. 😁

The light behind him is the house. Don't know where he was hiding during elk season. 

DH had a 5 day deer hunt and rode out each morning. He was successful on day 3 and came back to the house for a pack horse

On Tuesday, I made meatloaf and cookies, packed them up and dropped some off at my in-laws, and some for our son and his family.

Wednesday I sewed a lot to get a last minute project ready for quilting

And I may have started a new one

But the weather has been so incredible that it's hard to stay cooped up inside

Thursday I helped DH process the deer and help him get the first batch of jerky on the dehydrator

Friday was a wood cutting day

Saturday was a town day. I rarely tackle town on a Saturday - too people-y. I had multiple stops to make. I made a list and put in a Sam's and Walmart pick-up order the day before and came home with $500 of groceries. (an old photo because I was too tired to snap one)

Yesterday I cooked breakfast, streamed church services, cooked dinner, made a double batch of Cowboy Cookies, and a batch of Whiskey Praline Pecans (the 2nd of many)

We're soaking in the crisp Autumn air before winter arrives - according to the forecast, we've got 1 more week.