Flash fom my Great Grandson

Not long after I come to stay for awhile and help my single mother Granddaughter with her two young boys I saved some orange seeds and helped the oldest plant them. Later when I had fixed some pinto beans to cook I save a few of the beans and helped him plant those too. After so long a time I decided the orange seeds weren't going to sprout and come up - but I hadn't told him yet.

The beans came up right away the bushes are now big and he is picking beans and sooooo excited.

He just came inside from checking his beans all excited telling me MeMaw come look, come look, two leaves, it's got two leaves. Nothing would satisfy him but I MUST come look. Well guess what down in between the pinto bean plants were two small orange trees emerging, one has two leaves the other the leaves aren't opened yet. This little boy all of 4 years old was so thrilled and excited. Now he is watching them often to keep a check on them. I have saved some apple seeds and will find a planter and plant them for him tooo.

It is amazing to me how very little it takes to to entertain a child. From 4 or 5 orange seeds and as many pinto bean seeds we have had hours of fun. There was the cost of $2.00 for the sack of good soil to plant them in but that is a small price to pay for the hours of fun.

I need to save and plant an avacodo seed too for him to watch grow.

Good Morning

Well today and yesterday we woke to a beautiful cool day. After several days of hot and humid it was very welcome. Doors and windows open a nice breeze through the house - 'tis nice.

Today oh today what shall I do. After loosing my cool and writing a nasty gram regarding a BOM I'd been signed up for yesterday hope today will be better. I'd signed up for this BOM from this shop because of the border on the quilt. There were two shops offering the quilt as a BOM. Now that I finished buying all the BOM I am told the border fabric wasn't included in the offer and is no longer available at that shop. Since I've bought other BOM kits and they've included all the fabric in the cost to complete a top. I was angry to learn AFTER I'd completed the set that this wasn't included. I went looking for the fabric they'd used and so far have been unsuccessful. NOW this quilt that was for a granddaughter is sore subject to me and really not sure at this point I want to finish it - and I have 1/2 of the blocks stitched. GRRRRRR

Maybe if I do as I've done in the past when things aren't working set it aside and come back to it later. It is in pinks and burgundy (predominant colors) on a beige background. The border is a flower strip of roses and other flowers and is by Benartex. Guess I need 2 1/2 yards of it if I can find it or find something that I can substitute. The other shop had a fabric somewhat like the background of the blocks and didn't pop like this fabric did for the border.

Not like I don't have enough other blocks to work on. I have about 6 BOM blocks that need the pattern traced to either fusible or freezer paper as the case applies. I have the two paper doll dress blocks that I can add the rick rack to one, and then applique to the background and have fabric for one new one that I picked up from my daughter Mother's Day. Have two small blocks that I have traced to fusible that I need to fuse to fabric, cut out and fix to the background fabric to practice how me and sewing machine geehaw in doing the machine applique - I've really never done it before. I have several spools of the invisible thread in smoke and clear - so I'm prepared that far. I used to do the fusible applique on sweatshirts but used the bottles of paint that you edged the edges with, and never tried to attach with the sewing machine.

Granddaughter is off today and spending time with her boys, so I will see what I can accomplish in the way of one of these projects. Will do a bit more surfing for my fabric. I've put a close up of the border (the only picture I have of it) so just in case YOU see it you'll let me know where. Thanks in advance.

I did work on my life story for my children. After chatting online with a member of a group I belong to she mentioned gathering family recipes and making a book. That gave me an idea to add some mention of family dinners and special recipes or at least my twist on some. Yesterday I worked on that and added some 20 more pages to the book. There are several recipes that I want to include but have to find them - and right now they are in storage with everything else (almost) that I own. I only have what I could pack in the trunk of a car with me for now.

Sometime in the next couple of months hope to find a place (once I decide what town I want to live in for the rest of my life) and either buy (my first choice) or rent (only if it will not change as I don't ever want to move again). My wants aren't a lot, but may make it hard to find. Want a place with larger rooms. At least 3 preferably 4 bedrooms - and you ask why? if you are single do you want that big of a house. WEEEELLLL I have a lot of "Stuff". Computer stuff, quilting stuff, embroidery stuff, cooking stuff, just stuff in general and a lot of "STUFF" that probably has been packed and moved, packed and moved and needs to be trashed. LOL.

I'd like 2 living areas and 2 dining at least a 1 car garage, with space for a garden and on soil that is easy to work - not the black gumbo of some areas. Oh yes and I prefer a larger kitchen so when I have family I have room to cook and place to store all my cooking "stuff".

Now if I were only rich, won the lottery - but have to play to d that and I don't very often, so guess I'll have to settle with what I can find and afford - isn't that the story of life.

Have a great day, I'm definitely going to.

Another Day Another Opportunity

And what will I do with it. HMMMM, need to finish the two Paper Doll Dress blocks I started for Madisons's quilt. Have a bunch of BOM Quilt blocks I need to trace to either fusible webbing or to freezer paper. Have the last of th blocks for Vintage Valentine arriving today or tomorrow they were shipped from Texas Quilt Works at Rockwall, Texas yesterday.

Spent last evening and this morning cleaning up some issues with my computer. It now works and runs like it should. Guess all mechanical devices especially computers need some down time for maintenance.

I did write some in my book (thought I was to a stopping point with it, guess not) last evening. Got into a message exchange with a person on one of the Yahoo groups I belong to re-living our past and remembering what was when we were younger. She mentioned making recipe collection of recipes of her family and gave me the idea to add some of the favorites that I've made that my family always liked.

It is nice to reflect on our past with others and comments generate memories of things past we hadn't forgotten, just didn't remember until something triggered a recollection.

She and I agreed that the country was in a much better position then than now.

Where oh Where has this year gone

Seems like yesterday I was celebrating New Years and here we are almost to June. I remember as a child that time drug and seemed the days took for ever to move by. Any day I was looking forward to, birthday, party, school event, or Christmas seemed would never get here. Now they fly by - I'm told it has to with age. Reckon????

I have more BOM packets arriving this week. Also, found a kit for a quilt I found online that I really liked. This one is pieced and looks like a lattice. It is called Weaver Fever. The quilt I saw pictured was in blue, yellow and white and very stricking. It is from a series of fabrics (I'll have to share the name later I don't remember it at the moment) that have daisies scattered in them and on that is a large stripe with a vine of daisies running lengthwise. The stripe has the vine of white daisies in the center with yellow on one side and blue on the other. Since the fabrics are all from the same designer and manufacturer they work great together. The fabric also comes in red and yellow although I love red and it is my favorite color not sure I liked it with yellow.

Know, I'd better get busy and get more fusible purchased and get these patterns traced to it. Have a large roll of Freezer paper for the ones I need to trace to it. Soon I'll have all my BOM kits and none made. Stop putting other things in front of your BOM projects, Elsie. If you don't you'll never get them all finished.

Mother's Day 2008

It was a great day.



Granddaughter sent out for donuts. I went to the store and picked up a deep fryer for her sons to give her for their gift. We went to my youngest daughters for late lunch and had bar-b-qued brisket, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.

Had calls or notes from all my children and my ex, since my phone doesn't work at daughters, he tracked me down and called me on her phone. It was a good day.

I'm making my youngest granddaughter a quilt with little dresses to replicate a dress she has. So my daughter pulled several from her closet and took photos of them with close-ups of detail for me to use. I took and showed her the 2 I'd been working on and she really liked them as did her mother-in-law. I have fabric for 2 more. One of the dresses is made from an antique pillow case (or from one that has embroidery on it with crocheted lace on the edge). She got it online. The open end with the embroidery makes the hem, they cut off the closed end of the pillow case, rounded out the two sides to form arm holes, gathered across top and finished with a binding. Added ribbons to tie on at shoulders, took matching color fabric and made pataloons. It is cute.


One of the 3 dresses we took pictures of was a tiny green and pink gingham check. Her other grandmother had made it for her. It was from a pattern I'm sure most of us had for our daughters when they were small. It is one piece with the hem going around and up the back to fasten at the shoulders. My daughter wore them, but the back criss crossed with buttons at the shoulders. Opened flat for ironing - yes ironing - then we didn't have wash and wear fabrics. We ironed clothes, pillow cases, tablecloths, and scarfs, at least I did. All were starched and I don't miss the ironing or the time it took, but do miss the feel of crawing in bed with fresh sheets from the clothesline and nice crisp pillow cases.


The last dress was a seersucker check of pink and green with watermelon slices along the border (of the green check). With accents of little bumble bees buzzing around the flowers attached with the slices.


This will give me about 1/3 of the blocks for this quilt. One will be a minature as close as I can get to her Christening dress since it was purchased. I did buy some material and make her bonnet and booties. So that one will have to wait until I get more settled in my own place and get things unpacked.

Quilts

I will spend a good portion of this day "Mother's Day" doing what I want. After all it is "My Day" right and yours if you are a mother.



I hope to get the last BOM traced to fusible and/or freezer paper as the block requires. The barns, the chicken and the dog quilts will have a good portion of the block hand appliqued and therefore this part will be traced to freezer paper. I like the freezer paper for my hand applique. I know others use a variety of different methods in their hand applique. But think you need to try several and decide what works best for you. Like anything else what works for someone else may not work for us.

Both the chicken and dog quilts (photos on side) have some very tiny parts to make them look realistic and these do not lend themselves well to needle-turn applique. I have one block of the chicken quilt done and there were a few feathers that were so small it was almost impossible to use this method of applique. With this I decided to combine the two methods.

Since I've not done the machine fusible applique method, I have done a lot of research on the subject and also took close looks at the details of this type of applique at quilt shows. Found some that were extremely well done and others well that lacked a lot.

No, I'm not a perfectionist, but do like my work well done. Somewhere just shy of perfection. I have taken a couple of flower stems from one of my In Full Bloom blocks and traced to fusible. I will practice on these and give each to the great grandson's I'm staying with at the moment. Kyron was excited, and Ty was also, but he is younger.

Once these are done and I see how I fare I'll feel more comfortable working on these blocks for the quilts. I'm not leery of my sewing machine for we were good friends for many years, sewing regular things like clothing. Just not so sure of my skills in doing a small zig-zag around tiny parts of a photo quilt. I know some just sew a small strait stitch line near the edge of these, but I don't like that edge left raw. I don't like the look of satin stitching as you have to try and match thread and change every time you move to another fabric. So I'm going with the invisible threads (clear and dark) and doing the small zig-zag stitch on mine. There again we have choices and depends on the look you like or want.

I will add photos as I can with my progress, so stay tuned for future posts.

Happy Mother's Day to those Mothers reading my Blog

Good Morning and hope you are having a great Mother's Day.

I am blessed with a large loving family. Large for my Mother only had 2 children and 6 grandchildren, so my 4 children and 11 grandchilren and 6 great grandchildren is large to me by that standard.

Although we don't all live close by distance we are all close by love.