Log Cabin Blocks, Acorns and Geese

I have more than doubled the number of log cabin blocks since my last post about this project, and I’ve started de-papering the blocks so they will be easier to play with on the design wall.  These are so relaxing to make, I’m sure there will be many more before I either run out of fabric (not likely) or finally decide I have enough.  They finish at 4" and each log is about 1/2".

It seems two Egyptian geese have adopted our yard.  Bob thinks they are after the acorns that get crushed on our driveway.  Whatever the reason for their visits, they always make me chuckle with their clownish appearance.  They are very used to humans and are reluctant to leave if we get close.  Our neighbor has started calling them our guard geese.

The golf balls I collected while dealing with the dog poop recently weren’t as colorful as before, but there were more of them.  Strong winds and youth tournaments always make the number grow.  We have a galvanized bucket full in the garage.  You can see all the acorns the geese are after.  The squirrels have had a field day and I expect to be yanking lots of them out of the flower beds in the spring.

 

 

New Year, New Handwork Project

A guild member recently donated a partially completed Baltimore Album Block of the Month for the silent auction at our quilt show.  Since there is no way the project could be completed by the 2023 show next month, a group I’m a part of decided to complete it for the show which will be held in two years.  This is not a project I would have chosen for myself, and I am very grateful that we have a long lead time.  Today I started prepping stems on one of the monthly units.  I was rather surprised to see that brown fabric was chosen for the stems.  The project coordinator assured me, however, that all the units had brown fabric for stems, though not all the same brown.

 

I’ve also been at work on my English Paper Piecing project which will be a good break from the applique work.  When I started running low on templates, I began joining some units together.  This will help me determine how many I need to baste in order to make a reasonably sized throw quilt.  I like how the pieces look together.

 

We had our family Christmas celebration December 28.  As usual, the Jolly Old Elf was much more generous to me than I deserved.  This was in the basket of goodies my daughter gave me and is now my favorite coffee mug.  I wonder, if instead of coal, a really naughty quilter would get empty thread spools?

 

New Year’s Eve was quiet for us, just the way we prefer.  We are definitely not party animals and, as usual, the one of our dogs had a hard time coping with the sound of fireworks.  We’re pretty sure that we also heard someone firing a pistol.

I’m not seeking out quotes for a specific word this year.  Instead, I’ve decided to focus on one simple reminder attributed to Theodore Roosevelt: “Comparison is the thief of joy.”