No Peeking

I am still working on Carolina Christmas parts. The layout was posted on Monday and I vowed I would not peek. I accidentally caught a glimpse on someone's blog and my friend told me it was beautiful but I decided I would not look until Step 1 and 2 were done. Since I have been working on multiple steps at the same time I was almost done with both; I only needed 2 more large triangles to be attached but I put this off as long as I could - sometimes anticipation is a great thing. I kept working on steps 3, 4 and 5 until last night when I added those 2 large triangles. I went to bed feeling like it was Christmas because I could open the "present" in the morning.

I got up early and I looked today. It is beautiful and now I am inspired to finish the rest. Step 3 is mostly done, 4 has the most left to be done and 5 is almost half complete. I do need to get back to some gift sewing but I am having great fun with this mystery quilt.

It's a Mystery to Me

I don't know what came over me but I decided to make Bonnie Hunters Carolina Christmas Mystery Quilt. She started posting steps the day after Thanksgiving and yesterday the layout was revealed. Of course I have a lot of Christmas sewing to do and I wasn't even near a sewing machine when it started but for some reason I felt compelled to make this quilt and to make it now. We got back from our trip on a Monday and I started cutting on Tuesday.

I couldn't make myself stop for the first few days but now working on the quilt is my reward for finishing something else. So far this is working, I only have one more gift to sew unless I add another one to the list (which I probably will.)

The way a mystery quilt is supposed to work is that you are given a "clue" or step of the quilt and you make that and then you get another clue. I dutifully started clue one without knowing the rest. I made 100 and something gold and neutral 2 patches and then worked on green and neutral half square triangles. Then I got bored so I peeked at the next clue and started working on it, and then when I would get tired of the repetition I would start the next one - cheater, cheater!



I am now working on all of the clues at once and none of them are completed but I am happy. I only work a little bit each day but I can cut for a bit then sew some and then iron when I get the chance. The only problem is now the final layout has been posted and I really want to look. I am trying to be a good girl and follow the no peeking rule but I don't know how long I can last.

Oh No - Snow

We woke up to white stuff this morning. I know that for many people it is no big deal but here where I live it is not a common occurrence (thank goodness.) I am sure by the time I have to go out it will all be gone but it is fun to look at - for a while.

We got home 2 days ago from a road trip to California. The snow was right behind us in west Texas. Thirteen years ago we hit an icy patch on a trip for Thanksgiving and we totaled our van. We have not tried to leave town at this time of year since then. This year the trip was wonderful and we are very glad we did it.

Rainy Days and Mondays

. . . don't always get me down,I like rainy days and I like Mondays so I am ready to start a great new week.

I have not posted my design wall lately but let me assure you it has not changed much. I did take a picture last week and this is how it looked. All the blocks are complete and laid out in an orderly manner.

I also took one this morning and this is the current look. The pickle blocks are now arranged and ready to sew which I will do today at my lunch bunch quilting group.
I worked on half square triangles for a long time. I got the flu in the middle of making them and I would sew for a while and then go lay down for a while. I was able to complete all of the pinwheels and the blocks with this method. Getting the swine flu may not top every ones list of fun things to do but I didn't feel too bad and I stayed home a lot and sewed.

In the past 3 weeks I also completed a doll quilt, worked on the quilting of Double Delight, finished a store sample for a quilt class, made 2 Boolicious skirts and I have been working on making my scrap pile more manageable - it has been a scary mess, now it is not quite so scary. I use Bonnie Hunters scrap users system so I have been cutting everything into usable strips. I have several scrap projects under construction at this time, I work on them when the mood strikes, someday they will be done but I don't stress about it.

Happy Monday everyone and I hope the rain keeps coming, it really feels like fall around here.

One Dark Night

Last night after my husband went to bed I let the dog out for one last time. I was checking my computer and she started barking and jumping at the fence. I do not like checking out scary things but my husband had to get up early so I did not want to disturb him. I went out to investigate. Missy kept jumping at the fence and frantically barking, she would not stop no matter what I did and I did not want to get too close because I did not know what the problem was.

I stepped as close as I dared and realized that there was a big possum on the top of the fence. It wasn't moving just balanced there. I thought there must be something wrong with it since it didn't just jump down the other side but then I realized it was doing what it does best - playing possum.

