Wednesday Workings

Here is the third four-patch stars block. I haven't made any more yet.

More four-patches have been turned into 16-patches and added to the pile though.

This little project is nearing completion, but I can't show you any more until it's finished and to the birthday child.

Finally, after too many years, this sweet embroidery of chickens made for me by my friend Margaret of Cosmos and Chrysanthemums has been bordered and is now hanging in the sewing room. Thank you, Margaret!  I miss seeing your posts.

I've been sewing width of fabric 2 1/2" strips together, three at a time and then cutting them into 45 degree wedges. These are on the design wall now.

Sustenance for all the workings.

What I'm seeing when I look up from sewing. I still like this fabric. I've added Floral Burst by Phillip Jacobs on top of it. Just because. No idea at all where this is going, or if it will wait until later to go anywhere. I just like to look at it. You know. And no, I still haven't made any more of those kite blocks.

The dogs have been working really hard helping me in all my endeavors. Seriously, I am thankful for our pets. Unconditional love is a wonderful thing!

I know. I am silly sometimes. But it's still fun and I still enjoy showing you what's going on here at Muddle Manor.

I do hope you are having a really good week and finding lots to do to entertain yourself!

Hugs and kisses,

The Baby Quilt Is Finished!

Believe it or not I finished the baby quilt last night. Yay! More room now for something else. ;) I was surprisingly pleased how this one turned out - not at all my usual style or color combination. 

The backing is this sweet print called, Zinnia's Garden, a Red Rooster fabric. Very nice feel to it.

Cuddly, crinkly, cosy and just how I love to see my quilts, just as they come freshly from the washer and dryer. I hope the new mother will like this one a lot.

I've made three of these Four-Patch Star blocks, but at that time, there was only room for two of them on the design wall. I like these a lot! Much more my scrappy loving style. 

I love seeing the birds at the feeder and birdbath outside the office window. This was a young cardinal. 

Dinah would much prefer to do her bird watching outside on the patio.

But, at present she is banned from that after this sight greeted me when I opened the door the other day. She knew she was in trouble - all I saw was a black streak rushing past me to hide! Good thing for these pets of ours that we love them, isn't it?

Speaking of loving pets, I had a very sad surprise this week.

I had seen my sweet Audrey earlier in the day going about the business of being a chicken. (I know I shouldn't have favorites, but Audrey was my favorite. A sweeter, gentler soul I've never known.) That afternoon, I found her in the chicken yard with no apparent injuries - just gone. I will miss her. Now there are four.

I'm thankful for this life the Lord has allowed me to live. I'm thankful for all the beauty He has surrounded me with, and for my wonderful husband and family and friends. I think sometimes the loss of treasured people, pets or things is a reminder how precious those are that remain. With that in mind, I'll say - I'm thankful for you. Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings, and thank you for encouraging me. I hope that I have been an encouragement to you, too. Because I love you.

Hugs and kisses,

Disjointed?

I've been working on the baby quilt. This is the final design, and the first six rows are sewn together. But.

In my typical fashion I jumped over to something else. I had seen Wanda cutting kite blocks with a die the other day and nothing would do but that I had to order the die and start cutting, too.

Once the die arrived, I cut and cut and cut. But that's all I've done.

Because now I've started sewing four patches together into 16-patches. I saw a tutorial on Missouri Star and decided I wanted to try that. I spent a lot of time last night looking for the die to make the star points and realized I didn't have the right one.  

So I just cut them the old fashioned way. With a rotary cutter.

This morning I enjoyed our patio for a little while before it got too hot, and that happened pretty quickly. 

Pete the 'keet is back inside now, too.

I've been smiling at sock monkey Santas.

And at this I saw in a magazine last night.

Nor am I, as evidenced by my breakfast of leftover beef stir fry!

It IS a beautiful day, even if it is hot, and I am so thankful for air conditioning!

I do hope you are having a wonderful day, full of lots of good things to enjoy.

Hugs and kisses,

Oh, This and That

The is one of the fabrics from The Garden of Earthly Delights line by KM Studios. No, I have no idea whatsoever what I will do with it. I just wanted it, so I bought it. I read about the fabric line on the Material Obsession blog and went to my friend ebay to see if I could find some. This one just leaped out at me and into my basket. I do like it. It's on my design wall now looking back at me while I sew.

When our unassembled storage shed was delivered several weeks ago, it came on a very large truck. My friend and neighbor Sandy had to tell me that she had asked her husband what he thought might be on that truck. His reply just cracked me up - he said, "Oh, it's probably just more fabric."  All joking aside, I do not apologize for my fabric acquisitions. It's just more fun to color when you have a bigger box of crayons.

I finally got the binding sewn on this one last night, and here it is all washed and dried and ready to go.

The backing is the mustang fabric. This one went to the USO lounge at the airport today.

Sandy made this one. It's from Mary Johnson's free pattern, Patriotic Rail Fence. Didn't she do a beautiful job making it! I want to make one (at least!) of these, too.

Sandy went with me this afternoon to deliver these six quilts to the sweet ladies at the USO-IAH.  They liked them a lot, and said the ones we had taken earlier really brightened up the place. We are just thankful they will be used and enjoyed.

This is the last picture I had taken of the baby quilt I'm making for Mr. Muddling's co-worker's daughter. It's a lot further along now, but this is the layout. I like it. I wasn't sure I would - it's not my normal color palette, but it's pretty anyway.

And since inquiring minds want to know, here's the recipe:

Blueberry Banana Pie

Two baked pie shells.

2 envelopes Dream Whip

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 bananas

1 can blueberry pie filling

Cream together cream cheese and sugar.  In separate bowl mix Dream Whip with milk and vanilla.  When whipped to peaks, fold in cream cheese mixture.

Line bottoms of pie shells with sliced bananas. Fill with creamed mixture.  Top with blueberry filling.  Chill and serve.

It really is stunningly easy to make and delicious. If you try it, let me know how you liked it.

Meantime, tomorrow is Friday and I know that makes a lot of you very happy!  Have a great weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

A Quilt for a Pretty Lady

This quilt is finished for a beautiful woman we know and love. I surely hope she likes it. It's a surprise!

The backing and binding.

And always my favorite shot of any quilt - freshly washed and dried and all crinkly and cuddly.

There were cookies involved in the making of this quilt. It was necessary.

Last night I processed some of our abundant fig harvest. This has now developed into fig preserves which are nicely canned. Mr. Muddling and our children have absolutely no use for figs, but my mother and my siblings and I love them. So. More for us!

Mr. Muddling's partner at work has a daughter who is expecting her first baby soon. The colors she wants are yellow, gray and soft green. I used the Go! cutter to cut lots and lots of half square triangles.

So far, it is looking like this on the design wall. What do you think?

Yesterday was my darling Mr. Muddling's birthday. He spent the morning and into the afternoon up on the roof of the storage shed, along with our son, putting shingles on the roof.  But don't feel too bad for him. I grilled steaks. By then our son's lovely wife, along with their new boxer puppy (!!!) had arrived and we had a really good time of food and fellowship. Instead of birthday cake, Mr. Muddling wanted pie. Not just any old pie, but Blueberry Banana Pie. We all enjoyed that a LOT!

We've had showers here today. The roof is still not finished on the shed, but it is weathered in, so all is well. We are taking the day off today!

I do hope you are having a wonderful weekend. We are celebrating the Independence Day holiday quietly (for now, later we will be treated to fireworks going off all over the neighborhood!) and resting a bit. I do love our country. I pray for so many things for our dear United States, mostly for a return to our roots of honoring God and His rules for living. 

Hugs and kisses and lots of love,