Happy July 4, 2020

The corn planted in the field behind my house is definitely more than knee-high today, but we need rain!  Hotter than Hades!  Have been trying to stay in and get more sewing done.  Finished a bunch of new masks.  Trying hard to stay home and out of trouble.  It makes me so angry to see the cavalier attitudes people have in public, so I go out as little as possible so I can not offend people with my expectation that others will wear a mask in public to protect me as I am protecting them.

A picture or two of a recent quilt I made with "help" from Dickens!

May our flag wave over calmer times!

Distant hugs,

Sharon

Still Here

Although time has passed quickly, it's been 2.5 years since the stroke.  Still walking with a cane outside. 

 Left hand still impaired.  Am able to machine sew and have started quilting with a walking foot.

 My first quilt about a year ago.  Did not use walking foot for quilting.  Corners meet sporadically.  Great quilting print on back.  I signed it, dated it, said it was my first quilt since the stroke, and moved on.  Could not pin yet.

 A bit later.  Still not quilted with the walking foot, but corners now match, binding better.  Able to pin better.

 Close-up of kind of wood grain quilting.

Opps, my area was not cleared off and two scraps of white fabric stuck to the back.  I had finished the quilting when I discovered it and would have had to remove 6 lines of quilting to remove them (not skilled enough at that point to partially remove anything)..It's a cool Easter print on the back, it looks like a rabbit tail, so I chenilled it, and left it.  A funny story for this piece!

I had fussy-cut and machine pieced the top before I got sick, walking foot machine quilted and bound it last year.  Love it!  New and old skills together.

I'm making baby stuff for a shower, have made about 200 and still counting masks that are all over the country, before Covid had started riding lessons, have mowed my own lawn, and have a family of foxes that play on my back porch.  I am well inside the house and do not interact with them, but the four kits are so fun to watch!  Two adults and four kits!

Just off the porch, with my camera phone.

That's it for now.  Hope everyone is well and wearing a mask in public.  Still typing with one finger.  Stay safe!

Blissful, if distant, hugs,
Sharon

P.S.  Dickens is fine!

Almost a Year

Hard to believe it's been almost a year.  I'm unable to pin so not much sewing.  Left hand and leg slowly getting better; I can sometimes walk without a walker or cane.  Am knitting a bit.  Therapy still ongoing.  Pompera is in Berkshire, New York, where I can still see her.  Cannot pick up hooves for cleaning or brush her tail--need two hands for both things.  She loves where she is staying and has lots of other horses, chickens/guinea fowl and dogs for company.  The farrier has her shoes off; she looks WONDERFUL!  Not driving myself yet, but my brother has had me out and practicing.  Some things are easy, some things need adjusting.  Have been cleaning closets and shredding old paperwork.  Where does all this stuff come from?  Lots of stuff for Thrift Shop and recycling.  Enjoy every minute you can do what you love--all my stuff is on hold!  Have you seen Yoko Saito's new book?  It's a feast for the eyes--Amazing!

And it's snowing and sticking here--first sticking of the season.  Sure it won't be the last!

Blissful hugs--I'm still here,
Sharon

P.S. Dickens survived my absence and is fine.

Dickens

Kitty in a box!

Meow

Dickens reminded me that he's been absent from the blog for quite a while.  Enjoy!

Blissful July hugs,
Sharon

Always helpful

I am trying to revise some handouts and Dickens is "helping". He decided that sleeping on the hard copy stuff was just the best ever. Even after I moved it to the other side, he just  kept stretching until he was comfy, on top of cords and all. Always  willing to help.

Is it hot enough for you?

Up close and personal

Dickens wanted to say good night.

Greetings!

I've got my eyes on you!

Blissful hugs,

Sharon and Dickens

Happy New Year!

As 2015 draws to a close, an update of sorts.

Dickens in a box!  I set the box aside after unloading it and the next thing I knew....

Red squirrels are the topic of many a conversation this year.  (The comments are not always complimentary to the squirrels!)  Here, the red and gray squirrels are competing to see who can find/hide the most corn.  The people who harvest the corn behind the house just take the cobs.  There are many full and partial cobs left and the critters bring them nearer the house to hide.  Sometimes in plain sight!  Seeing them carrying cobs bigger than they are never gets old!

