Peace and Piece on the Mountain!

Blue skies, gentle breezes, crisp late-autumn air.  Sunlight through bare branches.

This place is balm for my soul.

Sadie and I have taken some long walks over the past couple of days, and I’ve asked myself again and again – WHY am I selling my piece of this place?

Could I continue to live here and ignore the nigglings that tell me that something better is around the corner?

Is fear of NOT finding a “better fit” holding me back and making me accept compromises that also make me uncomfortable if I were to stay?

I’m struggling with the decision to leave.

Hence, long walks and loads of thinking.

Sadie says, “Hurry up, mama!”

There has been a little “well how did THAT happen?!” over the past week.  Some of you commented that realtor.com only lists this place as a 2 bed 2 bath when in fact is is 3 bed 3 1/2 bath.

Upon talking to our realtor, she said that 2 bedrooms was all the septic permit showed.  WHAT?

So someone who built here, only got a permit for a 2 bed, 2 bath – and then built a 3 bed 3 1/2 bath cabin on it without increasing the permit because it would have caused them to have to dig another line to the septic tank.

We are, we think – the 4th owners of this place, so how come we bought it when it was plainly listed (also on realtor.com) as a 3 bed, 3 1/2 bath?  Evidently the previous realtor didn’t do his homework and get the septic permit information before listing and selling.  And maybe the realtor for the people who bought it before us, didn’t either.

But I can’t in good conscience leave this problem to the next folks down the road, so we are about to put $2,000 in a new septic line that soon won’t be ours just to fix the mess that was left undisclosed to us when we bought our cabin 3 1/2 years ago.

There will be a call into the title company to see if title insurance covers any of this –it should have been disclosed.

Legally, they can’t list it as a 3 bed 3 1/2 bath if the septic permit only allows 2.  So that’s why the listing says 2.  Anyone looking for more than 2 won’t be interested in even LOOKING at our listing until we get it fixed.  So – another reason to jump right on this, fork out the money, and fix something that should not have been up to us to fix in the first place.

Breathing deep on yet ANOTHER long walk!

On these walks I also asked myself what I love the most about this mountain and what I’d like to find in a new place.  

I love the sound of my steps on the gravel roads when they are the only sounds to be heard.  I love that there is green up here from the pines, even through long winters.  I need trees. And I love pines. There will be trees.  5 acres of meadow with trees along the edges won’t do it for me.  I need to be IN trees.

And I need to see ridges!

I need some long range views.  Nothing calms my soul like the view of mountain ridges that go on and on and on –the vastness of it all.

It’s a tall order, I know.  But we found it here, even if it isn’t the right “forever” place –and I’ll find it again.

This weekend we are working on finishing the trim in the basement family room.  Mona is coming to sew!  And next weekend?  We might start to look at more property, but I have a feeling that what we really are looking for might not even be on the market until spring.  It’s tough to find things through the holidays, and things that have been listed FOREVER –well there is a reason those haven’t sold. 

 I can wait.  I can be patient.

This came together!

And I did a bunch of this, grey to green!

And then this happened!

I swear it felt like there were at least 1,000 squares in this border!  But when I counted there were only 928.  LOL.

I love how the pumpkins look less stark, more like they are fresh from the field with the green of leaves all around. It makes the stems on the top of the pumpkins make sense and have a focus.

Final border, and Hourglass Leader & Ender Challenge units!

Today my hope is to get this last border on, bringing some orange back to the outside edge of the top and it will be ready to quilt.  I want to get this one off to Quiltmaker for a fall 2017 issue.  I think that’s the quickest way to get you the pattern.  Then it can go in the next book down the pipeline from there.

I’ve been parceling out my favorite Netflix series –just one episode here, another there, trying to make them last.

Check out this floor from THE CROWN!

Possibilities?  Maybe string pieced? Hmmm.

I’ve watched ONE of the new Gilmore Girls episodes.  Saving those for solo stitching time.  And much of yesterday was enjoyed along with Land Girls, which I missed a season on and am catching up. If not that, then music is just playing in the background while I stitch and Sadie naps.

On the mystery front ---questions have been asked about our neutrals, do we need more?  We are not done.  And something to realize, if you are working from scraps or from smaller cuts of yardage as in fat-quarters, when cutting from these there may be less yield when cutting odd shapes like the tri-recs units because you can only cut so many down a strip, leaving more odd ends of waste where you can’t get another full unit, than if you were cutting from full width of fabric yardage.  So to those who are working strictly from scraps or fat quarters, yes, you might need some more.  There are still a couple of clues that use neutrals, but not near as much as we have used in the previous two clues.  It’s a mystery.  I can’t say any more than that.

If you are cutting with a die machine as in Accuquilt or Sizzix, there will be MORE WASTE so you will need MORE FABRIC.

I did use EQ7 to help calculate yardage needed as I did work strictly from my scrap stash, and in the past it has been MORE than sufficient for our yardage needs.  Just bear with me.

Also, DO NOT CUT ALL of your fabric into certain widths given with each clue because you don’t know what size we will be cutting the NEXT unit, or which fabrics we will use more of in a different width. Only cut as much as is needed for each clue, setting the remainder of the fabric aside for the next clue.  Don’t assume because we used 2’’ strips for clue one, that the entire quilt uses only 2’’ strips.

I do not give the “number of strips to cut” because we are all working from different directions.  Some from scraps, some from fat quarters, some from full width of fabric yardage and to me the number of units is MORE IMPORTANT than the number of strips you need to cut to get that many.  Depending on your strip length, do a test.  See what you can cut from one set of strips, and then do some simple math to figure out what YOU need to do with what you are working with to get the yield you need.  If you know you can get 16 from a strip, do the math to find out how many strips are required for you.

When it comes to fabric, MORE is ALWAYS better!

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage grandmother's flower garden quilt shared by Kevin H.

It's this time of year that I start thinking about my word of focus for the next year. In difficult situations, I find it hard to find the patience to see me through. Patience is what it takes while waiting for better things come together.

I think I found my word.

And Mona is on her way!

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

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