April Showers

 

In case you don't know, chickens are not impressed by rain. And they are not deterred by muddy ground. They simply do not care. They are going to have chicken fun anyway! They make me laugh.

 

This is during a light rain. The flowers are absolutely loving it!

 

 

 

Meanwhile, back inside where it's dry I finished this quilt for a friend of mine. It came together easily. I like all the fabrics on the front, and the backing is a super soft flannel, and don't you love that antiqued red and white stripe for the binding!

 

This sweet little quilt is made from leftovers from the Hexagon quilt I made recently for our son. This one went to the Children's Church where we attend the grown up church. It is all flannel, and the kids really enjoy, so I'm told, sitting on the quilts I give them during story time.

 

 

This is Dinah. We brought her home to our daughter Ruthie as a very small kitten in 2014. She really gave Miss Ru a reason to keep trying, and for that she will have a home here as long as she wants to stay.
 

 

This is the same crochet doily she is sitting calmly on in the first picture. Here? She has no idea how that happened to the crochet and frankly, doesn't want to be questioned about it.

 

And lest you think this will be a post without Buddy, no. Here he is also living such a hard life! LOL! He's my boy! 

 

If you've stayed through all this rambling, I congratulate you! It is still raining outside and a little visit with blog friends seemed like a very good idea.

 

I hope all is well in your world. It is still a good life and I am thankful to the Lord for allowing me to live it.

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

Springtime in Muddle Land

 

Of course, we start with a quilt. I had just finished this flannel half hexie quilt when our son came over for a visit. He seemed to feel that it was just the thing he needed, so he took it home with him! I love that picture with the guitar and the quilt together. He is quite a talented guitarist.

 

 

SO many pretty things to see out in our back yard, and after a very long dry spell we are getting some nice rain today. So refreshing for the plants, and for us, too.

 

 

Julie at MyThreadBear life had such an interesting and inspiring post  (as she always does) about some egg pockets she had made. I followed the link on her blog to an Instagram post showing instructions, and decided I needed to make some! 

Mine are in a totally different direction from hers, but I like them a lot. I used 1930's reproduction fabrics that look so very happy. These little happy pockets will be going to some friends of mine tomorrow. As you may be able to figure out from the pics above, each little egg pocket holds an Easter hanging decoration (thank you, Amazon), a small rolled up napkin and a chocolate bunny or two. I am very pleased how they turned out. 

 

 

As you can see, there are a few chocolate bunnies hiding in the lower part of the blue glass egg on the dining room table. Just in case of emergency, you know.

 

I was so pleased to hear President Trump unashamedly call Jesus Christ his Lord and Savior. He is mine, too!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

 

 

Making Things Work

 

Hi, there! I thought it was time to drop back in and show what I've been doing since my last posting.

 

I had some snowball blocks my friend Deb sent me, so I alternated them with 16 patch blocks to make a quilt top for the USO Lounge at our local airport. I gave the sixteen patches some extra movement by adding some half square triangles from a quilt I had made earlier to the upper right corner of most of them.

 

Here it is on the quilting machine and down to the last two rows. Suddenly there was a terrible noise. I shut the machine off and put it in time out. I think Mr. Muddling and I can get it back in working order again, I just haven't quite worked myself up to doing it yet. But. I will!

 

 

My friend Sandy needed another project to work on for the USO, so I put these blocks and strips up on the design wall for her to see, and she liked it. We took them all down and she took them home to complete. I think these fabrics all came from Deb, too!!! I have some really good friends!

 

Some of these rail fence blocks were leftover from the Hard Crackers quilt I showed in my last post. And a lot more I made and added to the mix. I plan to get these blocks sewn together later tonight.

 

 

Isn't this a gorgeous amaryllis? I cut it a couple of days ago, and there is another stalk from the same bulb about to burst into bloom now!

 

Behind the beautiful flowers are eight little pans ready to be filled with batter to make Everyday Fruitcake. It is made with dried fruit and not the syrupy sweet glazed fruit in regular fruitcake.  I took some of those completed little loaves to our ladies prayer group on Tuesday morning to share with my sweet friends.

 

 

The irises and roses are showing off in Ruthie's Garden and proving that Spring is truly here! (Don't look at all the weeds. I know it's bad. I'll get them cleaned out soon!)

 

Sorry, I don't have a fresh picture of my darling Buddy. He's been so busy all I have are blurry videos! Constant motion. But I do love him!

