Chasing a Squirrel

Do you ever just have to drop everything, despite deadlines or half-finished projects, and just start and finish something new?

On Friday I got an email from Rose of Threadbare Creations showing her new, free pattern.  (Side note--you should really subscribe to Rose's blog!) It is a cute paper pieced bunny in three sizes called Bonita Bunny.  I was consumed with the need to make one and started that day.  I dug through my stash and pulled out a few options.  What I really wanted, though, was to make one in the exact same Bonnie and Camille fabrics that she had.  I didn't have any of their newest line, Little Snippets, but I found a layer cake and the binding yardage at a LQS on Saturday.  So I have made two bunnies.

I chose to make the eight inch size for both.  The orange/green one is completely from my stash.  I'm not sure what line of fabric the orange and green prints are since my fat quarters didn't have any information.  I thought maybe Kate Spain, but couldn't find anything that looked like them. The white polka dot and green check are from JoAnn and the pink I've had for ages and I'm not sure of its origin.  



I started quilting this one on my sewing machine, but decided I'd really rather do curves on the long arm.  So I rigged some batting with basting and pins and finished on the long arm.  Where there's a will, there's a way?
The other is Bonnie and Camille Little Snippets (aqua and reds) and Handmade (pink), along with the polka dot from JoAnn.  The backing is Little Ruby.  This one was completely quilted on the long arm.



Friday I noticed that I finally had a daffodil blooming.  Two years ago my first bloom was March 1, last year it was March 12, and this year, March 22. As of today, that plant is still the only one blooming, but lots of my later-season daffodils have buds, so it should be just a few more days.  Even though we've been having hard frosts every night, Saturday was beautiful, so we cleaned up the flower gardens for spring.  I am so ready!
We had a hawk visitor briefly the other day.  They are always in our area, but don't usually make themselves very visible.  We believe this is a red shouldered hawk.

The other, regular birds have been draining the bird seed and suet quickly and some are exhibiting mating behavior and/or trying to build nests.  One unusual thing is that a mockingbird keeps coming in to the suet feeders.  We can't remember that ever happening before.  We saw an eagle flying high above the sewage treatment facility on the way to town.  I've seen one there before as well.  And I learned that turkey vultures migrate.  It seems like we have them year round, but maybe not.  I'll have to pay better attention.

In other sewing news, I'm trying to decide the size and placement of a new design wall in the sewing room. Right now we are leaning toward individually wrapping two 4 x 8 sheets of foam insulation and mounting them on the wall with command strips.  My current design wall is too narrow at six feet, so maybe eight feet would work out better?  I still haven't fixed the binding on the 365 quilt (I chopped off way too many points for my liking).  I am still mentally working out a quilting plan for a guild donation/fundraising quilt.  I ordered some Monopoly thread to try on it and am waiting on that to arrive.  In the meantime, I have a request for a fleece blanket that I will need to shop for, work on, and ship in the next few days.  And I am planning to quilt another of my quilts prior to the guild quilt.  I just have to seam the backing and load it on the frame.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I am selling my 18 x 24 Sew Steady extension table.  Now that my sewing room is done, I no longer have need of it.  It fits the Bernina 440 QE and similar models.  If you or someone you know may be interested, contact me for details.  I am asking $85 with free shipping in the US. (It was $100 new.) Price is somewhat negotiable.


Linking with Sew Fresh Quilts and My Quilt Infatuation and mmm! quilts.

4 comments

  1. Your bunnies are adorable! I especially love the little bows!

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  2. I LOVE LOVE your bunny squirrels!! I laughed that you had to go out and buy the exact same fabric even from your LQS. :-) I'm jealous of your daffodil; ours are new plantings, and they're up but no flowers yet, (only year two of being in this house) so I know they will be slower, and we've had a winter that basically started Feb. 1 and doesn't want to go away but last night was no frost, so yay. Design wall: mine is four 2X8' sheets and I covered them with a gridded flannel I got at Hancock centuries ago, ha. I don't even have them attached to the wall, as the fabric seems to hold the lot together!

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    1. Hit send too fast! Thank you for linking up with DrEAMi! as this is the PERFECT one, and for showing how you finagled that small piece on the longarm...gives me an idea for doing two cushion covers I want to do on mine!

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