Surprise!!!

It's only been three months since I last posted, but who's counting, right? Anyway, here's a quote from Bonnie K. Hunter's blog that really caught my eye:

And some days annoying people is what it's all about! (wicked grin)

Honestly, I couldn't believe it had been three months. Time has flown by, but now Summer is gone and Fall is going by fast. September was too hot and humid and now all October is giving us is rain and chilliness. We're supposed to get some rain, maybe mixed with a little snow, again tomorrow.

Canning and freezing is about done for another year. I might can a batch of butternut squash yet and some chicken and then put the canning equipment away. The only fresh produce we're having now is the squash, Asian pears and a few apples from the very tops of the trees. The garden is cleaned off after a very productive season.

This is the only quilt that I've made start to finish this year. Actually it was pieced last year and quilted this Summer. It's being mailed off for Quilts of Valor tomorrow, along with another one.

I got the blocks finished for two more quilts so far this year and at least two tops are waiting to be quilted. (There's also a Double Wedding Ring top that I pieced years ago that is hiding in a box under my bed that I haven't been quite brave enough to tackle yet.) I got the backing for one of them pieced on Monday, but won't load it just yet. A lady called and asked if I could quickly get a quilt quilted for her next week if she can get it too me early in the week and I said yes. Now I ask myself, "Why?"

For two months straight I took paper foundations and r/w/b strips & strings to my quilt group meetings and had the ladies help foundation piece blocks for QOV quilts. This month our hostess forgot that she was hostess & should have a project lined up for us so I went home and got one batch of blocks for the ladies to de-paper. I thank them for all their help. Now I just need to get to work and finish the quilts up.

OK, that's about it, the last three months in a nutshell.

Time Flies

And here it is July...Friday the 13th to be exact.

It was such a nice rain overnight & this morning. I always appreciate it when there's no hail or crazy wind involved. I do enjoy a good thunder & lightning storm though! Sure hope the heat and humidity stay away for a while.

Today I'm finishing up a quilt on the machine & will probably shred some zucchini for the freezer. The quilting machine needed some work but is sewing fine now. The needle up/down needs some adjustment but it will wait until this quilt is done. Seems like there is always something to be tweaked on something.

Maybe I'll soon post a couple quilt pictures here!!

Down With Epson

It's been a less than stellar month for me and electronics.

The first was caused by user error and I spent a bit over two weeks resurrecting my almost DOA laptop. It was a software problem and I knew I could fix it, but it still took time. Thank heaven I had subscribed to Backblaze cloud backup a couple years ago. It helped me get back what I hadn't backed up to external hard drives which I hadn't done since Dec. in some cases and last Apr. in others. Have to do better at that!

To top it off I was stupid enough to install the latest firmware "update" for my Epson printer/scanner. "Update" my foot!! What it does is lock up your printer so it can't use 3rd party compatible ink cartridges, only the really expensive Epson ones. The others were working great & I was happy with the results. Now, unless I want to buy a $75 set of Epson cartridges for a $90 printer I have a lovely, shiny, black doorstop. Can't even use the scanner. Needless to say, I will NEVER buy another Epson product and I advise anyone else to not buy them either. If by chance you already have an Epson printer and it will still use the 3rd party cartridges DO NOT install any updates!

Then I tried to play a DVD for the grandkids and it wouldn't play in any computer and my upstairs DVD player is refusing all DVDs. Guess it's dead too. Finally tried the disk in the downstairs DVD player and it played. Makes me wonder what sort of scheme the DVD makers have to keep disks from playing on a computer.

Between all the issues and the weather, I'll be glad when March is over.

Caught In The Act

It's a cold one, that's for sure. Our thermometer said -20 just before sunrise and it was anywhere from -22 to -24 elsewhere in town. -30 three miles west of town. 

Our two orphan kitties had been outdoor kitties, sleeping in the garage at night, until a day or two after Christmas when it just kept getting colder and we brought them in. I like to keep my Christmas tree up until a while after New Year's but the kitties decided on Saturday night that it was time to pull on the lights and pull off the ornaments....so at 11:30pm I took it down.

