Design Wall-Week 22 and Retreat Report

Today my design wall holds the completed center of the Rectangle String Quilt from Mary Quilts. I spent 4 days at a local quilt retreat. I love going there and sewing for hours at a time and never having to worry about anything other that what I am doing.

My goal for the weekend was to do my BOMs first and then get busy trying to empty my string bin. I finished the Rectangle quilt and the gray centered quilt. I posted photos to my small online group last night and was offered border fabric from a dear friend that wants to help with the charity quilts. How fabulous is that??? I accepted her offer and she will bring me fabric in a couple weeks. Until then, I think I am going to use something I have for these quilts and then at the next retreat--pretty spoiled aren't I??--I am going to continue to work on emptying out that string bin and will use her fabric for those quilts.

These blocks are for a new BOM group. The theme for the year is stars, one traditionally pieced and one paper pieced. I am using black background and only stash fabric for the stars. I think it will be very striking when it's finished.

This is my view of the sewing room. This wonderful lady is Barbara. My table mate was working on a One Block Wonder. I haven't been too interested in making one of those until I sat there and watched as she worked on hers. OMG! I am going to find some fabric for my own. 3 other gals brought theirs, one was complete, one ready for borders and one still in progress. They were each amazing and to watch as Sonya made progress on hers---ohhhhh, I need to have one too. I am such a follower!

Today I am going to try to create some kind of order in my sewing room. I don't think I have to go anywhere today.......I sure hope not. I am still recouping from the weekend.

If you have a bin full of strings and strips and you need some inspiration to use them, go to the HeartStrings Quilt Project and inspiration will overtake you. If you don't want to make a string quilt, think about giving your strings to someone that will use them. You can contact the HeartStrings group through their website or contact your local quilt guild and ask if they would like your string quilts. Quilts are needed everywhere.

Go on over to Patchwork Times and take a peek at Judy's design wall and then check on everyone else. I love Monday!

Design Wall-Week 21

Design Wall Monday is here again. I thought I was only going to have my 6 Sister's Choice blocks on the wall. This morning though, I decided I need to figure out what I want to take to retreat this weekend! It is fast approaching.

I've spent quite a bit of time this week emptying out my scrap baskets. (I can't say I don't know how they get so full so fast because I d0 know how it happens...I procrastinate!) My string box is overflowing and so is my bag. I decided I would make a couple string quilts while retreating. I have some cheap-o thin fabric that makes great foundation so I got that out and cut the size I need to make Mary's Rectangle Strings quilt. After I cut my center strips, I had to make a couple (that turned into 8) sample blocks. When it was time to trim them to size, I struggled with my square ruler. After trimming one block, I told myself I needed a 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" ruler.....didn't have one that exact size so I created a template, layed my 6 1/2" wide ruler on it and marked my lines on that one. Much easier for me to use.

Fast forward a few hours...Hubby comes home from hunting and we have dinner. I bake him some chocolate chip cookies while he reads the paper. He goes to bed, I am getting ready to go to bed. I went into the sewing room to make sure the I turned off the iron...I did so I turned it back on. I sat down and made 6 more blocks! At this rate, I will have to have more foundations to take to the retreat because this quilt will be done!

Go on over to Patchwork Times and check what everyone else is working on. Check back here in a day or so and see my completed top. LOL Because you know I'm going to keep working on it!!!

Floral Freeze Frame

My Freeze Frame Top is finished!! This is the latest Quilt For An Hour project from Judy L at Patchwork Times. Today she posted a Mr. Linky Box post for us to upload our completed top photos.

Go to Patchwork Times, look around, get to know Judy. She has awesome quilt patterns, fabulous recipes and stories that make you laugh and make you think. Her quilting is fabulous. I have coffee with Judy every morning!

A little note about my top. See the 2nd to the last border??? The instructions state to use the same background fabric used in the center--mine was a cream on cream floral print. I thought I had enough for the outer borders.......I didn't measure, I started cutting. Whoopsie, I was 2 pieces shy. So I cut my other background fabric and it looks great.

Now to complete the backing. I'm taking my leftover fat quarters and maybe some others to make my back. This should be finished in now time.

I'm Done, I Think

I think I might be done with the summer garden harvest! I spent all day yesterday processing this 49 pound pumpkin, the last of 3 from our garden. The chickens liked the others and after discovering this, I put a cage around this guy.

First thing to do was get hubby to set this thing on the counter, then I pushed it over the sink so I could give it a good scrubbing. I sure love my Moen faucet with the pullout. Makes pumpkin scrubbing easy.

