Circles and Hearts and Squares

They look a little mysterious in the morning shadows, don't they?

This quilt was so much fun to make!  I found the "recipe" here, though I did change it up a bit.  It uses one layer cake and one charm pack, plus the sashing and backing and binding.  Thank you so much, Leila, for posting the tutorial!  Later, I'm going to try it the way you wrote it. ;)

I am so pleased with the way this one turned out, even better than I had imagined.

I backed it with a sweet all over rose fabric from Daisy Kingdom, no idea how old the fabric might be, but really pretty.

The fabic I used for the body of the quilt is mostly Patisserie by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts. 

I've had it for a while, waiting for that special project to come along that would be perfect for it.  I think this was it!

Here's a little glimpse of the pretty things we're seeing here in Muddle Land.  Can I just say again that I LOVE this time of year!

I enjoy having the windows open and hearing the contented little murmurs of the chickens outside my sewing room window.

And Bruno likes keeping an eye on them, too!  LOL

I hope you're finding lots in your world to make you happy now.  The Lord has blessed us with a wonderful world!

Hugs and kisses,

                                            

Our Spring

 This was taken this morning at our gate from the back yard looking into the front.  It almost looks like you're deep in the woods. 

But just another step to the left and you can see in this one that it's just our very own front yard.  The little tree on the left is our Meyer Lemon and if you click and enlarge, you can see lots of flowers.  The fragrance is beyond pretty, and I am hoping for lots and lots of lemons this year.  You may remember that I took extra care in covering this little baby in the cold of winter and that has really paid off in an abundance of flowers.  And the azalea on the right has just about finished its glorious bloom for another year.  There are only a couple of weeks that they bloom, but oh, they make up for the shortness of the bloom season with the abundance of the blooms.

We've got some mighty pretty dogwood showing off in several areas of the yard right now.  One of my neighbors gave me cuttings of hers several years ago after I admired it, and it has really taken off and proven itself worthy of ground space.

And these little native plum trees are just loaded with baby plums!  I'm hoping for enough to can some jam.

I finished sewing together the little blue one I've been working on, but it needs to grow quite a bit bigger.  Pondering on that and waiting for some fabric I've ordered to get here.

And here is another one I'm working on right now.  My little Janome does the best job of blanket stitching!  And it's a good thing, because my hand stitching is NOT all that!

I've got a fair number of the blocks done, just a few more, then trimming and on to the laying out.  I love seeing a quilt come together, don't you?

We have a lovely, slightly cool overcast day here today.  I love it.  We've already begun to get pretty warm here, so this is a nice change for us.

Hope your day is absolutely perfect!

Hugs and kisses,

                                                   

Oh, Yummy! Fresh Eggs!

I was out running errands this morning without stopping to eat anything first.  Not a great idea, but I did it anyway.  When I got back I made some omelets for Miss Ru and me.  I picked up some organic baby spinach and fresh mushrooms while I was out and about, so of course those had to go in, along with some shredded cheddar.

I had mine on a couple of corn tortillas.  Perfection!  I feel life coming back into me.

This was one of my errands this morning.  On Saturday, Mr. Muddling and I were out taking care of some errands, or at least that was our plan.  After this we decided most of them could wait.  I was driving and the man in the pickup truck in front of us took a turn to the right.  Then, he abruptly decided he wanted to go back the way he had come, so he u-turned into our van.  Fortunately no one was hurt and he accepted complete responsibility, so now I've done all the fun things you have to do when there's an accident and I just have to take it back to the body shop to get it repaired.

On a brighter note, the coleus from last year have survived quite nicely.  This pot is happily brightening up the area by the front door.

I'm really not sure of the name of this plant.  We always called it snow on the mountain, but the pictures that I can find on the internet are not this plant.   It came from my grandmother's house many years ago.  I love it for that reason, but it's also a pretty neat plant.  The leaves are variegated green and white, but the white turns pink when it's put out in the sunshine.  It will also look pretty for a long time (and usually root, as well) if you cut stems and put them in water. I keep it as a houseplant, but it can grow out in the garden, too, as long as it doesn't freeze.  I lost all of mine one year with a freeze, but thankfully I had given cuttings to my neighbor earlier and she replenished my supply.  Being generous pays off sometimes, doesn't it?

