A Few Things

There’s not much sewing going on around here. I was busy Monday and Tuesday helping with the 4H kids. We had a pretty good turnout…..about 15 kids and five or six instructors. They had asked to learn how to make collage quilts, and some were able to finish in the three days we had allotted for the class. Their facility is nice and roomy and the a/c was good and cold, which is important! 

I wasn’t able to participate on Wednesday because I had a water leak and was waiting for a plumber. I had really wanted to see the finished projects, but they will be displayed at our quilt show in September so I will see them then. 

I have continued to work a little when I can on the Soul Mate quilt.

I am halfway through the piecing, so that’s a little progress. We have quilt guild today, and I needed a sample to show what we will be doing in August, so I took some time Tuesday evening and made this placemat.

It’s a “self-binding” placemat and doesn’t require quilting, so it is something that can be completed during our August workshop. One of our charity projects this year is to make placemats for Meals on Wheels, and this should work out well for that. At least, I hope it will! 

Weekend Update

My weekend was mostly busy, and I got a lot done. I really can’t ever get totally caught up, but that’s my fault for constantly overloading myself. Sunday’s sermon was about having a quiet time and making time to worship at the feet of Jesus. The sermon is on YouTube. I think I will need to go back and listen to it a few more times. I don’t know what is the answer to this dilemma. 

I got Janice’s quilt quilted and she picked it up Friday. 

She had brought this bag with her.

 Oh, I am so jealous. It’s the All the Things Tote.

She had given me the pattern, but I haven’t had time to make it yet. I know, story of my life. 

On a positive note, I also got Susan’s quilt finished. 

And, I got Joycelyn’s table runner quilted and bound.

She is gifting it to a friend that she will be visiting this week, and I delivered it to her house Saturday. I don’t usually do deliveries, but she has been so nice about recommending me to other people and praising my work to the local quilt shop. I felt like she deserved preferential treatment. 

What else? My madevillia is blooming. 

This is my third try at growing these. The other two I planted in the ground, and they didn’t do well. I have this one in a pot, and so far, so good. Fingers crossed. 🤞 

I opened a pint of chow chow last night for a taste test. 

The picture is a little blurry, but the chow chow is good! I made it a little spicy, which is how I like it, but now I’m hoping it’s not too spicy for the kids. Well, today is Monday, so I will fix a pot of beans and some cornbread so I can really enjoy the chow chow. I’ll make enough beans and cornbread to take to the kids, and I’ll also take them a pint of chow chow. Lol. Does anyone else cook beans on Mondays, or is that just a tradition from my family? 

Also on the schedule for today, I am helping to teach quilting classes to the 4-H students. It is a three day class, so it’s quite a commitment for me, but it’s so important to get young people involved in quilting. So many people have told me that sewing and quilting is a dying art, but it doesn’t have to be. We just need to find opportunities to get young people interested. Same with canning! There is a lot of knowledge that needs to be passed on to the next generation.

A Few Squirrels

I have been working on the Soul Mate quilt. I’ve gotten quite a few of the blocks done

I was thinking I could finish it Sunday afternoon, but it took longer to clean up the house than I expected. I guess I should have known.

Jocelyn from the Canadian Needle Nana blog posted about propeller blocks, and I realized I had made blocks like that but didn’t know what I had done with them. I was pretty sure I hadn’t put the blocks into a quilt. I think I made them around the pandemic timeframe. I rummaged through some shelves and drawers and didn’t find them. I finally found a box labeled “Pinwheel blocks” in one of the closets.

It was taped shut, but I tore the tape loose and found my blocks.

These are made from a really cool mid-century modern fabric collection.

The background is either Kona snow or Kona white. I buy both by the bolt, so I’m not sure which is used. I spent a little time counting the blocks (there are 90), and thinking about what I can do with them. I also did a little internet search for something I can use for the border. 

I found a recipe on Jo Kramer’s blog and got all distracted with that. It’s an apple pie cake, and I like all things apple, and it didn’t have very many ingredients, so I decided to try it. That required a trip to the grocery store, and I forgot to get sour cream on the first trip, so I went back the next day! It was an easy recipe.

My opinion—it was good but not great. Sort of like a cake-y Cobbler. I rechecked the recipe on Jo’s blog and realized I had left off the glaze. I went back to the kitchen and stirred up some powdered sugar and milk and drizzled it over the top. I think it will be better with the glaze.

I enjoy reading everyone else’s blog posts, and I usually don’t get so sidetracked, but this week has been an exception. I need to refocus and make some progress on my own projects. 

It’s All Fun and Games……

….until it’s not. I’ll get to that in a minute. I’ve been working on a lot of things including lining up sponsors and vendors for the upcoming quilt show. The show will be in September, so we’re getting into crunch time. Here’s our opportunity (raffle) quilt. 

One of our members made it, and it’s really pretty. 

Yesterday I went to a birthday party for this sweet boy. 

William is my youngest grandchild, and he just turned 9. The party was at the city splash pad, and the kids were having fun. The adults were mostly just sweating. LOL. 

It’s is still raining pretty much everyday, but we had clear weather for the party, so it all worked out. 

I ordered some kits from Villa Rosa, they got here Friday evening. This is one of them.

I’m really happy with these vibrant fabrics.

P

I got all the strips and sewn into pairs last night. I went ahead and got them ironed too, so I can start sewing today once I get the house cleaning done. I also got a couple of these kits 

The fabrics in this one are so sweet.

These will make great baby quilts for Gabriel Project. 

And……it’s all fun and games until you quilt through your finger. I had loaded a quilt on the frame yesterday, and when I was basting it down, I put the needle through my index finger.

The hole is all the way through the nail. I’m surprised it doesn’t look worse. It was sore and throbbing so I turned the machine off and did some computer work instead. Well, it’s happened before, and it will probably happen again. Luckily, it doesn’t happen very often. 

Bunco Night

Sherry and I had both seen an event listed on Facebook for a Bunco night at a local winery, and I went ahead and signed us up as soon as I saw it.

It’s a good thing I did as it was limited to 12 people and they sold out within a few hours. 

I’m not happy about this picture—I look really fat in it. Never mind that, we did have a good time. The admission price included a charcuterie cup. It was super cute with the dice picks. 

They also gave us a bottle of water, but I ordered a glass of Cabernet to go with mine. 

It turns out no one there had ever played bunco, and they looked up some rules on the internet and printed them out. It was a version neither Sherry nor I had ever played, but we were game to try it. Guess who won? I did! My prize was this wine bag:

It had a bottle of one of their wines

and this little box

which contained a wine bottle stopper with a dice

and a $15 gift certificate.

That’s a really generous prize. They are planning to have bunco on a regular basis, ans I would definitely go again. 

A Few Finishes

Oh, I’m happy to get this quilt pieced. 

I had changed my original plan and decided to make the borders wider. I want it to be big enough to use on a queen bed. It seemed like a good idea until I realized I didn’t have enough of the border fabric. I bought the fabric online, so I had to order another yard. Anyway, I got it this week and was able to get the borders finished. This one is intended for a gift, and I was anxious to get it done. I hope to get it loaded on the frame today so I can quilt it. I pulled out some bolts to try and decide on a back. Here are some candidates.

I really can’t decide. I could also use this turquoise. 

I need to decide and try not to get stalled out on making a decision. That happens sometimes. I have enough of the border fabric left to use for binding.

I also got the quilting finished on Chris’s Turning Twenty.

It was a little too large to get a good picture. She is supposed to pick it up today. 

One thing I didn’t finish—this one:

I’ve got three of the borders made, but I have no idea what to do in the corners. I get tired thinking about it, but I need to figure it out. I may not have thought this one through. 

I think I have finished my canning. I used up the rest of the cucumbers and made a few more quarts of pickles, and some dill relish. I also got finished with all the jalapeños. These are pickled,

I made 9 half pints of candied jalapeño, but I don’t have pictures of those or of the dill relish. I’ll try to take some later. I think I’m through for the year. I need to go ahead and put the canner and the extra jars away and get my kitchen back in order. Today I’m making carne guisada, rice and beans. I usually cook for the kids on Thursdays. 🙂

A Busy Week

I feel like I have once again overloaded myself with stuff. I like to stay busy, and of course, I always like to help out wherever I am needed, but right now things are a little too overwhelming. I plan to sit down (when I have time, LOL), and prioritize what has to be done and make a note of when it has to be finished. 

I haven’t done much sewing for myself, but I do have a quilt hanging in the lobby of a local bank this month. 

The colors are more vibrant than the picture. 

There is a church in Refugio that has bought a quilt from me the last few years for their raffle, and two of the ladies stopped by to see if I had something ready for them. I don’t! They saw the quilt I’m making for my church’s raffle and asked it they could buy it. 

I told them it wasn’t for sale, but I have another in the same color-way that I can add some borders to. 

They like it, and they want a king size, so I am working on some borders currently. I’m not making good progress, but it will definitely get put on my priority list. 

Someone donated fabric to the guild, and I took the larger pieces to make kits for donation quilts. Betty helped me cut, fold, and bag kits for 3-yard quilts. We were able to get 15 kits made by supplementing from my personal stash. 

The next time we have a charity sew day at guild, I will take these kits and my 3-yard quilt books. It would be wonderful if we could get 15 quilts made for donation.

We are having another raffle at church for baby quilts. It is scheduled for September. 

Other than that, I am still working on customer quilts, and I am still canning. Yesterday, I shredded up some cabbage, and chopped onion, green tomatoes, bell peppers, and a couple of hot peppers for chow chow. I salted it all before I left the house and left it in the refrigerator so the water would leach out. Or as my granny used to say, I let it sweat down. 

I didn’t have a big enough bowl, so I used my cake carrier. LOL. It worked. I canned 12 pints yesterday evening. 

I am hoping to do some jalapeños today. The plan is to make some candied, and some pickled. I stopped at the store and got some carrots to add to the pickled ones. I haven’t figured out yet if I want to make pints or half pints.