Overgrown

This is one of the garden beds in the back yard.  Completely overgrown.  I seriously need to get in there and clear a lot of that out.

This one, also in the back, has had a partial clearing.  My minions (the chickens) got a pretty good start on the clearing of this garden bed.

Obviously,  I did not do a very good job of supervision here.  They've gone a little further than I intended.  There were plants here before they started their work.

One of our so-sweet neighbors sent over some magnolia blossoms from her tree to welcome Miss Ru home earlier this week.  Aren't they pretty!  And the fragrance is delightful.

Mr. Jack is so glad to have Miss Ru back in his world where she belongs!  He would not leave her side the first day after her return.

Ariel, too, is glad to have her Mama back home.  As are we all! 

Ruthie is one of the strongest people I know.  You would never know from a casual visit with her how very determined she is to live and to succeed at whatever she undertakes.  She has a faith in God that has been tried in the fire and proven trustworthy.

I don't have any sewing pictures to share with you today, though I have sewn more on the batik quilt.  I'll try to do better next week.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Blooming Happy

This evening I did a bit of watering out in the yard.  I couldn't help noticing how very happy everything looked.

 Just look at this little clump of impatiens that overwintered.

The daylilies have started their show.  Even though each bloom only lasts for one day, they are a bit of sunshine on a stem for that day.

 Even the pots of petunias and geraniums are smiling out there.

Or maybe it's just that I'm happy Miss Ru got to come home today.  She is so glad to be back in her own room, and her Mr. Jack (a thoroughly spoiled fat white cat) and Ariel, her dog, are so happy to have her back.  With the trip to New York to visit her sister and then the hospital stay, she's been away from home for almost a month.  They were feeling quite abandoned.

The lemon tree surprised me with lots of these little cuties, too!  It's a good day.

Hope you're having one, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Good Things

A friend gave me this beautiful book yesterday.  It is such an elegant book with so many gorgeous quilts.  Seriously, I'm just trying not to drool all over it!  Some of these quilts are so very old, yet you can see they have been cared for and treasured.  There are some more modern ones, as well.  Just gorgeous!

Another friend (who strongly encourages me to blog!) gave me this little hand-held electric sewing machine.  It belonged to her mother, so I am even more touched that she gave it to me.  I haven't really taken the time to figure out exactly how it works yet, but I will.

I had given another friend a cutting I had rooted of the rose Mr. Muddling and I rescued from the home of a lady who had to move and couldn't take it with her.  This sweet friend bought an antique rose for me that is like one she has that I had admired.  It is a Noisette, "Crepuscule,1904", a climbing rose that is an apricot yellow.  I notice there is a little bud on this one!  I'm pondering now what would be the happiest place for this rose to live in our yard.









 I had mentioned in a comment last week that our younger daughter is a great admirer of all things froggy, and Wanda very kindly sent me some of her leftover cuttings from frog prints for a class she taught.  Aren't they colorful!  If you have never visited Exuberant Color, you really should.  Wanda is one of the most generous bloggers I know, and I don't mean giving frog fabrics - I mean her generosity in sharing her great knowledge and expertise.  Wanda has been quilting since 1957, and has taught quilting classes for 35 years.  That is a lot of knowledge to share!

So now I have ideas swirling for a new quilt for Miss Mary!

I did some sewing together of rows on my batik zig zag last night, so more progress, which is also a good thing.

A better thing is that Miss Ru will probably be coming home tomorrow.  Glory to God!  He is good all the time.

I do hope there are lots of good things going on in your life.  Because you know I love you!

Hugs and kisses,

Progressing

I got in a little more sewing therapy last night.  The second set of strips were all sewn together, pressed and then seamed to make a tube.  Again, I cut the tube into 2 1/2" rows.

Here are the first few rows added to the mix.

And this is the final layout.  Can you tell that I had to "collage" two pictures to get the whole thing into one picture?  My sewing room is small, so I couldn't stand far enough back to do it in one photo.  The top area is sort of pasted onto the bottom area in this picture.  Ah, the wonders of Picasa!

Hopefully I'll get some of the rows sewn together later.  For now, though, it's lunch and then to the hospital to visit Miss Ru.  She is steadily improving!!  Glory to God!  Thank you so much for your caring and your prayers.

Hugs and kisses,

I'm Sure There's a Way

to get a better picture of this framed nursing cape and diploma.

But even without the flash (and my reflection in the glass) I still could not get it right.  Sorry.  I just thought it was interesting to see the old nurse's cape and little white cap.  Different time altogether, wasn't it? 

I had not been aware that Methodist Hospital at one time had its own nursing school, but it did.

Miss Ru is still there, though steadily improving.  Hopefully she'll be home soon.  Thank you so much for all the sweet comments and emails, and especially for the prayers!  I love that.