Now I had to figure out how to get the dog to stop barking and come in the house. I thought of spraying a hose at both of them but I couldn't get one easily. I got the broom to try and push the dog towards the house but I did not want to get too close to the fence so that didn't work. I finally thought of the camera. Our dog hates the camera and she will leave the room whenever we get one out so I left the door open a little bit and took a picture and she put her tail between her legs and ran into the house - problem solved!

A goal completed

Last week I decided I wanted to get the 24 curved blocks done by the weekend and on Saturday night I finished the last one.Then I counted them and there were 23 -what! I know I had 24 arcs and I didn't have any unfinished arcs, did I count wrong? Now you have to know I always count more than once I am a bit obsessive that way. I looked on the floor below the design wall, no block, then I started to be annoyed because I had been on a roll with the blocks and to just do one would take a long time so I looked around some more and I found it tucked in a pile I had removed from the ironing board to make space a few days ago. So there are 24 blocks each now needing 5 little pinwheels (that's 120 by the way)- probably won't happen this week.

Warning - Curves Ahead

I have been sewing curved patchwork seams a lot this week. My Christmas Pickle quilt is coming along nicely. Each block has 5 curved seam and I had never done one until the class I took 2 weeks ago.

All of the teachers I have ever seen on TV and in books and magazines rave about how easy the curves are and that they can do them with 3 pins or 1 pin or no pins. In class we were taught the 3 pin method and I did that for my first few curves but then I decided to try more pins and you know what? I like pinning - there I admitted it in public - I am using lots of pins.

At first I thought there was something wrong with me but then I realized that I was much faster with the pins than without and I decided that if I was okay with pins then there was nothing wrong with me. I am a pinner - I like my pins so I will continue to use them and it is okay if you use them too.

My blocks are coming out well, so far 4 are completely done but many others are very close to the finish line. I am trying to finish the blocks this week before I have to move on to some other time sensitive projects.

It's Another Design Wall Monday

Since I have been off the grid for a month or so I decided I had better get back to quilting and blogging. I went to Southern California for 3 weeks to spend time with my daughter and her 2 little girls, I had a wonderful visit and it was very hard to get back into life at home. Of course having visitors arrive the very next week put me further behind on my quilting.
I was able to take a guild sponsored workshop with Linda Milligan and Nancy Smith. They were teaching paper and curved piecing in the Christmas Pickle quilt so that is what I am working on and have on my design wall today.


I don't usually make a pattern in the same color as the original but this one is a fun and I have lots of greens. I am really practicing my curves. I have completed all 24 paper pieced arcs and I am in the process of adding the five curved pieces that are in each block. Then I only have 120 pinwheel units to go!

Design Wall Monday

This Design Wall Monday thing is great for forcing me to get something done so I can put up something new. I have actually been working on this a bit at a time. When I went on retreat a few weeks ago one of the other ladies was putting together a half log cabin scrap quilt. She was pretty tired of making the blocks and I was collecting scraps so she gave me the leftovers. When I got home I decided to put them together and I will be giving the top back to her so that she can donate it with the one she made.

Liberty for All

We live in such a great country. I just got home from our annual Fourth of July breakfast and flag raising at church. This is always one of my favorite activities but this year they added a tribute to those in our congregation who had or are serving in the military and that made it extra special.


The Boy Scouts did the flag ceremony and when the flag is flying with the church steeple in the background it really makes me realize just how lucky we are to live here and enjoy the freedoms that we have.

Now I will start sewing and watch 1776 - another reminder of what our forefathers did for us. I hope everyone has a great day and takes a moment to think about our blessings.

Dinner from the Garden

My husband started a vegetable garden this year. We have lived in Texas for 25 years and have tried to grow veggies a few times with little success but this time he was serious and we now have an amazing garden and the bounty just keeps coming. Our hot season is here and I am sure our harvest will go down for awhile but it will come back in the fall.

He planted several eggplants and they are now producing. I am not an eggplant lover at all so this week when he brought in five of the purple things I knew I was in trouble. I decided to make Eggplant Parmesan. I found a recipe on the internet at and since we also had lots of ripe tomatoes I made my own sauce. All of the produce that went into the sauce was from the garden. It called for quite a few herbs but I just went shopping outside with a pair of scissors.

