Monday, December 13, 2010

snow! (and a new quilt top)

We had a good old-fashioned snow storm over the weekend. It was fun to be snowed in...until it came time for shoveling. Oh, my achin' back!
Thankfully my neighbor, Larry, came over with his snowblower on Sunday morning and helped us out immensely! We still had a chance to shovel a bunch. Hours!
We have snowpiles that are taller than a 4th grader. (Ha!)
I have more shoveling to do today. I hope to unearth the front door before the kids get home from school. Just trying to work up the courage to tackle that snow drift. Why on earth do I live here again???

Being snowed gave me plenty of time to cut into 70+ of my favorite fabrics.
It was something akin to a fabric massacre (or party?)....
and the results are a new, simple quilt top. I love it, love it, LOVE it!
My husband said that it looked like big chunks of fabric. (Cheryl, has he been talking to you???) I may have been slightly offended.
Later, he was kind enough to say about the quilt, "I'm sure that it will keep us nice and warm."
Much better. :)

63 comments:

Jo said...

Well it does look a little bit like big chunks of fabric, but perfectly picked, beautifully sewn and fabulously fabulous big chunks of fabric!

Tine said...

I like your quilttop!
I am sure it will do both, keep you nice and warm AND look beautiful at the same time ;)

I am so glad I am not the one shovelling snow at our house!! But then maybe this will make you use your muscles in a different way and loosen up some of those quilt-induced knots?!

Canadian Kristin said...

Love that quilt! Can you please tell me what size those chunks o' fabric are? Did you follow a pattern or just sort of arrange them magically and mathematically to work into a quilt top? Love it!

Anonymous said...

you live in the midwest and don't have a snow blower?? Brave woman.
-Nicole in Annapolis

Jocelyn said...

Love the big chunks of fabric! Love how it turned out :-)

Michele said...

Love the quilt! Beautiful fabrics......are they from a particular line or are they some of your favorite scraps? My fifth grade son enjoyed your snow pictures. He hasn't seen much snow, being that we now live in Florida, but before he was born we lived in Maine......so I can relate to snow and cold....lots of ice too....burr...

C said...

Your husband is wrong! The quilt top is awesome - I love big blocks they show off the pattern of the fabric.

Lisa said...

Ohhhh that's alot of snow! But how lovely to get a beautiful quilt top out of being snowed in! Love the colors.

CREATIVE DISORGANIZATION said...

Thats such a post card picture...but know dout frustrating...we are coming out of floods in Aus...and I think you could almost sandel the mozzies (mosqitose)so staying inside with the airconditioner is best...luv your quilt.
Nic

Pootle said...

What a lovely quilt top. Love the fabrics you have picked. We have had just as much snow as you in the UK and its becoming very annoying (although as you have shown, being snowed in has its advantages!!)

Judy said...

That looks like about how much we had too.

Lisa said...

I finally live in a place that doesn't get that much snow OR those sub-zero temps, but it does make for lots of time to sew! I love scrap quilts, lots of prints and colors all together. Can't wait for a full-size photo!

Georgia said...

It's beautiful! I do wish we got snow here. At the moment we are surrounded by mud because we haven't managed to do any landscaping at our new house. Snow is surely better than mud! :-)

V A N I A said...

beautiful! and rich of colours!
bey vania

sdsadasd said...

your new quilt top is beautiful- i love the variety! i never cease to be amazed by creativity and talent!

Tanya said...

Your quilt looks like a values coin quilt (darker values are coins, lighter are separating them) using a rectangle that is two times as long wide.

Do I win for nerdiest comment ever?

Jennifer said...

I love the big chunks of fabric! The colors look amazing together. :)

Jennifer

Renae said...

We got the same snow storm. It's all good 'til you have to dig yourself out.

Shawn said...

Big pretty chunks I might add, I love to be able to "see" the fabric! Your house and the snow look so pretty, and I know that snow shoveling is a back breaker.....we haven't had to shovel yet, thank goodness.

Mrsblocko said...

If you don't want that quilt I'll happily take it off your hands!!! I think it is beautiful.

