Saturday, April 23, 2011

Miss Ru's Quilt

I finished this quilt for our Miss Ru last week.  I didn't want to blog about it because she hadn't seen it yet.  Miss Ru has been cat-sitting while her boyfriend has been out of town on business, so she wasn't here. 


I also never did quite get around to getting this quilt outside to get good pictures of it, so please just bear with me on this one.


Miss Ru has her quilt now, but unfortunately it is on her bed in the hospital.  Very early Thursday morning she suddenly couldn't breathe and was in a LOT of pain.  After a rush trip from boyfriend's apartment to the hospital it was determined that her right lung had collapsed.  She's had a couple of procedures done and the lung has been re-inflated.  There is a rather nasty tube in her chest which is maintaining that until the lung heals.

I like to "write" words in the quilts I make and this is one that I want to see totally applied to our Miss Ru. 

She's had a lot of trials and a lot of pain, but she's strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, and she's coming out of this one, too.


I've made a start on another circle quilt.  I really  like this quilt and it is so easy to make.  (What you can see behind this first row of the circle quilt is leftover blocks from Mary's quilt.  Playing with those.)  I've got a couple more rows put together, just don't have a picture of them.


On my quilt frame right now is the quilt I started for our bed over a year ago.  I had quilted the middle portion of it and couldn't quite figure out how to load it on the frame.  My good neighbor encouraged me to just go for it, so I did. Thanks, Sandy!  XOXO


I like to remember all the good times and forget the bad.  Or as the Apostle Paul said to the Philippians, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:  but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
I was ironing and cutting into strips and squares some fabric I'd been given when I made the mistake of walking away and leaving the basket unattended.  I guess it looked like a good spot for a nap. LOL

So, there have been good things and bad.  And yes, I am still muddling.....

Here in the States, tomorrow is Easter, or as we like to say, Resurrection Day.  I hope you have a really nice one, whatever you choose to call it!

My love to you all.

Hugs and kisses,
Elaine

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Mary's Quilt

Isn't it funny that a quilt can start off as just a bunch of strips hanging on the design wall?

And that it can grow into something so much more!  This is our younger daughter's birthday quilt, and you see - I did get it finished in time.  Matter of fact, her roommate shot of video of her opening the package containing it today and sent it to me.  She loved it!  That's what makes it all worth while.

I actually like it a lot, too.  This is the fabric I used for the backing.  She had requested a blue and black quilt, so this has a lot of both.


We have shared many cups of coffee and tea over the years, so this in a small way commemorates some of those.







Of course I had Bruno's invaluable assistance every step of the way.  LOL

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Friday, April 8, 2011

Taking a Bath - Chicken Style

                       

I thought you might get a little grin out of this.  They are so serious about it, too!

 Remember awhile back I told you about digging up the rose from a lady's house who was being forced out?  It is obviously happy here!   It was a very old rose bush, and took quite a bit of pruning just to get it to the point where we could dig it up.  The fragrance is heavenly.  I am so happy that it is happy.

              
I think some of the cuttings are rooting well, too, so there will be a whole new generation of this pretty baby to spread around!  Hoorah!


This one on the left I've had for a long time.  It was a cutting from sweet neighbors, long gone from here, but I think of them every time I see this rose.  The one on the right is a plant I bought several years ago.


And if you look closely, you can see a tiny little lemon on the tree out front.  It has lots of siblings on other parts of the tree.  Happy me

I planted some asparagus seeds this year and they grew!  Since I have not yet come up with a permanent resting place for them, I have them in this large pot in the corner of the garden.

Unfortunately none of these little babies poked their heads out of the soil at all.  Hence, I got a late start with my tomato planting and had to go and buy plants.  Not happy about this at all.


 
Out in the chicken yard, they are busy composting and then sifting it through the chicken wire.  It actually works out pretty well, because then I can just scoop it up into a bucket and carry that nice compost wherever I want it.  They are good little workers!




Of course you understand that it requires considerable supervision from Bruno to be sure it's all done correctly.



This rather blurry picture is of the tree directly behind us.  I think this is some sort of egret, but I've not been able to discover exactly which one.  They are BIG birds!  There have been two of them up there building this nest, so looks like another family moving in.


I took a lot of pictures of lunch preparation yesterday so that I could give you the recipe for these salmon croquettes.  Then I remembered that I had already done that, so I won't repeat. 



And.........I got our younger daughter's birthday quilt loaded on the frame and I've started quilting it.  Which is a very good thing because her birthday is next Saturday!!! YIKES!

I hope there's lots interesting where you are, too.  Have a great weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Circles and Hearts and Squares

They look a little mysterious in the morning shadows, don't they?



This quilt was so much fun to make!  I found the "recipe" here, though I did change it up a bit.  It uses one layer cake and one charm pack, plus the sashing and backing and binding.  Thank you so much, Leila, for posting the tutorial!  Later, I'm going to try it the way you wrote it. ;)


I am so pleased with the way this one turned out, even better than I had imagined.


I backed it with a sweet all over rose fabric from Daisy Kingdom, no idea how old the fabric might be, but really pretty.


The fabic I used for the body of the quilt is mostly Patisserie by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts. 


I've had it for a while, waiting for that special project to come along that would be perfect for it.  I think this was it!


Here's a little glimpse of the pretty things we're seeing here in Muddle Land.  Can I just say again that I LOVE this time of year!


I enjoy having the windows open and hearing the contented little murmurs of the chickens outside my sewing room window.


And Bruno likes keeping an eye on them, too!  LOL

I hope you're finding lots in your world to make you happy now.  The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful world!

Hugs and kisses,