 

I hope you have lots of things in your world to give you joy. It is important, don't you think?

 

Enjoy your weekend and try to have lots of fun!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I Was Absent

 

I made three small quilts. This one, "Bethlehem is about 18 by 18 inches. It will live here and be displayed during the Christmas season. I saw it online and had to have it. 

 

This very colorful little cat is about the same size. It has gone to live with our friend Cass in upper New York state. She loves it!

 

 

This one is a bit larger and lives here as a utility quilt. It is made of 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 inch pieces sewn together to make 2 1/2 inch squares. I had a bag of that size and used them!

 

 

I said in this post that I wanted to enlarge a small quilt I had seen in The Big Book of Civil War Quilts. Well, I did! I figured out what I needed to make it a full size quilt.

 

 

Hard Crackers, biggie sized, is now hanging in our hallway.

 

 

And Miss Lady who was a Christmas gift from me to Mr. Muddling in 2012 has moved off and left us. I really hope it is true that all dogs go to heaven, because there are a lot of them I've love to see again. Lady loved Mr. Muddling and followed him everywhere she could. She was always such a good girl. We miss her. My husband especially has a big hole in his life right now. Good thing Buddy keeps him just aggravated enough to ease that pain!

 

 

Yes, this is my life. Flowers, chickens and Buddy and his toys! And of course, my darling Mr. Muddling! I love it all. The picture on the top left is a lantana plant I grew from seed sent me by my friend Deb. Thank you, Deb!!!

 

I hope all is well and happy in your world. As a neighbor of ours, long ago deceased used to say, "It's a great life if you don't weaken." He was a character! And a lot of life is just about as good as you decide it will be. 

 

Love and hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flannel Quilt

 

Our daughter came for a visit recently. She was here for a week and I took advantage of that to make a flannel quilt for her to take back to Upper New York State with her. She is back there now and enjoying the warmth and the love of that quilt!  I think Buddy had an idea the quilt might be for him. Doesn't he look heartbroken? He is such an entertainer!

 

 

The backing is also flannel, and yes, Buddy had to supervise this shot as well.

 

We've had a bit of colder weather here, too, so vegetable beef soup and a pan of Southern cornbread were the menu, and mighty good it was, too!

 

 

 

Before our daughter got here, I completed this rather masculine quilt for a friend of ours. He (and his wife!) were very happy with it. I like it a lot myself!

 

 

My sister sent me such a pleasant surprise this week! This live evergreen candle arrangement is so pretty. We are really enjoying seeing it on our table every day.

 

 

 

And here is Buddy watching television with Mr. Muddling. Would you like to see what has him so interested?

 

 I think he might be a John Wayne fan. The movie was Donovan's Reef, and he was just mesmerized by it.

 

I cannot tell you how very thankful I am for this little boy. He has really made our life interesting, and a lot more fun (and frustration, too!). Buddy really does want to be a good boy, and I'm sure he'll grow into it soon.

 

Till then, we'll just enjoy his antics, and there are quite a few of them!

 

I do hope you're having an interesting time of it as well. Christmas will soon be here. We've had several family gatherings while our daughter Mary was here and it was so good to have our family around us.

 

May God bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you! Life is good.

 

Until next time

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let Us Do A Little Catch Up

 

This little darling boy, Buddy, is taking up a LOT of my time. Think 2 year old boy child into everything and everything goes to his mouth and you have a pretty clear picture of life with this new addition to Muddle Land! But I do so love him. And it's a good thing for him that I do!

 

I know that we are near the last of this year's gardening season, but it is just so beautiful right now you'd never think it will all be gone soon. So, I will enjoy it now!

Those are mustard greens in the upper right. I grow them for the chickens. They love them, and so do I! Mr. Muddling? - not at all. 

 

 

 

I recently finished this one for a lady at our church who suffered a major stroke.  She told me this bright yellow is her favorite color. I backed it with a soft flannel. I truly hope this bright colorful quilt will bring her joy and healing. 

 

 

I was intrigued with this small quilt I saw in Martingale's (Oh, how I miss them!) 

Big Book of Civil War Quilts. This one is a small quilt design by Carol Hopkins. It is called Hard Crackers! I love it. I'm going to try making a lap size quilt by making these blocks larger. We'll see how that goes.

 

 

In the meantime I've been working on this framed four patch + nine patch. 

