Re-grouping

The roof is done and the clean up is done. so what do we do now. Well there is mowing, cleaning in the house. I have laundry going and yet it feels like I'm forgetting something.

We have some leftover shingles so we are trying to decide what to return. we have another project for a small porch roof to do and we need to layout the amount we need and send back the rest. Maybe about $150 worth of returns to do.

Allergies are going wild today because we haven't had rain. Grasses, Dock, and Plantain are on the high side right now in our area. Plus we have had a lot of wind. So will try and clear my head and get the show on the road today. Chris

Tried a couple of these

My 4-patches were just naked I thought. So I added courthouse steps to them to make bigger blocks.  

The 4-patches are 2 inch squares sewn into 4-patches. The courthouse steps are 1.5 inch strips. Remember I have tons of strips cut so it makes it easier to just pull out of the bin. I have a light bin and a dark bin of 1.5 inch strips. 

This makes an interesting block. This finishes at 9.5 inch blocks. I will try and make some more today in between returning materials and purchasing some others for the roof. We will be done with the roof on the garage today. Which is pretty good for old folks working on it. 

Beautiful day. Chris  

Some sewing, but not sure for what

I have about 68 of them done today out of all the 2 inch squares I cut the other morning. I'm thinking about using them as centers to a block. 4-patch within a square. Maybe will work that out tomorrow. 

The garage is almost done being re-roofed. Tomorrow it will be done. Now I need to figure out where to come up with the money to do the house. In the house early, last night was late. Wore out helping move shingles to the roof. Chris 

Managing Strips

I haven't sewn in days. Been to much going on. Need to get back into it and I decided to start with managing the strips. I have so much to do in there and yet I'm stifled because of all the confusion. I need to trim more scraps up and it is getting overwhelming.  

Micro managing the mess is my goal. Today I need to get some surfaces cleaned and ready to do some more work done. 

After two hours I got a bucket cut up. They are 2 inch squares. Yes I know small pieces, but that is what I enjoy working with. These scraps were from my Thrift Store purchases. Little or nothing for a great selection of quilting fabrics. Not something you find every time you go out and find. But keep looking never know what you will find. Chris

Grandpa's

What Grandpa's won't do to entertain their Little Princess. This is a foldable shopping cart my MIL had in the assisted living place she lived. So we set the 17 month old in and walk her all over. They brought it into the house and she was in seventh heaven. 

Then he ran her up and down and up and down the ramp on the deck. She squealed. She was so tired I'm sure she went to sleep and just crashed again. Has to have the visor on now when she goes out and follows Grandpa everywhere. She really got mad when she had to stop to eat and also to leave. Grandpa was dragging last night after she left.  He even fell asleep in the chair. 

Memories of times with Grandpa. Chris 

Shed is done

The roof is done. The humidity is so thick you can cut it with a knife today. Therefore I don't think we will be out for very much time. The roof looks great. It is a saltbox shaped shed so the back is larger than the front. 

As I was walking around to take pictures I

wanted you to see what 6 tomato plants looked like on the end of the shed. They have gone mad this year. We added crushed egg shells to the soil when we planted and it has made a difference. I will be canning a ton as soon as they get ripe.

Here is the front. I really like the look. We have to match all the building roofs on our property according to the rules.  

These are different then the 3-tab shingles that were put on it. They are made to look like shake shingles. It is a brown with a gray mixed in. The look is a lighter brown that way and will reflect the light instead of absorbing it like the black ones did. 

Through out doing this Autumn has been here. She took one nap yesterday and out in the heat off and on. She sat in my lap and was asleep after 5 minutes last night. We ate and I gave her a bath and she is still out almost 12 hours later. She was busy. 

She tried to figure out how to climb the extension ladder and I called a halt to that. She was fighting mad over that. She wanted to be on the roof with Papa. 

I made biscuits and gray last night. I made homemade biscuits and browned ground pork and cooked it with onion, black pepper and some salt and made pan gravy. She could shovel it in fa\st enough. Grandpa liked it to. I made the biscuits earlier and when the pork and gravy were finished I ladled it over the top. Easy meal, but really tasty. Have some left over for today. Stay cool Chris

We got the roofing and he couldn't wait to start. I said do the shed first. Where we live the rules are you are to have all roofs the same color. The shed roof was ok, but this way it is all the same color. 

Up and down and he got the smaller side worked on in a few hours. These are different shingles than what was on it so they have a pattern to lay them out to look right. So it will take a little thinking to complete the process right. Kind of like quilting. This step first then the next one.  

