Knitting and Other Stuff

I am such a pushover! I am like Dory in Finding Nemo. I see something shiny and off I go! The latest shiny object is a pair of Paraphernalia socks. I tried to be strong. Really I did. But Judy L showed her's here and I had to jump on the band wagon. I went to my sock yarn stash and found this yarn that I bought quite a while back from Knit Picks. It probably wasn't the best choice to use but I'm fine with it. I will have a pair of socks with cables, whether they can be seen or not is fine with me. If they turn out good, I'll be happy to show them to you. LOL

I am not doing the knit along that she is doing but I am getting over my fear of cables. I thought this would be a good pattern to try and with Judy's encouragement, I am doing it. I'm sure there is a mistake or 2 but what sock of mine would be complete without one. :-)

So I can no longer say I am afraid of cables because I'm not. As long as I have my clicker and paper and pencil.

I am back to working on these socks too. It's been a while since I did anything on them and I really want them so I am back to knitting a few rows a night before I pick up the cable socks.

I've been spending some time perusing Goodwill for treasures. One day I found this fabulous curved plate to use as serving dish, 14 wide mouth pint jars and a bunch of forks and spoons.


After talking to the hostess of the hunting club picnic, I decided to get a stack of plates and silverware for big gatherings. Like she says, I can wash dishes but I hate buying, eating off of and throwing away paper plates. Sure got me thinking and now I'm all set.

Yesterday I found this cute little Tupperware child size cake carrier and it HAD to be mine. I wanted to buy Corelle dinner plates but the last time I was at Goodwill, there were none. Yesterday there were 28 dinner plates and 3 salad plates. I think I'm good for now. I'll still keep my eye out for a few more but not 28 at once. And I added a few more jars, forks and spoons to my collection.

My Mondays and Tuesdays are spent with Jonah. His new best friends and our new family members are Dozer and Turbo. Right now they are all cuddled up in the chair taking naps. It's hard to be 7 and get up at 5:30 to go to Gramma's. Some mornings require naps!

Design Wall Monday

Slow and steady wins the race. Isn't that what they say? I hope so, because I've got the slow down pat. A few minutes here and there, I have more rows sewn together. Not many because I've been on a knitting kick. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone that left a get well wish last week. I wasn't going to post about not feeling good but this is my life journal and it had a big effect on what didn't get accomplished. Now I am almost back to my old self and feeling great.

This is my current leader/ender project. I've picked up a few miniature magazines at different retreats and this little quilt has been taunting me. A few Wednesdays ago, I pulled out my little bags of bonus triangles and took them to our Binding Friends day to trim. I got most of them trimmed and am now sewing them together the blossoms for the trees. The finished blocks will be 6" and use up several little half square triangles. I will use the same greens and red that I used on the Crabapple Quilt to finish it.

Head over to Judy L's and see what others have on their design walls.

Design Wall Monday

I finished Golden Harvest. She is now a complete top. I just can't bring myself to change her name though. As I was putting the leftover fabric away, I stumbled upon 2 bundles of triangles that I had bought at the Stash Builder's Sale back in April. On one bundle the tag said 40 Kaffee Fassett fabrics 75 cents. I wish the tag was with the other one but it wasn't. I got out some Kona Snow and cut more triangles and soon I'll have a baby quilt for the newest grandbaby.

Not much time was spent sewing though, I decided it must be a good time to get super sick instead. As soon as I started to feel human again, but unable to get up and do much, I started working on my shawl. The one I'm making with the yarn from the dreaded sweater. Simple, straight knit. I'm working my way up to a fancy one but I think it will be a while.

So now I am going to grab my quilt and park in the recliner and maybe go back to sleep for a while. It's been all sleep all the time or no sleep at all, lots of movies have been on and some have been watched. It's all good though, medicine is a wonderful thing. I'll be fine in a day or two.

Check Judy L's blog for fabulous design walls.

Small Appliance Love

I know it's crazy but I love my FoodSaver! If I had to choose only one small appliance to own, it would be this one. I'm spoiled and I like all my kitchen toys/tools. I'm glad I don't have to choose.

