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Thursday, December 28, 2017

Trail Cam Adventures (And Quilting!)

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It’s times like these…Most of December, Part of January when I’m home and basically chained to my machine for days on end – my form of Zen therapy – that I worry about things here on the blog being a bit dry.

There are no travel adventures to post. 

No aerial photos from the plane showing the fascinating landscape below, no ocean scenes, no happy quilters busily sewing, no show & share for inspiration.

It’s just me, using my time home to refuel.

And there is the mystery, that helps fill a couple of posts a week, but if I just show another round of photos showing that I’ve made another gazillion four-patch sets? 

Don’t get me wrong, I love that life is quieter and passing at a much slower pace at the end of the year.

And the trail cams provide endless excitement for us as we flip through each photo to see who has come by, what the winter activity is like here on the mountain. I loved this scene of the train of deer making their way along the snow covered trail.

Cameras are set way back on our acreage and we move them around occasionally, paying attention to the deer trails so we are sure to catch more than the noisy crows.
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5 after the snow melted.

They are foraging for as much as they can find in amongst the fallen leaves.

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Uhoh!  Coyote!

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This one looks like he heard the camera click!

Winter likely means a more quiet time for the critters up here as well.  And yes, there is still a bear or two up there, but no clear photos.  Just a blur of a behind as it went lumbering by.

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My leader & Ender four-patch sets ready to be cut!

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I counted after cutting -
174 pairs all matched and ready to stich!

I love this thing!

My Accuquilt Studio is as important to me as my sewing machine.  How long would it have taken to rotary cut all of these 1 1/2’’ strips?  How long would it have taken to then match strip sets and sub-cut them into four-patch pairs? 174 of them?  It took me 6 seconds to crank them through, 10 layers (5 four-patches) deep.

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Stacking up the pairs!

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Pairs in one basket, finished four-patches in another.

Pairs being sewn as leaders & Enders as I make more blocks.

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Several four-patches are completed in the making of each block.  It is just the slickest process ever to use these four-patch pairs as leaders & enders instead of using a thread covered throw-away piece of junk fabric, or even a thread cutter button.  It’s brainless, and yet it yields such great rewards!

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And then there were 20!

Click to play:



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Last night’s view from my hoop!

We are heading home today, leaving Virginia this morning and heading over to the Buck Mountain cabin for a cleaning, re-sprucing, and installation of new gas fireplaces in an effort to make it more appealing to new owners.  My hope is that we will find a buyer who will love it as much as we did in 2018. 

We’ll make it home to Wallburg by dinner time.  I’ve got work to do!  Part 6 of On Ringo Lake needs to be ready to go live tomorrow morning.  Are you ready?

Have you checked out our shares on Tuesday’s Mystery TUESDAY Link-Up?  Oh my goodness, so much quilty goodness!  This is going to be heck of a reveal – soon!  Very soon!

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Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Photo shared by Kevin H.

These are words I live by every day. If you want something to happen, you can’t just wish it.  You’ve got to put action behind it.

I’m narrowing in on my word-or words- for 2018. 

Have you been thinking of it, too?

Time to pack up here and get moving – Have a wonderful Thursday, everyone!


30 comments:

  1. Travel and teaching posts are interesting but I enjoy your "at home" posts the most as it gives us a glimpse into your life.

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  2. I love your blog! And your posts about the quiet moments are some of my favorites! We all need to slow down and it's such a good reminder!

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  3. Love you precious Deer...We have 20 acre Apple Farm 2 homes down, So you know we have deer..They are just precious to me...Trying to get all my Christmas decorations put away.
    Blessings, Debra in frigid Ma.

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  4. I've got some great images of deers on trail cam too. I have been posting them to Facebook though. I will have to do a compilation of images on my blog.

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  5. Love seeing the deer! My husband likes your Irish Chain blocks. To him he thought that it looked like ribbon candy.

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  6. Love the wildlife posts. We have coyotes, but no deer here in LV.

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  7. Ooohh Kay, done in Christmas fabrics it would definitely look like ribbon candy.
    I live way off a dirt road and I love seeing the deer come right through the front yard. We also have the coyotes - ugh - have to be careful when I hear them howling not to let the fur kids out.

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  8. Love seeing the wildlife on your blog. It's a little bit of peaceful time in our hectic lives. I'll be watching / listening to saved TV programs as I cut my sets of black & white stripes. Takes an extraordinary amount of time. Not complaining. It's therapeutic. Happy New Year to you & your family.

