Last Friday in September

The vertical rows are all sewn together and now I need to join all of them and I'll be ready for borders.

I've been pulling fabric candidates, but haven't made firm decisions yet.

Another quilt trying to get out of my head and out into the world. I've been making four patches for a very long time as leader/enders and then sewing four of them together to make 16-patches. You know I like red, and this looks like it will turn into something I'll really like!

Lady and Bruno. Oh, my, it looks like a really tough life here at Muddle Manor, doesn't it? LOL!!

It's a beautiful day here, warming up again, but still nice early and late. I do hope you're having a really good week and that you have something going on that is making you happy.

Hugs and kisses,

Another Little Boy Quilt

This is the second of three I said I would finish before I started on the drunkard's path. I had the middle part done long ago, but did not have enough of the fabrics I had started with to finish it as I had started it. Muddling. It will get you every time.  Eventually I had the scathingly brilliant idea to sash it in red and add a piano key border. It works!  Hallelujah.

An all over red, white and blue Mustang print is the backing with a solid red binding.

The colors aren't as true in this one as in the outdoor shots, but you can see it better. This one will be going to a one and half year old boy who has a brand new baby sister. Don't you think it will give him plenty to look at?

And yes, Bruno has once again worked so hard helping me that he had to take a nap. And yes again, I started the drunkard's path. Before I finished the third one in line. I know.

The first two vertical columns on the left are sewn. I had to make myself stop. They are going together really fast. The Go! cutter makes it easy. Except for when I make a mistake. The picture on the design wall to the left is one I took of the layout before I started sewing any of the blocks together. After getting the pieces mixed up - more than once - I decided it would be a good idea to print a picture of my layout so I could tell where they went!

There are a very few figs still getting ripe on the fig tree out in back and if you click on the picture above and enlarge it, you will see Marilyn stretching her neck to take another bite out of a ripe fig.

This is Lena and another of the Marilyns (I named all three of the yellow ones Marilyn) helping themselves to water from the rain barrel. I had turned it on to rinse out the compost bucket I keep on the kitchen counter after I had emptied it in the chicken yard this afternoon. Chickens pretty much do as they please around here.

My sweet teddy bear is wearing a hat my friend Sandy made for me. It is also an apron!  Very clever. I do have the best friends!

We are having some wonderful weather right now. It's getting a bit cooler, not much, but it's still mighty nice! We don't have the huge shifts in the seasons that some of  you have, but it's still good to feel a touch of Autumn in the air.

I hope you're having a good week with lots to see and do that makes you happy!

Hugs and kisses,

Baby Boy Coins

Finally, I got the binding sewn on the baby boy coin quilt. Yay, a finish!

This is the last of the coins strips I made several months ago. Isn't it funny how different sashings give each of those quilts a totally different look?

The backing is this sweet Mickey print. Soft!

Don't ask about the quilting. I was once again, just playing around with it.

We had a break in the rain this afternoon, or I wouldn't have been able to get pictures.  We've had so much rain this week, I think mosquito squadrons are practicing take offs and landings out there!

I have two more little quilts I'm going to try to finish before I give myself permission to start sewing the drunkard's path blocks. But, you know, I don't always wait for permission. ;-)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Meanwhile at Muddle Manor

A baby boy quilt has been completed except for the binding. 

I am pretty sure you can't go wrong with sock monkeys.

I rest my case.

My friend Sandy surprised me the other day with this beautiful quilt she made for me. She said, you are always making quilts for other people and I wanted to make one for you. She assures me that it is soft and cuddly and I should use it to wrap up in. And she is absolutely right. But right now I just want to look at it in all its glory. I want to look at it a lot. Friendship means a lot to me. And to see this tangible evidence of it each time I go into the quilting room just blesses me!

Sandy's sister Peggy quilted my new treasure.  Peggy is a new longarm quilter. She's been making quilts for a long time, but recently took the plunge to get a longarm machine for herself. Can I just say that she has totally put me to shame with her beautiful quilting. Isn't it gorgeous!

And because everyone should have several projects going at once (right?) I have a new one I've been pondering for a while up on the design wall. I'm still playing around with placement of the pieces, but so far I like it a lot.

Late night snack - whole grain cereal with strawberries and bananas - yummy!

I am so blessed in so many ways. I am truly thankful. With all its challenges and trials, life is still a wonderful gift.

I do hope there are many, many good and perfect gifts in your life!

Hugs and kisses,

David the Nurse

The quilt Miss Ru requested for one of her nurses, David, is complete. David was going to have surgery and then be off from work for six weeks. Ruthie, of course, was touched by this and asked me to make a quilt for him. It has taken me a bit longer than usual to get it done, but I am happy with the end product.

I think he will like it.  As you can see, Bruno worked so hard helping me that he had to take a nap.

Here's a closer look at some of the quilting. It is all freehand, just muddling along. It was fun.

And here is another look after it went through the washer and dryer - all crinkly and cuddly and soft.

If you've ever wondered what it would look like to lie on the floor and look up through the quilting while it's still on the frame ----- this would be it.  It looks like some really big holes, doesn't it. But don't worry - they all go away when it's washed.

Here is the official portrait, outside, washed, dried and held up by the incomparable Mr. Muddling!

For the backing I used two bird panels framed in some Jinny Beyer fabric. I like the back almost as well as the front.

Oh, and I wanted to share with you this strange shot I got of the moon very early Monday morning. There really was a ring around the moon and those clouds. 

I do hope you are having a wonderful week. I am. And I am extremely thankful!

Hugs and kisses,

We Almost Have a Dining Room Again

I'm beginning to see a faint light at the end of the tunnel. I can almost see the dining room again. We moved the treadle machine over in front of the window, so that will have some good natural light when I'm ready to do a little treadling.  And you can't really see it, but at last my piano is accessible again and I can play! Not that well, but we won't talk about that.

We have created two separate beds in there for the cats. The litter box is under the one to the right. Sorry. But it has to go somewhere and I do not want it in the quilting room. Our cats are both girls and they don't really like each other that much, but they are managing to co-exist. Believe it or not, it took me most of one night to empty that bookcase there on the right, clean everything and put it all back. That tells me for sure that I have been neglecting basic housework for a loooooong time! Maybe I'll do better. Maybe.

These little Scottie dog bookends were made by a second cousin many years ago. He gave them to my grandparents and I ended up with them. Aren't they sweet! The books are some that our girls enjoyed and are some of the few that we still have. These will stay in the quilting room on one of the shelves, just because I like to see them there.

Mr. Muddling put up a curtain rod behind the quilting frame for me to display quilts. This one is Deb's Stars made from blocks given to me by dear Wonky Girl. It seems to me a happy quilt and makes me smile.

My favorite machine - a 1940 Singer 401 is in the case here on top of the red sewing machine table Mr. Muddling rehabbed for me. And yes, there is another quilt in the works here. It's good to have a variety ready to play. Only trouble is, by the time I'm done with cleaning, there's no energy left for playing with fabric. But soon. Soon!

I've been surprised how much trouble there is to get the relatively simple financial affairs of our daughter settled. We talked more than once of giving me a power of attorney for all her affairs, but never did it. Somehow we always thought she would be her usual Energizer Bunny self and get back up and go some more. Bless her heart, she tried.

Time does help, so does hard work and interesting things to do and things that make me happy. Visiting my blogging friends again makes me happy. I have learned so much from you all over the years and I am thankful for these somewhat ephemeral friendships. They are real nonetheless!

Hugs and kisses,