Sometimes

Sometimes, you just want to lay around in the sunshine and be glad it's stopped raining.

We've had a lot of rain here. None in our house, thank God, but plenty of people have had that awful experience. Our patio got a bit of water, but that's no biggie. It's gone now.

I pulled a bunch of 2 1/2" strips Tuesday night and started sewing them into units of four and then sub-cut them into squares.

Before long they turned into this. Mr. Muddling asked me to make a quilt for a little girl on the way to a niece of his coworker and this is it. I got it all sewn together and quilted. Then I took it into the cutting room (aka, the dining room) and trimmed it, never bothering to look at the back until I took it back to the sewing room to sew the binding on it. 

Big mistake. Now there is lots of ripping to be done and re-quilting before it will be ready for that binding.

I am working on that, but in the meantime I thought I would start putting these houses onto blocks. I've used the Go! cutter to cut these and ironed them on to 10 inch squares with Heat n Bond Lite. Of course, I still have to sew all around them. I may have bitten off a little more than I want this time, but we'll see.

I had a very sweet email from the Volunteer Team Leader at our local airport USO this week. They only have two of our quilts left and she wondered if we could make more for them. Of course we can. 

I had this one done except for the binding, and now that is done. I have more ideas and will try to get more made in a hurry. It helps that I have some components done and ready to put into new quilts.

A closer look at some of the fun in this one. I like to think of a soldier getting a smile from some of these. It makes me happy!

It is a beautiful day here after all that rain. Mr. Muddling has been out mowing the lawn and making everything look wonderful again. He's a blessing to me!

I hope you are having a weekend that makes you happy. There are always things for which to be thankful, aren't there?

Hugs and kisses,

Neighborhood

I made this one by combining two ideas from the book, Quilts for Scrap Lovers by Judy Gauthier.  As I was making it, I had that "knowing" that it was to go to a man who has been going through a horrific battle. He's been given up to die more than once, the family called in to say goodbye, and yet he's still here. God has truly done more than one miracle for him. He still has a long way to go, but I am so happy for him and for his family who have stood so firmly by his side through it all.

There are such fun little houses throughout the quilt. They are a tangible reminder to him of all the households who have been and still are praying for him. His daughter has done such a remarkable job of rallying people through a facebook group to pray for him.

I especially like this reminder that we are all HIS sheep! I am so thankful He hears when we cry out to Him and that He is still in the healing business!

Lots of happy pretties out in the yard, including lots of weeds. We'll just look at the flowers though! At the top left is a picture of the packaging of the new bird feeder we just bought. It works!  When squirrels try to get seeds out of it, it closes. You can see the one we hung in our yard in the third row. The last picture on the right includes a very nice surprise Mr. Muddling brought me yesterday - carnations! They are so pretty! The picture just before it is of some of the gardenias from our garden. They are now busily perfuming the sewing room. Oh, how I love that fragrance!

There are so many wonderful things in this world of ours. I know there are bad things, too, but I choose to put my attention on the good ones!

Have a blessed and happy weekend, my friends!

Hugs and kisses,

Happy Spin

This is the quilt I couldn't show before. It was a surprise for a friend of ours, and it was delivered on Sunday. She likes it!

This is my take on Katy Doughty's pattern Vintage Spin from her book Adding Layers. I'm calling my version Happy instead of Vintage Spin. 

The backing is this Jinny Beyer print that seemed to me happy to play along.

I had a lot of fun making this one. The blades are a mix of batiks and Kaffe Fassett/Philip Jacobs fabrics.  I fussy cut flowers from Kaffe Fassett's Suzani Embroidered, and used a machine blanket stitch to applique them to the center of each block. I made my blocks a bit bigger at 14 inches instead of 13 1/2, and made this one of 20 blocks instead of the original pattern's thirty blocks. It's still a good size to snuggle!

Lots growing and blooming (and just hanging out!) here in the land of Muddle. We've had some nice rain the past couple of days and we can see the plants are happy about it! 

I have now trimmed this one, but it still needs a binding sewn. I think it will probably go to the local USO when they need more quilts.

And this one has had borders added and is now loaded ready to quilt. Hopefully I'll have these two finished and get another post up soon. I have been busy, just not busy posting!

I hope all is well in your world, and that you have plenty of HAPPY where you are. With all the bad things we see and hear about, there are still a lot of good things, too. Lots of blessings for which to be thankful, and I am.

Hugs and kisses,

What Do I Post About When I Have Nothing to Show

I could show you this wall in my sewing room. I like all these things. Each and every one of them mean something to me. 

This is a cute little project I've started, but it's no where near finished.

Neither is this Scrappy Trips.

This arrived in my mailbox yesterday and yes, there are things in here that interest me, including this one on the cover.

Then, of course, there are the many boxes of components ready to be used.

And yummy, delightful fabric washed and hanging to dry out in the garage. 

Nothing earthshaking happening here, but still lots of good things all around. So many reasons to be thankful and happy. And I am. I hope you are, too!

I have a quilt ready to load and quilt. Sorry, I can't show you any of that yet.

