Happy, busy times

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Our youngest son was married recently to a lovely girl we are crazy about. If you’ve had a wedding in the family recently, you know how busy all the showers, planning, fittings and such keep you.  We haven’t had much down time before we started doing it all over again, as our middle son is getting married in about a month and a half. That is his fiance with the bride in the first picture. She is well loved by all of us and a welcome addition to the family. Who would have thought that I would  have 2 daughters at my age???

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Design Wall Monday, Tuesday, almost Wednesday…….!

We’ve been trying to get my computer back up and running since Friday, think we are finally on the right track. Meanwhile, while rummaging through fabrics to use as backing for the bright yellow quilt, I found a little quilt that I started several years ago in a class. I quilted and bound that one, it is on the design wall so that I could photograph it. I have also put together the bow tie top that I showed last week. I have changed the layout, and right now it has borders and is ready to go on the quilting machine. If the dang computer hadn’t required constant attention, I could have had this one done already. February  hasn’t been my month for machines. First the quilting machine, then the computer.  Come on, March!

Awwwwww

Nancy and Glo, your wish is our command…. 

He likes it, he really likes it! (in my best Norma Rae/Sally Field voice)

A finish!

Only two weeks ‘late’. This is January’s Monochromatic Challenge (Patchwork Times).

The things you discover when you try to pull from stash for a project like this: notice how all the yellows are so similar, no light, pastel, soft colors. All bright  yellows, with a few going towards  mustard. 

Anyway, it is finished, and since I don’t know anyone who loves yellow dearly, this little quilt will go to my tiniest quilting assistant, my silky terrier Mac. He is forever supervising my work, always anchoring the quilt while I am trying to sew on binding. He manages to get himself wrapped up in whatever part of the quilt is on the floor. Each and every time I go to move the quilt to get to the next section, I have to pull and tug. I wonder how it has gotten so heavy, and then I realize he is rolled up somewhere inside.  How such a little dog can make a quilt so heavy, I will never know.

Still working on a name, considering both “Yellow Peril” and “Blinded by the Bright”.

Design Wall Monday – Ties that bind

On my design wall today are some origami/3-D Bow Tie blocks that I made several years ago as part of a swap on Treadle On. For this swap, the blocks had to be made on a sewing machine that was manufactured prior to 1900 and the fabrics used had to be unbleached muslin and a reproduction of a pre-1900 fabric. All of these blocks are labeled with the maker’s name and location, but also the type of antique machine. Each was made on either a treadle or a hand crank machine.

These have been stowed away for years after I just couldn’t decide how best to set them. You will note that in this arrangement, there is one block missing.  Apparently I was so intent on getting my blocks made for the swap, I forgot to make one for myself, so I shall have to make one more block before I can put this top together.  This is February’s UFO challenge top, and this is as far as I have gotten……what are my chances to get this finished before Feb. 28?  I still have to find fabric for the borders!

Quilters are some of the best people…..

I just have to say thanks and give credit to a quilter and fellow blogger.

I have part of a fat quarter of fabric leftover from a Jo Morton class  I took several years ago at Little Quilts. I want more of this old fabric. In the class was another student, we became friendly and have since left greetings and comments on each others blogs. Karen has since become a part time employee of the store as well as a designer of patterns, so I sent her a photo of the fabric, and asked if she remembered it.

I was hoping if she knew which manufacturer and fabric line it was, I might be able to track down some more.  She didn’t remember it, but knows of a gal named Becky that has an encyclopedic memory of fabrics. Becky remembered the fabric line, and one of them ( not sure if it was B or K) even found an online place that still has some of this in stock.  I have ordered and JEEPERS CREEPERS,  I am one happy, totally blown away quilter!

Thanks so much to both Becky and Karen.

Snowy day, snowy memories

If you’ve been following the news, you will know that the south has been hit by a snow and ice storm that has brought things to a halt. Down here we just aren’t used to dealing with this much snow at one time. We can go a year or two and never have as much as we had over night. Within the first hour, 3-4 inches had fallen on my back deck. The night air was so thick with snow that looking at the street light down the road was like looking through a sheer white curtain.  If it had kept up like that all night we would have had many more inches, but things changed to freezing rain and ice. Less ground accumulation, but it sure didn’t help with the roads!  I’m just thankful that we don’t need to get out for a few days. We will be one less car getting in the way of the folks that have to travel tomorrow. I’ve been able to get some sewing done (previous post) until my son started to dig us out. Seeing him come in all rosy cheeked like when he was little made me think of some old photos.

Then: 

 

Now:

 

Thirty-five or so years later he’s still playing in the snow with the dog, still wearing a knitted hat under his hood, but a lot happier. Maybe its because this puppy isn’t big enough to knock him down and steal his mittens!

Thanks for helping the old folks out, love.

Design Wall Monday -

What is actually on my design wall is this:

Judy’s star block of the month that I never finished. I have actually gotten a little further in the piecing, but not much. This one was number 6 on my UFO Challenge list, so there it sits, waiting for me to continue.

Meanwhile-because no one can have to many UFOs – I’ve started work on Judy’s monochromatic challenge. January’s color is yellow.  Probably a good day to work on these bright yellows, the south is in the midst of a snow/ice storm that has stopped everything in its tracks. That bleak winter gray sky and falling rain is much improved by these bright hues.  This is not the final arrangement, and it is only about half of those that will go into the final quilt.

UFO Challenge

Judy L is facilitating an effort to get some UFOs finished in 2011.  Here is my list:

1. Red Gray and Black
2. Barn Star
3. Lincoln’s Platform
4. 1930’s fabrics
5. Lady Anne
6. JudyL’s Star BOM
7. Little Quilts Buck a block
8. Y2K
9. Jar Swap
10. Treadle on Swap
11. Hidden Wells
12. Hummingbird

Many of these are finished tops that need to be quilted and bound. The Y2K was started at the turn of the century…oh my, has it been that long already?? I have since decided I am not happy with what I have done so far, so I will probably rip everything apart and try again. My intentions are good, I wonder how many I will actually get finished?

Sock it to me….

I finished up a pair of anklets (KnitPicks yarn and pattern) at the end of October so that I could begin a new pair of socks and participate in JudyL’s sock knit-along this month, check it out at http://www.patchworktimes.com.

I really enjoyed this pattern. It is toes up, which I prefer, but this pattern actually fit my toes the best of any I have done yet. I also liked doing the little lace patter on the top side. Not at all sure about the very different short row heel, I finally made a chart to check off row by row since I would loose track. In future, I may combine this toe with another short row heel that I prefer. This heel was odd, because they wanted it to come unusually high in the back so that it would stay up.

This was the first of seven patterns in a KnitPicks kit that I bought, a different pair for each day of the week. Wonder how long it will take to get the next 6 pairs done, given my track record?

Here is the start of the pair I am doing for the knit-along:

I bought the self striping yarn at a lovely little shop in Asheville called Purls. I’ve done self striping before, but I liked a sample made up in a different colorway of this yarn because some of the stripes had a zig-sag  within them (see the pink row above the orange, and the green and white row at the top). I would have bought the other colorway, as I liked it better than this, but this was the only one they had left!  I hope that I can get these finished this month, but I have to pace myself, as my hands get cramped and sore holding the small needles.

October escaped ………

October got a bit hectic around here. Aside from normal doctor visits there was an unexpected trip to the ER that resulted in an overnight stay and then follow up tests. Everything worked out fine, but it took a chunk of time.  October just slipped right through my fingers!

Then, we went camping to Bandy Creek campground in NE Tennessee for our camping group's Fall Rally. The first few days were awfully cold, but generally the weather was beautiful.  Bandy Creek is part of Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.  I think the group will be going back there next year, we liked it that well.

 

 

A new toy…

More accurately, a new tool. 

That’s a food dehydrator. Over the weekend, I sliced up some fruit to give it a test run. Pineapple, cherries, grapes, strawberries and bananas on Saturday. Peaches on Sunday. All turned out well except the grapes. The grapes required a type of pretreatment ‘checking’ which I must not have done properly. It involved putting them in boiling water and then immediately into very cold water. I think I was so afraid of cooking them that I didn’t leave them in the boiling water long enough.