Sunday I smoked 4 chickens for daughter Crystal while working on The Pantry Project. They were deboned and but in the fridge to rest while we celebrated yesterday. First thing this morning, I packed them up into 7 packages for her freezer. Maybe I could have gotten another package but while deboning, I ate a lot of chicken and Ernie got a super sandwich today for his lunch. I work pretty cheap, don't I.

Today I get to do pretty much whatever I want to. Yes, I do that most days but today seems to be more special to me. I have the washer going and a load ready to hang outside. The water is on for the garden and the timer is set so I don't forget to turn it off. I am going to finish up a couple more things and spend lots of time in the sewing room today.

I hope you get to do whatever you want to do today.

Design Wall Monday

Almost! It's almost all put together. I just need 2 more 20 minute sessions. I just need to find those 20 minutes. I have no clue where to look for them. I'm not too worried though, I know they will show up soon enough.

Until then, I'm trying to think up a name for this quilt. I've been calling it Golden Harvest at the Bed and Breakfast. That is the name of the pattern and the name of the fabric line. But it just isn't working for me. I think I will call it Stolen Moments because so much of the work has been done in little moments of time whenever I find them.

Happy Independence Day

If you find a few moments today, go over to Judy L's and see other fabulous design walls.

The Pantry Project

Our home used to belong to my Gramma and Grampa Maple. I love this old house. We have done a lot of things to change this house but one thing that hasn't been changed too much is the "hall cupboard". It's always been called the hall cupboard. Always. It was built by Grampa with rough cut lumber. The shelves are far enough apart to hold quart jars.

Right now these shelves hold too much junk. Not all of it is junk. See my canned beef and chicken, my fabulous stock. There are a few jars of jelly left and some other stuff that probably needs to be used up soon. (Ignore the dust on the top of the jars.)

The shelves need to be cleared out and organized. (I have already taken lots of stuff off the shelves. And I'm not done yet!) I had big plans to paint them but that didn't work out too well. Proof of that is right here. I still want them painted. I just don't know when I'll get it done.

With my revitalization of coupon shopping/stockpiling, I needed to make some changes. BIG changes! Today was the day to start. I had bags of groceries on the floor and shoved into what has been labeled the scary room. It has also been known as the middle bedroom, Doug's room, my sewing room, the "when will it become the gun room" and the "if you don't know where to put it, put it in there" room. Now it will be known as the pantry. Well that's what I'm calling it anyhow! Half will be my stockpile side and the other half will be for Ernie's gun stuff. He can call it the gun room if he wants, he'll just be wrong. And probably his half will be more like a quarter.

So after some work, here is one corner with lots of things on the shelves. On the wall are a few of my treasures and on the left is a cabinet piled high with more junk. That's up next!

I know some of you are trying to count, so I'll just tell you. 5 cake mixes, 4 frostings, 25 brownie mixes, 20 pastas, 12 rices, 26 BBQ sauce, 3 A-1, only 3 mustard, 8 salad dressings, 3 ketchups, 8 Miracle Whips and OH NO, I'm out of mayo! 19 peanut butters, 6 cereals, 13 asst. V-8s. On the right is Gatorade and Propel for Ernie's lunch and with it on sale right now, I am going to go buy more. Not one item was bought at full price!

Yes, that's just a start. There is more to be done. I have a grand plan to have the small closet full of toilet paper before winter. Yes, it is still sold in winter but Ernie is having another surgery and I don't want to have to "run to the store" for anything! And it's just something I want to do.

And while all that was going on, these were in the smoker for Crystal and after they are cool, they will be packaged for the freezer. As will the bones and skin for a later stock making session. I don't know if Crystal wants smoked chicken stock but I sure do.

Now I think I'll spend a bit more time in the Pantry.

Design Wall Monday

I've been stealing bits of time--20 minutes here, 20 there--all weekend to work on my Golden Harvest top. I have just 3 more pieces on each of the last 4 outside border strips to sew on and then the final sections can be put together. Exciting!

I've been looking at Judy Niemeyer's website dreaming of making each of these fabulous designs but then I look at my UFO pile and wake up to reality. Really I am going to make 1 more, I just don't know when. In the mean time, I'll continue working on this one 20 minutes at a time.

Check out other fabulous design walls by visiting Judy L here.

