Saturday round up

The sky is blue. The sun is shining. The snow is melting. It's a beautiful day.

My paper white plant is slowly growing and should start blooming any day. It is really enjoying the sun today.

I keep getting AARP membership cards in the mail. This might be normal if I was over 40 or 50, right? Well I'm only 26 and I've been getting them for the past few years. It makes me laugh. I wonder why they think I'm retired?!

Happy Super Bowl weekend!

Ragged squares quilt - fresh out of the dryer

Speaking of simple things I like ... taking a quilt out of the dryer is one of my most favorite things.  It's all crinkly, smells great, looks great, is warm and cuddly. What's not to like?!

Here it is on our front-yard snowbank this morning. It actually makes the snow look warm!

It's the simple things.

I like simple things. Like getting a box of fresh tangerines in the mail from my mom. There are few things in this world as tasty as fresh tangerines from my parent's backyard tree (in the dead of winter in North Dakota). I lost count, but I think I had six today. Thanks, mom!

A warm fire on a cold day. I'm so very thankful for our basement fireplace to keep me warm when I'm working in my sewing room. It's another cold day here, it was -17°F when we were having breakfast this morning. In case you were wondering, no, I don't play chess, nor do I know how to set up a chess board. I just like how it looks.

Yippee for progress on the improv.-pieced red/black/white quilt. I decided to add white to set off the blocks. Every-other block will have a white border. The other blocks will also have pieces of white in them. The blocks are 9.5 inches square. I'm happy with how they look. I was rather nervous about this whole "just wing it" quilt method but after adding the white, I really like it.

I'm still not done with the binding on the ragged squares quilt ... maybe tonight? I've half-way done ... I should get busy.

It's Saturday and I'm quilting

This block is another project that is part of the "project improv." Along with making a quilt that's pieced improvisationally, we all are making a quilt block that will be a part a charity quilt. I signed up for a red/aqua block. Here it is. It's another one made with all scraps. It measures 10.5 inches square. I'm really happy with it. After I get more red and aqua scraps I want to make a quilt like this for myself.

I started this project today. It's definitely a work in progress. These blocks aren't even done yet. This is what improv.-style quilt blocks look like when they are being made and before they are trimmed. Really scrappy. I hope they don't look too busy. Maybe I'll add some white like the block above? Border every-other block in white? Or border them all with white? Any advice?

Parhelia come to town

Do you know what parhalia are? They are sun dogs. I've been hunting them for a few weeks now and was never able to catch them. Until today. The temperatures dropped to the single digits, there was moisture in the air and I just knew it was going to be a good day for sun dogs. This wikipedia article does a great job of describing how sun dogs are formed. Basically, they form when it's really cold and there are tiny ice crystals in the air. They are kind of like a cousin to a rainbow.

Anyway, we get them here in Bismarck and across the northern plains quite frequently in the winter. The reason they are tough to get photos of - it's DARN COLD when they are out. And they come and go quite quickly.

I've gotten in the habit of bringing my camera to work "just in case" the sun dogs come out, I'll be ready.

At about 9 am this morning, I took a little peek outside and was very excited to see little "snow puppies" (tiny sun dogs) looking like dimples around the sun. The sun is hidden behind the bell banner. To get this photo (above), I had to go out of the building. I wasn't really prepared to go outside – I just had my work clothes on and a light weight scarf (no hat, gloves or coat). But I thought I'd just be out for a few second, snap a quick photo and I'd run right back in. Wrong. I was locked out in -25°F windchill. I forgot that we usually keep the doors by the chapel locked because they are rarely used. Bummer. I had to quickly and carefully walk (I had heels on) to the other door. To get to the other door, I had to make a giant U, following the walking path (the covered area in the photo). I was a popsicle when I finally got inside again. But it was worth it.

At about 4 pm today I got a call from Sister Janet (my favorite sun dog spotter - her office faces the sun!) she said the sun dogs were even better than this morning. Wow was she right! The photo above was taken just on the other side of the covered walkway in the previous photo). Notice that the sun doesn't travel very far during the day - gotta love that North Dakota winter. I am fascinated by this photo. It's neat to see how the sun dogs form a circle shape around the sun. Amazing.

Since I get off work at 4:30 pm, I hung around campus (in the warmth of my car) and snapped a few more photos. Although I think the 4 pm photo really 'takes the cake,' these are pretty amazing too.

This tree is right by the monastery. I like how the sun (and sun dogs) look behind it.

The sun is going down ...

It's amazing what -2°F and frozen vapors will do to a sunset.

Don't forget that you can click on any photo to see it bigger in Flickr. Once in Flickr, look at the buttons right above the photo and click on "All Sizes."