catching up

Hubby had left and right eye cataract surgeries.  Left eye doing wonderfully.  Right eye must be redone by specialist on Nov. 18th........prayers welcome !

Staying busy and trying to make improvements on new home.   Glory to God, I repainted our 14 x 14 foot shed all by my lonesome, and HE made it come out right and kept me safe midway up that extension ladder, PRAISE THE LORD.    Looks good.........khaki green with dark chocolate trim !

Next court date for me, Nov. 21st.......trusting always, whatever the outcome.

Not alot of quilting going on......the hubby always has something else to suggest that I do.......but I'm trying to finish a little pink scrap triangles baby quilt with big-stitch, for an expected grand-niece, Eva Klaire, due in early December.

Started a new pair of socks to have something to work on during hubby's doctor visits.........trying not to do all the easy stuff before I find myself stuck in a waiting room and starting a heel, for which I'd have to have refresher instructions !

Love and hugs and kisses to you all.........enjoy this beautiful changing of the seasons once again !

Dolly

Oh, I forgot to mention........my beautiful China (black and white kitty) disappeared and has not been seen again, since Sept. 1st.  I miss her so, but fear that something in the woods got her.  Kelley's Siamese had kittens, and she's trying to hold the one kitten that came out looking like the mama, for ME, but I don't know when she can bring her from Oklahoma, and of course, they can't hold her indefinitely !  Just incase, though, I've already named her.  She's OPAL, and I found a little figurine to satisfy me of her until she's in my arms.   Let's hope !

BOY, am I home?

Things have changed so much in my life since I was last able to post. 

Hubby and I were led by GOD, I am quite sure, to a little home place that we could afford to purchase.  This is our first property and we got moved during the month of July.  We are blessed and happy, settling into our new nest.  It has a very good heating and cooling unit which worked wonderfully during this past month's excrutiating heat, and we even tried out the heating last night, with the onset of our first cool -pre-Autumn evening. 

I'm currently enjoying planting the yard of our 1 1/3 acres with Crape Myrtle shrubs and Irises......I've even been promised some Rose of Sharon trees by a new neighbor.

Well, I have to run, so I'll cut this short.  Hope all of you are well and blessed.

Dolly

We're being invaded !

And I don't know what these bugs are, but they're making a mess of my beautiful Zinnias.

They're also eating up the Hazel Nut bushes that my husband enjoys seeing on our walks.  I saw groups of them on these bushes yesterday evening, and then when I got up this morning there were about TWELVE of them all over my poor babies at the mailbox !

I hope they're short-lived and move on quickly ! 
I know that everything has to EAT, but they've had enough now, and SO HAVE I.

Working with Jacob

Best galpal, Wanda Gayle, sent me a project that she had grown tired of.  She did SO MUCH of the tedious work, ........ piecing the blocks and cutting out tons of applique pieces.



In this layout, the ladders formed echoing diamonds.



I trimmed down the blocks today and lay them out on my sewing room floor.  I have the windows covered to keep out the heat from the sun, so these colors are not true.  I tried several layouts, finding each one had it's merits.......

With this layout, the ladders formed echoing X's.



I even found a layout that replicated a zigzag pattern !

But, ultimately, I went back to the original layout, which forms 4 X's.........although I did wind up piecing them into color blocks.

4 X's, separated into blocks of yellow, tan, red, and green

I'm going to do a little bit of studying before I decide where to go from here.  The original pattern, called Jacob's Garden, has a 2 1/2 inch sawtooth border, followed up by an eight inch black border which is filled with appliqued floral vines growing from baskets in all 4 corners. 

Here we go........

........pink, and purple seem to be the colors of this packet's flowers !

And I love it ! 

Pale pink, medium pink, hot pink, and even a salmony pink were the first flowers to open up. 

Now there are two flowers coming that appear to be purply pink.

SQUEEEEEAAAALLLLLL !

Gardening news........

I am still having trouble adjusting to my lack of ability to grow a yard full of flowers here.  I look back at my flowers from my yard in Oklahoma and wish that I could get those results now. 
Don't get me wrong......the area I live in is SO BEAUTIFUL.  The trees and foliage are SO LUSH.   But this trailer was placed on a hill and apparently the yard is based on rock and 'chirt' (do you know what that is.......it's a term that I grew up with), and I can't afford to supplement my flower beds with potting or top soil.

