When is Enough, Enough?

(there is eventually quilt content to this post...)

I ask you, "When is Enough?". This is in response to winter. Snow. Cold. I am by all accounts a definite summer person. I don't mind the blazing sun, high 90's. And for many more months than I am afforded here in Maine. But winter, forget it. It is for the arctic birds. This winter has been the coldest and snowiest in recent memory. We've gotten more snow in January than in all of last year. And it has been really cold too. Like frigid. Many of you were hit with this week's 2000 mile wide snowstorm. Perhaps we were mildly spared, only getting 75% of what they predicted. But still, we've averaged 10-12" snow per week for the last 5 weeks. My kids have not gone a full week of school since before Christmas. They logged 4 snow days in just January! And if that's not enough, they are predicting another 6-8" tomorrow. At least it's on a weekend!
The snowbanks along my driveway are nearly to my chest, certainly above her shoulders! She can hardly keep her boots on playing in the yard.

And the sidewalks that the kids use to get to the bus stop are disappearing because the snowplows push the snow back onto them. The banks at the road's edge are at the height of my van's roof. I tell ya, this is no climate for a person to live in.

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I did take a quilt off the frame today. It's from the Parisville fabrics, and has a massive amount of ivory Kona on it too. It's kind of minimalist, but hopefully the quilting brings out the more elegant simplicity of plain ivory. I'm not really sure why the stripes down the top are different widths or why the ivory on each side are not equal width, but these are not my questions to ask.

The borders are 21 and 25" wide, and are quilted mostly similarly. I brought the clamshell pattern from the following fabric, and used it in the quilting on the borders. I got to use my Handi clamshell template (I have 4 sizes!) for the first time since my October retreat to SLC.

The borders have nice texture and I think will look nice draped down the sides of a king bed. Yes, this quilt is freakin huge - about 106" wide and nearly as long! I did many rows of fancy feathers too.

There's about 2500yards of Bottomline thread in this quilt. Yes, that's close to a mile and a half for the mathematicians out there. The back of the quilt was (I think) constructed from a sheet. I have heard warnings about not using sheets, but this was no issue whatsoever. I really like the way the back looks. The 2 bands of printed squares run across the top and bottom of the quilt.

And here's one last closeup of my freehanded filler. It's fun, and whimsical and I like to use this on busier prints. I think it quilts up nicely, allowing use of more formal feathers and rows of swirling to also coordinate in the quilting scheme.

Hope you have a good weekend. Stay warm. Stay indoors. And may you not have to use a shovel!

A Weekend Finish

Any of you that live in the northeast already know that we got hammered yesterday. It started snowing about dinnertime. I awoke to at least a foot of new, and very wet/heavy snow. TGFH!! (Thank goodness for husbands). This would have been the first day back for both my son and I after a week of vacation, but it is yet another "snow day" for all. That poor kid is going to be in school until July at this rate. Me?...naw, college finals are May 8th even if I have another 12 snow days! These are wimpy pictures, taken through the windows from my toasty warm house. I'll probably venture outside later today for some better ones (if interested, check over at my family blog...aka "my alter ego" later). The trees are completely sagging from the weight of the heavy snow. There are allegedly many power outtages from snow on trees/power lines. Hopefully we won't become one of the statistics too. The picture on the right (double click to see better) shows how high the snow is up the light pole, and that fense we have, which is four and a half feet high. It's just ridiculous, I tell you, simple ridiculous. We haven't seen the ground in 3.5 months.

On to something more fascinating...

Despite having a REALLY bad itch to start a new project using the great pink, red & orange fabrics that Michele sent me, I have vowed to complete off a couple more of the Linus tops that I already have done first. I have three still to do, and countless blocks enroute to me for making tops with as well. Later this week, I promise I will cut fabric (do I hear yea?!!).

Over the weekend I quilted this top off. I love the way it turned out. The binding is on, and I even washed it. It just looks so old fashioned - like a scrap quilt my great-grandmother might have made from old shirts. It is Linus finish #10 (I think) for this year.

The back is just a pale pink polka dot, but really quilted up nicely.

Yesterday and this morning, I also quilted this top (scroll down to bottom of post) You'll have to wait to see finished pics though until I stitch down the binding.