All Moved in Gardening, Birding, and Sewing!

We planted two rosebushes because I hated leaving the ones we planted three years ago at our rental.  Looking forward to seeing these grow.  There are already lots of annuals planted around the house which suits us fine as I do not love gardening (love looking at it, but not putting in the work and energy to get there).  You can also see that we sprayed Hazel's mosaics and put them out.  I need to have her make some for this year (we did them on Mother's Day previously but with moving we did not get there this year!).

I sewed up a mini/med size pillow case for another pillow for Hazel to use while napping here.

We also bought a few cheap bird feeders (disposable) just to see if the many birds in the area would stop at our window.  This is just above the rose bushes.  We have lots of goldfinches stopping in and some house sparrows too.  I have not seen others at the feeder yet, but I downloaded the Merlin app and have discovered by recording their songs that we have House Finches, Red-Wing Blackbirds, Northern Cardinals, European Starlings, House Sparrows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and American Robins in the area.  Hazel and I are enjoying learning about the birds!

 I finally got a picture of the border on this Lori Holt quilt.  This is the one Hannah wants for her soon to come daughter.  I need to get it out to the longarmer!

A Whole Lot of News!

For some reason I do not think this Kathleen Tracy sampler ever made it to the blog after I quilted it with a baptist fan and bound it.  Love how it turned out.

Managed to do the next block in A Quilting life's BOM before the move.

                                    

Made some of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks before and some after the move in orange.

We bid on SIX houses before finally getting our forever home!  After we closed we spent a few weeks making treks over and putting things away and each weekend we painted.  The library/office room is painted "swiss coffee" which looks pretty white, but I like it.  The bedroom is painted a very light sea blue and I love it.  

Hazel and I planted seeds and our radishes are already coming up!

We hung my metal quilts on our garage after it was painted professionally.  We hired people to replace the floor in the living room and in the hall/library office.  We also hired someone to put in a fence.  That happened a few days after we moved in and the dogs, us and Hazel are loving it!

Yesterday I finished up the quilt on the left below.  I put in sashings and cornerstones because I thought the original one I made with my Lori Holt blocks was a bit too busy.  Hannah picked the sashings and cornerstones one and today I added a red with some color for the border and need to get a picture of that.  Baby girl number two should love it.  I need to decide on another quilt or two to make for her as well.  Considering Eye Spy a Four Patch and Princess Crown both from Quiltville.  

 

I had parathyroid surgery about six weeks ago and I think it actually helped me some.  I am feeling slightly less fatigued which is amazing.  It could not have come at a better time with moving.  I am hoping it lasts and continues to improve!  Any fatigue relief is welcome!

Some Sad News and some Good News

My Uncle Dan passed away this past month.  He flew to Arizona for a Spring Break trip and collapsed in the airport.  It took a bit for his body to come back to Wisconsin, so last week we had the funeral.  Combine that with my Mom's health declining (she went in for chemo and changed her mind since the prep caused another heart attack) I decided to go be with the family for the week.  I tried hard to pace myself so I would not get worse again this summer as I did last summer.  Here is my uncle's obituary:  

Obituary

Dan, age 59, of Eau Claire passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday morning, March 21st, 2023 in Phoenix, AZ. Dan was born February 7th, 1964 at Luther Hospital in Eau Claire, WI to DeLos and Charlene Walker. Dan was a loving husband, Dad, Papa and brother.

Dan married Babette King on June 21st, 1986 in Eau Claire, WI. Together that had two beautiful daughters, Taylor Ann Walker and Ashley Marie Walker, one Grandson Brayden Walker. All were a very important part of his life. 

Dan graduated from Memorial High School in 1982 and attend UWEC and graduated in 1986 with a BS in Accounting. Dan received his CPA License in 1987 and was a Partner at Wipfli LLC where he worked for 37 yrs and had planned to retire on May 31st, 2023. 

Dan loved spending time at his Cabin (his happy place) on Lower Long Lake, in New Auburn, WI and enjoyed fishing for hours with his grandson Brayden. Dan also loved hosting family and friends at the Cabin during the summer months. Dan enjoyed playing golf and taking Brayden golfing as well. Dan was an avid sports fan and enjoyed going to Packer games at Lambeau Field, as well as attending many other sporting events with family and friends. Dan was a walking encyclopedia when it came to sports. Dan coached both his daughters in basketball, and loved attending all their sporting events, and other milestones in their lives and was very proud of both his daughters' accomplishments and loved them dearly. Most recently Dan enjoyed being involved his grandson Brayden’s sports activities which included hockey, baseball and football, etc. Brayden was Dan’s “mini me”, buddy and partner in crime. Dan loved and cherished his family dearly.

Dan was a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA), Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accounts (WICPA), Wisconsin Government Finance Officers Association (WGFOA), Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA), and Eau Claire Jaycee’s.

Dan was preceded in death by his mother Charlene (Rushman) Walker and father Delos Walker. Along with his grandparents, aunts and uncles, and other family members.

Dan is survived by his loving wife Babette (King) Walker, daughter Taylor Ann Walker, daughter Ashley Marie Walker, and grandson Brayden Walker who gave his Papa absolute Joy! Dan is also survived by his Brother Steven Walker of Eau Claire, WI, sisters Toni (Gary) Hirn of Marshfield, WI, and Nancy (Greg) Pederson of Tilden, WI along with many other close relatives and friends. 

I quilted my Kathleen Tracey Mini Sampler with baptist fans a few weeks ago.  Pretty happy with how it turned out.

I got the binding on my Hawaii Sunset quilt after it came back from Melissa who quilted it.  