Having said all of that, I am looking forward to zinnias blooming around my mailbox this week.  I planted one packet of Zinnia seed, and one packet of mixed flowers. 

From the mixed flower seed, the only thing that I recognize are several Moss Rose seedlings.  And they don't yet have buds on them, but they're looking pretty good, too. 

I also bring home every wildflower that appeals to me, from our walks.......if I can get them to come loose from their place with roots attached. 

  I brought home LOTS of daisies and have planted them and golden flowers that are similar, along my back fenceline.     These are now dying out after blooming all of their buds, but hopefully they will return next year and beyond. 

My sister-in-law gave me seeds from her Wisteria bush/shrub and I have 3 of them coming up in this pot.  I think that I also have a Rose of Sharon tree started in there too.  I have planted seedlings from my Oklahoma Rose of Sharon trees several times, but have never recognized when they come up.  I think that they tricked me by looking like young Maple tree seedlings, and I pulled them.  I have never grown the Rose of Sharons from seed before, as I always found young ones sprouting out of the ground around my bigger trees, and I used those to spread around my yard and share with my deary, JodieAnn.   She planted three of them together in one hole, and after a couple of years, when they were big enough to bloom, she had 3 different colors, seemingly on one tree !   It was amazingly beautiful !
You can also see more of the moss rose seedlings in this pot.

Here at the end of the trailer, I have my few Irises, which finally bloomed for the first time this Spring, their 3rd year since moving them.  Jodie sent me some from Oklahoma two different times since I moved here to Tennessee, and I got them planted there this year too.  They are growing but won't bloom this year.   There are a bunch of wild Violets spread in there along with the Irises.  I forgot to photograph the other Irises that I planted in a few odd places.   A lady at a garage sale gave them to me.

In these photos you can see Blackberry bushes that I accidentally wound up with in my flower bed.   The Sprng that I moved here, in 2009, I dug up what I thought was a wild white rose bush, and transplanted it to this bed.   It bloomed for two Springs, and then this Spring, it bloomed again and then the blooms became berries !   I have been so confused, because there ARE white wild roses all up and down our road and behind us, and the blooms look exactly the same as the blackberry blooms.

  Anyway, these berries are just little nubbies, not lush-looking like the photo makes them appear.   But the bush has sent up more bushes in 3 other places in the flower bed, so maybe eventually there will be a nice little stand of blackberry bushes here.  It'll probably turn out to be the bane of my flower bed's existence, taking over everything with briars ! 

Anyway, that's my gardening news for now.  I'll try to get photos of the blooming zinnias this weekend, Lord willing !

Fruits of Fall--sensing a theme here.......

.........could we say that I'm working well ahead of schedule?

I've finished another Fall-themed quiltie, but, truly, I'm definitely NOT working ahead.  This poor little wall-hanging was started way back in the '90's sometime.  The pattern was contained in a calendar featuring a different wall-hanging for each month of the year.  I can't remember who the quilt artist or company publishing the calendar was.   It's amazing that I even held onto the project for this long, but, the point is, I finally finished it. 

The top is machine-pieced, and hand-appliqued.  It was hand-quilted in  small q-snap frames, employs cotton batting, and measures about 28 inches square.  I used a bright plaid fabric for the back of it.

Remember the SWEATER I knitted for Lissy to wear

I got to"help her" try it on today.

It was a real hit.................as pants !

Ha !

No comments

I'm not doing very much right now, so I don't have a finished project that I want to post.  ( I knitted something that I'm not ready to reveal right now).   In fact, I'm going to disable the comments for now, since this is just to document my life/days.  I'm in a quilting slump, I guess.  I'm not depressed, I just don't have the desire to make anything in particular right now.  It's a good time for Jennifer to finish her quilt-top and get it to me to quilt, so I am nudging her along here.   I would like to have something to pick up everyday, with all my decisions already made of what I'm going to do on it. 