 I have had my camera for almost 7 years and didn't realize you could focus it like this. I am standing in the same spot as what I was for the first two pictures. Now look out better shot will be taken. On the shed he is layering over the old shingles. They look like shake shingles and the color is better than what we saw as a sample in the store we bought them from.

The top is the old black ones which is being cover over. So today maybe he can get the back side done to reach the top and get the old ridge caps off and replace them with the new ones. 

This is the failing roof on the garage and you can see why we need to replace it. Believe it or not it doesn't leak. We had a contractor build the garage and the shingles he bought have been failing for about 5 years. The garage is only 12 years old. Of course he is out of business and the place where he bought the shingles is too. Sad when that happens, but it happens a lot. 

The weekend is here and we have the baby. Visitation time and I'm not thrilled, but if we can be outside some of the time it helps. Weather is suppose to get back to hot and humid today. Chris

Flowers

 This is right after a shower this morning. They all look clean and ready for the day.

Flowers are such an inspiration. Chris

$1200 for a roof

This was delivered at 8 am. This morning. $1200 spent on roofing for a garage. It is asphalt roofing which costs a little more. 

We have to wait about 4 weeks to get a dumpster. Then the rip off begins. I can't imagine it cost that much, but fabric is $14 a yard why wouldn't roofing be that much...... Chris  

All 10 complete

They are all complete. Yesterday when I went to the appointment I forgot my thimble. Also as it was I wouldn't have gotten anything done because it was a quick appointment. She was done and out of there in 15 minutes. No wait and no fuss. Things went so well it is amazing how they have advanced surgery in the last few years. 

Here is all 10 of them. We own a lot of wood tables and I hate water rings on my tables. Needless to say I want a coaster. My coffee cups are ceramics and the bottom ring is rough and this also protects the finish on the tables from scratches. Taken a while to finish, but they are complete now. 

This was a Dollar Store find. lots of years ago. I use to place paper napkins in them. It was forest green and wicker base. I painted it flat black and placed all the coasters in it so they are available to grab and use. These are washable and yet it was all scraps that was used. Waste batting and some older clothing thread that was used to. The gray binding on the one on the table was the cut off from a quilt back when it was finished being machine quilted. Nothing was new all older stuff or scraps leftover.

It is raining here and looks like it might for the better part of the day.  We have been waiting on a shipment of roofing materials to be delivered and of course it will be today in the rain. Chris

Why?

Not had a couple good days personally. Nothing is physically wrong, but I'm in a slump.

I feel like a firefighter constantly putting out fires and not getting it all done. The bank isn't doing the right thing with my Mother's accounts. I can't please my sister over information about my Mother. A bill that I thought would go down didn't even though I cancelled part of it. Pro-rating it for a couple months. Insurance is not fair. Never enough money to do the things you need to do let alone the things you want to do.

My Mother said there would be those days, but she never told me there would be this many. I know find something else to do, but easier said than done sometimes.

I think reality has hit me in the face and I'm not liking what is going on. A neighbor died on Monday and he lost his wife just 20 days prior. Is there any justice for all the sad things in life.

You open the webpage and all the air accidents and the shootings in public places. Children dying in hot car needlessly. Why?     Chris

More hand stitching

First off thanks for all the well wishes for my Mother. She did well and also was glad it was over with. Hopefully she can get back to seeing better and enjoy the remainder years she has left being able to see well. 

I took this hand stitching with me and got 5 done while waiting. I finished two more yesterday while waiting on supper to get done. I have a waiting period today while we have a recheck at the eye clinic today. So maybe I can complete the whole 10 of them. 

These are crazy scrap 4.5 inch squares I made awhile back. I bound them with 1.25 inch strips. No mitered corners. I wanted less bulk on the corners for glasses to sit on. They are generous coaster sizes to be used on my wood tables. I used my decorative stitches to do the quilting when I sandwiched them together. These are small scraps I sewed into fabric with 1/4 inch seams and it is fun to do. I paid for all the fabric once why not use it all up. 

These would make nice hostess gifts or stocking stuffers. I plan on making more for the daughters -in-laws for Christmas gifts. Yes Christmas gifts it is just around the corner. 

Beautiful today so plan on taking advantage of the nice weather. Chris    

Surgery went fine

The prep for the surgery took longer than the surgery. She went back for surgery at 8:20 am and returned to the room by 8:36 am and we walked out at 9:04 am. She had no troubles for 86 years old.

Is it morning yet?

