Orca Bay Mystery Quilt Part 6 Finished

Bonnie Hunter posted part six clue on Thursday last week - one day early. I have worked pretty hard to get it done. That was 28 green blocks and 28 white blocks using the quarter square triangles made weeks ago. I love the blue centers.

Here is a picture of Rosie dozing on my desk under the light. She is my companion - my shadow. She follows me all around the house and sleeps with me at night. She was nearly feral when we brought her in and still is scared of most people. When we have visitors she stays hidden until they leave. It was a big day when she actually sat in my lap. Now she sleeps there a lot.

More Christmas Eve Pictures

Here is a picture of Damien with one of his gifts from Richard and me - a K'nex set. I wanted to get it because it is made in America. I also show Damien with his Rallystomper. This is a radio-controlled car that he really didn't have any interest in. We had gotten him a Paper Mario game for the Wii and that is what he liked. He prefers video games to all the other toys. I am not sure whether to encourage this. My kids grew up with video games but they like other things too. Then I show Richard with his car emergency kit he got from Audrey and Jason. They got me a watch and Richard got me a necklace shaped like a butterfly. As long as I have my family and my cats I am a happy person. We shared a really nice Christmas but I am glad it is over! Now life can get back to normal. (I wish these pictures would be on here in the order that I load them!)

Christmas Eve at the Harmon's

Here is a picture of Damien with his radio-controlled car and Audrey holding her box-link chain with Jason wearing his WVU cap. We took plenty of pictures so I will put them on here when I can. Adam wasn't feeling well - I hope he doesn't have the flu. Damien had a potty accident soon after he got here. I don't know why but it seems there is always something out of sorts at Christmas. When the kids were little usually at least one of them was sick each year. I guess that is continuing on. Yesterday I baked Snickerdoodles and brownies so we had lots of snacks to eat tonight. Tomorrow I am cooking a ham (first time) and I will fix mashed potatoes and other veggies. Baking a cake (mix) in the morning. I am trying to take it easy for Christmas dinner, not doing much from scratch. Fortunately, box mixes and canned food tastes pretty good now and I doctor these things up. There are usually five or six of us for Christmas dinner now. When I was little there would be thirty or more at dinner. My family has dwindled down the past few years.

Part 5 done

Today I finished Part 5 of the Orca Bay mystery quilt. I was to add a green triangle to two sides of the 350 half-square triangle blocks made in a previous step. This turns them into corner pieces. I put one out in front of all the others so you could see how they are made. These are small pieces. I am keeping all the parts of the quilt in a plastic box maybe a little larger than a shoe box, and that box is full. If the next part is adding more pieces I will have to find a larger box to keep them in. I love my blues, greens and golds together, and I hope the next step will be putting some of them together. I doubt it though - these pieces don't seem to fit together into a block. I'll bet we will be adding more blue because it is one of the dominant colors in the quilt and we really haven't done much with them yet. I have barely touched the fabrics I pulled for this quilt - most of it so far has come out of my scrap bins. I have cut into the greens quite a bit but very little blues.

I am sitting here in a fleece nightgown and I have my little heater here beside me going full blast. This winter is already freezing me and it has barely begun. I know that Christmas is still a week away but I wish it were the first of APRIL! There is very little warmth at JoAnn Fabrics where I work because (the manager says) four air handlers aren't working. I wore my Cuddle Duds (long underwear) on Friday and I am wearing it again tomorrow. I think I will put my little heater in the car and then I can huddle in front of it if I get too cold. I don't think there has been much heat in there yet this winter.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - Part 4 - Finally Finished!

Part four of the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt is 128 triangles from string blocks, which means that I had to make 64 string blocks and cut them in half. It has taken me since Friday morning to get these done. I love the look of string blocks but I hate making them. I have already made green string blocks for this quilt and I know these blue ones will look terrific with them. If Bonnie Hunter has me make more string blocks I will pull my hair out!

After the concert - Hot Pursuit!