It was cool here again today, and since we're already well past Blackberry Winter, I've dubbed it a new phenomenae.......Blueberry Winter.   At this rate, I've told the hubby that we'll be observing Watermelon Winter sometime around the Fourth of July !

Praying for safety

Tornadoes are popping up all over the midwest right now, and I've just heard the name of my little town in Oklahoma, over and over.  Please take these warnings seriously,out there,  friends and family, and take cover and PRAY.

I love you all and hope to talk to you soon !

A little piecing, a little knitting........

I cut into my little pile of pink fabrics that I bought in February.  I didn't want anything complicated......that seems to be a running theme in my life right now..hmmmmmmm......ANYWAY, there have been lots of half-square triangle quilts that have caught my eye in the last couple of years, so I just cut lots of triangles and a few squares to break up the piecing a bit.
Here's the resulting baby-quilt top.  I don't have a recipient in mind for it yet.

***********************************************

And I just, in the last hour, actually, finished knitting my first cardigan sweater !   It's a little one, sized for a 2-year-old, but it still teaches me the same principles that I would use on any size of regular knitted cardigan.  I am so excited........like when I finished my first pair of mittens a few years ago.  They were the first thing that I ever knitted that took shape right before my eyes as I knitted, and it was like magic to me !

This sweater had to be seamed up the side and sleeve seams, and I wouldn't want to enter it into any competition, but I'm satisfied with it as a first effort, especially for having so many color changes (I just used leftovers that I had in worsted weight Red Heart acrylic yarn).   I had to pick up stitches to knit the sleeves and the neck and front bands.  This was a good refresher course for my knitting.

When I started it, I just had in mind to make a sweater to have here at my house for when Allyssia comes over and isn't dressed warmly enough to take a walk with us.  I think that it will work fine for that and it encourages me to try bigger sweater projects.

Blogger's mistake !

Things got put in the wrong order yesterday when blogger removed some posts and added  them back.

I shared my finished leaf quilt, but it's not showing up as my latest post on people's sidebars, so if you'd like to see it, please click on my other post.

Here's a peek........

Blogger's Quilt Festival

My quilt festival entry is this quilt that I had finished during my hiatus !

Remember this one?  The leaf blocks that I had stored away for YEARS, and finally broke out and pieced together with center blue scrappy squares is now a finished quilt.
I  machine-quilted it.

I started out with the intention of closely stippling behind the leaves, quilting veins into the leaves, and then doing a large allover water-swirly design in the center blue squares.

But after doing a bit of backgrounding, I realized that the quilting would be heavier on the edges of the quilt than in the center, so I decided to just do the close stipple/meander over the entire quilt.

It turned into a bit stiffer quilt than I intended, but since it is really a good visual quilt for hanging on a wall, that's not a problem.

I pieced the back from bigger pieces of leftover blue prints, and added in a free-pieced tree block that was made at the same time as the leaves.  That makes the quilt a horizontal quilt from the backside.  But I put the sleeve on vertically for the quilt to hang widthwise over my couch.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this one finished............I really like it !
You can see more beauties from links at Bloggers' Quilt Festival, 2011..

Happy Mother's Day........a bit late !

I'm back online for a bit.......had it turned back on today, so here I am at the computer again after not touching it for so long.

I have pictures of the pink baby quilt to share.  I finished it about two weeks ago, and sent it on to Michigan.  The mommy-to-be was very pleased with it.

I warned you that it was going to be simple. 
They wanted the quilting to be the focal point.

In this picture, you can see how it's size relates to the top of a queen-sized mattress.  It finished around  40 inches x 42 inches.

Here you can see the quilting designs a little better...........and the darker pink flannel print that I used for the backing.

This is really all that I accomplished except for finishing the pillows for my couch.  I almost hate to share them since you saw SO MANY pictures of the zigzag quilt before I took my hiatus.
But here's a quick shot besides the one in my header.

I did have a wonderful week-long visit from my daughter, son-in-law, and three grandkids during the month of March.  It was way fun, and I can hardly wait until we do it again.  Seth even called me today by special request, just as I was heading out the door to church !  He yelled, "NANA !"

Isn't that precious ?

Praise the LORD !

Hello, my friends......

......and Happy LATE birthday to Terri and Mary !

