Trying To Have It All

The sun was shining in Galway this weekend.  As it comes out so infrequently, I was just dying to get outside.  But I also really wanted to sew.  What to do?  What to do?  Move your sewing machine out to the back garden, of course!  I packed her up along with my Chaos scraps and moved the whole show out to the picnic table.  I was a chain piecing maniac out there.  It was very breezy, so basic piecing was about all I could do. 

Since the hens have had a few awful run-ins with the local dog, I now only let them out when I am around to supervise.  So, this lady joined me for a long while.  It was a great sunny afternoon out for everyone!

Once back, inside I focused on my paper pieced block for Hilary.  Hilary and I are in Sew &Bee Happy together and she wanted us to help make a quilt for her son’s 21^st birthday.  What a great quilt to be a part of!  Hilary went to the time to design a block and template for paper piecing that are now available on her blog along with a really great tutorial.

This is possibly the most complicated block I have ever attempted.  It is not perfect, but I am quite pleased with how it came together.

Keep your eyes pealed…many more bee blocks to come later this week!

Non-Quilty News

I do tend to focus the blog on quilts or stitched crafts, but I thought today I'd tell you a bit about the other bits and pieces going on around here that make me super happy.

Two lovely ladies have moved into the back garden.  That's right!  We have two totally free range hens.  They're named Dora and Penny.  Penny is the confident leader and Dora the sweet but shy gal.  Together they are best friends and the spend every minute within 2 feet of one another.  They even sleep cuddled together in one nest box.  They are about 4 months old now and have just started laying eggs. That's right....we're collecting two eggs a day and already are overwhelmed with the number.

Penny knows snacks usually come in the orange tea cup.

Once Dora saw Penny checking out the cup, she came out from under the tree to look for herself.

Yep.  Dora agrees that's the snack tea cup.  Indeed.

So they finally had a look around the grass to find the corn.  Happy, happy chicks.

In other news, I've had the urge to knit again.  I just wanted something portable to go with me camping and on long drives.  I find stitching hexies a little much for my eyes when the car is moving, so the knitting needles become my best friend.  If you remember, I did try knitting once before.  It was a super basic repeated knit stitch that didn't give defined pattern.  Still, I like it and enjoyed the process.  That scarf is still not finished only because I don't know how to get it off of the needles.  I'll work that out eventually.  In the mean time, I've started another scarf.that has a basic rib pattern.  The ends will be stockinette stitch and the a repeated knit two, purl two to get the rib.  So far I'm loving it.  I do really need to get into a class or something...You Tube can only take me so far.

Here's a small bit of semi-quilting for you.  Jennifer of the Knotted Thread is hosting an I-Spy charm swap through flickr.  Come join in the fun.  You just have to follow this link to flickr and join in the group.  Post a photo of the fabric you're tossing into the swap and Jennifer will take care of the rest.  Easy peasy.  I am using the wellies print from Fluffy Sheep Quilting.