After the Storm

The snow was frozen on the cars this morning. I really had to chip away to get it off. There's always some left of the car top. That finally slide off when I was nearly back home.
Hope granddaughter Nikki is in sunny Florida by now. After sitting on a plane for over 3 hours yesterday and then found their flight was canceled with no flights available today, they drove to Washington, DC, had dinner and a 10 p.m. flight to Florida.
Her sister Becki slid into a snowbank taking Caleb to day care yesterday morning. She was within sight of the day care provider so she walked there, carrying Caleb who is now eight months old. Got the car towed out of the snow bank, no damage to them or car.
The official report was 6" of snow here and wind gusts of 30 mph yesterday. Whiteouts here. Ella Mae lost power for several hours.
Now to sew and read. Another Anita's Arrowhead coming up. I've been to the grocery stores today. They were normal Saturday crowded.
Chris

Anita's Arrowhead

Do you ever see a pattern in a magazine and think "I'll try one of those." This is Anita's Arrowhead, from the Nov/Dec 2010 Quiltmaker magazine. Mary Rose called me the other day to ask about that pattern. A friend had described it to her. I thought I'd seen it. But I had to google the name to find the pattern. Then to find the magazine. Never an easy task. Found magazine yesterday.
This morning I cut and sewed the block. Pretty easy. I like the black & white with pink. Hmmm, could make a black and white with a bit of pink quilt.
The block is by Anita Grossman Solomon. Check out her site at makeitsimpler.com. She is the author of three books. We have at least 3" of heavy wet snow today. The snow is clinging to trees and power lines. Our parking lot has been plowed but it is icy underneath. When I went out to move the cars, the snow was nearly at a sleet stage. We have a winter storm warning until 5 p.m. tonight.
The last I knew my granddaughter and her husband were waiting in an airport, hoping to board a plane to Florida for a meeting.
The Campfire Girls canceled their lunch today. Ella Mae said 5" on her hill. Lois Ann said 4" over in Hartford Mills.

Bob's four year old granddaughter Natalia just got glasses. She looks so cute in them. She's turned into a chatterbox. She used to sit back quietly and watch the others. What a change. She's in pre-K this year.

Time to do some more sewing.

Chris

Some More Good Reads or Why I Haven't Sewn Much This Week

These are some recent good reads for me: Bootlegger's Daughter, Shooting at Loons and High Country Fall all by Margaret Maron and Though Not Dead, the latest by Dana Stabenow. Okay, I confess, I spent a lot of time reading instead of sewing.
I do enjoy the Deborah Knotts mysteries by Margaret Maron and the Kate Shugak mysteries set in Alaska by Dana Stabenow.
And ditsey that I am, I messed up on the date for the Daytona 500. It is next Sunday, February 20th, not today.
We did watch the Budweiser Shoot Out last night. Interesting race. Newly resurfaced track at Daytona.
How to imagine that it was 32 years ago that I went to Daytona the first time, for motorcycle races.
Enjoy your day.
Chris

Hitting the Road

This has been a busy week for us. On February 4th we went to Jeanie's house, enjoyed a sandwich and then worked on various projects. Here's Jeanie sewing away. Ella Mae showed Lois Ann how to make bias binding for the Little Ladies dresses. I need one of those Clover gadgets....I don't have one so I need it.

Here they are, Ella Mae and Lois Ann.

On Sunday, February 6th members of Chenango Piecemakers met for Super Sew Sunday. Below you will see Mary Rose (left) and Nancy Carney working on some quilts.

This quilt is laid out on batting and ready to be layered with the backing. This is what happens to the donation blocks.

Elaine Schwan, Noel Briand and Betty Sue Christian are having a consult about the blocks for a top, selecting from many made by members.

After volunteering at the library last Monday afternoon, answering questions and bringing out microfiche of the New York State Vital Records Index to patrons I went to a baby shower. This was for Laurel Stallman, the mother of Kaitlyn Marie Ruby who was born 3 months prematurely on November 9, 2010. Kaitlynn is nearly ready to come home from the hospital.

Laurel received many wonderful and useful gifts for Kaitlyn including lots of diapers in premie and newborn size.

I thought I had forgotten my camera but found it tucked in my purse after the shower.

This is the cake after it had been cut. Great grandmother Alice cut carefully around the edges. It was so pretty. Sweet Pea was appropriate because Kaitlyn weighed 1 lb. 9 oz. at birth. She now weighs over 3 lbs.

A picture of Laurel finally enjoying her cake after the gifts were open. The shower was a surprise for her.
Thursday Red Hats met for game day at Helen's home in Sanitaria Springs. We never did get to playing games. We just sat and chatted and caught up that cold afternoon.

Yesterday I hosted the Campfire Girls here. Corn Chowder to warm them after a -1 on my thermometer. We played a couple of games of cards, Cody's game and Skip Bo.
Today we slept late, not waking until 9 a.m.

This will be a good day to relax. Think I'll make a pot of vegetable soup.

Tomorrow we will watch NASCAR starting the season with the Daytona 500. Seeing the pictures of the new resurfaced track brings back memories of 1979 when I went there the first time. I pointed out to Bob the finish line and the banking. I walked across the finish line that year. That was steep.

Enjoy your day and try to stay warm. It was 32 when I finally got up.

Chris

Sue Had an Idea

Sue had an idea back in 2003 or 2004 to do a strip swap of autumn and light colors, using the Fons & Porter Cutting Bee book as a model. Now that my quilt is nearing completion, I think one of the borders should have "Sue had an Idea" in the border.
Today the Campfire Girls are meeting at Jeanie's house up in Lisle. We're doing sewing of some sort. I think I'll take the cutting board and some fabric.
It's a sunny day. Yeah!
I found the red for a narrow border and binding yesterday. Now to cut 68 4 1/2" blocks for the outside border. I really love this quilt.
On Monday at the library my friend Bonnie from Owego came in. I had a chance to show her pictures of her relatives, Becki and Caleb as I had posted them on Facebook. What fun to find another branch of a family for my granddaughters.
We have been so lucky here in this part of New York. We seem to be on the border of the storm fronts that have moved in. We've gotten just enough snow to be a nusiance. But we aren't thigh deep in snow and ice.
Chris