Hmm I don't know what do you want to do

Cinnamon Roll cake

2012-01-22T10:41:00.001-06:00

Ok I saw this recipe on Pinterest but could not get the web site that had it to load Oh well I did a google search and found this recipe

Cinnamon Roll Cake

12 servings

CAKE:

3 cups Flour

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Sugar

4 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 1/2 cups Milk (we did not have regular milk so I used soy milk and it worked fine)

2 Eggs

2 teaspoons Vanilla

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) Butter softened

TOPPING:

1 cup ( 2 sticks) Butter, softened

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 Tablespoons Flour

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

GLAZE:

2 cups Powdered Sugar

5 Tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 glass baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In an electric or stand mixer add the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Once combined well , slowly stir in the melted butter. Pour into the prepared 9×13 baking pan.

For topping, In a large bowl mix the 2 sticks of butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together until well combined and creamy. Drop evenly over the batter by the tablespoonful and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.

Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out nearly clean.

FOR GLAZE: In a medium bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together with a whisk. Drizzle evenly over the warm cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.

HO HO HO

2011-12-25T12:31:00.000-06:00

I have been having a quiet Christmas we will meet up with our grandaughter later for some fun. Today I have been sorting and putting away in my sewing room and just having a nice day of getting some things around.

It feels good to sort and arrange to see where things are and find out what I have put away and now am finding again.

So I hope you have been having a wunderful day too. :)

Monday hmm where did the day go

2011-12-05T17:51:00.001-06:00

Well today was a good day and a busy day and I have no clue what I did but it seem to disappear that is for sure. Worked in the AM and did some laundry and ran a few errands.

Compared to how it was the weather has gotten cold but no snow here yet. I hope it will be a while in coming. I do believe they got some north of us I have seen cars with snow on the tops and hoods driving around. Just glad it is not on mine.

Here is the promised picture of the finished bag.

The top of this pictures show a pocket and then you can see something black and that is my computer lap desk and then the green strip is a zippered pocket then on the lower side on the inside there are 3 pockets one has a Velcro closed flap over the pocket top.

This side has a smaller zippered pocket and a second open pocket that is between the two handle straps the other side has a pocket that goes all the way across the bag that I put one of the metal magnet closers

The instructions for this bag were great and not hard to follow as long as I concentrated on what I was doing. Oh and the two sides have little pockets that will hold things like water bottles, my sun glasses case etc.

It’s DONE

2011-12-03T22:33:00.001-06:00

I have been working on what is called a professional bag and it is done. I finished it tonight. So happy to have it done it came out well even if I say so my self.

The pattern instructions were really well written I will try and get a picture of the finished bag tomorrow just so happy it is done.

Holiday weekend in the Hospital

2011-11-27T19:59:00.001-06:00

Well the last few days have been an experience that I don’t really want to repeat. Fred (DH) ended up in the hospital with a gall bladder with stones. It was found that he had a stone in the bile duct and a very enlarged gall bladder with more stones in it. They were able to remove his gall bladder today and so now we deal with the healing process.

It started on Thursday night and by Friday evening we went to the local ER and then was transferred to a larger facility. That was also an experience I got to drive the ambulance that took him to the next hospital. then after a few more test surgery was scheduled and took place today about 3 hours later then scheduled but then that is what happens in a hospital on a weekend.

So if all goes well thru the night they will release him tomorrow.

working on a bag

2011-11-06T11:05:00.001-06:00

Well I have been busy working on a new bag I have wanted to make this one for a while took a bit to find the pattern then to gather everything I needed to make it. So now that all the ducks have finally worked together here is the progress so far.

This is the pattern

Front of the bag before it was put together

I have put the bag together and this is the outside shell Back view has a pocket that goes across the back

Front view with a two short pockets one with a zipper and one without.

The sides of the bag have little pockets for things like a water bottle or I am thinking a cell phone might work well in one. they have a draw string to pull them in if need to close them down some.

Other end of the bag.

