Baby Duck Baby Quilt

My sweet sister-in-law asked me to make a quilt for her great grandson. His nickname is "Ducky", so obviously it had to feature baby ducks.

I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Here's a peek at another quilt I am beginning to quilt. Its center piece is the set of log cabin blocks I started in June. The blocks are really pretty, but didn't make the quilt quite as big as I wanted it to be, so I put a few borders around. Now if I can just get it finished......

And, as usual, I have another project in line, too. (Several actually if truth be told.) It does help to sort of "speed-cut" and "speed-sew". :)

We're all watching to see what Gustav does. It looks like a pretty big hurricane in the Gulf, and all along the coast, or even anywhere near as Houston is, we keep a close eye on those things.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and the Labor Day holiday tomorrow!

Control?

I just read this quote from a Texas quilter named Mary White on Anna Maria Horner's blog:

"You can't always change things. Sometimes you don't have no control over the way things go. Hail ruins the crops, fire burns you out. And then you're just given so much to work with in a life and you have to do the best you can with what you got. That's what piecing is. The materials is passed on to you or is all you can afford to buy....that's just what's given to you. Your fate. But the way you put them together is your business."

And I thought, How true! There are so many things in life that we have absolutely no control over. BUT we can control how we react to the things that happen in our lives.

I heard a wise man once say, "What comes out of you when you're bumped is what's inside you." OUCH!

I know a lot of times what comes out of me when someone or something bumps me is not what I want inside me, much less want to come out. More than anything, what I want is to be a reflection of Jesus. I know that I fall woefully short a lot of the time, but He sees my heart, and He knows I'm trying.

When it comes right down to it, that's what we do. When we make a mistake, we ask forgiveness, pick ourselves up and get on with it! And try to do better next time. :)

Thanks for reading my thoughts here. Have a good evening!

New Bag(s)

Last night inspiration struck and I got two new bags made - one for me and one for someone else. I think they turned out rather well. What is so funny to me is that they are so prim and proper on the outside and the inside is full of chickens! Kind of like me. :)!

I finally cut some fat quarters I got from Raggs to Roses along with a couple from somewhere else (can't remember where just now) into strips. I have some plans rolling around in my head. When I get them out, I'll show them to you. :) By the way, Rose has a cute idea for using fabric scraps for a bag on her blog.






Isn't it funny how once you get started you can get a lot done?

Now if I can just get this quilt finished that I started months ago!!

Focus on the positive! That's what I say.

Have a great day!

Sometimes I Amaze Myself at How Cheap I Am!

Today we had a lovely little bit of rain. Several times today. I loved it! A wonderful break from the heat.

When I saw it begin to rain, it occurred to me that my van was in the garage dusty, so I just drove it out into the driveway to the rain which then did a great job of washing all that dust away! For free!

When it stopped raining I dried the van and put it back into the garage - clean. Did I mention free? My favorite word!




Pay no attention to all the junk you can see reflected in my nice clean van. Just notice the shine!

Enjoy your weekend.

~Elaine~

Comfort Food

Today we just all felt the need for some comfort food. My grandmother's tuna casserole seemed to fill the bill admirably!

Mama Anne's Tuna Casserole

1 - 8 ounce package egg noodles, cooked according to package directions

2 - 6 ounce cans chunk light tuna

3 - medium sized potatoes, peeled, sliced and boiled until just tender

4 - hard boiled eggs, sliced

3 - tablespoons butter
1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 - 10 1/2 ounce can cream of mushroom soup

2 - cups milk

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 - cup cracker crumbs

Melt butter. Add chopped onion and simmer slowly until onion is clear. Add soup and milk and mix well. Simmer until thickened.

In a three quart casserole (or, as I did, you can use two casserole dishes and freeze one for later), layer noodles, then tuna, eggs and potatoes. Make two layers of each. Top with grated cheese. Pour sauce over, then top with cracker crumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is bubbly.



This receipe is a little bit of trouble, but SO good. Genuine comfort food.
It makes eight really generous servings, so for us freezing half gives us two full meals.






A good meal in the freezer is just like money in the bank!



Mama Anne was my mother's mother. She was born in 1900. She and her husband, a Presbyterian minister, raised four daughters and sent all four of them to college on a small town pastor's salary. This woman knew how to stretch her money to the maximum!



She made her own and her daughters' clothes. My mother said that each fall when school started she and her sisters each had five brand new dresses to start the school year. That's twenty dresses! She made slipcovers, hooked beautiful rugs, crocheted, tatted, maintained a scrupulously clean house, abundantly flowering landscape, and was a wonderful cook.



Don't ask me how. And all this under the watchful eyes of church members who felt free to drop in any time. She was also a state level officer in the women's ministry. Awesome example. I don't even begin to measure up to that one!




I often think how spoiled we are today. And how we could all stand to look back at the sacrifices our forebears made so that we can live this good life we now have.

I'm thankful! How about you?

Banana/Strawberry/Raspberry Pudding

Yesterday we had another of my little innovations for dessert. I had bought some strawberries and raspberries at Sam's (our local warehouse store) and they looked so good that I wanted to incorporate them into our lunch. So this is what I came up with:







I just layered vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, sliced strawberries and raspberries in a compote






and poured vanilla pudding over it all, chilled and voila!

A nice, cool and not terribly sinful dessert! Tasted good, too.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Perry's Quilt

Success!

I finished it! Glory to God! Not the best job in the world (trust me, not even close), but it is finished at last. I guess finishing a small thing gave me the push I needed to get this one finished. True, it was at about 2:30 this morning that I completed it, but I am so happy.

Perry is older daughter's boyfriend, and he chose most of the fabrics for this one. He's been patiently (NOT) waiting. He even kidnapped said daughter's quilt and took it to his apartment. The story was that he didn't have anything to put on his bed, but I think it might have been a hostage situation. :)

Now, to work on the (many) other unfinished projects I have going!

Have a great day.

Missing in Inaction

It's not really inaction, just no posting action. :) I'm still working on that quilt, but I have had to rip out just a whole lot and do it over. It's the quilting that gives me trouble. Those layers just don't always cooperate!

So, last night, just to give myself a little feeling of accomplishment I made this composition book cover for our older daughter.

She chose the fabric. It is the same as that of the lining of the handbag I crocheted for her for Christmas.

We like color coordination.

Ah, FINALLY something finished! We like results, too!

Have a great evening.