Then I had to get out the big knife and hammer. I didn't have to use the hammer at all. It cut pretty easy, it was just cumbersome. After all was finished, I ended up with 17 2-cup packages and 3 1/2 quarts of juice from straining the pulp. Most went into the freezer. The scraps went to the chickens.....they sure do like pumpkin. They proved that by pecking 3 others. Next year, the pumpkin patch will have a fence around it!

Today I am going to bake cupcake/muffins and maybe custard. We'll see. After yesterday, I'd rather sew.

Design Wall-Week 20 and Other Things

What an exciting week! I had such good intentions and a couple of them actually happened.

My design wall this week looks almost the same as last week. Very little progress was made but any progress counts for me. I put 2 more borders on my Quilt For An Hour but here it is still waiting for the final 2 borders. Hopefully today they will get put on-that's the plan anyhow. Then I am going to take all the fat quarters I cut for this top and use them to make the back. My plan is to continue the Quilt For An Hour project so I can have this quilted and bound before my retreat next week. I did add another Sister's Choice block for my leader and ender project.

On Wednesday, son in law Mike came over and we finally put up the tile backsplash. He has me scheduled in for Thursday and next Tuesday for grout and finishing. (With his family, a full time job and his own business, my projects have to be scheduled in and I'm fine with that.) It took us a good share of the day to get both walls tiled and that included the mandatory trip to Home Depot. It sure took me a long time to get started and now I can't believe I allowed myself to live with no tile for so darn long!!!

So during the tile project, I hurt my feet. I'm not used to standing on my tippy toes and stretching for long periods of time and the tops of my feet rebelled. I don't blame them, there is a lot of me to be on those toes. If you've ever had shin splints, that's what it felt like on my feet. So I took most of Thursday with my feet elevated with ice. I had to have something productive to do so I got out my Monkey Sock project that I started in February (and promptly put away) and decided I was going to learn to do lace. It really is simple if I just follow directions and count out loud so I don't confuse myself. I am such a slow knitter, especially when I can't just knit round and round. So now, it's just a few rows at a time, I am anxious to get these socks done so I can start the next pair.

We had a fabulous Grandchild weekend. Friday was Party at Gramma and Poppy's. 3 Grands spent the night...what fun we had. The 2 little ones absolutely adore their cousin TayTay. She couldn't do anything that one of them isn't right there with her.

Sunday we went to blustery, cold Camas to watch #14, Ian, play football. Not being a football fan, I had a hard time concentrating on the game but Poppy loved it. I think I should probably get interested in it, as I think he is going to be playing for a while. I was paying attention when he scored a touchdown.......Go Jets!!!

After the game, we went to Jenny's house for some fabulous Taco Soup. I was so darn good and it warmed me all the way through!!! She made a pumpkin roll too and I had to have my piece before leaving her house. Her spoiled rotten dad filled up on soup so she gave him 2 slices to bring home--one for later and one for breakfast. The man had them both last night and there wasn't even a crumb left in the bag. Now he wants me to make another.........not today, there isn't room on my list for that.

Now head over to Judy L's Patchwork Times and see what everyone else has on their design wall. I love Design Wall Monday!!! Thanks Judy.

Design Wall-Week 19

19 weeks of Design Wall Monday. I think when I have a minute, I'm going to go back and see if I've made any progress.

This week's wall has my Freeze Frame, Quilt For An Hour from The Fabulous Judy L of Patchwork Times. (Instructions can be found on Judy L's website.) Today is Hour 11 that adds the next border. (edited to add that I finally read the directions and I'll be adding 2 borders today--easy peezy) I am really loving the borders. I'm glad today is a simple day, I have fabric for a new bathrobe and I want to cut that out sometime today.

Beside Freeze Frame is my newest leader/ender project ala Bonnie at Quiltville. My second photo is my little flannel design wall that sits behind my machine. I started using 2 1/2" squares, sewing them together, turn them into 4 patches and 9 patches.

Then I started cruising blogland. That is how I found Pam's Quilting and Stuff by Knitoid, I started reading, going to older posts, reading, more older posts until I found this post of her fabulous Quilting Studio Tour. After wiping the drool from my face, I continued on until I found this post with a UFO that was screaming at me to make it. It will work perfect with my 4 and 9 patches that I've been making with no purpose. So I emailed Pam, asked if she minded if I copy her and she doesn't care, told me the name of the blocks and I went to work, I had to make a few blocks--just to be sure.

