Snow N Sew

It's snowing again this season.

That's okay.  It is winter after all.

The forecast changed yesterday from, "Hey there may be snow the next few days," to "By the Way...6 to 11 inches of the white stuff are coming your way beginning tomorrow morning!"

Of course, I hadn't grocery shopped on Sunday or Monday (my usual), so we were out of stuff that I would want - which meant facing the snow-crazed shoppers.  UGH..

The phone rang around 5:30am from the school.  No School Today.  The streets were totally clear at that time.  I got up, made coffee and decided to venture out to the grocery (I know, same idea as everyone else!) I arrived at the Trader Joes at 8:02am (it opens at 8am) and it was packed!!!  Apparently there had been an outdoor line before it was open.

No - the sidewalks at the shopping center are NOT blue, that's de-icing salt to pre-treat the sidewalks

I got in - shopped, maneuvered my cart around piles of people and all sorts of lines and the poor workers trying to stock the shelves and empty boxes.  Yellow tulips - $1.99 per bunch.  Yes, that's certainly a necessity.

Then it was off to a doctor appt.  Could I squeeze it in before the white stuff really got to be a problem?  Maybe.  I ventured out again.

Not too bad yet - snow just starting to coat the roads.  Sure I'll make it to the doc and back in time.

From the doctor office window I could see my little car atop the garage (only level with spots remaining).

45 minutes later, goodness it's really coming down!

Slow driving, bad streets and traffic

SUVs swerving all over the road, giant salt truck just ahead, yay, I get to turn at that light!

Geez, the neighborhood hasn't gotten a plow at all.  Very slippy and slow.  All the way to the lowest gear now.

Almost there, just another few blocks.

Little pink dot is a snowsuit of a little neighbor girl.

And I'm parked!!! YAHOO.

Made it back to the house all in one piece and the mail has even been delivered already - wow.

Snowy boots emerge from the car.

Hello WEATHER!

Whew - made it home.

Lovely flowers, a happy yellow mug of coffee, a view of the snow from inside.  The fire going in the next room (hubby's office today).  I feel crafting materials calling me, I feel the pull from the crochet hook sucking me in. Yes, it's bound to be a good day! Now to decide whether I continue with the hand quilting on the table runner I sewed yesterday?

Curved piecing table runner from a lesson taught by Sujata Shah when I was in the Philly Modern Quilters group.

Yesterday in honor of my ASG meeting, decided to stitch up a backing and finish off this project.

All pinned in a quilty sandwich and now ready to receive some nice hand perle cotton stitching -Gees Bend look I hope.

Certainly am glad the Swim and Dive Team dinner happened on Sunday and I don't have to worry about the impact of the weather on that event.

Can't believe it looked like this only this morning as the sun was just coming up!

Happy Weather in your neck of the woods - Sher

Lots of Holiday Making

I made a lot of gifts for the holidays this year.

I think one reason I didn't post much was because a lot of the crafting I was doing had a gift recipient who might read my blog.

One such gift I made was a quilt for my nephew, Quinn - age 5.

I made him a checkerboard quilt that I designed.  I don't know much about designing quilts, I just needed something that was easy.

My inspiration was a vintage fabric with a nautical theme and the fact that Quinn's bed is built into his wall like a captain's bed on a ship.

Here's my design process...not very technical.

Graph paper, crayons.

I used Red and Blue fabrics to complement the vintage ships fabric which I fussy cut and left as 12" squares.

I made random checkerboards using different sized squares.

I pieced them all together.

I took it to my Philly Modern Quilt Guild Meeting for Show and Tell and a bit of advice seeking (bad photo).

I pieced a nautical looking back - I love the way Modern quilters use design on both the front and the back of a quilt.

The quilting was very simple diagonal lines (on the machine) - I'm still learning...

The binding was my FIRST ever binding.  I made 2.5" binding strips, sewed them to the back and hand stitched them to the front.  I loved the process of hand-stitching.

I started the quilt top just over a week before Christmas and was finishing the binding just a few days before Christmas.

Quinn loved the quilt and I hope it lives on his bed and he gets a chance to snuggle in it often and for many years to come.