Underwear Blue

Two grandsons came to visit on Thursday. They often have a mental list when they come and it usually includes making cookies and sewing. Thursday was no different. After making chocolate chip cookies and eating lunch, we headed upstairs to the sewing rooms. They needed a new project so we began a donation quilt. I had a couple of blocks left from when I tried a technique I saw a while back and they made more.

I do not know where I saw this technique - if you know, please tell me so I can give credit. You do not end up with sharp points or any points for that matter but it is a fun process for beginner sewers.

1. Begin with a square for the center of the block. I'll call this square A.

2. Cut another square the same size as square A. I'll call this square B.

3. Place right sides of square A and B together and sew all four sides with 1/4" seams.  

4. On the wrong side of square B, draw an X from corner to corner. 

5. Now carefully cut the X through the square B side only. 

6. Press the triangles out from the center block.

 

7. Square up the piece. This is the new square A.

Repeat steps 2 - 7 until the block is the size you want it to be.

The center squares all came from a piece of fabric with construction vehicles. Younger grandson picked out a piece of fabric that he liked - the one on the bottom -

and I found some 'plain' yardage in those colors for the points on the blocks. He picked up one piece of blue fabric and called it underwear blue.

Underwear blue? I questioned that but wasn't really getting an answer so I asked the older boy. He said it looked like underwear. What? Later, while they were looking at the fabric, I watched and listened. Then I got it! They thought the selvage looked like the waistband on underwear and the design of the fabric looked like some they owned! I think there might be a lot of underwear fabrics in my stash!

Typically these two boys use the scraps in my stash. It never occurred to me that they've never seen the selvage on yardage. 

Don't you love sewing your children or grandchildren? I do!

Getting Ready... and counting our blessings

Getting ready for the big upcoming trip is keeping me busy! Lodging is pretty much in place. The emphasis is now on food - what will we cook??? I think this is one of the places that the dehydrator is paying off. We'll be taking a number of meals with us. 

Today I began assembling things - mostly for soups. Each packet is labeled so I know the contents and what I need to add.  

So far we have:

• Stir Fry - onion, zucchini, yellow squash, okra, carrots, mushrooms, and pea pods.
• Stir Fry - onion, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, carrots, mushrooms, and sugar snap peas.
• Cauliflower soup - cauliflower, onions, celery, garlic, carrots, and spices.
• Hamburger Stew - corn, green beans, onions, carrots. The cornstarch and bouillon are in separate bags within the larger packet.
• Potato Carrot Soup - shredded potatoes, carrots, green pepper, onion.
• Vegetable Soup - potatoes, green onions, tomatoes, summer squash and zucchini, carrots, cabbage, and Lima beans.
• Chicken and Vegetable Soup - carrots, green beans, onions, tomatoes, and garlic.
• Shredded Potato Soup - shredded potatoes and green onions.
• Beef Barley Soup - barley, carrots, mushrooms, onions, celery, and a bay leaf.

And a few sides:

• Au Gratin Squash Casserole - summer squash, zucchini, and onions.
• Green beans.
• Carrots.
• Cauliflower.

These are now all packaged in Mylar and labeled - ready to go!

I've tried a few new things in the dehydrator - when it comes to fruit, I haven't found anything that the two older grandsons that live near us don't like! They love the watermelon slices (in the background) and watermelon/apple crazy fruit. Ray isn't crazy about the watermelon.

The strawberry/kiwi crazy fruit is a favorite of mine.

We all like the cantaloupe and especially the banana/cantaloupe crazy fruit.

The banana/pineapple crazy fruit is wonderful!

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A year ago we were waiting for Ray's cancer surgery. It was a stressful time. We are so blessed that all seemed to turn out well. We now know the cancer was just leaving the prostate - just turning into Stage 3. Ray continues to do well!

Four years ago we were waiting for my back surgery. It was a stressful time. I am so blessed that it went well and I had Ray, a fantastic caregiver. Technically I am still recovering for another year and I continue to see progress!

We have chosen to enjoy life as much as possible. My Dad always said "Everyday's a holiday!". Oh how right he was! He chose to live his 61 years that way and now we are doing the same. This Easter season we are blessed to still enjoy each day the way we choose. 

We celebrate this Easter with prayers of glory and thanks.

Happy Easter!

FMQ Challenge 2015 - March

I am really enjoying the FMQ Challenge BUT this month I am a bad student! Instead of making a pillow, I made a table runner! I know I won't be eligible for prizes but I'm here to learn not win! 

The FMQ Challenge is hosted by QuiltShopGal and you might want to stop over there and see all the neat pillows that all the other good students made. This month's expert is Patsy Thompson who does gorgeous free motion quilting. Patsy was the expert for the December 2012 FMQ Challenge and I didn't get to do that month so I was happy to have this opportunity. 

I spent LOTS of time with pencil and paper while I sketched border designs. Then, while making some table mats/runners, I decided one was perfect to try what I was learning. You can see all 5 of my mats/runners here.

This mat is made from batiks, even the backing. The batting is Dream Poly. I used Aurifil thread to do the quilting.