The only thing I changed was that I had one lonely yellow squash so I put that in the sauce and I added some sugar to the sauce to give it a slightly sweet taste. I also cooked it longer so that it was thick and not runny.

When we sat down to eat it was amazing. This tasted so good that I wanted to cry. We each had a portion and then even though we wanted to eat more we could not because we were too full. I had leftovers for lunch yesterday and it was just as good the second time!

My daughter Sarah has made me promise to make this dish again when she can be with us because she has developed a passion for eggplant parmesan - apparently marriage can really change taste buds because I am sure that a few years ago she would not have even considered trying it.

There are some more eggplants out there and plenty of tomatoes so I will be making it again but the thing about growing your own is that you don't have control over when things are ready and you have to eat it when it is available.

Design Wall Monday

I am excited that I have a picture of my design wall this week - well it is not exactly "my" design wall but it is my quilt pieces on the wall at our retreat this weekend. Before the retreat I pulled out a bowtie project I had started at least 10 years ago. I had learned to make dimensional bowties and I just kept making them. At the time I had a plan for them but it did not happen so I had a box of bowties fermenting in my studio. A little while ago I saw a setting I really liked for them so I decided to pull them out. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that there were over 100 of the little suckers and that there were quite a few still chained together that only needed the final seam stitched. I even had squares cut and ready to make more. So I started putting them together and I finished 26 blocks with enough for at least 10 more.


Of course I had to take them down to come home but I am excited about the project again and I will get them together soon -well soon is a relative term when it has already been this long.

Sushi Sunday

As usual I am a bit behind but I wanted to post about this anyway. For some strange reason 75% of my family loves sushi and I am in the minority so Sushi making has become a tradition at our house - WHEN MOM GOES AWAY.My husband wanted to make sushi for Father's Day and since it was dad's special day I was gracious and let everyone else go for it even though I would be there. I made a Chinese dish for the rest of us - oh I mean me.

My son in law Ray has been practicing a lot and his sushi really was pretty, I even tried the sashimi and it was okay. . . still not a fan though.

Quilting on High

We traveled to San Antonio for a graduation of a niece - our main objective was to visit with my sister in law who was there for the big event. I thought it would be a good idea to have some handwork to do on the 5 hour trip in the car so I pulled out a piece of hand applique that I had started in a class with Karen Kay Buckley a year or so ago. The night before we left I prepped a bunch of grapes and I packed it all in the car and off we went.

I always plan to do things while driving but then I get in the car and realize that I can't watch the road if my attention is elsewhere, now mind you I am not driving but I feel the need to watch the road as if I were (am I a back seat driver? - we are not going there!). So bottom line, long drive, no sewing.

Monday night was the graduation ceremony at a large auditorium. We had to be there early so at the last minute I pulled out the work bag and took it in with me. We ended up sitting a few rows down from the top in some very uncomfortable seats. I looked around and just a few more rows up were wooden bleachers but they had backs so I moved up there, all the way at the top. I spread my work bag out on the bench and started sewing.
When the ceremony started they dimmed the lights but I had my handy, dandy magnifying light
so while the 600 or so names were read I kept sewing.

I was concerned about appearing rude but I decided since the whole row in front of me was texting and reading news on their phones I could sew if I wanted too. Our grad was in the next to the last row so I got quite a bit done.

I am so glad I had hand work - we were in the auditorium for 3 and 1/2 hours and I am also glad we sat up high - no one was behind me so when I got tired of sitting I could stand for awhile and the AC was blowing on us so we were quite comfortable. So I have learned that maybe "handwork" is not a bad word and I only have a few more grapes to complete that part, maybe it will get done this year!

Design Wall Monday/Wednesday

Judy at Sunshine quilts has started a new Mr. Linky called What's on Your Design Wall? You can talk about what is on your design wall on Monday and then report on the progress the next week. Not all of my projects are on the wall since I am in the middle of quilting one (or two) right now. I also sew clothing so that doesn't go on the wall either but I would like to take part in this challenge because I think it will help me get some things accomplished. As usual I have a lot of things going right now but as of Monday I had:




2 sample outfits for the store where I work

1 quilt for a wedding present on Saturday

the fabric chosen and cut for a new project my lunch bunch is doing together - a French Braid quilt

the completed center panel (finished it on Saturday) for my Out of the Darkness quilt that I started sometime in 2002 - now I just have to do the borders, it really is on my design wall, even though I finished it last week I put it up as inspiration to get to the rest of the quilt

Back to the Blog

I sure have had a hard time getting things posted on my blog. In my defense my life has been hectic and it is just settling down. 2 weddings and now a job layoff (my husband is now officially unemployed after 28 years at the same company but that is another story), last week my mom was here but now things are pretty much back to normal. I got to spend one whole day at the sewing machine and part of every other day this week and I am much calmer now.

Tonight for dinner I made up a new way to cook chicken and everyone liked it and my husband suggested I post it on my blog so here goes:

Linda's Last Minute Chicken

Put Chicken in a baking dish - whatever pieces you have, I used a whole one that I cut up
Squeeze one lemon over the top
Press some garlic and rub it around - you can use as much or as little as you like
Drizzle a bit of honey
Splash on a little soy sauce
Bake covered for one hour at 375 and then remove cover so it can brown a bit

That's it, we also had pan fried potato slices, sauted Swiss Chard (from our garden) and a fruit salad from the friut that was in the fridge. Good dinner, easy to make and it used what we had.

Easter Fun

We had an egg hunt and photo taking with all the grandchildren on Saturday because of everyone's schedules and it was a good thing since it started raining last night and hasn't stopped since then.
Our egg hunt was in the front yard where our new vegetable garden is so they were just like Peter Rabbit in the cabbage patch. I think they all had fun and they sure caught on quick to what was going on. We just hid plastic eggs and did not even fill them (do you think we can get away with that next year?)

We did take the two little ones that are staying at our house to the park after church today for more pictures. We took along our miniature park bench so they could sit and be dry but of course Shannon did not stay seated for long.

My how time flies

I can't believe the wedding is in 4 days! The wedding dress just needs a little embellishing and the little girls dresses are all done. I decided to wear something I already own so I don't have to worry about my clothing. My parents, oldest daughter, second son and 2 grand babies arrive tomorrow so I am cleaning house and shopping in prep for that. I have a few things to purchase and then I am ready.

Sarah spent the weekend baking and decorating cookies for the wedding favors- she worked at a cookie store and really enjoys the cookies so she thought it would be a good remembrance of her.
We are also going to put cookies on the top of the grooms cake. As a side note we had never heard of grooms cake until we moved to Texas. The grooms cakes we have seen are chocolate and are decorated with something that reminds you of the groom so this cake will have boots and a Texas cookie on it. Our first one had a chocolate directors slate and the next one was chocolate covered strawberries. We haven't figured out the last one yet.

Too Many Projects

We are in the final countdown for wedding number 1 and I realized I probably have too many things going on. I am making the dress for the bride, the granddaughters and myself. I am making and sending the invitations. I also have my Double Delight Quilt ready for quilting, I am learning to smock, and crazy quilt and I just bought a book about how to knit socks. What I really want to be doing is my quilt so that has to go on the back burner as my reward when everything else is done. And if that is not enough my Bee from my quilt guild is responsible for designing and constructing our raffle quilt which we intend to have ready to display in July. I am working on that also.

I did finish my first smocked dress - this one for the baby. I am working on one for her big sister too but I do the smocking while I am watching tv in the evenings. The dresses for the girls are all in various stages of completion and my outfit is almost done. The wedding dress was on hold until I could pin (literally) down the bride for a final fitting. It is now ready for the finishing touches.

I have decided I will work each project through to completion instead of jumping around so now I will go up to my sewing room and finish a little girls dress.

What's all that White Stuff

No it is not snowing - I am just buried in white fabric. The dress is coming along but the farther I get the more fabric I have to move around. I attached the lining so now there are 2 layers of dress, fortunately no train. The biggest amount of white is the petticoat. I bought bridal netting to make it full and I had yards to gather for the bottom tier, I thought I would go crazy trying to keep it under control. I got all that attached and I have decided I need to add another tier so I will go to JoAnn today and buy 4 more yards of netting - can't wait to start gathering again!

