Working? Sort Of

 

I got all the colorwash blocks cut and have started arranging them on a design wall.  I've gone further than this now, but I'm going to leave them there and look at them for a while.  I may decide to make it bigger.  We'll see.

Cinnamon Rolls were made last night.  It was necessary.

There has been more cutting of batik strips.  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Here's my "Recipe"  I'm using Mary Johnson's free pattern.
 

This is the sight that greeted me when I walked into the den this morning.  I wish I could tell you it was an isolated incident, but no, it's not.  Fortunately what they are destroying here is a dog toy.  Just glad it's their toys they're tearing up and not mine!

 

This sign was posted in our water department this morning.  I haven't been inside lately. I usually just drop payments in the drop box, but since I was paying property tax I wanted a receipt.  Don't you love this?  I wonder if I could put one on the front door??

 

Hope everyone is being nice where you are!

 

Hugs and kisses,

 

A Disappearing Four Patch Quilt for a Vet

Last night the Disappearing Four Patch quilt was finally completed.  This one will go to a man at our church, a former Marine who is battling degenerative hip disease.

I backed it with a cozy fleece so it will be nice and snuggly.

I sew my bindings on with my sewing machine.  Hand stitching is not my favorite thing.  I quilted this one with an all over loopy sort of thing that I made up as I went along.  As usual.  Muddling, what can I say?

Here's another look at it.  I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out.  There are a lot of Disappearing Four Patch tutorials out there if you're interested.  I used 10 inch squares for my four patches, then measured two inches from the center seam - horizontal and vertical - on each side of the seam for my cuts.  You can see that the blocks are big!  It only took twelve for a quilt big enough to cover my sweetie.  I didn't measure it, but he said his arms got tired holding it above his head, so it's a good size.

I've been cutting strips of batik and sub-cutting some 2 1/2 inch squares from each different fabric.  I want to make another colorwash and I told a couple of friends that I'd cut them each a kit, too, so they could give it a whirl.  Wanda continually inspires me with the beautiful work she does.

 

As usual, Bruno was in constant attendance and a great support.  Though he doesn't look too thrilled to be there, does he??

This twisted ball of fur is Chloe.  She tried to stay the course, but had to give up for a nap.

 

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.  We are.  Miss Ru is supposed to come home today!!!  Yippee and Glory to God!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Growing

The turnip and mustard seed I planted last week have already started growing.  I do so love to see things burst through the ground from seed, don't you?

I think I may have told you before, but just in case I didn't:  Did you know that you can plant the bottom of a stalk of celery and it will sprout new stalks?  Well, you can and it does!  It's just a little extra "free" food from something you would throw out anyway.  And good for cooking.

The "Blaze" climbing rose has some pretty blooms,

and the camellia does as well.  So happy to still have flowers!

You can see the little peach tree is still happily blooming, too.

 

The banana trees are not faring as well, but they will be back as soon as it warms up enough.  (We're headed for upper 70's today!)

 

 

And look what has some buds - my Christmas cactus.  It's a bit late, but I'll take it anyway!

 

Miss Ru is still in the hospital.  I appreciate all the messages of support and prayers.  They mean a lot.

 

I finished sewing together the disappearing four patch top but have not had a chance to get it pressed yet.  Hopefully I can get a border on it today.  We'll see.

 

I hope you're having a really good day.

 

Hugs and kisses,

The Good with the Bad

Lady makes me laugh on a regular basis.  She is so fearless some of the time and runs to Daddy (Mr. Muddling) when a loud noise scares her.  She has absolutely no fear of the chickens, which is fair, because they are not afraid of her either.

I think she has decided that part of her duties include the oversight of chickens.

And when she and Bruno are sleeping so peacefully, it really does tend to make me forget all the times she makes me more than a little angry.  Think shoes no longer usable for a start.  That will teach me to put things where they belong!

 

Those are all good things though.  The bad was that we had to call an ambulance for Miss Ru last night.  She had gotten seriously dehydrated.  She is in the hospital now, and the really good news is that she already looks, feels and sounds SO much better!  Glory to God!  I am so thankful for His great mercy and goodness to us all.

Another really good thing was this Caesar salad at Saltgrass Steakhouse where Mr. Muddling and I had a late lunch after our hospital visit to take Ruthie some necessities.  Yes, we had steak, too - a really good thing!

 

I hope you are having only good things!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Progressing

Here is the finished Kaleidoscope quilt.  Kind of makes your eyes want to go everywhere at once, doesn't it?  I like it!

I like this fleece backing, too, for a little girl.  Maybe it's just that I'm not fond of all the colder weather we've been having, but warm cuddly things just make me happy right now.

 

 

On the plus side, the camellia out in the back is blooming.  It's a small bush, so there are only a few blooms, but I had to bring one inside to enjoy.  Isn't it a beauty!

 

Also on the plus side, I got some bulbs and onion sets planted on Thursday.  The garden bed in the back is all cleared out, tilled (sort of), and I've planted another batch of turnip and mustard greens.  The fresh ones are just so nice, and the chickens enjoy them, too.  I know they had a lot of fun clearing out the old ones for me!  Ah, minions, they are handy sometimes.