Still dark out. It is 3:33 am . I've been up since 2:45 am. Worried about over sleeping. Have to be on the road at 5:45 am to get to my Mother's. She lives about 15 minutes away and then off to the hospital for cataract surgery. This is the second one and she should be good to go after this.

Going for second cup of coffee here and then I will get ready to be out the door.

We were suppose to have storms and they went around us. Cooler temps for the rest of the week. Which doesn't hurt my feelings. I would like to turn off the A/C.

Plan on taking some hand stitching this morning. Will make the time go faster. Off to the sewing room to add some more binding to my small coasters I made. Chris

Heat indexes are 108F degrees

Have done a lot of odds and ends. Went for gas and and mailed a belated birthday card. Cleaned out the coffee pot. Did some hand stitching ready for more binding to take along tomorrow. Two loads of laundry done. I think everything is ready to be gone tomorrow. There are leftovers for my husband to eat and it is suppose to be cooler tomorrow.

Supper is cooking now. Salad and a ham steak. I cut mine up on the salad and have everything in one bowl. I just turned on a light in the house to see what I was typing.

No real sort of sewing has been done. Tonight is all reruns on TV so maybe I will go in and try to clean a little to get ready to sew after I get home tomorrow.

My Mom made out so well with the last surgery all I had to do was drive her back to the office the next day to get her eye checked. It is amazing they can do this surgery as out patient and be home 45 minutes after surgery.

Stay safe if you are having storms and try and stay cool. Chris

What is wrong with me

There is a storm coming and I'm like the cows in the fields that ram each other or torment the one standing next to them. The barometric pressure is playing havoc with my mood. Yes you can predict a storm by the actions of 

livestock in the fields or pastures. It looks like kids deliberately pestering each other.

Today I have to find something to do or I will go mad. Tomorrow is tied up and today I can't do anything, but housework and sewing. Is that so bad? No, but I need to settle down to get started. The was is started, the dinner meat is out of the freezer,and I'm fed dressed and no where to go. Accept the sewing room. I want to get this done. 

I got some hand work to take with me to the hospital tomorrow and need to get some more binding sewn on my machine to be finished by hand. Wish me luck on focusing. Chris

Melt down day

No I didn't swoon or faint or get sick. It was hot and I stayed in the house. Suppose to be worse today. Well the last week of having a little one caught up to me.

I needed a down day to regenerate this old body. I even slept in. Can't do that tomorrow. Have to be on the road to my Mother's by 5:45 am. She is having eye surgery tomorrow.

We just didn't get much done. Jeff and the neighbor man went out and pulled the bean plants. They had developed so much rust on the plants the beans were producing. To much rain early and they develop that rust color on the bean itself. So cleaned up tilled and replanted for a second crop.

Today laundry and hopefully the mood strikes me to sew. I need to clean off the sewing cabinet if I'm going to machine quilt on the quilt I pictured yesterday. Take less than 5 minutes to get done.

I made a delicious dinner last night. Stuffed cabbage rolls. I used cabbage we grew and it was so tasty. My husband ate more than usual last night and that made me feel good he enjoyed it.

I blanched the cabbage leaves and made like a meatball mixture and rolled it up in the leaves. Placed them in the cake pan and poured a quart jar of tomatoes onions and green pepper I canned over the top and then I make my own BBQ sauce and spoon over each roll. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees covered. Make a side dish and it was great. The meatballs in the center I made cooked rice hamburger, onion, bread crumbs and an egg. Mix it all together and make little larger than golf ball sized meatballs and roll inside the leaves.

They are great warmed up the next day for leftover also. Not sure what I will cook for today. I need to get some running done in the next couple days and pay some bills and get some groceries. We are getting closer to getting our roofing bought for the the garage. Coordinating all of it on fixed income is not fun. Next year we have to do the house roof and that will be almost $1000 more. But it will get done. Stay cool and safe storms heading our way already this morning. Chris

Well I need to be busy

Well "Smiley" went home last night. She was glad to see her Daddy. 

Maybe today and tomorrow since it is suppose to be sweltering I will get back in gear and get this quilted. It is partially started and never finished. I need to feel like I'm getting something done. 

This block is started, but not finished. I really do need to get one of these completed. I start and don't finish. Bad habit. I guess I get bored. I have heard others say it happens to them also. Heat has returned with a vengeance. Heat indexes over 100 degrees tomorrow. Close to 100 today. Stay cool. Chris

Opinions on ownership of quilt pattern or block pattern

I have read many horror stories of nasty comments and battles over a block or quilt pattern. I just ran across an article that was dated in 2007, but still a current subject.

