Nature is cruel

I am very upset this morning. There is only one egg in the nest. I am so sad. When I was eating my breakfast this morning mama robin was on the nest. She turned around several times while I was sitting there. I am wondering if she was trying to figure out what happened to her eggs. Usually she is very calm and still. Nature is cruel.

Robin update

She has 4 eggs that she is sitting on. She is gone a lot more than I thought she would be. And we startle her a lot! A few days ago as I was fixing dinner I scared her and she flew away. A little while later she came back with Mr. Robin to protect her. It was very cute. Maybe another week?

The new addition to the family and a nature lesson!

We have a sliding glass door off of the kitchen. We do not have a deck yet, so there is a wooden guard on the outside of the door so that nobody falls out and hurts themselves. A few days ago I noticed a nest being built between the door and the wood.

I found it fascinating watching the momma robin build the nest, but I was afraid if she laid eggs there it wouldn't work, because every time I walked by she would go flying off. So I walked around a lot to see if she would go and build her nest somewhere else. Didn't work. Monday about mid morning she was back. When I looked later when she was gone this is what I saw. But no momma bird.

 So I did a little research. Robins build their nest in about 2 days. The Momma Bird does most the work, but dad is around to scare off predators. Then she will lay one egg a day for about 4 days. Most birds lay their eggs in the early morning, but robins eat first and then lay the egg mid morning. Tuesday morning ---

A robin will lay the eggs, then leave. She will wait until all the eggs are there before she will sit on the nest so that they will all hatch at the same time. Wednesday morning ------

She was sitting on the nest this morning. I haven't noticed her leaving so I put up this cardboard so we can walk around without startling her every time.

A robin's egg will take about 12 to 14 days to hatch. Aren't they a pretty blue? Come back in a couple weeks for an update!

Enjoy your day.

Sneak peak

This is another ongoing project. It is a scrappy around the world quilt. I thought it would use a lot of my scraps up, but they seem to multiply. (And it doesn't help that you go to a quilt show and fill a quart size Ziploc with someone else's scraps for a dollar.) Sometimes you get tired of seeing your own scraps! I will be working on this in between other projects.

And here is a sneak peak of Melanie and Jared's quilt.

I've got everything cut out. One 12 1/2 inch block has 53 pieces. That is not exactly what it will look like because I have 4 different blue fabrics that will interlock. I have 6 blocks done so far. I can tell you that I am liking this one.

Enjoy your day! BTW Spring was short lived. It is 85 today.

Springtime finally!

These finally opened up yesterday! Ethan and I planted the bulbs last fall. We planted tulips too, but they haven't fully come up yet.

In my last post about I showed you the small 3 1/2 inch blocks I am making. The pieces are small but you don't cut them small. I am using Thangles to make them.

You cut strips of fabric and put this paper over the strips, pin it on and sew on the dotted line, then cut on the solid lines to make your small HST's.

Then you press it open and rip the paper off. Much easier.

And Cara Rachelle asked me what I was going to do with all the mini quilts. I started laughing because I hadn't thought about how many I would have. Maybe I'll give them away. So start looking for the one you like best each month!

Enjoy General Conference. Do you remember the Gen. Conf. booklets I made you guys?

Block and mini of the Month

I am working on another long term project. I bought a pattern in Paducah last year that has a block of the month and a mini quilt for each month. I would pick it up every couple of months and ponder starting it, but in my mind I needed to start in Jan.   The block of the month is incorporated in the mini quilt each month. Here is what I've done so far:

Jan. block

Yes it is a little rough around the edges. It is 3 1/2 inches square. After you make all 12 months you put them together in a final mini quilt.

Jan. mini quilt

It is 11 1/2 inches square.

Feb. block-

Those pieces are tiny.

Feb. mini quilt-

This one is a little bigger at 18 1/2 x 20 inches. Not exactly how I envisioned it in my head, but it is growing on me.

March block-

And an unfinished March mini quilt-

I was trying to get out of my comfort zone color wise. And make something a bit springy. There is suppose to be another 2" border around the outside. I got stuck. Help. Vote for the one you like best. Or if you think I should not put the other border on. I am trying to use fabric I have so the choices are limited.
#1

#2

#3 = no border

I haven't started on April's block yet, since I'm behind on March.

Enjoy the day!