The center is a small spiral with flower petals surround it. Sorry it's so hard to see. The petals are then echoed to fill the space. The inside cream 'border' is a wavy feather design that Patsy suggested. It was fun to do and I loved the way it turned out. The red 'border' is a wavy line of about a 1/2 inch scale going back and forth.

The next cream 'border' is more of the wavy feathers while the last red 'border' has more wavy lines with stones on each side.

The corners before the border each have a small 3 part feather. The outside border is a design that could be a lazy river or a tree bark.

I enjoyed the challenge this month - partly because I just happened to have the perfect project and mostly because I learned some new things.

Some Quilting Finishes!!!

At long last, I have some quilting finishes! They are all small projects but they are done!

A while back I made a couple of small table mats. I guess I didn't post about them! Must have been too busy with the remodel...

All of these are done with red batiks and cream colored batiks. I backed each with a neutral colored batik and used Aurifil thread for the quilting.

This is one of the disappearing windmill patterns quilted with Paisley.

The next one is one of the disappearing hour glass patterns. I also quilted it with the Paisley.

In the past week, I have finished the other three table mats/runners for our family room.

I made this one like a chevron going in two directions. Each strip is quilted as if it were a border. This is my 'entry' in the March FMQ Challenge - you can see more photos and learn more here.

The Irish Chain  is quilted with feathers. I had a few places to fill in so I used small circles/stones.

The last runner is much larger - it is for a behind-the-sofa table. It is quilted with an all over pattern with flower petals that are echoed.

All of the mats/runners are in use!

 

 

It's so nice to have some cohesiveness in the room. And it's even better to have found time to quilt!

A Stately Hockey Weekend

We left home Friday morning and headed north, way, way north for the Wisconsin Amateur Hockey Association (WAHA) State Tournament. The Squirt B teams played in Ashland, Wisconsin - that is on the southern edge of Lake Superior. Our grandson's team (all 10 and under) got the wildcard spot and they were one super excited team! 

Friday was a gorgeous day. We had our first picnic of the year outside in sunny, 61 degree weather! I took this photo at a rest stop about an hour south of Stevens Point,WI. It was so wonderful to be outside eating!

We got to Ashland and checked into our motel. We were supposed to have a king room with a sofa but got upgraded to a king suite with a sofa and a whirlpool bath. It was a corner room with a lake view. Our 6 large windows were arranged in a semicircle. The room wouldn't all fit into one picture! 

Our kids played some great hockey this weekend. Although they did not win the championship, they played well. Their second game on Saturday was one of the most exciting games I've ever watched! It was great fun. We never expected them to be at the State Tournament this year five on the team are first year players and we are very proud of their accomplishments.

Ray took lots of photos all weekend. But he hasn't had time to go through them so I'll just add one that I took through the mesh. This is my favorite player, #42, going to get his medal.

When our games were over on Saturday, Ray and I took a beautiful drive to Bayfield, WI . Just thought we'd do a little sightseeing and maybe find a piece of pie. After all it was pi day 3-14-15. We didn't find any pastries but we did find Orchard's Edge Quilt Shop about 10 minutes before closing. I used my 10 minutes wisely and checked out with my small purchase - one jelly roll - at 4:59PM. There were still people in the shop but I hate to stay after closing time so we were on our way. 

After a pleasant trip home today, we unpacked and had a late dinner. Now it's time to just relax. The weekend was great!

A soft, warm cowl and a beautiful spring day!

It is gorgeous outside today. We just took a walk - it is 55 degrees! You can see the snow is slowly leaving our backyard.

Spring is really coming!

I made Ray a cowl but it may be next year before he wears it - and that is fine with me! The Voss Cowl pattern is by Jeffrey Wall of The Yarn Guys.  The yarn is Tumi by Rauma, a Norwegian yarn that The Yarn Guys carry at their store, Wall of Yarn.

I knit the cowl on a 12" circular needle so I made a tube. Then I had to join the ends using the kitchener stitch, a first for me. It was a learning curve but I think I have it now!

The cowl is soft and warm - perfect for NEXT winter!

Remodeling is done - maybe!

The kitchen is done - check.
This began with refacing the cupboards and grew to include new countertops and backsplash. It was very sunny outside today so some of the photos have bright spots. The upper and lower cupboards are the same color.

The floors are done - check.
After the kitchen was finished, the floors looked horrible. Our house is pretty open and redoing the floors meant redoing the entire first floor except the bathrooms. The kitchen is a vinyl tile that looks like ceramic. We couldn't do ceramic because the refrigerator was too close to the overhead cupboard. 

The living and dining rooms are hardwood - hickory. 

The family room, hallway, and bedroom have frieze carpet. The bathrooms both have ceramic tile that was done a few years ago.

The bedroom is painted - check.
The whole first floor was painted last spring except for the bedroom and bathrooms. The bathrooms were done a few years ago. The bedroom - hmm, we don't remember. It really needed to be done and now it is!

And NOW, we need to do something about drapes and curtains - UGH! We really could use some new furniture in the living room but NOT now.

When this whole thing started, I remember saying ok to the cupboards and that we would update the appliances to stainless as each one died. I really didn't know this was going to mushroom out of control. We will live with the window coverings for the time being but they will be replaced...then we're done... unless we decide to get new furniture! Will it ever end??!