This is the center inside pocket it has a zipper pocket in the center of the inside of the bag

A better view of the zippered inside pocket. I hope to finish this bag up today. if time and focus allow.

I have been doing a bunch of hand embroidery on my Thru the woods to grandmothers house panels for a wall hanging the 2nd of three panels is about done. I would love to get this done before Christmas but I don’t think that is going to happen with everything else that is on the list to be done also.

Plus working two jobs has really take some of the extra time away from sewing machine projects the hand work is moving along nicely though I have a lot of those type of projects too. I guess this way I will never be bored.

Pumpkin Bread

2011-10-23T15:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I made Pumpkin Bread the recipe is a little different and did come out pretty good.

Delicious Pumpkin Bread Recipe
15            ounces solid pack pumpkin
2               cups sugar
1 1/2           cups salad oil
5                     eggs
Dry Ingredients:
2 1/2           cups flour
2          teaspoons soda
1/2      teaspoon salt
1           teaspoon cinnamon
1           teaspoon nutmeg
1          small box instand lemon pudding
1          small box instant butterscotch pudding

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Grease pans. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients bake 20 to 25 min this recipe makes 16 small loaves or 2 regular size bread pans though baking time in regular size bread pan is more like 45 min.

Where did Sept. go!!!

2011-09-30T15:50:00.001-05:00

It is hard to believe we are almost at the end of the month I sure don’t know where it went but looking at the calendar it has just about completely disappeared that is for sure.

Let see the 2nd Monday of the month my small quilt guild did a shop hop and we went to Manchester, Dyersville and Cascade and visited the quilt shops in those towns.

I have been to the shop in Manchester and really like going there even though it really is bit of a drive. While there I picked up this pattern

Along with some fabric to work on a different tote and the stiffener that you use in the different totes/purses. I got the Caddy done but did not get a picture of it to show off. Will go for that in the next couple days.

Add to that I am now writing this blog from my second job. I am doing two 10 hour shifts from noon to 10:00 pm so that keeps me busy too with this being the first month for this.

The nice part about this job is if the world is quiet I can bring hand work along and get a few things done. So far I am about 3/4ths of the way thru doing the 2nd Sun Bonnet Sue Quilt I think I have like 5 blocks left to button hole down to the black background.

So that is what has been going on in my world hope you have been busy and getting a lot done in yours.

found some triangles

2011-09-05T15:33:00.002-05:00

I had made a table runner out of this fabric and had a group of triangles setting in a pile and so I got them stitched together and then made into a small table runner or Hexagon runner.
I am so found some fabric that were to be done up in runners that were blue design that had a horse theme these belong to a friend who was making some runners for her mother for Christmas.
She stop by before I got a picture of them. The fabric was enough to make a longer table runner and 3 Hexagon runners. so much fun.
I then dug out a project that has been 2/3rd done a quilt top the pattern is called summer Breeze and was fun to put together then the borders needed to be done and I have a strip fabric for that. The problem is I don’t remember the plan of how I was going to finish the borders and I think I cut them to wide. and the corners are mitered and that seems to be a problem for me right now. I am cutting into what I think I have set aside for binding to finish them and so that may be a challenge down the road.

Another project finished

2011-08-28T14:36:00.001-05:00

I had a lady bring me a quilt top and she has dearly loved it and used it. The fabric in several of the areas in the blocks was worn so bad that it was not longer there. I ended up scanning the fabric and printing it and then replacing these diamond shapes. I then stitched the seams that had given and tighten up the whole area. I had been redoing some of the quilted areas though to be honest the whole thing could have been quilted again and I was not going to put that kind of time into it. I stabled squares in areas and today gave the quilt back to the owner.

I am happy to see my to do list going down even further nice to send things home to their owner in better shape then they were in is about all I can do for this project. I did not get a picture snapped of the quilt it makes me think of a block that I remember called Carpenter square with lots of diamonds going to a center with other squares around it. Then it had an alternate block that was quilted.