I feel lucky to have "met" so many wonderful friends via the internet. I always think of how much my Gramma Maple would have loved the internet. I can see her cruising blogland and making sweet comments to all of her new friends. So why don't you cruise on over to Patchwork Times and see a sneak peek at the next Quilt For An Hour and see what my friends are working on.

Just Stuff

Meet Louie. He is the newest member of our family. We adopted him Saturday. Lacey, the stinker, brought him over to visit while we were all working on filling the woodshed. She "didn't want to leave him home all alone".

Lacey is pretty smart. She took this little guy in when the owner couldn't keep him anymore. She had asked a couple times if I wanted to take him but I have Tony who is still a wild thing and didn't want another. Then I see him. How could I not fall madly in love with him!!! Darn you Lacey, thanks! He is just the right fit for our family. DJ, the big dog, is really happy to have him around. Tony has someone to play with and will leave him be. Tony thinks he is a new toy!

The baby quilt is ready for the longarm. It turned out larger than I thought it would. I think my little great niece will like it.

I have some flannel that I intended to use for the back but now I have to go get some purple or pink. My original border fabric is now back in the stash. I think this is the perfect border for these blocks.

My next baby quilt is started and the next one is in the planning stages. I think I should just make up a stockpile so I am always prepared. Nah, that isn't any fun. I'll just wait until the pressure is on then I'll make a quilt.

The little chickens are starting to lay eggs. How eggciting! I kind of feel like a dork getting all excited over eggs but I don't care. I embrace my dorkiness.

Design Wall-Week 18

Week 18 brings a baby quilt to my design wall. I'm cheating and posting on Sunday evening instead of Monday. I want to be ready for my Quilt For An Hour.

My niece's baby is due to arrive any day now. And guess who is late with the baby quilt. Yeah, that would be me. The worst part is, this baby's sister is over 2 and is still waiting for her quilt. I have that one ready to quilt and this one will be ready to quilt soon.

My friend gave me a stack of 6" squares, so I paired them up and made magic 9 patches with them, put them into a baggie and put them away. One day, while searching for something else, I ran across them. I've had this plan in my head since that day. Today I got them out, trimmed them up and here we are. I'm still thinking about the border fabric. I have others to audition before my final decision. The backing is a bright yellow flannel with green, pink and purple splotches on it. Soft and cuddly.

Here are instructions for the nine patches using 2 squares of fabric. I can't remember on who's site I learned to do this. It was years ago and I want to say it was Billie Lauder but I can't find it on the www anymore.

Go visit Judy L at Patchwork Times and see what other quilters have on their design wall. I love Mondays. Again, thanks Judy for keeping this going.

I Can't Believe I'm Doing This!

I can't believe I'm doing this! I'm posting a picture of part of my stash. This is the most organized part, there is no way I will show you the rest. Not right now. I've been in the process of getting my sewing room like I want it for a very long time. On Friday, Crystal and Mike brought me a stack of totes to borrow so I could sort things the way I want them, get them out of the room, rearrange the way I want it and then fill it back up again.

Just in time for me, Judy L is having a Show Us Your Stash! challenge. There are lots of links to quilter's stashes. Of course I had to go look and I clicked on gardenpat's link. Let me tell you right now, I am so stinking jealous of her organization that I want to go in my room right this minute and pull everything out and start over. I've only looked at 3 stash links so far and I'm afraid to look at the rest of them. But I will! I need all the inspiration I can get right now.

But not today, we are going to work outside. Today is the last nice day for a week or so. The rain is returning to the Pacific Northwest. I'm kind of happy about that but kind of sad too. I want to be stuck in the house with no garden chores to do.

Today we will work again on the firewood. Yesterday, Doug, Lacey, Jonah and Elliot worked like demons. The boys-Jonah, 5 and Elliot, 3 1/2-learned to run the splitter with Poppy. Up and down the lever moved. Soon they knew when to push up and when to push down. Doug ran the chainsaw and the ax, while Lacey stacked it in the woodshed. I helped but felt very inadequate so I cooked lunch. Crystal took pictures for me and was our water girl until it was time to take the little ones home for naps. I think I should have been in charge of naps, I could have shown them how it's done.

So I'm hoping to get a big start on my room tomorrow. That's after I post what's on my design wall and do my quilt for an hour. There's a new club around the quilting world and I'm proud to be a member. I am a Judy L Junkie!

It's The Simple Things

What makes me happy? I love simple things. Yesterday, I repaired a stuffed snake for a cute little 5 year old. He called me to say thank you. I was giddy all evening. The little voice on the phone "Thank you for fixing my snake. He's beautiful."

This morning I completed Hour 5 of the Quilt For An Hour project that Judy L. has going on right now. I'm calling this my I'm not starting anything new project. I already know how I'm going to quilt this. And the best part, everything is from my stash. That makes me happy.

The other day, I looked out my window and saw my chickens all flocked around the chairs we sit in (after cleaning) to watch the garden grow. I'm always happy when I collect the eggs and say thank you to the girls for their hard work.

There are oodles of other things that make me happy. These are just drops in my happiness bucket. What makes you happy?

Design Wall-Week 17

What's on my design wall today? Nothing! Well there are those threads that refuse to come off but they don't count any more.

Judy L at Patchwork Times is starting a Quilt For An Hour today. My wall is empty patiently waiting for my hour 1 progress. I don't think I've ever been this ready for an "I'm not going to start anything new!" project. It's been a bit of a dry sewing spell and I'm ready to jump in with both feet.

The photo is of Adorable Granddaughter Amanda. She was bored this weekend and all of the offers she got to stop her boredom were for chores. Gramma rescued her from chore doom.

The last time she was here, we watched the new Mrs. King's Gallery Basket DVD. So she wanted to try her hand at making a basket. Here she is hard at work. After she got started, I think the only time she talked to me was when she needed help threading the needle or filling the bobbin. She sewed and sewed and sewed. We had to take a break when Grampa took us out to dinner. Then it was back to the machine. She finished her bowl Sunday morning and made a second smaller bowl. I totally forgot to take a picture of her with her bowls! (Hopefully someone with take pity on her mother and take a picture and send it to her. That's a hint for you Jen!) It thrills me beyond anything that my granddaughters love to be creative.

Now I must close. I need to do a couple of quick chores so I can Quilt For An Hour. Skip over to Judy L's and see what everyone else has on their wall.

A Few Minutes Today

Today I set the timer so I wouldn't forget to come out of the sewing room. I don't like setting the timer. I wanted to spend all day in my hidie hole. But I couldn't. I had a few errands to run this morning so I did those first thing--I can put off errands for days........

After I got home, I took the dogs for a walk and then had to decide which to do first, sew or chores. Yes, sewing won out. I made my Stashbuster BOMs. The left side top and 2nd down are this month's blocks. The 3rd done down is the result of my cutting mistake. But I like it and the block fits into the quilt so I'm keeping it. It is my quilt after all. I need to start thinking about sashing and borders for this quilt. I better put some fabric swatches in my purse.

Poor Tony puppy is exhausted after our walk. This is a good thing. Sleep for a while. I don't care if you are on the couch. Just sleep!

We have discovered we have 2 roosters. I guess that's what happens when you buy baby chicks, they can say you have hens but they tell you there is a 10% chance you'll get roosters. I think we might have 3 out of the 10. Hmm, what to do. So far Manly Stanley is a very loud little man and Rodney the Rhode Island Red has yet to find his voice. I hope I have the pleasure of hearing him when he starts to crow because it is hilarious!

Life on the farm is good today.

I'm A Winner!

I have a list of several blogs that I love to read, sometimes I even leave a comment. (Comments are nice! Even if it's just a short little note that says Hi, I was here. )

One of my favorites is the blog of Sue Hecker. She has categories for every day of the week. One day she had a contest to guess what fair food on a stick she ate. Well, you know I had to enter my guess. I didn't win first prize, but my number was chosen in a random draw for the second prize. How awesome. Thank you Sue. The Gypsy Rose by Fig Tree Quilts jelly roll is gorgeous. (The link for the jelly roll shows the fabrics.)

I've won a few things recently (Fat Quarter Bingo!!-woohoo) and feel my luck may be used up. I think that very well could be the case--see yesterday's post.

Go over and visit Sue, she has an awesome website and blog. Thanks Sue.

Good Day/Bad Day

Ever have one of those days? I'm having one today.

Good Day: Today is our 37th anniversary. Yeah for us. Ernie brought me home 3 dozen roses. I love getting roses. Love it! Thanks Babe.

Here's to 37 more years. We have had some very good times and some very tough times. I think most marriages have those. We raised 4 children into awesome adults that we are very proud of. We are at a comfortable place in our lives right now and it feels good.

Bad Day: Not totally bad, just ughhhh, kind of bad. I've spent so much time in the kitchen and not the sewing room that when I do sit down to sew, it seems I sew thing together wrong! 3 different projects, 3 different goofs!

