We have all heard that wives tale about if march comes in like a lamb it will go out like a lion and vice versa. March started out beautiful here with wonderful 60 degree sunny days. Perfect for getting those early cool weather crops sown in the garden. And plant them I did. Then the lion roared. We got 7 inches of snow on March 11th. luckily for us very little was blooming other than a Nanking cherry or two and the small Cornelian Cherries. Time will tell the damage to fruit set but since both of those are very young trees the loss should be minimal. And the annual dance every gardener faces each spring with Mother Nature has begun. The gardener tries to produce as much as possible and Mother Nature keeps us humble by reminding us who is actually in control. Oh what arrogant humans we are and she does love to flex her muscles.
Finished my scrappy quilt that was on the frame. Made a wonderful snuggly quilt with a nice soft flannel backing. A wonderful utilitarian scrap quilt and while not fancy it did use up some of the bins of scraps I manage to accumulate from different sewing and quilting projects over time. This quilt is a double quilt that I wanted for snuggling on the couch with or on the only smaller twin bed that I have in one of the spare bedrooms. All my other beds are queens.
The next quilt is a baby quilt top that I have already made that I will do on the hoop. Then another queen top already made that will go back on the frame. I want to make some more scrap tops to use up again some of those fabric scraps that I have stashed.
I have a couple older quilts that my late mother in law made decades ago that the fabric has just wore out from age and use. I am going to recycle the quilts and cut the binding off and recycle the quilts and use them as batting for new quilt tops basically putting a new top and backing on them. Nothing goes to waste! They were not pieced tops but rather cheater tops. You know the ones that look like pieced quilts but was just one piece of fabric. They were made to use everyday and machine quilted by her neighbor. The original battings are all in tact with no holes. With a little reworking these should last for another 4 or 5 decades and maybe my great grandchildren will enjoy. With 2 adult granddaughters it is possible. I will make the point that my hand quilted quilts seem to hold up better than their machine quilted counterparts over time. No idea why. Unlike my mother in law I do make it a practice to always use quality fabric and new fabric as well.
I am thinking a Dresden Plate and Double Wedding Ring will be my next two tops to sew. Again using up those scraps. I am open to any suggestions on good scrappy quilt patterns anyone wants to recommend. I will take some pictures of my baby quilt once I get it stretched and basted and ready to go into the hoop.
I am also doing some canning and will post the pictures once I get done. Having quilting jobs going is great as I can quilt while I am waiting for my pressure canner to build steam and cool off. Time is a precious commodity at my age and not to be wasted or taken for granted. Besides gas is too high to go anywhere. I think I will be doing lots of quilting and canning with the prices the way they are. This too shall pass hopefully and we have endured and survived hard times before. Just will be planting a bigger garden.
Hoping everyone out there is healthy, safe and warm. We remain grateful and blessed.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
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We got a bit of snow out here at the Northeast TN border, but not as much as you! I think we have about 3 inches. It is melting today, and hopefully back in the 60s this week. A couple of weeks ago I planted old seed and it was coming up pretty good (radishes, beets, turnips, and lettuce). I covered them on Friday before the snow came, but the wind must have been strong -- it blew off my cover and now those seedlings are buried in snow. Back to the drawing board! At least it was old seed.
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