Merry Christmas!

Christmas greetings to all of you! I hope that you are all ready for the holiday, or even enjoying it already. 

As usual, I was a little optimistic about finishing this one before Christmas. Not going to happen, but I DID at least get the center portion all sewn together. I've also got the first border cut. At some point I'll get it sewn on.

The second border will be a piano key of different size strips. I'm very sure I don't have enough of these done, but It will happen! 

Meanwhile at Muddle Manor, Mary is here for Christmas, and we've had a wonderful time so far. Lots of taking it easy and enjoying our time together. Dinah and Buddy are hilarious. Neither of them will give an inch, and neither is intimidated by the other. 

We've had very mild weather here this week after a cold one last week. Mr. Muddling and Mary are out and about right now and I am supposed to be baking. Going to get started with that soon! I just wanted to pop in and wish all a very Merry Christmas!

Isn't it funny how one small baby born so many years ago could still have such an impact on our world today! Unto us a child is born!

Hugs and kisses and lots of love to you,

Lots of Good Things

Well, let's see. I know I've been absent from here for far too long. Absolutely no excuse. But I'm back now! First of all, there is a new quilt to add to the stack we are getting ready for the USO at our local airport. This is a Disappearing Nine Patch of mostly 1930's and 1940's reproduction fabrics along with some red. It makes a happy quilt, I think. The backing is a diagonal stripe flannel and the binding is a different red and white stripe.

Dinah took advantage of my absence from the sewing machine to enjoy that flannel backing!

There is still plenty that is pretty outside, and it's always a joy to me to see these things.

There has been plenty of cooking of all sorts going on here. My sister Sue and her husband visited for Thanksgiving. We had a good time catching up and she and I did a lot of baking. She's the one who formed all those crescent rolls! (They were delicious!)

Buddy is still very intent on finding out all about everything he can. He's a curious boy! His vet report was a good one. I take him back at the end of the month for another blood test, and that should tell us that all heartworms are gone! Then we can get back to our walking. I'm looking forward to that.

We've had some rain, and if you have to go outside in lots of water, which I did, it sure makes it more fun to have cute boots! Splashing is still fun, even at my age!

But, the best surprise of all was that our daughter Mary got home for Thanksgiving. She surprised us and it was one of the best surprises ever! As you can see, Ruthie's dog Ariel was very glad to see her, too.

When Mary was a little girl she used to draw these little mouse creatures for us often. We have a white board in the kitchen and it was so good to see the little guy back again!

There are always so many things for which to be grateful, not just at Thanksgiving, but every day of the year. I purpose in my heart to look for them! God is good. All the time!

Hugs and lots of love to each and every one who reads this!

Red and White with Blue on the Back

Yes, I got off the track again. I started a jelly roll race of some fabric I had bought a while back from Connecting Threads. I bought several of the strips sets and couple of fat quarter packs of the same line. Typically, there is only one of each design in the set, so it's not that many per sampler.  I do like red, as you know and with this blue Jinny Beyer backing, it should be fine for the USO. We are still trying to get more made for them. Cold weather is coming. Even to Houston!

Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. I think soldiers will enjoy covering up with this one. At least I hope they will.

Buddy had his two week check up and is doing very well indeed. I am so thankful.

Marilyn the chicken may not be doing so well if she doesn't learn some caution around young Buddy. He's pretty sure she would be fun to play with, but I doubt she would survive it!

Please ignore the rampant weeds underneath, but isn't this poinsettia pretty! It was one of last year's Christmas decorations. Afterwards I planted it outside and it seems to be in a spot that lets it color up nicely.

Mr. Muddling discovered this little crab spider when he was walking Miss Lady. When he (who HATES spiders) says it's pretty, you know it's got to be pretty special.

We are gearing up around here for Thanksgiving. My sister and her husband from Colorado will be here to help us feast. I'm looking forward to a good time and plenty of good food!

I do hope you are having a good week so far, filled with lots of good things to do, see, and eat!

Hugs and kisses,

Quilt Festival Houston, 2016

Mr. Muddling and I took a little field trip to the George R. Brown Convention Center this morning to take in at least a little bit of the Houston Quilt Festival. It really made me laugh that this was one of the first quilts I saw. The title is, "Make More Qlts - U and I Can Do It!", by Cathy Fussell. I definitely agree!

I have to be real honest and say that the Kaffe Fassett, "Bold Blooms" display was my favorite of all. The quilts and the fabrics from his collective are just always so happy to me, and I like happy!

This one was gorgeous! It's "Leafy Applique", a collaborative effort by a group of expert appliquers here in Houston to realize Kaffe's vision for a traditional applique quilt based on a Bird of Paradise antique quilt.

There were also clotheslines full of exquisite antique children's clothing.

For you hexie fans, this one is called, "Happy Birthday", made by Yumiko Tanaka of Tokyo. She said she made it in gratitude for her husband's healthiness on his 75th birthday. Just stunning!

Also on display were ten of the sections of the 9/11 Victims Memorial Quilt. 

There are so many wonderful things to see, If you ever get a chance to take it in, I strongly recommend you do!

it's another beautiful day here. We have some rain forecast for the next few days, but that's okay - we need it. I hope you're having a really good weekend full of things that make you happy! It's a beautiful world the Lord has given us to enjoy. I'm thankful.

