Decision made

Still no sewing done. I made a decision. I need to spend one hour a day in there cleaning and sorting and then maybe I would like to get a start on getting back into doing something.

We had the baby over night and she wears me out so I just collapsed when she went home. She slept with me and I got a foot in the face at 2 am. Funny as little as they are how much they move at night.

I didn't even cook last night. We went and got a sandwich and weren't really pleased with it. So won't go down that road today. Need to cook a decent meal.

My goal today is try to get on the exercise bike twice even for short periods of time and also clean in sewing room for 1 hour. Longer if I am driven to do it. I have three men's shirts to tear apart today and then I have two pairs of jeans to fix for my son. That would be two piles cleaned up if I get to it.

Beans are going to have to be picked again in the next couple days. So I know what that means more canning. I want to make a salad for supper tonight. I make a lettuce layer salad with lettuce, onion, frozen peas, bacon cheddar cheese shreds and mayo. Some recipes call for celery or green pepper, but I cut that out. Layer the veggies place the bacon crumbles on the top and mayo to. Mix before serving. We really like it instead of potatoes and or rice dishes. Then I have some thin cut rib eye steaks to grill. Sounds like a decent meal to me.

Hope you have a great day. Chris

Working with someone else's scraps

Lots of pictures. I'm using some elses's scraps. I bought these at a thrift store. no clue what the person was going to use them for, but I ripping them apart and resewing them.

As you can see they had the small seam sew end for end. I need to long seam sewn for what I'm going to do. 

After ripping them apart I try and pair them up for interest because they are going to be 4-patches

This is still a pile I need to rip apart and resew. I'm thinking she was going to make a brick quilt. 

Everyone's 1.5 inches are different. I know after frustration of the 4-patches not matching I measured and sure enough they were different. So lining them up sewing my seam and cutting from the seam allowance. As you can see the red is showing out from underneath the yellow. They were suppose to be the same size strips. 

After measuring from the seam allowance that I sewed I now have a piece ready to segment into 1.5 inch segments. It was just s liver, but it makes a difference when trying to get this to look right.

 Here re my two segments all cut and ready to sew. Opposing seams and I'm ready to make 4-patches.

They are 2.5 inch unfinished 4-patches when sewn to this point. So if you are using unfamiliar scraps check you measurements. Especially if you didn't cut them to make sure they are to your specifications.  

I went back to the Thrift shop because my Mom wanted an electric typewriter and they had one reasonable. After I left there went to a yard sale and found these two items. They are 6-9 mos. in size. The new baby will be born in Sept. so we need Winter and Fall items for her.  

 The coat is so soft and really cute.

One piece snowsuit is nice and thick lining and has hand covers and footies all attached. Should be warm for a new baby this Winter. I got these two items for $5. Stay cool warm out there. Chris

Tried more sewing

It is early so I went out on the deck in my nightgown to get this picture. I know to much information. These take some time to make, but I like the business of them. They will be sashed with a calmer color. They are 10.5 inches square in this stage. Not sure if you can see it, but the small 4-patches are mostly two fabrics, but some I pieced are four different ones in the 4-patch. Makes the eye move a little more to find them. My twist on the blocks.  

A while back I asked about ordering used quilt books on Amazon. Wondered if the result were acceptable. I tried it with two books I wanted. I got this one in the mail the other day and it was fine. I think it was in a store and got opened and they couldn't sell it. Everything was there and it really in good shape, but reduced in price. 

I did order another book and it was used also. Rating on the reviews was really high for this seller and got no response and no book. Emailed them through Amazon at their request and no response again.  So you win some and loose some. I'm sure I would try this again, but not from the seller with no response. 

Thought over time I would make matching twin quilts for the new baby and Autumn. I'm sure growing up they will be sharing a room. Decided not to use white background, but maybe pale yellow. White and toddlers isn't good. Especially if they are tomboys like their older sister. Dirty shoes and fudgesicles don't work well on white. 

Suppose to rain again today. Was last night also and that didn't happen so we will see if it gets here today. Plan on trying to get some more sewing done. 

Have a great weekend. Chris 

Finally got to the machine this evening

Color on this is awful. Will try and take again tomorrow. I call this nearly insane. It is mini 4-patches sewn into more 4-patches then sewn into a larger 4-patch. I saw this on Pinterest and it was a vintage quilt. No credit was given for the maker. I tried making the first block with 2 inch squares. Nice sized when completed. I didn't have a lot of squares cut in that size so thought what do I have to make it scrappier. 

On one of my 50% off shopping trips to the Senior Thrift shop I found a bag full of 1 5/8 inch strips sewn end for end. Random lengths. So for $1.50

I got this gallon sized bag full of them. I am cutting two stitches and ripping them apart and sewing them together on the longer side. Trimming them to 1.5 inch strips and then cutting them again to 1.5 in. on the cross of the seam to make 4-patches. So they are 2.5 inches and then I used 1 inch strips to sash them together into a 4-patch block. Then four blocks with more 1.5 inch strips. This will be sashed together with other blocks this size with a 2.5 inch sashing and a 2.5 inch corner stone. I will try and get a few more of these made in the morning and see if I can't pick out a fabric for the sashing I will use through out the whole quilt.

Think a twin size for a couch quilt will work. I will be insane when I get to that point.  When I run out of these little strips I have tubs of 1.5 inch strips and 1 inch strips I can make into more elements for this block. I'm still making 9- patches to. I am doing leaders and enders at this point. Trying to get out of the boring process and do something different.

Jeff picked beans today and I canned 6 quarts. Six more meals of vegetables ready for this Winter.

Suppose to get rain for several days so plan on stitching and trying to clean another corner out. Today I went to the Senior Thrift store and they has 50% off clothing. Got three men's 100% cotton shirts there and went to my Mother's and their was a garage sale and gorgeous men's shirts all for a $1.00 and I bought 6 of them there.   What my husband doesn't want to wear I will cut and turn into fabric for scrap quilts.

Speaking of husband he is outside work on some wood working project. Maybe I should go see if the bugs have carried him off yet. Chris

OMGosh.....

Yes, I just read it Polar Vortex returning in July for the Midwest. Which I am right in the middle of. It is caused by the Typhoon in Japan. 7-10 day worth of way below temps. Maybe no A/C for that time period and we have a roof to tear off and  do. Cooler weather doesn't hurt my feelings in the Summer just in the Winter.

I still haven't stitched one stitch. I'm up early, but not interested. Maybe I will get beans picked and start the canning and while waiting on batches do some hand stitching.

Where has this week gone? Seems like just yesterday was Monday and today is Friday already. The vacuum is still sitting where I finished with it when I worked on my kitchen. Need to move it. Sometimes other things just get in the way.

We went yesterday to see about roofing materials and to get an estimate. We found the kind of shingles we wanted, but they were at the high end of our budget.  In about 13 days we will order them and get them delivered. We need to call around for a dumpster and see how much that is. It is bad enough to buy the materials, but then all the add-ons cost a fortune. Dumpsters, staples, nails, drip edge, tar paper, and food to feed the help. Hopefully nothing extra at the last minute will need to be purchased.

We found a lumberyard that delivers for free which is a good thing too. Some charge anymore. Always something when you own a home. Stay cool Chris

Nothing has changed

Still a mess and not sure if it will change today. We are suppose to get the baby today while Mom has an appointment. So she is not content to just play by herself because she wants to show off while she is here. 

Been beautiful couple of days and we haven't had the A/C on so I'm sure it will change today. Can't have to many nice days in a row. Storms tomorrow. 

My days are running one into the other here. Nothing exciting going on. Trying to not spend money so we can buy the roofing materials at the end of the month to roof the garage. I have about all of it bought accept the shingles and the roofing paper. Little here and there doesn't  hurt the wallet all at one time. The thing that will hurt is the dumpster. It has to be paid for upfront. It will happen, but will make it tight the rest of the month. We will survive. 

Off to get ready for the little one. We will have her over the lunch hour so have to come up with her favorite meals. Mac and Cheese. What kid doesn't like mac and cheese. Chris

Giving up on somethings

Remember yesterday I said I had computer issues. Well I had to basically back track and delete all programs that would add things to my computer. When a blog or Facebook has add-ons they are sneaky. you roll across them and they can potentially have adware and malware attached. I have browsed the web to much and I had over 25 different potential threats in less than 24 hours.

I had a Facebook account which is no longer and a Pinterest account which is no longer. Had add-ons for weather and other things. They are all gone. At this point if your blog or any website has to many ads I'm not following them anymore. I think they were the culprit. We want to pay for our time and ads seem like the right thing, but I'm even thinking the blog itself isn't worth the frustration of having to deal with all this.

I have anti virus and malware programs in place and they are used on a scheduled and random basis. So I'm going to be cautious for awhile and see where all this leads me. I by no means am a computer geek. All this is hard for me to understand some days. Hopefully your computers are safe and free of all this stuff. Chris