We lost a large tree

2011-08-27T11:24:00.001-05:00

Well on Wed. of this week one of the guys over at the lumberyard started to park under one of our big shade trees that we have out side. Then he got out and as he was walking across the street stop and looked back at the tree. There was a gentle breeze blowing and he noticed that the hollow cracked area of the tree was separating as the wind moved the branches above.

We assume that the storm that came thru on Monday added to the weakness in this tree. We had a lot of high wind on Monday and I guess we were luck the tree did not blow down then. I know the neighbors are happy the power line for there home goes thru that tree and the tree itself was big enough that if it had blown to the west I might of taken down the power lines on that side of the street.

This is the area that was damaged in the storm. The squirrel's that lived in the tree are not going to be happy but it is better that the tree is down in a controlled manor

It is all coming down sad but it needed to happen

A yard full of tree (looking from the street towards our house

This picture is from the back of the house from where the two windows ( bay windows) jut out on the south side towards the front of the house now that the tree is gone. Sure have a lot of light on this side now.

The funniest part of all this is I have a flower bed there just to the left of the humming bird feeder out towards the sidewalk. It was well mulched and had some cone flowers blooming in it and my red calla lilies were starting to come up there. Well with all the work that had to be done I understand the flowers being cut off/down but when they cleaned up the area they even took the mulch that was on the flower bed. I just thought that was funny it is not a big area and not really a big deal just funny.

I am happier they cleaned up them I am worrying about a little mulch.

Coconut Macaroon Cookies

2011-08-18T18:22:00.000-05:00

Well today I am testing a recipe for something I need to make at work tomorrow.

I was going to make Coconut Macaroon cookies with a package of coconut, 1 14 oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk and 2 t of vanilla.

The Sweetened condensed milk I had in the house has been on the shelf for a while and when I opened it the color looked off and since it has gone well past the used by date I decided that was a waste of my time and a bag of coconut that is not exactly cheap.

So I looked at the side of the bag of coconut and there was a recipe.

Bakers Coconut Macaroon Cookies

1 pkg of (14 oz) Bakers Angel Flake Coconut
2/3 cup of sugar
6 T of flour
1/4 t salt
4 egg Whites
1 tsp almond extract

Blend the coconut, sugar, flour and salt together in a large bowl. Stir in egg whites and almond extract untili well blended, Drop by Tablespoonful onto greased and floured cookies sheet.

Bake at 325 for 20 min or until edges of cookies are golden brown, immediately remove from cookie sheets to wire rack. Cool completelely makdes 3 dozen or 18 servings 2 cookies each

My NOTES:

Ok I did as instructed and then used an 18/8 cookies scoop to put them on the pan. I used parchment paper instead of greasing and flouring the pan. I only got 2 dozen cookies and not 3 dozen. Probably bigger then they are suppose to be we will see.

Cookies in the Oven sorry it is low light after 10 min.

I set the timer for 10 more min and will see how they come out.

cookies after 20 min in the oven

So now I have to wait until they cool down to give them a try but they do look pretty, nice shape and good color and they seem to be holding together well the almond adds a nice scent to the coconut. They look like they are not sticking to the parchment paper and that sure saves on the clean up.

I am thinking this is the recipe I will make tomorrow I have an order for a dozen Macaroon cookies and a dozen Monster cookies. The recipe with the sweetened condensed milk might of been easier but this recipe came out looking good and that is half the battle. Things that look good and smell good usually follow thru with flavor.

where has the week gone

2011-08-17T19:55:00.000-05:00

Well I sure don't know where the week has gone it is Wed all ready and I don't feel like I have gotten any were on things. I did get Annie up to the Vet this afternoon for her shots she likes to go for rides and then we did a couple other errons but it is hard to go to far when you have a doggy shut up in a vehicle. Even though I leave the vehicle running I worry about it stopping and even though it is not super hot out if some how the car should stop she would be in the heat of the day.

Just not a good thing so my trip was short and then we came back home again.

Had a sisters weekend with my sister's in law and that went well I forgot my camera but have pictures shared by Sherrie Pictures from the weekend Hope this works

I have been working on the binding for the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt and that seems to be slow going too.

