Let’s try this again tonight, should we? Some of you got both posts and some got neither. Sigh. We are having a true blizzard – started this afternoon with snow squalls and wind. Connie’s area had the highest gusts at 63 and my area was next with 59 mph. I still have to go to the barn before bed as well as walk the dogs and it is howling out there!
My second post didn’t include Tim – I may have a lead on his other home.
Someone commented about Moe’s little red chair. Here are some of mine that are hanging up high so the dust doesn’t show. Had to take this picture from the loft – yikes, these will be on the list for my cleaning lady.
Reader photos
And THE DIRTY DOZEN GAME RETURNS!
With so many requests for the game to return, how could I not agree? If you haven’t played before here are the rules:
- Choose 12 unfinished projects.
- Number them 1 -12.
- Read the blog on the first of each month when I’ll announce the number for the month.
- The idea is to finish the chosen unfinished project before the end of the month.
- The next month I’ll pull another Dirty Dozen number.
- Ideally you’d finish your project and send me a picture.
- If you need a watchdog to keep you on task, I can handle it!
- Start by gathering your 12 projects and numbering them 1-12.
Brrrr! Such a cold night – wind chill is way below zero and my bedroom is on the northwest corner where it will be the coldest spot in the house. Hazel might need to sleep under the covers tonight!
Mary, I’m thinking of participating in the dirty dozen this year. After Christmas I will pull out everything and number them. I just have a small problem I have three quilts to finish 1- early Feb and 2-mid Feb. I haven’t started any, I have fabric for one and a pattern, I have to come up with a water themed preemie quilt for the beginning of Feb-luckily only 36 x 36. And then one more baby quilt not sure of the pattern yet and once decided will need to go get fabric. No pressure. I may cheat and not number any of my projects and use those as the first three months then number the rest with all the other numbers not pulled. If that makes sense.
Teresa – yes, it makes perfect sense to me! I would probably do the same. You can join in when they’re finished by numbering your 10 projects and eliminating the first two numbers drawn – does that make sense?
Thank you Mary, I’ve always wanted to participate and haven’t because I am usually a person that starts a project and finishes it before starting another or at most will have two on the go. This past year has been like no other starting with my knee replacement last December, then injuring my other knee in March, then the “joy” of packing up a house and moving, trying to get settled here at the new house, it’s no wonder I have so many projects on the go.
Hey mary. I am too impatient! After I had posted yesterday, my pattern arrived in the mail. We do have an incredibly slow postal service here but I knew it should be here. Thanks so much! I can’t wait now till holiday festivities are done and I can work on this. Looks like I’ll need lots of concentration….at least for me to figure it out. After the first block I think I’ll be good.
Loe seeing all the pictures. I just got my tree up and now have to buy new balls since I’ve had a pre-decorated one for years and gave my kids their ornaments. Sigh! Always something else to do.
Merry Christmas everyone. God bless. Thank you Mary for answering and offering to help. Just me jumpin too fast!
Helen – I don’t think you were jumping the gun – mail service is incredibly slow at all times but during the holiday season it’s even worse. So glad it arrived!!
Missed this yesterday. Those blizzards scare me. Do you have a rope between the house and the barn to help you make it safely back. Be safe, Mary.
Mortie is quite the little family member. She is on the “welcoming committee “
Carolyn – no rope and it’s occurred to me over the years but my interior yard is so protected from the grove (which is disappearing) that it’s never very bad. During the worst of the storm I simply didn’t go outside nor did I let the dogs out.
I do remember those Iowa blizzards. I recall being in Iowa in 1979. There was so much snow and drifts, not all roads were plowed and it was walled on both sides where some roads were plowed. I’ve heard stories of family having to tunnel a passage to out buildings following a storm in 1920s or 1930s.
Beryl – that was a horrible winter! I was living in Clear Lake and working in Mason City – there were several times I couldn’t get there.
Love the Christmas pics. Happy Dirty Dozen back! Joanne
Mary, how will your cleaner get to the little red chairs in order to clean them?….they look like they are fastened to a high section of a wall, above everyone’s heads.
Oh, that quilt with the Elf tucked under the upper edge of it looks so cute! And the Nativity quilt, that dark blue sashing and all the squares/rectangles showing the different Christmas scenes, is just beautiful! Thanks to all of you for sharing your beautiful work!!
Ruth – a tall step ladder – yes, they’re hanging up high. My house has very few walls because it’s open or else it’s doors and windows so no place else to hang them.
Hi All, Mary, is the Wild Rice pattern in one of your books? I have many of them. Here in Central Ohio, we had 52* yesterday, woke up to 29, went down to 21!! Wind has been very wild, probably about 45 to 50mph. Buddy spends his time in the basement if it is like that. It will go up and down all week until 52 on Christmas. Wild!! All of the inside and outside decorations are wonderful and I love the quilts. I think Mortie was voted Miss Congeniality 😻😻. She seems to like everyone. ❤️
Diane – Wild Rice is a stand alone pattern and can be ordered for $5 and SASE. You got our weather but today it’s above freezing and so nice – you’ll be getting this, too!
Yes, we did. It is so strange the way the weather changes almost by the hour sometimes. Stay warm and cozy. I am so glad I quilt because I do have warm and cozy quilts to wrap up in if I need to.
Great animal pictures whether pets or in the wild. We have had many visits from the turkeys sometimes twice a day and curious cats and deer during the night. The Christmas pictures are so stunning, I go back many times after someone mentions something they have seen. Mary I noticed a Grant Wood picture hanging on the wall and that picture is done not too far from where I live.
Made oatmeal cookies and banana bread to take as our family will gather at my daughters for Xmas. Should be fun.
I spent some time trying to find my Country Threads quilting books I knew I had but couldn’t put my hands on. I did find them after rechecking areas I already checked. Duh!
Does anyone else do this? Just need to get organized so I can’t find anything.
Thanks everyone for making this a special place to share and vent!
Rita, funny you should mention your Country Thread books as I went to a local craft thrift store today and their paperback quilting books are always .50 and hard bound quilt books are $1. The exception is Mary’s books! They must be valuable cause I got one that I did not have marked for $5. Probably cause they look them up and see them out of print and what they are going for on sites.
So ladies we are lucky to own Mary’s books of patterns.
Kathy that’s still a bargain. Half price books used to carry lots of quilting books. Now they are down to one cubby. I think because Patchwork Place no longer is in business the books are not a plentiful. We are hanging on to them.
Kathy – I, too, have looked for our books and I just about fainted when I saw that Garden Club sells for $125!
Rita – I have several Grant Wood pictures – I love them! I don’t have American Gothic hanging right now.
Can’t blieve I misspelled my name. too big a hurry!
Hi Mary and all. These pics have been so inspiring. I haven’t done anything yet as our tree from the last 20 years bit the dust and I forgot to buy a new one. But we’ll get there.
Mary, I ordered the Civil War Modern pattern 2 weeks ago. Are you still mailing some out? I haven’t checked yet to see if my check has cleared. Thanks!
Love your blog! Wishing every one a safe and healthy holiday and blessed and secure new year! Helen
Helen – What? Mail service can’t be that bad, can it? If you send me your mailing address I’ll send you another one. What’s your last name – I’ll check but they’ve been mailed out as I receive them and I’m all caught up. Now on the other hand if I didn’t receive it till just this week, that could also be the reason.
Beautiful pictures. Love the “star, tree, house” quilt and “Wild Rice”! Yea for the Dirty Dozen! Thanks for bringing it back. This year I’ve made inroads on UFOs, but, need more incentive.
I cannot fathom those wind speeds, not something I’ve ever really experienced, just horrible dust storms. Be safe all, no unnecessary trips if at all possible.
I can smell all the wonderful aromas coming from your kitchens. 🙂
Wow! What wild wind gusts- hang onto Hazel 🤣
Love the bottle trees from Bonnie in GA
I have to agree that the weather here in SW Ohio is a bit unpredictable! I’ve lived in this area over 55 yrs. We don’t always get what everyone else gets or what is predicted. Last night we had lots of heavy wind & rain, this morning we have a dusting of snow. Last night I attended a visitation for a dear friend who passed at the age of 93. Coming home from that was not a pleasant drive. Since there was a wreck on the interstate my GPS took me on dark narrow country back roads. I was very happy to be safely home with Boots on my lap! I’m happy to join in for the dirty dozen! I have things that simply need to be quilted. Since I do quilts for the new babies at church, I tend to put projects that I’ve been working on aside & somehow don’t go back to them. I never wanted to be a quilter that just made tops & never finished them. And here I am doing just that! The dirty dozen will certainly help we complete some of those UFO’s! Thanks, Mary! So enjoy your blog!
I’ll get my list together too. My problem will be narrowing it down to only 12! Lol! Hope you stayed warm last night. I walked the dog this morning with a wind chill of 12. It was cold but not as cold as one of the morning last weekend. I know we’re not as cold as you either. I know you’ll make sure all your animals are well taken care of. Not a creature was stirring …..
I love the dirty dozen, I only have 4 but that’s enough to finish. They are all donations quilts. I’m working on cleaning my sewing room. I love all the Christmas pictures. I can’t believe it is less than a week before Christmas, seems to always sneak up on me. Stay safe everyone
Thank you, Mary for bringing back the Dirty Dozen. I haven’t finished any quilt projects for quite a while. In fact, my quilting mojo has left me – maybe this is the jump start that I need!
Our Christmas get-together is tomorrow (Saturday) so after that I can get started making my list. Yay!!
Mary, I hope this morning is better with minimal branches down in your land.
We got the winds here overnight. Grass is all green again from the rain. The little snow we had is melted and doesn’t look like a White Christmas will happen but you never know.
The dirty dozen is popular with your devoted readers so I for one am selfishly going to admire all the projects finished up. I will certainly celebrate along with you all as items are done. I have 2 goals I would like to stick with in the coming year……make various specific Christmas quilts for my family to deplete my stash and try to sew some items with my homespun fabrics. I hope I can do this as I find I’m a seasonal sewer so I might not want to look at red and green fabrics during Easter. This will be interesting. I’m going to try to change.
Kathy – I never knew it was a “thing” – seasonal sewing but I am definitely one, too! I, too, have just got to use some homespun fabric.
My one exception to seasonal sewing is Christmas. I usually find I’m too busy (with what, I wonder?!) pretending to be busy with Christmas, but after Christmas, and into the New Year, I’ll often dig through my Christmas stash and at least make a start on some project I’ve taken a shine to. Even if I just get a top made, I can finish it before next Christmas… at least that’s the theory, lol!
The weather has been brutal!! Everyone in its path please stay safe and warm. Mary, love all the photos and thank you for those. I may see what I want to do about the dirty dozen. I don’t have unfinished projects, but trust me, that room is FULL of projects!!! Trying to clean it up and sewing would be a good way to do it! I can’t think about it until after Christmas….. still have baking to do. Cranberry bread on the agenda for this afternoon after my Bible Study group Christmas party this morning.
Hi Mary
I’m originally from NE Ohio w with all the snow and ice but have lived in SC for 2: yes. When we had 60mph wins last year it was a hurricane!
Christina – we have a lot of wind turbines around us for a reason but Ive never heard anyone talk about a hurricane in North Iowa!
I am all in w/ the dirty dozen. I am finishing my 27th UFO this year. In the spring I listed 5 projects, completed them and listed another 5 etc. I needed small chunks but kept working at it. I guess I needed to experience success at small intervals. A friend asked me why I have so many. Life gets in the way I guess. I took classes as a creative outlet but taught fulltime, had a busy family and aging parents. I also have UFOs that were started at retreats and needed to be finished. Structure helps me. Good luck to everyone participating.
Marsha I love your attitude. We all need a girlfriend like you to keep us on track to finish our UFO’s. I admire your commitment to cleaning up your listed projects. Do you ever say about one you pull out that you don’t want to do it anymore and donate it?
Hi Mary , I’m one of those sewers that only does one project at a time and then must finish it before starting the next. Who knows why…but have always been that way. (I’m 82 yrs. old). Will be starting a new one in the next day or two as I just completed table runners for Christmas presents.
Merry Christmas to all from northern Illinois.
Janet – you aren’t alone!!! I do not have ufo’s either! I have to finish one project before going on to the next.
Janet – some of my “starts” aren’t worth finishing. I have lots of things that need quilting but I don’t like them well enough to bother. Your work ethic is to be admired – well done!
I thought of you last night when your blizzard warning was announced. We had lots of wind and a few flurries, but much calmer this morning.
Been a madhouse at my house this week. Elliott had influenza a so he’s been home from school with us. Leah had preschool programs and parties, the workers are installing our new fireplace so my house is a mess. We went to a farm yesterday to pick out wood for the mantle, and ended up with an old barn beam ! So cool and exactly what this primitive loving girl wanted!
Making cookies and candy today. Hugs to Hazel and Mortie from Elliott. ♥️
Diana – oh, poor Elliott! And I remember you’re replacing your fireplace – yes, I can only imagine what a mess you’re in. Elliott probably picked up a bug at the wrestling meet
Hooray for the return of the “Dirty Dozen”. Off to find my spreadsheet.
Thanks, Mary.
Wendy P in Victoria, BC
Mary you’ve got the cold and we’ve got the wind and two “atmospheric rivers”. We lost our power for four hours on Monday when I was supposed to make some Christmas goodies, a lot of branches and trees down everywhere. Then Wednesday we woke up with no power and it was the day the kitchen company was coming to install the cabinets I ordered. Thank goodness for battery operated drills so the installer could put them up. Luckily as he was done the power came back on and he could finished the trim work too. It was beautiful and sunny. Lots of trees down and so many areas were without power. Today we were back to torrential rains. Glad I got most of the rest of my baking done. One or two things to go. I’m out most of the day tomorrow and Saturday so probably won’t finish till Sunday.
Mary, thank you again for this blog. I enjoy reading it every day.
I’m curious about Tim’s other owner.
We are still having a huge storm, although it seems to be calming down now. It howled all day and we lost power for about 4 hours. Got it back just before the dinner hour. Love those hard-working Pacific Power guys. We thought we had escaped the really bad storms up north, and we did until today. Then it got us pretty good. We are supposed to have flooding tomorrow. Sounds like it’s bad everywhere except in Australia and New Zealand. But then…it’s So-o-o hot there.
Glad you are bringing back the Dirty Dozen game. I Need to play.
Sue, it’s not hot in wellington, new Zealand! Have had a cardigan on most days (it’s our summer! )very windy. I think other areas are hot, especially Australia,too hot for me!
Yes Sue, I live just outside the small town of Murchison in Victoria, Australia and it has been very hot the last few days 41 Celcius or 106 on your scale so it is hard to imagine blizzards, snow storms and howling cold winds! Xmas shopping and baking has been a challenge in this heat. Xmas Day is meant to be 78 so we are more than happy with that as we have the traditional Roast Pork & Lamb for lunch. I love seeing and hearing what life is like in America and all you ladies who contribute to Mary’s blog and Mary herself show me what its like over there. Thankyou Mary for your daily posts I really look forward to reading them. I hope you al have a safe and Happy Xmas and New Year. Cheers from Ros in Australia. x
Ros – and we feel the same about learning of life in Australia. I can’t imagine a hot Christmas! Keep telling us things about your life there.
Our wind chill will be 0 by morning, but little to no snow for us. it was 55 yesterday and rained hard all afternoon and evening today. SW Ohio is a very weird climate pocket!
I agree w/ unpredictable weather in SW Ohio having lived her 8 years. We lived NW of Columbus for our lives prior. The saying about Ohio weather is if you don’t like it now it can change in an hour is so true.
Oh Marcia I can so relate! Lived in OH most of my life and the weather here has changed so much! Yesterday 55, today 23. Crazy 🤪
Marcia & Kelli — We experience the same thing in Iowa. Drastic changes in the weather. Heard on the radio today that the predicted forecast for us on Christmas Day is 60*! We will see if that actually happens.😂
I got both posts you sent-yesterday and today. Fun to see all of the holiday photos. I also have one of those little red chairs. It’s in a cabinet in the garage. Thinking I should put it on display. How much snow did you end up getting? No snow here but we got the over 50 mph winds. I went to town today and had to dodge downed tree branches everywhere I went. We have a few downed branches in our yard too. Hope your branches aren’t all over the ground right after you had them cleaned up.
Hi Mary, i have received all your emails, as I sit in my knickers with cold drink in hand thinking of you all haha Welcome to Sunny Queensland
Can’t even imagine that kind of wind. Ours is 21mph with 37 gusts.
Mama seems to be settling in; I wonder what made her come into the house.
The Dirty Dozen will be a nice start for the new year. Thanks, Mary🥰
Can’t even imagine that kind of wind. Our is 21mph with 37 gusts.
Mama seems to be settling in; I wonder what made her come into the house.
The Dirty Dozen will be a nice start for the new year. Thanks, Mary🥰
Love the holiday decorations that people are sharing. The sixth picture tonight shows a quilt
with stars, trees and houses, one of the best patterns I have seen of a winter theme but is not just Christmas. No name was given who made it but I would love the name of the pattern as I have the perfect fabric in my stash to make it. Thanks for any help!
This same storm Mary talks about hit us in Rochester MN this afternoon too. The house got cooler quickly and the howling of the bed was strong and noisy. Several of the schools in smaller towns around us sent the kids home early. Visibility was down at times to less than a half mile with strong winds and snow. They are calling roads. “ flash frozen roadways”. I have never heard that term before. I am so glad I picked up groceries earlier in the morning, I plan to stay in and hunker down for the next few days. Happy Holidays Everyone!
It should read the howling of the wind , not the howling of the bed! Hahahaha on that mistake!
I love the Wild Rice quilt. Just beautiful!
We’ve had a lot of high winds today, even a tornado warning in Troy, Mo which is east of us. I didn’t hear about any damage I’ve been so busy with Christmas day preparations.
Tomorrow is the last day of school in our school district until after the new year. My husband drives a short bus. We prepared Christmas treat bags for his riders and the aids. It’s always a good time of the year. So exciting and festive.
Merry Christmas, Mary and Happy New Year!
I’m so glad you’re bringing the unfinished projects project back. I got so much done the last time we did it. I was one that got the double post if you need to know that.