Guess What?

There was a new toy delivered to my house on Friday.

It was manufactured in Great Britain in 1952.

Mr. Muddling built a little box for it to sit in yesterday.  I'm hoping to find a table he can adapt for it.

Isn't she a beauty!  

I'm pleased to introduce you to my new sewing machine, the Singer 99K.  She is a 3/4 machine, not as small as a Featherweight, which is a 1/2 size machine.   And no, I did not need  it.  I just wanted it, and it was a really good deal.  I was not even sure it was in real working condition, but I sewed the second row's blocks on the second quilt last night and she did a perfect job of it!  Glory to God!

Now here's where the blog world can be dangerous.  I was wandering around a while back and chanced upon Dora Quilts, and when I read her post about vintage sewing machines it renewed a want-to in me that I've had for a while to own a vintage Singer. Anyway, after reading her blog I went searching on ebay and after watching and waiting I found this one.  And now it's mine, all mine.

I'd really like a treadle machine, too - talk about something I really don't need!  I sewed on one years ago when my son was very small.  The one I used belonged to the manager of the apartments where we lived, and I had a lot of fun with it once I got used to the rhythm of it.

 Here are some pictures of the pretties I couldn't get to load yesterday.  And look at all the plums on those bushes lower right!  I do love Spring!

 This is the first row of the second quilt, sewn on the Janome, and as I said, the second row I sewed on the new/old Singer.

Here are the two quilts, though you can barely see the one on the left.  Still lots to do on them both, but at least I can see where they are going.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Listen!

"We want out of here."

                                                                            "Right now!"

Can I just say that the chickens are not enthusiastic about being locked in all the time.  Of course, the moment I let them out they go straight for any blade of grass and eat it, but that is beside the point.  We'll see how long my will power holds out.  And hope they don't mug me when I go in there to feed them.

I've tried and tried to post a few more pictures, but I think I'll have to be satisfied with what I've got here.  Blogger is not cooperating at all.

I've got the second quilt's layout complete and the first row of it sewn.  I'll show pics later when the stars move into the correct alignment. 

Hugs and kisses,

Intersections

When I was pressing the seams on these blocks last night I started thinking about the ways that different lives intersect.

I started blogging in the fall of 2007, after I discovered this wonderful blogging world of whose existence I had been ignorant.  I have "made things" all my life, both out of necessity and just for the plain old joy of doing it.  But it had seemed to me for some time then that making things was completely out of favor, something that only strange people did.  Reading blogs, I found that a whole LOT of talented and resourceful women (and men) were making all sorts of things.  What a blessing you have all been to me.  I've learned so much from you, and I'm still learning.  More importantly, I'm having fun, and I'm only a little strange!  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

     Speaking of strange, am I the only one who finds it a bit strange to see the Holy Mother guarded by two large chickens on the back window of a pickup truck?

I have finished the first of these quilts.  (I'm making two, almost alike, for a husband/wife.  I wanted them to be very similar.)  The one on the left only needs the border sewn on and it will be ready to get quilted.  The one on the right still has more blocks that are growing to be added.  It's pretty crowded here in my little sewing room with those two design walls, but I have to say that I like having them.  It's kind of neat to see two of them so alike side by side.

The fund raiser at our church last Sunday went very well for the youth group.  I did make a lemon meringue pie, but it was not as pretty as I had hoped it would be, so I sacrificed and bought it myself.  And we enjoyed it.  A lot.

My younger sister is visiting tomorrow with her youngest granddaughter, so a busy day for me.  It will be good to see them.  We don't see each other nearly often enough, though we both do live in Texas.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

First Things First

I need to add one more vertical row to the right, but the first two vertical rows to the left are now sewn together.  Progress is good!

"Cowboy" Bruno inspecting the newly laid mulch.  We've had a good bit of rain since then, so it is nicely settled in now.

"Princess" Chloe not at all happy that she's being held captive inside.

Bush Lantana in full glorious bloom.

We bought this one last weekend.  It's a pink jasmine - very pretty and very fragrant.

