Tomatoes and Figs......Oh, MY!

Isn't that a beautiful sight!Jars of fig preserves and tomato salsa and enchilada sauce marching across my counter.
This is what I've been doing with some of my time lately. As I said earlier we have really had a good tomato harvest this year. We have shared with friends and neighbors and still had enough to can some. I can't say it's especially cost effective, but it sure does give me a great sense of accomplishment!
And, I've got lots of 5 inch squares cut out for a new quilt I'm working myself up to get started.
And waiting in the wings is this lovely bunch of 2 1/2 inch strips of 1930's style fabrics. I think they'll probably turn into another of those tube quilts. I really like those!

I hope you're doing something that leaves you with a sense of accomplishment.

Have a great day! (or night)

Hugs and kisses,

Finally Finished

Yep, I finally finished this little quilt I've been working on for some weeks now. Hallelujah! I used that super simple tube method to make the double hourglass blocks. I really like them. Easy is good!

Here's the back.

And a closer view of the back with Bruno right behind it. I do love my dog!

I machine appliqued blocks from the same fabric line in the squares between the double hourglass blocks. I've had this fabric in my "waiting to be used" line for several years, so I was glad to find a project that would use most of it.

Mama is here for another week, and she was kind enough to sew the label onto the quilt for me. (She did a better job of it than I would have, that's for sure!)

I was making some meatballs to put in the freezer the other day and it just struck me as funny that I'm always arranging things into some sort of symmetry and seeing patterns everywhere I look. Do you?

We're still having plenty of rain here, but no flooding in our yard, so I'm just grateful for all the extra rain. We needed it!

Hope you're having a wonderful day.

Hugs and kisses,

Growing and Growing

So many beautiful, tasty things growing outside in our gardens. I'm really looking forward to the figs. Mama and each I had one this evening. (Okay, obviously I'm still a little tired. ......Mama and I each had one this evening.) :)

I drove over to Mississippi on Sunday and brought Mama back with me on Monday. It was a long, tiring trip, but we're here and all is well. Thank God! Mama has been in rehab for a month and a half after her knee replacement surgery and she is doing so well! She's just going to spend a little time with us before going back home to live in her very own house again. My brother lives right next door to her, so she is well looked after.

Our daughter Ruthie's birthday was Sunday, but we celebrated a day early so I could share in the birthday cake. I surely did not want to miss out on that!

Hope you're having a wonderful time



Hugs and kisses,

Outside My Window

I'm loving this little shutter I have outside my window. It keeps out enough of the bright glare from outside so that I can still enjoy the prettiness out there.

Here's a view without the shutter blocking it. One thing about this hot Houston weather is that as long as we get enough rain, things grow like wild.

We are having the best growing season this year that we've had in a while. I have to stop myself or I'd be out there playing in the dirt all the time. I can't though. It's just too hot. Early and late is definitely the way to go.

I've been quilting the little quilt I just finished this week. I'm hoping to get it finished before Sunday.

And then, I have more ideas. Remember to stop and pet your fabric. :) I do. It's fun!

Have a great day.

Hugs and kisses,

A Great Idea? NOT!

So, I had this scathingly brilliant (Remember The Trouble with Angels with Hayley Mills?) idea to make a quilt for a little girl I know. So I worked and I worked.

And then I didn't like it. At all.

Then I happened upon this awesome tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company. Oh. My. Goodness! Do I love this, or what! So simple and yet looks so complicated. (Of course you see my ever-present supervisor, Chloe, is on the job.)

Ah, much better!

And along the way, I even had an idea for something I might want to do with some of the blocks from the first time around.

My blog name is there for a reason. I truly am muddling just a LOT of the time, but I have fun, and isn't that why we do what we do?

Hope you're having lots of fun with what you're doing!!!!

Hugs and kisses,

Our Couch Has a New Cover

I finished this quilt very early this morning (three o'clock, actually - I just HAD to finish it!). The sun had already risen a little too high in the sky by ten when I got outside to take photos.

You can see it a little better here on the other side of the yard where there is some shade from trees next door.

I pieced the back using Ginseng from Joel Dewberry that I bought from Kathy Mack at Pink Chalk Fabrics. She still had a little when I checked just now, and it's on sale!!!

Kathy's Pink Chalk Studio was one of the first blogs I began reading when I discovered blogs. She has been inspiration and information to me since then. Thanks, Kathy!!

I had never used a home decor weight fabric for backing before, and I have to say - it's going to be hard to go back to regular weight fabric now. It was simply a joy to sew, and so much easier.

Yes, of course, Bruno was right there with me while I was taking these pictures, but he was occupied with other things. Having chickens and feeding birds means that we have an ongoing rodent issue. Bruno is well aware of this problem and he is absolutely sure that he can remedy the situation.

Here's the quilt again, freshly washed, dried and crinkly - in place on the couch. I have to say - I love it much more than I even thought I would.

Now, on to the next project!

Have a great day.

Hugs and kisses,

Summertime in Texas

In my part of it, at least - it's HOT! But the good thing about that is that everything is growing and growing and growing.

And Mr. Cutie Pie has been busy again. I had been saying (sort of complaining a little bit, maybe) that the potting bench on the patio needed to be replaced. This weekend Mr. Cutie Pie got to work and made one for me.

The really good part of the whole thing (other than the most excellent job he did) is that it was a "free" project. We had all the parts here already left over from other jobs.

I've already started putting plants on it. One thing I really like about it is that I will have room underneath to store the buckets I use to catch rain water.

Here are some of them placed hopefully under the eaves just in case we get a shower. The plants just love rainwater, so I try to collect some for them. I have this folding shutter sort of leaning against my sewing room window. It has gotten so bright outside now that it hurts my eyes when I sit at my computer or sewing machine.

Here's the view from the inside. I do so enjoy looking out at our chickens and at everything outside my window and this allows me to continue to do that - even when the sun is bright. It's all about making do with what you have, isn't it?

I've almost finished the quilt top I've been working on - just have to put on borders. I wanted to take pictures to show you early this morning, but as you can see, the sun was already bright. I kind of like the patterns the blackberry vines make on it with their shadows, don't you?

I hope you're having a terrific (I had to use spell check for that word, it just didn't look right) day!

Hugs and kisses,