Design Wall Monday

It's been over a year since I worked on my tumbler top. This month Judy L at Patchwork Times chose #6 for the 2017 UFO Challenge and guess what was my #6, that's right the Quiltville leader/ender project for 2013-14. I pulled out the bin and promptly ignored it! Again!!  I haven't been too good about keeping up with this challenge. I need to go back and see where I am and make these a priority because UFO Busting is my challenge for this year!

I just went back and looked at the numbers list and will pull out the August and September projects to have ready to assemble next.

When I got to a stopping/I need batting point in my top secret birthday project, I wasn't ready to stop sewing. So I opened the tumbler bin and took inventory. Meaning I layed the top out on my bed to see where I was. I had a bunch of parts and pieces of rows and a bunch of rows sewed together. I wasn't as far along as I thought I was.  I sewed a few more rows and added them to the top, layed it out again and see I still need at least 3 more rows of neutral/color and 2 border rows of just color.

This means I need to cut more tumblers! So today I will count so I don't go super crazy with the Go cutter.  Will it be done by the end of the month? No, but it is now the main project at my machine...after the quilting of the secret project because I bought batting and the quilt is basted, bobbins wound, machine cleaned, thread is threaded and I'm ready to quilt. 😉 Binding is made and pressed ready to sew on. I'm hoping I can get this finished by Wednesday. Wish me luck.

I have another retreat this week. I have more secret projects to work on there-I need to prioritize my list! (Hubby fixed my machine rolling cart.....the wheel lost it's lock washer thingie so he went to the hardware store and bought more....$4 for a baggie of thingies vs $80 for a new cart.  He's a good guy!) My machine is cleaned and oiled with a new needle ready to go to work! I'm excited to just sew and sew and sew!

Have a good week everyone......I'll be back soon. Or Monday, whichever comes first.

Check out all the great posts that link to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts Design Wall Monday!

Design Wall Monday

What a week! Most of it was spent in the kitchen as I added to our winter pantry.

I don't think I turned on the sewing machine once!!

This little quilt is from the latest QAL at Humble Quilts.

It's called Palmateer Point.

I finished it the day the last clue was released but only hung it up yesterday.

It now lives on my sewing room door.

(I really need to change out the hooks for that quilt holder. 😉)

I also did some kitting up for the next retreat.

I have 3 small projects to work on,

plus I'll take along Garden Party #2.

A few evenings I worked on the Mischief Quilt rosettes.

I added 4 more to the pile.

I love batiks but this is the only batik quilt I will ever hand stitch!

And it might just turn into a wall hanging.

My fingers do not like that dense fabric!

So yesterday I got out the On The  Road Quilt.

(This is an old picture.)

I stitched a few more sections on and did an inventory of parts.

I need to make several more neutral scrappy blocks.

Those are so much fun to make.

Netflix and the neutral scrap bin=pure happiness!

I think I'm just over half way on this project.

Time to get super serious! 

The weather has turned typical for the Pacific Northwest.

That means serious sewing for me.

Unless of course a beach trip happens like I'm hoping it will.

Check out what's happening in Blogland at

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts Design Wall Monday.

Stocking The Winter Pantry

It's hunting season for the hubby.

Opening day, Saturday, he got his buck.

 That means Monday was processing day.

 Backstrap, a few steaks and venison burger.

My Facebook friend Pat had posted a picture the other day with how she freezes her burger.

So I copied her and wow, what a game changer!

Put a gob of burger in your vacuum sealer bag,

seal it, then take a rolling pin and flatten the burger.

A light bulb moment for me!

I canned 3 pints of burger to try

plus 5 half pints of chunks and 6 1/2 pints of bone broth made with the rib bones.

Yesterday I picked up my Zaycon order of 40# of chicken.

First up was 30 1/2 pints of canned chicken chunks.

By the time that was finished, so was I.

This morning I pulled the remaining chicken out of the fridge and got busy.

These are big breasts so 3 half breast were frozen whole for baking.

Then 4 more chunked into large pieces for whatever.

7 packages each of chunks and strips that I did the same as the venison burger.

Flat packages stack so nice! 

I also cooked a nice pan full to shred to put a few bags in the freezer.

I do have some noodles cooked in the fridge so it will be chicken & noodle bake for dinner tonight.

My pantry cupboards are a mess so I did some rearranging on the jar side.

You can see my stash of beans that I did last month.

Below that is my honey and the clam chowder soup base and jars of smoked clams. 

Recipes for the soup base and smoked clams are in the Ball Blue Book.

Below that is my little bit of jams and jellies.

Next up I want to can some garbanzo beans.

I'm hoping for an elk next month.

