Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Not quilting


This is me not quilting my green June scrap quilt.  I decided to use my last bag of polyester batting on it and I'm tired of wrestling with it's puffiness under my sewing machine.  It's about halfway done, but I'm taking a break from all things quilty at the moment.  Another small quilt top was finished over the weekend and I'm feeling a little burned out from rushing through it all.  I decided to forgo making a color stash quilt for July as there are too many other quilts that need finishing.
Instead I started the Starburst Flower crocheted blanket from the book The Gentle Art of Knitting by Jane Brocket. With all it's puff and cluster stitches, this seems to be just the right project to eat up my Berroco Vintage yarn stash and get me away from the sewing machine.

And that book.  Oh wow it was good.  I finished it in two days, staying up both nights until midnight.  Anyone read it, or anything else by her?   It's so fun to find a new author and devour everything they've written.  The next book I'm reading is Horns by Joe Hill, which I'm betting is completely different than the one I just finished. Both were borrowed from my daughter, who is in the middle of reading the Outlander series so it will be a while before she gets to them.
I leaving you with a picture of this nest that was found under the Redwood trees in front.  It must have been knocked down from the wind we had last week.  I put my flip flop next to it to get a better perspective of it's size.  The nest measures around 18/20 inches at it's widest point, so I'm thinking it belongs to a hawk. The sad part is, it appears to be unused, as there are no droppings or downy little feathers lining the inside. It either fell before the eggs were laid or it was abandoned.  I read that quite a few owl and hawk nests are being abandoned because of the drought.  The hunting is not good and the males can't keep up a steady supply of food for their mates on the nest.
Anyway what would you do if you found a nest this size?  I already have a preserved robin's nest under a glass cloche (like this) that I've had for years, but this is a monster.  Seems a shame to throw it in the trash bin.
By the way the flip flops are Havaianas.  I buy a new pair every summer and I LOVE them.  Not only are they comfy, but they come in mighty handy when taking photos of large raptor nests.



5 comments:

  1. I love finding a new author and reading back through their previous books! Will have to check that one out for sure.The colors in your Starburst Flowers is wonderful!

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  2. Gorgeous color in all these photos! I'd sort of like to get my hands on that quilt, those sunburst squares, that book, and the (gigantic!) hawk's nest. What to do with the nest is a good question...I'd probably just put it on a fence post and look at it until it fell apart, which isn't much of an idea. I'm off now to look for a copy of that book, which looks a good one. :)

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  3. Hi Lynne. I love all the quilts you have been working on. It's nice to have another craft when we need to shake things up!
    I have not heard of that author or book, but I will look for it. I also read the Outlander series. Fab books!!! I have missed you!
    XO Kris

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  4. That is so sad to read about the birds abandoning their nests. I just downloaded that book a few days ago. My SIL's suggested it and said it was fantastic.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  5. i had seen that book a few months ago and was wondering if it was good - i love the cover :)
    oh, your crochet is beautiful...
    ~ laura

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You guys are awesome! Thank you for the comments!