I kinda did it!

 As promised, here is my first ever update: Overall, I'd have to say I am pleased with my first attempt at a nine patch quilt block! 

I am very thankful for the suggestion of purchasing a 1/4 inch foot for my sewing machine. I did order one, and it arrived before I even started sewing! Being so new to this, I did order a Brother branded foot, because I'm just not sure that the generic stuff is compatible. These are all things that will be learned in time. Of course, I am quite wobbly with my machine still, and I will need a lot of practice keeping my fabric straight as I run it through. And I definitely need a ton of practice lining up my seams! I pinned a lot, or what I thought was a lot, but again, this will take practice.

Even with just this tiny taste, I can FOR SURE see how quilting can be addicting, and my Mama said, "It sounds like a good addiction to have!" I agree!!

In other news, all of our snow melted over the past few days from the big snowstorm of what, two weeks ago? It was lovely to see the grass again, even if it was all just a big muddy mess. Fast forward to today, and we woke up with an another inch or so of snow! And once again, everything is pretty again! I just looked out the window as I am typing this, (its just after noon EST) and it's STILL snowing.

I hope to practice with my sewing machine some this week when time allows. We have two very large furniture deliveries heading our way, one large delivery for my husband's home office furniture, and another for a couch and loveseat for our family room. The family room furniture is surprisingly due this coming week, so my time will be busy preparing for that. Funny, I just ordered the furniture this morning! To see a delivery date this week caught me by surprise, so my plans for today's snow day have altered. You know how some parts of your home just become a catch all? Well, the top of our stairs leading to our downstairs has become just that. It has a large landing, and we tend to just sit everything that needs to go downstairs at the top of the steps. You know, 5 gallon buckets of sugar for canning, our large crockpot and roaster, flats of empty mason jars, etc. We have a storage room with shelves downstairs where we store these things, but isn't it just easier to sit it on the landing? LOL! We have a lot of putting stuff away and staging we will need to do, and I'd like to list a few items on Facebook Marketplace as well.

I also need to finish up painting the trim in my husband's office and clean up any painting mistakes, in preparation for his furniture delivery, which should be coming in the next few weeks. (Fingers crossed!) I am so excited for him that he is finally getting such lovely furniture! If I haven't mentioned it before, my husband works from home.

Up next will be a MASSIVE painting project in our family room. The walls are primed, a color is picked, we just need to get started. It's a huge project, with our large family room, a landing, hallway, and the staircase that all needs painting. I will be so happy when its all done, and we can just relax and enjoy our family room. I think knowing the furniture is coming will help me get moving!

I hope you all have had a lovely weekend, wherever you are. 

Thank you so much for reading!

Stay warm out there!

-Bunny

Snow Day!

Well, it snowed! 

And then it snowed, iced, rained, snowed and iced some more. Today it snowed again, but it was very light. I think overall we probably got about 5 inches of snow and  1/4-1/2” of ice. What started out as a beautiful sight quickly turned into a stressful event. The fear of losing power, losing trees, etc took over. Luckily, so far, in our area things seem to be ok. We haven’t lost power yet, thankfully. I’ve been watching the power outage website and the workers are working so hard in our county. The power outages in my county have been very minimal. 

We took a few walks around the property yesterday and today. So many beautiful sights, I had to capture as it won’t last long! The icy snow crunching under out feet reminded us of our time in Alaska. After 5-6 months of winter in Fairbanks, the sounds of snow under your feet was like nails on a chalkboard. We were always so desperate for “breakup” to start so we wouldn’t have to hear it anymore! Breakup in Alaska is when the ice starts cracking and melting away. The worst was when months of ice and snow finally melted away and you saw green again, only to have it snow again. One year I was having a Kentucky Derby party (first Saturday in May!) in Alaska and it started snowing again! Those were the days!

As for the list of things I wanted to tackle while we are snowed in - I am happy to report that I actually accomplished some things! A lot of that had to do with the fact that yesterday, when the snow started, I got up and immediately got dressed. Had I stayed in cozy clothes, I just know I would have hibernated all day. I got some laundry done, baked some fresh bread for us and a neighbor, checked in on my Mama by phone, and then got to work. Thanks to my husband’s help, Christmas was packed up in the craft room and put away, and I got my tabletop cleaned up. I got my quilting stuff together, set up my sewing machine, and it seems I’m ready to go! I’d like to get my adjacent desk and craft table also cleaned up, before I dive head first into sewing. I will definitely be blogging as I start my first quilt project, which is a small and easy quilt block pattern and instructions I purchased off Etsy. 

Now that the snow has tapered off, the sun is fighting to come out. It’s a welcome sight, that’s for sure, and we have 3 days of sunshine coming our way, so things will start melting off. I’m hoping to get into town by Thursday, but we will see. 

Stay warm! 

Do you want to build a snowman?

A big part of the country is bracing for a big winter storm full of snow and ice. We are expecting 1-3 inches of snow and up to an inch of ice in my area. I’m also hearing up to 5 inches could be possible, and 8-12 inches north of us. Who knows what exactly we will get. The snow is always welcome, but the ice not so much. The weather was gorgeous and sunny today, which was a wonderful change from all the gray skies we’ve had lately.  Of course, the roads and stores were full of people today, stocking up so they can hunker down. 

We went into town today for lunch, some fun shopping and a stop at a local soda shop we enjoy. I also got a (successful) Goodwill stop in, which should hold me over for a few days! 

I have big lofty plans for this storm, and I’m also laughing as I type this! My main goal is to get my craft room cleaned up, including getting the Christmas tree up there put away. All gift wrapping takes place in my craft room and I have so much stuff to put away still. I’d also like to get my sewing machine set up and get prepped for my journey into quilting. I’m hoping I have the motivation to get moving, rather than hibernate with my husband! It would be SO EASY to just snuggle and watch movies. 

I’m hoping I’ll be sharing some beautiful snow pictures in the next few days, so make sure you come back for those! 

Stay warm, and stay safe out there! 

-Bunny