Carolina Jessamine

Topsoil spread in back yard and sown with mulched grass seed.  Now if I can only manage to keep the chickens off it we might actually get some grass out there.  One hopes.

The bees are loving all the flowers.  

We've been having some rain the past few days and it's been cooler, but that won't last for long.  Summer will soon be here, so I'll enjoy the mild weather while it lasts!

I need to go and bake a lemon meringue pie now.  Have a great rest-of-the-weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Things Move Pretty Fast

Not me, so much, you do understand that, but the turning of the season - that is what is moving really fast this year.  We had a very mild winter and now everything that can is blooming its little heart out.  You can see a bit of the azaleas there and next to them is a rather large pile of topsoil and aged cedar mulch we had dropped off today.

I spent a large part of the afternoon spreading mulch in some of the flower beds around the house.  Not nearly done, but I did make a start.

They do look so much happier with a layer of nice mulch.

I took this picture before this pretty azalea got its mulch, but it has a nice covering over the dirt now, too.  That's Carolina Jessamine on the lattice above it.  Pretty flowers and very nice fragrance, too.

My Meyer lemon is blooming all over itself.  We had a nice harvest last year.  I'm hoping for more of the same.

Our church youth group is raising money for a trip they are taking later in the year and one of our members, a young man, harvested 200 (yes, that's right two hundred) lemons from his Meyer lemon tree.  Those who chose took lemons home with them and froze the juice.  We'll have a bake sale with the products of those lemons this Sunday.  That's a pretty unique idea, isn't it?  It should be interesting to see what everyone brings.  I'm planning on lemon meringue pie myself.

These are still on my design wall.  We have rain forecast for later in the week, so I'm sure I'll get some sewing in then.  Until then, I'm playing outside!

Hugs and kisses,

Little Baby Girl Quilt

I finished the little girl quilt very early in the morning on Thursday.

I am very pleased with it.

After completion, it took a little trip through the washer and dryer and is now very soft and crinkly.

The previous pictures were taken inside, but this was taken out in the back yard, and you can see what truly brilliant colors there are in these fabrics.

The backing is sweet and super soft.  I like the looks of it here with the light shining through it as it mingles with the plum blossoms.

I'm sure the little girl, due next month, will be a blessing to her family, and I hope this little quilt will be as well.

On my design wall right now these happy little strips are playing and discovering (along with me) what they will become.


Today was a work-out-in-the-yard day, so no sewing.  Hands looking quite a bit less than ladylike after digging out in the garden this afternoon.  There is just something very calming to the spirit about getting your fingers in the dirt.  For me anyway!

Hope you've found something to do that makes your spirit happy.

Hugs and kisses,

Pretty Flowers

The African violets on my kitchen windowsill are blooming their little hearts out right now.  I guess they feel Spring in the air, even from inside the house.

It just makes me happy to see pretty flowers in as many places as I can get them.

 The azaleas are in full, glorious bloom outside, so of course I have a few of the flowers on the kitchen countertop.

Not flowers, but still  pretty - today's egg harvest.

One of the azalea bushes in the front yard.  Sorry, I waited a bit late (after six) and the light was not that good.  This one, for some reason, has two different kinds of blooms on the same bush.

I got this little baby girl quilt top sewn together last night.  It was not quite as easy as I thought it would be to get Margaret's beautiful stitchery in there perfectly, but I finally did it.

Her stitching is really exquisite, and you might be able to see there at the bottom, I added a line of decorative machine stitching all around the edge.  I really like how this one is working, so far.  I plan to get it put together and quilted tonight.  I have the backing picked out already.

I'm not sure exactly how I did it, but I let this little quilt get out of here Sunday without getting its final portrait taken.  Bummer!

This is as close as we get.  At least you can see the front, the binding, and the  Victorian circus print on the back.  The little boy, our great-nephew, will have it by now.  His Grandmother, Mr. Muddling's sister, was in town for a few days and we had a family get together here at Muddle Manor on Sunday.  Lots of fun, food and people.  We do not have a big house, but we do have a lot of fun.  

There is an older song titled, I Hope You Dance, that I like.  Try something new. Let your creativity shine.  Dance!

Hugs and kisses,