I finally made this cute Red Button "Little Blooms" pattern that Barb made awhile back.  I admired hers so much I had to make one.  I plan to quilt it with a meander.  I ordered a new template/pattern to use and am looking forward to getting to it.

My brother Sam and his wife Ashley and youngest son, Bear flew in for the funeral and to spend some time with Mom and Dad.  Bear and Hazel hit it off immediately.  It was really fun to watch them play together.

Barb and I sewed the April block for A Quilting Life's BOM.  Mine below.

 Barb's.

In better news, we put bids on six houses and finally got the last house.  It is still in the process of closing so keep your fingers crossed.  If all goes well, we will be moving in May.  We will be about 13 minutes from Hazel and granddaughter two!  I have parathyroid surgery tomorrow and am hoping for a fast recovery and we scheduled movers for mid May.  April is kind of a whirlwind and May is looking the same.  

A Little Bit of This and a Lotta Snow!

Barb and I got our A Quilting Life BOM made right away this month.  

Bekcy completed her "Ruby" Jubilee!  LOVE IT!

I just got the Merry Mayhem New Year's  mystery back from Melissa and got the binding on it yesterday and today.  I am keeping this one for a fall quilt.

We got dumped with a boatload of snow yesterday!

I completed four more green RSC blocks in the larger size this past week.  I also had a stomach bug so did not get much more sewed!

 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge in Green!

I had so many green hsts that I have already made ten (eight pictured) in the larger size and have more prepped in the smaller size.

I see from this picture that some of the greens are SO light as to almost not be there but in person I did not notice that.  I wish there was more variety, but I am using whatever I have and not making more hst's if I do not need to. Linking up with Angela for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2023!

 Here is a four star book I just reviewed.  "Exiles" by Jan Harper is the third book in her series featuring Aaron Falks, but can be read as a stand alone book.  Falks is a federal financial investigator who visits his good friends in the Marralee Valley one year after the disappearance of Kim Gillespie.  Falks did not know Kim but helps his good friend Raco (who has been investigating on his own) to try to uncover the truth about what happened to Kim when she disappeared from the annual food and wine festival.  While some think Kim left behind her baby (and a teenage daughter) and killed herself, this just doesn't ring true for others.

A secondary mystery (from six years ago) involving another person in the circle of friends also has Falk curious since it relates to a woman he is interested in.  As a reader, I was trying to connect the two mysteries and find the one "bad guy" throughout the book.  There were some great clues left and I was able to figure out some of the mystery but there were still surprises in the end.  The book is very engaging and since I read it with two other people, there was much to discuss along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the ARC of the audiobook.  I also read the book at the same time which was helpful because there were many characters and I would have found it a bit confusing just on audio though the narration was well done.

Modern Quilt Studio Mystery 2023!

I have been very busy sewing the Modern Quilt Studio Mystery 2023 since the first of the year.  Here is my stack of light blocks.  I am pretty happy with how they look together.

When I lay out the dark blocks I am less happy!  I feel like the orange really stands out and does not work well. I also cannot find a good mix for these blocks.  I move one, then have to move another then another, etc.

I decided to just put the top and the curve together and revisit the bottom on another day.  Here it is together.  Weeks and Bill told us to "nail the curve" which was great advice so I spent quite a bit of time getting this large curve just right.  A few things did not line up as I wanted but I got it there.

I am not happy with the curve on the right which is orange.  When I set the rest of the curve blocks beside it, the curve is not great--kind of hard to see.

I decided to redo that corner with a darker color so I will be happier with it.  

Then I had to figure out a configuration that worked for the bottom darker blocks.  I copied the pattern for the top for the most part and it looked great, but the bottom did not.

I put them on my bed and changed them around and around and took pictures.

I put most of the orange on the bottom and feel like I like the look of it better in the rows above the orange.  I decide to redo many of the orange blocks.

I left the orange blocks that had circles on them since I worked so hard to get those circles right!  At first I left the triangles (orange and green) but eventually I redo that one too.

The picture above winds up being the one I go with but I changed that triangle block to green and blue. (I have eleven extra blocks and some parts left over).

I am over the moon happy with how this turned out. I could see making the curve again in another quilt.  I would love this where the curve blocks use a dark and a light of the same block so the fade looks even cooler.  I am kind of surprised we did not do it that way.  I CANNOT WAIT to see everyone's quilt on March 3rd!  We are to keep our finishes a secret until then.  This mystery had three different reveals and we got to pick which one we liked the best.  This was my favorite, but I liked one of the others quite a bit too.  

I wish I had done their first mystery when they did it. I never heard about it at the time.  Not sure we can still get it--think they may have retired it.  The directions were superb with many pictures and video to go with each clue.  If they do another mystery down the road, I am in.  

Here is Hazel doing some "sewing" like her Lala.  She potty trained super easily (not one accident at my house) and loves to read.  This girl is the light of my life.  I enjoy every minute I get with her and am looking forward to her baby sister too!

                                            

 

Pink Dakota Farmer Blocks!

I realized tonight that my pink Dakota Farmer blocks did not make it to the blog.  I made two of the larger blocks and ten of the smaller ones.  There will be several quilts made from all these blocks when it is all said and done as I am just using up as many of the hst's in each color as I can.  Tonight I started working on green though I am not sure what the color is.  I figured I could trim and if that is not the right color I will be ahead on that and can switch it up.  

                                     

These blocks were made weeks ago but did not get their moment of fame as I thought I had already posted them by the time I blogged!  Linking up with Angela for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2023.