As you can see, Bruno has been working really hard helping me on a new project.  I was asked to make a quilt to auction off on Mothers' Day to raise money for a trip the young people at our church are taking this summer.

I'm using all batiks on this one.  So far, at least.  Of course, with my talent for muddling - something else may end up in there as well.  This is the way the strips are pressed, so each row should fit together well.

 I have about half of what I think I'll use up on the design wall now.  The vertical rows are sewn, but have not been sewn to each other, if that makes any sense.  These are just 2 1/2" width-of-fabric strips sewn together, pressed, sewn into a tube, then cut into 2 1/2" rows.  I really like how these batiks sort of glow.

I have a few things that have been on my mind, but making quilts is theraputic for me.  I don't know why, I can't explain it.  It just is.  And isn't it good that someone else is blessed by my therapy?  (AND that I have a husband who not only does not complain, but who supports me in this!)

I'm sort of excited to see how this will turn out myself.  I seldom really know until it's done.  Muddling, you know.

I do hope you're having a lot of fun whatever you're finding to do.  And that you're being blessed and being a blessing.

Hugs and kisses,
Elaine

Birdy Quilt

Miss Ru is back from a two week trip to visit her sister on a horse farm in New York State.  She really fell in love with the horses.  And, strangely enough for a Texas girl, this was her first real interaction with horses.

Mary's boss was so kind to Ru, giving her riding lessons and doing so many other nice things.

Ruthie really had fun with all that.

I wanted to bless this lady who opened her home and her heart to both our girls, so I made her this little quilt.  I had seen the "recipe" on Confessions of a Fabric Addict a while back and it IS a simple and quick quilt to make.

I call this one "Birdy", because I put two of the large Phillip Jacobs' Summer Tree pieces near the center.  I just like the birds.

Our Mary flew home with Ruthie and then took the quilt back with her to give her boss.  Reports are that she loved it.  

Unfortunately Miss Ru is back in the hospital.  She had a bad spot while she was in New York.  That's why Mary flew back with her.  She's had a partial lung collapse and is in intensive care now.  But she is a fighter.  She's strong in the Lord, and HE is well able to keep her.  Prayers for her speedy recovery are of course appreciated.

Hope all is well in your world.

Hugs and kisses,

On the Wall Again

I have my sister's (soon-to-be-finished-I-hope) Christmas quilt back up on my design wall.  I did get a couple more rows sewn tonight.  I'm going to finish it.  Honest.  I am.  Really.

This was supposed to be a Christmas gift, and she knows it and is not worried.  It's too hot, she says, for a quilt right now anyway.  Silly girl.  It's never too hot for a quilt.  In my opinion.

Somehow, I just got tired of sewing apple cores and put it aside, where it stayed for far too long.  Time to get it done.

And, is it just me, or do the bunnies seem just a wee bit diabolical?

This one jumped in my cart today at the grocery store.

So did those pretty purple foil-wrapped Kisses.  I'm pretty sure it's not my fault.

There are no small children anywhere near my house for Easter, so no egg dying here.  I'll just have to celebrate with chocolate.  Always a good thing!

Hope you get in some celebrating, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Chicken Quilt

I know.  I had called it the leftovers quilt, but somehow it evolved into more of a chickens quilt.  Don't get me wrong, I think the leftovers (the thirty-six-patch blocks) are just perfect with the chickens/chicken wire pinwheels.  It's just that the chickens, I think, turned into the main focus of this one.

There is something about a scrappy kind of quilt like this that is very satisfying to me.  It's sort of comfortable.  Do you know what I mean?

Here it is before its trip through the washer and dryer.  And do you know, I just knew the perfect recipient for it.  

Betty is one of the sweetest ladies I know.  And I think she likes chickens almost as much as I do.  She doesn't have any chickens, you understand, but she is always glad to admire pictures of mine when I post them.  That shows remarkably good taste, don't you think?

And now she has lots of chickens of her own to admire each and every day.  And her chickens will not be making a mess.

I have my very dear blogging friend Karen Dianne Lee to thank for some of the wonderful chicken fabrics used in this quilt.  She shared with me some of her inheritance from her dear friend Daphanie.  I've had them for a while now, just waiting to see in what project they would like to be included, and now a part of that inheritance has traveled on to bless another dear lady.  I like that.  And I think Daphanie would be pleased.  She sounds like that kind of lady to me.

I bought some more batiks a week or so ago and I spent some of my time last week cutting more tumbler blocks and some half-square triangles with my go cutter.  You can see I also have a nice little pile of scrappy strips that are crying out to go into a string quilt.  I do love making those.  

Miss Ru is visiting her sister on the horse ranch up in New York State, and I have to say it's really quiet around here.  I miss her.  That is entirely too far away for both my girls.  It's tough letting children grow up, isn't it?

Hope you have a wonderful week, full of only good surprises!

Hugs and kisses,