On a cloudy day, one ray of sunshine hit the N/S part of the weathervane.  I love details like that!

And here's my main squeeze, Pompera, from a couple days ago.  She is just too cute for words.

2015.  A year of great joy, great sorrow, family, friends, quilting, horses, and Dickens.  A full life.  My life.  And I am thankful for everyone who is a part of that life.

Blissful New Year's Hugs,

Sharon

Help?

I'm trying to get a set of handouts finished and needed to take more pics.  I was doing okay until I needed an overhead shot of the entire project and had to lay it on the floor.

Dickens, who had been asleep on my  office chair, decided to help.  A little...

And then a lot.  After this he actually rolled on his side and gave me some 'tude'.

I did get the pictures I needed, although one has his toes featured in the corner!

Have a great day.  I am going out to try to bale some more lawn.  Yes, it's that bad!

Blissful (and early!) hugs,
Sharon

P.S.  Many thanks to those who are commenting from the new website.  You still have a bit of time to get yourself on the list!  www.sharonstroud.com

With a Little Help From My Friend

A week or so ago, I was laying out my 32 point Mariner's Compass, trying to get the big pies arranged just right.  I turned away for a second, and ....

You will  notice how nicely Dickens folds under his front paws, the better not to claw the material!  Those scowling eyes mean he's in it to win it.  I would have thought the pins would have been a deterrent, but I guess not!

What's a quilt without a bit of cat hair?

If anyone reading this has emailed me in the last week and not received an answer, please try again.  I had trouble receiving email, but I think it is fixed now.  Talk about scary!

I've been working on a new hand piecing sample, and I put binding on a small wallhanging today.  I haven't been letting the grass grow under my feet!  (In rereading this, I had to laugh--we still have FEET of snow on the ground, much less grass!)

Hope you are all well and enjoying the tropical heatwave we are having.  I have a really cool applique tip to share in the next post--stay tuned!

Blissful hugs,
Sharon

P.S.  I am listening to Inferno by Dan Brown.

It's Almost Here!

Seems like the blink of an eye and we said the same thing same time last year!  Time sure seems to go faster and faster the older I get.

2014 has been a great year here at the Stroud household.  Many thanks to those of you who take classes, who read the blog, and who are patient at what must seem like interminable gaps between posts.  It's not that I'm not thinking of you--I just need a few more hours in every day to get it all done.  Hope springs eternal for 2015!

If you have plans for tonight, remember the designated driver, and for those of you in the "snowy" states, be safe on the roads.

From Dickens and me, have a safe and happy New Year's Eve.

Blissful hugs,
Sharon

What's in Your Featherweight?

Who cares what's in your wallet?  I want to know just what's been accumulating in your Featherweight!

It's been a while since I stood on my "clean your machine" soapbox, so here goes:

I recently brought a machine home to clean for someone.  (In her defense, she had just recently purchased it, so this was definitely NOT her fault!)

Here is the bottom plate with lots of "schmutz".

Holy felting, Batman!  Perhaps a wee felted blanket?

Another view in case you were not already horrified enough.

The moral of this story?  Clean your machine!  Even if it's not a Featherweight, each machine needs a little TLC to survive in this linty world.  Oh, and have you changed your needle in the last eight hours of sewing?  Just checking while I'm here.

Blissful hugs,
Sharon

P.S.  I am listening to The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly.

P.P.S.  Diane:  Dickens cannot have any indoor playmates of the kitty persuasion by order of his adoption papers.  He's to remain an "only" child.

On the Wild Side

It's been an interesting time in and out of the house lately.  Here's an update:

Dickens and one of the younger woodchucks sharing a moment.  They are less than 8 feet apart, separated only by the screen door.  Dickens frequently sits on my desk and watches the woodchucks playing on the porch.

As I was packing for Vermont, Dickens decided that he should help--and maybe stow away!

And several times over the past few weeks a gray fox has been visiting.  He comes about 10 feet from the house and seems to be looking for the woodchuck family members.  They always sound the alarm and are well into their tunnels and under the porch.  The gray fox is very regal looking--what a surprise to look out the window and see him!

Finished hand sewing the binding on another small wallhanging today and have been writing instructions for a new machine piecing skill builder class.  

