Thankful

This is Lady, looking pathetic and minus a lot of her hair. It had to be shaved off at the animal emergency clinic where she and we spent a large part of Saturday night/Sunday morning. You see, Miss Lady decided to rush out past Mr. Muddling to chase a cat, and she got hit by a car passing in the street. Thank God, he was not speeding or there might have been a different outcome! She had a bad cut to her abdomen which required internal and external stitches and lots of bruising and abrasions, but she is recovering nicely, for which we are extremely thankful.

We've had such beautiful weather, the chickens have decided it is Spring and started laying again!  This is yesterday's haul, which is not bad, considering that we only have three chickens and they are not young! I do love our chickens. I know. I'm weird that way.

I finished sewing this top together last night. Here you see it "webbed" which is a good idea I picked up from the very talented and informative Bonnie Hunter.  I have learned a lot from her, and yes, I WILL finish Grand Illusion! 

This is the one I started to escape from Grand Illusion. It went together really quickly. There was not a pattern, I just "muddled" it to completion. Sometimes you just need to play without referring to a plan.

Ariel has inspected it and given it a pass, so far.

The peach blossoms are still on the tree, no freeze yet. Aren't they pretty!

The yellow angel trumpets on the other hand have sustained some frost damage to the upper parts of the plants, but the lower parts are still blooming away! I like their tenacity. 

And here's someone I really like. Bruno is my faithful companion. No matter where I am or what I am doing, if it is at all possible, Bruno is right there with me! Love my dog!

I am thankful for so many things. There will always be hard things to bear in this life, but there will also always be things that bring you joy. I choose to dwell on the happy things, and I hope you do, too!

Hug and kisses,

Loss of Motivation

I have no possible excuse, I just lost interest in the Grand Illusion. It is finished to the first border. I still have to piece the outer border, and then I will have to add at least one more border for it to be as big as I want it to be for our bed. 

I know I will get back to it, I like it. I guess I just got tired of looking at it.

So, I started playing around with some 2 1/2" squares and they turned into nine-patches.

Those started playing around with some 6 1/2" half square triangles and this is what has happened. 

It is good to have projects, isn't it?  I am thankful that there is always something interesting to keep me busy!

I hope you're having a good week and finding plenty to occupy yourself. We've had a cold rainy day today, but it should be nicer tomorrow.

Hugs and kisses,

This. Is. Taking. Forever.

All twenty-five blocks of the Grand Illusion Mystery (no longer) Quilt are assembled, pressed and on two design walls.

Here is one of the blocks, up close and personal.

One hundred twenty double lines of four sewn together to make sixty sashing strips. Aren't those little soldier girls just the cutest?

Sashing strips pressed with center seams "twirled".

And now assembly has begun on the actual quilt top! I really do like this one. If I had seen it beforehand I would never have attempted it. (And they are saying that this is an easy one!!!??)

I set this as a challenge to myself, and I am glad I haven't abandoned it. I will finish it. I will!

Bruno went as far as he could go last night/this morning helping me.

But trusty Sock Monkey stayed alert and on the job! Or maybe it was that rooster with the gun who was keeping him awake. 

Dinah has been very interested in the birds at that suet feeder outside the window. And very annoyed that she can't seem to catch them!

Also outside the window, the peach tree is in full bloom. I guess it doesn't know that Winter is not over. We'll see if any of those survive. Anyway, it's a very welcome sight to me - this promise of Spring!

Meanwhile, the chickens continue to patrol the backyard, interested in everything and always busy. One of the many reason I like them!

I hope you are interested in something good today and it fills you with as much pleasure! As for me, I am thankful for so many things. With all its trials and struggles, life is still a very good thing!

Hugs and kisses,

First Finish of the Year

I finished the  Sixteen Patches with Blue that I first blogged about last time. As you can see, it did go through a couple more changes since then.

I had really intended to make this one much bigger and keep it here for our bed, but it ended up going to a young man who recently lost his mother to cancer. I hope it brings at least a small measure of comfort to him.

This is the backing. I had originally intended to put together these two fabrics to go on the back of this quilt, but used the Oriental fleece instead.  I really like how well they go together. Not planned. At all. Muddling. Works for me!

Here at Muddle Manor things are still green and blooming outside. I'm not sure how much longer that will last, we have another cold front due. And oh, look - a chicken! Or two or three.

And, I put my count at 29 quilts finished in 2014. I finished more in 2013, but with all I've had to deal with here this year, I'm not going to be hard on myself this time. 

Bonnie Hunter posted the final clue - the reveal - for the Grand Illusion Mystery on Thursday (actully midnight Wednesday!). I really, really, REALLY like this one! I would never have even attempted it if I had seen the picture of the completed project, but since I now have all the parts complete and ready to put together, I am going to get to that real soon!  Thank you Bonnie Hunter!

I hope you have something exciting to keep you busy for at least the next little while.  It just makes life so much more interesting, doesn't it?

Hug and kisses,