Saturday...just sayin...

Fine...after two crabby trips..(.I tried to be sweet.)...to the grocery stores, I read this book...sigh...Thank you Nora.....you really got it...I am in a better mood now.. Sorry you had to go...

Then, I made Mugg's chicken salad for the party tomorrow...with grapes and celery and onion and a few boiled eggs and this Lawry seasoned salt thing and some Marzetti slaw dressing added to my mayo...anyway...done...yummy and done...I have barbecue beef in the crockpot..just dump the beef, onions and a bottle of barbecue sauce...hmmm... lazy but good and no cooking in this heat.  Aldi is my best friend when it comes to rolls and fruit and veggies...

Cake is made...gotta get my 7 year old grandson to believe that I had to get the frosting from the garden when it really is crushed Oreos that Barry brought me..with gummy worms running thru it...all chocolate--y and nice.

All day chicken broth cooking from scratch..a la..Susan Branch.  I know it is hot outside.  But, my mother needs homemade chicken broth for the times when she cannot swallow.  After I take the fat off it tomorrow, I will put it in small freezer bowls for the food emergencies.

And a little love from my friends....

Big girl that I am, I am learning how to upload library books for my Kindle...Proof..that I am am a techie:) albeit, kindergarten techie!  Now off to start or finish or work on a project before bed.

Green Star finished

I had a great time yesterday at Mugg's Sit and Sew...great friends, good food and good sewing.  Not to mention very cool inside and not working outside in 104 degrees.  I finished this orphan block, wonky lap quilt.  Even though the learning curve is not my favorite thing, I am pleased that I tried a different free-motion style in each block.  Sherry is right, once it is washed all the flaws go away and it is just comfy and pretty.

Being "creative" in my photography..ha ha...actually I was braving the heat under the tree..chicken me. 

I am once again off to the grocery store for things I forgot for the bday party tomorrow.  Useless to wish that my kids would take over the party scene for this old lady...but grateful that I have a wonderful family anyway.  And when it is at my house, I do not have to go out in the heat.

FYI Links and misc

9:26 PM (34 minutes ago)

So much to say....this blog The Mermaid Sews shares today an interview with our very own Jennifer from Ellison Lane.  She is pretty, she is smart, she can sew and organize and quilt and lead and everything.  Jennifer started the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild last year...She taught herself to sew two years ago and already has an original design in the new quilting magazine,Quilty.  You go Jennifer..you are a hard act to follow and we love you.  

Then there is the bargain in Aurifil thread to be found at Sue's going out of business thread sale, Sew Ez Designs.  $6 a pop with postage that is so so so reasonable...Of course I almost bought the store out so you had better hurry.

Sharing the simple card with the simple stamp from Michaels Craft Store..years ago... This was on the package for the baby shower last weekend...

And then, my Evan's seventh birthday.  Happy Birthday Evan....sure like your original birthday hair style you did yourself!!  So creative!

I cannot wait till our Sit and Sew tomorrow at Mugg's house.  I am all packed and ready and the fudge is not only made, but tasted for perfection!!

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Baby changing pad

Today was the day.  Up and in a good mood...wow...then visiting my mother....down I go..she was choking, unable to swallow, couldn't take her meds and in Parkinson's pain.  I left in a down mood...Home to sewing...not my billing or my housework...etc, but my sewing....Up I go again...there is absolutely nothing like the feeling of making something nice, in short order...such an accomplished feeling.  So here is the baby changing pad made with laminate and cotton.

The one Emily made turned out great.  Today, I decided to try one too.  Off to Hancock's with my coupon to look for laminate.  Their selection was poor for a baby, but I had coupon in hand and was too lazy to drive to JoAnn's so I bought this.  5/8 of a yard gives two changing pads.  If I had bought a yard, I would have had enough to make a small packet for the wipes.  So easy...I used my walking foot and didn't even need the Teflon foot.  I cut the fabric in half to make the two pads and squared them up.  Because I use Warm and Natural batting which shrinks at least an inch, I prewashed the batting.  I did not know how the laminate would look with a batting that had shrunk.  Outside, I spray basted on the batting, then smoothed down the cotton backing..turned it over and spray basted the batting again, smoothing down the laminate.  Then, I took a piece of sewing chalk to plumb a line down the middle.  Using the metal stick on my machine to determine width of sewing, I sewed about 2.5 inches in channel quilting using the wiggle stitch.  I remembered to keep smoothing it down, there would be nothing worse than having to take stitches out of laminate.  I self bound these and I love them.  I think that after the baby has used them for changing, they can be put under the high chair for catching spills or used  as table protection when the toddler is painting or doing play doh...Just have to wrap things up and I am ready for the shower.  One pad to give and one to keep for the next baby shower.

Baby shower presents

I am no longer young..guess I have not yet learned the lesson...It is 12:30 at night and I have procrastinated about the baby presents for the upcoming shower.  Excuses of course...a stomach virus and a broken foot pedal..but really those are just excuses..  Just finished now are three reversible bibs...made from Emily's pattern...a perfect bib pattern..attached with velcro.

 Then from Fairy Face Designs, I made some washcloths..

Using this pacifier clip tutorial, I made these...two sided ones..

 And for me...oh....forget you saw this...

Maybe tomorrow I can do a changing pad or else maybe not..

Liberated orphan blocks..

Liberated star top finished.  Using orphan blocks given a new look and fabric from the past.  Even using a piece of table cloth I bought in Moscow when I studied there 40 years ago...ha ha..good use of my vintage.

 This quilt was so pastel that I was stuck..cutting this and cutting that.  My sister with her good eye, substituted a thin orange for my thin brown and voila.