Caught red-handed (red-pawed?) and documented climbing in the tree after most of the ornaments were off. His sister was also climbing the tree while the ornaments were still on, but I didn't get her on candid camera. Little stinkers!

Merry Christmas

It's a little late in the day but here goes:

Our kids & grand-kids were here for Christmas dinner & gifts. Our 4 yr. old granddaughter gives the most delightful squeal when she unwraps something she was really wanting.  Her brother had a dinosaur Christmas...he added several to his growing collection. I'm glad the one I got for him went home with him....cool, but oh so noisy. It's always great to have everyone here, but the time goes so fast.

Off The Frame

Here's a picture of the latest quilt to come off the frame. I just love the colors in this one.

This morning I got the next top, backing & batting ready to load. I should have some time to work on it in the coming days. There's always a lot to do before Christmas, but decorations are up, food is pretty well organized, presents are wrapped & under the tree....that pretty much leaves cleaning & I get real tired of that so it will be nice to have a quilt to work on. Once it's loaded the repetitiveness of quilting is relaxing....as long as the machine behaves. I think I need to get a new tension spring and anti-backlash spring. Sometimes the machine gets kind of cranky and pulls the top thread slightly through to the back leaving tiny little loopies...not always, just sometimes. I keep cranking the top tension tighter, but I think the tension spring is just tired.....kind of like me at times.  :)

It's Such A Beautiful Day For......

Thanksgiving! Just one more thing to be thankful for.

Happy??? Merry???

Or maybe I should say "Merry Christmas" since it's snowing out. Crazy! It's supposed to be nearly 60 degrees for a high tomorrow. Just your standard Nebraska weather, I guess.

Today I'm canning Butternut squash. There was a bumper crop this year. I'm quitting with 14 quarts since that's all the wide-mouth jars I have empty and I don't want to buy any more. This year I'm trying the official, approved method of peeling & dicing into 3/4 to 1 inch pieces, covering with water and pressure canning. Before I always cut the squash in half length-wise, took out the seeds, baked them, scooped out the squash & mashed it. It went into pint jars and got pressure canned. We'll see which we like best.....the approved way or the old, unapproved way. I always figured the old way was safe enough with getting pressure canned at 10 lbs. for 90 minutes.....but hey, what do I know? I've only been doing this for years and years.

What Keeps Me Busy

Pictures of Praying Mantis have been popular in late Summer/Early Fall this year. Here's mine:

Looking back I see that it's been about three months since I posted. Sure doesn't seem that long. Here's a few things that have kept me busy:

Lots of tomatoes and tomato/veggie juice canned this year. Also green beans (I thought they would never end. Finally I just QUIT.) Lots of sweet corn frozen. Will still be canning some butternut squash. Tons of carrots that I'm not sure what I'll do with,,,,hubby got a little over-zealous with his planting. On the whole, the garden did very well. Not much for fruit this year...to be expected when the trees are all blooming and you get 9" of snow on the first of May.  Also working on photo books for the kids for Christmas. Now, there's a project I should have started on Dec. 26th last year! Spending hours on finding, sorting, scanning, editing....and haven't even started putting them into order in the photo book program.

Right now all I want is some beautiful, warm, sunny Fall days. Seems like all we can get is clouds and rain.

Sharing

I was feeling ambitious the last couple of weeks to I have a few pictures to share tonight.

These are Quilt Club Projects....finished at last!

This is the Boxy Star pattern designed by Bonnie Hunter. It will be donated to Quilts of Valor.

And last, but not least, this is Delectable Mountains pattern. Or, if you are a Bonnie Hunter fan, it's Scrappy Mountain Majesties.  This one I'm keeping!

Independence Day

In honor of the 4th of July I made my first batch of potato salad and grilled pork chops for the summer. Hubby's complaint? Nobody ever puts enough chopped sweet pickle in the potato salad. (I put in all that were left in the jar!) Pork chops were yummy, but I was disappointed in the cantaloupe. Looked good, but very little flavor and hard. I knew when I bought it that it probably wasn't ripe....stem end was green....but I was craving it. Guess I'll just wait until the ones in the garden get ripe. They're just blooming so it will be a while.

Also in honor of the 4th I'm working on getting a Quilt of Valor ready for the machine & hope to get it loaded yet today. Finished binding another quilt yesterday and have another one with the blocks sewed into rows, just need to lay it all out again and start sewing the rows together. There's another finished top waiting in the wings along with three from a family member waiting to be quilted. I needed to get a sample made for the project for our quilt group meeting next week so I also cut a bunch more for a project to work on at our August retreat. Almost all out of strips left over from two baby quilts I made four years ago. I'm in the zone!!! :)

Last night we sat outside and watched fireworks for a while. Kind of like Big Bang Boom without the crowds. There was even a drone flying around, probably videoing the fireworks. I thought I could hear one and then the hubby spotted the little red light zipping around....had to be a drone or a foo-fighter. :)  The lightning bugs were putting on a pretty good display too! Ah, summer!!

It's Easter!

The eggs are boiled for the deviled eggs, dessert is made, grand-kids' Easter treats are ready....guess I'm about ready for Easter. We will be going to our daughter's house for Easter supper.  When the family grows and various in-laws become part of the mix we adjust. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

New Projects

There's not a whole lot going on here since my last post. Last weekend I thought I'd quickly cut out a couple of QOV quilts. Everything always takes longer than expected, but finally got them cut out and the blocks for one are sewed.

I really like those little plastic clippy things for holding parts of blocks together. Draws less blood than working with pins. LOL

I have some quilts I need to get quilted so don't know how much progress I'll make on these for a while. Speaking of that, I should get a set of Red Snappers for loading quilts....less bloodshed, you know? LOL

Hope you all had a fun St. Pat's and didn't get pinched.

Latest Finish

This is a vintage top I bought in the Vendor's Mall at the first QuiltNebraska I went to. I had every intention of hand quilting it, but life was busy and it got tucked away for a number of years....15?  20?....not really sure. Finally I accepted that hand quilting wasn't going to happen so it got machine quilted in the Baptist Fan pattern. Of the patterns I have that one seemed most appropriate for the age of the quilt...which I'm not sure of at all. Some fabrics could be 20s & 30s, some look like they could be from an earlier time period.  I don't know what this quilt pattern is called either.

This weekend I'm working on cutting out a couple of Quilts of Valor quilts. If I get them kitted up then I can just sew and sew when I feel like it.

Just A Nice Sunday

I stayed up way too late reading last night,,,,2:45am!....so slept in a bit this morning. It's a beautiful sunny day here in Nebraska!

The hubby went ice fishing again! today so it's very peaceful here.

After having leftover lasagne (Yum) for lunch I settled down to watch Bonnie Hunter's Quilt-Cam while I sewed on blocks for Spoolin' Around.

Just the sort of Sunday I like.

Top #2.....

FINISHED!!!!.......   Delectable Mountains

It was a good sewing day. The snow must have energized me! :)  Somehow this top seems bigger than the pattern. I'll have to measure, but really, does it matter?  The purple border is crazy, I've never put a purple border on a quilt before, but out of the "maybe" fabrics that I had enough of this is the only one that really looked right. And isn't using what you have the purpose of the "scrappy" style?  Lord knows I have enough fabric to use up!

I also worked on blocks for another quilt today. Sewed the block quarters into block halves. There are lots of seams so there are MANY quarter-inch seams to press open. I know I said I was going to start a new project when I had two tops finished, but maybe I'll work on those blocks for a while....I seem to be on a roll.

One Down....And One To Go

It's a top.....!!!!!!   Pfefferneuse.

Now to move on to the next one......Remember....I've promised myself to get two projects to the top stage before I start anything new.

The next one in line is a scrappy Delectable Mountains that I started on at last August's quilt club retreat.

After that I want to start cutting out Allietare.....the 2015 Quiltville mystery quilt....the fabrics have been chosen since last May.  And maybe start working on a couple of QOV quilts to send off before the end of the year.

