this and that on a Friday

DJ went out as the sun was lowering behind the tree line and discovered that the UPS driver had left me a box.  I'll tell you, my mom knows how to stuff a shoe box, LOL.

Not sure what I will do with this stack as it sort of depends on how much is left of the fabric---there is a blend-y sort of thing going on though with a few of the pieces.  Naptime, maybe??  If not, there are a few nice pieces of neutral background.  I think Mom may have added two pieces that I did not have set aside but that's okay too.   Some re-arranging of boxes on her end left had her wondering, she said.

That lovely, cheerful floral on the left is a  Hoffman "Country Side Collection" piece.  I'm thinking it might make up into a 4 patch posie??  Isn't that the fun part of quilting to pull out fabrics till you find a combination that will work together?  Already I am eyeing a blue tone and tone on the shelf, LOL.    Lois had recently used some 4 patch posie elements as block centers of one of her tops.  I'll point that out when it is turned in because I did not get a picture at the time.

A glimpse at the design wall----mostly leftovers and future projects.  Christmas blocks for the stalled out Oxmoor Christmas quilt.  The strip is a section of binding for my Christmas Patience Corner.  Leftover bowties from the 76 Bowtie QOV--that will work with with the next abandoned block project along with the various other nine patches etc stuck up there.  The plain squares are for quilt labels.  The just finished basket block is hanging for me to see before I put it up with the others and pull another out to stitch.  The two ziploc bags?  One is squares I pulled to make a few "Fight Like a Quilter" blocks for a fund raiser.  I like the blocks so may make more for a pro bono quilt so I did not file the cut squares back into the 2 1/2 inch square container.  Lastly, greens that my friend Pat sent for the paint chip challenge----I see watermelons in their future as in Button Up #8.  

Those foundation pieced flowers were something I started years ago from one of Carol Doak's books, Easy Mix & Match Machine Paper Piecing.  Now this was copyright 1995 and I bought it as a new book at the time.  Yep, old project and I remember stitching on it at Hands All Around Quilt Retreat near Lake Shelbyville in Illinois. I planned to make a wall hanging she showed on the back cover with butterflies, a sun, snails in the grassy area.  Well here is a link to the image.  Once upon a time I had all 6 flowers done but two of them wound up in a row robin for a friend on the old aCozyQuilt Bee list.  I think that the sky blue fabric has been used elsewhere over the years so these four may be "it" and added to another project down the line.

Here I am holding up Lauri's row---bad picture as I had a crappy digital camera at the time.  Lauri had a garden theme going and wanted the bright fabrics she had provided as alternating blocks.  I stitched up the Pieces from My Heart blocks from Sandy Gervais that said ""What Flowers?".  The dragonfly and frog blocks were slightly re-sized from Quilts from the Heartland Nature of Things, I believe it was called.  The lady bugs were also from that book but was actually a wall hanging that I scaled down to a 12 inch block.  And then you see the other two flowers on the bottom.

So back to present day, LOL.   I have not done much but re-organize files on the computer..... and read.  I had picked up a used paperback from Mom's stash Barbara Parker's Suspicion of Innocence for reading on the plane and finished it up  We picked up a couple more of the series at the library the other day.   DJ is reading the first one now.  I also buzzed through Kate Jacob's Comfort Food on Wednesday afternoon and evening.  I enjoy reading but often do not make time to do so.  Some days, it is all I can do to get through the local paper . When I get on a reading jag, it reminds me of summertime and going up to the town library a couple times a week because you had read through the stack you had checked out days before.  


This summer cold and the heat have been energy sapping so the cutting and batting fusing that I had mentioned in my last post did not get done.  I told DJ he is just lucky that I have gotten meals on the table as lousy as I have felt at times.  But the laundry is done, groceries bought-----I am going to live, LOL.  I do hope to get something done today though as I hate wasting time and I hate having stuff piled up in here too.  That action really stifles my creativity when I don't have space to work and need the table or whatever under that pile.