Jason drove us to the concert in their car, and when we got home he parked in their driveway. I came across the street. I knew there was a man and a boy slightly behind me and to the left. When I got to my yard I was feeling in my purse for my keys when I heard a crashing sound down on Sixth Avenue. I paused there at the side of the house and looked down Bream Street to see what was going on. Then I saw a speeding car with no lights on coming up the wrong way on Bream Street (which is a one-way street) and the flashing lights of a police car in hot pursuit. They were headed for Seventh Avenue! I screamed for the man and boy to get out of the street because there were also two cars coming up Seventh and they were all aimed for the corner of our yard! The man threw the boy in our yard and jumped on top of him. The two cars on Seventh held back (thank heavens) and the speeding car turned the corner and headed on up Seventh. The police car had hung back a bit, probably expecting a crash. I knew I was safe but I worried about the man and boy. They were ok, but just as shaken up as I was. I am still shaking like a leaf as I sit here typing this. It's a good thing we haven't replaced our fence yet because they would have been right up against it.

Damien's Christmas Concert

Tonight was the JE Robins school Christmas concert and Jason, Audrey and I went. It was held at Stonewall Jackson Middle School. Damien is in Kindergarten there. He is the one in the center with the Christmas tie. He looked just like his father up there, like he didn't want to be there. It was a real fun concert and I'm glad I got to go.

Purses for Trish

Some time ago, Trish, Damien's other grandmother, asked me to make these two purses for her to give her friends for Christmas. She brought me the butterfly fabric. Of course, I put it off as long as I could but I finally got them finished this afternoon. They have been cut out and laying on my cutting table for at least three weeks. This is the Margo purse pattern from Lazy Girl Designs. I have made this pattern up many times. In fact, I had given Trish the one I used as a class sample at work. We had that class quite a few times. I love this purse even though I don't carry a purse this size and have never made one for myself.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - Part 3

I finally finished my Orca Bay mystery quilt part three - which was posted last Friday morning. It has taken five days of hard work to get these 350 half-square triangles done. I did about 250 of them using my easy-angle ruler the hard way. Then someone posted online about a web site that had downloads you could print out and place the paper on fabric and sew a bunch of them at once. Here is a link to that site: http://www.quiltingandwhatnot.ca/Half-Square-Triangle.html It really helped to get the last hundred done. The other picture shows all the parts in the box I am keeping them in until they get too big for it. Sorry it is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to turn it around. At the top of the picture are all the half-square triangles, then the gold string blocks of part 2, and the bottom shows the quarter-square triangles. I love doing Bonnie Hunter's mysteries - but she sure likes to use very small pieces! I haven't used the blues yet, the other main color in this quilt. Maybe part 4 will use them. I have had blues and greens in mind for a quilt for quite a while now. I love adding the yellows (golds) to them. My blues will be darker than the greens, but not all the way to navy. I have a lot of different pieces and I know it will be gorgeous.

Fire in the Neighborhood

During the night last night I was awoken by a disturbance. I could see flashing lights out front so I got up to see what was going on. There was a police car parked in the intersection directing traffic away from the fifteen hundred block of Seventh Avenue. I opened the door and saw a bunch of fire trucks only half a block away. I put a jacket over my warm robe and found a pair of shoes and went out to see which house was ablaze. There are very old houses in my neighborhood and two of them had flames high over the roof. These houses are VERY close together and there was no way only one of them could burn. The young men who worked on our stone wall this summer live in one of them, and I heard one say that the fire started in the attic. While I was standing there gawking I heard Audrey yell for me. She and Jason were standing across the street, and Pam was there with Shana, Jonathan's girlfriend. It seems we all meet in the street like that far too often. In just a few minutes I was freezing so I went home. Richard was sitting in the living room and asked what was going on. I just went back to bed - I had taken Ambien a couple of hours before that. We drove past the houses this morning and the second story of each was really burned. We have lost many, many houses in this neighborhood to fire.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - Part 2

I can't believe it! I have already finished part 2 of the Orca Bay mystery quilt. I made 72 small string blocks = 3 1/2" square. They are gorgeous but I don't enjoy making them. The next part will not be released until Friday morning so now I can work on my bowtie blocks. Hurry up Friday - I'm ready!!!

View of my decorations from the front door

Not a great picture, but it shows the stars hanging from the awning and the tall spiral tree. The stars are blue, green, red and they flash on and off. The spiral tree is multi-colored but it does not flash. Beside the big spiral tree are five little spiral trees. I will get a picture when all the decorations are done. We had to do it a little differently than we usually do because the new awning doesn't have a railing, and we always put lights and garland on the railing. We also would run red rope light down the fence. The star lights we just bought last month, but the spiral trees have been here for a few years.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt - Part 1

Bonnie Hunter is doing a new mystery quilt on her blog. It is called Orca Bay and she posted the first clue last Friday. I have been all week getting this done. In the picture I show my first clue all finished. I am doing my quilt in medium greens and dark blues with yellows (sort of gold) as an accent and of course neutral backgrounds. Here are my greens and neutral backgrounds in 224 quarter square triangles, pinned together in groups of 10. They only measure 2 1/2' square and Bonnie says they will be scattered all over the quilt. Now I have to make 72 3 1/2" string blocks in my yellows. I hope to post each clue to my blog whenever I get one finished. I hope to be able to keep up and get each clue finished each week. Here is a link to the mystery quilt http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/orca-bay-mystery.html

Happy Turkey Day!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I spent the day cooking and cleaning and cooking and cleaning! We had a wonderful meal - turkey and stuffing and all the trimmings, including several desserts. The picture I put on here today is my graham cracker pie, something my grandmother always made and I didn't get the recipe from her. My friend gave me her mother's recipe and it was the right taste, so I have made it my own. I got a Kitchenaid mixer this year and boy it made terrific meringue! That's really all you can see in the picture. I also had german chocolate pie, something new for me. I had always enjoyed it in restaurants but never made it until yesterday. I will definitely make that again! Audrey came over with her husband and mother-in-law and Adam and Richard were here too. When I was a kid there were thirty or more for dinner each year, but my family is dwindling away.

Thanksgiving was always my favorite holiday until four years ago, when my dad died. I had visited him in the hospital that morning and then came home and fixed our dinner. We had just gotten the kitchen cleaned up when Dad's nurse called and told me to come to the hospital. I called Jeff, my brother, and we ran right up there, but Dad was gone. Since Thanksgiving is always on the third Thursday of November, I get two days each year to morn for him, November 22 and Thanksgiving Day. It will never be the same for me again.

I have been ignoring this blog for way too long. Life intervenes, you know!
Notice that I have changed the picture at the top. That is Sascha, curled up asleep on a pile of clothes. Kitty cats need lots of sleep! I'll bet they sleep at least 22 hours a day. Every morning they get me out of bed so I can feed them then they all go right to sleep. Eat, sleep, use the litter box. My cats are too old to play much, and definitely not with each other! They can barely tolerate each other's presence in the house. They used to play together but not for years now.

I baked this raisin pie for Richard today. He loves raisin pie but he never gets any. I found the recipe on the web and it looked pretty easy so there it is! I decided not to make it for Thanksgiving, so I made it today. I won't eat it, I don't like raisins. I hate the texture when you bite into them, although I will eat raisins straight out of the box. I just hate raisins baked in anything. I cringe at the thought of eating muffins or anything with raisins in it. The pie baked up beautifully and smelled really good. Richard said it was a little too sweet, that raisins have their own sugar, so the next time I will cut back a little on the sweetness. It was good to bake again, I used to bake all the time but not recently at all. I am cooking our Thanksgiving meal this week. Richard has decided to work the holiday so I am not going all-out for our meal. I have a turkey and stuffing and all the rest, but I am not really cooking much from scratch.

Bonnie Hunter has started a new mystery quilt on her blog, called Orca Bay. Naturally, I am participating in this mystery. I am doing my quilt in dark blues, medium greens, yellows to golds, with neutral backgrounds. She is going to post a new clue to the mystery every Friday, starting yesterday. I have about half of yesterday's clue made so far. I hope to keep up with Bonnie every week. Will post pictures along the way.

