Quiltville's Quips & Snips!!: Little By Little -

Yesterday morning, back porch at Quiltville Inn.

I haven't been sitting with Flash every day, some of our mornings have been rainy and cold and I'm not that much of a sucker - but if the morning is fine, I'll come sit for 10 minutes and see if he will tolerate my presence and eat his food regardless.

It's a battle of wills.

Are you hungry enough to let me be here while you eat, or will you sulk off and wait until I leave?

There IS progress. For the first time ever I have witnessed him raising his tail - full "up periscope!" and I can now firmly say that we KNOW he is a HE. No question. Trouble puffs present.

I will keep working with him until we can safely get him fixed without trauma of trapping him.

Here where we are - in the middle of the middle of absolutely nowhere, there are no humane society clinics that you can just "Oops! I've got a feral to neuter, here you go!" drop off.

It's more like, "We've got an opening 6 weeks from Tuesday." and the way things are right now there is no way to know if you can catch him i a trap the night before to get him there the next morning.

You might find that you are taking in a racoon to be neutered!

Still can't touch him. I tried offering a treat by hand and I've got a nasty scratch on one finger to show for his quick reaction.

Progress is slow. But it is still progerss.

Ivy was also a stray that found us at the inn. She now lives at home and is loving life - we've had her for 6 years now. She loves being out during the day, coming in at night to sleep where it is cozy. (She was inn all winter - doesn't like the cold, but spring/summer/fall she likes to be out on the porch.)

The doggos are still fine!

I've had comments saying "We haven't seen the dogs for a while!" as if I'm falling down on my duties of posting them, so I took these quick photos yesterday morning.

Zoey is now 7. SEVEN! She's starting to get a little grey around her muzzle, entering middle age as she is.

Yes, she still gets zoomies, and goes upside down. I've not been quick enough to catch it with a camera.

Mabel is a big girl!

She is now 6. And according to a vet friend she is about 20 lbs. overweight. Sigh. I know she is a bit chunky. She doesn't eat any more than Zoey does, but her metabolism is different.

Still, how can you limit one dog, and feed the other normally? They are both as active as each other. It's not like Mabel is laying around doing nothing.

When she said "She needs to lose about 20 lbs." I ALMOST said "And so do most of us in this room....."

I'm working on it. The heinous driveway down and up again walks continue.

I think we've reached peek boom here!

There are some branches that need to be trimmed back - some that died during the ice storm of this past winter. Son Jeff is on hand to do that, but I want the blossoms gone first. I'm thinking if he gets in there now he'll knock them down before their time. Let nature take its course.

This happened yesterday while waiting for the May Quiltvillians to arrive!

It all came from here - this explosion of my red strings bin.

I ran out of enough variety in the red geese triangle department, so while watching and waiting for cars to start pulling in, I pulled strips from here that were wide enough, varied enough, pressed them and cut them into the size I need for continuing my blocks.

I've only got about 30 more to make! I think...

I'm restocked and ready to keep going.

If I were traditionally piecing flying geese I would care about which way the fabric grain went. I'd want the straight of grain on the hypotenuse of the triangle.

But with paper piecing I really don't care. Everything is anchored by the seams that hold the triangle in place so bias isn't really an issue.

So depending on the scrap width, some of these are half-square triangles with the bias on the hypotenuse, some are quarter-square triangles with the straight of grain on the hypotenuse. It matters not in the finished item.

I'm just happy that these scraps are being used in something so fun!

And talking about fun -

Do you ever come across a scrap of a piece you thought was long gone? This little blue/grey calico.

We were newly married. Living in Eastern Washington state out of Prosser. Fabricland was in the Tri-Cities in 1981/1982.

I was just getting into quilting, purchased some cheater cloth Dresden plate fabric, and thought that I could do a quilt-as-you-go style quilt using the Dresdens as the center for the log cabin blocks, and adding logs around them in the quilt-as-you-go method, poofy poly batting and all, to make the quilt for our water bed. Yes. Our water bed. LOL!

This was one of the fabrics that was also part of the pre-printed Dresdens and a companion fabric I bought to complete the log cabining around them.

I did finish the quilt. I used a blue sheet for the backing. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I remember that the only place I had to sew at was a tiny kitchen table in the kitchen of our single-wide mobile home. Good memories in a place that was all ours.

I don't know what happened to that quilt, but I've come across that cheater print in antique malls and it always makes me smile and remember. I think it came in a brown fall-colors version as well as the blue. Maybe a green one too? Oh, the good old days of Cranston V.I.P.

Yesterday's additions to my block pile.

I made six.

And yes, this still grows. Slowly.

I can average 6 to 9 hexies in an evening....but some evenings like the last couple - NOTHING happened. And that's okay.

Tuesday we were out with friends and I was just DONE for the day by the time we got home and settled in.

Last night? Hubster Dave went fishing and I just sat on the couch and quietly read - I just couldn't make myself put that thimble on for anything and I think that's okay.

Tonight? We'll see!

This happens tomorrow!

I am so excited - everything as far as the writing goes is done. PDF is made. All that is left to do today is give it one final read through and get things loaded up into the Quiltville Store.

Yes, there will be introductory pricing! And I'll be drawing for 2 winners who will each receive a Crackers & Jam PDF pattern from me and a Notable Neutrals color roll from our friends at Cotton to Quilts ,

Are you starting to sort your small scraps in anticipation? It's going to be so much fun to make!

I want to share a promotion I received by email so I can pass it on to you!
When you reserve any new Craftours tour by Sunday 5/17/26 you may enjoy $250 off your booking. Please be sure to mention the “Mother’s Day” discount when making your reservation.

Click to my travel page HERE.