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  9. I'm a homebody Nature girl and became a quilt addict after retirement. I've followed your blog for a long time but Ringo Lake is my first mystery. Loving it! Don't apologize for the "ordinary" posts. Your show, class & travel blogs are enjoyable but I relish the other ones that focus on techniques, tips, progress and yummy design ideas. No such thing as too much quilt talk. P.S. I have a funny story regarding you. You did a trunk show at my guild the first year I joined and I was one of your holders. I was such a newbie, I had no idea who you were and it was a couple of years before the lightbulb moment of "Wow! I actually touched Bonnie Hunter's quilts!" LOL.

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  10. I'm glad you are getting recharged. You do so much for us. Cool trail cam pictures. The Irish Chain blocks are multiplying quickly. Mystery Friday tomorrow. I'm almost done with part 3. Part 4 & 5 were easy. I re-read the clue, need to cut up more strips.

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  11. Oh good grief! I never thought to use my cutter to subcut my strip sets! What a no-brainer! I am off to try it. Thanks so much for this time saver.

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  12. I am finally on clue 3..have 4 cut too...been a wild year. I am enjoying it even if I am not keeping up! Will be getting in some sewing this weekend and really looking forward to it!

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  13. It cracks me up that you are "basically chained". From your sewing, it looks like you are always chaining. HaHa. Do you have any good ideas or resources for finding alternate blocks? Your's are always just a perfect balance in the overall scheme of your quilts. Thanks for any info.

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  14. Love seeing those nature posts. Growing up on a farm we had a lot of critters. Now where I live mostly a dog in my backyard that someone is probably trying to locate. Love traveling with you wherever you are so keep it up!!

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  15. Honestly, I prefer to see what you have been seriously, how you combine fabric and design new patterns. Your other adventures are fun but I want to see your beautiful quilts. Love your contributions to the quilting world.

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  16. Hi Bonnie, I've purchased your Essential Triangle Tool and have had a hard time removing the sticky stuff that attached it to the cardboard. Actually, I've purchased the ruler two times - first time I used acetone the first time - worked ok, but removed the guidelines - making the ruler lots less useful. Now I've tried Goo Gone - it's worked some, but a sticky residue remains. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks Donna McLaughlin

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  17. Bonnie, I don't have an Accuquilt cutter but I'm tempted. You seem to use the cutter in scrappy ways that are maybe beyond the 'usual' way that most people use it. And I know you've said that there's not a lot of waste when you run strip sets through, but since I've never used an Accuquilt, I'm having a hard time wrapping my tiny brain around how that works. I'm also having a hard time understanding how you keep all of those strip sets lined up perfectly and not shifting, so the cuts are accurate. Would you be willing to do a demo sometime of how you put the cutter to scrappy use, and how you minimize waste - if you haven't done one already and I've missed it, or if it wouldn't cause a copyright/endorsement kind of problem?

    Also, we like your posts from your 'quiet days' with photos of gazillions of four patches. ;)

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  18. I'm with Leah - I haven't seen an Accuquilt in action and I think I've seen both the Studio and Go mentioned in your posts. Would love to see or hear you talk about the electric model, but I realize that might cross advertising lines. LQS closest to me promotes a different brand.

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  19. Also - so it's a good thing for us to close the ads?

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  20. I enjoy ALL your posts. Your home and cabin ones are just as fun as your travel ones. Love your designs. Enjoy your 'down' time 😊

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  21. Oh my, you have a LOT of deer! I don't think I'd like having the bears around though.

    I agree with those who said they enjoy your at home posts too.

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  22. Bonnie I love the cam photo's. Mine is broken so miss looking at those photo's.

    I can't wait for clue #6. Been thinking about it all day. But I'm still cutting out number 5. Slow but stead.

    One more sleep. Thank you Bonnie :)

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  23. I really enjoy your trail cam photos. Thanks for sharing.

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  24. Love the trail cam! Thanks! Since you are "home in the snow", when home can we have another quilt cam? Thanks for listening.

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  25. Love the deer pictures.

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  26. Thanks for Sharing I love these pic Happy New Year 2018 wishes for all

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  27. Thanks for all your comments and news Bonnie. I enjoy reading everything. Like especially your “Make It happen” post.

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  28. Bonnie, I have followed you daily since finding the blog and website last year. I have enjoyed each and every post, both the very active "on the road, doing workshops" posts and the more reflective and quieter posts. The latter are never boring to me, I assure you. I also need clarification: is it a good thing for you if we readers "click X to close" to close the ads?

    Happy New Year!

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  29. Love your blog nice to see how you just sit and see not boring st all. Critters are always interesting as here in Australia we have no cute deer in the wild Happy New Year

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