Amish Bus Trip

Yesterday Debbie and I joined Linda's guild members for a trip to Berlin, Ohio on a tour bus. I got up at 4:30am and met the bus at the South Charleston Recreation Center by 5:30. We drove to Teays Valley and picked up another bunch of women and suddenly we were 37 quilters going to quilt shops! Even the bus driver was a woman!
We watched the daylight come up thru the windows of the bus on I-77. Our first stop was at Miller's bakery in Charm. I loved the cinnamon smell in there! But I controlled myself and didn't buy anything. It was raining and pretty chilly. After that we visited Miller's Dry Goods. A wonderful quilt shop! Although I was very tempted I controlled myself once more.
The bus drove back to Berlin and parked in a church lot right on the main street. Debbie and I were starved so we went straight to a crowded little restaurant. After a delightful lunch of beef and noodles with green beans and homemade rolls we hit the shops on the main street. I bought some candies in the bulk foods section of Sol's and some fudge at Coblentz. Debbie got a pumpkin latte and it was time to head back to the bus.
Granny Fanny's Quilt Shop was next. It is in a little village of shops that includes a crafts mall, a pet shop, and more. The shop I liked best is called Tis The Season and is a year-round Christmas store. I have been there before and I really enjoyed it. The hard part was walking back up the hill to the bus afterwards. I am so out of shape! I had to stop a couple of times so my muscles would keep working.
When we left there we stopped at Dutch Valley for dinner. A $12.98 buffet! I knew I couldn't eat enough to justify that so I ordered a turkey sandwich and fries. My dinner was only $7.50. I know that several of the ladies were disappointed with the food, including Debbie. Mine was ok. They had a bakery in the restaurant but I controlled myself there also.
Then it was time to start home. We stopped at a rest stop just inside the West Virginia line, and soon we were back in South Charleston, where we had left our cars. I got home a 10pm, tired but happy.
All in all, I brought most of my money back home with me. I only bought food and candy. I really didn't see any fabric or patterns that I couldn't live without. I still enjoyed my day with Debbie and the ladies from the quilt guild. This morning I was still tired when I got up but I was scheduled to work today. I took a couple of Tylenols and soldiered on. Besides feeling very tired I have sore muscles (the back of my legs!) and I really didn't want to get out of bed this morning. Work wasn't hard and I was able to sit around a lot. The only thing I was disappointed about was no stop at one of the cheese places, especially when we drove right past one. I was looking forward to getting some chocolate cheese.
I want to make another trip to Berlin (maybe next spring) and enjoy all the places we didn't go yesterday. I'm sure it would take several days to do everything I want to do there, like visit Behalt, Heini's cheese, Warther's, Wendell August, and other places I have been before and really enjoyed.

We got an electric fireplace

This is something we have wanted for about a year. We shopped everywhere for an electric fireplace last winter, especially late winter when I figured they might be clearanced. Alas, we did not find one we would pay the money for. We finally decided we wanted this one from Sam's Club and no luck, they didn't have them any more! Richard and I started looking at them again last week and decided we had better get it when we could! This one sold for $629 last year but this year we paid $600. I wrote an ad for our entertainment unit and put it on kanawhacafe.com for $300 and I hope it sells quickly. The fireplace has heat! Wonderful heat! It has a thermostat and a timer and a remote control, which will be quickly lost. The storage on the sides is not to my liking (it is made for cd's) and won't hold much, but we really wanted the shelf for the Wii and cable box. Our TV is small but the next one will be bigger. That is Ace, Richard's cat, in the picture. I am so happy with my fireplace! When we were first married our little house on Edgewood had a fireplace with gas logs and I loved it.

It's been awhile....

since I posted last. I haven't taken any pictures lately so I picked these two out of my files. The orange tabby is Sam, top cat and leader of the pack. The tuxedo cat is Missy. She is my elderly baby, being 16 1/2 years old now. Missy is not in good shape anymore. She is liable to pee just anywhere so I am forever cleaning up after her. Sam rules the roost and lets everyone know it. He is not scared of anything or anyone, except the outdoors. The one time he got outside he nearly scared himself to death. He would love to go out an open door but we don't have to worry that any of our cats will slip out the door. Ace, our other tuxedo, will sometimes slip out the door behind us but then he wants right back inside. Living right here on the street I am extremely glad they stay inside.

