Are Y’all still there?

I started this a couple weeks ago but never seem to get more than a thought or two in before something gets in my way and then I have to start again.  Lets see if I can finish tonight…

Life has been very busy around here and this week looks to be about the same… so I best try and get this post done while I can that week was busy and I never got back here to finish.  My daughter is going up to MA without… let me be clear… WITHOUT the kids - so Granny and Pops will be in charge for 4 full days.  The two older ones are fine – it’s the Tornado baby that is the challenge.  There are 6 gates installed on the main floor of my house… and you still have to have eyes on him at all times… AT ALL TIMES!  He has been here long enough and grown just enough to be able to climb into and onto anything he sets his mind to… the chairs, couch, rocker… even a pile of boxes of stuff my daughter had ordered.  There was just enough space from box to box for him to get a toe hold and he was up a good four feet off the ground in no time.  The only cabinet door that doesn’t have a catch on it is the corner twirly cabinet that has the plastic stuff and pots and pans… up until today he was content to grab a couple plastic lids or containers and play with those… but he emptied both levels of the cabinet today.  I told The Engineer he needs to add a catch to that door as well.  It took me over an hour to put it all back – I was thankful I had just mopped the floor so I didn’t have to wash everything too.  Well I did wash the grater… the boy licked it when I told him to put it down – yeah the face was priceless as it wasn’t what he expected… he didn’t hurt himself and it was rather funny…

early in the unloading process…

gotta love the face… even with the breakfast mask applied…

and just in case anyone questions his ‘manhood’… skull & cross bones diapers and the ‘man tuck’ of the hand… LOL  The other hand was busy with his bottle…

Miss K will be starting school here on Monday and Kai will be attending a pre-school… goodness – summer is over already?!  Miss K is very ready – although it’s been fun going to the kids programs at the gym she is looking forward to getting back to a school routine.  Probably happy to have a few hours each day away from us and her little brothers too.

I got her started with some embroidery…

The boy enjoying some ice cream Pops dished for him…

And did someone day Pig Pile?

Since it is getting towards the end of summer - would someone please tell my tomatoes to STOP… I don’t have time for tomatoes.  We are eating as many as we can – I am cooking sauce and making salsa and throwing them away if they even look a little bit questionable.  If I had known I would have so little time on my hands I wouldn’t have planted a garden – I don’t water or fertilize anymore… and they just keep growing!  LOL  We have enjoyed our fair share of zucchini (those plants have died – yea!) we did not get nearly enough cucumbers for my liking, we enjoyed a few melons the chipmunks didn’t make houses out of, there are a fair number of red and yellow peppers which have been delicious.  I wanted to be able to can some blackberry jam and syrup… but I’m not sure that will happen.  Maybe I should go ahead and get some berries to cook down and then once the kids get into their school program I can pull the sauce out of the freezer and can jam and syrup.

Oh and in my last post… a month or so ago… I should have given some details on my Crayon Challenge quilt but didn’t have the info with me at the time so I posted without doing anything other than showing a picture of it.

The pattern is Russian Rubix from Prairie Grass Patterns.  Although I loved it when I bought the pattern and I had fun picking out all the prints.  It was a challenge to make.  The pattern gives you a template to use to cut the octagons from 3 3/4 inch squares… really??!  I suppose that size is what is necessary in order to get to the final size… but starting with a 4 inch square would have been so much easier.  I considered having a acrylic template made – but chose in the end to make up a paper piece pattern and work with that.  I am very happy with the end result but it was a good bit of work doing all the trimming that goes with paper piecing.

My colors were cerulean blue, olive, and yellow orange… the border print was perfect.  A ‘block’ is made up of two of the octagon units with 2 small white corners and 2 large white corners.  Four of those are put together to make the circle.

Yes Professor… if you see this I’d love to get credit if I can – I need to review my list and update things – not that I’ve had any time to get into the sewing room recently. 

I do need to get this posted before the kids return from Karate tonight…

If you never hear from me again – well… you’ll know we didn’t survive Momma being gone 4 days... LOL

And So She Sews…

And boy does that feel good… well outside of the fact that standing still (ironing and cutting) uses my knee differently and made it a bit sore in different places.  But I can at least sit with my feet planted in front of me for a period of time and that felt really good.

