Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Thursday again. With the weather as cold as it has been lately I am beginning to think the bear has the right idea. Sleep all winter then when it warms up get out of bed. Don’t seem all that bad. The wind is what I could do without. It is howling right now. Saw an eagle flying around out over the pond this morning, they are always a treat to see. It was being buffeted by the breeze but seemed to handle it ok.

I had to get the tractor running today to clean up the snow drifts from the snow blowing off the pond. There are wet spots that keep developing about 30’ out. No idea with this pond, there are spring holes all around on the bottom of the pond. Many are visible while kayaking during the summer when the water is not so hard. Then there are the places where there are several deep well overflows that flow into the water, some at a substantial flow rates. I don’t really trust the pond a whole lot as a playground. Nothing I really need to do out there.

In the studio, I have been “cleaning” up most of the week. I did get #11 for 2026 complete, size 60" x 75".

2026-11

 I used some of my 6" blocks made while “cleaning” then paired them with fabric squares and made them into 12" four patch blocks. I used a 2-1/2" sashing, this time Pops were made with my Corner Pop III. I popped the sashing first at 8 and then at 5 on the tool. The binding will be the lime green to frame the quilt like they did the rust/red stars.

I made a small wall hanging to showcase a couple of 9” blocks for possible classes. 

Hopefully something will happen with that before too long, see if there are people in the area interested in the Tucker method of quilting. It works for me.

#12 is well under way using 4” blocks, paired with fabric squares to get an 8” block. I am then framing the 8” block to increase the size to a 10” square. Then I will find a sashing fabric and a pop or two to round it out.

The only problem is, I am now off on a tangent. The shop I will be teaching at asked me to design and piece her Shop Hop Challenge quilt. How could I turn that down? I went there today and brought back the fabric I will be using to make the top. It is small only 43” x 43”. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to show you it until after April 1. That is when Shop Hop begins. It is already well on the way and I should be able to finish quickly so she can get it quilted for pictures. I should be able to get back to #12 in a couple days.

I guess they called off our snow storm for this weekend. All we got from this week’s storm was about 3”. Then it blew all around as it was really light and fluffy. That seems to be the pattern, the weatherman talks up about a big storm coming but then they always have an excuse to explain where it went. More of a pain than anything else. Hopefully we don’t blow away. I can almost feel the house move with some of the wind gusts. 

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe.