What I Love About Quilting

Let's see now, where should I start? I guess with the fabrics. They are so beautiful and there are so many to choose from. It's endless riches, yet easily affordable to sample a lot and mix and match and play with a host of fabrics. That's a pretty good start on happy right there.

Then there's the fun of putting them together in pleasing combinations - all nice and symmetrical. And then transporting the pieces to the sewing machine and stitching them together.

Choosing the material for the backing.

And then, the part that usually gives me a wee bit of trouble - getting all three layers: backing, batting and quilt top together neatly without wrinkles or bunchy bits.

And then the quilting. I really wish I were better at this part, too. I'm learning with each new quilt I make, but I'm nowhere near as good as I want to be. However, it is still immensely satisfying to me to be able to create a one-of-a-kind beautiful, useful thing that is warming and comforting.



I am so glad that the people to whom I've given my quilts have liked them and use them. It makes all the hard work worthwhile.

And I'd like to think that someday, just like this old quilt from very long ago is still used and loved, the quilts I've made will still be used and loved as well.

Hope your day is filled with things that give you joy!!!

Hugs and kisses,

Goodies!

I received some lovely gifts in the mail all the way from Australia! Margaret of Cosmos and Chrysanthemums had a giveaway a little while ago and I was one of the winners. You should see her beautiful handiwork. I got this beautiful little messenger bag ...........

and this oh, so pretty apron. Wow! How did you know Margaret that I've been wanting a pretty apron? I just have never quite pushed it to the top of my to-do list. And now I don't have to.

This is part of the backing for a new quilt I'm making for my brother. For some odd reason he likes bats. And this is only a small part. The rest of it is a lot more mainstream. :) I'm at the good part now - machine quilting. It's a pretty good-sized quilt so it may take a while.

Hope your day has lots of good things, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Chloe

Meet the newest member of our little family. Her name is Chloe and she is six weeks old today, which coincidentally is when she came to live with us. A neighbor is overrun with kittens and very kindly offered me one of the latest litter. (Actually she asked me if I'd take all of them, but that's not happening!) Sorry I couldn't get a better shot of her. This is taken under the bed in the sewing room.

She is one very busy little lady, and so tiny. She has investigated and crawled into all kinds of places since she arrived early this afternoon. We've had a marvelous time watching her antics. And yes, Bruno is keeping a close eye on her. :)

Now, I truly hope she'll settle down and get some rest and allow the rest of us to get some sleep, too!

Enjoy what's left of your night.

Hugs and kisses,

You Just Never Know Who Will Come for Breakfast!

When I came back in this morning after feeding the chickens and putting out food for the birds, I looked out my kitchen window. Now, I've seen all kinds of birds out there at different times and in different years, but this is a first for me. And the poor little guy must have really been hungry, because he stayed there and ate and ate for at least five minutes!



edited to add: I guess I should have said, it's a blue parakeet, obviously one that someone has let escape into the wild. :) He/she should be fine. Unless we have an unseasonably cold winter, the weather here will not hurt the bird at all. And I guess this bird has found a place to pick up a meal!

What Have I Been Doing?

Hmmm....................let's see. I've been picking some of these,

enjoying seeing these,

brightening up the bathrooms with some of these,

working (off and on) on these,

watching Bruno exploring everything,

and trying to talk these guys into going outside.

They don't want to go. Nope, too hot. They won't go!

"We'll just watch everything from in here, okay?"

Meanwhile, outside this afternoon, it is so blistering hot that I've set the sprinkler to spray just a little, sprinkled some yummy seeds on the ground, and the girls are enjoying a bit of a spa day. :)

Hope you're having a great day, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Happy Fourth of July!

Stroll Down Memory Lane with Me

Another day of being too hot to do much productive. Bah, humbug! I've been playing around with scanning old photos into my computer. I thought you might like to see a few of them. The picture above is my father's mother. My grandmother could do anything. She and my grandfather lived on a farm for most of their lives. She was born in 1905, and knew what it was to survive The Great Depression. In the picture above she's showing off some of the farm's produce that she canned and entered into the Harvest Festival. That porch behind her is one of my fondest memories. I spent many a morning or afternoon in that swing, waiting for the mailman to go by or for the man to come by in his truck full of all manner of things to buy. Mostly I spent the time reading. It was a great place to relax and go off into another world. :)

This is my grandparents with my dad and his sister on the side of that same porch years earlier. Daddy said that they had paid a man to come and build that house, and that while it was being built - they slept in one of the old outbuildings on the farm they had bought. They and the man they'd hired tore down the original farmhouse and built this one. They reused all the lumber and even the nails. It was a wonderfully comfortable house and my sister and I spent many childhood summers there. I know it's not supposed to be done, but this dear grandmother told me when I was about ten years old that I was their "favorite". By then I had another sister and two brothers, so it meant a lot to me that someone thought I was special. She told me not to tell the others and I never did.
This is my grandmother again, here in her living room that was her pride and joy. We messy children were usually not allowed to play around in there. She is displaying a tablecloth that she made (and sold) at Harvest Festival. I can't even imagine how long it must have taken her to crochet that. When I moved back to Mississippi for a time in the vain effort to save a hopeless marriage, one of the good things was being able to spend more time with her. By then my grandfather had moved to heaven and she had moved into "town". (Believe me, it was a tiny place!) She had sold the farm and bought herself a brand new brick house. She was so proud of it.

This is my daddy with one of his bird dogs. He loved his dogs and he loved to go bird hunting. (Quail, in case you're wondering what kind of bird.)

And here I am at my other grandparents' home with my doll Roberta. I have no memory of her, but Mama assures me that was her name. It's even written on the back of the photo.

Life was so much simpler then. It was also harder. Most people at that time did not have air conditioning. Few stores at the time had any either. We all just fanned a lot. :) Remember those cardboard fans with the wooden handle? I remember the little Presbyterian church we attended when I was a child had oscillating fans mounted on the walls around the sanctuary. We thought that was pretty "uptown"!

Thanks for joining me on this little trip. It's good once in a while to go back and remember. I was born in 1948, so I grew up in the fifties and sixties. I graduated from high school in 1966, but our little town was so small there were no drugs there. I can't say the same now, but then - beer was about as wicked as kids could get. It was not even sold in our town at that time. No liquor of any kind could be sold within the city limits. It's what was called a "dry" town. Are there any of those left?

Take a little peek at your own happy memories. And tell me about them.....please.

Hugs and kisses,