I won't be here to read any replies, but I just wanted to say hi while I'm here at the library. 

Last week, Kelley, Tim, and the three grandkids came and stayed with us for the entire week. 
Personally, I had a blast.  It was a really good visit, and I think that we all enjoyed it. 

I'm back to working on hand-quilting the pink strip baby quilt;  it's slow-going, but it's coming along, and will be finished eventually. 

Our weather is bordering on hot, and the babies left me with my first spring snotties, but I surely am glad that Spring is here.

Everyone be well and blessed........I really do want that for you !   And I'll stop in again when the mood and the timing fit. 

Love you all !

By the way, I REALLY don't like not having my blog fix every day, and I'm much LESS productive, since I have no pressure to produce photos ! 
I told hubby that we'll have to switch up someday and he'll give up his cable while I get MY internet .  HA !

Taking a hiatus.......

I've dropped internet service for awhile, so I wanted to let you all know that I haven't just disappeared.

I'm around, and hopefully will be a little more productive. 

I will only be checking emails VERY infrequently, so I am requesting that friends and family CALL me if they need to communicate.  OR......a very nice long letter would be fun.....do we still remember how to do that?  I know that Kelley does.  Now if only we can learn to start getting photos actually developed or printed too !  Wow, what a concept.

Anyway, be well and productive, and prosperous, and most of all, BLESSED.

Love you,  

I'm on a pink kick !

I don't know,..........I guess it's because I've been asked to make something simply beautiful and quietly tasteful............AND THAT AIN'T ME !

Ha !

Simple-minded, I might have been accused of once or twice, but quiet, NEVER !

But I CAN DO THIS .

These are what I have in mind for it.........the flannel back is a stronger pink than I expected.  But the light pink for the top is exactly what I had in mind.
.
Still, my quilt-nerve is going through a period of rejection, and I just had to have these today.  They're not quite as strong in color as this photo indicates.  (As I post my own photos, I'm starting to understand why I'm having so much trouble buying online.)

But, of course, that's been such a big part of it, too, ...... I received an online order and the colors of some of the fabrics were SO DIFFERENT from what I thought I was buying, that when I got the chance to see some beautiful fabric today, in just the shades that I was hungry for, I had to OWN THEM.

 But I was very good !  I only spent the money that I earned appliqueing that little dino block, although I have to admit that I was OVERPAID. 

Here are a few other fabrics that I've bought lately.  I've been on a grey kick too, but this grey has a strong hint of taupe running through it's blood.  It doesn't fit with other fabrics that I had intended to pair it with, but that's actually a good thing.  It goes beautifully with the "Swanky" turnover triangles that my daughter bought me for Christmas, so I'll probably whip up something small out of all of that just to have something 'purty to pet'.  It's a great neutral, background-type print, don't you think.  And I adore the blue in the middle. 

Now, this fabric, I cannot stand........I don't know what to do with it.  It's a one yard piece........I didn't realize at the time that I got it that Fabric.com has free returns.  This time I know, and will be returning these pinks

Not a good representation of their color.....once again !

 that I don't like.

Good morning, bloggy friends

What a wonderful morning !  So full of possibilities, and so very blessed by God !  Are you feeling well, did you rest safe and warm?  Count your blessings this morning.......you'll feel better !

Yesterday, my landlady and landlord came and worked on our plumbing/drain problems......in fact they spent about 3 hours or MORE here doing just that..........and got everything running smoothly again.  And they wouldn't accept any payment, God bless them ! 

When they left, I set up the basting frame in the driveway to baste my little blue leaf quilt.  Suddenly I noticed that the sky was all grey and the wind had that feel to it...........uh, oh !

I had no idea that rain was in the forecast !  But hubbykins kept me company, sitting on the picnic table with Piper while I worked, and blessedly, the rain never came ! 

I'm all basted and nearly ready for quilting.  I'd like to try to find some blue thread or something dark and neutral to quilt with.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do.....meander?  Straight, semi-straight-line?  We'll just have to wait and see what kind of inspiration strikes.

In the meantime, Mandy has said she'll pick me up this morning, and she, Allyssia and I will hit the second-hand store for end tables/furniture;  then she's going to show me her new apartment.   She'd like for me to make her a throw for her couch, so I need to get some idea of her furnishings and preferences.

Kell, I hope you had a good time at your house-warming last night........I sure wish I could have been there !   So happy for all of you in your new house !   Papa and I send our love !

Gonna get spoiled....

...on these 60+ degree days and I'm NOT going to want to go back into Winter !

Lovely day today, and the trees have buds on them.......one thing about it, they shouldn't suffer drought for a long while ! 

I finished Jodie's applique today, but I'm going to hold off on a photo of it until she receives it and tells me she's happy with it.

I just placed an order with Fabric.com  for fabric for a baby quilt that I've been asked to make.   Of course, as Cheryl taught me, a smart girl has to add a little sumpin-sumpin to the order for herself,..........I mean, just to bring the total up to the 'free shipping' level, mind you ~!~

I've been asked to make another non-pattern quilt, almost whole-cloth, but in soft pink and cream. 

I'm hoping that this will make a beautiful back for the baby quilt.

This one is for my cousin's second grandbaby, obviously a girl this time around. 

Remember, I made her this one before for her first grandson?

The baby is not due until June, but I'd like to get the quilt well underway.  Blessedly, I have all the work I can ask for right now.

I'm think I'm going to sneak away from the computer now, though, to get a little further in a fun book I've been reading a little bit of.

Good night all !

Oh, by the way, Jodie, you're getting comments in MY comments section !  Wanda wants to see some of these projects that you're always mentioning.  We think that YOU should start a blog too !  At the very least, send her an email with photos ! 







Good timing

My quilting buddy, Wanda Gayle, told me that she has been appliqueing blocks using the method where you put the top fabric onto the background, and just snip an inch at a time along the applique line's seam allowance.  At about the same time, my other quilting buddy, Jodie Ann, decided to send me an applique block to do for her, and I found that it was the perfect candidate for this method of needle-turn applique.

Here's my beginning drawing, traced onto the dark fabric
 by placing the pattern in a sunny window.

Here's my progress thus far.........

My starting slit is cut and applique has begun.

Slitting another inch or so ahead of where I'm stitching.



Halfway done.

Jodie worked as a secretary for many years and has retired now, ready to do her 'retirement quilting', but left with hands that have damage from all of that keyboard work.  They won't let her hold the applique for long periods, so she and I corroborate on projects like this.  She's always sending a little work my way........she knows it gives me a new perspective, as her choices for projects, and mine are always so different.  Plus, a little fun spending money isn't minded either !

On a weather note, it was absolutely beautiful today, and I DID get my little ol' Jeep washed.   She's sighing in relief as we speak.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that today was the first day this year that I've hung full loads of laundry out to dry on the clothesline.  Yippee.......Spring is truly on it's way. 

Happy Valentine's Day

♥♥You make my HEART sing ! ♥♥

Today's temperature is supposed to be near 60, so I hope to turn the outside water faucet back on and wash my jeep !

A couple of new projects have fallen into my lap this week, so I hope to start a little bit of hand-applique later today, too.

Hope you spend the day with the people you love the most.........and remember that GOD is love; HE is the source of all love and life, and the reason you have special people IN your life !

Unwashed and unashamed.......

.....I present,

ZIGGY

The back is just solid, yummylicious flannel in an aqua-dot.

Most of the fabric in this quilt's top came from the strip set from Connecting Threads, and is unwashed.  So, I'm not in any hurry to wash the finished quilt......kindof questioning how all the colors will behave, and just a little too happy with the way it looks right now to chance it.

I can't get enough of the photos of the quilting in this quilt.  I must have taken 50 shots between last night and today.

I chose a solid medium grey for the binding, very close in color to what is pieced at each end.

STATS:  Pattern source-- this tutorial

Finished size:  45 inches by 67 inches.
Fabrics:  2 sets of 24--2 1/2 inch strips , plus probably 2 strips-each of 3 of my own colors.
Top pieced -- Jan 6 thru Jan 8, 2011
Hand-quilted -- Jan 27 thru Feb. 10, 2011
Binding -- Feb 11-12, 2011

The flannel on the back of the quilt made it stick to this fence like a design wall !