When I photographed the blocks for the Design Wall post, I saw I had one of my HSTs wrong. Today, when I should have been in the kitchen but don't want to be, I hung the top with the blocks sewn together and yip, right there I see where my 6 blocks are sewn together wrong. The center should be backgrounds, not the colors. The importance of the design wall is jumping out at me. I will leave this up on the wall and work on it to make it right.

Tomorrow, our sewing at Marian's day, I will spend time with my seam ripper. First is the BOM that need 2 blocks taken out and then sewn into the right places because it is now haunting my dreams. Second is the Carol Doak wall hanging I started to put together and put a piece in the wrong spot. Quick redo on that one. I should have both of these right again before I leave her house.

I should..........but will I??? Now I probably should get back to kitchen duty.

Design Wall-Week 16

3 little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and went to find his dog food. Tony had played long enough.
Elliot and Clella spent the night Friday night so their parents could go out on a real date. They got up extra early on Saturday morning so Poppy layed down hoping that Clella would go back to sleep for a couple more hours. They made it an hour-Elliot and I snuggled up on the couch. Then it was game on. Poppy was the best toy of the day.

About noon, I went up to have lunch with friends at the quilt retreat that I had to pass on.
(After a couple emails and comments, please know my grandchildren did not have anything to do with me missing the retreat. Although, I would miss anything if my family needed me.)
After watching show and tell, I was inspired to sew. So I grabbed my basket of leader and ender half square triangles and started putting together more depression blocks. I assembled 6 more blocks and have lots more HSTs to be put together. I am almost ready to call this a complete top and add some borders and get it quilted. I also just discovered there is a mistake in the top right block! At least I spotted it now.
On Friday afternoon, I also went visiting at the retreat. I was feeling quite pouty about not being able to be there with my friends. Then I came home and worked some more on this quilt top. After it has hung up there for a while, I see that I have a couple squares out of order. This is supposed to be a calendar quilt. I was going to leave it alone but now it's driving me crazy. So I have some unsewing to do before I go forward. I think I like the border corners. Something simple. I'll use the gold for the binding because I don't have enough of the brown.

Head over to Patchwork Times to visit Judy L and to see what everyone else has on their design wall. I love Design Wall Monday.

A Fish Tale

A four day weekend results in 4 days of fishing. 2 fish brought home, 1 day skunked and 1 day lost "the biggest salmon I've ever seen!"

I stayed home where it was warm and dry.

Design Wall-Week 15

Where has the time gone? Week 15 of Judy L's Design Wall Monday. Be sure to check out what everyone is working on. I have no idea which order these pictures will publish in so I'll just chat and you can find the picture. :-)

Me, I cheated. I pulled a Thimbleberries UFO out of the bag that it has been in the box for a couple years and put it on the wall. I shouldn't say I'm cheating because I actually plan to work on this quilt during the week. My friend Sonya gave me these blocks and I feel like a rotten friend for not finishing this quilt. A few months ago I went to the quilt shop with the blocks and bought sashing and border fabric so I have no excuse. I put this UFO on my list for the small online group challenge and this number was pulled for August. I have 3 days until the next number is called. I've been doing pretty good getting those projects done or to a place where I can put them on the list for the next step like I did with the row quilt. (quick note--the blocks are printed, not embroidered but they sure look like they are)

The 2 blocks are the beginning of a BOM for the same small group. We are each taking a turn to choose a 9" block. I have decided to use one or 2 white background fabrics and my scrap basket. So far, so good. I am waiting for Stashbusters to post the next 2 BOMs so I can still be caught up with them.

The wagon full of produce--that needs to be taken care of this morning. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we celebrate 3 day holiday weekends with rain. We had mega rain storms this weekend and it beat my garden up pretty good. The roma tomatoes are so heavy that if the rain could hit them, they were knocked to the ground. Cherry tomatoes are spit wide open but I'm going to try to save most of them.

I am going to make another batch of pickles, put the tomatoes on to cook for sauce, zucchini chunks will go in the dehydrator and carrots will be eaten. I have to take some of the goods over to my dad's so I can borrow the pressure cooker. I think it's time I learn to use one. But I'm going to borrow before I buy.

Hubby just called and has landed a nice fish so I need to get busy before he gets home. Fresh fish and tomato salad for dinner. Yumm (I took a picture of this awesome fish and will post it later.)

A Few Minutes A Day

Since September is National Sewing Month, I decided it was time for me get sewing again. Just a few minutes a day makes me feel good and I can get a lot done after a while. 2 finishes this month makes be pretty happy. And it's only the 5th. I can only imagine what I can do if I keep up this pace. But who am I kidding??? I know me.

