Flower Garden

 

I am documenting now the pretty things outside. Mainly because I know it will look nothing like this next week. I am not excited about the polar vortex we are promised. I am not a fan of cold weather. However, sometimes you just don't get to choose! LOL!

 

I've been working on another quilt. I know that is not a big surprise, but I like to document the quilts I make, so here we go. This one is for a special friend of ours. She is such a great blessing to us, and we love her a lot! She gave me a little idea of colors she would like and I've done my best to give her at least some of what she wants. 

For anyone who might be interested, the flower prints are cut into 6 1/2 inch squares and the gray/burgundy quarter square triangle blocks in between are also 6 1/2 inches, turned gray side up in one row and burgundy side up in the next.  There is a 1 1/2 inch burgundy inner border and a 2 1/2 inch outer border of Lotus Blossom, one of my all time favorites in all colorways.

If you want beautiful floral fabrics, it's just really hard to go wrong with Kaffe Fassett/Philip Jacobs designs. They are the best!

 

 

So here we have it: FLOWER GARDEN.

 

I sent my friend Sandy a picture of it on the quilt frame when it was close to being finished and she said, "You made a flower garden". 

That's a pretty good name for it, isn't it!

 

This was a daily page on my new Mary Engelbreit daily calendar. Not necessarily advocating this, but it did strike me as funny! And sometimes a laugh is a very good thing. 

I hope you are having a good start to this new year. A lot of how it turns out is going to be up to us. Not all, but still a lot. I am going to try to keep a good attitude and to continue to be thankful for all the many good things in my life. They are all from the Lord!

You know, you are some of the good things! I am so thankful for the friends I've made here in blogland! I'm glad we "met"!

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

Quilt in the Making

 

Here I am again at last. I will show you a little of Gloria's quilt I've been working on this long time.

 

I have cut so many 6 1/2 inch half square triangles! Thank you Accuquilt Studio 2!

 

 

And I kept adding them to the design wall.

 

 

And soon that design wall was full.

 

 

So I added the other design wall and kept adding half square triangles.

 

 

At last! Now to sew it all together.

 

 

All sewn together and ready to load on the quilt frame!

 

 

The quilting is started!

 

 

Many hours later the quilting is finished and I am congratulating myself that the quilting is done, when I notice that I have sewn one of the blocks in upside down. I seriously thought about just ignoring it, but I couldn't.

 

 

And once you see it, you can't UN-see it!

 

 

More time ripping out the quilting stitches and removing the offending block.

 

 

New block sewn (since I had torn the old block) pinned and hand stitched into place. Quilt was reloaded and re-quilted in the spots I had to rip out.

 

 

All quilted now and trimmed. Binding is cut, so maybe soon it will actually be finished. 

I hope I haven't bored you too much with all this "how the quilt was made" stuff, but sometimes I think we need to share the truth that these quilts don't just happen. And sometimes we make mistakes and have to fix them.

It is like life, isn't it? None of us is perfect, and we all make mistakes. I try to admit it when I do and I try to make it right. I'm so thankful that I am not in this life alone. The Lord has promised never to leave us and never to forsake us. I'm glad, because I need His help all the time.

I hope your life is good and that your mistakes are few and easily remedied!

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty Pink

 

A couple of weeks ago I delivered this sweet pink basket to our Pastor's wife Jennifer. 

 

 

When I told her I would like to make a quilt for her, she was flatteringly pleased. I'm glad I asked what colors she would like, because these are not my usual suspects! She wanted pastels - pink, blue and green. So this is what I did. Isn't it sweet!

 

 

Here it is freshly quilted and bound.

 

 

And now after a run through the washer and dryer, in all its crinkly, cuddly wonderfulness! I am so happy that she likes it. It was a privilege to bless someone who is such a blessing to us and all our church.

 

Our next door neighbor is a manager at our local hardware store. Recently they got in two chickens the owner did not want to sell in their store. Our neighbor thought I might like them, so sent them home with Mr. Muddling.

