Thursday, December 30, 2010

Baby it's Still Cold Outside!

Goodness!  With all this snow, all I want to do is quilt! On one of the snow days when I worked the barn since no one else could get to work, I picked this kit and Gloria pieced it for us.  Isn't it cute?  It's called Annandale by Jo Morton and is a free download on the Andover website.  Jo made her's in her classic black & burnt orange which is what we had planned  to do but when I saw her border fabric in brown and pink, I decided to change it up! Can't wait until it's quilted! We have the kits for this version which does include the pattern, but we are happy to cut the black and orange version.  The kits will be up on our website soon but are available immediately if you have to have something to piece on these cold winter nights!

During our first big snowstorm, our good friend Debbie fearlessly drove her big Dogde pickup to the barn.  On her way out, she must have been checking out her purchases instead of the road and ended up drifting off the driveway into the pasture until she was stuck!  But never fear!  We are a full service quilt shop!  When I arrived in the pasture with my trusty Ford Expedition to pull her out, she was a bit incredulous: "you're gonna pull me out with that?"  Never fear- just like in Crazy Camp, we'll tell you when it's time to panic! Once we got her out and on her way, what did our Lorri do but follow her tracks right on out into the pasture but she stopped in time when she noticed that the sign was on the wrong side of the road, or rather she was on the wrong side of the sign!

Now maybe you heard on the national news this morning that yesterday, Spokane (that includes us!) had another 10 inches.  That's not so bad until you factor in the wind that's constantly blowing out here.  So I call Lynda and tell her to stay home, that the roads hadn't been plowed, checked in with Kallie who's husband was gonna get her to work, but I forgot about MaryEllen....that is until she called to tell me she was stuck on Tramm Rd just before the railroad tracks.  Yikes!  So I pull my husband off the tractor, and we go to her rescue!  We've got her pulled backwards about a quarter mile almost to Bisson Rd when here comes our shipper Jan!  Oh my goodness- with stronger words to follow!  She stops and can't get moving again, so we unhook from Mary Ellen, squeeze by Jan, and pull her backwards out to the highway.  Then back for MaryEllen!  Both arrived home safely and hopefully have forgiven us!  They're both at work today so we can hope!

Needless to say, snowy days are a great time to applique (when I'm not rescuing stranded motorists!)  Here's a "Little (more) Porch Time".  These are months 3 & 4-it's just missing a couple birds at the bottom by the geese. I do have some corrections to the directions in the book for section E as follows:
1.  The zinnia backgrounds, block E2, should be cut 7-3/4" x 21-1/2".
2.  The filler beneath the zinnia, block E2, should be cut 1-3/4" x 24".
3. The house background, block E3, should be cut 18" x 20-1/2", OR to  make it look like the photograph, cut the house background 16-1/2" x 20-1/2" and stitch a cut size 2" x 20-1/2" filler to the top.  The side squares on the background in the upper left corner are undetermined; I just appliqued scrap rectangles so it looks somewhat like the photo.
Hope this helps!  Hope everybody gets lots of stitching done!  Remember, busy hands stay warm!

8 comments:

  1. I love the porch quilt and the Jo Morton quilt. Both are so pretty. We have had our fair share of snow here on the Canadian prairies but not as much as you. My husband grew up just outside of Spokane so we try to keep up on the happenings there. Tonight the Spokane snowstorm made our national news here in Canada.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing another Buggy Barn adventure. I'm so done with winter travel! See you in the spring.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. I know at sometime we're going to get here in Wisconsin with snow but for today I'll take New Years Eve Day and a temp of 51.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for all of Your work and thanks for sharing with us.
    well, I know this place only in summer but in winter it is lovely too. I hope I'll see You again one year and I miss the huckleberry milkshakes.
    I wish You a Happy and Healthy New Year.
    Greetings from snowy Germany
    Heike

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so glad that there is another great Buggy Barn story. Of course you know that if it had been me stuck at the railroad tracks I would have just got out and trekked on up to the Barn. Nothing ever kept me away. I got a foot of snow yesterday and its in the teens today. Hurray for winter. I just may get Sheep in the Willows finished today.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Heike, I was just thinking about those huckleberry milkshakes this morning! Great minds think alike! Those who haven't heard about them can get this fabulous treat at Dean's Drive Inn in Reardan. And yes, that's our Lynda's brother Dean! Sandi & Val, I relayed your appreciation of another Buggy Barn story to my husband and he just rolled eyes! Go figure! I think he's been home on vacation with me for too long! He needs to go back to work and rest! Hope you all enjoy the weather where you are at! It promises to be another beautiful day- the sun is out, blue sky but a chilly 1 degree here. I'll be stitching as soon as I get home from the Barn!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, I can't imagine all that snow. Since I have never had the opportunity of seeing snow, except what was in Florida in 1977, how do you get around? I also wonder about how you walk in it and if you ever get warm? It looks absolutely beautiful! I think I will take my 90 degree plus summers anytime over all that snow. Have a super new years and try and stay warm.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Jane! We all wear our long underwear and wool socks! It's all about layering! When the snow is bad, it's nice to have a 4wheel drive vehicle. We use to have snowmobiles but they were mostly for fun. Riding over to Grandma's house on the snowmobiles use to be one of the kid's favorite things to do! Now, the kids are gone and so are the snowmobiles! They were old and my husband got tired of trying to keep them running! The only time we really wished we had them was a couple years ago when mom was still living out here and she was snowed in and we couldn't get there to help if she needed us-luckily, Pam lived close enough to walk (hike!). Our sister Kathy even made a sport of it and snowshoed in to check on her! Being snowed in is sorta like a sport, cuz you spend all your time trying to get out! It's better to wait for the plows (or in mom's case, it took the National Guard!) but it's more fun bucking the drifts, trying to get out-that is until you get stuck!

    ReplyDelete