Merry Christmas!

 

With an arctic blast forecast for us, we worked all week to prepare. One of those preparations was allowing the chickens to pillage to their hearts' content in our vegetable garden. They have had a glorious time. Seriously, they've been eying it all year long!

 

We sealed up our patio as well as we could with plastic sheeting and started bringing outside plants inside.

 

It was quite a job, but we got most of it inside before the really cold got here. There are more in the little greenhouse. It is sealed up and we'll see how those survived once this is gone! Here in Houston, Texas, we are not accustomed to those temperatures. Nor do we want to be! LOL!

 

Our sweet neighbor gave me this Christmas cactus last year. She's not able to look after her plants any more and wanted me to have it. Isn't it gorgeous!

 

I had a lot of fun making these little frogs for our daughter and the cats for her housemate. They are free patterns from Ann Wood. I love her creations and all the inspiration she provides!

 

Mr. Muddling and I wish you a very Merry Christmas! May the blessings of the Lord pursue and overtake you, and may the peace of God blanket your home!

 

Hugs and kisses and lots of love,

Elaine 

 

 

Christmas Makes and Doings

 

Isn't this a great Santa panel? I had to get it when I saw it online. I was originally going to make it a wall hanging, but it wanted to be a quilt.

 

So it kept growing until it became one! All of the colors and fabrics played together so well that it came together in no time.

 

It has already been gifted to a pretty lady we love.

 

Sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies made their way to upper New York State and have now been devoured. More went across town and met the same fate. We won't talk about the ones that stayed here. 

 

 

I bought an Instant Pot in October 2020. I thought it was not that long ago, but I went and looked, and it's been over two years. The picture above is a bottom round roast cooked in the Instant Pot for 4 hours. And after we enjoyed some of it for our lunch, I sliced the rest, which fell into tasty tender morsels.

 

I vacuum sealed meal size (for the two of us) portions and put them in the freezer. We like to call that "money in the bank"! All it takes is a couple of minutes in the microwave to have meat ready to eat!

 

 

We had a stir fry over rice one day with some of that roast beef. It was delicious!

 

We are supposed to have some freezing weather next week, so these pictures are bittersweet. Whenever we see those yellow angel trumpets dripping off the branches in such profusion, it usually means the end of warm weather is near.

 

I hope your week is going well and that your Christmas preparations are well in hand. With all its challenges, life is still pretty wonderful, and God is always good! I'm thankful.

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

Half Rectangle Triangles

 

What a lot of fun I had making this quilt! 

 

First I sewed a light and a dark half rectangle together and then I just kept on going! I really like this one.

 

And the crinkliness and softness straight out of the washer and dryer are SO nice. Of course it helps that I backed it with cozy flannel.

 

I was so happy to see the little camellia bush start flowering (lower right). Aren't those reds gorgeous! And Dinah in the center is just a mess. She has her own ideas of how things should be, and those are the only ideas that interest her! Cats!

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! It will be here soon. 

We had our family Thanksgiving dinner today. We (Buddy and I) were a little puny on the real day. But thankfulness is good every day of the year!

 

I hope things are interesting and happy in your part of the world and that you are finding lots of things to make you smile!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

Filmstrip and Pumpkin Spice

 

At long last this one is finished. It will go to the USO Lounge. I'm calling it Filmstrip. Can you see it?

 

It started out as just the navy blue and those darker repro colors. It seemed a little too dark to me, so I added in some neutral strips. It seems happier to me. You can see from the two outside shots that it is really not that dark a blue. It looks darker inside.

 

This is a Quilt Archeology project called Pumpkin Spice from Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts. 

 

The colors in this one too, are much more vibrant and true when the picture is taken outside.

  

I had ordered a pack or oranges and purples from her web store and this was one of the oranges. Coincidentally it was the orange in the kit!

I had a lot of fun making this little cutie. I cannot claim to have done a perfect job, but I did enjoy making it. And that's what it's all about! 

 

We had some stormy weather last night, but today is lovely! It will be back to hot tomorrow, so we have been enjoying this cooler while it lasts!

 

I can certainly not call myself a regular blogger, but I do like to keep this online diary of some of what's going on here at Muddle Manor. I miss so many of the blogs I used to love when I first discovered blogs. To those of you who still write your blog, thank you! You are a blessing to me!

 

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend with lots of good things to anticipate in the week to come!  God is good! Always.

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

Two New USO Quilts!

 

This is the panel I showed last week, which has now turned into a quilt. It is such a pretty line of fabric, it would be hard to go wrong.

 

As you can see, it is happy all over the back yard!

 

I really love it so much. I hope our service members passing through the USO Lounge at IAH will be blessed by it.

 

My friend Sandy made this one. I think they will like this!

 

She did such a good job on it!

 

And would you just look at this - she embroidered each of the service names into the quilt. 

(Don't ask what I did to the color here. I have no idea. The background is a pretty brown. The first two pictures give you a better idea.) 

