I’m not feeling a rush of creativity yet, but I am feeling a bit of a draw to my sewing room the last few days. It feels more utilitarian than creative. But I can live with that. I’ve seen this pattern in my creative life before. When I’m not inspired to create, it’s a good time to tackle some UFOs… chunk away at the repetitive and almost meditative tasks needed to wrap up a project.
So I hit my sewing room after work this evening and sewed two more rows on my Jewel Frames quilt. Then I took a break and took my boys for a walk. When we got home I sewed those two rows to the two rows I finished the other night.
That photo just shows half of what I have done so far. This quilt is big and It won’t fit on my design wall. This piece is folded in half. I pinned it up on this small design wall because it’s all pressed and I don’t want to have to deal with creases and wrinkles.
It’s all going together quickly. I just love looking at the design and colors as I work with them.
That must be one of the reasons I sort of enjoy pressing a quilt at this stage… when it’s coming together but is still of a size that it’s manageable. And I love putting my hands all over it as I press. I enjoy it less as the quilt top gets bigger.
More eye candy just because it makes me happy to look at it!
Ane one more just because I can…
Four of nine rows are sewn. That means five more rows. I might have this top done on Friday night. Then I will add a couple of borders. I’m on track to finish this before I wrap up my New Years holiday on Tuesday.
We said farewell to Ernie and Bogart this afternoon. Their mom was feeling well enough after her surgery to have them back at home. They’re such good boys while they’re here. It’s really easy to have them around and they get along so well with Bender and Rico. And Ernie is such a good cuddler. I’ll really miss him now that he’s gone.
I will also miss having all four dogs accompany me to the bathroom five times a day!
We had another wind storm over the last couple of days, with lots of rain. I got about three inches of rain from Sunday afternoon to Monday morning. I emptied this dog water dish on the patio on Sunday afternoon. It was full Monday morning!
And then it continued to rain and the wind howled. So many trees and power lines came down. So many people have been without power. I was lucky that I didn’t suffer another power outage. I think I heard that six people have died in Oregon with that most recent wind storm. Most were killed when their cars were hit by falling trees. And this storm was a different storm from the ice storm last week. We’ve had some really crazy weather.
It was calm and dry today and I took some photos of the damage around the neighborhood.
Mostly what I saw was lots of smaller boughs on the roads and driveways.
Most of these are from Douglas fir trees. In the areas where there are no Doug firs, there are few boughs on the ground.
Our regular trail was pretty much covered in some sections.
We did come across a spot where a tree had fallen across the trail and smashed a fence.
Looking at the other side of the trail in this spot, I noticed that this tree was just completely uprooted and tipped over. You can see the root ball at the upper center of this photo.
With all the rain we had the ground becomes saturated. Combine that with the high winds and it’s not unusual to see trees just topple over.
That was a big tree! I’m hoping it came down when no one was near.
I ran across another tree that fell right along the curb along our walk. This photo was taken today, but this tree was already down during our walk last night.
You can see on this one that the tree just split and fell.
These wind storms can be really scary when combined with huge trees and lots of water.
I also ran across the downed three that caused my power outage last week. Another huge tree. This one was all due to wind.
And more of this tree across the street.
That pile of logs is in the EXACT spot where I scored that green rain coat a few weeks ago.
We’re supposed to see a lot of rain later this week but we’re not supposed to see the return of the winds we’ve had so much of. I was so glad to see the winds finally stop yesterday!
I noticed today that the daffodils in my front yard are finally up. They’re usually up a week or so before Christmas. So they’re late this year. We’ve had a relatively cool winter so far.
I was happy to see they’re up.
agilejack 
Nothing scares me more than trees going down in a wind storm. I LOVE your quilt top. It’s going to be gorgeous!
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the wind is really scary with all the big trees we have. I’m glad it’s calmed down.
Anne
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Love the Jewel Framed quilt. I would like to try something like that. Have to see how much boarder fabric I have. How big are your center squares? Sometimes I think a med. size square is nicer.
Stay away from trees. Hope your bad weather is passed for a while.
Diane
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I think these squares were cut to 9 or 9.5 inches. the pattern is free. you should be able to find it with a Google search. Just search for Jewel Frames Quilt pattern.
Anne
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Thank you.
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Your quilt fabrics are gorgeous. Your bathroom photo made me smile 🙂
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I’m never alone with these dogs!
Anne
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Daffodils already? Lucky you. We’re months away from those. I could do without the storms or I’d be cuddling with all those puppies! Maybe could do without the company 5 times a day. I’ve got 2 kitties that follow me as well. My supervisors! Seems like the end of the year is a good time to finish a few unfinished. I think we’ll feel more accomplished when we think how many quilts we finished in 2022.
Prettu quilt.
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I need to go back and make a list of everything I made this last year. It will take some time!
Anne
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Love the colors on your quilt , sometimes I wonder why we have a door on the bathroom as I never go in there alone , your pic made me smile
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Bender follows me everywhere. Literally everywhere. Rico isn’t as glued to me. Bender is snoozing at my feet as I type this.
Anne
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I just love your quilt, your fabric selection is spot on. The picture of your dogs tickled me and I had to show it to my DH as we have 3 who are nosy too. All those trees coming down is scary, makes you afraid to drive in that weather. Hmmm, daffodils in December? Not where I’m from ! I’m in deep Texas for the winter and my geraniums are blooming like crazy. And my pansy too.
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I can’t take credit for the fabrics in this quilt. It all started with a kit. But it is a fun combo!
Our winters aren’t terribly cold here but our geraniums definitely don’t bloom now!
Anne
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That weather does look scary. Here in Eastern PA, it is just cold at the moment, but a stretch of a week of days ahead promises temperatures in the 50’s. This is *not* normal for December here. Very unsettled weather patterns.
However. I am glad your Mo Jo is at least drawing you to the sewing room. I really enjoyed seeing your Jewel Frame blocks together, especially the subtle value change between the Jewel and the lighter Millefore with which you have framed the squares. That gradation is perfectly interrupted by the little pop of color at the intersections!
I was easily able to backtrack in time through links to earlier posts about this quilt, and I saw that you originally chose Black Shaggy for the border. I absolutely love that fabric, and I rather hope you didn’t change your mind about it. Either way, I will enjoy seeing the completed top.
Finally, it is fascinating to me on this side of the continent to hear about the weather, the flora, and the fauna on the other side of the country. Thank you for these updates. I love reading them.
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the original pattern instructed to use cornerstones out of the same fabric as the sashing. Apparently it helps you keep everything all lined up. But I decided that if I was going to go through the trouble of doing cornerstones, I wanted to see them!
I’m still planning to add a substantial black shaggy border. The cornerstones are black shaggy. Not exactly sure what other smaller borders I’ll add. Have to see the blocks sewn together to see what I need to add to get it to the size I need.
Anne
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I laughed out loud at the photo of the dogs joining you in the bathroom. I have dogs and cats, one cat thinks since I am already sitting down, she would have a cuddle on my lap while I do my business!
It is amazing how powerful storms can be.
Your quilt is stunning. I look forward to seeing it completed.
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I never pee alone!
Anne
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Wow! What crazy weather you’ve been having! We get crazy winds at times, occasionally with snow, but never with heavy rain.
Your quilt is beautiful already-I can’t wait to see the top when it’s completed. The colors are gorgeous!
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It will be fun to finally see this quilt done
Anne
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Shhh! Great sale going on at Calico Creations in Mt Vernon WA. If you’ve never shopped there before, check it out! They have great service.
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Oh no! I’ve already bought too much fabric this month!!
Anne
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Haha! Me too!
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It’s good I wasn’t eating or drinking when I read the line about the dogs accompanying you to the bathroom!!! I busted out laughing. This is often true of cats as well.
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Haha! I’m NEVER alone!
Anne
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I lost my husband early this year…so my mojo is not close yet..i can look at my fabrics..but cant sew yet..love your colors of fabs..kaffe is a fave also…thankyou for the great pictures…n your pups n friends pups…im enjoying my first time here..happy new year..☃️
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thanks so much for reading. So sorry to hear about the loss of your husband. Give yourself time and eventually you may take comfort in sewing and creating with some beautiful fabrics.
Thanks for reading.
Anne
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