 

 

This is my friend Terri, whose favorite color is purple. She looks happy with her new quilt, doesn't she!

What a sweet person she is.

 

I think this brings us up to speed together. I'm sorry I let myself get so far behind sometimes. I am really impressed with people like Wanda who blog every day. 

 

Until next time, I wish you the very best. I pray you are well and happy and that you are finding lots to do to help yourself and others!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jungle Jubilee

 

I have a friend, Peggy, who is such a sweet lady. I just love her, and I decided to make a quilt for her. I know, big surprise! I asked her what was her favorite color in the whole wide world, and she said, "BLUE - all shades of blue".

 

 

I ordered some Kaffe Fassett fabric, and I knew I wanted to focus on that gorgeous banana tree print. 

 

Then I added some of the other KF fabrics, in blues of course. And then I thought of how much I also love the Tilda fabrics, especially the Jubilee line. There is so much to see and discover in each of them.

 

 

The Wallflower in blue and also the Sunday Brunch in blue had to be included.

 

 

I really love this quilt. And the royal blue flannel for a backing just finished it perfectly.

There are so many elements in this quilt that shouldn't maybe be together. I don't care. They are all playing together and having such a good time that I am sure she will enjoy it herself and have fun finding things to see with her grandchildren!

 

 

Meanwhile, here at Muddle Manor young Buddy number two is still wreaking havoc, playing 24-7 (with short times off for naps) and generally being a frustrating and adorable bundle of puppyhood. I love him. (The other inhabitants of the manor - not so much.) 

 

 

From a recent daily page of my Mary Engelbreit calendar. 

 

Life is such a mix of good, bad, terrible, wonderful, exciting, boring, inspirational and depressing. It's sort of up to each one of us to choose upon which we focus!

 

Hope you are having an absolutely terrific time in your spot on the earth!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

 

 

    

 

Goodbye and Welcome Home

I had to let Buddy go last Friday. I miss him so much.

 

I posted about his story when he came here to live in this post. In the past few months he has had seizures. We took him to our vet and got no answers. Then more recently a stroke that left his left front leg mostly useless. Still he was happy and did not appear to be in any distress. So I enjoyed every minute I could with him. 

The time came, as I knew it would, when I had to let him go. I know it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it, but that doesn't make it easier to do. 

He left peacefully with Mr. Muddling and me right there with him. 

 

Now you might not agree with what I did or think it was right, but when we got home from Buddy's release, I went online and stated looking at our local animal shelter.

 

I saw this little guy whose eyes said, "Come get me!" 

They had called him Petey, but we decided on Buddy, Jr.

We call him BJ.

 

 

BJ is six months old, and starting to make himself right at home. 

Not going to kid you, it is quite a bit of a change, a lot like suddenly having a two year old little boy arrive to stay! He is into everything. Absolutely no limits, he thinks. Thankful we have a kennel!

I really do love him, and hopefully with time he will grow into the perfect companion for my late night sewing adventures that Buddy and Bruno before him were.

 

Speaking of sewing adventures, I am working (when opportunity arises!) on a new quilt for a very wonderful lady who loves blues. So of course I had to get a few more. These came from Glorious Color, and they are wonderful and arrived quickly! I may have also bought a red lotus leaf for myself. I really like that one.

 

 

You know, life goes on. There are always going to be challenges and bad things do happen with disgusting regularity. But. God is still on the throne, and there is still always so much for which to thank Him! And I do.

 

I thank Him for you! And I hope you are not having any of those bad things happening right now!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine 

 

 

 

Tilda and Summertime

 

Oh, I love this quilt so much! All the beautiful Tilda fabrics from several collections all playing together so nicely and backed with a hot orange batik fabric.

This quilt was just a joy to create, and I am sure it will remain a joy around here for years to come!

 

 

Does it look like Summer? Well, it definitely IS!!! All the brilliant colors, the one white chicken strolling around out there, the coleus ,the bright pink zinnias, lots and lots of figs ripening on the tree all combine to make me happy, even in the heat.

The lower right picture in the collage above is a couple of gifts for our great niece's baby girl set to make her appearance in August. I only had a Christmas gift bag, so I used a colorful napkin or two and trusty Mod Podge  and turned it into a Summer bag! 

 

I hope you're seeing lots of things that make you happy! The world is so full of beautiful things. We just need to notice them and it will make our life so much more enjoyable!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine