Well the Games can begin

Shopping. Black Friday is over and the fun and games of Christmas shopping has begun. I don't do Black Friday. I worked retail for 20 years and I have been on the other side of the coin when it comes to Shopping. The day is a nightmare. Shoving and pushing to get a bargain. I am not a Cyber Monday either. I try to get out early in the morning on work days when everyone is at work and take my time. I am sure everyone has a plan for their Shopping Experience this year. Hope you get all the bargains you are looking for. Chris

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone

Hope all of you can have a great meal and fellowship with Family and Friends at this time. We all need to be thankful for our health. The time together with your loved ones is precious. Remember to cherish the day and remember those that can't be home who are over seas and protecting our rights of freedom. I am Thankful for the chance to be intouch with all of you. Chris

Cabinet in the house

This is the new shelf. Now well I see I need to clean the
laundry room. Boy the housecleaning never ends around here.

WE got the cabinet into the house for my cookbooks. It is filled with the books and the extra stuff. The doors are on hold for now. My stepson and his wife came yesterday and said they liked it without the doors. So we will see may still happen. Yesterday I got my Computer room cleaned. It is a computer/toy/cutting room so I had several things to work around. Got all the dust and scraps cleaned out. Still not real pretty but more usable. I am not a good housekeeper just ask my husband. Chris

Ok spending way to much time on computer

Now I have the bug. I love to quilt and I love to knit. I have been looking at the blogs and the knitters are really giving me the urge to get out the yarn and needles and see what I can do. I have always been a plain knitter. I do cables and four needles and knit and purl without any trouble. I think! Well the socks are interesting to me and the turning of the heel is scaring me. I have a neighbor that has done a lot of knitting in her day. She says she will work with me to get through the turning of the heel. But then I have all this quilting I need to do. So now what? Quilt or knit? I guess stay off the computer knit in the morning while having coffee and do my housework yes the dreeded housework then quilt. Does that make sense?? There are two yarn shops about 30 miles in two different directions from my house. Maybe that is a bad thing. I have been trying to get my long over due baby fat off. My son is almost 33 years old. I know LOL! I have lost 22 pounds and still trying. Would like to get to a comfortable size that if I do get something knitted and I like it I can wear it for several occasions and since I don't go anywhere that may take years to get the several wearings out of the road. I am allergic to wool so the run of the mill yarns are all I can use. Oh well they are cheaper to buy also. I can' work any faster. I thought about a diet of coffee, but then I have to run to the toilet a lot. I can't win for loosing. What is a person to do?? knit quilt knit quilt oh well I am going to go stain my cabinet out in the garage. I will ponder the point at another time. Sound like Scarlet O'Hara. Chris

New cabinet for Cookbooks

My husband has been out in tthe garge making me a new bookshelf/cabinet for my cookbooks

This is done other than the doors. He is having trouble with one of them. I have stained it and ready for varnish. It will sit in the kitchen on the floor and house a lot of books and recipes.

This is my Grandaughter Christmas gift. I hand appliqued the flowers and machine quilted in the ditch then added some machine quilting in each block. I used The Cotton Theory to piece the blocks together. I mentioned this in a earlier blog.

Here is a closer look at some of the blocks.

There is pink, blue, purple, and green in the blocks. She has pink walls and pink and green curtains. I think she will like it. Her brother got a new bed when she didn, but she didn't get new bedding. So this will be a treat for her.
I still have borders to place on it and quilt then the binding will go on. The rag doll pillow will go in the room also. I plan on making the Butterfly pillow also for her room. Brother is getting a quilt also, but it is a plainer look. You know a boy thing. Chris