Today I fixed some beef stew for dinner, first time since late last winter. I scorched it but it didn't hurt it. Richard and I ate our fill and we are going to have it tomorrow too. Adam was going to come up and have dinner with us but he is under the weather with sore throat. I am working tomorrow.

Halloween Quilt Finished!

Friday I finished adding all the borders and
sandwiched the quilt top, batting and backing on Saturday morning. I did most of the quilting during the WVU game Saturday afternoon. Then during the evening I got the binding on the quilt and ready for the hand stitching. Today I sat on the porch and stitched the border down. I had added tabs on the back to hang the quilt on the wall and then slipped a dowel rod thru the tabs. This quilt is going to hang in the store where I work, Viking Sewing Gallery inside JoAnn Fabrics in Dunbar, WV. This was a fun project to do and I am glad I took it on.

Design Wall Monday

I know, I know, it's Tuesday already. Let's just pretend I am not late this week to make this post. At least I have something to show this week! I have made 40 Bow-Tie blocks from my scraps. I bought five yards of the cheddar dot fabric to use for the background of this quilt. The rest of the fabric is coming from my scrap bins. If I have enough of one fabric to get three 3" blocks then I am making a bow-tie. I laid out the blocks on the floor starting on the lower left with the light colored blocks, then medium, then dark. I see from the picture that I need lots more dark blocks if I want to do this layout. I usually just throw blocks together willy-nilly (totally scrappy) but I am thinking I want to control this one. I am thinking about putting sashing around four blocks, still staying in the light-to-dark idea. I am going to just keep making blocks for a while and see what looks best.

August EQ7 BOM

This is my entry into the August EQ7 Block of the Month contest. Each month they post on their blog a quilt block and they only give us the size pieces to cut, no instructions on how to put the block together. This is a small block - only 6" square. That means really small pieces. I used scraps of the fabric designed for the WV shophop I did in June. I wanted to fussy-cut the shape of WV for the center piece but it was too large and all the edges would have gone into the seam allowance. I am very happy with the block and would love to make a whole quilt out of them, only larger of course. I don't usually fool with pieces this small.

Design Wall Monday and some miscellaneous

Here it is Monday again already. I can't believe another week has gone by. I have done very little sewing this week, embroidered the Halloween shirt and sewed two potholders. Haven't even put the binding on the potholders yet. I need to spend some time cleaning the sewing room and putting fabrics away. I pulled nearly everything out looking for scraps for the Halloween appliques. Then I didn't put it back. Now I have a big job facing me. I worked in the garage for a while yesterday and filled my car with bags for Goodwill. I was going to take them up there today but I guess I am just too lazy to get dressed and go. I'll take them tomorrow before Richard's doctor appointment. I will probably go with him for that. I want to make sure he tells the doctor that he has been feeling bad lately. I am afraid Richard doesn't tell him anything.
Today I put a roast in the electric skillet and I will surround it with potatoes, onions and carrots. I also made up a box of Suddenly Salad. I love pasta salad but I'd rather use a box mix than make it up myself. I am thinking about making some haystacks for dessert. They are a favorite around here. The problem is they are made with sugar and you cannot use Splenda. I tried it once and it did not work.
We are still getting lots of tomatoes from our four tomato plants. I have heard all over that people's tomatoes were not doing well, and that they were nearly finished for the summer. We have had a bumper crop this year and they are not done yet. I took a bag of them to JoAnn's with me yesterday and gave them away. I have eaten a ton of bacon and tomato sandwiches! Richard and I both make a point of eating at least one tomato a day, but I bring in about eight a day. And very few small tomatoes, these things are huge!

Halloween shirt

I did the appliques from the Halloween Applique Quilt and put them on a denim shirt I got at Goodwill some time ago. It made a fun shirt I can't wait to wear. I am a little tired of doing applique in the hoop now after doing all these on the shirt and all the blocks for the Halloween Quilt. Now I need to put the blocks together for the quilt and then I am thru with Halloween. Not my favorite holiday.

Damien spent the day with us yesterday

Damien and I played Mario on the Wii for hours and then I took him over to Jeff's house to see Pam's grandkids. Taevion and Damien were born the same day and have played together before but they don't remember that. The kids all played together like they had always known each other. Then they all got in the pool. I took these pictures with my phone so they aren't the greatest. He has grown so much! He starts kindergarten soon, and they have just moved back to Charleston from the Elkview area. School will be good for him. He really hasn't begun to learn to read and write yet. I need to go to the mall and look for some nice school clothes for him. He was wearing his new shoes and they looked great on him. I can't believe he wears size 2 shoes. I wear size 2 shoes! He is going to have big feet!

My prize package

This is what I won with my June block on the block of the month I am doing. The Christmas wallhanging is applique which is something I try to do very little of. However I am going to do this one. The fabric is four fat quarters of Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas from Moda Fabrics, according to the selvedge edges. I need to make something with these fat quarters. It is a wonderful prize package and I am truly overwhelmed to receive it. I'm sending thanks to Reeze Hanson from Morning Glory Designs for my prize.

Just a quick post

They finally fixed the street in front of the house! That has been waiting since the first of the year. I have begged the city to take care of it for months and months.

These are the tomatoes I brought in from the back yard today. I included the fork to show the size of these beauties. I know, a couple of them are less than ripe but I decided to go ahead and get them. Last year we had a lot of blossom-end rot but we have escaped that this year. I only have four plants but I think they will keep us well supplied.

I have made some more blocks for the Halloween applique quilt, but I think I will wait to show them when I get them put together. I made a different pumpkin, a witch's hat, and a bat flying in front of the moon. The more I make these blocks the more I want to put them on a denim shirt to wear this fall.

I think Debbie, Diane, Tammy and I are heading for Barboursville tomorrow for the quilt shops. We will have a nice lunch and make a day of it. I am looking forward to that!

Halloween Applique Quilt

I am making a wallhanging for Halloween that is appliqued on the embroidery machine. This is a picture of the first two blocks. You hoop tear-away stabilizer and the background fabric. The machine stitches the placement of the applique and then you lay fabric on top of the stitching. It stitches it again and you closely (and carefully!) cut away the fabric at the stitching. Then it satin stitches around the applique. There is a little more to it but that is most of it. I think I am going to hunt a denim shirt to do these appliques on. I will post pictures of the other blocks as soon as I get them made. It is piddling work but they are sure cute when you get them done.

Design Wall Monday

I actually have something on my design wall to show this week! I have been working every now and then on my Bow-tie quilt. The background will be the same on all the blocks but the bow-ties will be scrappy, probably no two alike. I don't expect to hurry with this quilt. The nine-patch block will be the center of the August block of the month I am working on. I did that yesterday, hope to finish it tomorrow.

The slug was on my awning Sunday morning. That sucker was huge! I saw it thru the kitchen window when I was washing dishes and thought it was a twig or something. I know slugs move slowly but this one got all over the porch. Richard said it would die if it stayed in the sun when it got really hot and it did. I found it dead today. Saturday I saw a lizard going up the wall on the side of the house and it had the most georgous colors. I don't mind lizards, but I hate spiders.

I always get injured!

