I got my Island Hopping Mystery Five-0 quilt sandwiched yesterday - never my favorite part of quilting, but James is always there to help me out, holding the fabric down for me, removing the tape for me (though it would be more helpful if she'd wait until I was done with it before she removed the tape...) and just generally being a nuisance, aka helper kitty. 

 

Done!  The Aloha Spirit (AKA Aloha Mystery Five-O) is done.  I didn't get much else done yesterday, but that's okay by me.  I did a dump run of green waste on Saturday and filled up my green waste container with another load (all the leaves in the garden area out out!) so my home chores were done, time to sew! 

I was checking something on the blog, and noticed that this is my 2,999 post!  I'm not sure how I got to this point from something I started as a way for my mom to see my photos easier (she was just starting out on her computer journey and emailing photos didn't work well for her.)  It's been almost 20 years (my first post was March 12, 2006) and I'm still posting.  Wow!

On that note, I finished the Casa Grande quilt.  Most of the stains did wash out.  If you look closely, you can see them, but you have to look for them, so I'm okay with it.  Still not happy, but, it will do.

I picked up another UFO (Unfinished Object) to work on.  It's been hanging out for about a year, and it's time to move forward with it.  I had the top row finished last year, and I got the bottom row started this month.  The quail are just ironed on, I need to sew them down now, but the hardest part of this project is getting to this point.  Deciding which colors, ironing on the interfacing (which I messed up this time around, adding more time to the project) cutting out all the pieces, and ironing them down. (This step is crucial around here - I don't know how many beaks I've lost from James "helping" me while I was busy somewhere else.) The actual sewing is the easy part.

The bulb I gifted myself at Christmas is in full bloom. 

 

Sarah M made me a couple of afghans using that really thick, plushy yarn.  So sweet and so soft and warm!  

Whew!  It's fixed! Much better now, with all the points going the correct direction.

 I also got the next block done for the 2026 RBD quilt, so I'm caught up on that as well.

 

I finished the January block for the Liberty quilt BOM, except.....when I put it up on the design wall, I noticed one little problem. 

Not quite the correct alignment for the corner piece. 

And I just can't resist cute kitten pictures.  They look so sweet! 

Here's the start of my 2026 Riley Blake Designs Block of the Month quilt (RBD BOM for short).  The blocks are pretty detailed, so it's fun one to try. 

You know you have a problem when you make the bed around the sleeping cats.  Jessie was sleeping on the pillow on the floor so I just scooped her up in the pillow and put her on the bed, and left the corner unmade where James was sleeping.  

I took advantage of the long weekend and nice weather to clean up the yard.  It's been a mild (temperature-wise) winter, and some of my flowers have blooms on the still. 

With the mild temps and the amount of rain we got this year, I went through about 5 gallons of round-up spraying the emerging weeds. With AJ's help, I also raked out the rest of the leaves, trimmed the rose bushes, and trimmed up the crepe myrtle trees.  I also pulled out the remnants of the garden, fertilized it,and turned all the soil.  Hopefully I'm set for spring!  (Probably not, but I have a head start now.)

And the mystery table runner is finished!