I hope your day is full of only good and happy things!

Hugs and kisses,

                                              

Muddling Again

I've been doing a little of this

and a little of that.  I was duplicating some cd's this weekend for Mr. Muddling and for a friend, and I just could not (did not) resist making them each a little case for those cd's.  I wouldn't say I did the best job in the world, but it was fun, and it will be functional.  So.  Good.

I've also been playing with some blues.

You know the drill - cut, sew, press, repeat.

So far, so good.  I like it!

Isn't it fun to play around with fabric?  I always have a good time when I do.  You just never know how a thing will turn out until you do it.  Or at least that's the way it is around here!

Lest you think I've spent all weekend in the sewing room, I also got some tomato plants set out in the garden while Mr. Cutie Pie was sharpening our lawn mower blade and another one for a friend.  Ah, I can hardly wait for those nice fresh, homegrown tomatoes.  I planted some seeds out there earlier in the week for lima beans, cucumbers, corn and squash.  We're coming right along.  Oh, and the chickens have shifted into lovely egg production - a dozen today!!!  Whoooopeeeee!

Obviously not everyone here is interested in productive activity.  Jack, Miss Ru's cat thinks work is vastly over-rated.

I hope your weekend is all you want it to be.

Hugs and kisses,

                                              

Why I Love Spring

What can I say?  It has just burst forth into glorious bloom and bud around here.  I love it!  You should hear the birds, they love it, too!

I finished this little quilt last night.  It is made of leftovers from the quilt I made earlier as a sofa cover.

This is the backing.  Don't you love it!  This is one of the fabrics my sister-in-law gave me.  I have more of it, so I'm sure you'll be seeing it again.

Here it is again with the plum trees looking over its shoulder.  Look at all those blooms!!

It's rather overcast here this morning, so the pictures are not that great.  The fabrics are not as dull as they appear.

Even inside without a flash it still looks pretty blah.

Now, that's more like it.  Another batch of leftovers out of my way!  I have lots more that I need to use.  Later for that.

I hope your day is absolutely wonderful!

Hugs and kisses,

                                             

The Benefits of Blogging - One of Them at Least

This is a grouping of 2 1/2" strips I put together to start making a quilt for our younger daughter.  What, you may ask does that have to do with a benefit of blogging?  Well, I took a picture of it.  And then I took one of the strips out and took another picture.

I think it's a definite improvement, don't you?  Probably (maybe) I would have figured it out without taking those pictures, but I really think the pictures helped.  Plus, I like to document the quilts I make.  I enjoy going back and looking at them, because most of them do not live here.  Most of them I've given to someone else.

I've made some more of these Disappearing Sixteen Patches. 

The cheater panel on the back of the chair is a big piece and will be the backing.  The purple-y piece to the right will be sashing.

And on the quilt frame right now is this one for our den.  I made its mother last year and this one is made from leftovers of that one.  The one I made last year was for a cover for the couch in the den.  When you have as many pets as we do (2 cats and 2 dogs) and they all live in the house - you cover as many things as you possibly can.  Of course that's not even mentioning the chickens.  Thank God, they live outside in their own house!

Anyway, I've made a start at quilting it.  I think it's kind of neat that it will match the cover on the sofa.

Bruno would rather be outside herding chickens.

And Chloe is pretty sure I could come up with something that would be interesting to her if I'd only try.

Mr Cutie Pie and I worked outside a bit today.  It was such a pretty day.  I am so far behind outside it's not even funny.  Lots of work to do.  Ho. Hum.

Hope you've had or are having a wonderful weekend, full of fun and interesting things and lots of love!

Hugs and kisses,

Winners and a New Project

I did not have a very large response to my giveaway on the tissue holders so I've decided to give one to each of the four ladies who left comments on the post:  Susie, Angela, Margaret and Susan.   I hope you enjoy them!

Above are some squares I've been sewing together tonight.  I saw a most interesting tutorial on Stash Manicure this morning for a  Disappearing 16-Patch block.

Of course I had to try it.  Couldn't resist.  Didn't even try.

Here are two of the sixteen patches, cut into quarters and assembled in two possibilities.  There will be more options when I get more blocks made.  You like?

Have you found something interesting to try today?  Hope so!

Hugs and kisses,