We (IL) got the same snow storm and only got a half inch of snow, all the rest of it was rain. It provided a nice bed of ice for that snow to lay on.

My mom in MN said she now has a ski jump on her roof from all the blowing.

pdudgeon said...

yep, that's a lot of snow! if we got that here everything would grind to a screeching halt for a week. we got snow, but it was a mangeable amount while still looking pretty. love the colors you put in your new quilt top. when it's quilted it will be FABULOUS!

Dena said...

While you had a snowstorm this past weekend, we have had torrential rains all weekend. Many of the lowlands have flooded. Thankfully, the rain has subsided and the rivers are returning to normal levels.

Love your quilt top!

Terriaw said...

Gasp, you cut into your Kaffe fabrics?! Wow, you must have been lightheaded from all that snow! I love the looks of your new patchwork quilt. (Don't mind Kevin, just give him an elbow!)

LOVE seeing all your snow, especially on a sunny day. But dang, why DO we live here? I am so thankful we have a snowblower, but still. It's just cold cold cold. And driving can be treacherous too, even after the roads are "plowed." Stay warm!

tarabu said...

Did I miss a memo? Is there something amiss about big chunks of fabric?

Bec said...

your new quilt top looks great! AND im so in LOVE with your snow!!!!... im sitting here all hot and sweaty!! Yuck! xx Have a wonderful Christmas! xx

Linda said...

You guys definitely got more snow than we did up Sartell way. We got about 8 inches or so. J blew out the driveway twice. Right after he came in from blowing it out the second time, the plow came by.... go figure.

I can't wait to see your finished quilt, too. I finally reclaimed my sewing room from Miss Tifa. Yay! Can't wait to get back in there and sew!

Clair said...

Remember when we were kids and the snowdrift went up to the roof of the house?

Anita said...

We got all of that in liquid form over the weekend! I don't miss the shoveling one bit! But I do think I've gain a greater appreciating for being stuck at home. It was miserable as a kid. But now I love it!

Sara said...

I can't wait to see it quilted up!

We got some of that storm here in Indiana, too. I don't mind the snow, but the bitter cold is killing me!

Dolly said...

You have to be a true fabric lover to not be offended by the idea of a quilt showcasing lots of big pieces of fabric !

My girlfriend told me 'enough is enough, you need to get back to real piecing'......uh, NO ! I like the pretty fabrics and I want to SEE them !

carol said...

Better you than me....we only got about 3 inches. :D Wanna move down here yet? You'd still be in Wisconsin????

Chris {frecklemama} said...

Ha! He sure is getting spoiled with your escalating artistry. Go simple after all that and the guy feels let down LOL. I have been itching to do something similar. Pick a chunk of my favorites and be able to enjoy them all together in one place!

Good luck with the snow. I was in MSP over Thanksgiving and can't imagine what that storm was like the other day or where you're going to put all of that snow!

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful, the quilt and the snow! Glad you had time to be busy!!! =)

Beth said...

Love the big chunks of fabric quilt! LOL
Careful shoveling that snow. Do you really need the front door

quiltermom2 said...

I need to live there! I love snow but unfortunately it doesn't snow very much here in Texas. :( Anyway cute quiltop! Oh and I LOVE your house!!!

Cheryl Arkison said...

I swear, I wasn't talking to him. But I agree. it must be nice to have something together, though.

Kris said...

*waving from Green Bay*
We got the snow down here, too. I'm game for a stitch & b*tch getaway to warm & wonderful Las Vegas if you are! ;)

I love the big blocks - those are pretty much the only quilts I do. Something about the geometry & the simpleness really appeals to me. Your colors are fabulous!

Gari in AL said...

I love your quilt top and I would hate all that snow.

LuAnn said...

You really did get the snow up there. We had about 3" here, and I shoveled the walk from the driveway up to the front door, and that was plenty for me. I like the quilt layout and love the fabrics.

Jacque. said...

We didn't get that much down here (south of Madison), but I heard that most points north of here got LOTS. I keep asking myself why I live here, too.

Love the quilt top!

Anonymous said...

Such a lovely quilt. That snow is amazing, in comparison to us, we have just had floods!!

Annalia said...

