This, That and the Squirrel!

Look at this beautiful block!

I just love it . . . and I've been seeing a few finished ones popping up around blogland also that are looking just wonderful. How can they not? Anne has used her fantastic skills to supply us with such inspiration and my thanks goes out to her for providing me with this wonderful sense of anticipation for the next ten months - and I know that I'm not the only one because I've been reading blogs off and on all day.

This little pattern works up so quick and easy! I guess it depends on what your method is . . . but still it is a small block . . . not large pieces of fabric needed and not a huge time commitment to produce such a lovely little block. Plus you can now do it all embroidery . . . redwork, blue work, whatever color you wanted - how versatile is that?!?!?! What can she possibly come up with for the next ten months? It will be another few days before mine is complete and ready to hang on the wall with the January block . . . but I just know it's going to look great!

And then I couldn't pass up a little mystery quilting either, so I've chosen my fabrics, with the main fabric line being the "At Water's Edge" by Blackbird Designs. I didn't have a medium and dark though and had to make a quick trip to Fabricland on Thursday to do some color matching and selections.

I already had the charm pack and the light fabric that was required for this Blue Meadow Designs 2009 Mystery quilt, but I needed a medium and a dark - not large pieces but something that would work. They must have thought I was nuts in the store . . . pulling this bolt down and that bolt down and flipping through my charm pack to see which fabrics matched the best. There's a lesson here to be learned . . . buy all your fabrics from the same collection at the same time . . . but, I suppose that might take the challenge out of it, right?

With it being a mystery though, you really don't know how medium and dark to go . . . so I'm out on a limb here Myra and Cori - I'm really hoping I haven't gone too dark. I guess time will tell!

So far everything is easy, smeezie and I'm not feeling pressured except for the color choices.

Ah. Here is my constant winter visitor. Way up in the tree, watching Mysty wandering around the other day when the temperature got up to about -1C or so. For all of you in the warmer climates . . . cats (Mysty) really hate the cold, but the squirrels keep themselves busy unless it gets really, really cold.

Even though the photo is a little fuzzy, you can see that the squirrels must feel a bit of the cold too - see how his tail is curled right over his back . . . I think it's a little bit of extra fur coating for him!

My hubby pointed out this little hole the other day and confirmed that the squirrel is burrowing and making tunnels in the snow banks. That's a first for me . . . I've never seen squirrel holes before!

He comes down the tree trunk, onto the deck and then carries on down his little hole to access under the deck where he goes through the lattice and into his acorn storage shed. Industrious little fella, wouldn't you say? Even though the hole is covered over/filled in every time it snows, it keeps reappearing . . . just like the tubby little squirrel. Life is kinda neat, eh?

'til next time,
M.