My life in Vermont
Hopefully by now all of my handmade postcards have reached their destinations. I wouldn’t want to ruin any happy little surprises in the mailbox.
My theme this year was monsters. They are 4″x6″, made of fabric, lots of little tiny pieces fused and stitched down, and a little permanent ink thrown in for small details. Here they all are:
You can see some previous ones from years past here and here:
Six Loose Ladies yarn shop got in some new yarn lately. The newest shipment included yarn called Tutu. It is more of a ribbon rather than a plied yarn and comes in several lovely variegated color ways. You can see it here. Also, at this site is a free pattern for this knitted baby hat using Tutu for a ruffle. I agreed to knit up a sample for the shop – in pink – but it is still awfully cute. It was quick and fairly easy. Now I just need a sweet little granddaughter head to put it on. Meanwhile, it will live at the shop.
I think most quilters have a pile of unfinished projects, unfinished for one reason or another. This one was in my collection. I finished the top back in 1999 – that’s a long time ago. It started as a block of the month project to learn how to do needle turn applique. Some of the blocks were made with freezer paper templates but many were simply basted down and turned under with the needle. 
Before it was quilted one could see my applique stitches and it was pretty easy to pick out the very first block with it’s larger stitches and awkward curves. I quickly improved and the subsequent blocks have smaller stitches and smooth curves. The border corner blocks were adapted from four of the center designs which are all part of the “Through Grandmother’s Window” series published by Piece O’ Cake Designs.
The completed top, including the picket fence border languished all these years because I thought, with all the handwork, it should be hand quilted. I didn’t want to do it myself, nor did I have a good source to have it done. Add to that the expense – it is double bed size – and there it sat… all these years. I finally decided to just have it machine quilted and be done. All that work shouldn’t be sitting in a pile of unfinished projects! So I contacted long-arm quilter Janet Block of Stone House Quilting in Rutland, VT and got into her queue. She finished it in January. I have plans to hang it in several shows and then to use it on a guest room bed upstairs.
The other day my daughter asked if I had any extra zippers lying around. She had seen a fun project she wanted to try and it involved zippers. So I went to look. I knew I had plenty; it was just a matter of color. I would say the zipper colony is alive and well. This photo was taken after 8 or 9 had gone out for adoption.
Then just today I found another satellite group, all part of the original set inherited from my mother. They are a colorful lot. (And I think they’re multiplying.)
At least that’s what the calendar says. I took a drive to Middlebury, Vermont recently. This lovely college town is north and west of where I live and I was very surprised at the lack of snow there. Not only NO snow, but no piles of snow, no residue. It looked for all the world like early November rather than early February. Here at least we have snow cover. It isn’t deep but it is white. This has been an odd winter. Last year at this time we had had over 60″ of snow fall; this year to date we have had 25″, and most of that followed by warmer temps and rain to wash it all away.
Last week we had an ice storm which wielded destructive power but created a beautiful wonderland. This was the view out our window. Pretty, isn’t it?