Husbands are so hard to impress - with sewing. I think mine is more impressed when I clean up my sewing. :)

Nat said...

Your Quilt top is BEAUTIFUL!!!

I am new to Quilting and have fallen in love with it. I still need to follow instuctions step by step. One of these days I would love to just cut and sew to see what is created.

What size did you cut your blocks and what is the finished size?

Jessica Christensen said...

That much snow is only fun for a day or two. I don't miss it. I loved it as a kid -- yeah, for a day or two. After I went to college but while there were still a bunch of younger siblings @ home, my stepdad starting making them a sort of luge/slide from the front door across the front yard and down into the lower driveway (it sloped downward). It became a super-fast ice chute as the winter wore on. Fun!

Maria said...

Love both your chuncky quilt top and the snow. I know it is hard for you to do all the shovelling but for this Aussie it looks beautiful.

Little Penpen said...

Wow, that snow is unbelievable... we would die here in NC if we got snow like that. We freak out with a dusting of snow! :o) I like your chunky quilt top!!!

Bee said...

I love the quilt top! The scrappy look is my favorite.

Amanda said...

Gotta love living in WI! We lucked out, the weathermen had predicted 12+ inches for our area, but it stayed warm enough here that it mostly just rained, and we ended up only getting about an inch of snow that stuck to the ground. Funny, because just 15 min. north of us they had 10+ inches of snow!

Beautiful quilt top- Men just don't get it sometimes. It's not always about construction, sometimes it's just about it being pretty. LOL

PS- I'm all for a stitch & b*tch in Vegas too Kris!
-Amanda from Milwaukee

Timi said...

WOW!!!!:o)
I like your pictures :o)!

Kim said...

Husbands as quilt critics.......they better be careful!

Happy shoveling.....or you could save it for hubby!

Happy Sewing and Merry Christmas.....I can't think of anyone who wouldn't want to snuggle in that beautiful quilt!

Annette - MyRoseValley said...

Like it! Always think these "scrappy" quilts are the most gorgeous ones. It is something magic to just mix and match any favorite fabric found and it gives so much more character to a quilt. Lovely.

Rhonda said...

Now that's some snow! Especially by your front door. I can see why you were putting that off. I like your "chunky" quilt top. I like seeing patchwork-style quilts with the various, interesting fabric patterns. :)

Laura said...

We had snow and then one of our famous chinooks blew in and most of it is gone. Lots of ice, though it's melting too.
Quilting is always more fun when snowed in.

Chris Daly said...

I love being snowed in this weekend. Lots of time to sew :)

tif said...

i want snow!!!!!!! argh...

love the quilt top!!!

Thimbleanna said...

Ooooh, I wish I were your neighbor! I loved all that snow when we lived in MN and I miss it! We could shovel together -- you know, the work always goes faster that way. And then I would push you into a snow drift and you would throw a snowball -- and then we would have to go in and get warm under a LOT of big chunks of fabric!!!

Amy said...

BEAUTIFUL! Both the snow and the quilt top! I, too, would like to know if you used a pattern or used your own idea/dimensions to make the quilt top. I have tons of scraps that I could use to create a top similar.

Lori said...

Can I just say I love love love it too. I love the fabrics you picked out. It all just goes together, fancifully.

Deb said...

Oh that snow is so pretty. Almost as pretty as the fabrics :-)

Shari said...

Ah snow... don't miss it at all. It was 31C here today in Oz.

Love your 'chunky' quilt. And your daughter's outfit. What a cutie. That snow tells my why you use so much white with such great colours - can't beat mother nature...

Judy said...

It's a good think you are shoveling just a section at a time given how much snow you have!

It looks like you had a wonderful time cutting out fabric and making a colorful quilt top!

Merry Christmas!

Judy said...

Your quilts are wonderful and you made 26! I made only 2. I hope to do better this year. Thank you for your inspiration. Your family should be proud!

Isa said...

i saw this blog by accidentally searching for topic on how to arrange fabric for quilt... i love your quilt and wonder how do you know which fabrics goes where?! I'm making my second quilt with different colors for a special guy, and don't know how to arrange them!! any advise for a newbie? =)