Annnivesary

My husband and I were first married Novemember 14, 1987. We later divorced and remarried not once but twice. We have a couple whom I hae known the husband since high school so over 40 years. They were married on the same day 1/2 hour after us. We are still very close to this couple and talk to them everyday. We have been through thick and thin with them. She was a chicken nut as I was and has since somewhat changed her tastes. She acquired a Rooster area rug and after she got it didn't like it. It is on the computer room floor. She gave it to me after I had made them a quilt for their 20th anniversary. This year would have been 22 yrs. for all of us, but 22yrs. for sure for them. So she was cleaning out things and found these dishes and glasses she had purchased and she uses them no longer. They were taking up cupboard space for her. So she knows I love Chickens so she gifted them to us in celebration of our shared day. She still feels we have been marreid as long as they have. Which in the same sense we have. There never was anyone else just a difference of opinions at the time. I really like them and I have cleaned my cupboard out and now my husband is making a book shelf for me to put my cookbooks on and I can use the empty cupboard for my old dishes which were chickens also. Hope you have a Clucking good day. Chris

Quilting

What goes through your mind when you quilt? My mind thinks about how things were done back in the day. When the day was I am not sure. It could be in the covered wagon days it could be the turn of the last century or it could be in the 70's when the quilting craze erupted again. I love to hand piece and hand quilt. Time doesn't always allow me to do this. In the winter months when the flowers have all faded away I find a comfort in sitting by the fireplace and using my hands to create. The warm colors of the fabric and the shapes they make are the light in my life at that time. Some days the dealings of everyday life can drag you down. When you pick up the fabric feel it take in the colors and the texture you get lost in the moment. Isn't it funny how we can loose our fears and anxious times in a piece of fabric or a book. Life can stand still if you are doing something you enjoy. I have become fascinated with new technics of quilting, knitting and gardening. I think the internet has changed my views of decorating styles and trends in the quilting world. I did a job that I had time for my mind to wander as I was doing my job. I would dream about the next quilting project I wanted to start and I would get lost in the moment. But do you know that the projects I dreamt about I have never done. It was an escape from what I was involved with. Have you seen the movie "The Bucket List" with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholas? Instead of a todo list they made a bucket list of things they wanted to do before they died. I think it is a good movie to watch. Rent it if it is available. You take away from this movie a different look at life after a certain age. Our desires and fears change as we age. We look at life different not through rose colored glasses as we did when we were still wet behind the ears. Life is grand and we make of it what we want. Go forth and have the Greatest Day you can and open your eyes don't miss anything. Painful or not it is your Life. Chris

Early Morning Stars are out

Well it is about 6am CT time. The sky is still dark of course and the stars are twinkling in the sky. Means it is cold out. But it is suppose to get to 68*F today. I love the fall for sleeping weather. Cool at night but halfway nice during the day. Todays twists and turns of the day are unknown to me at this momment. I would like to sew, but we will see. I have to clean the bottom of my iron. I made some curtains for my kitchen and the spray starch decided it liked the sole plate of my iron and it is a mess. Had to clean it off between panels as I was ironing them. Maybe the spray starch is old and it needs to be pitched. Oh boy this brings back memories of growing up with the starched white shirts and the blouses that had to be ironed for school and my Dad's job. My Mom hated to iron so guess who got the job. Am I telling my age now. Well I was born in the beginning of the mid century years. No perma press then. Believe me we were so happy when that fabric became available in the fabric stores. Today a sweatshirt and denim is my favorite appareal. Have a Great Day. Chris

Life has a way of interfering with my plans

Well my intentions were good. My days were planned and that didn't go the way I wanted them to. I get up in the morning and wait for 7am to show up. Call a friend and talk for a short period of time. Then pretty soon my mother calls she is up and we have to discuss her day. Then the phone rings again and it is the husband of the friend I called for my husband. They are buds and they talk rehash everything she and I talked about earlier. Guy thing. They talk like two old woman. And they say we talk alot. LOL Well then by that time I am ready for a nap. No I don't take one, but my day is 4-5 hours old and nothing accomplished. The next thing is getting cleaned up and ready for lunch. Heck I didn't have breakfast. So now what?? Lunch and then my only soap opera and on to really take a nap. Then up for the rest of my day. Which is shot at this point so who cares. Watch a little TV and Sew a few stitches maybe a load or two of laundry. Oh yeah was I suppose to get something out and started for supper. The phone is ringing again for the afternoon calls. Oh by the way my son has called and said he was online. So I spend an hour on messenger with him. Did I learn anything no. Same old same old stuff. Oh shoot I forgot to get something out for supper. So now what?? Scrambled eggs and toast. But then what will I eat for breakfast tomorrow? Maybe hot dog and pork and beans that are left over from the other day or was that last week and I forgot to throw them out. Ok They are not green so they must still be good. Gee it is 5pm now what do I do the evening news is on. Hot dog doesn't sound good eggs no way, How about a bowl of ice cream and choc sauce. Yippppeee. One question answered and happy with. Oh no it is almost time for bed. Guess what I have to get up and do this again tomorrow. Chris

