Weekend catch up

Friday seems like such a long time ago !!! So here's what I've been up to:

Recipes. I collect recipes. As one of my goals this year, I am purging and organizing. Purging recipes is an on-going project, but I at least worked on getting them organized.

This box of files is organized by the categories I use and I pull from it to plan my menus and grocery lists.

One of my resources is magazines and I am extremely behind on reading them. Fortunately, most of them are just going in the recycle bin and I'm not finding new recipes to add to my collection. 

Quilt Doodle. I had made time over the weekend to work on one of the blocks for the mystery quilt. Still not finished with it, but it's well on it's way.

Monday morning brought Block #10 of The Lord's Prayer from Jenny of Elefantz.

I've been dabbling with this project here and there. It's getting really hard not to start it, but I have so many others in various stages that I don't dare start something new.


Doll cradle. Many years ago, Honey Do owned a home. When we got married and moved into his childhood home, we rented our little house. When we decided to not continue as landlords and the renters moved out, they left some "valuables" behind. These "valuables" were valuable to me. An oak bunk bed set and chest of drawers which Honey Do refinished and moved into Newton's room. He's since outgrown the furniture and I use the chest of drawers for my current stitchery projects. I've tried giving the beds to my nieces, but none of them really need them so eventually it will go to a second hand shop or a family at church in need.

I hung on to the doll cradle we found in the house. It's been neglected over the years, but today, I pulled it out - it was headed to the trash - and gave it its first scrub down. I've decided to refinish (or paint, no final decision on that yet) and give it to my great niece for the doll I made her. The doll already has a quilt and I'll make her a set of pajamas and it will be her Christmas gift this year.

Speaking of Christmas, I did some Christmas shopping on Pinterest for some ideas for gifts to make.

 

 

Here are a few that I found and am thinking about seriously.

Betsy's Closet. This is a new project. I'm not starting it yet, except to get the pieces parts collected.

             

Last week when I went to the thrift store, I found six linen napkins the were woven with pink, blue and yellow thread. It looked like something that could be stitched and incorporated into a quilt. I haven't decided what to do with the quilt when it's done. I'm only going to use six of the designs in the pattern, so it may end up only big enough to be a wall hanging. But one step at a time. I chose the fabrics today and the floss over the weekend. Looking forward to working on this next year.

FNSI

It's time again :) Head over to Wendy's to sign up.

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Rain is forecast Monday and Tuesday. So I thought I should catch these gorgeous gladiolas before the rain does them in. Can you see the bee in the close up - I think he's preparing for the worst :) 

I really don't mind the rain. It just means I don't have to water gardens and that's always a positive. Temperatures have dropped into the mid 70s and autumn is in the air even though it's only the middle of August. I don't want to rush summer away, but I must say that I'm ready for a change in seasons. This summer has been hard on my family and we are ready to move on. Prayers are always welcome. Our Heavenly Father knows our needs and honestly, He's the only one to see us through this difficult season. The stress is keeping my busy; gardens are weeded, house is clean, laundry is caught up, cooking is being done. But I still feel at loose ends and that's its own kind of stress.

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Today would have been my mother-in-law's 67th birthday and tomorrow would have been their 47th wedding anniversary. F-I-L misses her desperately and there's not much to say or do to give him comfort. He's planning a trip this month to come for a visit. It's been several years, so we're looking forward to him staying with us.

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Thank you for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

Loosing time . . .

Is it really only August 8th? I feel like so much time has passed since my last post !!! Not that I'm disappointed. I hate not blogging for too many days in a row. That must mean I've been busy :)  How about you, have you gotten a lot of things accomplished?

Here's what I've been up to the last few days.

First, Bethlehem:

I found a very soft, fluffy baby yarn and I will be stitching randome sheep with this yarn. What do you think? I have to say that it looks much better in person - maybe it's the close-up?

The other sheep will be stitched in four plys of floss instead of the standard two. I tried it with two and they just didn't stand up next to the yarn so in order to make the knots fuller, I've decided to use four plys. I like it much better.

Next, Quilty Stitches:

I finally have block 12 finished. I used the suggested colors, but moved them around a bit because I didn't like the placement. Still not sure about this one.

Thursday, I was able to go to my favorite thrift store:

Isn't it absolutely beautiful? I saw it sitting on a shelf in the store. The frame caught my eye. I never, NEVER, find all those gorgeous frames you see on other peoples blogs and Pinterest. But this was a soft blue and caught my eye. Then I looked at it. It's counted cross !!!

I left the price on it - yes, that's $1.01. 

When I I turned it over, I could tell that it had been professionally matted and framed. Here's the framer's label. Notice they are in Texas . . . I'm in Ohio !!!! 

This piece has travelled. So now we speculate:  Did the stitcher make it for a gift? Perhaps a baby gift? Soft pinks and blue? Was it sent or delivered in person? It's hard to see all the details, but the bells and halos are stitched in metallic thread. As well as the wings and details on the dresses. There are white seed beads at the necks and hems of the dresses. The picture is double matted. 

