Well, Hello Again

 

First of all, allow me to introduce Clementine. I met her one day when I was shopping and insisted she come home to live here at Muddle Manor. I think she will fit right in with us. (Maybe not Buddy. He is not at all impressed with her.)

 

 

Somehow, he doesn't look as if his intentions are all good.

 

 

Our son took this one home with him last week.

 

 

And our darling daughter in law took this one home for herself.  They had come over delivering some Mexican food for us all to share for lunch. Big happiness all around!

 

 

We still have lots of brilliant flowers in the back yard, but only because I do a lot of watering out there. The heat has been especially brutal this Summer, and we have had very little rain.

 

And would you look at this little guy! He was tiny. You just never know what you'll see if you go outside and look around at night!

 

 

I am working on this one for a friend and neighbor of ours. She and her husband are decorating their house in earth tones and that is what they wanted for their bedroom quilt. I was not very excited about that until I started pulling fabrics and cutting and putting them up on the design wall. Now, I really am liking it! Long way to go though. It is to be a queen size. That should keep me out of trouble for a while!

 

Now for the serious stuff.  My darling husband, Mr. Muddling has received a diagnosis that has hit us pretty hard. That is why I have been absent even longer than usual. We are working through things and believing our God to turn things around for our good. He is able!

 

I hope all is well in your world and that you are finding things that bring you joy!

 

Hugs and kisses and lots of love,

Elaine 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                               

 

 

 

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 

 

 

Finally Fall

 

 

I have been more than ready for some cooler weather and it has finally arrived, along with some much needed rain! This Summer has seemed to me even more brutal than others. I have found it a challenge to make myself do things that need doing. But at last we have a break from the heat and the scorched earth, and for that I am very thankful! 

 

   

And here is the little guy who has been keeping me busy! The first four photos were taken in July. The bottom two this month. On the bottom left, you can see he is so proud of the banana leaf he brought in from the back yard! (And he is in Lady's bed!) Bottom right is in his crate with the new mattress cover/quilt I made just for him.

 

 

As you can see in these photos, it is really red, not pink as it looked in the other picture! I spent a LOT of time doodling with the quilt machine to make this crate mattress cover for young Buddy. I wanted to make something a bit more difficult for him to destroy. So far, so good!  

 

 

I made this one for a lady whose husband attends our church. I've never met her, but I was pretty sure she needed a quilt. It is colorful and happy.

 

 

This is the backing fabric by Tina Givens. Definitely a playful, happy quilt!

 

 

 

My friend Kathleen recently sent this beautiful stitchery she made. I immediately framed it, and now it sits right on my cutting board amid other treasures (including snacks)!

 

I hope it's happy where you are and that you having lots of fun. I am working on a tumbler quilt for a friend now. More on that later! Isn't it fun to have lots of fun projects to keep busy? I love it!

 

Hugs and kisses and love,

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 

 

 

 

 

    

 

And So It Goes

Toward the end of February I just got fed up with winter. I found this panel in my stash and quilted it and hung it in the den. Mr. Muddling and I have truly enjoyed this little glimpse of beach-y beauty. Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands.

 

 

 

I made this little quilt for the children at our church. The sweet lady in charge told me they really enjoyed the last two I made. They like to put them on the floor and sit on them as they do their activities and listen to stories.

 

 

I made this one to go along with it. I hope they love them!

 

 

 

In my ramblings around blogland I noticed this quilt on Jo's Country Junction. It is called Brick House and you can find directions for it here. 

Why do I keep starting new projects? Who can I blame?

I NEED to get back to the log cabin quilt. What can I say, I was sidetracked.

 

 

 

I am really loving the Mary Engelbreit daily calendar I got for this year. This page for today and tomorrow explains a lot.

 

I hope you are having lots of fun and doing things you enjoy.

There are so many things always for which to be grateful.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pink and Green

 

A very sweet young lady at our church recently had her eighteenth birthday. You know I couldn't let that go by without a quilt. I asked what colors she would like and this is the result.

 

 

The backing is this solid flannel.

 

 

Here it is all folded up in its gift bag.

 

 

She loved it, and I do, too! She is such a lady, if you can even say that nowadays, and this suits her personality.

 

 

I've done a little cutting with the Studio cutter for my friend Sandy and the ladies in her sewing group. They want to make more of the potato chip blocks.

 

 

This is on my design wall. I think this may be about a quarter of the way. It's going to be a queen size for some friends of ours. 

 

 

This is my cheering section. It is so encouraging to look over and see they are all rooting for me! (I know, but sometimes I just have to amuse myself!!!)

 

In other news, we are bracing for another round of the polar vortex. We'll have to get out there and re-wrap all the plants we uncovered and bring lots of things inside again. Oh, well, life IS an adventure, isn't it?

 

There are so many things in the world I cannot do one little thing about. I've decided that the Lord is much smarter than I am, so I'm going to let HIM handle it!

 

Hope you are all staying warm, or cool according to your location!

I am so glad to count you as my friends, and I"m thankful you still enjoy reading my ramblings from time to time!

 

Hugs and kisses,

Elaine

 

 

 

 

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

 

Gather Up The Fragments

 

As I promised, I want to tell you about this quilt.

 

It all started as leftovers from this quilt.

 

 

It was made of alternating 9 inch blocks. The stripes were a bunch of 2 1/2 inch strips cut to size. 

 

There were lots of bits left on the strip sets, so I cut them into 1 1/2 inch strip sets, sewed them together to the right length, and set them with 2 1/2 inch blue strips.

 

 

Here they are before being sewn together.

 

And if you are not familiar with the blog title, 

 

John 6:12

When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

That was Jesus talking and I thought of it immediately. I hate waste, and have a hard time throwing away any bits of fabric.
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Don't you love that cuddly texture after the first wash and dry! It is backed with a really pretty royal blue flannel (which you can see at the top of this post) and it is so soft and comfy. 

It is going to church with us in the morning and will go home to its new owner. I'm pretty sure he will like it!

I hope you are having successful adventures in your world. You are all so creative. I really love visiting your blogs and catching up with all the lovely things you've been doing!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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