Heard back from Cath.

I played around some more with EQ7 and sent Cath some other designs for possible quilts for Jeremy. I used a simple 9 patch and snowball design. Guess which one she picked. Yep! She said Jeremy would like the simpler one better. It will be easier too. Here it is.

Since I still love the first design, I think I will use it for Ivan's quilt. I talked to Hazel last night. She said that Ivan would love anything I made. So that took any pressure off of making his quilt. LOL He also likes brighter colors. So now I have a plan. LOL

I need to get Kevin's lunch ready and fix him something to eat before he leaves. So I need to get off here, but  I also wanted to share with you my latest table runner. I still need to sew the binding on it, but I really like this one. I used the Missouri Star tube piecing tutorial again for this.

The back.

Oh and Jackie, I think Callie heard you the other day when you asked where Callie was as I was piecing the PSF. LOL She soon joined me.

Doesn't she look innocent? Hah, if I left those pieces unattended, they would be everywhere when I returned. I love my kitties. Thank you for visiting. Everyone have a great day.

Tell Me I'm Not Crazy!

Ok, I came up with another idea. I shared it with Kevin and he likes it, but doesn't want me to bite off too big of a chew, so to speak. I have this idea to make each of our sons-in-law a lap quilt for Christmas. These would, of course be hand quilted. If things go as I hope, I might even be able to get one done for each, Jonny and Isaiah, but not planning on that right now. I have made everyone else in the family a quilt. So I have emailed the design link of Patriotic Shoo Fly to Carolyn. I'm waiting to hear back from her. If she thinks Bob would like it, I will add another row of blocks to the bottom, as he is tall. I have already added another row across and down. So it would be set 5 across and 7 down. Right now, it is 5 across and 6 down. If she doesn't think he would like it, I will contact Hazel to see about Ivan.

I called Cathryn last night to ask about Jeremy's preferences. He does not like bright colors and would want something pretty simple. His favorite colors are tan, beige, dark red (not bright red) and dark green. I am trying to make all of these from my stash, but may have to pick up something for Jeremy's quilt. Here is the design I emailed Cath. What do you think. Is it tame enough for a guy who does not like anything wild or that stands out? It even has plain borders. LOL

I haven't even thought about Ivan's yet. I am pretty sure he likes bright colors. It is funny how different all three of them are.  So what do you think about my idea? Is it crazy or doable? If I concentrate on it and don't get sidetracked, I can get a lapsized quilt done in a month. I have done it before. (Actually, it was a twin size.)

Kevin's hours have changed back to normal. I tried to be supportive, but I am so glad to be done with those hours. He was going to bed at 5 or 6 in the afternoon, because he had to get up at 1:30 a.m. to get to work. Now he leaves at 1 p.m. and will get home around 11p.m. or so, a little later if overtime is needed. He will have to work some Saturdays, but at least he can go to bed at a decent time.

I don't think I ever shared my Birds and Blooms quilt after I got it finished. This one was lots of work, but I enjoyed it. The applique isn't terrific on it, but I am getting better.

Here is a closeup so some of the applique.

Here is the back of it.

I quilted most of this while I was in Kansas City this past winter. 

Well, I need to get busy doing something. I have several hours of free time stretching out before me. I'm glad I got all the work done up , workout done,  meals done, and Bible study all done before 10:30 this morning. I love the crock pot. LOL Thank you for visiting. Have a great day.

My Patriotic Shoo Fly

I am back from town. I was so hot by the time I got everything carried in from the car. Hmm, the ac is nice in the car, but when I have to get out I about die. I don't do well with heat and humidity. It was in the mid 90's today, but the heat index was about 104*. Way too hot in my opinion. I got everything put away, then melted in my rocker till I cooled down. I took with me a couple of those cold bags that I bought at Sams Club. I was very impressed with them. I bought a couple of roasts and some burger. I kept everything cold bunched together in my trunk. It was still cold when I got home, about 4 hours after buying the roasts. So those bags are well worth the $2 and something I paid for them.

As I told  you earlier, I have been playing around with my EQ7. I still have lots to learn, really lots and lots to learn, LOL  but I am getting there. I had EQ6 , but never worked with it much. It seemed overwhelming. Either the makers of the EQ programs are making them easier to understand or I am getting smarter. More than likely the former. (grin)  Anyway, I am going to try to figure out how to put a picture on here from my EQ7 files. Not promising that it will happen. If not, I may need your help, Crispy.

I originally named this My Kitty Quilt, because I was going to try to design a quilt with cats on it. Well, I got sidetracked. I have never made a patriotic quilt. It is almost the 4th of July. I looked in my stash and found a blue, a red and a white with little red and blue figures in it. Hmmm, it was meant to be. (grin)

Oh my goodness! It actually worked. I have been reading the book and trying to figure out how to get a picture to show up here. I may not have done it right, but it worked. Here are the fabrics I picked out from my stash. I decided that I wanted to use only from my stash for the rest of the summer. No point in having it if I'm not going to use it. Does anyone else have fabric that they just hate to cut into? I always think, I'll save it for something better. That never happens, so now I am going to use my stash.

Both the blue fabric and the red are VIP fabrics that were purchased at Walmart  sometime or another. The white isn't really a patriotic fabric, but I am using it anyway. (grin) It said Marcus Brothers on the selvage. I bought it at a garage sale. I don't have a lot of white in my stash. I like darker colors, but sometimes you just have to have some white.  The shoo fly blocks are fun to make.

I have 6 blocks made and need 20. They are all cut out and the HST's are done, but I may not get to work on them anymore till Monday. The blocks each measure 9 1/2 inches square. My program says it will be 49" X 58". I will add enough borders to make it lap size or a little bigger. I would add more squares, but I am limited on the white fabric I have. I may still change things as I go along.

Thank goodness for my level headed husband. I just keep coming up with ideas and wanting to start them. He said to pick one and at least get the top finished before I go on to something else. He knows how I can sometimes get overwhelmed. I am also working on a 9 patch. I am making the 9 patches as leader/enders as Bonnie Hunter does. I have two of them so far. I do have a design figured out, but there is no hurry with this one. I'll just work on it as I can. Here are my two 9 patches.

I have all the blocks done and half of them put together on Double Delight. It was a Bonnie Hunter mystery a year or two ago. I really need to get it put together. I finally picked out the fabric for the alternate blocks and setting blocks for my Quilter's Garden quilt. I am on my last sandwiched project. So time to get some more things sandwiched. I love to quilt in the evenings. Need to get something ready before I have the redwork barns done. Now I am just rambling. LOL Sorry. Sometimes my head gets to spinning and I ramble from one subject to another without really making sense. I know, though, that Kevin is right. I do not want to get burned out on quilting. I love it too much. (grin)

Thank you so much for all the kind comments on our garden. I am enjoying it this year and can hardly wait for the fresh veggies to get ready. I guess, I will end this here. Thank you for visiting. Everyone have a wonderful weekend.

Garden Update

It finally quit raining every day. I was afraid to go look at the garden, but it wasn't bad at all. I am so glad that I weeded it all before the rains started. It only took me about an hour yesterday to weed it and run the tiller through it. The biggest problem is morning glories. Those things are a pain. I went back down today to take a few pictures and found 4 or 5 that I missed yesterday. Everything is looking good. I can hardly wait for that first tomato!

The sweet potatoes are vining out. I am trying to train them to run along the hill instead of over all the garden. LOL

Zucchini is growing fast. I keep it dusted because we have a terrible time with squash bugs. I hate those pests. They have destroyed our crop many times. So I figure Sevin dust is better than no crop.

Eggplant and bell peppers are doing well. We both love eggplant. I can eat stuffed peppers every day.

The green beans are looking healthy. I can just taste them now with some onion and a little chopped bacon. My mouth is watering. Kevin and I were just talking yesterday about how nice it will be to eat out of the garden. I think we are going to try planting a fall garden in July. I was too late to plant lots of my cold loving veggies this year.

Sorry about my shadow in the picture, but I had the sun behind me. You can still see my beans. I think downsizing the garden this year was a wise decision. I am actually enjoying it again. It doesn't seem so overwhelming. I don't even mind so much using Katie, although she does tend to drag me around the garden a bit. LOL

I am about ready to head to town to get groceries. If I am not too tired and have time when I get back, I will do a post on a quilt I created in EQ7. I call it Patriotic Shoo Fly. I am using the very simple Shoo Fly block with some red, blue and white fabrics I found in my stash. Kevin says it looks nice. I have 6 blocks done and the rest cut out.

Everyone have a good day. Thank you for visiting.

