Design Floor (aka Staycation Day3)

I have a lot planned to do this week.  Here is what I plan on working on:

There are 3 flimsies:  Upper right is a mystery quilt that Bonnie Hunter had a couple of years ago.  I am just now getting to quilting it.  Bottom Center is a dresdan plate wall hanging and  upper left is also a wall hanging, I call it Magic Star Flowers.  Then there are three more projects, stitch down the binding on some fall placemats, add an appliqued border to the churn dash on top and finish the blocks for the button flowers.  I have many more, but these are the ones I thought I would concentrate on this week. 

We at breakfast at the local dinner and now Superman is working on replacing the faucets outside.  It is cloudy and drizzing today.  It is still expected to get over 100, but right now it is quite nice outside.

Saturday, college boy and his girlfriend came over (to do  laundry) and swam.  We cooked steaks and veggies on the grill.

I know that is not the best photo, but it is all I have.

Yesterday I finished a baby quilt for the music minister and his wife.  This is their 4th child and is to be a boy.  They will have two boys and two girls.  A very nice young family.

Now to get back to work and get that quilt loaded and quilted.  Have a great sew day! 

STAYCATION!!!

Superman and I are on a staycation this week.  Yahooo!  The pool is in (pics to come) and I am planning on working on MY QUILTS!  The county fair is coming up and I want/need to put some items in the fair.  I am not going to work on  customer quilts this week.  I plan to get several blocks done on the Civil War quilt.  I have I think 3 quilts to be quilted.  Need to quilt a baby quilt tommorrow.  Sew much stuff to do.  I have looked forward so much to this week.  Pics should be plenty.

Went to church tonight to get the Christmas musical we will be doing.  I had signed up to take a dessert, so I made Hello Dollies.  I haven't had one in years.  Luckily, there was some to bring back home.  YUM! 


I am going to the Civil War blog to write down blocks and cutting/sewing directions so I can put my nose to the grindstone.  More to come.

It's Hot Out There!!

I think that by now we have tied or surpassed the number of days reaching 100+ back to back.  One day last week, I think they were saying it was at 14 days.  The weatherman is comparing this year to 1983.  This year, Superman decided he wanted to get a swimming pool.  We had one in Irving and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I know that it would be used by us, even if it ever gets to just the two of us.  And with the temps here in East Texas, a swimming pool is what we dream about.  Last we heard, it should be delivered tommorrow.  We have cleared the top soil where it is going to be placed.  The installer is to begin on Monday.  Then our problem will be to get water in the pool.  Restrictions have not been placed yet, but it is expected any day now.  This is a large pool and will take a lot of water.  I have asked the fire department to come fill it and I will pay them.  I have not heard from them yet to see if they will do that.  That is the best way for us to get it filled.  I don't think the water company will be happy if I fill it with my water hose.  Sorry, no pics for today.  I will take some or download some I have taken and talk about them.  That is whay usually keeps me from posting.  I have to go locate the cords, etc to get the job done.

It's a Jungle

My dad gave my sister and I his lake lot that he and mom bought around 1974.  There is a mobile home on it that was made in 1959.  It is still standing.  No one has been to the lot in a couple of years or longer.  We received the notice of value from the appraisal district and of course, it is too high for the property.  For some reason, the appraisal district thinks that there are two mobile homes on the lot.  Jim and I decided to go down take a few pictures for the protest.  OMG!

Before we can sell it, we will have to do tons of yard work to where anyone could even get to it. Then the inside of the house has to be cleaned, etc.  The utilities were turned off a couple of years ago and we don't want to turn it on just to pay the bill, because we really don't think we will use the lot.  So we will just have to get it presentable.  But surprisingly, it does look liveable.  There are some beautiful iris that I want to move to my house.  I have put a few here, but I want more.  Jim also wants a crepe myrtle and I a small one growing there.  Think we will move it also.  He is wanting to put lots of trees in the back pasture for his repopulation for the wildlife.  There are MANY.  It will just take a little time to dig them up and move them here.  The disappointing thing is that there are several lots around us for sell that look a whole lot better, so we may have this for a long, long time.  I am going to call my sister and see if we can't plan a weekend for all to go down and start work.

I am working on a wall hanging to give to the AgriLife Center.  My quilt group, The Piecemakers meets there every month.  I took extra blocks from the dontation quilt that we made a put together a little rendition of the big quilt to present to them.  They can hang it in the main room and it will help to absorb the sound.  I think we will try to give them one every so often so that it can help with the sound in the room.  Happy Piecing.  Maybe you can get a lot done this holiday weekend.  We are having company tommorrow (Memorial Day), so we will be cleaning house and doing yard work.

I've Done My Good Deed Today

Occasionally I get old quilt tops from friends that need to be quilted.  I have worked on this one for some time (because it was handwork). 

It is tied and double-knit fabric.  The backing is purple cotton that is probably from the 30's-40's.  I haven't seen that color for some time.  I folded the backing over to the front, doubled it and stitched with a decorative stitch on the machine.  I think it added a nice touch.  My friend was given this (and another quilt that I quilted for her daughter's wedding that was a dutch girl/boy) and she wants to let her mom know that she got them finished.  This will be used and will be a good quilt to keep you warm in the winter.  I have many double knit squares and may have to make my own one day.  Double knit is a fabric from the past and I don't see it making a come back, so to use what I have to preserve it would be good.  My grandmother made several flower garden pattern quilts (her favorite pattern to make) out of double knit.  They are soooo heavy to sleep under, but boy do they keep you warm.

It is always a good thing to get some of the quilts that were made in the past finished for the families to enjoy.  So many people have quilt tops in the top of the closet.  I too have a couple that need to be finished.  Not ony quilted, but the top needs to be completed.  I also need to finish my quilts so that they will not have to be sent to another quilter to be completed.

Dresden Plate

I've always been intimidated by the dresden plate block.  At Moda Bake Shop I saw this pattern and that really wet my appetite.  I needed to do a program for my quilt group and decided it was time to get this block done.  I had purchased a EZ Dresden ruler at Walmart and decided to start there to get a smaller project done.  I usually don't make quilts by the pattern and change them up somehow, or use a favorite method of constrution.  Here is the project I made to learn how to make the block:

I still need to add borders.  I love how it turned out and the block was soooooo easy.  Now I can make the plate chargers for my table.  Superman likes how they look also, so it will be a good project.  I don't think I mentioned that I re-covered the dining room chairs just before Easter.  They needed to be done such a long time.  That too was an easier than imagined project.  Happy Sewing!

I'm Back!

Well, I'm back again.  It has been quite the last few months.  We lost our beloved Pumpkin in February.  She had lived with us for almost 14 years.  She was one of the best dogs I have ever had. She didn't like sharing the spot with other dogs, but would do it anyway.  She also never fused about any of the animals we have had on the farm.  She did not chase the chickens or fuss at the goats even when they would head butt her.  She was a red lab mix.  After a couple of weeks, we finally got used to her not being here and quit looking for her to greet us at the door when we would get home. 

I got the button program all together and had several tell me that it was very good and inspired them to go home and go through their buttons.  They look at them a little bit different now.  I went to the Texas State Button convention.  I got my fill of buttons.  I bought a few "pretties" that I have yet done anything with.

Then in April, I got a puppy.  Her name is Annie.  She is a border collie/springer mix.

She has a fabric fettish.  She cannot go past a scrap of fabric on the floor without picking it up and she usually hides it somewhere else.  She also has been eating my herbs in the herb garden.  She especially loves mint. I have had to plant it several times.  She nips at the plants and then digs them up to eat somewhere else.  I have had to buy new ones because she takes it somewhere and I can't find it to rescue from her.

Have a great Mother's Day today.  I am spending the afternoon with my oldest son, who is visiting from Montana.