Flower Garden Quilt

SSHHHHHH!!  Don’t tell… it’s a secret, but I know I can trust you all with it.  And BTW… this blog post actually contains some QUILTING today!  How long has it been since I posted anything QUILTY??

What’s up here?  What will I do with these babies??

I will repair a quilt for a friend!  The secret I want you to keep…

DON’T TELL ANYONE I REPAIR OLD QUILTS!!  Why?  Well first of all, it takes a LOT of time (and you can’t charge enough to really compensate you for your time spent on this when you COULD have been making money quilting instead.)  Second of all… I don’t particularly enjoy doing it because, well… I COULD be quilting instead.  Thirdly (is that a word?), you should SEE some of the things people want repaired!!  I guess they think you have a magic wand to wave over the quilt and the rips, loose seams, and disintegrated fabrics just disappear!  HAHA!  TRUST ME, it does NOT work that way!!

So why am I doing this?  Well, like I said, she is my friend.  (Now don’t all my other friends show up with quilts for me to repair… I’m using up all my repair patience on this one!)

She loves this quilt and has used it a lot.  It has deteriorated to the point that it will no longer hold up to washing unless repaired. 

I have sewn a lot of loose seams back together and 3 different flowers had fabrics that were shredding, so I tea dyed some of my Aunt Grace fabrics to use for repairs.  Actually, I used COFFEE, because I had some left over… I don’t make tea.  They now have a little aged look to them so they don’t “stick out” as having been replaced. 

You can see the subtle difference in the above photo…my hexagons have just a little tinge to them.

I had to make my own cardboard templates because these were a weird size.  I have the 3 flower rings almost done, then I will applique them down over the old ones.  That might prove tricky since the original maker did not use the more exact English Paper Piecing technique, and each hexagon is a little different in shape.  All sides of them are not exactly the same length.   I am hoping that there will be enough “give” in my flower rings to make it fit over the old ones. 

I will then do some hand quilting in them following what the previous quilter did. Yes, I DO know how to hand-quilt.  I look at this the same way I look at driving a car with a standard transmission… I know how to do it, but I sure am thankful I don’t have to any longer!!!!

So that’s my quilty post for today… I’ll try to be more quilty in the future.  And speaking of …. DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR MY GIVE-AWAY here!!  Drawing will be held on July 5th, and I only have a FEW entrants… come on, I KNOW you will love the neat prizes!

So, what am I up to today???

   

Nuff said!

Have a blessed day!

Life on the Farm

I sometimes hesitate to call our humble abode “The Farm”, because, really, there is not much farming going on… at least not in the most-often-thought-of way. We are not plowing and sowing acres and acres of crops, or running 1000 head of cattle. For sure we are in the “sticks”, living down a tiny dirt road in between 2 tiny “villages” (too small to even be classified as a town).

We call it the farm because that is what the Ellzeys have always called it. For sure, when Mr. and Mrs. Ellzey lived here THEY really did farm… veggies year-round plus a small cattle operation kept them very busy with farming activities. Ourselves, we just dabble in growing veggies, and DH is getting better and better at producing a reasonable-size crop in the 3 different garden spots. He has managed to keep the deer out of them with electric fencing. Although we are still sadly lacking any measureable rainfall, he has managed to keep things watered pretty well and it is paying off (I just don’t want to look at the next water bill.).

Today his crops have monopolized my time… this is not complaining… just saying! I am very thankful for ALL the fresh veggies and fruits we are able to grow… YUMMO! Here is what we have done today (with him picking all of these things and me doing the processing). We have spent the day turning this….

Into this…

And then this… 2 bags for the freezer and one container for supper tonight. I LOVE fresh sweet corn!

And I turned this….

Into THIS…

1 qu. chopped bell pepper, 1 pint chopped “Fooled You” peppers (they look like Jalapeño but just have a really good pepper taste… no heat), and 1 pint chopped red chili peppers. (Note to self… NEXT time wear gloves when chopping chilies… my left hand is STILL burning several hours later!)

And with his help shelling … (NOTE: DH informs me that this entry insinuates that I did some shelling... I did not shell even 1 pea... he did all the shelling, I did the processing. Happy now, Dear?)

we turned THIS…. (Ignore that foot in the picture… SHEESH! I really should take a little more time really looking at what is in the view finder!)

into THESE for the freezer. Purple hull peas are our very favorites.