Just call me optimistic!!!

All Laid Out...

...And ready to sew. I have a bad habit of sewing tops together, quilting & binding them before I see that part of a block or border is turned a quarter turn the wrong way. I always notice it first in a picture, so this time I laid it all out, carefully looked at it, compared it to the pattern and then stood on a stool and took a picture. Hopefully I can sew it together without turning anything wrong...I hate ripping.

If you see something turned wrong please give me a shout out. It looks OK to me but.....

Sparkly

Yesterday was our share of the big ice storm...Winter Storm Jupiter. This morning I took a few pictures of the sparkly world outside. The pictures don't do justice to the beauty, but it was the best I could do without actually going out on the ice.

Nice to look at from INSIDE the house!

And this is my first quilt finish of the new year. I can't even remember how long ago it was pieced so it's been a UFO for quite a while. And yes, I know it has a boo-boo, I didn't even notice it until I looked at the picture. Yes, it bugs me. And yes, it's going to stay that way. I don't take things apart once they've been quilted and bound to fix mistakes. It doesn't affect how it keeps someone warm.

New Year's Eve

We're just having a quiet New Year's Eve at home. Thought we might be babysitting, but Son & his Wife decided to stay home too and have a movie night with the kids.  Hayden told me they were having popcorn & Ms too. :)

I wish all of you happiness, good health and prosperity in 2017.

That Little Voice.....

When that little voice at the back of your brain oh so quietly says, "Something might not be right here" LISTEN TO IT!!  Or you might find yourself doing what I'm doing today.

Frogging...rip-it! rip-it! rip-it!

Take a gander at this picture:

The hourglasses in the upper left quarter block are turned correctly. The ones in the bottom quarter block  are turned wrong. There is no way the quilt design will come out right with them turned that way....almost half of them in this quilt.

How can it be...set those little hourglasses together, pressed them, trimmed them...and the little voice said nothing.  It did whisper while the the hourglass quarters were being sewed to the string quarters. Did I pay attention. NO!

Rip-it! Rip-it! Rip-it!

A Few Christmas Pictures

As usual I took way too many Christmas pictures.....and deleted the out of focus ones because people just won't stay still. Here's just a sampling. We had a fun Christmas!

They say he can abandon the Wal-Mart bag now.  :)

From the two little grandchildren. So sweet.

I think the moose was a hit.

I guess if she thinks it's too tacky she can hide it in a closet or add it to a rummage sale or something.

The little ones were Hailey's buddies, especially Hayden.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well. Now that it's over I actually spent a couple hours sewing today. First time since early in the month. I got the string-pieced blocks for Pfefferneuse sewed together. I can see that the center piece on the neutral halves should have been a little wider, but it is what it is at this point.

Merry Christmas!

It's been busy around here getting ready for Christmas....cleaning, decorating, making sure all the ingredients for Christmas dinner are on hand, getting presents & doing the wrapping. Would you believe I had the presents all wrapped & under the tree a whole week in advance? Yeah, it's hard for me to believe too!!

Our family will be getting together tomorrow, Christmas Day. Kind of hectic in a small house, but fun too. It's so much fun watching the two littlest grandchildren unwrap their presents. Last year, when they were two, they were my little elves for handing out presents.....cute as could be!

This year I only made three gifts....two for a couple of early Christmas parties for groups I belong to and this t-shirt quilt for my middle granddaughter. It's safe to share it here since she doesn't know that her old grandma even has a blog. :)

While Christmas is fun, it's lots of work too. and I'm looking forward to after Christmas when the preps are over, the house is clean and there are leftovers to eat. Then I can have time to sew and maybe, just maybe, get a couple quilt tops sewed together that I have been working on for quite a while.

Merry Christmas, everyone. Enjoy your families and the festivities and then you can sew, sew, sew the winter away.

Not By Chocolate Alone

And quilt I have. Here's a peek at the latest ones off the machine....

Not mine, unfortunately. They're ones I quilted for family.