Of course I want them! The are so delightfully chickenish. I'm still laughing every time I see them.

My little darling chickens on the other hand make me so angry some times that I could wring their little necks. I don't, but......

Yesterday they decided they did not want to go back into their pen, so we had a not too fun for me game of chase the chickens all over the back yard! Today they are grounded!!!

 

 

This is Gloria's quilt I'm working on right now. It has grown quite a bit since these pictures. I have been happy with one design wall for a while now, but this one is going to require two. So. We bought a 4 ft. X 8 ft. one inch thick panel of foam insulation board. I had to cut a couple of inches of the top off, and now I need to get it covered and to work! 

Tomorrow will be October, which will mean absolutely nothing here in Houston, Texas. Still hot!

Hope you're cool and comfortable where you are!

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

 

 

 

 

Hot Time in the Summertime

 

 

Really, I am not even going to start about how hot it is in Houston, Texas in the summer. But it is!

Instead, let's look at this pretty blue and white quilt top. It is from the very talented Helen Philipps. I love visiting her so pretty blog.

I have since this picture added borders and it is ready to quilt, but I put it aside to start another quilt. I know. Big surprise.

 

For those of you who have been following my muddling for a long time, you may remember Mr. Muddling's sister Gloria who gave me LOTS of fabric. She was working at a donation thrift store and they were throwing fabric donations in the trash bin. I KNOW! Sacrilege!!! 

She asked her manager if she could have the fabric instead of throwing it away and they agreed. What a blessing to me! I was just starting out making quilts and as you know, fabric is very expensive.

Fast forward and Gloria asked if I would  repair a quilt I made for her years ago. It was in poor condition, so I said I'd much rather make a new one for her. 

 

 

Gloria is a lover of purple, so I started there, of course. (I am so thankful for my die cutter - Accuquilt Studio2 - makes it SO much easier to cut many pieces.)

 

 

I added in some colorful Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs fabrics 

 

and some neutrals and got started putting half square triangles on the design wall.

 

 

And here we are so far. I have lots more cutting to make a queen sized quilt, and I would like to put more variety into this. Ah, the joys of a bountiful stash of fabrics! (And the gratitude for a husband who encourages me to add to it!)

 

So, at least I don't have to stay outside in that heat for long at a time. I can come back inside and enjoy a dive into purple!

 

I hope you're enjoying lots of wonderful things where you are. The world is so full of good things the Father has provided for us to enjoy!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

 

Another Red White and Blue

 

I finished this one the end of July, just haven't found the energy to post about it before now.

 

I've made this design several times  before. Mary Johnson is so generous to share her patterns and directions, including those that use the Accuquilt fabric cutter dies. This one is very easy and makes a striking, I think, patriotic quilt. It will be going to the USO Lounge at our local airport.

 

I would call it controlled chaos out there, but obviously it is not very well controlled! I'm just thrilled we've been able to keep alive as much as we have. It has been very hot and dry here, but that is nothing new. Still not fun, but thank God for air conditioning!

 

We have three of these little bird baths at strategic locations in the back yard. The birds need all the help they can get. 

 

I hope your weather is not unbearable and that all is well in your corner of the world!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

Feathers

This story starts with a piece of beautiful fabric that came in the mail last week. It is a design by Philip Jacobs, one of my favorite designers. I did not order it. I had no idea where it originated. But I decided the best thing to do was to put it to use. I washed and dried it.

And then I cut it with the half hexagon die. I also cut some solid brown to go with it. I thought that would be a good idea.

I decided it was too boring, so I added lots of different colored half hexies. Much better!

Oh, so happy with it now.

Isn't it pretty!

And very cuddly!

Mr. Muddling and I delivered it this morning to a precious neighbor of ours who is fighting a battle with cancer. She and her husband of 65 years are just adorable. And she loved this quilt so much.  I am so glad.

I had called to let them know we were coming, and while we were on the way, she had her husband go outside and cut some gardenias for us. Aren't they gorgeous! Our house smells wonderful.

And before we leave the saga of that quilt, I had an email from a long time blog friend asking me if I had received her gift. YES! I like to know who blessed me! Thank you so much, dear wonderful Deb!

Our next door neighbor gave me this plant this week. I had never seen one like this before.  It is a zamioculcas zamifolia Raven, or zz black raven. The leaves are so dark a purple as to be almost black. We have really good neighbors!

There has been lots of rain falling around this area lately and it's not over yet. We had a break today and it has been nice to see no rain falling for a change. The plants outside are loving it though, even if we do have a muddy mess!

I do hope there is lots of beautiful where you are!  God is so good to us all!

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

Happy Friday

Perhaps you've heard that things are bigger in Texas. It is true. Sometimes it surprises me. This pot of coleus have just about taken over this little seating area.  There is a hanging basket  with a spider plant almost buried to the left.  Oh well, it's too hot to sit out there anyway!

 I have one lone pimento pepper plant and it is in that bottomless white bucket you see on the bottom. I have to protect anything I want to keep from marauding chickens. The garden is fenced, but somehow they still manage to invade it from time to time. The littles are growing like mad and the old lady chickens are just tired. They are barely laying any eggs at all now, and I don't blame them. Dinah on the upper right is one of the two masters of the house (they think!) Buddy tries hard to keep them in order.  If you click to make the picture larger you can see him herding chicks out of Ruthie's garden. 

It's a tough life, but he does a good job. I do love him so!

Mr. Muddling and I took a little ride to an antique mall we like to visit this morning. We NEEDED to get out of the house. I was so happy to find this little teddy bear. Unlike most I've seen, this one is a quilt on the front and the back. I like him!

I was also quite pleased to find the little lady on the right. I've had her "brother" for years and years, a gift from my darling grandmother. Aren't they sweet!

The clamshell quilt top is complete now and I got it loaded on the quilt machine last night. I've made a couple of passes on it. I'm using the "loopy clam" design which seemed altogether fitting! Maybe I can get it finished today.

I hope you are well and happy and that you are finding many things to make you smile! There is always something for which to be thankful.

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

Where Have I been

Most of the time I've been right here. I have been doing most of the things I usually do, except for getting out and about much.

I spent a lot of time working on this quilt for our daughter Mary. As I mentioned before, this is the third of these quilts I've made from the Sew Many Strips sewalong, a Tara Baisden pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting. I made a queen size first for Mr. Muddling and me, then a king size for our son and daughter in law and now another king for our baby girl. 

This is the original size.

Lots of pretties outside and inside. Flowers just make the world a better place, don't they?

This is Mr. Muddling's birthday cake. We had a sweet celebration with family enjoying barbecue and cake. Delicious!

Next, the figs ripened and I canned enough fig preserves to send some to each of my siblings and still have plenty for myself. Mr. Muddling does not like them.

Next, back to Mary's quilt and another couple of borders added to bring it up to king size.

Here it is after quilting.  I do love that wavy line quilitng. On pieces this small (each strip one and a half inches wide before sewing!) I want a lot of quilting and this seems to do the job.

Here it is getting its binding. Now it has been boxed shipped and has safely arrived in upstate New York and is on the bed!  Hurrah!  And Glory to God!

Next I had a birthday. Our sweet Houston children came over bringing Mexican food and we enjoyed a feast and good company. Yes, I made my own birthday cake and I don't mind a bit.

Now I've cut a new project with my Studio Cutter. This will be the Hugs and Kisses quilt from The Quilt Factory. My friend Sandy is going to sew this one for the USO Lounge at our local airport. Hopefully they will soon be able to reopen.

Sorry I've been so long away. I just was not in the mood to post. And if you can't find much good to say, sometimes it's better to say nothing. But I'm back now, and God is still good  and we can still trust in Him!

I hope all is well in your world.

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine