Sunday, July 20, 2025

Cabin Projects

I just realized that it is Sunday! I completely blew past scraphappy Saturday. We had Kurt's family come to visit this weekend and it has been a bit of a blur. It isn't like me to forget the days of the week. I am so sorry! Being out of a normal routine can really lead to issues!
Check out my new quilt ladder! I made it from branches that came from a cherry plum tree that fell down. Actually, about 2/3 of the tree fell down, the other third is still gracefully bordering the driveway. I just found some straight and similarly sized branches and connected them to two by fours cut at a bit of an angle. Now I have a place to hang quilts at the cabin! I have a nice oak rack that I got from someone on Etsy at our main home, but this one fits the vibe here much better. 
This recycling box bench was the other big project last week. 
It holds all the various cans for plastic and carboard and such. I made some pillowcase type liners for each bin that have elastic and can be pulled out to go to the dump. They are washable and should help to encourage Kurt to take the recycling when he goes to take the trash. It also serves as a nice place to sit and take off shoes in the mudroom/laundry room rather than traipsing through the house. So that was the extent of my sewing this week. We are wrapping things up at the cabin and getting ready to head home soon. Sorry again for the mix up on days of the week. I will make sure to auto schedule for next weekend as we are likely to be in transit while helping to move some furniture for Kurt's dad who is getting ready to move into a continuous care neighborhood soon. He is sharing some furniture from the downsizing with Anna and we are going to store some here at the cabin as well. I will get everything prescheduled though in case life goes crazy again. 

Saturday, July 12, 2025

ScrapHappy Saturday - Purple Passions

 

Check out that purple moose batik. It is one a fabric that I picked up on our trip to Alaska. I got a purple jelly roll to have some purples to play with this month. It is sadly matchy matchy, which is why I usually love scraps so much more than precuts, but I am still happy to have some purple with which to play. How are your purples coming along this month? Misterlinky is below. Please share


Sunday, July 6, 2025

Wrapping Up a Week at the Cabin


I had to get a full shot of the hexie diamonds now that the last stitch has been sewn. I searched back through old posts to figure out that I started this quilt in January of 2018. That isn't nearly as long ago as I had guessed. I even linked to some of the design inspirations, but those links seem to have died. A blog is a nice way to remember long term projects like this one that seem to have always existed. 
The backing is a rainbow of fabrics. Since the quilting was done in rows, it didn't interfere much with the hand quilting. From time to time I would start running into a stubborn spot and realize that I was trying to sew along a seam in the back. 

I even got two more sets of snakes done on the new hexie project. It is much easier now that I have them paired and clipped together. One individual snake is pretty flimsy, but when they go together the nesting gives them some stability. I cheated and ordered a purple jelly roll so that I will have some July snakes to add to the collection. 
Yesterday, Kurt decided that we should go out to a winery. I am always so happy to stay home forever. It is nice that he suggests outings to change up the scenery from time to time. It was a very fancy winery and we enjoyed the trip, even though we are not fancy people. After that we watched the fireworks from our own front yard. The local 4-H hosts a show each year and we have a beautiful view from our perch on the side of the mountain. 
We have some tiny tomatoes growing in the garden. It was horribly neglected for a very long time, so I am a bit surprised that anything has survived.  Deer and racoons at most of what we planted, but it is nice to see that a few things are still growing.  I hope you are finding some time to slow down and enjoy the end of the week. Be sure to head over to Kathy's blog to enjoy some slow stitching. 
 

Saturday, July 5, 2025

ScrapHappy Saturday - Now in Purple


July is all about purple this year. I think that I mentioned I forgot to bring any of that with me to Virginia. It seems a strange choice for summer, but It it reminds me of blooming wild flowers. Another week at the cabin has zoomed by and I keep chipping away at the list. Most of the main bedroom is painted, but I ran out of paint and the kind that I like comes from Home Depot which is on Kurt's way to work. He worked from home on Thursday and yesterday was a holiday, so it will wait until next week. 

I realized when I started working on recycling bin liners that the only bobbin I had was full of red thread from sewing Christmas stockings. Thanks to next day delivery, I now have a multipack of assorted threads along with some empty bobbins and new rotary blades. After that, I sewed some throw pillows and hemmed some curtains. The big news though it that I took the last stitches on the hexie diamond quilt last night! This is a finish that is years in the making. Every hexagon is lovingly stitched together with rainbow rows of hand quilting to finish it off. 

In addition to the usual cabin projects, it has been quite the week for wildlife spotting. Every time that I look out a window, there seems to be someone looking back at me or peacefully wandering by. 

Usually it is a groundhog, deer or squirrel, but on Wednesday it was this mamma bear. I was chilling on the couch when she just strolled by on the front deck. That was a bit of a surprise! It seems to be a summer of bears for me. I was glad to be safely inside this time and so remembered to get a video. I hope that you are finding some time to sew and recharge your batteries. For those in the US, it is a long holiday weekend. Hurray for more time to create!