Things Are Ramping Up!

This is the snow & ice curtain hanging off of the side porch at Quiltville Inn.
The ice is SO THICK!
I took this photo before son Jeff grabbed a porch chair and used it to break the ice off where it was hanging below the gutters.
We protected the top of the Generac by placing a palette on top of it to divert any falling ice and protect it from any direct hits.

Before the knock down.
Yesterday's high was 42 f degrees.  Warm enough to start things sliding off the metal roof and to start turning the snow + ice snowcrete to slush.
And that's a good thing because we've got retreaters coming on Wednesday and they need to be able to navigate the drive to the unloading zone and the parking area behind the QPO.

Scraping the slush away!

He wasn't able to get it all the way down to the gravel, but at least scraping away what he could will give the sun a chance to do its best to melt the remainder over the next two days.

The same is happening with the back parking lot - moving the top layers to give the sun a chance to melt what is beneath.  

The clock is ticking and we need this to be safe for incoming quilters!
Housekeeper Susan was also on hand yesterday to start working her spring cleaning magic on the house after it has sat empty since early December (other than Jeff stripping and repainting the banister spindles!)

What a difference this has made!

Of course, it won't be that noticeable up here when the quilts are draped over the railing, but he took off at least 6 coats of old paint - at once time they were painted YELLOW!)
They've been stripped, sanded, primed, and repainted in a latex satin-finish white.  No more shiny chipped up gloss.
The next big thing to happen is the replacement of the back entry door.  I can't wait to have that heavy ugly drafty door gone and replaced with something beautiful.
Hopefully that happens in the next couple of weeks now that things are warming up enough to do the job.
And on to the quilty stuff!

The top is together!

I took it over to the QPO hoping to have more time to work on it - but there was a lot of running back and forth between the retreat and the studio.

I did start covering some phone book pages with strings just to see if what I am thinking for a border will actually look good.
I figure if I don't use them on this project, I'll be able to use them elsewhere - ALWAYS.
The more I look at this quilt, the more I love it.
I was looking at where I started in with this quilt - and I found this post from January 6th. I have some units made dated December 30th, 2025. So it wasn't THAT long in the piecing. I was on a mission.
Questions came about why I want to hand quilt this if it is going to be so big?
I don't need another big quilt quickly quilted in a day or two. I can take the time to sit with it and put hand stitches into it.  Sometimes I just like to do that if the hand quilting suits the quilt better than machine quilting.
Then there is the consideration of thread color.  I'm not really keen on white machine quilting thread marching itself all over dark fabrics.  It looks scribbled and messy to me. I was then thinking grey thread, but then the same thing with dark threads crossing over white white white areas.
Hand quilting just looks more delicate and blends in better - even if the hand quilting thread is white or cream.
So this is where I'm at with it right now, and I'm leaning toward hand quilted free hand Baptist fans because they are easy, and I love the texture.  
But things aren't set in stone. Opinions are subject to change without a moment's notice so never say never!

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

What we do makes a difference!

Yes, even the little things mean a lot.

Temps should reach nearly 60⁰ today!

Let's get that parking lot cleared!

Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone!