behold the cold!

I've picked out my next quilt project and the cutting has begun!  I'm making a slightly more modern version of this quilt:

I'm leaving out the heavy border frame and using light, happy colors:  pure white and Kona Cotton Curry, my favorite mustard tone.

I love walking into my office and seeing a big pile of it at my cutting station!

The design is made up of 2.5" squares bordered by flying geese and tiny solid blocks.  Put together, each star block is only 4.5".  I've learned that I do NOT enjoy making flying geese, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to stay the course on this one.  I want it to be bed sized, so I've got a lot of stars to make!

I also reverse-engineered a quilt design.  It's called Round and Round and I'm quite proud of myself, because math is not my forte and I've always been a faithful follower of patterns, not an improviser.  These 18.5" blocks are a somewhat confusing composition of half square triangles and solid blocks.  I  eyeballed the quilt online and sketched it out on paper...

...and then made a rough mock-up with some hated fabrics.  That's why I keep these guys around!  It was really tedious, but the block sizes are big, so you wouldn't have to make very many.  This is definitely a future project.

And boy, do I have the fabric for it!  Most fabric is limited edition, with a one-year run.  I try to buy on sale (I'm a sucker for the Fat Quarter Shop's Daily Flash Sale), but if I see something that I love, I splurge.  Since I seem to prefer scrappy projects, these varying sizes, colors, and styles will really come in handy!  And this doesn't include the 2.5" mini charm squares that I'm hoarding!

Quilting aside, I've started a small knitting project.  Any knitting, even Portuguese, has been incredibly painful, so I've continued to seek out different methods.  I think I've finally found an English/throwing style that works for me, although I'm still struggling with tension.  I'm doing a simple stockinette stitch cowl to work out the kinks.

I'm also outside as much as possible!

Even though the groundhog says that we'll have six more weeks of winter...

...it's rapidly warming here in the South.  It's going to be 65 by the end of the week!  So we hike, hike, hike.  It's wonderful to be out in the fresh air, seeing the wildlife...

...and enjoying little pops of beauty wherever we look.

Sometimes we see the remnants of little dramas that have played out in the night.

The chilly walks are invigorating, and then we can cuddle up in our quilts!

Long live winter!