Really a post about quilting!  Can you believe it?  Yeah, me neither!

Anyhoo – this is what I’m working with…

This is the 3rd year for a gathering of quilters here at my house – we call it Howdy’s HoeDown.  Hokey I know – but it is what it is!  LOL  The Challenge this year was to use the fabrics handed out in a quilt top.  I had selected 3 fabrics (yellow, green & pink) and then combined 2 of them in each package -  a 2 yard cut of one fabric and a half yard cut of another.  You can add whatever else you need to end up with a 60 x 60ish size quilt.  My fabrics are the yellow and green and although I had a plan and other fabrics picked out last summer – I shifted gears and selected an easier design and picked up new fabrics last week to work with.  I have the blocks completed and into rows.  Today I’ll have a top… and I’m happy with it!  But I can’t show you pictures of it until after the gathering!

I have turned in both the July and August Calendar Quilts… but I only have a picture of one of them.  This is August.  I’ll get better pictures – those bees really are yellow.  Although I had quilted the first 4 – those done since I busted up my knee are just assembled and fused – I’ve not done any of the decorative stitching nor quilted them.  Next week I’ll go back to the shop and get the fabric picked out for Sept. & Oct. so I can get them going.

I’ll have to update my Quilt University list next week when I get some pictures.  Actually I need to go in and refresh my memory as to what I wanted to work on – I think I’d like to try and catch up by attending ‘summer school’… LOL

Only a quick note about my knee… I saw the Dr. this past week – 4 months post surgery.  He said I’m doing very well considering the extent of my injury.  So I continue with PT – I’m now at 125 degrees of bend – with them pushing on it.  Functionally what I can easily bend it to with my own lame muscles is about 115.  I’m not content to stop there… I want my knee back… I want it all back.  I still have swelling and discomfort but that’s all part of the therapy – I’m challenging it every day so it stays a bit annoyed at me.  The water therapy I’m doing at the gym is wonderful for all of me and I’m slowly adding to the ‘circuit machine’ exercises I do – I really need to add ‘core’ exercises and now that I’m stronger in general I can do that – PT has now OK’d my adding some of the leg machines in as well since we started those this past week in therapy. 

I don’t think I’ve ever exercised this much in my whole life.

Life and University Updates

The holidays are over and it’s time to get back in the swing of things.  I certainly don’t want to mislead you into believing I’ve been very productive recently… I haven’t.  The little tree is still sitting here on the dining room table waiting for me to go find the box it belongs in… everything else is put away – but not the tree.

I spent one recent Saturday in the kitchen cooking up a storm… a crock pot full of beef short ribs – 3 meals put away and one eaten that night.  A large pot of Spaghetti Sauce made up – several containers frozen and we enjoyed a couple meals that week.  I don’t know about your family – but my husband could eat spaghetti every day.  I cooked a big pot of vegetable beef soup up to put in the freezer for The Engineer to take for lunches.  I was seriously out of lunch stuff for him.  I also cooked up a big pan of pork chops and sliced potatoes… that divided up nicely into 5 meals – 4 went directly into the freezer.  Hmmmm lets see – what else… I cooked a nice pot of red beans and rice but we ate it all before the week was out – so no lunches set aside… but it was sooo good!  I saved out some of the hamburger meat (from spaghetti) and made up a Sheppard's pie for the freezer.  Needless to say I was tired of cooking that day!

Before the holidays I did have a couple things that I finished but didn’t report on at the time.  My grandson got his Swimmies Quilt for Christmas – somehow I managed to not get pictures – but my daughter will be bringing it back this spring when they come to visit… we need to decide what to do with their little fishy eyes!  And I need to get a label on it too.

I finished the Buggy Barn quilt…

The colors don’t show as nicely in the picture - it’s a sample for a class in a couple weeks for this coming weekend (how’d that happen so quickly?).  It’s done in creams, pinks, and chocolates!

I’ve also gotten the tops done (not quilted yet) for the March and April Calendar Quilts… they are cute – I’m going to just do an all over stipple to quilt them – I’ll post more pics when they are quilted.  Click on Calendar Quilts to go over to that page… it’s also listed on my side bar --->>> over there… on the side.

I have two thumbs to knit and I’ll have 2 pairs of fingerless gloves done for a couple of friends.  Now I’m working on some mittens for my husband.  He has problems with carpal tunnel so is quite fussy about things on his wrists.  I got about 2 inches past the cuff and had him try it on… too tight so I unraveled it and made it bigger.  I should finish up the first mitten tonight and be able to start on the second one.  I’ve had the yarn for about a year… I think he’d also like me to finish the socks I told him I’d give him.  It’s the first pair I started… got one sock done but it was a bit too big for me.  Rather than undo it I told him I’d finish them for him.  LOL That was 2 years ago now. Oh well…

I’ve put the last load of laundry in – so my loafing time is about over.  Time to get out of my jammies… and make lunch… LOL

Roasted BS…

I laughed earlier when I uploaded a pictured and named it that…

BS was just easier to type than Brussels Sprouts…

Well the picture of the finished dish wasn’t any good… it was blurry and showed my dirty oven which is why you aren’t seeing it here.  But the Roasted BS was yummy…

Last Friday I picked up some ‘sprouts on the stalks’ from my favorite Amish Farmer at The Green Dragon Farmers Market.  See the sprouts there between the huge cauliflower and enormous radish… yes radish practically the size of baseballs!  And that broccoli… oooooh so pretty!  A head of yellow cauliflower came home with me too – I’ll make soup with it later today.

Then we visited the Amish Bakery down the isle… to pick up some sticky buns with pecans!  Mmm, mmm, mmm – so yummy!  The Engineer also loves ShooFly Pie…

Anyway – back to the sprouts…

I cut them off the stalk, washed and trimmed them.  Then I cut the large ones in half, sprinkled them with olive oil and a red/black pepper mix.  I mixed these up earlier in the day and let them sit in the oil/pepper mix for a couple hours before I threw them in the oven on a roasting pan.  I cooked them at 350 degrees… stirred them around every once in a while and left them to cook… until they were done…  (Sorry I know you hate it when I do that but I was doing other stuff and wasn’t rushing them.  When they were about done I had The Engineer throw the steaks on.)  Nicely browned on the outside and tender and mild (not at all bitter tasting) on the inside.  I liked the ‘heat’ from the red pepper… this went very nicely with the steak we cooked that evening.

You can Google Roasted Brussels Sprouts to see pictures and recipes… (most seem to cook at 400 for 30/40 minutes) I did see one link that mentioned balsamic vinegar… I may have to go back and try that one.

I cooked up a batch of applesauce on Sunday for the freezer.  My apples seem to be past their prime so I’m not going to spend too much time cutting things up.  I’ll probably make up some apple pies and a crisp today and put those in the freezer too. I think the warmer than normal temps have caused them to soften up too soon.

On Friday I finished up the January Quilt from Kim Schaefer’s Calendar Quilts.  I need to add some decorative stitching and then quilt it… but it’s assembled.  He’s cute don’t ya think?  I do have to add this project to my University list… there will be one quilt for each month. 

This weekend I also tackled the knitting 2 socks at a time technique.  I had ordered the Knitting Circles Around Socks book (from KnitPicks) after seeing it mentioned by Judy L’s blog.  I only restarted once… so far… It was really odd getting started but once the socks had some substance it was a little easier. 

I have only once (so far) picked up the wrong needle to knit with and ended up with 3 sections on the one needle.  Easiest way out of that was to grab a double pointed needle and move the sections off the circular needles and then put them back on the right needles.

I am working on the legs still… I’ll let you know if I’m still excited about this when I get to the heels.  Who am I kidding… nobody likes a heel…

It’s Show Time…

I’m headed out on Wednesday to spend the weekend at A Quilters Gathering in Nashua, NH where I’ll meet up with several friends to visit and sew.

I think I set a record today.  I had my suitcase (clothes) packed by about 1 PM today.  Then spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and tonight after dinner and voting I got my sewing stuff all packed up by 7:30 PM.  All I need to do is pick up my sewing machine at the shop in the morning and head out of town.

I’m taking several projects that are on my University List and should make some progress on them while I’m there.

Speaking of the University - I did complete the BOM Sample for the shop and have updated my University List and put some pictures in.

I’m not taking my computer so I’ll see y’all next week…

Unless I see you at the Quilt Show…

Switching Things Up

For those of you who follow along via a ‘Reader’ of some sort – you won’t notice that I changed the layout and background a bit.  I’ve chosen a different Blogger layout and since it is Fall I’ve selected a fall background.  Not sure how long those leaves will last – my plan is to throw some quilt pictures into the background but I will have to take new pictures to make that happen properly.