Tuesday afternoon Richard needed to take the back off the plasma tv he was working on. He only had me to help him (big help, right!). Anyway, to get the back off you have to lay it on its front, take off the base, remove the back, put the base back on, and stand it back up on the base. Richard took one side and I took the other. I figured out real quick that it was too heavy for me, but we had it on its face. Richard popped the base off and used the drill to remove the only screw still holding the back on. Then the back wouldn't come loose so I got a fingernail under the top and slid my finger down the side, cutting my finger open. We finally got the back off and he put the base back on the tv. As we stood it back up the base dropped off, directly onto my left foot. I knew it hit me but I didn't think I was hurt, except for my finger. I rushed thru the house and was checking out my finger when I realized there was a problem with my foot. My shoe was full of blood but there wasn't much pain. Since I am on blood thinners I bleed a lot even from a small cut or scrape. Richard came in there to check on me and found me trying to take care of it all. He immediately started yelling that it was all his fault. I told him it was an accident, not anyone's fault. He helped me bandage it and I sat with it elevated. Then the pain hit. It was as if someone sat at my foot and periodically hit it with a hammer. My foot would jerk hard with the pain and I couldn't hold it still. I took some Tylenol and it helped. Yesterday morning it didn't hurt too bad but I got a sharp pain when I stepped on it, so I thought I should have x-rays taken. Audrey and Jason took me to the Dr's office and to the Imaging Center. In return I took them to lunch at Applebee's in Kanawha City. I had sliders and they were pretty good. My foot improved a lot during the night last night and this morning I could walk without a lot of pain. Putting a shoe on it is still difficult. It has turned all colors of the rainbow. I think if I stay off of it tomorrow that it will be all right. I think I am a total klutz! Richard is still moaning and groaning that it was his fault, but I know that I always get hurt.

Design Wall Monday

Just a little late! Really, nothing new to report. No pictures this time. Made more pillowcases and that's about it. They are great to make because they take little fabric and make up very quickly. Everyone seems to love them. I have given quite a few away to family. Still need to find a fabric to take the place of the cheddar in the bow-tie leaders and enders project. Doesn't look like I have anything in my stash to do it, since I need about five yards. That is for background - the bow-ties will be scraps right out of my (very full!) scrap bins. Got to get started on that.

Eyesore of the neighborhood

This is the house next door to mine. We have tried to buy this house from the owner for at least twenty years, and Dad tried to buy it before that. Mary Thomas, the owner, just refuses to talk to us about it. She is now very elderly, very ill, and in a nursing home. I spoke with her niece recently who told me that she is very contrary and refuses to do anything. She said she would help me if she could but Ms. Thomas will not even discuss it. She didn't pay the property tax on the house last year. I found out that the City of Charleston has a lien against it for unpaid fees (sanitary, fire) even though it has been vacant for years. We used to put the clapboards back on it but we have quit doing that. Richard cuts the grass but that is all we will do. I just hope the city will tear it down. All the other homes in the neighborhood are kept neat and tidy with flowers planted and grass mowed.

Finally!

Here is how the house looks now. I am loving the red metal roof, although the new awning is not exactly what I wanted. We still need to put up the fence, which may wait until cooler weather. Landscaping will have to wait until the fence is up. I think the new garage door makes the house look much more modern, not the 60's ranch style it has always been. Sitting on the porch is like sitting on a fancy patio, since Richard painted the furniture. I have noticed that without the fence and railing on the porch people are much friendlier. Nearly everyone who goes by will speak or at least nod at us. That didn't happen much before.

Design Wall Monday

I missed posting last week's Design Wall. I haven't been sewing much lately. Right now I am pulling fabrics together to make more pillowcases, these pillowcases for CAMC. So far I have six cases cut and fabric pulled to cut at least that many more. It seems like no matter how much fabric I pull and cut my stash doesn't get any smaller. And then any time I want to start a project I don't have what I need so I go buy it. Bonnie Hunter posted on her blog a Leaders and Enders challenge and I have to buy five yards of some neutral fabric to use for background. Bonnie is using cheddar for hers but I don't have any cheddar. I am working tomorrow so I think I will scour the shelves at JoAnn Fabrics for something to use. The rest of the quilt will be scrappy so I can get out my scrap bins! Woo-hoo! This is the Bow-Tie block and won't be the main project but I will work on it while I do other projects. This one will take some time to do.

Two more down, three to go!

The block with the purple around the center is from the quilt shop in Victor, and the other one is from Fairmont. They are similar, using flying geese around the center block. I have been working on these fabrics so long now they are not exciting to me any more. I will finish them; and then set them in a quilt. But I have lost my zeal for them. The bad thing of it is: I have fabric left over and I will probably make another set of blocks from it. I guess that's also a good thing. Now I long to start something else.