January is doing what January does.  Bringing us cold temperatures and snow.  We had a really nice run of warmer weather, but all good things must come to an end and we are living in a freezer now.  At least we are not waiting for a giant blizzard to head our way as the Northeast of our country is doing this weekend.  Up to two feet of snow they are telling them.  Whoa!  You won’t be able to find bread or milk anywhere up there this weekend.

With snow on the ground and not much food available, I like to keep the bird feeders full.  The birds have gone through a thirty gallon can full of birdseed in the last two weeks.  When someone says they eat like a bird, they are a voracious eater because birds eat constantly.

Titmice, sparrows, cardinals. juncos, chickadees, woodpeckers, blue jays and one fat squirrel have visited our bird feeders.  I have seen five pairs of cardinals at one time feeding.  They prefer the ground, so I always throw some birdseed there.

I am so thankful for cardinals who bring us a bright spot of color on the winter landscape.

This weather makes the house next door look even more lonely.  It’s been empty for a few years and the people who owned it are gone now.   I don’t know what is going to happen to this house, but I keep praying a nice family will buy it and move next door and bring the house to life again.  I would hate to see it torn down, but it does need a lot of work.

On days like these my heart turns to Spring.  The Spring magazines are beginning to appear and I got this one the other day.

So many pretty pictures of birds and stories about birds and what plants to grow to draw birds to your yard.

I have been having trouble sleeping and getting cricks in my neck at night.  We have tried so many different pillow through the years and I decided to try one more.

My Pillow.  I don’t own shares in the company although I wish I did, but anyway, I bought two pillows from here right after Christmas.

They both came in a little box and were scrunched into plastic bags.

But once out of the bag they fluffed up very well.

I especially like that they are made here in the good old USA.

So I have been sleeping on mine for the last couple of weeks and only had one night that my neck hurt, but other than that, I have been sleeping like a baby.   David is still not sure he likes his, but he doesn’t take to change too well so maybe he will change his mind after a while.

I’m not advertising them or anything, just telling you how mine works for me.  I think it has helped my sleeping.

I have been working on several projects this month.  January is a great month to stay inside and make things.

I told you about this quilt book I got a while back.  I really love this book.  Lori Holt has designed some of the cutest quilts in the past and this books is chock full of quilt ideas.

I really loved this one.  Wouldn’t this be so cute for a baby?  If you are expecting or are a soon to be grandma,  this would make such a wonderful quilt for the new baby.  If it’s a boy you could just use blue material instead of all the pink.  I love pink and I am making a pink one.

Look at this chick closely. The material has little ducks on it!   A chick made with duck material.

Little chicks lining up on my cutting table one by one.  I need twenty of them.  These are so much fun to make.  I got kind of obsessed with making them after a while.

Here’s the stack of twenty blocks I need.

Since this is going to be used as an Easter quilt, I chose this material for the backing.  We sold this in our store several years ago and I have sold some of it at garage sales and still have enough to back a quilt or two.  I really love this material.

And while I work on the chick quilt, my mind is already wandering to the next quilt or quilts I would like to make.

I want to make a chick quilt using only blacks and pinks.  If you are old enough to remember, in the five and dime stores back in the fifties at Easter time little chicks would appear in all colors.  Pink chicks, blue chicks, lavender chicks.  I don’t know what was used to color the chicks.  It probably wasn’t healthy for them, but at the time I thought they were the cutest things and always wanted a colorful chick, but since my daddy raised hundreds of chickens, my parents thought it was foolish to buy one just because it was a different color.  So I plan to make a pink chick quilt.

I bought this quilt book from Amazon a couple of weeks ago for a very cheap price.  Four dollars, I think. It was almost like new.  I love to make little quilts once in a while because it is instant gratification and I can make one in a day or so and still feel like I have made something worth having or giving away.

I plan to make this quilt soon.  I love basket quilts.  I have made quite a few in my lifetime.

I’ve been going through my stash of fabric to make this quilt. That is half the fun of quilting.  Choosing the fabrics you will need.  I just shop my stash and can come up with a nice selection.

Every once in a while I do some work for a friend.  I am not a quilt restorer, but I was asked to do a little repair work on a friend’s quilt.

Actually a comforter as it is tied, but there were several of the rectangles that had holes in them.  I took material that almost matched and sewed it over the damaged piece and retied it.  If you look closely you can tell which ones I replaced, but it isn’t too apparent.  I hope my friend will be happy.

This is a quilt made out of double knit.  Not an easy fabric with which to make a quilt.  Back in the sixties double knit was the fabric of choice for clothes.  I made double knit skirts, my son a double knit little sailor suit,  another suit jacket for my other son, and last but not least a leisure jacket for David.  When I made David’s jacket, it had belt loops and a self fabric belt.   Well, I put the belt loops up too high and when David wore the jacket it looked like the belt was directly under his chest.  Bless him, he wore that jacket and never complained.  We have a picture of him in it and every time we see it we laugh.

Double knits came in all colors and patterns. This quilt had a lot of different double knits in it.

It’s a very heavy quilt also.  I wouldn’t want to sleep under it. Kind of like the denim one David made.  It was so heavy I could barely carry it.

David put up my little green house and I am starting tomatoes this week.  It won’t be long before May will be here and time to plant again.  Always nice to know it’s coming when we are sitting in the middle of snow and ice.

Last but not least, I hung some red and white hankies in the window to decorate for Valentine’s Day that is coming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a living room to paint, a Bible study to start and a trip to plan.  Hope your days are full and blest.  Bye.