I’ve also added a ‘Pages’ listing over on the side bar.  I have my University Class Projects List there… that is where I’ll track the projects I’m working on and their completion.  I’ll still yak about it in a blog post – but that will serve as a ‘one stop shopping’ place (for Miss Professor Beth) to track my progress.  There is also a link back to the most current Blog page… wouldn’t want you to get lost.

I did vacuum top to bottom yesterday… not that it much matters because the dog tracks dirt in all day long.

I cooked up the last batch of tomatoes yesterday and made tomato soup out of some of it for dinner and froze 2 quarts of sauce.  The leftover soup we’ll have tomorrow for dinner – tonight I’m making smoked sausage and cabbage.  The leftovers of that will end up in a soup… mmmm that is really good and all you need to do is add some chicken both.

I love it that it’s soup weather again… mmmm, mmmm, mm!

And just a little moment up on my soapbox…

Wouldn’t it be nice if the candidates who make false claims about themselves and their competition had to then make a commercial and state what they said that was wrong and apologize to the public.  When I was a kid I learned a valuable lesson when I lied to a friends mom when I told her that my mom said I could come over to their house after school.  After I got home - My mom made me call that friends mother and tell her I had lied to her and that I was sorry.  I never did that again.

Why doesn’t the ‘truth in advertising’ apply to political advertisement? 

I’d really like this candidate to run a write-in campaign…

Noneof Theabove

I think they would win.

I’m stepping down now…

October?? Already?

It seems like it was just yesterday I was listening to the annoying AC units wishing I could just throw open the windows and let fresh air in.  Now those units are off and what windows might be open are open only a tiny bit as it’s rather chilly out there.

We had quite a bit of rain last week and topped off with 7 inches one day.  The ground was already rather moist so it didn’t take too long for the ground water to push up in three places in our basement.  I wish I had taken a picture or video – there was a river flowing (really – making trickling noises and all) from where it was coming in - right into a floor drain in two spots and into the sump pump in the third. 

We have always (for the past 30 years anyway) put things up on pallets of some sort… a lesson we learned long ago when water came in a basement of a house we were renting.  We only had to clean that mess up once to know we didn’t want to do it again.  We also firmly believe in sump pumps… they only have to run once in their life times to make them worth the money and effort.

On Saturday The Engineer discovered the well pit had about 4 feet of water in it.  Good thing he had shut off the electrical supply to that earlier in the week when he was doing some wiring work.  Took several hours with a portable sump pump to clear it out – but no damage done to the equipment down there.  The well water is only used for the outside spigots.

On the quilting front - I did have a finish last week.  This is Star Whimsy from the Star Savvy - Laps From Fats book by Good Intentions.

The first picture is of several blocks before final assembly.  I pulled all my fabrics from the same line – but a couple of the lighter fabrics are a bit too light from a distance and especially with a flash.

The colors are very washed out in this picture… seems the lights here are too bright.

This is my first finish towards a PHD at Southampton Quilts -  Quilt University.

I am currently working on a BOM for a shop sample so this should qualify under my ‘Work Study – Coop Program’.  I’ll have some pictures and details later on it.  Blues and Browns… uuummm pretty!

Oh and a cute fusible applique wall quilt… more details to follow on that.

Now I need to go clean my house… it so needs to be done.  I also need to either cook or throw away those tomatoes… somebody please make them stop! 

I think the next nice day I’ll go out and pull the plants up out of the ground – that will do it!

The One That Got Away…

A little more than a year ago I ran across this quilt whilst out poking around antique places.

I wish I’d had the money for it because I keep thinking about it…

It occurred to me when I ran across the picture again today that I could add this to my University list…

Not a whole quilt… maybe just some blocks to test out the pattern.  Or maybe make it into a bed runner?  Maybe if I put it on the list – I can stop thinking about it.

I did buy the Curve Master Foot at the Lancaster Show last spring… so I can’t use the curves as an excuse for not making it.  Hhhhmmmm?

