A few finished objects ... And new projects ...

I am surprised to find that it's been over a month since my last post. My word the time has flown by. Here we are now officially in the holiday season! Golly!

Since the end of October, I finished a few projects: The hand-spun vest, and the Celtic Soltice quilt top.

The vest is a success! It fits--comfortably so. And considering I was making up the design as I went along, it looks pretty decent too, in my opinion. Yes, I definitely feel good about this one. It was my first steeked vest and my first hand-spun stranded vest.

Here it is laid out on my sofa back, and me wearing it at the quilt guild meeting a few weeks back ...



I currently have a pair of mittens in the works. Wool/linen blend--a surprising blend that feels like wool/silk! Very soft and warm. Doing these stranded means extra warmth:


The other completed object is the quilt top that has been in the works for at least a year an a half! I got discouraged a few times so I put it away, always returning to it in time. It was a challenge and I learned a lot. Very glad it is finished. The Celtic Solstice quilt top is done! (Click pics to enlarge)



I love holding new quilt tops in the light because they look like stained glass...


The top will be off to the quilt shop to be quilted on the long arm machine next week. It is 82" x 73".

I have already started a new quilt, albeit not as challenging. I'm trying to construct one block a day. It needs 20 blocks so theoretically I can get it done before Christmas. The block is called "Picnic in the Park". I have several rainbow colors and will make each block in a different colorway. They will all be sashed with red and white squares. I've made 4 blocks so far over this long weekend.



So we went from autumn to winter overnight up here! Yesterday, Thanksgiving, we had about a foot of snow on the ground at 15 degree temperatures! Well. Maybe December and January will be mild, who knows? Maybe this is a case of get it over with up front. Wishful thinking! :)

Today's escapade:

I heard a noise in the central part of the house this afternoon where the staircase, closet, and pantry are located. I figured a mouse--isn't the first time and won't be the last. Then I thought it was too big a noise for a mouse to make. What? So I thought maybe a squirrel had found it's way into the house (I had flying squirrels in here 3-4 years ago!), so I decided to open the closet door thinking it might be looking for a way out. I figured if it came out of the closet I could open the outside door and try to get it to go outside. I went back in to sew. The noise persisted, what the... So I walk back into the music room where I left the closet door open and find a *dead* rat(!) on the floor 2' from the closet door--not a mouse, a rat!! Dead!? Then I notice a white nose sticking itself out of the closet (I'd seen it earlier and thought it was the nose of a field mouse). It was a freakin' white weasel!!! An ermine! Geez! I'm glad the rat is gone, but now I don't know if the weasel is still in the house or out. I have to make a thorough inspection now to see how it got in. It's all happening here! I will leave a live trap out hoping that if it's still in here I'll trap it. I suspect it followed the rat into the house.

I have learned this evening that having an ermine around is not a bad thing ... they will rid the place of all vermin then move on. As long as the bird room remains secure I have no problem if Irma the ermine wants to do some pest control around here. It is a very pretty little creature, all white, sleek, not too big.

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all!