One Top Finished, Another Started

My neighbor, who is one of my favorite people in the world, asked me to make a quilt for her grandson. His birthday is in September. His favorite color is green.

He has had a lot of fun looking at the quilt I made for her and pointing out to her all the things he found in the different fabrics.

We think he'll have fun finding all the things in these fabrics, too. Now I just have to get it quilted before his birthday.

I have another little boy in mind for this new quilt I'm working on, but his birthday is next Saturday. I've left it a little late. This little boy is my son, and he's not a little boy any more. This will be his 41st birthday, which is totally inconceivable to me. How did that happen?

Summertime is back in full swing here. The rains, which were a welcome respite from the heat, seem to have left us for now and we are back in the upper nineties again. I've pulled most everything out of the vegetable garden and have replanted some cucumbers (which have already sprung up and started growing). I've also planted some corn which has not yet made an appearance. There's a lot more I need to do out there, but I'm still recovering. Upper respiratory morphed into chest cold and there's still a lot of coughing going on around here. The good thing is that I'm getting a lot of sewing done.

Hope you're having a productive day doing what you love!

Hugs and kisses,

New Resident at Muddle Manor

Meet Gina. She arrived today all the way across the big ocean from Devon. I stumbled across her creator, the very talented Helen of BustleandSew, quite by accident, but I'm so glad I did! As I wandered around her blog, I saw so many beautiful things. Then, when I went to her etsy shop, there was Gina. I just had to make arrangements for her to come here to live.

She's already made the acquaintance of Mr. Homer Pigeon.

Homer has been pointing out to her that even though they are far from England, in the wilds of Texas, there is at least fabric here that will remind them of home.

Gina agrees, and says it IS a comfort to her.

I think she'll be fine. (I'll just have to keep an eye on that rooster. He's a bit of a rogue.)

Hope you have something that's making you as happy as Gina makes me!

Hugs and kisses,

Working Again and a Couple of (Possibly) Helpful Tips

I have been extraordinarily fortunate on ebay (one of my favorite places to shop) lately. I really like the 1930's reproduction fabrics. They seem so cheerful to me. I guess during those times they needed all the help they could get. Anyway, I've purchased jelly rolls and 5" squares in some of those wonderful fabrics.

This is the what I'm working on right now.

Is this not the cutest fabric! And here's hint number one: masking tape stuck to the first block of each row with the number of the row I have pinned together ready to sew. (The "L" is for left. What can I say?) I have a midget design wall in my sewing room, but I have a really nice design dining room table that I usually use to lay out my quilts. I have a tendency to mix up the pieces between the dining room and the sewing room. And it's NOT like it's a long hike. So. Whatever helps me to remember what I'm doing is a good thing.

And yes, this sweet little egg slicer (that I've had forever, it seems) is great, but it's not the other hint.

The other hints is this: Did you know that after you boil an egg and crack it, if you gently slide a dinnerware teaspoon upside down between the shell and the egg - it will usually take the shell off easily with no tearing or disfigurement of the boiled egg? Makes life so much simpler. I was making comfort food yesterday for lunch - my grandmother's tuna casserole recipe and it calls for sliced boiled eggs.

We are having rain here this evening and it's nice. The plants like it. I pulled some of the ones in the front out from under the eaves so they could have a nice wash and refreshing drink of fresh rain water. They thanked me.


Hope everything is going peachy keen for you!

Hugs and kisses,

A Few of My Favorite Things

I finished this quilt last night. All that's left to do is sew the label on, and I have to tell you - I'm having a hard time letting this one go.

I love the 1930's reproduction fabrics and the hand-dyed batik for the outer border. I love the pink binding.

(See the yellow trumpet flowers peeking into the picture on the left? And there's Ru's dog Ariel, too.)

I REALLY love the Phillip Jacobs gorgeousness on the back.

I love the way it looks so elegant, even thrown over the ironing board. (Now that's difficult!)

But, I love my friend more, and she's about to move to another part of the great State of Texas, and I want her to have something tangible to take with her. So, away it will go tomorrow.

It's so good to see the yellow trumpets back blooming. I still have hopes for the pink ones, but none have shown up so far.

What I DON'T love is this upper respiratory junk that has had me in its grip for the past little over a week. I'm sure Mr. Sweetie Pie is pretty tired of it, too, since my coughing all night is bound to be interfering with his sleep. This, too, shall pass!

Hope your day is FULL of things you love!

Hugs and kisses,

Grrrrr!!!

Herein is a gentle reminder to check the back of your work as you are merrily quilting along.

I did not check. I just quilted. And quilted.

It looked fine on the side I could see and I was smokin'!

Today, I'm taking out all that stitching. Not my favorite thing to do in the world. Oh, well. Lesson learned. Again.

On a totally unrelated note, there are still lots of good things in the world to see.

And a lot of them are in my very own back yard.

Hope your day is going beautifully!

Hugs and kisses,

Muscadines

Look what I found growing on the chicken yard fence. Yep, those are little muscadines, a grape that grows semi-wild in much of the southern woods. I remember my dad's mother canning the most delicious jams from the muscadines growing in their woods. I planted seeds from some I had found at a local farmers' market on a visit to Mississippi years ago. The plants have been growing up the east side of the chicken yard for quite some time now, and yesterday they surprised me with this fruit they've been hiding away from me. I know it's only two tiny clusters, but they sure did make my heart sing!

I can't tell you how glad I am to be back home, in my own little place.

I'm always happy to go and to do what needs to be done.

But the best part is always coming back home where I belong.

Chloe says she's glad to get "her" room and window back!

Hope your day (or night) is simply wonderful.

Hugs and kisses,

Home Again!

I returned yesterday from a trip to Mississippi to take my Mother back to her very own house. She was so glad to be back in her home, and I completely understand that.

The pictures in this post are from a rest stop in the middle of the Atchafalaya Basin. Interstate 10 is elevated across a portion of this huge (595,000 acres) wetland area.

It is a really pretty, well-kept place to stop and stretch a bit.

If it hadn't been sooooo hot, I'd have been tempted to stop and rock a spell on that porch.

Lots of pretty plants and shrubs growing in different areas.

And what really impressed me was the fact that they had tomato and cucumbers growing in some of the flower beds!

Hope you're having a great day.

Hugs and kisses,

Sorry, blogger decided to post before I was finished, so most of this will come through as an edit.

Tomatoes and Figs......Oh, MY!

Isn't that a beautiful sight!Jars of fig preserves and tomato salsa and enchilada sauce marching across my counter.
This is what I've been doing with some of my time lately. As I said earlier we have really had a good tomato harvest this year. We have shared with friends and neighbors and still had enough to can some. I can't say it's especially cost effective, but it sure does give me a great sense of accomplishment!
And, I've got lots of 5 inch squares cut out for a new quilt I'm working myself up to get started.
And waiting in the wings is this lovely bunch of 2 1/2 inch strips of 1930's style fabrics. I think they'll probably turn into another of those tube quilts. I really like those!

I hope you're doing something that leaves you with a sense of accomplishment.

Have a great day! (or night)

Hugs and kisses,