It seems to be an Antique Extravaganza Weekend around here if one were to believe all the signs posted.  So The Engineer and I will poke around some places on Saturday and then Sunday we are going to treat ourselves to a Crab Cake lunch at a seafood place we like down in MD.  We haven’t been down there in over two years… although we’ve talked about it often. 

It should be a nice couple days for getting out and about to enjoy the beginning of fall. 

Who knows… maybe I’ll find that quilt again and I won’t have to make it!

Addendum: University Submission

At the risk of having my fellow students think I was trying to win favor with the Professor and earn my place as Teachers Pet by submitting a very sparse Course List for the First Semester at Quilt University… which by the way would have been a really good idea had I thought of it – I have an Addendum.

My list was sparse only because I’ve been sick and was too lazy to trudge all the way up to the third floor where all the evidence is my sewing studio is and the list I had started.  So I confess… I just decided to wing it.

Now I don’t want anyone thinking I don’t have stuff to ‘finish’… I do.  Most of it’s still packed though and since most of my stuff ends up as samples in a quilt shop – I usually move on to other things once the top is assembled – little ever gets done beyond that.

The last quilt that I completely finished was this one from Focus on Florals by That Patchwork Place… I worked on it while I was getting the MA house ready to sell and blogged about it – 3 years ago this month!  (And I’ll say I just wasted an hour reading through my life back then… aahhh bittersweet.) 

I finished it – sent it off to a long arm quilter in the area and it hung in the quilt shop for a long time – whilst I pack, sold my house, moved, packed and moved again, and then packed and moved again.  I did get it back – actually picked it up this year… wait a minute – it isn’t completely finished – it still needs it’s binding.  I’ve purchased binding twice because I didn’t really like what I selected the first time and bought different stuff when I picked it up… ADD THAT QUILT TO MY LIST!  (I will have to go hunt for the binding – but it’s up there).

Well this post has gone astray – I was going to demonstrate how long it’s been since I actually finished things by showing you the last thing I finished.  But even the things I’ve finished haven’t really been finished.  Hmmm and in thinking about that and bindings – I do have a confession.  I have several quilts that have bindings sewn on – and glue basted to the back – which in theory makes it easier to sew as it’s all in place and no pins or clips are involved.  Certainly makes them look finished but the glue basting doesn’t hold up well in the washer.  Ask me how I know this… there is a certain Circus Quilt involved.

OK - the Addendum.

I guess I’ll start with the bindings since I’m thinking about those right now…

MD – Focus on Florals – needs binding made and applied(picture above)

MD – Circus Quilt – trim threads from washing, glue baste the binding (again) and sew (somehow I don’t seem to have proof of this quilt? I’ll get a picture later)

MD – Homeward Bound from 30 (40?) Quick Cut Quilts by That Patchwork Place  – glue basted binding needs to be sewn.  Picture taken before quilting…

Trust me when I say there are many, many more that need finished bindings… when I find them I’ll add them to my list.

Here are some more of the things I believe I have on the list (upstairs) but forgot to submit…

PHD – Peas in a Pod out of a Kim Diehl book (brain not currently working and there’s that ‘stair thing’ so I’ll add details later), pieced blocks are done – only the appliqué to finish.  Only… Ha, ha, ha… so why did I stop?

PHD – Serendipity out of the same Kim Diehl book details to follow.  I have all the backgrounds pieced and am in the process of the machine appliqué.  This picture doesn’t show the pieced sashing but it is pieced as well. 

OK that is the Addendum… at least it’s the 1st Addendum.

As much as I hate that the antibiotic I’m taking now makes me feel bleah for a few hours and I can’t do much more than sit on this couch… I have been able to type this.  But I do need to get my self in gear… whether I feel up to it or not.

University Submission…

I have made my selections for this term at Quilt College at the University of Southampton.

I’ll be working simultaneously on both my PHD (Projects Half Done) and my MD (Mostly Done).

(MD) Swimmies Pattern by Lisa Boyer:  First up is the project that really does have a time line… it was due nearly 2 years ago when my grandson was born.  Now I don’t want to lead anyone astray… this top was finished long before my grandson was even conceived.  My daughter loved it and asked if I’d finish it for him.  Needless to say it’s still not quilted and needs to be finished and mailed before his 2nd birthday… he’s a turkey.  So I think I have enough time… if not it will be a Christmas gift!