It’s done

2011-08-10T15:05:00.001-05:00

I have had this quilt for a while now. It is a quilt that my mother started quite a while ago and then I just could not seem to get motivated to finish it. The back and front have to be folded under and then sewn together. In a couple areas mother pulled the back to the front and I did not change any of those areas.

My mother had Alzheimer's and this quilt has some issues but I decided this was a quilt that she made and I was not going to try and fix it just finish it. I completed it last night and then put it in the washer and dryer.

I have not checked the quilting to closely how the quilting is behaving after it was washed I just spread it out over a twin bed and it would probably fit a full size bed but it looks good on the twin too.

Quilting by Hand

2011-08-02T07:30:00.000-05:00

I seem to be into hand work right now. I put this quilt in the frame and have been working on it for the last couple days. I made this top as part of a class a while ago using some feed sack fabrics and other prints that I felt like they fit in with the group.

I am quilting around the V shape or partial boxes. The units are like card tricks only on it's side or in a row instead of in a square block. I marked the border with a chalk pencil and not sure that is working out well with my moving around on the swivel of the frame. I have a grace hoop frame on a stand and it is working out to quilt this perfectly other then I am rubbing off the lines I drew on the border. Oh well cannot have it all I guess.

Progress happening

2011-07-31T20:44:00.001-05:00

Well the weather out side has been hot. I have flower bed that need tending but it is just to warm out there for me. We had fresh beets from the garden that were very good.

I was able to put a smaller quilt in my hoop downstairs after deciding how to quilt it. The top has been hanging around for a while and it is time to get it out and get it done.

I also debated what to do about the flower garden quilt I pictured earlier and decided to just keep at it and not take out any quilting I don’t have to. I was able to get another section done and had some scrap pieces that I trim off to add to another area that had been trim off so that I did not have to trim the top too.

As I said this was one of mother’s last quilts that she quilted and I am just trying to get it done.

Problems finishing off this quilt

2011-07-28T20:57:00.002-05:00

This is one of the last quilts my mother made. She had Alzheimer's and it shows on this quilt that she was losing a lot. The quilt was quilted and she was starting to finish the edges and on a couple places she cut the back to deep and the quilting on this last edge area was pulled to tight and has gathered the top and back and making it almost impossible to finish off I guess I am going to have to cut some of the quilting and redo it. I was trying to avoid doing this and just finish off the quilt as it is since it is one of her last works and I appreciate it for that alone.

As you can see the gathered area is making it pretty impossible to finish off this top.

I am just going to have to pull some threads and then quilt it back down if I want to finish off this top.
Such is how it goes if I want to reduce the pile it must be done.

Last night we had 4 inches of rain and then this morning another down pour but the river seems to be going down and since up river did not get as much rain as we did it helped us out. Not so sure that down river from us is so lucky. Plus they are predicting even more rain in the next day or two. We go from to dry to more water then needed that is for sure.

Color quilt blocks

2011-07-27T20:59:00.002-05:00

Ok to explain the color blocks and how it works.
We iron freezer paper to some high thread count fabric and then with pigma pens traced pages out of coloring books. These traced pages are then lined up and wait for children to attend the school house on a specific day where we provide Crayola crayons to color the drawn fabric pictures. We ask the children to put there name and age on the block they color.
Then we take paper towels and place over the picture and iron so that the wax comes out and the color stays in the fabric. These are hung up and displayed the week of fair and then taken down and put into wall hangings that are silent auctioned at the next years fair.
It is a nice little fund raiser it does not bring in lots and lots of money but some and give the children a free activity at the county fair.

Fayette County Quilters and Piecemakers a project.

2011-07-25T21:49:00.001-05:00

This week is Fayette County Fair and for the last few years my smaller guild has drawn on high thread count white fabric pictures that children attending the fair and visiting the country school house that is on the fair grounds on a specific day. I think last year that was Thursday. this year it is Tuesday.

Then the colored block are sorted out and guild members make wall hangings that are silent auction the next year. The money is donated to the Fayette County Historical Society to be used as they feel the need.