In A Few Minutes

I love my timer. Simple as that. I have learned that if I set the timer for 20 minutes when I sit down to sew, I get so much more accomplished. The other day, Judy L wrote about the games she plays. That got me to thinking about the games I play and most often they involve my beloved timer.

This morning I set the timer for 20 minutes--my most often used setting so I will (force myself to) get up and move around--turned on the stereo to some Rod Stewart and started working on the final 4 borders sections for my Golden Harvest. Stitching, pressing, trimming......pretty soon my time is up. While pressing the last strip, I see I have had yet another whoopsie. I have to take that strip off and sew it back on again.

These are my favorite un-sewers. I find the blade on the left to be the best for me when un-sewing while paper piecing. Then I use the rubber end on the red ripper to gently "erase" my little thread bits away. My friend Nadine taught me that and I had to rush to JoAnn's to buy one for myself. Don't you love getting fabulous tips from your friends?!? And a side note to the makers of the red ripper--you need to make a cap for that thing. One that will stay on when it is not in use.

Now my time is up on the computer and my dogs want their breakfast...soon I'll be setting the timer again for another 20 minutes.

What Not To Do...

...and how to fix it.

I decided this morning instead of sewing for just a few minutes, I would spend 1 uninterrupted hour working on my Golden Harvest quilt. I'm paper piecing the outer border. I'm working each step, no problems, easy peasy. I should have it finished within the hour.

This is what I'm supposed to do. Fold the paper back, place the ruler on and trim the fabric.

Unless you don't pay attention and do this...

That's right, I did it! This is what happens when you don't fold the paper back and place the ruler on the line and cut. Stuff like this makes me suck the air right out of the room!

So I get out the tape and patch the paper back together. Take off the too small strip and cut another.

Oh yes, I cut it wrong! Good thing there was extra fabric from cutting these strips. I hope I don't mess up this color again because I'm out of the extra for this one and I don't want to cut into the extra yardage.

All is well in the Quilting Room now. I've finished my cuppa and I'm allowing myself to finish up this section before I move onto the laundry basket. That laundry basket has waited this long, it can wait a bit longer. That's my story..............

Design Wall Monday

It's been 4 weeks since retreat and I am finally working on my Judy Niemeyer's Golden Harvest project. I took it with me Wednesday to our Binding Friends group and worked on the pieced border units. Then I saw this post by Jackie and knew I had to work on it again. So last night after the company left, I finished all the big border units. Then I had to put it up on the wall to look at it. (And to get the curve sections in the right spots because I had already messed that up on one section.)

I think if I steal bits of time here and there, I can sew a curve or 2 together. I am always amazed at how much I can get done in a few minutes.

Check out Judy L's for other fabulous design walls.

Picnic Day

Today was the annual hunting club picnic.

Roasts were roasting, fish were being fried, someone slow smoked a whole hog.

Salads were made, veggies chopped, dip made. Cookies, brownies, cupcakes........

No one went hungry! If you needed just a little something more, you got it for yourself.

Mrs. West won the quilt. She was thrilled.

I got lots of compliments and that made me feel good.

Design Wall Monday

After finishing the deer quilt yesterday, I started putting up my Hopscotch leader/ender blocks with some of the border pieces. I love it when the l/e gets to the project stage. I'm trying only to work on this one for 15-20 minutes at a time when I sit down after quilting for a while. But you know how that works!

To see other fabulous design walls, visit Judy L at Patchwork Times.

Finally! The Deer Quilt Is Finished!

It sure took me a long time to get this quilt finished and I am so glad it is! Nothing like a little pressure to make things work. Monday evening is the last meeting before the big picnic on Saturday where this will be one of the big raffle prizes. I promised the guys it would be there at their meeting for a preview. Yeah me!

I hope whoever wins it will love it. Now I can work on quilts I really, really want to work on.

Design Wall Monday

There is nothing on my design wall other than a bunch of stray threads. This was on my wall until a couple days ago.


I am happy to report this quilt is ready for a backing and some quilting. This was a bit of a challenge for me but with the help of a photo printout, I got it put together. The binding strips are cut and waiting for attention.

I haven't had much time to sew or quilt in the past week. It seems something was always happening. With the dog having surgery, I became the nurse and the sunshine meant there was finally time to work in the garden. Sewing time was at a minimum on some days. Today is a calm day at home and I hope to finish quilting the hunting club quilt that is on the frame and get this one loaded for tomorrow so it can be sent to Judy L for someone in Joplin. Read this post to see how you can help.

Head over to Judy L's and see what others are working on.

Design Wall Monday

I've spent lots of time this week thinking of the families that lost everything from the tornado damage. Judy L is collecting money for the Red Cross and quilts to be distributed to some of the victims in Joplin. Go here to see how you can help.

I am making this quilt to send. This is my favorite quilt in Scrap-Basket Sensations called Island Chain. I pulled open the 2 1/2" strip bin and started pulling out strips. Wednesday at quilt group, I spend the morning cutting the color strips for 2 quilts. Thursday I cut the background and this weekend I sewed.


I always copy from the book so I can have my copy right at the machine and with this quilt, I needed a picture right on the design wall. This is the original layout and after looking at it for a while, I decided to leave it just as it is. Then it was time to sew the twosies together....I needed more help putting them back up on the wall.

Thank goodness for digital cameras and printers! I printed off this picture so my twosies would be in the right places. I've started sewing the rows together and hope to have this one off to Judy L. in the next few days.

Retreat Pictures

Here they are, in no order at all, a few pictures from retreat. Show and Tell is always so much fun and inspiring. My friends do amazing work. If I have posted your picture and you don't want it here, please let me know and I will remove it.

This is Marian on the left with her stunning One Block Wonder. Click the photo to make it bigger and more beautiful. Her helper and dear friend is Sharlene.

This beautiful quilt is a memory quilt for our friend Alice. She was a very active member of Kiwanis and Kathy (on the right) is too. Kathy asked us to make make star blocks we thought Alice would love. You can only see 2 star points of my block on the left side of the chair. Kathy and Billie put this top together to send it home with the quilter.

This is our lovely Pam and her Golden Harvest quilt top.

Here is the lovely Pam as quilt holder with Sonya the quilt maker. Aren't these colors fabulous??

Jo Ann on the left doing what she does best.....love you Jo Ann. On the right are gals working on their Judy Niemeyer projects.

I had to stop on my way home one night to take this picture-you should click it to make it bigger and brighter. Views like this make me stop and think. I'll keep my thoughts to myself.

Pam again, helping me with my crumb quilt. I love showing off this quilt to show what you can do with your bits and pieces. I'm hoping dear sweet Lacey didn't take my ribbing the wrong way. I know there are quilters that just can't save the scraps.......I say give them to me. ;0) At the next retreat, Pam and I are going to share our crumbs and make blocks. Thank you to all my friends that gave me new bits and pieces for the next one.

Thank you to Sonya for all the hard work you do to make our retreats so fabulous. I love that I spent my birthday weekend with such wonderful women. Really, I love whenever I can spend time with these women. Thanks for being part of my life.

Design Wall Monday

This past weekend I was at our spring quilt retreat. I had a great birthday weekend. Thursday, I finished up the deer quilt top and backing so it will be done this week. On Friday several of us started Judy Niemeyer projects. Some of us are doing Golden Harvest. Others are doing Christmas Celebration Tree Skirt. Each project different looking that the others, each project is fabulous beyond words.

I have the first 3 steps done and I cannot wait to work on the next step. Do you think my mojo is back?? But first I have to get the deer quilt quilted......so the incentive to do that is pictured here.

I'll post more about retreat later. I'm headed over to Patchwork Times to see other design walls.

Design Wall Monday

Design Wall Monday on Sunday Night

Between projects (laundry and other fun things), I spent lots of time working on the deer quilt for the hunting club. The bottom section matches the top section. After yesterday's post, DD2 and the kiddos came over with dinner so no more was done on the top. When I went in this morning, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

I think I'll go back in and work on the borders--aka get away from the tv--and maybe get this finished tonight.

What To Do, What To Do

Today is the final day for this session of Hunter's Education for Ernie. When they finish with the range portion of the testing and all the guns are cleaned and locked away, the guys are spending the remainder of the the day doing trash pick up in the woods. It really makes me mad that people feel the need to chuck their garbage out the window of their vehicles instead of taking it home to throw away. I figured it would be the perfect day to get the deer quilt put together. I have lots of parts sewn and now have to figure the layout.