No quilting or sewing done today, but that is OK because we will eat well this winter!

Have a wonderfully blessed day! And don’t forget to sign up for my blog give-away on the previous post! Drawing will be held July 5.

FINALLY! My Blog Give-Away!

I know you thought I had forgotten!  I won’t even bother giving you my list of excuses REASONS why I have not blogged lately.  I’m sure you all have very busy lives right now, too.  Of course, mine involves working and garden produce, plus the normal things. 

I have accumulated quite a box of goodies to give to one lucky person who enters my blog give-away.  Post a comment on THIS BLOG POSTING  answering this question:  WHAT IS YOUR VERY FAVORITE QUILTING OR SEWING GADGET?  and you will automatically be entered.

You may also get a second entry by posting about my give-away on YOUR blog. Just be sure to leave a 2nd comment here for you extra entry.  All entries will close at 8am July 5th.  The drawing will be held later that day.  GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

Now… on to the prize list:

1.  Pincushion/thread catcher ( I LOVE LOVE LOVE these!  I keep one next to my machine, and haul it with me when I go to sew somewhere else.  It is a combination large pincushion and small trash bag.  Great thing!!)

2.  Crocheted nylon pot scrubbers – I will probably have several of these ready by the time I do the drawing. (They really work great!)

3.  Quick Zip Wallet  (SOOO cute… and useful!)

4.  Rubber thimble (Great for hemming quilts!)

5.  Sewing theme emery board ( I LOVE these!  I keep one at my desk for emergency nail maintenance.)

6.  Zipper Necklace  (A dangly darling!)

7.  Singer metal sewing box and 6 Log Cabin Christmas ornaments

8.  Whatever else I come across around here to add to the collection!

I have no time for pictures today… I’ll  post some later (You’ve heard THAT before from me, haven’t you?)

Ready, Set, ENTER!!!

Sing Along With Me and John Denver…

(Yes, I know that is incorrect grammar, but it just fits!)

All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go.

I’m standing here outside your door……

Well, technically, almost nothing is packed but I AM working on it, between checking the computer and doing a quick load of laundry.  Where am I going?  Well to the SIL Quilt Retreat, of course!  This is our 3rd one this year, and we are calling this the “retreat to get ready for retreat” because we will all be going to TX for a quilt retreat in July.

What do I plan to work on?  There are a couple of items I want to make for the blog give-away that I will be posting about when I return.  I also want to work on a quilt to go on my bed at the camp (I can’t let Debbie get ahead of me!).  And I plan on fabric shopping at Hemphill, TX tomorrow… looking for the perfect sashing fabric for 2 different quilts.

And we will relax on the deck, drink lots of flavored coffee (I don’t get this much at home because DH does NOT like flavored coffee.), sew, sew, sew, eat, eat, eat, laugh laugh laugh, … you get the picture… it is a typical quilt retreat but only 3 of us there because that is all the room we have.

No time to post pictures today… I’ve got to go PACK!!!!  Why do I need so much stuff for 2 1/2 days of fun????  But I do… just in case I “run out” of something to do.  HAHAHA!!  Fat chance of THAT happening!

Be blessed and be sure to check back around the 15th of June for the give-away posting.  I have collected quite a basket of “goodies” and will be making several other things to add to it… you will love it!!

Postponed…

Life is moving at the speed of a race car right now… I’m just pausing from my busy-ness long enough to let you know that there is just NO WAY I am going to get things together for my blog give-away this week!!  SORRY…

AND because I will be at the summer SIL Retreat most of next week, it’s not going to happen then, either.  Of course, I will publish pics of our retreat and the wonderful things we get done.  We are also planning an escape to a not-so-local quilt shop.

My new plans are… to post an entry for the give-away about June 15th and the drawing will be held July 5th…

Sorry for the delay… I have a house full of company coming and I am cleaning like a white tornado (that remark ages me… only folks that are 50-ish or so will recall the Mr. Clean commercial that has imbedded this phrase into my brain for all these years.)  I work so much better under pressure!

STAY TUNED!!