So this is the group of blocks that I received to put together.

Block 14 Butterfly at the Crossroads

2011-07-12T20:56:00.003-05:00

Well I did not work much on quilting projects this weekend and Monday well it just seem to move along. Not sure where it went had small quilters group in the afternoon and work in the morning and by evening some of the series of TV shows we enjoy watching were on.
SiFi channel has two shows that start in the summer and run thru to fall Eureka and Warehouse 13 and the new series started last night. So that pretty much took up the day.
Now it is Tue and I worked in the AM and then finalzed some food coop book work and then I got to work on another Farmer’s Wife quilt block Number 14 Butterfly at the Crossroad this one seems a little small after I got done putting it together but for now I am not going to worry about it.
Now it is getting close to dark and a lot nicer out side so I am going to go out and plant a 6 pack of Wave Pink Petunia’s we picked up on sale over the weekend. It should not take to long to do but I best get them in the ground. So they have a little time to become a beautiful clump of color in my flower bed.
We were to get some rain today but that did not seem to happen and it would have been good if we could of gotten a little wet out things are starting to get dry out.

I am making Banana Bread

2011-07-09T10:39:00.000-05:00

Ultimate Banana Bread

Makes one 9-inch loaf
American Test Kitchen recipe

Be sure to use very ripe, heavily speckled (or even black) bananas in this recipe. This recipe can be made using 5 thawed frozen bananas; since they release a lot of liquid naturally, they can bypass the microwaving in step 2 and go directly into the fine-mesh strainer. Do not use a thawed frozen banana in step 4; it will be too soft to slice. Instead, simply sprinkle the top of the loaf with sugar. The test kitchen’s preferred loaf pan measures 8½ by 4½ inches; if you use a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness five minutes earlier than advised in the recipe. The texture is best when the loaf is eaten fresh, but it can be stored (cool completely first), covered tightly with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 large very ripe bananas (about 2 1/4 pounds), peeled save one banana to slice on top of bread
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts , toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)2 teaspoons granulated sugar Instructions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in large bowl.

2. Place 5 bananas in microwave-safe bowl; cover with plastic wrap and cut several steam vents in plastic with paring knife. Microwave on high power until bananas are soft and have released liquid, about 5 minutes. Transfer bananas to fine-mesh strainer placed over medium bowl and allow to drain, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes (you should have ½ to ¾ cup liquid).

3. Transfer liquid to medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to ¼ cup, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir reduced liquid into bananas, and mash with potato masher until fairly smooth. Whisk in butter, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla.

4. Pour banana mixture into flour mixture and stir until just combined with some streaks of flour remaining. Gently fold in walnuts, if using. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Slice remaining banana diagonally into ¼-inch-thick slices. Shingle banana slices on top of either side of loaf, leaving 1½-inch-wide space down center to ensure even rise. Sprinkle granulated sugar evenly over loaf.

5. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 55 to 75 minutes. Cool bread in pan on wire rack 15 minutes, then remove loaf from pan and continue to cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Technique
Do the Ripe ThingDon’t even think of making banana bread with anything less than very ripe, heavily speckled fruit—unless you’re fine with a bland loaf. As bananas ripen, their starch converts to sugar at an exponential rate. In lab tests, we found heavily speckled bananas had nearly three times the amount of fructose (the sweetest of the sugars in fruit) than less spotty bananas. (The exact percentage will vary from fruit to fruit.) But the impact of ripeness only goes so far: We found little difference in sweetness between loaves baked with completely black bananas and those made with heavily speckled ones.

Who Knew? Bananas Have Juice

Typical banana bread contains just three pieces of fruit. Here’s how we upped the number to five without turning the loaf into pudding.

1. EXTRACT JUICE

Microwaving ripe bananas for 5 minutes causes them to release “juice.”

2. STRAIN IT OUT

After straining the bananas, you should have 1/2 to 3/4 cup of liquid to work with.