Sewing but not quilting today

Finally got the fabric I ordered for the kitchen windows. Well it is the eating area of the kitchen. I wallpapered and kept looking for something to put up at the windows and found fabric I like and they didn't have enough. Still have the window over the sink to do and then a Rod for the door window has to be purchased to make them. I have bought fabric for the table cloth and hexagon flowers made to stitch onto the top of it. Looks very Country now.

This was fairly easy to do because it is woven and not printed fabric. So I cut on the weave and got a straight cut each time. It is Ecru and Cranberry Red Check 1/4 inch, or Turkey Red was the color of the thread. It is a Homespun fabric and I like the look for the kitchen. Tomorrow I am off to my son's. He has some new windows that need paint on the trim work on the outside. Also a new door and an old door that need paint. So Mom is the painter. Need to mulch leaves one more time before I put the mower to rest for the year. Next the deck will have to come off and the snow blade will have to go on. Not looking forward to that. Chris

Starting the process of quilting

This is where the Cotton Theory quilting method starts. You cut your backing 3 inches larger than your finished block. Lay the right side facing down.

Cut your batting the finished size of the block and place centered on the backing fabric. Lay the quilt block which is 1/2 half inch larger than the batting on the batting fabric. center all of them. The block will be 1/4 inch bigger on all sides than the batting.

As you can see the difference in the quilt block and the batting. 1/4 inch difference on all sides of the block.

Pin baste them together to get ready to quilt. I am going to machine stitch close to the flower and leaves and stems and then do my machine quilting up to the 1/4 inch seam allownace of the appliqued quilt block. Afte all the quilt blocks are quilted I will then show you the connecting methods that Betty Cotton used From The Cotton Theory Book. She has her book on www.cottonyard.com

I have gotten up the last couple mornings and started to work on this quilt. Today I got a call early that my son's girlfriend was in the hospital. so off to the hospital I ran. she is improving and I went to their house and recieved the deliveries that were coming for the remodel and I am back home. So here are the pictures of the quilt blocks as I sandwiched them together for the quilting process. I will add more pictures as this process gets further along. Chris

Funky Flowers Applique

Funky Flower Applique. These are just some of the blocks I hand Appliqued. They are several more for the quilt. I will show the process of quilting and connecting the quilted blocks in the near future.

A while back I hand appliqued these blocks. They are called Funky Flowers. Adapted from Janet Pittman's book "Applique' The Basics and Beyond" She has a series of blocks in the book and I adapted the corners to make more blocks and will set them together with The Cotton Theory Technic by Betty Cotton. You quilt first and connect second. http://www.quiltyard.com/ . This will be a pickup project and I need to get it done before Christmas for my Grandaughter. Chris

Daylight Savings Time

Oh well I don't really know who it helps. Was suppose to help save money for the schools and the factories. I got up my usual time and now I am ready to go to bed. I have been givien some apples and going to make some apple sauce tomorrow. Haven't done that for several years. Sounds good to me. My Mother is having some trouble with her meds and need to keep an eye on them. She is not feeling the grestest and if it means an extra banana then we will do it. My sewing machine is yelling at me and I never seem to get in there to get anything done. WEll I am going to go in and sit in my chair and relax and hopefully I don't fall asleep. Chris