Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

I Like Thursday #136 - Out and About

In between rain showers and cloudy, cool days this last week, we managed to get out and about for a few favorite activities.

Saturday, on our way to a family graduation party, we stopped off at a local open space to see if the Yellow-headed Blackbirds had come back for the summer yet.

And there they were!  They are such beautiful birds, and have a very loud and noticeable call, too!

Mike's photo with his fancy camera!

On Monday, we were wanting to go for a hike somewhere, but seeing that storms and hail were in the forecast for the afternoon, it needed to be somewhere fairly close.  We ended up at a beautiful (paved) trail that follows along the Poudre River, west of Fort Collins.


Lots of big trees and bushes along the river make for great bird habitat, and we saw some birds that were new for us, which we always like!

But the coolest view was this one -

Hope you can see it - right in the middle - it's a Golden Eagle nest!  Huge!  This photo was taken from across the river, looking way up.

Meanwhile, back at home, my Columbine are starting to bloom!

I'm always so happy to see them, and wish they lasted all year.

We enjoyed this movie on Netflix the other night.

Morgan Freeman is especially good in it!

And I've finished up the neutral border on this hexie tablerunner that I've been working on forever!

I think I'm ready to finish it off, but have to decide how.  It measures about 33.5 x 14. Should I baste it with batting and backing, and quilt it before trimming the edges straight for the binding?  Since it's all hand-pieced,  I'm planning to hand quilt it.  I want to use the same Grunge Dot fabric that makes the neutral border for the binding so that it extends that color.

Hope you're having a great week!  I'm joining in with LeeAnna and the other "I Like Thursday" bloggers at Not Afraid of Color today.  Thanks for visiting!




19 comments:

sewyouquilt2 said...

Love your yellow blackbird. And will have to see if columbine grows here. Hmmm. Nice hexie project too. Love your design

Libby in TN said...

Lucky you! I was looking up another black bird yesterday (Great-tailed Grackle) when I saw a picture of the Yellow-headed Blackbird and wished I could see one in person.

Julierose said...

Your hexie project turned out beautifully--great job hugs, Julierose

Michele McLaughlin said...

Love those hexies! What a neat blackbird! Love how your arranged the hexies!! Have a great week!

Vicki in MN said...

We had a new to us bird in the yard this past week, a Red Start he really flits about fast!! Your hexie runner is so pretty!! I agree binding with your neutral Grunge Dot will be great.

Barb Neiwert said...

It's been a long winter, so certainly nice to get outside for a little exploration. Good find seeing that eagle's nest! I loved that movie! Your hexie runner is almost finished! Have fun quilting it.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

love that yellow head on the blackbird I have not seen that one before and that nest!! wow so neat to see. haven't seen the movie will check into that one.

Siouxzq64@gmail.com said...

What a cool blackbird. We have been inundated with red winged blackbirds. I like their skreee call. What a neat pic of the eagle nest. My columbines are starting to make appearances, at least the plant parts. I was kind of sad I thought maybe they all died off. But they are popping up here and there. Oh your hexie project is awesome.

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Diann! Oh, I enjoyed that movie so much with Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman. A lovely movie and I would watch it again. That eagle's nest - WOWEE. It is amazing to me that they can build it on the side of a mountain . . . and then fly to it without smacking into said mountain. Very, very cool. ~smile~ Roseanne

Suzanne said...

Beautiful nature photos!

piecefulwendy said...

Growing up in SDak, yellow-headed blackbirds were fairly common in our area. You are right, they do have a loud call/trill, and they are pretty. I'll have to check out that movie, that one is new to me. (Have you seen The Big Year? If you like birding, it's a good one to watch.)

PaintedThread said...

That eagle's nest is cool! Must have been impressive in person. I like your table runner.

Vivian said...

Your blue columbine is so lovely! I have several of these plants, and with some careful deadheading, just after the blossom petals fall off the bloom, I just snip off the bloom but leave the stem alone. Most of them have happily bloomed for me until September. Mine are planted in part shade in Ottawa, Canada. Hope this helps you enjoy a longer bloom time with your plants.

Linda said...

I'm always interested in your weather, and you certainly have a variety. I've been in CO a few times when it hailed while we were hiking in the mountains and that was quite exciting. You ended up in a beautiful place though, and wow on that nest!
Looking forward to your hexie runner finish. I just love the colors.

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

What beautiful photos of the scenery and that gorgeous bird. I saw that movie last week, and thought is was pretty good too.

Kate said...

You got in some good hiking time. Congrats on getting the hexie table runner to the point of deciding on the finishing off steps. It's very pretty and summery. Happy stitching this weekend.

Unknown said...

Diann, where is that trail, we would love to go. My mom lives 10 miles up in Poudre Park.

Sharon

LA Paylor said...

pretty hexies. Thanks for the movie suggestion... maybe tonight!

Rosemary Dickinson said...

I really love the pictures you took while hiking. Your pictures are beautiful! I bet it was exciting to see the eagle nest. Love your hexie runner. Great pics!