Bits & Pieces

Not a lot to report here, Last weekend was my military weekend and I somehow managed to hurt my back. So rather than sitting in front of my sewing machine as I would have liked I was laying in bed (not that laying in bed is a bad thing).
This weekend was my birthday so I've spent the last three days just enjoying the company of Alayssa and Lewis .

I did manage to get Alayssa's scarf finished and picked up a UFO that had been sitting for over a year. It's a feather/fan shawl for Lewis' mom that I started Christmas of 2009. I have one more skein of yarn to add to it and it will be ready for blocking and giving. This will be my biggest project to date, more of a small blanket than a shawl at about 4'x8' but that's the way she wanted it. It's also been my least favorite project to date, hence it being a UFO for a year+.

This was taken at about 1/4 of the way done on the feather & fan shawl

I did manage to get some of my blue and bugs blocks (say that fast five times) sewn together and am now discovering that to achieve the size that I want I may have to create some new blue scraps. :) So it may not turn into a finished object for a while longer. Oh well, we're that much closer and I guess a work in progress is better than unused scraps...right?

Needs a few more rows!

I dug out one of my very first ever quilt related UFO's...actually, it may very well be my first ever quilt top if my mind isn't tricking me. I believe it may be the source of my 2" strips (but it doesn't have a lot of blue in it so those may have been cut for another project long forgotten.)
Truth be told I can't remember how old this is exactly but I know that it's more than 5 years. Each time I would re-discover it I kept thinking of different ways to add on to/finish it that never came to fruition. This time I am just going to do it!

Thank you to my sweetie Lewis for being my top holder. He's such a wonderful guy!

I think this is considered a foundation pieced strip top (???). It was done on a muslin foundation so it's got a good weight to it already. I have decided to back it with flannel, no batting for a cozy lap throw.

This is Little Sh*t whom we found starving in our garage as a barely old enough to leave his momma kitten. That was over 6 months ago and we're still trying to find a forever home for him. He likes quilts apparently, any takers?

It measures 54"x54"and while I'd like to put a bit more size onto it I know if I wait to do that it would just sit again so I picked up a lovely flannel print for it and have pre-washed it so I don't get shrinkage. Now to cut and sew it to size, do whatever finishing I decide on and bind it.

Flannel for the back.

Today is gray but surprisingly warm, the snow is melting and there are patches of lawn visible. The house smells divine as I have both chicken and ham stock simmering on the stove while butternut squash bakes in the oven for butternut squash chowder.

The girls, Lucy and Ethel are enjoying the trimmings from the veggies. I try and make sure that they get fresh veggies, but with the summer bounty gone and us using more canned/frozen food it's not as frequent. They're still grateful for their mash and a bowl of warm water though. I call it chicken tea. :) I'm looking forward to warmer weather when they can put their energy back into eggs. I'm sure they're just looking forward to warmer weather period.