One day while cruising through blogland, I found the cutest wall hanging. I follwed the link to Jenny of ELEFANTZ. Jenny has offered this stitchery free on her blog (link to it on her side bar) and I have seen it on several blogs. I haven't done embroidery for a while and I was ready for a tv time project.

Once I got started, it went pretty fast. A few stitches (or more) each evening and the blocks were finished. I already knew I was going to change up the borders and yesterday I started the borders. After stitching the pieced borders across the top and bottom, I took them off. This morning I added 2 background strips and then the pieced borders. I was very happy with that. I got out the backing fabric, batting and pin basted it. I started stitch in the ditch and all of the sudden, I was ready to add binding. I had planned to stitch the binding down tonight while in front of the tv but couldn't wait to get it finished.

The border pieces were leftovers from Ashlee's quilt that was finished in March. There are still a few pieces left and they will become another project and anything after that goes into the scrap basket. Now I must go dust my Party Lite houses and shelf. I probably should have done that before taking the picture. Embarrassed!!! But gee, I have sewing to do.

It's A Great Day When...

...you can sneak in some time to sew!

Finally, I took the time to sit down in front of my sewing machine. She's been lonely, we missed each other. I needed to finish something, anything. So I looked in my box and found this wall hanging. I didn't write this one on my UFO list and honestly, I don't remember if I made these blocks this year or last. Doesn't matter now, it's hanging in my bathroom.

The top was finished, the backing was cut and so were the binding strips. I wonder what the delay was...maybe another great project that couldn't wait to be started. (Aren't they all that way??) I pin basted it, set up my sewing machine for a curvy line stitch and started sewing. Then I did some stitch in the ditch around the flower pots. I found a butterfly stitch, enlarged it a little, tested it a few times to get it right, changed to some iridescent thread and tested a couple more times. Then I stitched some cute little butterflies in the background fabric and added some tiny buttons to the flower pots.

This one is done, done, done. I am happy, happy, happy. Now I must go take care of my tomato sauce that finished cooking and is now cool enough to put away. It truly is a great day!

Design Wall-Week 14

This has been a very unproductive sewing week. But I'm OK with that. I honestly didn't feel like sewing much. On Wednesday, our sewing group went on a field trip to a Longview kitchen/fabric/quilting/sewing machine/vacuum cleaner shop. First it was out to lunch with a birthday celebration for Harriet. Then on to the shop. After we were done there, we went to Momma Made It. Sharon has moved into a very nice new shop.

I thought maybe I would be inspired to get sewing but no. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head, just nothing has been started yet. I have been doing some embroidery work in the evenings but that is even on hold. I need to trace my next design and haven't done that yet.

The garden is going crazy so every day there is something to take care of. I canned a couple boxes of beautiful peaches and made a couple pies. I'm happy to say the pies turned out excellent.

Since I have no sewing/quilting pictures to share this week, I thought I'd share a couple of pictures Taylor took this weekend. First is of our grand-dog (Taylor's little princess) Shadow. And the hen is the one Amanda named Patricia. Patricia tries to be a bit bossy but Sally, Jessie or Sue keep her in check.

That's it for me today. I am going to go put my chickies to bed and then I am going to be done for the day. Be sure to go over to Judy L's and see what she is up to and check everyone else. This is still fun even with nothing to show on my wall......really there is nothing on it. I finished up the string top.

Pretty Pickles

I had an overload of lemon cucumbers and had no clue what to do with them. My google search lead me to Jillicious Discoveries blog and a post she wrote about lemon cucumbers. From there I did a search for bread and butter pickles using lemon cucumbers. I found this recipe and decided to give it a try with my lemon cucumblers. After all, isn't that how great recipes are created??? Just try this and this and this . Well my pickles turned out delicious. So I made a second batch and added a red pepper because in one of the photos at the recipe, I saw red. It could be a carrot for all I know but I put in a red pepper. It makes the jars very pretty. They have set on my counter for 3 days, now I must put them away. I think today is a good day to bake a chocolate zucchini cake. Yummm.

Remember the other day when I wrote about starting a fire in my microwave ? Well, I was adjusting the glass tray and it broke in about 20 pieces. Right in front of Hubby! I've been using it a little bit with the big ole burned out spot on the try but now I have to go to the repair place and order parts. Darn!

It's kind of a rainy cool day here today so I am going to bake a couple things and sew. And do some laundry.

Design Wall-Week 13

Wow, 13 weeks of Design Wall Mondays! I don't think I've ever been this consistent with posting anything.

