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Monday, March 03, 2025

Of Porches and Quilty Things!


Son Jeff and Hubster Dave have been hard at work replacing our weather worn and disintegrating porch railings at home.

They are making great progress on this big job, and I am loving it.

The current on-going discussion is that they want to paint the wire grids black.  I want them kept galvanized grey (So that they never have to be repainted!) and once again I am the odd one out.

I'll keep pushing the need to repaint scenario and see what happens.

The project is likely to go on hiatus shortly as Hubs surgery on his right hand scheduled for the 14th.  THey are trying to get as much done as they can before recuperation time sets in.

My favorite thing so far?  I love that I can see through the wire grids so much better than I could the wood slats.

Even from inside the house it opens up the view.

And yes - we won the battle on leaving enough space at the bottom to be able to use the leaf blower to clear off fallen leaves in the fall.


I left the inn mid-afternoon on Saturday to come home and spend some time with this red-headed cutie!

You can see that he is less than thrilled with any kind of photo op - he's going to be 9 in a few months.

I'll take whatever time I can get with Casden no matter how uncooperative he is with Bo-Nana's photo taking!


Here's some progress on gorgeous things happening on retreat this weekend.

This is Midnight Flight from my MORE Adventures With Leaders & Enders book, and I love how it is being worked up in Old Town inspired colors.


Ladder Star is growing block by block from recycled fabrics and cute neutral prints.


Cute quilt top from a Layer cake plus background.


Bunny treat bags for Easter!


Beautiful tote - love the fabrics!


Autumn fun with so many setting options!


Another Moonflower in progress.  So many triangles!


A beautiful medallion finish as a gift for a friend!

Pardon the traffic cone - it protects the plug and cords on the floor - and the folks who might find themselves tripping over them otherwise.


My own sewing space.

I don't think these scraps are going down at all!


I can sew and sew and sew some more -

But there is still SO MUCH!


And this is only approximately half of what I need.

I'll be working on these for a good long time.

Someone left a comment on how they could do these if they didn't want to paper piece them.

The easiest way? Make half-square triangle units in the size you want, and sew them together side by side.  No paper needed.

I'm paper piecing these because I want to use up the leftover cut off triangles I've been saving for years.

I like the way they come out straight and true.

I also like the way they lay so flat with less bulk as triangle points are not caught in seams that join squares to squares. 

I am giving purpose to what I have saved - and if you choose to work a different way for whatever reason, go for it. There is no *wrong* way if it is working for you.


My weekend evenings were filled with much hand quilting - Here is Lola for her Caturday pose on Saturday evening.

I've turned a corner and am headed up the second side on the second round in toward the center.

Still a long long way to go, but every evening round of stitching puts me closer to the finish.

Today is the last day for the March Quiltvillians.  We are hoping for some over-the-porch-rail photos - as long as the wind isn't too wild.

Yesterday was extremely cold  - but today we should hit 50 by afternoon photo time.  Fingers crossed.


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

It all depends on how you look at it! 

Have a marvelous Monday, everyone!


 

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:00 AM EST

    I totally agree with you about the need to repaint

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:03 PM EST

      bee bus... Don't paint and save the lungs of the painter.

      Delete
  2. No mistakes, just amazing variations. Saving that one. What a great way to start the week.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9:41 AM EST

    I used the wire mesh ( we call,it hogwire) on my deck, but it came in black. I love it! It’s barely noticeable at all! Love your work Bonnie. Thanks for all you do. Your blog is the brightest spot in my morning.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous10:06 AM EST

    I vote for no paint and cheer you on for getting a space at the bottom for sweeping off debris.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Black will almost disappear and you will love that, but I understand your concern about having to keep the paint up. That answer really helped, didn't it!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:17 AM EST

    So far, you’re winning on the porch rail design. No need to paint IMO. How will they do that job well and catch the drips or sprays?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:44 AM EST

    I am in the no paint camp.
    While I would love the black paint making the wire disappear, I love the no painting part more.
    Thanks for giving me happy quilting things to think about every morning.
    Barb

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous11:23 AM EST

    My thoughts exactly, there are no mistakes in quilting, only design opportunities. Cheers, Louise

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cute Casden. I have a few Gingers. Lucky he gets some Bo-Nana time. Such a fun age. Midnight flight is the one that you taught me Twice in Oregon. At Quiltmaker Block Party and at Royal Ruges with the PNW Retreaters group A. I miss those Retreat ladies. We had fun with our no snoring cabinmates lol. Happy Monday!

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  10. Well I just finished making an "amazing variation " ! I made a cross stitch project bag with the image of the globe with the word recycle surrounding the world. Well, when all was said and seen the image of the world is upside down! I had to chuckle...totally appropriate for the world we live in today I guess! An amazing variation I guess!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Paint those wires! They will disappear and you will love the view even more! Probably won't need painting that often anyway.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:28 PM EST

      I agree. Last summer they painted the chain link fencing on our school playground. At first I didn't understand, then after supervising kids out there, I could see the benefit. It is so much easier to see through. I don't know how that can be possible, but it is.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous2:57 PM EST

    Does the painting decision need to be made right now? How about getting past hand surgery, pollen season, summer, and a leaf season first to see how "bad" the gray wire really is? You can always paint it later, if it bugs you too much. But I wouldn't want to be the one doing all that fussy painting. (Maybe it should have been sprayed while still loose on the ground?) Fussy cutting? Sure! Fussy painting? No thanks!

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  13. Anonymous6:15 PM EST

    Totally no paint team. As a retired couple and now in our late 70's both my husband & I agree of no paint. Chores become just that, chores. Discomforts become a reality even when we are truly 'healthy' after 10 yrs of making those painting type of decisions. Those upkeeps continue and so does our aging. The pep and energy remains but in a slower pace. It's reality. Look at everything with the thoughts of "no to minimal maintenance". You won't regret.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I agree with holding off the "paint or no paint" discussion. Get to the necessary stopping point.Maybe while Hubs is recuperating he will come to enjoy the "no paint" look! Who knows?!
    I really really love that picture of Lola with the hand quilting progress! Also,that Midnight Flight is growing on me in that variation as well!
    We are expecting crazy winds here in South Central Texas tomorrow. Hopefully a little rain with it. Have a good quilty evening! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sally Warren8:50 PM EST

    I am intrigued by your half-square triangles! The paper foundations you are using look like they would create classic half-square triangle units. But the ones you show that are finished don’t look like classic half-square units. Actually, I REALLY like the way they turned out with one edge of the triangles overlapping the edge of another triangle. I think I just figured it out: that happens because you are sewing on triangles to the foundations. I like it a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous11:42 PM EST

    Progress on the new porch railings is looking pretty good. Are you doing the stairs too? That gets a little tricky cutting the wire at the right angle. We had a few errors on that!

    ReplyDelete

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