This year has been tough. Sometimes I try to sneak a few of my bedding plants into the ground before the end of May. Low temps with possible frost and/or a freeze are predicted for the next few evenings.

The weatherman predicted temps in the thirties so I schlepped my flats back into the garage for the night. I thought that my greatest concern was to save my plants from freezing. I guess this is why most people do not put any ‘tender’ plants in the ground until after Memorial Day. As the holiday is a week early this year, I will probably wait a few more days. Anyways…..

We had an earthquake last night. I’ve written before about the differences between west coast quakes and east coast quakes. Well, to be completely accurate, the east coast does have some fault lines so quakes are to be expected. But the Adirondack region is another story altogether.

At the present time, a commonly accepted explanation for the cause of earthquakes in the Northeast is that "ancient zones of weakness" are being reactivated in the present-day stress field. In this model, preexisting faults … formed during ancient geological episodes persist in the intraplate (New York type) crust, and, … earthquakes occur when the present-day stress is released along these zones of weakness … much of the research on northeastern United States earthquakes has involved attempts to identify preexisting faults and other geological features that might be reactivated by the present-day stress field ... in reality the identification of individual active geologic features has proven to be quite difficult. Unlike the situation for many plate boundary (Californian type) earthquakes,

It is not at all clear whether faults mapped at the earth's surface in the Northeast are the same faults along which the earthquakes are occurring.

In other words, scientists have no real explanation as to why we experience earthquakes where we do.

We do not experience the rolling shaking quakes that the west coast does. It is mostly a wimpy shimmy. What we do have is noise. Most people will report hearing what they think sounds like a cabinet falling over or a door suddenly slammed shut.

Others will say they thought that a large truck has rumbled down the street. Of course there is also the obligatory “train passing by” (even when there is not a railway anywhere nearby).

Last night’s quake occurred at 8:53 PM, was about 5.6 miles deep and registered a 3.0 on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale. Granted, this is not a very strong quake and most people probably did not notice the mild shaking that accompanied the “noise”.

Maybe it’s only a conincedence that California also had an earthquake at about 9 PM last night.

Whoo Hoo… I just heard that we had an aftershock of 2.1.

Another no feel em… lol

It's an absolutely gorgeous day today. The last of the snow is gone, gone, gone with the eighty degree weather. Tomorrow's forecast is supposed to reach 90 degrees. So unusual. What a change after the previous cool weeks. The snake in the woodpile is that it could still snow!! It's only April and I can remember snow in May. I think I will just be thankful and soak up the heat. It's tough though, to acclimate so quickly.

It's hard to believe that it's been almost a month since I've last posted. So here goes...

This is a bit of what I've been up to!!

A Crib Quilt

Yes, I cheated.

The top is simply a piece of preprinted cloth. I had forgotten about a baby shower that I was committed to attending and needed a quick gift for a dear friend. I constructed the boarder from broadcloth pieced with a matching gingham.

The backing is another length of matching brushed cotton (flannel) gingham.

I machine quilted around the squares to form a simply pattern.

Shaped Burp Cloths

I used 3/4 yd of two super soft and absorbent flannel material pieces to make four burp clothes. The expected baby is a little boy, Leland Mason and his mom and dad have chosen to decorate his nursery with a rain forest/jungle theme.

I prewashed all the materials in a mild detergent designed for use for newborns. I wanted to be sure that they were nice and soft and safe for the baby. It took the most part of a day to finish these items including the shopping, washing, ironing, cutting, piecing, and quilting.

I also finished this Couch Quilt for my DIL. (not on the same day as above, lol)

Heart Full

The lace hearts are made from purchased doilies that are cut and pieced into the quilt. They are not appliqued. The blocks are set on point. I have been working on this quilt for some time and have had the top finished for probably the last year. My problem was deciding on what type of quilting to use on the boarder.

In the end I decided to try using a heart pattern that is machine quilted in a continuous freehand style. Not bad for a first effort. I have lighted the color on the pic in order to make it easier to see the stitching. Next time I may even use a contrasting thread. I must admit I was too "chicken" to use any method that would show my (many) mistakes to clearly.