Big Fish Little Fish

I knew when I finished up Go Fish that I wasn't done with free pieced fishes. I had way too much fun to give up my fishing adventure so soon; after all, a real fisherman casts his line over & over right? The wee fishes in Fish Kiss are a little more refined than the wonky fishes in the original, that's the difference a bit of practice makes...the evolution of a species doesn't happen overnight!

Just a cute little mug rug to take in for the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild's swap on Thursday night. Small projects are fun AND they use up lots of scraps, which pleases me...greatly.

*no fingers were harmed in the making of Fish Kiss

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I'd Rather Be Fishing

It's true. In fact, almost anything would have been better than chipping ice and shoveling snow outside in this 'freeze-your-butt-off' kind of weather...but it had to be done. Last nights storm ended up being a doozy; the upswing in temperature overnight made for a lot of ice pellets and freezing rain which makes the clean up particularly difficult, not to mention time consuming.

Since all of my clients canceled due to icy frustrations similar to my own I wound up with a bit of a snow day on my hands. Avoidance is key to play time so I have stayed away from the messy kitchen and have been steadfast in keeping my eyes up off the dog hair laden floors concentrating instead on staying warm near the fire and my quilting nook.

Yesterday I had thrown the wee fish quilt on the frame and so I decided to finish it up today... nothing fancy, just fun, like the simple card game it mentions or the act it might inspire on a day much warmer than this one, the little quilt brightened up an otherwise dull day.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

It's no secret that I LOVE Johnny Cash...listening to Cash, having some coffee and a lil chocolate makes a pretty perfect lazy morning in my eyes.

My Enabler Peep gave me this little gift...a new vessel for the Brown Holy Water.
Must have been made just for me, it's like the designer knew me.

Hard to believe it's Sunday already, time does have a way of sailing by when you're having fun! Yesterday was the monthly sew-in for my guild, the Maritime Modern Quilt Guild. Lots of us braved the winter slush covered roads to enjoy a day of laughing and stitching together...there wasn't even too much bitching going on yesterday, but then again there was plenty of chocolate around so I guess our souls were soothed.

I hadn't put any prior thought into getting ready for the day, so in the morning I just threw a bunch of stuff in my bag, grabbed my machine & some sweet provisions for the day and went on my merry way. After helping to baste The Enablers quilt top,  I sewed the last border on Kaleido and messed around with the charm squares from last months swap. All the squares were dots and stripes which made quite a selection of colourful modern madness of the cloth variety. What to do with them? 

 

Make funky fishes! Of course I jumped right in with my cutter and started slicing things up...6 weird little fish and a handful of wonky letters came together in a table sized mat over the course of the afternoon. It's so freeing to just see where you end up once you toss out your compass and move forward in a general direction; blaze the trail. Some of my peeps we're excited about the process, some were overwhelmed by the idea of not having a map to the finish line. I was trudging along, just enjoying the chocolate, until things took a slice in the wrong direction...

One hap-hazard cut too many I guess.

Back in November I had a similar catastrophe with my cutter taking the side of my finger and nail clean off. That was the first accident I had ever had in 20 years of quilt making, and it made my hair-doo-ing day job rather difficult for a long while. My poor finger had just started to feel normal & the nail had decided to grow back quite nicely. Seems I have unleashed a sharp, slick demon this winter. 

Clearly the universe is trying to tell me something...and in true Valerie style, I am simply not listening. I shall pour whiskey in my wound and carry on.