Winona

 Preview

 

Preview

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

That's right, I am tired of the rain. I don't want it to completely stop, just slow down a bit. We have been having 1 or 2 storms a day for almost 2 weeks. I am so not a fan of lightning and thunder, so I have been a nervous wreck. All I get done is unplug and replug all our electronics. Several towns near us are under water. They are sandbagging the levee near my home town as the Missouri River is about to go over. Now today we are having record heat and humidity and you guessed it. Looks like another storm coming in from Nebraska. (Big Sigh)

Saturday we had 80 mile an hour winds and lots of rain. We were just about ready to head to Carolyn and Bob's house for the BBQ when the storm hit. We rode it out right here. Then lost power, so Kevin stayed home to keep the generator running. Good thing he did. We were without power for about 10 hours. Probably would have lost everything in the fridge without the generator. So things didn't go as planned. Cath, Jeremy, and the kids couldn't come, Madison wasn't there, and Kevin couldn't go. We still had fun, but missed everyone else. Carolyn had a slip and slide set up. Look how cute Izabella looked in her little swimming suit.

They were throwing the little football around and she wanted it. LOL Noah had lots of fun playing with Wesley, Bob's grandson. They are about a year different in ages, Noah being younger.

Here is Wesley. He is a good kid and played great with Noah and Izzie.

Izzie and her mama, Hazel.

We had a good time, good food, and nice visits.

Carolyn and Bob are bird lovers. This is Buddy. He says 'Pretty bird.' among other things. No idea what kind of bird he is, but he is pretty.

This is Carolyn's bird, Lucy. She is really sweet.

They also have a pair of  Love birds, who are setting on some eggs and 3 canaries. Yep, they love their birds.

The big kids even got involved with the slip and slide. LOL

Not sure what the frown on Noah's face was about. LOL I got home right after the power came back on and just before the next storm hit. Good timing on my part. (grin) I have been playing around with my EQ7. I have come up with a project that I think I am going to make. It is really simple, but simple is good. More on that tomorrow. I am still thinking about the Carpenter's Star. Still haven't decided whether to add to the top and bottom.  Thank you all for visiting. Please come again and have a great day.

Carpenter's Star is a flimsy, I think.

It is hot and humid here today, but that is to be expected. It is late June in Missouri, after all. LOL We may have some storms coming in later. Each weather person says something different, so I guess we wait and see. I did a double workout this morning, since I won't get the chance to tomorrow. Oh boy, my muscles are protesting now. LOL It was fun, though. Yep Sweating to the Oldies again. I have plugged this enough, that Richard Simmons should give me a cut. LOL 

After my morning routine, I went to work on the other two borders of the Carpenter's Star. I guess it is now a flimsy. I am debating on adding some more borders just to the top and bottom. Hmm, it is a square quilt. Our bed is rectangular. I prefer rectangular quilts. Would it look silly to leave the sides like they are and add another border or two to the top and bottom? I'll think on this for a bit. Kevin thinks it looks great like it is. I would just like for it to be a little longer.

I  had Kevin hold it up, but still didn't get a very good picture. Thought about taking it outside, but the wind is really blowing today. Don't think that would have worked.

Well, at least you get the idea. LOL Here is a picture of one corner.

I finished the quilting last night on another table runner. I'll save those pictures for next post. So now I need to get something sandwiched to have any more quilting time in the evenings. (grin) I can work on some redwork and have a couple of bindings to sew down. So I won't be bored.

We are going to Carolyn's and Bob's house tomorrow for a BBQ. Yippee. Hopefully I will get to see the grandbabies. I still don't know for sure if they will all be there, but sure hoping. If so, you know that next week will have grand children pictures. (grin)  Everyone have a wonderful weekend. Thank you for visiting.

First 2 Borders are on Carpenter's Star

I finally found some time to work on the Carpenter's Star. I don't even know what I have been doing, but I've been busy.(grin) Also we have had lots of storms. I don't use my machine while it is storming. I would cry if lightning struck my baby. LOL It has been way to wet to work in the garden, but I did get down to it yesterday. I bought cages for my eight tomato plants. I have them on now. Good thing I didn't wait any longer, cause they are getting big. My zucchini is up, so I dusted it again. Also pulled a few morning glories. I hate those vines. Supposed to be more rain coming through tonight. I am so glad I weeded the whole garden when I did. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be able to find it by now. LOL I'll try to take a picture the next time I am down there.

I put the first two borders on the Carpenter's Star today. The first border was just strips from the background fabric. I didn't like the pattern's idea for a second border, so I made my own. I cut bricks of the Star fabrics 3 1/2"X7" and sewed them end to end. I then used some of the background fabric to make cornerstones. I like it.

I couldn't get a good picture, so I took a picture of one of the corners. After I get all of the borders on, I'll have Kevin hold it up for me. Only 2 more borders. (grin)

I need to get something else sandwiched for my evening quilting. I am almost done with the last project I had prepped. I still have some bindings to sew on, though.

I was so excited yesterday when the Fed Ex man pulled into our driveway. Look what he brought me.

I have all 4 of the first Sweatin' to the Oldies on DVD. I love these. I wore out 2 sets of VCR tapes, so I am thrilled to have these. These are so much better quality than what I have been using. Amazing how much better it is to have the pictures actually match the music and voice. LOL I am a big fan of Richard Simmons. I first saw him on General Hospital back in the early 1980's. (I used to be a big fan of General Hospital too, but quit watching soaps several years ago.)  I love exercising to these videos. If you are over 40, I imagine you will remember most of the songs. So it is like dancing and singing to songs from my younger days. Love it. Not only am I having fun, but getting a great workout at the same time. If you need to take some weight off and get toned, these might be a great option for you. I ordered my set from Walmart.com They cost me a little over $30. That also included tax and shipping. Not bad. Even Callie approves. LOL

Before I forget, check out Jenny's new blog. She is having a giveaway of a beautiful cloth flower broach that she makes. They are really lovely. So go on over and visit her blog. I know you will be as impressed as I am.

Well, it is about time to sit in front of the tv again. Everyone have a great evening. Thanks for visiting.

Steppin' It up a Notch!

I have shared with you all how I am trying to get healthy this summer. I have been eating low carb for about a month now. I have tried this diet several times. This has happened to me every time, so I am switching gears. I do fine on low carb for about 4 weeks, then my body rebels. I won't go into details, but let's just say low carb isn't for me. (grin) I prayed about this for a couple of days. Yesterday when I got up, I had this urge to go to our book shelves. There I found this book that I had bought a couple of years ago and never really paid any attention to it.

I figured the Lord was trying to tell me something, so I pulled it out and started reading. This diet is basically high fiber/high carb(though low glycemic index carbs)/low fat. Here is what I have had for breakfast for the past 2 mornings : 1/2 cup steel cut oats, 1 tabl. ground flax seed, 1 tabl. unsweetened coconut, 1 tabl. chopped English walnuts, 1/2 teas. cinnamon and 1/4 cup 2% milk. After eating this and drinking my cup of tea, I exercise for an hour to 'Sweatin' to the Oldies'. I am satisfied till lunch, my blood sugar is still coming down, I have lost 2 more pounds for a total of 8 so far, and my body is much happier. LOL  I am eating lots of veggies and some lean meat. I have blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries in the freezer for snacks. I have some apples and natural peanut butter. I am just eating whole natural foods and so far this is working much better for me. So now I am thinking maybe I can meet my goal this summer. With the Lord's help, these books, and my 'Sweatin' to the Oldies' DVD's, I can do this.

I haven't had much time to work on the Carpenter's Star since the weekend, so not much to show there. I did make a run to JoAnn's to go to their Firefly Frenzy sale. I picked out enough fabric to make mom a Carpenter's Star in mainly blues. I think she will like it.

I also found a couple of redtag fabrics that weren't too bad. I used a coupon and bought another ripper. Mine was getting kind of dull.

Well, Blogger is really slow with uploading pictures today, so that is all of them for now.

On a sad note....we lost our old tomcat, Herc, this week. His name was really Hercules, but we always called him Herc. He was pretty close to 15 years old and a good old boy. He never wanted anything to do with the inside of the house, so he was an outside kittie. He never wandered, but stayed right around the house. That is probably why he lived so long. I knew when he didn't come when I called him, that something was wrong. Then I found him. This year has been rough on our animals. We lost most of our chickens to a predator. Then we lost our old rat terrier, Sheba. She was almost 17 years old. After that, we lost my 6 year old guinea pig, Riccu. Now we have lost Herc. We still have our two kitties inside, and outside we have the two other dogs, but they are both over 10 years old. Such is the season of life...

Thanks for visiting. Have a wonderful day.