I read several blogs, magazines and websites of quilters just to let you know some are generous and others just aren't. I have noticed over the Summer issues of three different magazines that they each had a different version of the same block all color differences or border differences  with all of them having different name and yet they were designed on EQ7 by different quilters.

I have read recently that in one site it mentioned that the block was actually had a different name, but as this person teaches this block she uses her block name. Should credit be given to the original designer if known?
The next issue is who designed the square, triangle, rectangle and circle? Have we taken this a little far?

My question is why would you pay for a pattern or a class if the person didn't give you the right name, but instead their name? Is this correct or not? Would copyright laws work here? I don't think they would, but I'm not a hungry lawyer either.

Where do the lines cross and get tangled? Makes you wonder if you sell something to a friend are you breaking the law. If you buy a pattern or a magazine with a pattern in it should you make it can you enter it in a juried show? Some copy companies meaning office supply stores will not copy patterns if printed in magazines or patterns. When and where does it stop?

Furthermore how many squares, triangles, rectangles and circles are we using that we are not giving credit for them? Am I just being ridiculous or does this make sense? I do not own an EQ7 or any other computer generated program and not sure IF I really want one.

Giving credit on a label or in the text of a pattern is done, but maybe not enough. On EQ7 who do you give credit for that. I have read an article where two women sued each other over a pattern they claimed they designed with EQ7 and who owned the copyrights to it. Graph paper and pencil do they have copyright laws protecting them. People we are suppose to be adults. If you have re-named a block someone else designed are you breaking the law also.

Stepping down now. I think this is causing many to question why we make quilts. Are we here to out-do the next quilter or for the enjoyment of the process.  I'm not naming names, but some of you would be shocked at who changes names on blocks. Chris  

Look whose here again

Autumn Grace arrived last night and is staying tonight also. Mommy has a house in another town and it is getting a new roof today. So it is going to be to much to take her so she is spending the night again. 

Her biological Mother is suppose to come to visit today so we will see how that goes,. She feel asleep a few minutes ago so she should be in rare form for her when she gets here. 

Needless to say the sewing is not going on for now. I have some handwork I can do while she has her visit. The stress of this happening is not fun for me, but it creates less stress than Dad doing it. 

She went shopping with me this morning and we found a new seat for the new baby that is on the way at a garage sale. So we had fun. Well I should be sewing now, but I need to unwind a little before the drama starts. Chris 

Yesterday and today

Little feet in big shoes. All kids do it. She thought it was neat to step into Grandpa's shoes. 

The dancing 9's are stitched into 4-patches. Now comes the lay out to see if they look good together. I finished these this morning.

The mini 4-patches all cut and trimmed and sewn and pressed. This is the bag the scraps came in and they look a lot different than when I got them. They were all sewn funny and also not a true 1.5 inches. Now they can be used as cornerstones for sashing on other blocks. This bag was marked $3 and I got it for $1.50. It took some work, but was all good quality fabric. So worth the effort. 

6 shirts cut up and piles of fabric to be cut up. This is the next project. Maybe will get to them this afternoon. We have beans that need picking this morning. I'm sure that will be a large pick also. Going to French cut some of them to can. I bought a french cutter last year and it works well to cut them up for French cut Beans.  

These are my latest garage sale finds. The chicken is a $3 find and the crate we will not discuss the price I had the wooden eggs. It is sitting on my hearth. Hope you have a great day. Chris

Two days one night

Boy am I tired. No really wore out. Sleeping with a baby that rolls kicks and cries out is torture. Foot in the face at 2 am is not something you forget real fast. She went to bed early and woke up with a nightmare. Then she wouldn't settle down until she got in my bed.

Imagine that. Sleeping with grandma is more fun. The two older ones were the same way.

She had her second nap and she had sunscreen a visor and she is holding a cool drink in her hands off to the lawnmower with grandpa. We weren't sure if she would wear the visor, but she left it on her head and didn't even fuss over it. I thought it would shade her eyes. Need to get her sunglasses for being out in the yard.

She has grown up so much in the last year. She is talking some now and says most of her words pretty clear. She will be 17 months on the 2nd of August. We went shopping and bought 3T clothing. She is tall and has a  long waists. Then a neighbor brought a big bag of jeans in her size that were her great granddaughter's. So that will help out this fall and winter.

