the quilting has begun!

 
I actually started quilting on this piece on Tuesday, right after I had pinned it, but until I had worked on it a while it didn't look like much had been done 

that big three dimensional tree was not easy to quilt around -- and it really needed to be first in the process -- I quilted right down the entire edge of it on both sides before I branched out to the little sections

I'm pleased with how this is going -- right now in this section I've only quilted the sky -- I still need to quilt around the leaves and put in the veins of the leaves with green thread -- the next step!

  
time at the sewing machine yesterday and there are a pile of these partially completed log cabin blocks

I still need to add a couple more pieces around the edges of each of them before I can set them together into a finished top

this has been fun -- its a much more complex pattern than I usually do for a charity quilt, but since there were only little pieces of that red, white and blue patchwork left, I thought this was the best way to use them up

we've been asked to create some pieces that might be more appropriate for some of the teens that come through Safe Passage, and I think this one may just fit the bill

   
I got it!

after fiddling with this part of the bead work for a couple of days, I finally figured out the right amount of decreases to make that creates this gradual slope shape for the lid

I hope to have the beading finished today so I can start on creating the lining for the piece

this has been challenging, but a lot of fun

and I'm now at the "are we there yet" stage on this, because a new idea for the next piece is beginning to form

all good!

  
the knitting has continued on the sweater I'm making for the DH

the body of the sweater is now at the stage where I'm knitting out of three different skeins of yarn because I'm knitting the back and both fronts at the same time

looking good!

this morning we're going to venture out of the house -- we're supposed to get snow again starting tonight, and I want to pick up some groceries -- the street in front of our house is still gutter deep in ice since we never see a snow plow through here, so getting in and out of the driveway will be, shall we say, "interesting"

time to get to it