Minions

Dictionaries (I looked at several) define minions as fawning, servile, underlings; or lesser beings intent on serving their master's will.  I don't know about all that.  But.  I loosed my minions to work in the larger garden bed today.  The mustard greens are way past their prime and there are weeds everywhere.  They went right to work cleaning up the mess.  You may notice that one chicken is on the outside of the fence looking in.  After numerous trips up and down the fence line trying to get in, she finally went around to the side where the gate is and joined her sisters.  The brightest bulbs on the tree they are not.  But they are endlessly amusing.

It's raining again, so they have stopped work for now.

All this rain we've been having is making the plants and flowers happy.  I think they're still recovering from the drought last year.  Houston lost SO many trees due to the lack of rain.  This year, however, we are getting a very good supply!  Thank God!

I am looking out this very window and most everything I see out there is very green and very wet.

Last night I chose this bright sashing/border material for the little monkey squares.  Maybe I can get it finished tonight.  We'll see.

Also last night I got a new shipment of 1930's reproduction fat quarters washed, ironed and cut into 2 1/2" strips, along with some unbleached muslin.  I'm thinking I'll make another Strip Twist from these.  But probably not tonight.

Because tonight I need to pack.  Mr. Muddling and I are taking a little weekend trip tomorrow, just the two of us, for a little get away.  Always a good thing and it's been way too long since we had one.  I'll give you a report when we get back!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs and kisses,

Much Better

The tumbler is completely sewn together and pressed.  Now I need to decided what I will use for sashing.  Don't you love it when the inside looks pretty, too?

 

I've been thinking more about the little baby girl quilt, and I'm leaning toward a solid pink as a background for the pretty stitchery.  I think it still needs a narrow border of some kind in there, too.  

And this?  I don't know.  I was going to put these fabrics away after getting them washed and pressed and they just ended up sewn together.  Does that ever happen to you?  Seriously, I had no plan to start ANOTHER one.  But, we do have a great-nephew who needs a quilt, and monkeys just seem to say "little boy", don't they?

I usually release the chickens from their pen late in the afternoon to roam and enjoy a little freedom.  Frequently I forget to put them back in before it gets dark.  Then I have to go out with a flashlight to find Hetty.
The other chickens go to roost instinctively, but since Hetty is blind, she doesn't seem to know that it's bedtime.   I wouldn't like for her to stay outside all night long.  

Tonight I went out and found her and put her safely in the chicken house with the rest of the chickens.  I put her in a nest box, cozy and safe, listening to the contented murmurings of her sister chickens.  I came back into the house to clean their water dispenser and fill it with fresh water, then went back out and hung it in its place.  I had a thought that perhaps I'd better be sure Hetty was still in the nest box.  She wasn't.  Again with the flashlight and I found her on the other side of the yard.  That's what I get for leaving the gate open.  She's an adventurous little girl and knows absolutely no fear.  Bless her heart.  Ah, the joys of chicken herding!

Bruno thinks chickens are vastly overrated.

Miss Ru and I got our funny bones tickled so much earlier tonight reading Multicolored Pieces' post.  Her animals are about as, shall we say, interesting as the ones living here at Muddle Manor.  Nadia is a West Coast United States girl living in Tunisia.  Her life is an interesting one and her art is amazing!

Our Chloe is continually on guard against interloping felines in HER back yard.  She saw one on Sunday afternoon and I thought she would go right through that window.  Territorial, that's Chloe.

I hope you're finding plenty that makes you laugh.  A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, the Bible says, and I've found it to be true.

Hugs and kisses,

A Little Progress

I really AM trying to get some of these things out of my head and out into the real world.  On my new larger design wall I've added machine appliqued hearts and butterflies to some of the tumblers and sewn together the first four vertical rows.  Peeping out behind that design wall you can see the old one with some log cabin blocks I've had for way too long.

I bought them as a pre-cut kit years ago and sewed the individual blocks together, but could never figure out exactly how I wanted to use them.  Twelve blocks is really not enough to make much of anything.  Poor planning on my part.  Now, I have a baby girl quilt I want to get made and I think these might be just the thing.

My plan is to put Margaret's beautiful little stitchery in the center with the log cabin blocks around the edges.  I'm pondering on what I'll use to fill in the blank space between the stitchery and the log cabin blocks.  Ideas?