Unfortuneately, the stitcher didn't sign or date the piece. And to make matters worse, I found it in a thrist shop . . . for $1.01 . . . and I had a 50% off my total purchase coupon ! ! !

Someone's disposition of this beautiful piece is now MY treasure. I've decided that it will hang in my home, in a prominent place. To appreciate all the time and effort and love put into this piece and to remind me of it's message:  Make a Joyful Noise. And I will be making that joyful noise, because it is now mine to treasure and love.

Friday night supper:

I told you last weekend I was gifted with cabbage and zucchini. I made cabbage and noodles for dinner one night this week. Thursday, I made a couple of loaves of zucchini bread. One for us, one for the sweet lady who shared with us. And zucchini pic for dinner on Friday. It's Honey Do's favorite. It turned out perfectly -in my humble opinion :)

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Friday evening also found a UFO finish :)

 

These are two pillow cases that I stitched several years ago.

I found just the right fabric to finish them off with. I started by making ruffles, but they just were too much.

This evening, it all came together. Sometimes you just have to stop trying so hard to finish something and let the project "talk" to you. I finally listened and heard :)

Instead of ruffles, I just laid the trim flat against the case and trimmed with a little medium size ricrac. I absolutely love how they turned out.

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Nina has been in the kitchen "helping" this week. She likes when I stay home and cook and bake.

Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative weekend.

13 . . . again

Do you remember being 13? I do - even though I'm in my 50s (I have my good days and my bad as far as my age goes - not yet embracing this time of my life, it just feels old :( . . . any way . . .

I absolutely hated - with a purple passion, hated being 13. And it's for all the reasons we should - hormones, you're too old to be a kid, too young to be an adult, awkwardness, tall, gangly, thin. Clothes don't fit right; what does, doesn't seem to be fashionable. I got in so much trouble for rolling my eyes every time my parents said something, anything !!

And now, I'm the parent of a 13 year old. I was too absorbed in my own teenage angst to remember what my brother was going through, but I do remember he was always getting into trouble. In a nutshell, that's my 13 year old son. We have had a year of pretty much nothing but problems. This weekend was no exception. So both Honey Do and I are exhausted. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually. I love my son. Hope and pray that someday he'll make better choices and pray even harder that the choices he's making now will not forever impact his life. God is in control. I have to sit back and let it be HIS time. As a parent, you either want to fix everything or try and figure out a way to make it all go away. Unfortunately for me, I can't have either options. It's out of my hands so I can't fix it and there is absolutely no way to make these situations go away.

I am no more in love with 13 this time around than I was the first time.

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The weekend was blissfully productive. I did a variety of things and that always helps me. The stress of some of the things we are currently experiencing made Monday and Tuesday a little less productive. However, having said that, I still feel I'm in forward motion. 

The last few days, I've been working on Block 8 of Bethlehem. This is a pretty decent size block. 

I've decided it up in thirds. The Innkeeper is one, the sheep are two,

and the shepherds and wisemen are three. This "third" is almost finished. 

Pleased with how it's coming along.

I've made some noticeable progress on the second rag rug. This is a really good in-between project. It doesn't require any decision making and just goes along until I decide to work on something else.

 

Isn't this the prettiest cabbage you've ever seen. I know, I'm strange, but when you put so much time and effort in anything, you want to see good results. Last year's garden was so disappointing because I wasn't proactive with the deer. This year, I've worked a little hard to keep my efforts safe. This cabbage is almost ready, so I'm going to have to come up with a way to preserve it for winter. I have three more. This is a good problem to have.

Broccoli is doing well. I've been harvesting every few days and putting it in the freezer. We'll have it over the winter.

There are lots of green tomatoes, so I'll be putting up juice and making sauces. 

Rhubarb is doing fantastic - that's being shared with BFF and mom. I don't care for it. Not sure about Honey Do, I'll have to check :)

The plants are HUGE this year. I spread them out into three last year, but only two survived. I'm amazed at how much they've grown. It will be a bumper crop to share.

I got brave and uncovered the zucchini tonight. I hope the deer leave them alone.

BFF shared some fencing with me earlier in the year and I've put it up as a "corral" around the plants. I'm hoping it's close enough to deter the deer from eating them.

One final project today. It's how I started my day. 

A week ago you couldn't see the ground of this little plot because it was covered in weeds and poison ivy. The 3x6 foot plot started as my "vegetable garden" five or six years ago. Honey Do spent a Saturday putting up the boards and prepping the plot for planting. I had peas, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and parsley. Since them, it's been my herb garden, except the only "herbs" growing are parsley, sage, weeds and poison ivy !!! The parsley have self seeded, the sage is a perennial, the weeds and ivy are trying to take over. I have to be very careful since in the last few years I've developed an aversion to the ivy and had a bout of it earlier in the spring that took quite a while to relieve myself of it. So this little plot isn't looking all that pretty at the moment and the worst is the foreground, that's where the ivy is and I'm going to have to figure out a way to rid my little plot of it. I spent an hour this morning getting as much of the debris out as I could. I'll keep working on it and getting it cleaned up and ready for next spring.