Wedding Dress Blues

I guess I was feeling a little overconfident with the wedding dress. I basted all of the interlining pieces to the dress and then basted all of the parts together and had her try it on and found that the weight of the dress is pulling everything down. The pattern has you put in a limited amount of boning but I realized that would not cut it so I slept on it and pulled out my reference books and today I took apart the sections a little at a time so I could add boning to the interlining. I said I would work until 11:00 and then take a break. I finished all of the boning at 10:54! After an hour or so I will go back and put in the zipper.

If it needs more support then I will put more boning in the lining. I feel good about my decisions so far, she will be here for a fitting tomorrow night. I also want to have the lining put together and the slip made - we shall see how much I actually get done. I am pretty much committed to finishing the gown before I work on anything else because the machine is all set up and I recovered my ironing board and I don't want to get any gunk or color that might transfer to the white satin. I really, really want to be working on a quilt and finishing my jacket so this is my motivation.

Wedding festivities begin

All of those pins added to my stash came in handy this morning as I cut out my daughters wedding dress. Yes, I am making "The Dress". Originally she had said, "Mom, I don't want you to be offended but I am going to buy my dress." I said okay that is a load off my plate - then I sat back and waited. After a shopping trip she found a dress she liked but it wasn't in the price range she had set (what a surprise) and it wasn't exactly right so we went and looked at patterns and she drew a picture of what she wants and I started putting pieces together and today I cut it out.

I was concerned about all of that white fabric and all the dog hair my pet leaves around and my husband suggested going over to the church to cut it out. Brilliant! The tables are adjustable and I could put 2 together, the room is big and empty and there is no dog hair. So early this morning I cut out the dress. I still have to do the lining but I didn't get enough fabric for that yet. I really like sewing wedding dresses for my girls - this will be my third- I find it to be a wonderful labor of love and I am looking forward to the experience, I always learn a lot in the process.

See a Pin Pick it Up

I am pretty picky about my pins. They must be long, have big heads and be sharp. Almost 30 years ago I was taking Stretch and Sew classes and they had ball point pins that would slide right into knits and I fell in love with them. After a while a pin would get dull or rough and I realized I could just throw it away, I felt so decadent.

I also like to pin things, I probably pin more in quilting than some people but when I teach I say do it however you are comfortable. When I was putting together Double Delight for some reason my pin holder only had about 8 pins on it. Now that is not to say it was empty, there were needles and safety pins galore but only a few real pins. Eventually I got tired of only being able to pin a few sections at a time so I pulled out my special box of new pins and added some to it.

This week I was looking for something to take to my quilt group and I grabbed a UFO box on the way out the door. This was a Stack and Whack project that had been around for about 3 years - guess what - there were pieces pinned together. My pin stash was renewed. Yesterday I pulled out a jacket I had started about 3 years ago and I hit the jackpot of pins. Now my pin stash overfloweth, I can put some back in reserve and then I won't worry about using up all of my good ones because they are so hard to find.

Oh by the way when I see a pin I do pick it up because it is probably one my good ones!

Pressing Matters

As quilters and sewers we know that pressing is important. When sewing clothing seams must be pressed open and when quilting we usually press them to one side. Lately I have been seeing some discussion about which iron is the best, so I thought I would put my opinion into the mix. Quilters Home had an article rating irons and I read that with interest. I know this was not a scientific rating but I think it is very helpful to see what experiences others have had.

I started my sewing life with a G.E. iron, I am pretty sure G.E. does not make irons anymore but it was a functional steam iron that pretty much did the job. I then had a cordless iron - it was a pain because it kept cooling down and had to be put back on the base. I then moved on to a Rowenta and I have been a fan ever since. I wanted the weight to help press open seams and for other functions in dressmaking. I liked the pointy tip and it was big! I really started wanting a steam generator iron because it seemed as though I was always filling the darn thing. A few years ago I got my Rowenta steam generator iron and I love it with a capital 'L'. (I know my grandma used to say that you can't love and object but . . .)


The water goes in the base unit and the steam comes through a hose that has never gotten in the way or annoyed me

A few months ago I used an Oliso iron at a quilt retreat - everyone seems to be talking about this one, it lifts up when you aren't touching it so it does not scorch your fabric. At first it was kinda cool but then it got annoying and when I returned home and started using my Rowenta again I realized how heavy that Oliso was compared to mine and I was "in love" all over again.