I did not do this Shingle Your Loaf

Layering thin banana slices on either side of the loaf adds even more banana flavor to our bread (and brings the total number of bananas in the recipe to six). To ensure an even rise, leave a 1½-inch-wide space down the center.

I will try an add a picture later

Number 32 Farmer’s Daughter Block

2011-07-06T15:40:00.001-05:00

Well I have moved forward another block. # 32 I am not doing these blocks in order one of the two coordinators of our guild group that is working on these blocks sat down and figured out what blocks were similar and so the blocks I am working on now are in the 5 x 5 format. The square’s in the block measure a rather odd size and so these I am definitely doing these by drawing on freezer paper to make templates and cutting out the fabric using them as my guide. so far that seems to be working but I have only done one block so far in this grouping.

Life is quiet around here in the afternoon and evening now that Fred is working. He has a second shift job so he leaves around 2:45 in the afternoon and gets home at around 3:00 or so in the morning.

Annie (the dog) and I have to get a new routine going it seems like my biggest problem is getting to bed at a decent time. It seems like 10:00 gets here fast and I should be heading off to bed and I find one more thing to do and so it is like 10:30 before I make it to bed and so morning comes early some days when I have to be up and going so I am to work between 5:00 and 5:30. Since I am the first person in and as long as everything gets done when I get there my starting time has some flex to it.

I just finished reading a Sandra Brown book called

It took me a bit to get into the book but then I did not want to put it down. I guess we all find books like that at times.

Thanks for checking in with my blog more another day.

Farmer’s Wife quilt moving forward - Oversized Donut

2011-07-02T16:14:00.003-05:00

I have not picked this project up in a while and am way behind the list that the guild has set for each month on blocks. I started out well then life and other things got in the way. So I dug out the box and finished two of the blocks I had been working on.
Bouquet #8

Silver Lane #79

Now to cut out another couple blocks and get busy on them.

The last couple days have been really warm we hit 100 I think on Friday and Thursday was not a lot better. Thank goodness for central air. Not a lot of plans for this holiday weekend. I had to work this morning and I made a lot of sweets sure hope they sell well over the next day or two. Plus putting a bunch of things out that I keep on hand like muffin's and mini cup cakes and some Dolly Madison mini donuts.

Earlier this week I made a Monster donut I found a pan at JoAnne's I just had to get Oversized Cake Donut
The're two pans in the box and you mix up a cake mix and fill the pans and then bake.

My first attempt at making and oversize donut did not come out very well I am thinking I should of baked it longer the cake was firm to the touch but it did not brown on the bottom. I did not have a cake mix and found a recipe for a Almond cake in a cook book and tried that thinking the flavor would be really good. Well the cake it self tasted good and I used it as a short cake for some strawberries. The problem with it was that it did not brown on the bottom and so when I flipped it out the cake was very blond. and did not look like a brown pretty donut.

So I took the pans to work with me on Wed and made a second attempt at making an over sized cake donut using a yellow cake mix and adding cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves to the batter put it in the pan and baked for 40 min (the first one I only baked about 30 min) and it came out just the way you would want it to look.

After the two layers were baked I trim the cake so they were flat and set them together to make a full size donut. Drizzled with frosting and used sprinkles and boxed it up. Then put it out for sale. I don't know if it was the price I put on it or it just did not strike anyone's fancy.

I took this picture with my cell phone camera and the box was a little bit steamed up so will have to try this again some time and see if I can get a better picture.

Mr first a

Summer where are you

2011-06-15T14:05:00.001-05:00

It has been a busy couple weeks. DH has started a new/job and so have a new schedule to get use to. Son and his wife were here over the last 4 days had a lovely time with them

Plus we got granddaughter so she was here too. A full house plus when you have company you have to find a few of the corners and clear them out also.

Then yesterday I made 7 copies of a photo montage for a friend and am working on some other things beside. Where do the days go I sure don’t know but they seem to be disappearing.