I have several other projects in various stages of  completion.  I like to finish one thing before I start another, but somehow I've got a lot going at once.  At least I got most of my clutter under control, so it's easier for me to see what I'm doing.  (Don't get too excited - it's only in the sewing room.  The rest of the house:  not so much.)

Are you doing anything interesting?  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

A Mom and Pie

I was looking through my new Country Living magazine last night and ran across a little blurb for a website called, "The World Needs More Pie.com".  Of course I had to go and see it.  (And seriously - I want some pie.  And no, so far I have not made one.  The picture above - because of course we cannot blog without adding a picture - is of the dried cherry pie I made a while back.)

Anyway, from there I wandered over to her blog and read the sweetest post about her mother.  It's worth the read.  Makes me thankful for the things I did right and sorry for the things on which I did not do so great a job.


Just because I love you and I like to share!

Hugs and kisses,

Sweet Surprises

I had such a sweet surprise in my mailbox yesterday from my very good blogging friend, Nanette.  She blogged earlier about how she had ordered fabric from Spoonflower printed with calendars and was making gifts of them.  And now I have one!  I love it, and I really love that I have something Nanette made, and it's right here with me.  Nanette is one of the most creative sewists out there, in my opinion.  I like her taste in fabric and I am always so impressed with her design sense.

On Saturday Mr. Muddling and I bought a couple of sheets of builders' foam and I made two portable design walls.  Now I can play a little more and these do not have to be attached to a wall.  Of course I had to put something up on one of them at once.  LOL

These are the larger tumblers and they are so much fun to play with - you can see that I have added more and rearranged.  And I'm still playing.  Maybe tonight I can start sewing them together.  I don't know who this one will be for, but I'm sure I'll find out.

It's a gray, gloomy day here today.  I'm glad I have lots of pretty fabrics to brighten it up in here.  Hope you're having lots of fun with your doings!

Hugs and kisses,

It's a Rainy Day

It's been raining.  A lot today, as you can see by the row of buckets almost full of rainwater outside my window.  I like to  use rainwater for my plants when I have it.  They seem to like it, which makes sense - no chlorine or other additives except what it picks up on the way down.






I keep hearing that old Sesame Street song going through my head, "It's a rainy day, it's a rainy day.  It's raining outside so I can't go out and play. Why do we need the rain anyway?"

After the drought we suffered last year - I don't mind the rain.  And I've been enjoying the sparrows frolicking around outside my window.  If you click on the picture above, you should be able to see there are several perched underneath the old wheelbarrow I'm using as a planter out there.  I know that a lot of people don't like sparrows.  I do.  Which is a good thing, because there are a lot of them!

There is, however, one less mouse in the world today.  And Chloe is so proud.  For such a dainty little cat, she is a coldblooded killer!

The fabric I ordered for the border of the little boy quilt came in the mail and it is now sewn on.  All I'm waiting for now is a name and I'll start quilting it.  I got some fabric scraps (I know.  I don't really need any more, but they sure are pretty.) from my sister-in-law.  They're washed and now I'll press them and try to get some tumblers (the big ones) cut from as many of the fabrics as I can.

Enjoy your weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Little Tumblers

I've been playing with these little tumbler blocks.  I don't have the die for this one and I don't know that I'll get it.  I ran across a seller offering packages of 100 of these on ebay.  I bought two packages.  These are quite a bit smaller than the tumblers I've cut and used in several quilts.  I think these finish at about three inches.  I've got thirteen of the horizontal rows sewn together, and I will probably try to use the rest of the blocks I have before pressing and sewing those rows together.

I finished this baby quilt top and did not like the final border I put on it.  I ordered some more of the blue that I used throughout.  It came today and I plan to use it for the final border instead.

I miss seeing Claude out there, but he seems to be well and truly gone.  On the plus side though, the birds are coming back to eat seeds outside my window again.  I do love seeing them and they feel safe there again.

Chloe does not know why they should feel safe.  She's sure she could catch one or two if I'd only release her from this prison.  LOL

 Speaking of prison......don't believe a word they tell you.  They've already been out running free today.

The camellias are in full, glorious bloom,

 and we have a fair number of paperwhite narcissus blooming in different spots around the yard, too.  I love their fragrance!

Here's a peek at some of the peach blooms that haven't melted away yet.

It's been warm here and rainy.  Springlike in fact.

I hope there's something pretty to see and smell where you are!

Hugs and kisses,