I also own the Rowenta craft iron and a Singer press that I got at a garage sale for cheap. I only use the press when fusing large quantities of interfacing - it is great for T shirt quilts. The baby Rowenta is my take along and I also set it up right next to me when doing a lot of little fussy stitching that requires pressing after every 1" seam (some of Pam Bono's patterns)

Now if I could just find an ironing board cover I like life would be good.

Obsession

I seem to be obsessed with Bonnie's Double Delight Mystery quilt. I just can't stop working on it even though I could be doing other things like laundry, washing dishes or cooking. Last night I finished the last of the blocks and today I laid them out and I was just ready to cut my corner triangles when the power went out - so much for my obsession.
Today is the coldest it has been all year and that is probably why the power went out. It was cloudy and dreary outside so it was dark in the house and I wanted to keep moving so I went into the bedroom and started cleaning. The holidays always seem to make my room a clutter catch-all so it was time to put it all away. I was really starting to get something accomplished when the lights came back on and my sewing machine again beckoned to me.

Quiltathon Report

Judy sponsored a quiltathon this past weekend. I have always liked her "Quiltathons" but many times the chosen days have not worked out for me. This time I got to participate. My husband and son left me for a few hours on Saturday and I spent Friday sewing so even though the official days were Saturday and Sunday I tweaked it a bit.


I have been working on Bonnie Hunter New Year's Eve Mystery - Double Delight. It is a scrap quilt with lots of little parts. I had finished part 1 and most of part 2
I get a little bored doing the same thing over and over so I now have pieces and parts spread all over and just 3 complete blocks.


but then I peeked at the rest and I couldn't resist starting the other parts. I tend to work on a project all helter skelter anyway and

When everything comes together I think it will be a great quilt. Thanks Judy for letting us 'sew' with you. And thanks Bonnie for taking the time to share a wonderful pattern and great instructions.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

Twelve months of hot pads

I did not make these pads but they fit my theme so well that I had to use them. My friend, Kayleen made sets of 12 pads for her family and friends. Each month is color or holiday coordinated and nice and thick. They are really too pretty to use but I have been pulling out a new one each month to use as a trivet on the table. I think she said she made 13 sets - that is a lot of hot pads! She used up a lot of scraps of fabric and batting which is always a good idea so I am planning to make some for my family next year. I do know that I will NOT be making 156 of them.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

Eleven months in the making

This quilt is the second in a series of Christmas quilts for my children. We have had a tradition of making pj's to open on Christmas Eve and then we get a picture of everyone in their matching jammies. I have been trying to gracefully move this tradition to the next generation so I decided to make each of them a quilt with pieces of the pajamas as part of the design. I started this quilt awhile ago but when I pulled it out to finish for this Christmas I got the idea of using the pj fabric for the center squares.


I do not have scraps from every year but I have saved and located quite a few of them. My oldest received her quilt 2 years ago and Conrad got this one. When I see the right pattern for the next one I will start on it but I am not putting a time constraint on the next one - it will happen when it happens. I don't know if the other 2 kids have figured this mystery out yet but I know they are still wondering why I cut up Stephanie's baby blanket and I am still not telling - I do love a mystery.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas

Ten day wonder

I don't really know how long it took me to make this T shirt quilt but it went pretty quick. My daughter had requested it after she graduated from high school, 2 years ago - sometimes I am just a slow starter.

On the Ninth Day of Christmas

Nine times six I Spy squares

This quilt was not actually for Christmas but it is for a birthday that is right after Christmas. Last summer I decided to make each of my granchilderen an I Spy quilt for their second birthday, knowing that I would have to make 3 within 6 months. I cut them all out in June and then made the first 2 for August birthdays but number 3 just sat there in pieces until after Christmas when I decided I had better get a move on. I finished it just in time.

On the Eighth Day of Christmas

An eight page book

I made the baby a cloth tag book. A tag book is one with ribbons or tags hanging off the sides for baby to grasp and chew on. I used my embroidery machine to applique bright images on each page and then put them together in book form. The cover is soft velour and the inside cover is shiny satin and the ribbons are all different kinds from grograin to satin so there are a lot of different textures.