In the meantime, there is a turkey and 3 whole chickens that need out of my freezer.

I have a few pork roasts that are a bit on the tough side.

I'll pull those out and pressure cook them.

Then I'll freeze the meat up for soups.

The chicken and turkey will be vacuumed sealed for future meals.

I'm doing my own Freezer Challenge this week. 

It's time to clean the kitchen freezer again.

I know there is an abundance of bananas and reruns (leftovers) to use up.

Banana bread will be baked today.

That should earn me a few more Good Wife points. 

I've discovered a couple of really good you tubers that have me excited to get my pantry in order. 

It all started with a simple little video I found about what I canned that I love and didn't love.

Check them out.

Lisa at Sutton Daze

I just started watching her Pantry Preparedness from August 2016.

Amanda at Moore2Life

Plus several more. 

Oh the plans I have on my list!

Design Wall Monday

Wahoo, wahoo, wahoo!!!

Midnight Flight is finished and headed to my bed today.

I started this quilt in May at a retreat with Bonnie Hunter.

I am thrilled to have it finished.

My friend Jane quilted it.

I told her I wanted gold thread and swirls and to just do her Jane thing.

I love what she did!

I have been working hard on trimming up the scraps.

I am pleased to report that the backing extras are cut to usable sizes and put away.

Each retreat I stop to take a picture of this snag.

It's on the road into Royal Ridges.

I was a bit disappointed that the leaves weren't all orange yet.

Maybe they will still be there when I go back in November.

Like this photo from November 2015.

I worked on the secret birthday project until all the blocks were complete.

They are now stacked and pinned in rows thanks to help from friends.

Next up was Garden Party #2.

I just took posy block kits and I think I completed 30 more blocks.

These are so fun to make.

All the while, leader and ender Oklahoma Backroad blocks were being made.

I think 21 more blocks were completed.

I'm almost ready to lay this one out for real.

Retreats are fun.

Retreats are energizing.

Retreats are exhausting.

Retreats are special.

I get to spend hours sewing with one of my daughters and a bunch of my friends.

Today is catch up at home day.

Lots to do!

Hubs was lucky and harvested a deer on opening day so today is processing day.

And when that's over, you'll find me in my sewing room.

See what others are working on at Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Design Wall Monday

We just got home from a few days at the beach.

It's clamming time again.

Yeah. While I don't like them, I do have fun digging.

Until my back hurts and then I'm done 

and go sit in the truck and spy on people with the binoculars.

I sewed a for quite a while on Sunday.

I make 11 more Wild & Goosey blocks and found 5 untrimmed ones in the box.

They are all now pressed, trimmed and depapered.

I still have a lot more to make and

need to enhance my medium/dark fabric bag.

That's on the list for next trip.

I don't want to take too much so I just work with what I have.

It's quite fun.

This is my view from the truck Saturday evening. 

Stunningly beautiful.

I love the beach.

See what my friends are working on at 

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts Design Wall Monday.

I have to wait and check them all out later,

I have laundry to do and stuff to put away.

I love coming home but I don't love the coming home chores. 

Design Wall Monday

The only sewing that happened this past week looked like this.

I made parts of 9 patches, 

lots of parts and pieces, blocks and framed blocks.

All for Garden Party #2.

Except that one piece by the Tootsie Roll! 

That is my Oklahoma Backroads leader/ender.

 2 more blocks went into the l/e box.

(***The advantage of blog photos is seeing where you need to unstitch.

That dark green on the left is sooo wonky!)

After last Monday's blog post, 

I packed my car and headed to Crystal's house to stay with 4 kiddos while they vacationed.

Let me tell you,

after 4 days, I was one tired Gramma!

But we had lots of fun.

Saturday I spent most of the day in my sewing room.

At the end of the day,

I had a good pile of pieces and parts sewn.

In my basket I have 30 framed 9 patches,

30 more waiting to be framed and

the bed of my machine has a lot more ready for the next steps.

These tools are usually on the bed of the machine.

I call them the tools of my trade.

I buy the seam rippers and thread snips in bulk from Amazon. 

I can't live without my reverse tweezers for pulling threads.

The stiletto is the skinny extension of  my chubby finger!

Bonnie shared the instructions on her blog here.

Funny story...

I was shopping at Winco one day after she posted this.

I always buy canning lids when I shop there.

As I was getting my lids, out of the corner of my eye,

I saw packages of the turkey lacer things.

Marked down to 25¢ for a package of 8.

I don't remember how many packages there were.

I took them all.

Lots of friends now own stilettos. 😉

Design Wall Monday posts can be found at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Oh my, there are some fabulous pictures there and I can't wait to go visiting!