 

 

This is what's on my design wall, not assembled yet. I had some sashings left over from Jellystone, so I thought I would make a coin quilt with them. The solid strips framing them are a navy blue. I wasn't altogether happy with how this was looking, so I've made some changes. I'm not sure when I'll get it finished, but it is always good to have another project (or two or three, but who's counting!) in the works.

 

I hope you are doing something that gives you joy! 

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

 

Jellystone - The Quilt

 

This is Jellystone, a pattern from Carrie Nelson, a.k.a. Miss Rosie's Quilt Company. 

I have to thank Jo Kramer, of Jo's Country Junction, for I first read about the book from which this pattern is taken - Miss Rosie's Spice of Life Quilts - on her blog here.  The cover photo on the book is the one I wanted to make, but when I got the book, I changed my mind!

 

 I DO like the cover photo quilt, and I might actually make it one of these days, but when I saw Jellystone, I quit looking! These are some progress shots.

 

And here are more pics of the finished quilt. I do love it so much!

 

A little look at what's going on outside here at Muddle Manor, on a background of a lovely sunset cloudscape. The little toad was a night time visitor in the chicken yard.

 

To be perfectly honest, I don't remember when I bought the fat quarter pack containing this stunning panel from the wonderful Thimbleanna, but now that we are making quilts again for the USO, I opened it up, washed all the fabrics, ironed them and started cutting. I just took the finished quilt off the frame. I will show you the finish next time! Deb Strain is the designer of this Moda line and it is perfectly lovely.

 

It is still very hot here, but we are promised a respite next week, only high eighties! LOL - I'll take it! 

 

I've been watching Queen Elizabeth's funeral service. It has been very moving and beautiful. What a legacy she leaves behind!

I hope your week is going well and that you are finding things you love and enjoying them. God has given us a wonderful world in which to live!

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

 
 

Exciting News!

 

I had an email recently from our contact at the USO Lounge at our local airport. They had not been accepting any of our quilts for quite a while because of covid restrictions and cautions. 

But now they were ready to start receiving them again. My friend Sandy and I were so excited! And we already had these ready for them.

Last Thursday Mr. Muddling and I took a box of the eight quilts above to meet our contact person from the USO, dear Robin, and drop them off!  

We are all so glad to once again have this outlet for our quilting passion, and to know they will bring comfort and a blessing to the service people who pass through that airport lounge. 

 

It may not shock you to see that I have already finished this one which has been in the works for quite a while.

 

 This red, white and blue is already in the line up for the next delivery.

 

The backing is a different blue print.

 

Looks ready for a lie down, doesn't it?

 

We are so thankful we can do this for our service men and women. I appreciate their service and the sacrifices they make for our country.

 

I hope all is well in your part of the world and that you are finding ways to be a blessing to someone, even yourself!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

Batik Tumblers and Chocolate Covered Cherries

 

I purchased the Accuquilt Go 4 inch tumbler die a while back. What a fun die it is! I had a larger and a smaller tumbler die, but like Goldilocks, this one is just right! It was so much fun putting this little quilt together. Perhaps you might be able to guess that Mr. Muddling has already claimed it for his own.  

 

Remember in my last post I showed the pattern I planned to use for the Kim Diehl fabric, Chocolate Covered Cherries? I decided to add sashing and a small friendship star between each block. I am pleased with how it finished.

 

 

 Here's a better look at the finished product. I really like it. This one is for a special friend and will be headed her way next week.

 

Like a lot of you, we've had brutally high temperatures lately. Houston is always hot in the Summer, but this year seems even worse. Maybe it's me. Anyway, I'm not doing a lot outside in the daytime. However, at night, it cools down a little and I love to look at that night sky. We've had some pretty clouds and the moon is wonderful. We even got a little rain on Wednesday! Glorious rain!

 

I hope all is well in your part of the world and that there are things that are making your truly happy! God is still good, and I am so thankful for that!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

Kim Diehl and Sandy Gervais

 

A while back I reserved a pack of Kim Diehl's new line of fabric, Chocolate Covered Cherries. Got to love a name like that, don't you. I got an email it was ready to ship, and it arrived this week!

 

I was looking through this book for a project to use that beautiful fabric.

 

I was intrigued by this pattern by Sandy Gervais, "Spring Mosaic". 

 

Here are the first few blocks made with that new fabric. I think it's going to work quite well! I'm thinking about adding sashing, though it's not in the pattern.

 

 

I cut most all of the pieces with my Studio die cutter. I love how much easier it makes it for me to make quilts!

 

We've still had no appreciable rain, nor has a "nor'easter" whipped through here, so it's hot. But air conditioning is a wonderful thing! And so is having something to do that does not require going outside. God is good!

 

I hope all is well in your corner of the world and that you are having some fun!  I am thankful for our blog world where we can share our interests, frustrations and happiness!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine