I am here no pictures.

I have been cutting back all the dead flowers in the yard. Laying patio blocks and pavers. I am wore out today. Maybe a day to stay in and get the vac out and also to get some stitching done. Making progress on the Christmas quilt for my son. Now I am sneezing. Allergies are acting up. If the weather holds out for a few more days I will have everything cut back. Then need to dig some ornamental grass out and divide. They can take over if you don't watch them. This one has been dug up before and it needs to be thinned out really badly. I have the TV on and the morning news is on. All you see is politics. I was so glad when the last voting season ended and here we are again. All the slander and back stabbing. Face it we are in trouble and no one side is right. We need to work to gether to get through this. Time they all grew up and got along. That will never happen. It is the fact the media is hanging on every word that is spocken and it gets twisted. My Great Grandfather was an avid political watcher and he would say the same thing happened back then. He walked 12 miles to see Abraham Lincoln debate. I guess I was told not to throw stones but own up to the ones that were cast if you are guilty. Have a Great Day. Chris

Who do I ask?

Who do you ask? Well the question I am asking is what kind of thread do you use? All cotton? Poly and Cotton? 40wt? 50wt? Lots of questions to ask. Do you use plain cotton to hand quilt with? Do you use a coated cotton to quilt with and what is it coated with Beeswax or conditioner? Machine quilting poly and cotton? All Cotton? Poly or rayon? Choices???

Where do you begin to look and get answers? I guess buy the best you can afford and try all the choices. I have a little of all of it. How about you?

Rearranging and cleaning somewhat done

This last week has been busy and rearranging of my living room. Well it is listed on the house description as a Great Room. It is 17ft wide by 24ft long. This half of the Great room is now the dining room. I had the Curio cabinet in the background in the kitchen eating area, but it was to crowded. So we moved it several years ago. It didn't match any of the furniture in the living room. More of the story is my Mother bought this table with 6 chairs and she is very short. The table top was to high for her to sit at comfortably. Plus the finish was wearing off. We found her another table she really likes and it fits in her eating area of her kitchen much better. So this one needed refinishing and my husband took on the job. We tried selling it and to get what she needs out of it for the price she paid for it we just kept it.

So we had to find a spot for it in my house. At some point my son will have it. The table has two leaves and it opens to 8ft long. I told my husband it would make a great cutting table. He said only if you can protect the top of it. It is solid oak. Most tables are veneer. I think I am going to look for the old fashion cutting boards that fold. Then I can place the folded board in a closet when not in use. The cabinet had to be cleaned inside and out. It was so clean and I turned to my husband and said it is about time for Brody the youngest grandson to come. He loves to stand and place his hands on the freshly cleaned glass to look at all the things inside. Sure enough they came two hours later, but I was lucky he wasn't attracted to it this time. Lots of not expensive things, but things from my Grandmother's and my Mom and Mother -in-law in the cabinet. Pictures of my family and grandkids also. Priceless to me and my family. They mean more to me. My son says he will take all that I own to the landfill when I am gone. Nice kid right? LOL Now I guess I have to make Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. Also I need to make place mats and table runners for this table. Better get going. Chris

Quilting and House cleaning

Fall house cleaning is in the process. I have two rooms done and today carpets get scrubbed. I do my own. I also am going to out and spread pre emergent herbicide on the lawn. The piecing I am doing is going quite well. I have 60 of the 100 blocks all pieced pressed and ready to sew together. I do need to cut some more 4 patch pieces to finish out the top. As I am sewing this together I am thinking about reusing this pattern with 30-40's prints and white sashing. Not sure I will do it right away, but it is possible to put on the to-do list. Funny how the to-do list gets longer and the finished quilts are still in the process and not finished. Doing better on that account. If you are like me the to-do list gets longer and longer everytime you log onto the blogs. Chris

Tip of the Day

This is a tip of the day that is cheap and very helpful. The fresh fruit and veggies that I have been bringing in the house attract small fruit insects. My neighbor told me to do this. Add Cider Vinegar to a small bowl and then two drops of dish soap to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

Punch a few small holes in the plastic wrap and set on the counter. The dark brown in the bowl is dead insect and the top left is a speck of brown and it is a dead one on the inside of the plastic wrap. I didn't think it was working and to my surprise this morning there are a couple dozen dead insect in the bowl. After a few days change the solution and you will be insect free in your kitchen.

More scraps and the end product

This is a WIP I started with the last quilt. As I was cutting I made 2 1/2 squares and also 1 1/2 squares. This is the 2 1/2 in squares sewn together in 4 patches and two 4 patches sewn together with a sashing piece.

Here is the finished block.
Here is the intersection of 4 blocks and the secondary design of the 16 patch block that is sashed. This will be the total top of the quilt with all the intersections of the 4 blocks for a quilt for my son. I see in the picture I have the upper left block turned the wrong way. At least I don't have to rip out they aren't sewn together. This is to be a Christmas gift so I had better get moving along. It has 100 blocks to make a king sized quilt.

This was an accident making this block. My husband liked the looks of a quilt in a magazine and I made it on the straight instead of on point and he liked it better. This is the same block as the Ugly quilt I have in progress for his room. That will be the next one to finish. Chris

Finally

To start out I am dog sitting my son's dog. She is a Blue Healer and her name is Bashful. She is 3 years old and still kinda hyper, but a good dog. Typical dog likes to lay where she can see you. She is a spoiled dog when she comes to Grandma's house.

This is my most favorite product on the market. I use these when I wash my quilts to collect the color out of the wash water. I washed my quilt this morning and the purple color on the rt side it the sheet after washing the quilt. They do work.

This is the finished washed quilt. Lots of hours in this one and the use of all the scraps makes me feel like it didn't cost to much to make.

All I had to buy for it was the batting and the black fabric. Otherwise it was scraps I had here in the house.

This is the back of the quilt. I was given the backing from my Mom she had bought it for another quilt and didn't end up using it.

1200 yards of thread were used in the machine quilting on this quilt. Now I have to clean. All kinds of thread ends all over the house.

This isn't where this will be used, but I thought it would look good on this bed. It is going to be used on the couch. My husband sleeps on the couch most of the time and the couch quilt has seen better days. I will keep it for a throw when we have the grandkids, but it was fading and also the stitching is breaking on the quilting. Lots of diagonal quilting was done on it.
I am so glad this one is done. A couple set backs and finally it is done. Chris