Twilight Kaleidoscope

2011-05-18T14:51:00.002-05:00

Well the picture is not very good but I need to get batteries in the camera and so I used the web camera that is on the computer not sure that will be something I try again.
I have the smaller star blocks done Now I need to do the 12 inch ones and then to sew the strips together for the sashing. I am using the Square in a Square ruler to make the blocks and it is being a little bit of a challenge. I cannot find the book that goes with the ruler and so I need to figure what size I need to cut the center black squares to cut them in half to make the Flying Geese units. The center square on these are 3 1/2 inch squares and so the flying geese units I had to cut square that were 2 1/2 in I think I did not write it down and I should of because I am now trying to figure out what size to cut the center for the bigger squares and it is not going well I thought 4 3/4 would do it and that is not large enough. So I guess I need to cut the square 5 inches for a 6 1/2 inch diagonal cut $*&#(# I hope that works out right. I can use the strip I cut to do the black frame around the bigger blocks so it is not wasted but it is frustrating I am debating if it would just be better to clean and go thru my book shelf and find that how to book for the ruler. Then I would have the info I needed to make these units correctly.
The info used to be on the designer of the rulers web site but she has taken that down and so I am out of luck there. I do like how the flying geese units are coming out but this cut and guess method is not work out.
Oh well back at it or I will not get any where today.

Quilt Progress

2011-05-10T21:02:00.001-05:00

I found the backing fabric for the Sunbonnet Sue it was on sale an so I was able to pick it up at a really good price I think it totaled out at 54 dollars for 9.25 yards. It is a black background with small white daisies all over it and the daisies have yellow centers. So tonight I am straightening the edges and cutting off the salvage and I will sew it together. In fact as I started to measure it out for the piece I needed I think the store gave me almost a half yard extra so I am sure the machine quilter will not have to worry about fitting the top on to the backing.

I suppose I could of cut off the extra but who knows what I would do with it and besides I will cut off the edges when I sew on the binding and that way the machine quilter will not be thinking evil thoughts about me as she puts the top on her machine.

My hope is to get this done tonight and then I can run over and get the quilt top from Pat who has had it for a little bit to kind of get a chance to pet it and play with it before it goes to Elgin to the quilter.

So that should work out just about perfect. So after I get off work in the bakery and then can hopefully head out. See if the rest of the world agrees with my plan or if something will put a kink into it. Some times my day’s plan changes on a dime.

Hmm as I type this the weather seems to be getting a little bit of a go again. We came home Monday to find that a storm had blown thru sometime over the weekend. I quizzed at work and was told it happen Monday AM. There must have been a bunch of wind we have a canoe in the back yard on a rack and it had been blown off the rack and half way across the yard and had a bunch of water in it. That seem to be the only thing that happen over the time we were gone.

Well I best get the strips trimmed and sewn together.

A Short and Fast Trip to Colorado

2011-05-10T07:38:00.001-05:00

Well our Daughter in Law graduated from University Of Northern Colorado so we did a quick trip to Colorado over the weekend plus. We left on Friday 5:00 AM and got there around 6:00 Friday PM. The trip out was uneventful and that was good Eventful means something happen on the road and that is not always fun.

Saturday we went the the graduation ceremony it was a beautiful Sunny day and the ceremony is held out side in the football stadium the graduation class was 1500 students.

I got a little bit of sun burn sitting in the bleachers that AM but so glad we could make it work to go out and see everyone. Then went to Stef’s graduation party the kids went out to some clubs and we went home

Then Sunday Fred and Steve did a bunch of work on there big screen TV that they have it needed a part replaced so after a trip to Radio Shack for a Soider wick and lunch they were able to take it apart and put it back together. Then we met up with Stef’s family at a Mongolian restaurant and had super with them it was a nice weekend

Then a drive home that always seem to take longer then the drive out.

Stef and her folks

Stef and Steve

Stef and us

2010 Vacation Pictures

2011-04-23T17:22:00.001-05:00

Ok I was playing with Smile box and last years vacation pictures

This slideshow design made with Smilebox

One of the Sun Bonnet Sue quilts is done!!!

