Gifts from afar

I was lucky enough to get these beautiful cards from my friend Kim Carney of Something to Say. For some time I have admired her work and look forward to her blog every day. She is not only talented but has something wonderful to look at nearly every time you click on her blog. Very prolific and she finds the best links to really great sites. Don't miss a chance to go there and see what she's up to on any given day. Amazing art, both by Kim, and whom ever she has found to link to that day. Thank you Kim for the cards and the note and the adorable tiny butterfly punch piece. Kim has made inspired artwork that uses these butterflies in a grid on a canvas. I really loved that work. I think I will frame a few of these cards into a grouping to brighten a corner of my house.

I found this small piece in The Closet of Shame and all it needs is a few lines of quilting. Doesn't get much more scrappy than this. I made it years ago. Guess you could say I have issues with finishing anything. The thing I need right now is to make a quilt for myself. The quilt I made myself years ago is awful and now getting ragged as well. It's stuffed with poly fiber and tied. Bleah! I have a very large number of X- blocks that I began a couple of years ago with the intention of making a quilt for our anniversary. The fabrics are mostly civil war repros since I was getting a monthly shipment from Keepsake of Historical fat-quarters. At one point I used some to make a table topper for someone and there are still about a hundred 6-inch blocks. I think I will make them into a quilt for myself and try something else for the anniversary quilt to be. Unfortunately, they are all paper pieced so I will grab a hand full and remove the paper a bit at a time. I really love PP but hate the paper removal. I guess next time I'll look for the paper that washes away. I think Carol Doak makes that.

It's a gorgeous day here in my world. The sun is bright and that's a good thing because the temps are arctic-like. I have a BBQ brisket in the oven . Good Day for it since it has to cook slowly and long-like pulled pork. The house smells heavenly. Later I will shred it and put more sauce on it and put it on rolls-yum.

Talk to you soon

Closet of Shame reveals more.....

Hey! Spell-check's back but you still can't format the writing where you want it to appear.

Well, the gloomy weather goes on but at least there's no snow to go with it. I swear, just under those grey clouds is a spring day waiting to burst forth. It's very warm outside(for NY in Feb) and I worked up a real sweat just walking this morning.

After my walk, I went to the Pantry to pick up the latest mail that was waiting for me and there was plenty since I have been illin' the last ten days or so. It's good to see so many people don't forget families in need at this time of year.

Here are two pieces I did very early on in my quilting life. The fans are hand appliqued (and badly) and very poofy and with the wrong thread color etc. Still, I can't seem to get rid of it. I am going to slap a binding on it and hang it up to keep me humble and boy is it ever! The other one, the flying geese was done before I had a 1/4 inch foot and got serious about how to quilt things. it only requires a couple of lines of quilting down the central beige portions to keep it from pooching when you hang it. The geese are made from pretty fabric squares I got a really long time ago. The beige is a fabric I wish I had bought yards of. It's so pretty and I think I only have a very small half yard left. So pretty.

Well, I'm off to try and figure out what to serve the guys for dinner.

Thanks for stopping by to visit. Tomorrow I will show you some pictures of some beautiful cards I got from a photographer friend who is way, way, talented. I couldn't get them loaded today. She's a genius with a camera and, clearly, I am not. Tune in tomorrow for more "As the Dee Turns"

snow & daffodils

Thanks for all the nice wishes-I'm pretty much better except for the searing pain in my sinuses that isn't helped by the very bright sun today. I felt better yesterday. The real problem is most likely the after-effects of Benadryl and cough medicine. They make me feel groggy and cranky. That'll pass in a day or two.

I'm slowly working on getting the baby quilt tied. It's not very big but I'm not very motivated so I do a square and give up.

Most gratifying right now is that my husband and son haven't caught the crud. We are all fortified with lots of Echinacea and so far it seems to be working for the guys. I think it makes the duration of the crud shorter as well. I am not a good patient. An impatient patient at best. I have infinite patience when someone I love is not well but don't extend the same patience to myself. Two days and I'm super cranky. It's been a week-don't ask!. The boys are leaving a wide berth around me for safety sake. Well, I have many things to do and probably only the energy for one or two so I'll check in with you soon. The pictures above are of the snow we got-7 or so inches, and the daffodils I got at the grocery store. They were all buds and I didn't really think they would open but I put them in a sunny window and they are a little picture of spring. Most of the snow is already gone and the temps are climbing. Can spring be far behind?