Getting There

I did get the baby boy quilt made with the signature die quilted last night.  Or actually very early this morning.  What can I say?  I like to work at night.  It's usually quiet and peaceful then.  I am really pleased at how this one completed.  I plan to get the binding done tonight.

We have had a LOT of rain.  I am NOT complaining.  We have been short on rainfall for a long time.  Outside everything is pretty waterlogged, but most things still look mighty happy.

The little lemon tree in front is full of lemons.  Matter of fact, we've been enjoying these lemons for a little while now.  It just makes me so happy that we can grow these right here in our very own yard!

Hope your week is going well and that you have a good time with the trick-or-treaters tonight.

Hugs and kisses,

Happy Weekend!!!

This is the other set of signature die blocks.  You should be able to enlarge the picture by clicking on it.  I have some fun fabrics in here.

And lots more cut and partially completed.  This one will go to a new baby boy.

Can I just say that we are all LOVING our new screened patio!  Autumn is finally here, at least in the early and late hours of the days.  Middles are still pretty hot, but oh, what a relief it is to be cooling down finally.  Dinah the kitten is continually exploring out there so close to "the wild", and we had Ruthie's bird Pete out yesterday enjoying the fresh air and visiting with other birds. 

There is still lots pretty out in the back yard.  I am continually thankful for the beauty all around us.  Yes, there are ugly things, too, but why not focus on the good instead?

Lady just wants ice cream. LOL

 

Enjoy this beautiful weekend and try your best to have lots of fun!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Trying to Get It All Back Together Again

Have you ever just had a time of things not seeming quite right?  I've been there for a few days now.

You may remember our blind chicken Hetty.  I wrote about her here.  She was truly one of the gentlest souls I've known.  I don't think she realized she was blind.  It was just the way things were and she got on with her life.  She was one of my best egg layers, there was frequently an egg somewhere on the ground in the chicken yard.  It was up to me to find it before it got covered up with something the chickens had scratched over it.  A treasure hunt, if you will.  I still catch myself looking for her egg when I go out there each day.  But there will be no more Hetty eggs on the ground.  One day last week I was shocked to discover when I went to the chicken yard that something had gotten in to the chicken yard overnight and had killed Hetty.  She always slept on the ground, because of course she couldn't see to fly up on to the perch with the rest of the chickens.  I still don't know what did it.  Maybe a really wild cat.  I just wish I could forget finding her like that.  And I'm not at all ashamed to tell you that I cried.  Over a blind chicken.

In other news, the screened patio is coming along nicely.  Chloe of course is sure it is there solely for her comfort and enjoyment.  Bringing her home with us that Sunday was one of our smartest moves.  She is endlessly entertaining and cute enough to make us forgive some of her not-so-cute behaviors.

Edited :  That , of course, is NOT Chloe, but Dinah.  I blame late-at-night-itis!

There has actually been a lot of cutting and sewing going on over here, but this is the only picture I have to show for it.  I discovered a bunch of fabrics I had bought years ago and never washed.  So, I washed and ironed and cut those all up - some with the Go! cutter and some with the rotary cutter.  I am working on this little layout and another with the signature die (the white strip in this picture) in different colors.  I've cut a lot more of the red and beige strips, too.

I really wish I could give you some magic formula to make everything happen just as we would like it to happen.  I totally believe in the goodness of God.  I totally believe He wants us to live good lives.  Jeremiah 29:11, in the NIV says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to give you hope and a future."  I'm just doing my best to try to fit into God's plans for me and trusting Him to bring it all right.  He is well able!

I do hope things are going well with you and that you are finding lots to make you happy.  Because I love you, you know.

Hugs and kisses,

Absolutely Nothing Finished

But there are lots of things in progress.  On my design wall right now is this experiment in reds and neutrals.  I had seen a quilt using this pattern on a blog a while back and saved the picture, wanting to try it for myself.  I have  had a lot of fun putting as many different fabrics as I could manage into these blocks.

I have three trays of strips cut and they are being incorporated into the blocks.  I think (hope, hope, hope) it will turn into a pretty quilt.

And as I'm sewing those blocks together, I'm also making these little blocks as leader/enders.  It really is an easy way to keep from having all those long thread "tails" and to get more than one project made at a time.  I'm all about efficiency, you know. Well, not always, but at least some of the time.

Mr. Muddling has been working and working on our screened patio.  I am just beyond excited about it.  It is coming together so nicely, and the weather is getting close to us being able to actually sit out there and enjoy once it is finished.  And without mosquitoes trying to suck the life out of us!

Lady, of course, has been helping.  Poor little pup, she works SO hard!

I've had these African violets in my kitchen window for years.  I always love it when they bloom - just a spot of something nicer than dirty dishes to see.

And this little guy has absolutely nothing to do with this post, just thought I'd share him.  I used to see him and a few of his pals when I was a child visiting my grandparents' house.  When my grandmother downsized before moving into a retirement apartment years ago she gave them to me.  Those things would not mean that much to anyone else, but she and my grandfather have been gone for many years now.  They were such a bright spot in my life when I was a child and these little things make me smile when I see them.

You know what else makes me smile?  I know that I'll see them - and so many more who have left this earth - again some day.  This is the blessed hope we who believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ share.  I hope to see you there, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Two Finishes!

A friend from church has a mother who went through a horrendous accident.  She's doing well now, but it was bad.  My friend had made these quilt blocks some time ago for her mother, but had never got them made into a quilt.  I volunteered.  I added a small red sashing and then an osnaburg border around that.  I did not want to do anything to take away from the beautiful piecing she had done on these blocks.

I quilted it very simply and added a red and off-white binding.

It is a striking quilt, and I'm sure her mom will love it.

She's also given me more squares to turn into a quilt for her sister who was involved in the same incident.  I'll be working on that one soon.  The sashing, backing and binding fabrics have already been chosen from the stash.

I also finished this sweet little ten minute block quilt.  I like it so much I decided it should stay here.

It was a fun and fast quilt to make, all the fabrics came from the stash.  I used the same fabric from the backing to make the binding.  It all just seemed to go together so well. The somewhat wonky quilting is all free-motion-hoping-for-the-best (my usual mode of quilting), or we could just say muddling!

If you could see and feel how soft and cuddly it is, you'd understand why I'm keeping it! 

Another project in the works involves blocks cut with the Go! cutter using the signature die and the 3 1/2 inch triangle die.

There are plenty more of the units cut and waiting for me to put them together.

However my chair seems to be occupied at the moment.

How could I possibly disturb a sweet little kitty like that?

I hope you're enjoying this first week of October.  We've had quite a bit of rain here, but I don't mind a bit.  

Hugs and kisses,