Not too sure I like so much green around the center block. I think I need to put something else there.The green 4 patches really are for one of the borders. I also like that the half square triangle borders around the deer block are different. I didn't pay attention to how the first block was sewn together when I did the second.

Now that my unexpected company has left, I'm going to eat some lunch and then get back to it.

Design Wall Monday

It's that time of year again. Time to make the quilt for the hunting club. The picnic is in June and this is how far I have gotten. I have the quilt all designed and I don't like the design I have. Now I will just go crazy and free lance a design. Each of these blocks will get a border on them so they can be made into a workable size. I have the border pieces already cut for that and strips ready to make into a checkerboard outer border. That's it for my plan so far.......but I have an idea of what I really want and have lots of time today to work on it.

To see last year's quilt, go here. (Or just look up in the header on the left side, 2nd down.~Thanks Mary C for pointing that out to me. ) Our friend Art won the quilt and says he naps under it almost daily. His wife thinks she needs to win this one because he isn't good at sharing.

To see other fabulous design walls, go here.

Tuesday Knitting Report

Whoopsie! I forgot last Tuesday and almost forgot this week too. Really, I did forget to post on Tuesday because today is Wednesday. I continue to do one color section a week. That's not much progress but it's better than none. So I'll keep making progress and one of these days, you'll be surprised to see the Abracadabra sock finished!

Design Wall Monday

I love tumbler blocks. I love homespun plaids. I love homespun tumbler blocks. I hope some young boy will love this quilt. I have 3 more rows to sew together. I have some fun fabric for the backing of this quilt. It's blue and white plaid background with race cars all over.

This started out last week as leaders/enders while I finished up the Crabapple top-and it is finished!-and soon turned into my main (as in avoiding the timing of the longarm) project.

And with the finish of the Crabapple top, I need a new main leader/ender project. My overflowing 2 1/2" square drawer needed to be emptied so I started sewing 4 patches. Then I looked in Bonnie Hunter's Adventures with Leaders & Enders book and saw Hopscotch, Butterscotch on page 66. I didn't even read the instructions, I knew this would be the project for my 4 patches. It didn't take long to put the sample block together. I also have a drawer full of 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" bricks. This will make a nice dent in the drawers but will not empty them out.

**I finally read the instructions and Bonnie uses 2" squares......guess I'll have a bigger quilt.

If you go to this post at Patchwork Times, you will see a bunch of fabulous design walls. Better bring a cup of something....you may be there for a while.


After reading comments from my post yesterday, I need to say I wasn't beating myself up at all. I was hoping to inspire myself by writing my thoughts. I do feel bad that I haven't followed through like I wanted to but I seldom beat myself up. Thanks for all the kind words. I have such great friends in Blogland!

Hanging My Head In Shame

I was so excited when Judy L started the 2011 UFO Challenge. I couldn't wait to get started. I made my list, posted my intentions and completed January's project.


Then I moved on to February's project. I did nothing about it in February and waited to load the top until March 19th. I am embarrassed to say it has been on the frame for weeks. I knocked the timing out and I am still tweaking and it is not going well. It would go better if I went in there and worked on it until I had it perfect but I don't. I'll fiddle with it for a while, get discouraged and sit down and sew instead. So February's project is staring at me all the time. It makes me feel bad about myself. :>(


When March's project was chosen, I was so excited to put those blocks together into a finished top. I am not saying this UFO is done until it is quilted and bound.

These are the blocks for April. I took them out of the bag to take this picture last month. I put them back in the bag. My Mojo was missing so these were not even thought of. Again, looking at them makes me feel bad.


This little beauty is May's UFO. I think I have a few more blocks stashed away to add to this, maybe not...I don't know. With a new grandbaby due in October, I am excited to work on this one.

With the return of the Mojo, I have been busy, but I haven't been working on my UFOs. I plan to change that but not today. Today is a super nice sunshiny day and I am going outside to enjoy it. Ernie is on the tractor and I have a couple projects for him. It is supposed to rain again tomorrow......I'll sew then.