Still needs some hoodies and long sleeved shirts and she will be ready for cold weather. My Mom suggested looking at boys shirts. They are cheaper price wise than girls things are. No pink or purple, but the crayon colors are good no matter what. I thought I could add some small lace or trim of some kind to doll them up.   Also need to look for a pattern to make some flannel button up the front shirts. I think with jeans that would be cute also. Well off to the bedroom soon and watch a movie.

We have decided we are better grandparents then we were parents. I think it is because we have more time to spend with the little ones. Have a good evening. Chris

As you can see no sewing going on here. We went shopping. She was wore out when we got home so needed juice. She saw Minnie

and she loves Minnie. So we needed some bigger clothes. $80 later we went home.  

New shoes needed to be bought. She is growing so fast. We put them on and she didn't want them taken off so I guess they were comfortable for her to wear. She has been up already and back to bed for awhile. Bath day and get her dressed. Cool this morning, but suppose to start warming up again. Chris

Almost to the end

I made all the matching 4-patches. Well this is the end of the bag of scraps. These are the smaller scraps from the bag and I matched them up this morning and stitched the logs together. They are in the [process of being trimmed and segmented. There is a small pile of them finished on the left side of the pressing board. I can use these as corner stones with sashing on scrappy quilts.

I was surprised how far the bag of scraps went. You just never know what you will find when you thrift store shop. Yes it is older fabric, but all good quality. Scrap quilts use what ever you have old or new. Makes for interesting looks.

The baby is coming today to stay all day and over night. She is growing so fast that we needed to change diaper sizes and all her Summer clothes are not fitting anymore. Not a good thing half way through the Summer. Have to see what I can find to finish out the Summer. I walked away from clothing because I thought she was set.  Well fooled me.

Stay warm today. 50 degrees over night in July is crazy. We had a record low since 1962. Chris














 

Met my goal today to

I got the rest of the 4-patches done as you read about the last post. Then on to another project. I swept the carpet in the kitchen under the table and did the carpet in the living room and dining room. Then went onto shampooing the three carpets.

The stove was acting up and so my husband worked on it and the carpets are drying now. By tomorrow morning I will re clean them and it should be good for 3 months again. It wasn't really dirty just spots.

I have been cruising through the blog and found so many ideas for future projects. I found purses, totes, quilts, table runners, but I didn't find any extra time by looking on the computer. Needless to say I should just get in there and sew. I know excuses and I guess you could call time spent as inspiration.

Well off to do laundry. Chris

3.5 hours of sewing and trimming

To start with I had problems with the light the vintage sewing machine was giving me. So when at the Lumberyard/hardware store I found this little flashlight. It is LED light. Was $1.99 I hooked it to a spot on my sewing machine and boy do I have the light now. It takes 3 AAA batteries. No electricity so no cord. Also if you go to retreat and don't have good light this is an alternative.  

Remember the gallon bag with scraps that were sewn together end for end. This is the last of the pieces chain stitched on the long side ready to be trimmed and cut into segments. I finished the remake this morning. 

Here I need to cut apart and try to get them trimmed.

After trimming and segmenting and resewn together they made 145 2.5 inch squares. This is quite a few for a couple hours of sewing. Yes they are small, but they can be used for corner stones or borders. I also have half a container of smaller pieces I can trim and cut to make 2-patches of the 4-patches that would be all different. Next goal is to get that all cleaned up. Then my $1.50 bag of scraps are worth something to me. Yes I have time involved, but I didn't have to buy all  the fabric at original price. 

I read a blog where someone went to a thrift store and bought 4 totes full of fabric and only paid $4. So bargains are out there. Plus think of your blogging friends and pass off your cast offs. Everyone's got a friend who likes to fiddle with small stuff. Paying forward. Thanks to my friend. Shge knows who she is. Chris  

Met my goals

I got off my dead but today and met my goals. I rode my exercise bike twice, cooked dinner, went grocery shopping, picked up a lot of things, folded clothes, and sewed for 1.5 hours of sewing. Also I cut up 6 men's shirts, but I didn't repair the pants yet. 

This is a picture of the 4-patches that are 2.5 inches unfinished. There are 73 of them. I trimmed all the logs I sewed together and then made them into segments. I then pieced the two segments together. They are pressed and ready to be made into another block segment. 

I have another stack to un-stitch and re-sew them and trim to correct size. So maybe at least another 50 of them to go. Not sure where this will take me, but it is all the scraps from a gallon zippered bag that I bought for $3 marked 50% off so for $1.50. Not sure what I was going to do with them, but they turned out to work up well. One man's junk is another man's treasures. Chris