Hugs and kisses,

Hello, There

I really wish I had something finished to show you, but I just don't. Here in the land of Muddle it is still very warm during the day, but we've had some cool nights, so the promise of Fall is in the air! Do you notice that my swing on the patio will even open up to be a bed? We won't talk about how much time I've wasted spent enjoying the lovely weather out there.

Buddy has completed all the injections to kill off the heartworms. Now we try to keep him contained and peaceful so he doesn't hurt himself until the are all dead!  He is the funniest thing to watch with a new bone. He is SO serious! You might be able to see Miss Chloe out on the patio giving him the evil eye. Our pets are just continually entertaining to me.

All of the 4 1/4 inch squares have been sewn into nine patches and then cut in half side to side and top to bottom, giving me four blocks from each nine patch.

I started sewing them together Saturday, but I haven't made a huge amount of progress.

These are still on the design wall.

And I probably have about half of the sashings sewn on the Dancing Nine Patches! Soon these will be going on the design walls. It will take both walls for this one!

This last part of the year always seems to fly by, doesn't it? There are so many things I want to get done.Time will tell how many of them actually happen. I'm going to try to have fun with it all anyway!  I hope you are doing that, too. Having fun. It's a good thing!

Hugs and kisses,

Patriotic Houses

You might remember this joint project from a while back. My friend Sandy ironed the houses onto the background squares for me and then I zig zagged around them all and sewed them together. Then I folded it up and put it in the closet. Because I was good and tired of looking at it. This week I pulled it out, sewed a border on it, chose the backing and binding fabric, quilted it and got the binding sewn on it.

The houses and the Heat 'N Bond were cut using the Go Cutter. I can see lots of things I'd have done differently, but I know it will be a long time before I do one of these again. I had thought originally it would live here, but I've decided that it really should go to the USO.

You can see the backing and binding here (and the outside visitor and inside Dinah cats not liking each other very much. Good thing there's a screen between them!).

Here it is after a run through the washer and dryer. I like it. Really I do, but somehow I think soldiers passing through the airport lounge will enjoy it.

I'm sure I could say something funny about this picture of Dinah, but frankly I just thought you might like it. How would you caption it?

Shots of life at Muddle Manor. Buddy DOES love his bones. He goes back on Monday to the vet for his next round of heart worm killing shots. He will stay overnight two  nights this time. The house will be empty without him. He has become such a big part of our family. In more ways than one!

I hope you've had a lovely week with lots of happiness. Life is too short to stay in the mullygrubs, isn't it! There are always things to be thankful for if you recognize them.

Hugs and kisses,

Working on Three

As I promised last week, here is a look at the Christmas Nine Patches I've been making for the Dancing Nines quilt. I've made one hundred on these little babies and pinned them together in groups of ten.

Here are forty of them with their first sashing sewn! I might actually get this one done before Christmas. I am so excited.

In between,  I  got ten more of the Scrappy Trips blocks finished. I'm still not sure exactly how big this one will end up being, but it's nice to have something different to work on. Wouldn't want to get bored you know.  I so appreciate the generosity of Bonnie Hunter! She has many free patterns available on her blog for all skill levels.

This is project number three. Somehow, the last disappearing nine patch I made - all the fabric had not been washed. This is a big no-no for me. My hands were unhappy for several weeks. So, I washed all my five inch squares, just to be sure. Then I started the fun job of ironing them all. Still haven't finished that!

Since most of the squares have either shrunk or frayed, I'm trimming them to 4 1/2 inches.

This one will eventually go to the USO, too. By the way, our friend there was SO glad to get those quilts. Sandy and I took them on Tuesday. Now I have room for more!

Ruthie's parakeet, Pete, is still a happy bird. He really enjoys his time out on the patio each morning. It's been cool enough in the mornings to have to door open to the patio, and I'm really enjoying hearing Pete and the outside birds singing to each other.

Not too often, but once in a while I let Buddy get up on our bed. He easily takes up half of it! He's a big boy, and I sure do love him. He's doing well. Another week and a half and he goes back for the second round of heartworm shots. He will have to stay two nights at the vet's this time. And then another month of keeping him confined to his kennel a lot. I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm just glad he's doing well. He's a gift to me, and I'm thankful.

I hope you're having a good week and finding lots to do that makes you happy.

Hugs and kisses,

Two Plus Five

My friend Sandy and I have some quilts ready to take to the local airport USO lounge next week. This first one is made by Sandy. Isn't it pretty! I really like how she's arranged the colors.

And how she's used the blue for sashing and binding. That brick red print is perfect for the outer border, too!

The backing for this one is this vintage tropical print with Ford Mustangs. Fun!

Sandy made this one, too, using nine patches and half square triangles. Really makes a striking looking design, doesn't it? I like that stripe she used for the outer sashing, too. 

Here's a little peek at the backing and that pretty brown which is the inner sashing and the binding.

These five I've already shared on the blog. (Here, here, here, here, and here.)

And here is the grand stack of quilts ready and waiting to be delivered next week! I think these will make a lot of service members feel comforted, warmed and appreciated. Or at least I hope they do, for they certainly are appreciated by us! It is a privilege to do this little thing to show them that we care.

I do hope you have had a good week. I know I am behind on my making and my posting. I am trying to do better. Actually I've been working on my Christmas nine patches. I think it will be pretty. I'll share some of those next time!

Hugs and kisses,