Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Keeping busy

Oh my, it must looks like I haven't done anything for a while - WRONG! I'm keeping busy!

I helped make mission pies a few days. Our church, along with a few others, take orders and make pies before Easter and Thanksgiving each year. The profits go toward our mission trips. We have a small core group of volunteers that do most of the work during the week and then volunteers from each of the churches come to help mostly on Saturdays.  Ray makes crumb topping and I roll pie dough. Every time we work, it takes a day or two for our bodies to recover.
These pies are sooooo good!
I began quilting this quilt - I just need a little more time! I took it off of the machine so I could attend a day retreat at Lucky 2B Quilting last week and haven't had time to get it finished. I had a great time at the retreat but did not take one picture!

I made a gift but I can't show it yet. Here's a peek:

I've been knitting but I ended up frogging a pair of cool socks because they were too big. I'll knit them again with a different pattern. 
Cool yarn from Knit Circus
I finished knitting Ray's sweater - I just need to sew the pieces together.

I mended two jackets for Ray. Ugh! I really do love him or else I wouldn't have done this! I had to go through inside seams to get to the areas to mend. This took most of two days. It took more than four hours just to tear the cuffs off of one jacket (the elastic was worn out). Does anyone like to mend???

I dehydrated some rice to make instant rice. Instant rice made this way still has all of the nutrients. I cooked some brown rice in chicken broth and when it was done, I added some soy sauce. Then I dehydrated it. Now we have instant flavored rice which we'll be trying soon!

I'm getting things ready for an upcoming quilt retreat.

We decided to go on a little get away in April - a photo class for Ray, a visit with family, and a tour of the Budweiser Clydesdales Breeding Farm. It will be fun and we're hoping to see some foals.

And we are both still finalizing things for our upcoming trip to the northeast in a couple of months.

Time seems to be flying by so I'll just wish everyone a Happy Easter now. May God bless you.

Friday, March 11, 2016

Bright Baby Boy Quilt

The baby boy quilt is finished! I now have a baby boy quilt and a baby girl quilt ready for when the May baby arrives. The extra quilt will be donated.

The boy quilt is bright! I wanted to do pinwheels in the center and I wanted a border fabric to pull the colors from. I bought the border fabric - and then found I couldn't use it because it was too busy with pinwheels. Sorry about the wrinkles in the fabric.

So... I cut strips from the fabric and used the cars and the stars. It was going to be a very simple quilt to make and turned out to be a bit more work but I think it turned out better for the extra work.

The quilt is about 46" square and the batting is Dream Cotton. I used straight stitching and a walking foot to quilt this.

The backing is Minkee that I ordered from Missouri Star Quilt Company. I am very happy with the Minkee. In fact, I'm very happy with everything that I've ordered and/or bought at Missouri Star Quilt Company.

I'm so glad that our neighbors have this short but tall fence which is perfect to hang my quilts on for photos. I especially enjoy using it on beautiful days.

Breakfast for Dinner

Red Coins is finished! I made White Coins a while back and this was in the works then. White Coins 

was the last finish before our trip in May and Red Coins is the first finish post-trip. So maybe it didn't take me forever!

No outside pictures today - it is way too warm outside. We are in an excessive heat warning.

This quilt is 61" square and I used Dream Cotton for the batting. I used a walking foot and straight stitched the quilting.

I love the back! It's just one of those pieces that I randomly buy to use for backing someday. It has all of the right colors and the reds match!

Red Coins will go on the donation pile. One day soon, the pile will shrink by 5 or 6 quilts. 


Ray is downstairs on the treadmill. I'm just taking it easy! Did I mention that I had a wart burned off of my foot - below my pinkie toe? Well the burning had to be repeated and I think it's working this time. I have a large blister. I also seem to have a case of poison ivy on my forearms. Thank goodness it is not contagious. This is definitely my summer for weird little health problems. Along with the sprained ankle which needs to get stronger but I'm not walking much this makes three weird things so I figure the weirdness is over. 










Tuesday, March 8, 2016

A Touch of Pink

I need a baby quilt for a gift in a couple of months. Not knowing if the baby is a girl or boy and not finding fabric that I like that will work for either left me no choice - I'll just make a boy quilt and a girl quilt! The girl quilt is finished. 

A few weeks ago, I pulled the blue fabric from my stash and decided it would look great with pink - I wasn't thinking of a baby quilt at the time. I just pulled some pinks from my stash and ended up using four different pieces. I made the top at a retreat in February. After putting together the quilt top, I thought it needed something more and decided on a flower. I went through lots of ideas but finally decided on a daisy - white petals with a yellow center. With the flower came the idea that this might be a cute baby quilt.

The quilt is 51" X 51". I used Dream Cotton for the batting and Minkee for the backing. I ordered the Minkee from Missouri Star - I love the pink with the white dots. The quilting is straight lines - I don't enjoy doing free-motion quilting on Minkee it moves too much! After washing the quilt, it is nice and crinkly cozy.

There is a baby boy quilt in the works - in fact, it is close to being done. Stay tuned...

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