I had a little time at the sewing machine this week. I decided I have to get this quilt finished. I left it with the last 3 block halves that need to be put together. I have a bin full of short stings that will be made into a border that I think I will work on today.

I have to get busy on my UFO for my small group. I haven't even gotten the bag out of the box yet. But I don't feel guilty about it. I have had other things going on that aren't sewing related! I have a small bucket of tomatoes that need to be taken care of this morning and I need to bake some bread. That shouldn't take long if I get started. I'm having a really hard time not crawling back into bed but I know that will put me in complete slug mode! Instead I think I will have another cup of coffee then get started on my day.

Head on over to Judy L's and see what everyone else is up to. I think my next string project is going to be Mary's String Diamonds. She has awesome instructions right here.

A Look Out My Kitchen Window

I have the best view out my kitchen window. This morning the orange flowers on the pumpkins sparkled. So I grabbed my camera and took a walk. I'm no fabulous photographer like my daughter Jenny, but I think these pictures turned out well enough to share with you.

First is the lower yard. It used to be cow and horse pasture, now it's chicken pasture. The bush is a climbing rose. When we moved here, it was up the side of the garage. Since this was my grandparents place, I've known that rose forever. The poor rose has had a tough life. Hubby wanted to put the woodshed on the garage so that meant the rose had to go. I salvaged a start and planted it. Then I had to salvage again and again. Now we have this bush and there are roses that have traveled up trees along the neighbor's driveway.

The yard looks horrid. We had an extreme heat wave here and the yard couldn't take it so parts of it shriveled up and died. Notice I didn't call it a lawn.....it's mostly weeds but it looks nice when it is green and mowed.

Next is the garden......well watered and growing like crazy, veggies and weeds! Potatoes are in the garbage cans, corn is set on, 2 or 3 ears per stalk. Tomatoes are amazing, zuchinnis are starting to come on good and lemon cucumbers are plentiful.

The orange pumpkin flower is food for a couple of bees. The vines are taking over another part of the yard. There are a couple nice sized pumpkins and several small ones. I sure hope there will be enough for pies and breads.......no jack o lanterns from these!

Design Wall-Week 12-Part 2

I sewed blocks! I put them up on the design wall!! I am an achiever, not an over achiever like I want to be, just a plain ole everyday achiever. And it feels good.

I'll take these down and put them away until next month after I admire them for a while. These are the blocks for the Stashbuster BOM. The top left and center left are this month's blocks.

The instructions for the center block were for one 12" block. I made 4 6" blocks. I like the scale of this with the other blocks and it's a pretty neat design. I will probably made the 12" block like the instructions call for. I want to have 30 blocks for this quilt and there are a couple other blocks that are a larger scale. The real challenge was making the 2" square in a square for the center of the 6" blocks. But Bonnie of Quiltville came through with an awesome chart for square in a square blocks. Thanks Bonnie. Whenever I am in doubt about something, I always check Quiltville first.

Now I need to figure out what to make for dinner that is quick and easy because I am in the mood to sew! WooHoo.

Design Wall-Week 12

I guess the only time I am going to post anything almost quilt related this month is on Design Wall Monday hosted by Judy at Patchwork Times. My sewing machine got a little bit of a work out this past week. Not much but enough to produce this cute coil basket.

One day while cruising blogland, I stumbled upon The Quilt Rambler. She had written this post about her morning juice mix. I was intrigued so I kept going to visit to see if she had written any more about it. After a couple days of reading her blog, I was hooked and her blog is now among my favorites. Isn't blogland great??

Fast forward a month and she is hosting a workshop with Jamie Wallen and one day they made these awesome coiled bowls. I loved the look of these and couldn't wait to find out more. I've made several but this was a different technique and I HAD to know how to do this!

I am very pleased to tell you there is a new 2 disc DVD set for sale at Jamie Wallen's website . The DVD is called Mrs. Kings Gallery Baskets. I ordered it and stalked the mail lady until it arrived (which was maybe 3 days after ordering!). All I can say is this DVD is FAB U LOUS! You have Rosanne Campisi right there on your tv teaching you everything! I mean everything! This DVD is full of tips and techniques from start to finish. Every secret she has for making these fabulous baskets is right there for you! I can't wait to get in my sewing room and finish my basket and the lid. And start another and another and another.

I love having a library full of instructional DVDs. I don't go to classes so I bring the classes to me. I have watched each of my DVDs more that once, heck I've probably watched them more than 5 times each. My brain is full of useless information most of the time and it's great having something I can watch again when the information that I need hasn't stayed in the brain. Don't laugh, you know exactly what I'm talking about! I think I'll watch the first part again.

