A quick note – 3-29-23

Just wanted to tell you that our wind chill is -1 this morning – ugh. Where is spring?

Had my Medicare appointment yesterday – remember that bump on my left foot? Well, it’s still there and it’s making it hard to find a shoe that fits “around” the bump. Sneakers are impossible. So now I’m off to orthopedics. My podiatrist said it was tendonitis – feels like a bone to me.

Reader quilts

My geraniums came up from the basement – they did well with a grow light during the winter.
Several of my Hoyas are blooming
Not my cat thank goodness

I love this panel and would like to do something different with it – any ideas? I don’t want to just add a plain border and quilt it. I want something more exciting.

And I close with a picture that I could possibly be guilty of.

47 thoughts on “A quick note – 3-29-23

  1. Carla in a snowy mitten morning

    Mary, the first thing that came to my mind for your dog panel is treat the squares like a t-shirt and make a quilt similar with a few filler blocks. Possibly stagger the layout. Could be a good size throw. Or use a couple of those sections and a pair of large blocks for large four patch lap quilt for a nursing home, VA hospital facility.

  2. Jackie in NY

    Hi Mary! I hope you get some answers about your foot. Some great reader quilts today – especially the birdhouse quilt – so springy!

  3. Vicki Ibarra

    Love the panel. I have had some panel quilt pictures in a “quilts to maybe make” folder on my computer. I sent you an e-mail with 2 pictures that I thought I may make some day, pending me finding panels I just have to have. (I didn’t know how to describe the quilts for the blog. Sorry.)

  4. Tama

    Loved the quilt photos but especially the one with a peek of the backing fabric. Have a great day!!

    1. Jan Hebert

      Ha! You made me laugh out loud Sherry! So true though. It’s 40 degrees here but at least the sun is shining! Jan in MA

  5. Sherrill

    Oh my gosh! That cat is so cute with that pudgy little tummy and the way it’s sitting is hilarious! Love it!

  6. Kellee Repko

    Your foot could possibly be a dorsal boss bone spur. I had a bump on my right foot and I couldn’t wear any in closed shoes and it was terrible. They shaved away the bone. I had to be put to sleep but it was worth it. It’s just a suggestion. Maybe try another doctor.

    1. Mary Etherington Post author

      Kellee – yes, I’ve always been convinced it’s a bone spur and not tendonitis – it’s hard like a bone and yes, shoes are a problem. Finding a shoe that fits around the bone and not over it is a challenge. I am seeing an orthopedist in a couple weeks. Did you have to stay off your feet after your surgery? I just can’t do that so if they tell me it’s surgery or live with it, I’ll have to live with it. Could you answer in the comments so I’ll know?

      1. Kellee Repko

        Greetings Mary,

        If I remember correctly, I was off my foot for a week. I return to work in a boot and I literally put my right foot up on my desk while I worked. I’m telling you it’s absolutely worth it. You will feel much better.

        Kellee

        1. Mary Etherington Post author

          Kellee – I could handle a week – but not 6 weeks! Oh, this is very encouraging – thank you!

  7. Joy in NW Iowa

    I really laughed about the vanity!
    Your foot sounds like my hubby’s. They did X-rays and couldn’t find anything, he is a diligent guy and does push ups everyday and he changed how he puts pressure on that foot. Helped immensely!
    We have a high of 24 for today! I agree…..spring, where r you? Snow in the forecast on Friday!
    I haven’t been in my cave all week!
    Caught a mouse on Sunday……one was curled up on my quilt in my favorite chair this morning! Ugh! There will be shopping for ammunition today! My massage therapist says she throws the trap away if she catches one! Not me….too dutch,

    1. Carla J in the mitten

      Joy, my hubby doesn’t think there’s any such thing “as too dutch”, thanks for the chuckle this morning. He’s a full blooded second generation of ancestors from Holland and I am supposed to be half. DNA tests revealed that they hadn’t always lived in the Netherlands as I am over 80% Scandinavian!
      I do have to say the communities, south of me were many were founded by Dutch immigrants including two by my ancestors. Here the saying for many is ‘if your not Dutch you’re not much’

      1. Joy in NW Iowa

        Carla you must be in Michigan! Our youngest son lives in Marne, Mi. The ‘if you’re not dutch’ statement is in NW Iowa also! They pinch the nickel until the Buffalo farts….another one for you.
        Hubby and I are both full blooded Dutch although we each have a grandmother you did not immigrate but married someone who did.
        We love almond bars also called banket. Ollieballen on New Years.
        Nice talking to you!

        1. Carla

          Joy, small world. I live a bit northwest of your son north of Muskegon and there is another Carla here who lives in the Holland area!
          Banket, I was thinking of that as I drove thru Holland yesterday afternoon on my way home from Wisconsin.

  8. Edora Hansen

    I have 4 Hoya plants and they haven’t bloomed since I moved to Michigan from Florida 17 years ago. What is the secret?

  9. Jo in Wyoming

    I just finished a Yellow Brick Road and substituted some fussy cut squares for the pieced squares. It’s great, I’ll send a picture soon. It’s big, but you could make a much smaller one with the dog panel.
    That cat is way funny!!
    We had snow again this week. I’m sick of cold and potholes. I hope the California friends are ok after this last round of snow.
    Lovely quilts today.

  10. DebMac

    Another gray day here in the Quad Cities but we did have some sun a couple of days ago. The robins have arrived in full force so spring must be here if we could only see it…. Beautiful group of quilts today. My “inner quilt eye” was drawn to the flying geese quilts especially as it was when I leafed thru a couple of quilt books earlier this week. Guess I need to make a quilt with flying geese. That trees quilt has been a long time favorite; love the red and green. Hope you find out what is at issue with the foot.

  11. Cathy Duregger

    Ouch! Mary your foot must really hurt! I broke my third toe on my right foot this weekend. Toe was already a bad one that hurts always.
    I hate that it is -1 this morning! But at least my dogs aren’t making mud paw art across my kitchen floor even after I break my back to wipe their paws. Haha! ❤️

  12. Lois Ann Johnson

    Yes, it is cold here, too. But I also appreciate the ground being frozen so Bailey isn’t tracking mud across the floor when she comes in from outdoors! I’ve seen robins and they must be wondering why they are here! A friend who lives here in Humboldt mentioned last week that her hostas and tulips are coming up. I don’t see any of mine yet. We all get anxious this time of year for something green to show up. Aren’t we all anxious for March to go away and April to appear so we can get on with some spring weather!? This has been a very long winter.

    1. Carla J in the mitten

      April! My sister always wanted it to be her birthday so she could wear her shorts! And ride her bike. I think from then on her early April brings winter weather back on purpose!
      Our morning snow has stopped sun is trying to shine but the thermometer reading is inching downward.

  13. Sue in Oregon

    That bathroom scene is hilarious! Kind of looks familiar.
    Maybe a different block between each dog block, like a log cabin, a heart, a basket, etc. Do you have dog fabric for a border? Cute panel.
    And, that cat photo!! The look on his face and his body posture say it all. “I did it and enjoyed it and I’m not sorry.”
    Lots of fabulous flying geese this morning. Maybe they will bring spring with them. I wish!

  14. Jan Hebert

    Love the panels! That will be really cute no matter what you decide to do with it. I’ve never done a panel quilt so no advice here. I like Peggy Grandberg’s idea of attic windows, that would be interesting. All the quilts are great today, especially like the bird houses! Looks paper pieced… would love to know more about that one! Your geraniums look great, Mary! I checked my Hoya, no blooms right now. I’ve got my plant in a spot with indirect sunlight though. My daffodils are blooming on the south side of the house and my crocus too! Spring can’t be far away, right? Jan in MA

  15. Colleen in Central Oregon

    Love the quilts! Hope you get your foot figured out. I’ve had foot problems and rate them right up there with back problems.
    We just saw a map last night that shows we’ve had enough snow to maybe pull us out of our drought and starting Saturday, we are expecting four more days of snow! I wish I could just sit and quilt, but I need to empty out my sewing room and totally reorganize it. Ugh, reorganization agonization!!

  16. Sheryl Harrison

    I am quilting a quilt with the fabric! I was looking to see if i could attach pictures but don’t see a way. i’ll email you.

  17. Kathy in western NY

    I always love seeing a log cabin quilt, no matter color or placement. They intrigue me. I too thought of attic windows framing your dog panels cut apart.
    We got to 50 degrees already today, robins are around here, baked some banana bread and tonight we are in for a snow squall coming through fast around 5:00. We have to be at a funeral at 4:00 for an uncle. He died from a fall where a broken rib punctured a vein so bled internally before he sought medical help thinking Tylenol made him feel okay. He lived a good life living alone so I guess at age 94 it isn’t so bad to leave this world but lesson learned never take a fall for granted.

    1. Diane, Squeak, Buddy in Central Ohio

      Kathy, so sorry to hear about your uncle. That is a hard way to die and must be difficult for you. You are so correct about falls. We had a friend who hit his head on ice and thought he was ok, went to bed, and never woke up.

      1. Kathy

        Thank you Diane, but I am at peace with him passing as he lived his long life in a small cabin in the southern tier east of where you lived when here and was happy by himself. My cousin drove an hour so many times a week just to check on him in later years so I know it’s hard on him as he brought him back home after he fell knowing Tylenol wasn’t the answer. It is so sad though we take these falls lightly as we don’t think since nothing is broken, we will be fine. Stories like yours and mine have given me a new perspective.

  18. Sandy

    Hi Mary, looks like winter has hit early in New Zealand, cold, rain , wind and even hail yesterday! I think alternate blocks of stars with the cute dog blocks , maybe centre of stars to feature dogs(and one cat!), you showed a star quilt recently with large stars and some small stars that appealled to me.I am quilting a scrap cotton reel lap quilt at present in crochet big stitch, supposedly to donate but l think l might keep it for on my knees while l watch tv,all for now, takecareeveryone, bestwishesfromSandy. ,

    1. Betty Klosterman

      Sandy, please explain…..quilting a scrap cotton reel lap quilt at present in crochet big stitch??????? Quilting?? Crochet Big Stitch??? A picture would be nice.

      The dog panel is wonderful!! Laughter is such good medicine. That panel would work anywhere.

      Last night it was 12 below in Aberdeen, SD and 12 above in Rapid. Land of infinite variety? Wait 5 minutes and it will change. Real signs of spring, I think.

      Betty in Rapid City

      1. Sandy

        Betty, l have taken a couple of photos and sent them to Mary(l hope!)scrap quilts are my favorites! Best wishes from Sandy

      2. Carla

        Betty, our son was stationed out at Ellsworth for four years. We absolutely loved your part of our country.

        1. Betty Klosterman

          Our neighbor is stationed at Ellsworth. She is just a little thing, but you should see her attack a snow drift!!! She is a drone pilot. Ellsworth is getting ready for the new B-21’s. You wouldn’t recognize Box Elder and surrounding areas.
          And I really love being in this area of the country. No humidity like Iowa…..
          Betty

          1. Carla in the mitten

            Betty,
            I was checking maps to find a place out there and was so amazed at the sprawl. Two of our granddaughters were born while dad was stationed there. They will graduate from high school this spring and next. Their dad retired last fall.

      3. Mary Etherington Post author

        Betty – our wind chill yesterday morning was -1 – sick of it!!
        Pictures of big stitch coming in next post. Too much for this one with all the quilts.

  19. Margaret in North Texas

    Mary, for your dog panel quilt, some plaids in co-ordinating colors maybe from men’s shirts. A simple pattern like 2 inch strip to match the size of the other blocks. Hope you can figure my thought!

  20. Carolyn

    How about cutting up the dog panel and using each square as the center of a sawtooth star block? Can be even larger without the worry of matching up the points alternated with solid blocks.

  21. Jeanie S, Central IL

    What a great quilt show; I love the geese!
    That cat’s chair reminds me of two family room recliners we sacrificed, so our cat could keep her claws. 🤣
    Thanks, Mary 🥰

  22. Gloria B.

    With the black border framing the dog panel blocks I instantly thought of the film strip quilt design. The background colors behind the dogs appear to be Country Thread fabric palette? You’ve had so many wonderful dogs in your life could you prepare fabric blocks from some of their photos and add them in? It’s a great panel! Have fun.

  23. Cheryl from Niagara Falls

    We got some snow here today. Ugh! I am so over this! Must be what is coming your way Kathy! My girls both went to Geneseo near you for college and I always let them know what they would be getting in a couple hours. All my bulbs are coming up and I always worry they will get stunted, One year my tulips only grew about 6 inches because of continued snow and most didn’t bloom. I am so impressed with your geraniums Mary! I have never tried keeping them over.
    I always get a lot of ideas from Pinterest when I am contemplating a quilt idea. So many clever people out there! Working on sandwiching 3 quilts I finished. Hate that part! Nice quilt show. That cat is too funny!
    Hope your foot feels better!

    1. Kathy in western NY

      Cheryl, Yup we got the snow band right on time at 5:30. It’s pretty on all the tree branches and light fixtures but it will be gone tomorrow. Strange as it’s suppose to be close to 60 now on Saturday! The news tonight said we got more snow in March than we did any of the other winter months. But still below normal as not even 50” this whole winter.
      We too had family who attended SUNY Geneseo. Wonderful campus. Our daughter, daughter in law, granddaughter, so very familiar with that area from many events we went there for.

  24. Diane, Squeak, Buddy

    Mary, the dog panel is so neat. Like others, I thought of putting them in the middle of a star or some block.
    When we built our house, we put double sinks in the bathroom with a tall narrow cupboard in between. Perfect.😃
    The quilt show is wonderful. Our Amaryllises (Amarylli?) are up, not blooming yet, but leaves are up. The Hyacinths and Daffodils are blooming😃. It is still coltish, but up and down high 30’s, 40’s. Then we might get in the 60’s this weekend.

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