It looks like a good part of the USA lower 48 are going to be in extreme heat situation if we are not already.  I just pray that there are no heat related fatalities with the sustained weather pattern.  I know my parents said it hit triple digits in IL---we were at 96 yesterday but fortunately without high humidity factors.  The a/c can barely keep up even set at 79.  I cooked  on the stove top, grill and microwave last night and still could barely stand to be in the kitchen though by that time the afternoon sun is barreling into the opposite side of the house. Now,even with the blinds drawn it is HOT in the kitchen with the sun on that side.  I am avoiding doing the prep work for the fish tacos with avocado sauce I plan on making for tonight.  The sauce and fresh tomato salsa should be done up ahead of time to meld the flavors a bit so I will go out there and blast a box fan while I do it.  No jalapeno peppers here though and I am putting the fish on the grill.  Skyler also is begging for his 2nd treat bite which he normally gets around noon if DJ does it but I am a softer touch and he knows it, LOL.  

Stay cool the best you can---and thanks for stopping by.

a little progress?

In the past days I have gotten a little bit more done in several areas.

I almost have 4 blocks completely hand quilted on the Bird Brain Santa. I am still looking for a cable idea for the sashing and have a few on order that MIGHT work. I think it needs something more than in the ditch. I did check in my inventory at home and have one that may be more in keeping with what I am visualizing though. I have NOT looked in any of my quilting motif books yet either.



Next we have most of the flower stems hand appliqued down on this project---the one on the extreme left is only partially stitched. Note: this is April's quilt of the month of the Joined at the Hip Button Up. I am so far behind since I elected to go with hand work. Oh well, that is why the" Welcome" one is done and hanging. I am considering jumping ahead to July since I so far behind and catch finish this up more at my leisure. Actually if you leave off the July wording, this one would work for any of the patriotic US holidays. HMMMM

I am also thinking that I should pull the stuff for the "In Seasons" Summer wall hanging. DJ even was commenting on the fact that the one hanging says "Spring" but it sure feels like Summer is here with a vengeance. Not by the calendar of course but tell that to the jet stream, LOL. I am drawn more to THAT than what I was working on yesterday though. Maybe it will get me out of my doldrums a bit?? I can hope.


This was what I was piddling with yesterday but did not get too far. I am using the Puss in the Corner method from Billie Lauder's Quick Quilt Tricks book #2 for this. This is not what she calls it, however; "Four = Nine Uneven Nine Patch " is its name in the book. Anyway, you start with a big 4 patch to make the finished block. This is part of my scrap bag challenge for the quilt group. One of many kits and a few started projects in that area.

I was going to cut some 6 1/2 inch blue blocks and try the disappearing 4 patch blocks that my pal Pat had featured on her blog but have not done it yet. I was thinking that they might work for a veteran's home quilt. Just two colors like hers shown HERE --classic look, don't you think? So striking in the green fabric she chose making me wonder why they all insist on RWB or service related colors. Shades of blue might work for the Air Force folks though. HMMM again.

I took this bit of embroidery with me on my trip last month but barely touched it. It was a fast trip and I really did not have a lot of time to just sit and stitch plus we were sharing driving duties in order to get up there and back in one day. It is the Button basket block from Bee Tree Designs. Scroll back to previous post to find the link from the Flickr page if you want it. (Being lazy, LOL) There is a ton of stitching on this thing and I think the next one, honey and biscuits, is a similar situation! But I am liking how the green floss looks. This will be my meeting project. I have quilt guild coming up this Saturday and a Belle's gathering on Tuesday.



And here is the other thing I have been doing---reading. Some days, it is all I can do to look at the local newspaper but I enjoy reading. It reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to head up to the town library almost daily in the sumer to check out some books, read them and head back to get another stack. Some of these, my mom just sent back with me and a couple I had on my shelves. I finished up the Kristin Hannah book last evening and started on 3 Nights in August right after that. The next thing I knew it was almost midnight and Skyler has been waking me up around 5:30 in the morning. Short nights!

Normally I prefer fictional works but this book written by Buzz Bissinger, the same guy who wrote Friday Night Lights is an interesting account of Tony LaRussa and managing the St. Louis Cardinals. Since I often wonder why they make the moves they do in the course of the game, it ia enlightening. Actually I remember the 3 games the title refers to--classic Cubs/Cardinal series played in STL. Since it was written back in 2005 and the events took place in August of 2003, you see the turnover in position players and pitchers. I would have to visit the MLB site to even know if some of these guys are still in baseball or when others began their time with the team. Chris Carpenter and Albert Pujols might be the only holdovers that spring to mind.

And so it goes----not getting much done but doing what I want to do even if I still feel like I am in a slump. Hope you are having a good day and thanks for stopping by