Design Wall-Week 11

Not much happening on the big design wall this week so I thought I would show you my little design wall. While putting together my Diamond String blocks into 4 patches and trying not to get them turned while moving to the sewing machine, I had a brain storm! I know, kinda scary!

I made a little design wall to sit beside me at the machine. I've had this 17" Q-Snap quilting frame for several years and have only used it once for just a little while. It's an excellent product, I'm just not much of a hand quilter and when I do, I don't use a frame or hoop. So I got the frame, a piece poly batting and flannel and made this little wall. I was very surprised how much I used it. I am going to take the frame to the hardware store and see if I can figure out something to make it free standing. If I can't I'll just prop it up like I have been.

These little blocks are for my 3rd wall hanging like this one. And they still have the paper on them and are staying on the flannel. And yes, someday, I will get them sewn together. But right now I have a garden that is taking a bunch of time and grandkids that I love to spend time with. And I've been working on organizing my sewing and quilting stuff so my room is more chaotic than normal. Hopefully this week I will have time to spend in there and get it the way I have planned in my head, my other design wall.

Be sure to hop on over to Judy's Patchwork Times and see what everyone else is working on.

There hasn't been much quilting or sewing going on around here this week. Monday was spent doing errands. I left pretty early and picked up Taylor. We planned to go to the big grocery store. Just before we got there, I asked her if she wanted to go to the craft store first. Of course she did! But we got sidetracked by the bagel shop.

After our early morning snack and craft shop tour, we headed to the grocery store. I swear I won't ever go there again without that girl! At this store, you have to bag your own stuff. That is Taylor's favorite part of the trip. So as I'm unloading the cart, she is at the other end with the pile of bags and is expertly loading up the bags, picking them up to make sure they aren't too heavy. The cashier wanted to keep her, I said no. She's mine! I even paid her with a new lunch bag with some reusable containers.

Next we were off to a couple other stores, a quick drive thru for some lunch and the last grocery store for meat and produce. We came home, put everything away and then got busy so she could fix us a fancy dinner. Taylor made stuffed shells because Aunt Cryssie, Uncle Mike, Elliot and Clella were coming out for dinner. She is turning into a very good cook. And she is fun to work with in the kitchen. After dinner, we all headed to the garden. Beans, tomatoes and cabbage filled our basket and buckets.

Tuesday's project was to take care of the beans and make strawberry fruit leather and watermelon candy. I only have one tray for the leather (and promptly got online to ordered more!) so we cut up a whole seedless watermelon and loaded up the dehydrator. They have been drying for 12 hours now and are almost ready for the taste test. I did a quick rotation of the racks this morning--they say you don't need to but I did it anyway. I think I'm as anxious to have it finished as she is. Hopefully by the time she wakes up this morning, there will be something for her to taste.

Design Wall-Week 10

I don't have much on my design wall this week. I'm still working on my Diamond Strings from the last post. I haven't spent much time sewing on them. A few minutes here and there but my blocks are coming together. I decided to set them as stars with white sashing and then a few borders. Be sure to head over to Judy L's and check what everyone else is working on.

I need some new clothes so I got out a pattern and some fabric and now I have a wearable muslin--it's really a cotton/poly blend--and a new favorite pattern. I need to lengthen it a little just for my comfort. I've been in such a funk about my weight gain that I haven't bought any new clothes for a long time. The funk is gone now and I have a pretty good plan. One of these days I'll tell you about my inspiration.

I bought a new dehydrator the other day and have been giving it a workout. I've had a dehydrator for years--hubby bought the Ronco one off tv years ago and it finally died. My friend got me a bag of Walla Walla sweet onions fresh from the farm so I dried 2 big batches of them.

Next I had a banana that was ripe and decided to experiment. I sliced 1 banana , 1 apple and opened a can of pineapple chunks, drained it and put them on the dehydrator to see how much they reduced down to. After a few hours (overnight), here are the results in the picture, minus a couple slices of banana and apple and several chunks of pineapple. The pineapple is my favorite. Next experiment will be some fruit leather for the grandskiddos, then I have some herbs and a garden full of veggies that I can dry out.

I want to try some tomatoes. I read that you can dry the tomatoes, then make a powder out of them and use small amounts to make tomato paste. That would be handy! Now I just have to wait for more tomatoes to get ripe.

Today is run around day. I'm going in to pick up my sidekick, Taylor, and then the real fun begins.