Each tastes pretty good in the dehydrated form and would make tasty snacks and would be especially good to bring camping. This morning I reconstituted a few slices of peach and strawberry to have with my yogurt. Yummy!

Now to look for what is in season or on sale…….

A little of this, a little of that

I haven’t posted in a bit, but we are still around. We were supposed to be camping this week, but with temps in the high 90’s, we decided not to. We did take a day trip up to Tallulah Gorge State Park  to check it out. I’d like more time to explore the area, but I’m not sure this campground is “MOTH friendly”. We observed a person having a hard time using his walker, and MOTH was quick to point it out to me. It is an awfully pretty area though, and I’d really like to see more of it.

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I finished those green/purple striped socks a while back, but never posted.  I tried working on them while recovering from my knee replacement surgery-but I was still on painkillers. Do not operate knitting needles while using this medication…… In spite of a few ‘design elements’ that I added, they are finished and wearable.

This area is blessed with several nice yarn stores (as well as good quilt stores) and one of the friendliest is Only Ewe and Cotton Too in the next town. You walk into this store and feel right at home. There are always people sitting there, knitting and chatting, and other folks will help you find what you are looking for if the owners are busy with someone else.  Last month this shop had a knit-along doing the Annis shawlette. I joined in, learned how to bead and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The shawl is now finished and blocked, ready to use…well, if it wasn’t in the 90’s.

Boone, NC

We recently joined some of our camping friends in Boone, NC for a long weekend. We always enjoy their company, the food is good and everyone gets to relax- or not- as they choose. Since Boone is in the mountains, the temperatures were comfortable and there was always a breeze. Our campsite backed up to a brook/stream that babbled and gurgled and generally made its presence known throughout the day and night. It was wonderful to be able to open the windows, listen to the water and drift off to sleep. Some of the group went kayaking on a river. We also went to dinner at a charming local restaurant and visited a mine ‘store’ where you could dig through some buckets from the mine and see if you found any gems. Another morning we visited an old general store and post office, it has been a long time since I have seen penny candy and some of the other things that were on sale there!   

Some views of the office and the campground. (click on photo to enlarge)

Did I mention that we just happened to be in Boone the same weekend as the Highland Games? We not only enjoyed some of the sights, but in the evening we heard some of the sounds-music that sounded like fife and perhaps dulcimer.

Here are Doc, Pantless and Nightrider using Pie Irons to make our dessert-blueberry pie!

   

A picture of my darlin’ MOTH, and then his ‘girlfriend’, that 94 year young woman keeps trying to steal my man!!

  

Reed Bingham camping trip

Last weekend we traveled to Reed Bingham State Park to join some friends. We enjoyed our time with our friends, but the trip was one of those ‘good news, bad news’ things.

Good News: CS, Dix, BD made it, Pantless and the Amazing Erma stopped by on Saturday evening to join us for dinner.  Bad News: Bama had car trouble and had to cancel.

Good News: Dinner at the Catfish House was fun and delicious.  Bad News: Loooong wait time for a table while seated outside on the porch, in the heat, with the bugs.

Good News: The park is nice. It has big camping sites and and lots to do. You can  fish, swim, play miniature golf, hike,  rent kayaks and boats or bikes .  Bad News: It was in the mid 90’s most of the time, with humidity also very high, except when it was storming.

Good News: No mosquitoes  Bad News: Every gnat on the planet was in the park this weekend.

Good News: The swimming area was lovely, water temp perfect.  Bad News: A gator decided he liked the lovely swimming area with perfect water temperature.

Good News : The storms lowered the temperature and humidity for a little bit.  Bad News: The storms knocked out the power for a few hours– and one of the big rigs lost its awning to the storm.(all of us were fine, thankfully)            

 

That gives you an idea of how things went. I’d love to go back to Reed Bingham, but not during June, July, or August. From now on, we head north during the summer months, not south! 

Here are some photos of our adventures:         

Some of the gang kayaking down a nearby  river   (and yes, they encountered an alligator along the way)                             

Gator country

The storm produced some flooding – then we had  4” of water to bail out of that kayak!