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Thank you so much for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative, productive day.

It's finally the weekend :)

Saturday . . . My day started rather slowly. Honey Do has been staying up later this week, and it has finally caught up with us. Normally, I get up and start my day by 6:30 or 7 a.m. - that's usually sleeping in for me. I got up around 6 to let the dogs out (they were calling), then I went back to bed. I just wasn't ready to start my day. We didn't get up untin 9:30 !!!! That's unheard of in my house.

Dogs out again, breakfast, dishes and time for the computer and my stitching. That's how I planned my day.  First movie was Philomena.

I absolutely LOVE Judi Dench. It's a good movie, very sad and not at all what I expected.

As for purusing the web, I found this really cute idea on my FB page.

These are bottles from a Chinese beer. I suggested a road trip, however, the closest location was 100 miles from home-one way !!! Honey Do suggested just purchasing the empties on line. I found them on e-bay for $4.00 each and got three of them. The shipping for all three was only $7.00. Grand total was less than $20.00. The only other thing I have to purchase are the wicks and copper tubing. Honestly, the tubing is probably in the garage :) I already have the torch fuel. Cute, simple project. . . and relatively inexpensive. Here's your link, if you are interested.

Second project I found:

I love odd shaped pillows. They add so much more interest.

Here's your link.

And my next great find:

This one only finishes to 47 x 47 inchest. With the addition of additional borders or rows, it can increase in size as big as you need. It is a very quick and easy quilt.  I had another find on FB.

My favorite color is blue. I thought I would use these charm packs and make the above quilt for my bed. I haven't done that yet. Not sure when that will get done, but I at least have a plan.

I won this charm pack a while back. My oldest niece said her bedroom is done in browns. I thought I'd make a quilt for her and her husband. In fact, I'm thinking about doing it for all three of my nieces. If I start in January, they could potentially be done by next Christmas. We'll see.

Another useful, made cute find.

Here's the link for this one. I love that she made it bigger and framed it. Should hang on our studio walls for easy access.

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Honey Do asked for a salad for lunch using the leftover salmon I made the other night. No problem. One of his absolute favorites is Tuna Nicoise. I have a cookbook called Simply Salmon that included the recipe.

So I got to work. While eggs and potatoes cooked, I put the rest of the salad together. Hard boiled eggs are not difficult to make. I seem to be challenged with peeling them :(

This was a good day. . . a REALLY good day!!!

Ten perfectly cooked and peeled eggs. I don't think I've ever managed that before. Thank you for letting me pat myself on the back :)

And Honey Do's salad - Isn't is gorgeous :)

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Sunday . . . I spent my afternoon working on my Tilda quilt and made chicken stock. I've been accumulating vegetables and chicken bits in the freezer and today was the day.

Using quart size freezer bags, I put up about 16 cups of stock. There's about two cups in each bag. I layed them flat in a plastic container for even freezing and space consideration.

At church this morning, I was gifted with two heads of cabbage and a handful of zucchini. Monday, I'll be making zucchini bread.

I worked on my Tilda quilt until I got row three done :) 

(the top row - the quilt is worked from the bottom to the top).

I LOVE this quilt. It's bright and happy and just makes me feel good.

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Thanks for stopping by,

Wishing you a creative day.

July Goal List

In full disclosure and honesty, I didn't make my goals. However, I'm not concerned or worried. There have been a lot of factors: School's out for summer vacation, so I have extra company; I spent most of June and the first two weeks of July working almost exclusively on Vacation Bible School and testing Wendy's I'll be Gnome for Christmas; and we mustn't forget the addition of yard work and gardening. So without further delay . . . 

July Goal List:

1 - Bethlehem - Block 8 - in progress.

2 - Little Quilties - Blocks 11

3 - Quilt Doodle BOM - Blocks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (on-going)

4 - One Christmas/Birthday gift (new)

5 - One item for myself (new)

6 - Rag rug (new)

                                          

7 -  UFO - Finally, I got one done !!!!

8 - Snowmen block (new) - Block _?_
BFF is sharing this pattern with me when she's done. I haven't seen her, so no progress here :(

9 - Tilda quilt (new) - Row 3 - in progress.

 

 

Odds and ends:  Nina's new bed

I'll Be Gnome for Christmas

Don't forget to check out these links:

http://desertskyquilts.wordpress.com/press-on

http://sewitsfinished.blogspot.com/

http://quiltdoodledesigns.blogspot.com/p/bom-2014.html

http://www.littlemissshabby.com/quilty-stitches/