Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Juggling Projects

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Do you ever find yourself juggling projects?

I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. I’m hand quilting the bed quilt and I can see the end in the not-so-far-off distance. But then I have to leave it to crochet some scarves. Which I then leave to try my hand at some new crochet flower patterns that I might use for garlands.

But I have two books to review: one next week and one the week after. So I have to make sure I allow time for book reading.

And then a customer orders one of my Crochet Flower Garlands and I have to crochet the flowers, since I make them to order.

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Then I discover this quilt that I made in San Diego as part of a Quilt Along and my attention is diverted once more. You can see that I’ve hand quilted quite a bit of it already. That happened a few years ago. But there’s more to go.

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It measures 58 inches by 69 inches in its unfinished state. I’m not sure what the heck I’ll do with it when it’s finished, but the project grew out of a six month long stint in San Diego where I knew I had to make something or go crazy. That’s when my dear friend Ingrid, who is a costume designer, lent me her Featherweight. (And when I fell in love with Featherweights.) I found a Quilt Along online. I didn’t have any of my fabric stash with me, so I bought a jelly roll of pretty fabric and some more for the border and back. I also pieced the bed quilt during that same time.

Very, very simple, but nicely graphic pattern.

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I love the fabrics. It won’t take long to finish the hand quilting. It might be too large to use as a wall hanging, though that’s what I’d love to do with it.

Stop right there, Claudia. You have books to read, another quilt to finish first, scarves to crochet and a script to work on.

Not to mention a house to clean, errands to run, Etsy packages to mail and a dog that needs a bath.

Psst. Don’t tell him, but I don’t work quite as efficiently when Don is here. My rhythm gets out of whack. He’s distracting.

Do you find yourself in the same situation? Juggling projects? Perhaps a little ADD about the whole thing? Please share.

Oh, and speaking of projects, there are two new scarves in the shop. I don’t know what the weather is like where you live, but we have a good month or so left of winter. Maybe more. These are in wool and acrylic and they are soft and beautiful.

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I have a couple more to make in silk/bamboo and then, my friends, I’m considering retiring this pattern. That’s not definite but if you have been interested in getting one, now just might be the time.

Happy Tuesday.

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What I’ve Been Up To

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What I’ve been doing, gazing upon and generally up to the last few days:

Wearrings

Sorting, listing, keeping track of, packing, sending: our heart shaped earrings. On Monday, I spent a couple of hours wrapping, writing shipping labels, and packing all the earring orders. On Tuesday, I took them all to the Post Office and they are now winging their way to you. We have a few more in the shop if you’re interested.

I love them.

Wquilt

Quilting in the evenings. I’m more than half way through. Maybe almost 3/4 of the way through!

Wdishgarden

Tending Riley’s Dish Garden. I’m trying not to over water these succulents. I’ve been missing my boy so much lately. I’ve always sung a lot to my dogs and sometimes I find myself singing a lyric that includes “Riley and Scout” and I stop short, with a jolt to my heart of missing my boy and the realization once again that he isn’t here for me to pet and love and take care of.

Wdollhousebath

Putting down the bathroom floor in the dollhouse. Lots more to do in that room. I don’t know why, but every toilet, bathtub or sink that I find looks silly. There are so many miniatures for other rooms that are completely realistic, but bathroom pieces? No. This is a problem.

wnest

Thinking about spring and birds and nests. We had a little dusting of snow overnight. More snow is due on Friday. Spring cannot come soon enough.

wpencils

Thinking of ‘freshly sharpened pencils.’ I will be working on the script for Twelfth Night soon – that means a batch of pencils needs to be ready and waiting. And maybe it’s time to watch You’ve Got Mail again?

Wheartrocks

Hearts. It’s the season. Earrings. Rocks. They’re everywhere.

And painting. The jury is still out on Chalk Paint.

An update on my parents: Dad called 911 yesterday morning because of chest pain. They discovered a blood clot in his lung, so he’s been admitted to the hospital where they are working to dissolve the clot. Mom had some sort of episode over the weekend – we think it might have been another Transient Ischemic Attack. She’s had at least one in the past. She’s better now, but we were rather worried for a while there.

Aging parents = worries.

Happy Wednesday.

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Collecting: New Pieces of Miniature Pottery

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Good morning! It’s Sunday morning and there is a bit of snow on the ground that will need to be shoveled. Thankfully, just a little – less than one inch – though we might have a bit more tonight. It’s a gray day, at least so far. I have several projects in the works and the challenge of the day will be deciding just where I should concentrate my energies.

I don’t care about the Super Bowl.

There, I’ve said it. Do not care. I’m not even sure who’s playing. And, frankly, I think football needs to be re-assessed. Our increasing knowledge of chronic head injuries and the dire toll they can take on players should be a wake up call. Junior Seau was the quarterback when I was living in San Diego. This man who was normally happy and full of good cheer took his life recently. And the examination of his brain confirmed that he suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that is linked to chronic head injuries. When the NIH autopsied the brains of 34 former players, they discovered that 33 of them suffered from CTE.

Food for thought.

On to something cheerier.

My friend Linda who blogs at A La Carte, knows that I have started a collection of miniature pottery. She sent me a lovely present that arrived in yesterday’s mail:

minpottery1

Oh. My. Goodness. Three beautiful pieces of pottery! Aren’t they lovely? And a heart!

Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! (as Gilbert and Sullivan would say.)

I am entranced.

minipottery2

I’ve added them to my shadow box shelf. I love the pop of color that the yellow and peach pieces bring to my display.

How can I not smile when I sit here in my blogging chair, pause in my typing, look up and see this?

minipottery3

I can’t. I’m smiling.

Thank you, Linda, from the bottom of my heart.

eararingetsypinkblog

In other news, the earrings are flying out the door! I have a lot of wrapping and packaging to do in the next 2 days. Thank you so much! If you are interested in a pair, I would suggest you think about buying a pair sooner rather than later. Some colors are almost gone. Meredith is thrilled, by the way.

Happy Sunday.

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Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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