.Grandchildren.

Great..I pushed the publish button instead of the preview button....Ok, well..Evan spent the night last night...cheered me right up...  We did what was important.  First we visited my mother at her place.  She loved it and so did we.  She was stable enough, but the new Mother just stares sometimes.  I talked and she listened and responded with a clear mind..She is different.  Parkinson's processing and Parkinson's speaking  takes a long time.

Next came the library.  Evan had an agenda and asked the librarian for a book on making paper airplanes.

 They had the coolest house made of books...Evan waited for a vacancy and then jumped on it.  He spread out his book and paper and started his airplane.

We played the board game, "Sorry" and Granddaddy threw the baseball and Evan hit it.  We had a wonderful time without the little sister and brother.  And it was all free..that is the "new age"  free.

Green star process

My medallion is taking a nap...so I took back up these green wonky stars...left over from Gabriel's quilt..I was planning on making more stars but,  hearing Gwen's voice in my head...I added other things to make it more interesting.  I will mess around with it tomorrow if I have time.  Would be nice to have something done instead of adding to the pile of WIP's/ UFO's.....

The old person reminiscing..Ha or just re-purposing..

This dress is one of two dresses saved from the 20 year old box of clothes in the attic...you know, the ones I had forgotten about....I had a wonderful time in this dress when I was younger and thinner and prettier...etc..

Now, my fun dress is reduced to this little vintage pile of cotton, perfect for my medallion quilt. I had such a hard time cutting it up..you can call me sentimental...or of course, you could call me a hoarder:)  You would be right on both accounts.  My mother and I used to quip..."used to doesn't count"..sigh..

 of course..the vintage buttons too..nice..

In reminiscing, it is easy to think that yesterday was different...not so quickly...I am, this week, the person who when visiting my mother last week, came out to my car 40 min later to find, not only the keys in the car, but the car still running...and then the already posted episode of the water left running in the sink.  Documentation here in the label of this dress reminds me that just maybe, I have always been a bit like this.....

Keeping me honest.!!!

The Medallion Process

My youthful illusions led me to believe that I was a "free thinker"...flew by the seat of my pants, mostly landing on my feet...the result of which I was never a groupie...until now...Gwen Marston...you have changed me.  You have role modeled that we can do our own thing like women before us and throw away the rule book.....just my style.    I was sitting on the back porch this morning on a stunning Carolina spring kind of day looking thru my favorite books, again. 

My heart started it's quick quilting beat....I had to leave the lovely day and start sewing..

 This vintage piece of hexies I purchased at a local antique shop 5 years ago for $2...

 Last year I  hand appliqued it to a piece of bright red cotton.  Today I found the piece, and squared it up.  I found some Minick and Simpson fat quarters in my stash..and started my medallion quilt..sigh...

  Now this piece will have to ferment for awhile before the next borders emerge..

More on Oilcloth scraps, my cookbook cover

Sentimental me has shown Grandma's cookbook a number of times on this blog...All falling apart, it means a a lot to me.  Avoiding all my UFO's and WIP's, I decided that this project would be my salve today.

 I took out my Oilcloth charm pack from Oilcloth Addict and decided to make a book cover for my cookbook.

 Making "scrap fabric" from oilcloth is not much different than making it from regular quilting cotton.  With this project, I did not even use my Teflon foot.  I always top stitch seams on oilcloth to keep them strong.  In measuring the size for the book, be sure to add at least 1.75 inches to the height of the book to have enough room for the width size of the cover and room to topstitch.

 Above is the finished front of the cover and below is the finished inside flaps.

 My cookbook front..all ready for spills...

 My cookbook back.

I think that Grandma would be pleased as I found a notebook of hers covered with oilcloth from back in the day...I mean way backer in the day:)

Today's accomplishments...

Today's lazy day turned out just fine in the end...for in between napping:) and reviewing quilting books, I made this for a wedding present.  Tomorrow I might mess around with the alphabet on my machine to put their name on it.

 When my daughter came home in October for her grandmother's "funeral". she made these labels for me.

This is the fourth carrier I have made...casserole cover tutorial...they are so quick!  I use mine all the time. Tomorrow I do not have to work so I will go to Lowes to have more handles cut.  I like to have them on hand.  I might also go to Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon to buy the bolt of Insul-brite.  Making this carrier, I used most of mine and I need more for potholders.

I am organizing my quilting books...reading them before  I put them back on the shelf...weeding out old ones or duplicates.  While reading through The Quilt Design Workbook...one of the first quilting books I ever bought,  I found this wonderful quote...

"A tree in the forest doesn't keep looking around at the other trees, wondering if it's growing faster or slower than they, or if it's all right to be putting down roots so deep instead of using its energy for making acorns--it just grows..that's its job--to grow.  Only people drive themselves crazy asking "what's this for?  Am I doing all right?  Am I doing better than someone else?  Is it all right to be doing this?" 

from Beth Guthcheon's introduction in the Quilt Design Workbook, by Beth and Jeffrey Gutcheon, 1976

Amen!

Puttering

When I got home from my mother's I saw a big hole in the garden for my rose bush...guess that means my man is better!!  Good news...We are going to a party tonight, but I could not let the sewing room rest...a little puttering before I go.  I was cleaning in there when I found these unfinished wonky blocks...hmmmm, maybe I will do something with them..

 And since batting is so expensive, I took a few minutes to sew together some of the scraps.  I rotary cut the edges, one on top of the other so they are straight, then butting them up against each other, I do a loose zigzag....frugal me $$$$  :)