Quick Ikea Dash

Well we dashed until we hit the line anyway. Then we were a bit stalled. But we managed to pick up

A new light fixture for the downstairs bathroom. One without an extender pole meant to hold it down below the (removed) drop ceiling. Now if only we could finish scraping the room so it could be painted!

No, not the cat. New curtains for the living room. Most notably, the window in this corner is no longer uncovered. That had been bothering me for a long time. Now once I actually get them hemmed and the other sheer for the window looking onto the porch sewn up, this room will be entirely be-curtained.

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you have a very happy Valentine's Day! Things are very productive over this way today.

Finished redwork pillow (more information here and an in-progress close-up photo here).

One of my series of holiday cross-stitch pieces. This is the one that started that whole project, actually. I love the little heart at the top made of french knots and that the letters are wonky as they are.

And last but certainly not least, I have the Valentines I've received so far from Crow and Canary's second annual card swap. I love this swap! Here is my post about if from last year (complete with a crocheted heart pattern!).

Walk Up the Mountain: Winter Edition

Since walking up the 3 miles or so a few times last summer, I'd not been back up the mountain on which our house sits until yesterday. It was cold but still pretty and quiet up there (it was 14 degrees F yesterday!). I especially enjoyed the wandering donkeys (the same ones in the pen in the summer post -- I hear that they're kind of "free range" now).

I didn't get any photos of the views as I did in the summer and there weren't any bobcats spotted and the ferns are all hibernating but there were snow-covered and abandonned birds' nests to spot and still the creek to listen to and passing neighbors for roadside chatting.

Bitty Blocks -- February

The theme for the 3.5-inch Bitty Blocks for this month is words/text. It's been interpreted a ton of different ways but here are my takes on it (I'm in 2 groups so I'm to make 2 sets of 12 to swap). The top set has 3 different fabrics printed with words and the bottom set has 1 fabric printed with letters and another that I freezer paper stenciled with the first initial of each of the quilters in the group. I'm excited for the other blocks to start coming in the mail!