Everything else is in no particular order…

(PHD) This is a kit I purchased at the Quilt Odyssey Show at Hershey this year.  Civil War Flying Geese by Calico Corner in Carlisle PA.  I don’t usually buy kits myself… but I could have walked away with every one of their Civil War line.  Pretty stuff!  Anyway – the geese won’t take long… and then I’ll have pomegranates to appliqué in the evenings.  At least that’s the plan… LOL  It’s also a wall hanging – so should be do-able.

(PHD) This is another find from the Hershey Show… Star Whimsy out of the Star Savvy Laps From Fats.  The quilt at the show in the booth was lovely… and they had sold out of all the books and kits.  I selected a Moda fabric line… but can’t remember off hand what it is… so I’ll have to tell ya later.  but the stars are looking lovely!  Everything for the stars are cut and bagged, and I’ve completed several stars.

(PHD) This is a Bonnie Hunter (Quiltville) Mystery Quilt free pattern I started more than a year ago… I pinned that third row of pieces onto the block a long time ago – and there they sit.  So if nothing else I need to sew those seams so that I can get the pins out before they rust…

(PHD) I don’t have a picture yet of Heart Crazy by Buggy Barn Quilts.  This is my second Buggy Barn quilt… I hope I love it as much as my last.

That’s all I can think of right now - that I have pictures of… but I believe we can pick up extra classes projects as the term progresses.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress!

New Week…

And the most important thing is we have some new air out there now.  Yeah – the AC is off and the windows are open… at least for a day or two.  It has been too, too hot and way too humid around here.  But the higher than normal heat has been the story just about everywhere… so I’ll stop complaining now.

I went to the Hershey Quilt Show this past weekend… and although I tried to not buy anything… I did come home with a couple a few several things.

The fabric on the right goes with the Civil War Flying Geese pattern on the left… oooo this was pretty… a little applique and flying geese – what could be easier?  And it’s wall hanging size so it should be do-able… this will go on my University Class List (although I’m afraid the point of attending was to get stuff done that you already had on hand… ooops! my bad!)

The top left pattern Maddie Bea’s is a pattern and template set that I found intriguing and thought would make a good future class… so I’ll tell you more later after I’ve had some time to play with it.

The other two patterns are charm patterns and were just too cute… so they came home with me as well.

I’ve made progress this weekend on my Aunt Grace’s Circle of Friends BOM sample.  You know I’ve never done a BOM and didn’t think I’d enjoy the process… but I have enjoyed making these blocks.  I have the pieced blocks done and am now on to the applique parts and then on to assembly and borders.

I need to get off the couch and get busy – maybe I’ll vacuum while it’s cool here in the house… or there’s always the laundry that doesn’t seem to do it’s self either, or I could pour another cup of coffee and go sit on the porch and watch the fish. 

Off to The University!

Yep… I’ve decided to take the plunge and work on a degree!

I know… everyone is sitting there wondering just where will I get the time to go off to school?

Well – worry not… I’ll be an online student!  I do not even have to leave my house much less get out of my jammies.

The most exciting part is that I’ve been personally invited to enroll by the Professor who is in charge of this particular program. 

Although I was quite excited that she thought I was worthy… I’m really not as smart or talented as she may think.  I’m just really good at bluffing my way through – but shhhh don’t tell OK?!

Now I have so many decisions to make… what degree do I work on?  An MD or PHD?  And what field of study?  I’ve dabbled in a variety of things over time… I hate to brag but I’ve done some work in History, Finance and Fashion (to name a few) so I could finish up those.  But there is also the lure of Agriculture and the Culinary Arts.

OK - so you want details?  I’ll be attending the University of Southampton… cool huh?

No - not The University of Southampton in the UK… I’ll be attending the Quilt College at The University of Southampton (aka Southampton Quilts). 

Their PHD (Projects Half Done) and the MD (Mostly Done) programs are quite appealing… I really could work towards both degrees with little more effort than unpacking a box and pulling out a few projects!

I have to ‘declare my major’ and submit my project list to ‘Professor Beth’ by September 15th as school starts in October!  Although I’ll be an online student… I hope to make it up to the campus to attend a class from time to time.

I know many of my fellow students and am quite honored to be working along with them towards our degrees.  (Hi Ladies!)

I’ll keep you posted as I go along… but for now - I need to go poke around in some boxes.