 

My friend and I had another "sew" day yesterday.  She's working on the Easy Street Mystery and I worked on more of these blocks.  I should be working on Easy Street, but I sort of fell off that one.  I'll get back on sooner or later, but for now.......

 

Last night Mr. Muddling worked late, so I did some more sewing.  I got all the blocks for the disappearing four patch sewn and a layout decided.  Perhaps today I get that top put together. 

 

We have another beautiful day here today, and it's getting a bit warmer.  The peach tree still thinks Spring is here and is blooming its little heart out.  I think it may be in for a rude awakening.  We'll see.

 

Hope your day is progressing, and that you are, too!

 

Hug and kisses,

 

Kaleidoscope

I quilted the baby quilt I've been working on last night.  The pattern is "Kaleidoscope" by CluckCluckSew .  It was a fun pattern to make.  I backed it with this pretty fleece. 

The pattern joins eight pieces in a pinwheel, then calls for stitching a circle over the intersection.

I decided it would be a good idea to remove that bulk at the center, so I cut that part out.

The fabrics are from a kit I bought at Connecting Threads a while back.  Instead of the fabric they included for the center circle I chose to use some Paddington Bear numbers I cut from a piece of fabric in my stash.  There are twenty blocks, so I have two sets of the numbers one through ten for the little girl to learn to count with when she gets (much) older.

 

By the way, I am holding myself back from buying some of the new line of fabric there.  It's all reds!!!

I sewed a couple of these blocks last night.  It's a disappearing four patch using 10 inch squares.  Long ago in an attempt to manage my fabric stash I cut some of it into different size squares and strips.  This is part of an ongoing effort to use some of them!

Do not be deceived by this innocent looking face.  This little girl is continual mischief!  We are so happy she is doing well, though, after her rough start in life that we are being a little more merciful than we probably should be.

 

It is a beautiful sunshine-y day here and I am going now to work a bit outside.

 

Hope your day is filled with wonderful opportunities for joy!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Saturday and German Farmer's Breakfast

There was some sewing here yesterday.  A long time friend spent the day with me.  She quilted a quilt she had made for her daughter on my quilt frame and did an excellent job on it.  I think her daughter will love it!

 

I did some more sewing on the baby quilt and finished sewing all the half blocks.  Perhaps today I will get them joined and start putting that top together.  I did all my sewing yesterday on my treadle machine.  I know it may be silly, but it just thrills me to sew perfect little seams on a machine that was made in 1927, especially one that doesn't even require electricity.

 

This morning Mr. Muddling was so kind and let me sleep in a bit.  Miss Lady has played havoc with my normal sleep.  Just like a human baby, she needs a lot of attention.  Anyway, I decided to reward him with one of his favorite Saturday breakfasts.

 

Of course it doesn't hurt that it's one of mine, too.

The combination of tastes is just perfect!

 

 

German Farmer's Breakfast

 

6 slices of bacon, cooked until crisp and then crumbled

4 large potatoes - peeled, cubed and boiled until just tender

 

Saute half of a small onion and half a green pepper in either butter or bacon drippings.  Add bacon and potatoes, mix gently.  Top with 6 eggs, lightly beaten.  Cook on low until eggs are set, using a spatula to gently turn and mix.

 

Top with 1/2 cup shredded cheese, whichever kind you prefer.  I used cheddar. 

 

 When cheese has melted, mix lightly and enjoy.

 

 We had some lovely fresh from the oven biscuits with ours.  Delicious!

 

Hope you've had a good Saturday!

 

Hugs and love,

Busy Day

Hate to admit it, but only yesterday did I actually get the Christmas tree taken down and everything put away.  And no, Lady was not happy to be kept from playing with all the interesting bits and pieces all over the floor. 

 

After that, I went outside to play.  This is the area right outside my sewing room.  There are blackberry vines along this cobbled together fence.  I planted dogwood in one spot there years ago and over time it had completely taken over.  Now it is gone, and hopefully the blackberry vines will now fill in again.  I planted some of the dogwood along the back fence, and I have another big clump of them on the other side of the back yard.  They will be very pretty in just a little while when they start blooming.

 

Speaking of blooming, the silly peach tree is blooming.  Winter is not over here, so that is not going to work.

I noticed this morning that the first of the paperwhites has bloomed.

And a canna lily.

This little rose has never stopped blooming.  Love that about it. 

Poor Bruno.  He is SO tired of babysitting.

 

 

And finally, just because I thought it was kind of neat, I read this on one of the Yahoo groups last night and went immediately and printed certificates for the two 99's and the treadle I have.

 

 "You can go to the Singer Company's web site.
  www.singer.com
 and click at top left "products"; then click the last item "customer stories"
 and you will be taken to a page where at the bottom right you put in the serial number and your name and email and up pops a Singer certificate that you can print out. (It is quite nice) and then click on "read the story" and it will give you a brief history of what was going on at the time your machine was "born"."

 

I am hoping to get some sewing done today, there was only a small amount done last night.  This puppy is ruining my night owl tendencies.  She insists on being taken out early in the morning!

Hope your day is wonderful and filled with only things you like!

                                                     Hugs and kisses,