Are you having a wonderful, happy time? I'm having a good time on purpose!

Hugs and kisses,

Four Patches that became Nine Patches that became a Quilt

As you might remember, I tend to make a lot of four patches as leader/enders while I'm doing other sewing. And then, too, sometimes I just want to sew something! 

Quite a while back, I had bought some charm packs that I never got around to using. Over time, my hands have developed a real dislike for unwashed fabric, so I washed - very carefully - all the fabrics in the charm packs. They still decided to shrink. I then

trimmed them to 4 1/2 inch squares. 

Coincidentally that is the exact measurement of  the four patches made with 2 1/2 inch blocks, and I thought I would try using those units to make nine patches. So I did.

And this is what it became!  That border fabric was waiting patiently in the stash, and it seems perfect to me. The whole thing went together really fast, and that's a good thing because the lady to whom it is going has a birthday on Monday. When her husband asked me to make a quilt for her, I told him I wasn't at all sure it would be ready in time, but I'm so glad it is! I hope she likes it.

The backing is this pink camouflage type print. I'm smiling when I look at it. I don't know what she will think of it, but her husband is a Vietnam veteran. She's a retired schoolteacher. Somehow it seemed to me that they had both been through the wars!

Here it is in all its freshly washed and dried crinkly sweetness, always my favorite shot of a new quilt.

There has also been some of this going on around here - wedges of batik and Kaffe Fassett fabrics being sewn into circles. I am loving seeing these come together. 

As you may have heard, we had some pretty intense weather in this area the first part of the week. There was a lot of flooding and damage in so many places here in the Houston area, along with many others. I am happy and thankful to report that we had no damage here at Muddle Manor. Lots of rain, but no flooding, thank God! He is so good to us always and we are so thankful. 

I do hope you've taken the time to notice His goodness to you, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Happy Quilt for Two Very Special Little Boys

You might remember here where I talked about nothing finished and showed some quarter square triangle blocks I had made. At the time I had several ideas of where they would go, but none of them was exactly "it". You know what I mean?

A couple of weeks ago my sweet sister in law gave me another batch of fabric she had gotten for me at a resale shop, and this chalkboard lettered fabric was among them. PERFECT! Don't you love it when that happens?

The orange rocket ship fabric in the borders and the green plaid flannel are both from Connecting Threads, and the binding fabric is a Deb Strain for Moda I bought years ago. It's croquet balls, can you tell?

Here it is all together, and as you can see Esmeralda has inspected it. I think it met her approval. 

This one is for our Pastor's grandsons. She loves them SO much and talks about them a lot. It seemed to me good to make this for them to enjoy when they visit her. I hope they like it!

In other news, I failed to mention that I added three "new" machines to the herd of them that live here. I know. I do not need any more vintage machines, but I surely do like them. What can I say? 

The top is a Singer Model 15 manufactured in 1952, the center is a Singer Model 404 manufactured in 1958, and the third is a Singer Model 457 manufactured probably 1969. I bought them all online from shopgoodwill.com, and they all worked perfectly after a little cleaning and lubrication from the wonderful Mr. Muddling. These old machines just make me happy, and I am so thankful to have a husband who not only tolerates, but encourages all my little happinesses.

So many things outside are making me so happy. Look at those tiny little figs in the upper left, tomato blossoms upper middle, tiny little lemon lower middle. And at the very lower right is our pecan tree!!! Would you just look at those leaves! Right above it are amaryllis just in glorious bloom! Happy, happy, happy - how can I help it with all that going on out in our very own yard?

Truly, the world is so full of things to enjoy. Our God is good. All the time. I do hope there are some really good things going on with you, too!  Because I love you.

Hugs and kisses,

Bright Boxes and Piano Keys

This happy quilt got finished last night and took a turn in the washer. Today, it went through the dryer and outside for its portrait. It is really bright, but I like bright, and that's a good thing since it will live here.

The backing is this flannel plaid.

And here it is in place in the den. (Notice the dog toys on the floor.)

And yes, they immediately had to try it to be sure it would work. I think it met their approval. There are three dogs and two cats who live in our house It's a matter of self defense to keep as much of the upholstered furniture as possible covered with quilts. When those quilts are bright and happy - that's just a bonus!

Little views around Muddle Manor. The cat on the chicken rooftop lives (supposedly) next door. He likes it here, too. 

I have started a new little garden on the kitchen side of the house. I can see it while I'm at the sink. Doesn't make me like washing dishes any better, but it is pretty anyway. Mr. Muddling fenced off that side so no marauding chickens or dogs allowed. I'm hoping to get lots more done out there before the real heat of Summer gets here.

I bought an Orange Peel die for the Go! cutter a while back and cut out these retro chintz petals. I zig zagged them onto 5 inch squares of solid fabric and sewed them together. The plan (as I laughingly call it) here is to quilt it on the sewing machine for a wall hanging.  

Behind it is yet another project I've begun. You know how it is. There is a never-ending supply of quilts in my head trying to get out!

The weather here is beautiful. I hope you're having some pretty weather where you are, too. Have a great weekend and enjoy yourself!

Hugs and kisses,