That's it for tonight!  Tomorrow?  Another adventure!

Blissful hugs,
Sharon

Magic?

It looks like it will be a bumper crop of hops this year.  So the Casket Company Brewery will be back in business.  Remember:  Our beer will bury you.  

These two photos were taken on May 17.

This one was taken May 26.  Check out the vine above the lattice.  It is almost an inch thick and is at least 18 inches above the top of the shed.  These are the most amazing vines ever!  I wonder if they are related to Jack's bean stalk?

Dickens has the final word tonight.  (I think it's actually a raspberry!)

Some quilting pics tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

Blissful hugs,
Sharon

Posting

Dickens asked me to let him respond to those who have been asking about the lack of posting.

Don't make me come over there.

I was so excited a couple weeks ago to see turkeys in the field!  There used to be large flocks and now it's rare to see more than five or six adults.  Last week the field was plowed and has again been planted with corn.  It doesn't take long for the stalks to grow tall and to obstruct the view of wildlife.

Still quilting like a mad woman (okay, that's normal for me--I mean the "mad woman" part).  Started riding again a couple weeks ago, which seems wonderful.  The lawn in growing like a hay field--oh, wait, it IS a hay field!

At any rate, I'm alive and living life to the fullest.

Special, blissful hugs,
Sharon

P.S.  I am listening to Gone by James Patterson.  And the latest two Stuart Woods.

What's That?

Dickens has taken to sitting on my desk so that he can see the "action" taking place out back.  The woodchucks are out and they are not shy about sitting on the porch.

And they are not afraid.  

I know woodchucks are not for everyone (Diane!), but I don't mind them.  And apparently, Dickens doesn't either.

Hope you are enjoying your week.  I've been productive in trying to get a few things finished.   How about you?

Blissful hugs,
Sharon

Hunkering Down

Dickens and I have had a day of hunkering down.  Although a bit warmer (?), the snow did its best to replace the bitter cold in our memories.  That worked for several hours, but now the temperature is dropping, the wind is rising and the wind chills will again be in the negative degrees.  I did the snowblowing late this afternoon and quite a bit of it has blown back in--but the good news was that the snowblower started right off and I "got 'er done".  

I am (still) working on the Mariner's Compass blocks.  I am hopeful that I have only two or three four-inchers to go.  Mostly fabric choice changes.  But I see a definite end in sight.  

The hand-piecers at Quilters Corner in Ithaca are making significant progress on their Monthly Bliss 3 blocks.  Several have never hand-pieced before but are bravely moving forward each month.  I'll try to get pics next month so that you can see how truly beautiful these pieces will be.

My posting has been spottier than I had hoped for 2014.  Don't give up on me.  If I ever decide to permanently stop blogging I will let you know.  Someone reminded me over the weekend that she looks for a new blog post from me every day; that made me resolve to do better.  So stay tuned--more compass pics coming soon!

Blissful hugs,
Sharon

P.S.  I am listening to Never Go Back by Lee Child (a Jack Reacher novel).

Catching Up

It's been a wonderful reprieve to have temps into the 40s the last few days.  Unfortunately, that has come to an end and the deep freeze is again headed our way.  Just enough snow tonight to make the roads slick.

Here's a pic of Dickens curled up on the hand-quilted pillows on the love seat.  Here's some trivia about the things other than Dickens on the love seat.  From left to right:  The blue 8 pointed star pillow was made by my friend Rose's mom in Florida.  It came home in a suitcase from one of my trips to visit her.  The pillow with the two ladies on it was made for me by my friend Beverly and given to me when we were judging together near Albany.  The willow tree was machine pieced and hand quilted by me.  The one Dickens is laying directly on is an original heart design and hand quilted.  The pillow to the right is also hand quilted by me.  On the back of the love seat is a small doll quilt that my mom made for me when I was a kid.  And the love seat itself was given to me by my mom when we moved into our house almost 30 years ago; I played on it as a kid.

In a brand new bag of M&Ms I found these two mutant M&Ms!  They were near each other and I think they got mauled trying to escape!

Another mug shot from the back!

That's it for tonight.  It's been a day of errands, laundry, and crosswords.  I have just a few left to finish both books and then I am not buying any more crossword books for a while.  

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Blissful hugs,
Sharon