“Oak Ridge” happenings……………

Just for clarification, that’s the name of the ridge (mini mountain??) that we live on, nestled among oak, hickory, black walnut, elm, pine and miscellaneous other tree varieties in an area known as the Richard J. Dorer Memorial Hardwood Forest (S.E. MN). Anyhow………pretty quiet at the moment. The winter storm that had the local meteorologists busy for the last few days has shown to be “wimping” out. Areas to the North may see several inches of the ‘white stuff’ but we have/will be escaping much of the blanketing first predicted….yay!

  Ms Sweetie (HQ Sweet 16) has taken up residence in Sparta (WI) at “Quilt Corner Quilt Shop” for the months we are in Texas. Some “show-off” time (being available as a floor model machine) ending in a Springtime spa treatment just before we return. I miss her! In her absence, I am keeping company with Ms Juki who is more than able to step up to the (fmq) plate!      Not a large piece but one that will require lots of hand beading! FUN!!!!! I’ve used a single layer of Hobbs cotton/poly batting with gold “Radiance”, by Robert Kaufman, and muslin for backing. Since there is so much lace work, the beading will serve to anchor the vintage piece to the bottom layers……except for a tiny bit of fmq feathers in the center (stitched with Glide, 60 wt for top thread and Connecting Threads Essential Pro poly, 70 wt on the bobbin)………    Once the beading is complete, I will finish stitching/embellishing the outer space that surrounds the piece.    So…guess what I’ll be doing this afternoon!?! How’s your preparations for the upcoming Holiday coming along? We tend to keep away from the gift-giving “frenzy”, so our family time together is, generally, on the “low key” side (except for the 2 great grands who have enough energy for many!!!). Thanks so much for all your precious visits over this past year and I look forward to future times of sharing what’s happening. Til then…….