2011-04-18T20:31:00.001-05:00

Well I finished the top and now I need to get backing and batting and get it to a quilter. I laid the quilt on our bed and it looks pretty good it is a good size quilt it measure 104 long and 101 wide.

The border is on 3 sides of the quilt I left off the top since it really does not seem like it is a border that makes sense for over the pillows.

This weekend we woke up to a surprise of sorts the weather man said cold and wintery weather well that is what we got. This is looking out the window going down the stairs in our house.

Messing with Photo’s

2011-04-09T19:45:00.001-05:00

I have been messing with photos today of the class I took on Wed and of the show and tell at the afternoon guild meeting. I was going to the evening meeting with a friend but she decided to go late and told me to go ahead. Well I had gone to the afternoon meeting and had to come home and walk the dog since Fred was busy. He was on call in West Union for 24 hour shift so I needed to come home and was going to ride to the meeting with a girl friend. She texted me to go with out her and so I decided to just skip driving the 45 min back again for the evening.

It just did not seem like a very economical use of gas and I had seen the program in the afternoon. I am sure it would have been fun to see again the speaker Marilyn Foreman was an excellent speaker and had a lot of lovely quilts to show off. With that much of a drive by my self I decided it was smarter to stay home. So Annie (the dog) and I had a nice walk and then I came home and worked on picking up my desk area. It has been a disaster for a while now.

In the post earlier today I used Smile Box a program you move photos into and can view them in a kind of scrap book format. None of the block pictured there are done by me. Lots of variety in the fabric used for those that are participating in our Farmer’s Wife quilt group.

On wed the day after the guild meeting we had a work shop with Marilyn Foreman and I posted a picture earlier of the pattern. Well here are a couple of pictures of my fabric and the teacher and a few of the blocks I got cut out.

I am twisting and turning my 4 patch blocks to see what way they look best and someone grab my camera and took a picture.

Here are some of the other fabric choices cut up into blocks for the quilt.

Twilight Kaleidoscope

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

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2011-04-09T15:10:00.000-05:00

Free digital scrapbook generated with Smilebox

Saturday

2011-04-02T22:50:00.000-05:00

Well my plan for the day did not go as I had it figured out. I washed some rugs and was going to hang them out side it was a beautiful sunny day. Well they did get washed but not hung out. (had to dry them in the dryer) We got a call to do an ambulance run and so that pretty much shot the day.

I did get some of the strips cut for the piano key border for the Sun Bonnet Sue Quilt this evening. I have a bunch more to cut though. I am just going to cut up all the fabric into the strips and then if I have more then I need I am sure that something else will surface for them to be used on. They are nice size strips 2 1/2 inches should work for other projects down the road or they will go in a scrap pile for future use.

Sun Bonnet Sue moving along

2011-03-26T22:07:00.000-05:00

This is the quilt so far I have over half of it sewn together. I have done it in sections of 4 blocks together and then added the last row to the square units. The sections of 4 blocks on the left need to be put together and and then I will sew them to the right side that is together I need to add a sashing strip to both sides and across the bottom and then a piano key border around the whole thing. I wish to lay it on the bed it will be going on and see how wide the border strips need to be.

Moving forward on the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt

2011-03-23T22:32:00.000-05:00

Today I have been working on the black sashing on the Sun Bonnet Sue blocks. I have the black on two sides of all the blocks except for the last row I want to sew them all together and then put a full lenght strip on each side.

Well except for the top because I was not thinking and sew the strip on the top of each of the block so that strip will be pieced. Sigh! Oh Well I am definitely not perfect. I do like the look after I sew some of the rows together I will snap a new picture.

I also got a block done up with a picture of the maker to go on the top. I think it works. We will see how it finals out. Then I am going to take it and lay it on the bed that it will go on and see what lenght I want the piano key border on the quilt.

Where did Feb go

2011-03-08T21:23:00.000-06:00

No idea where the month went but it sure did fly by. I been busy in Feb working on a fund raiser event for the local Opera House. That went well. I am not back to my sewing room and working on a farmers wife block. Need to get back into that grove I fell behind on the group's goals oh well it will get done as it gets done.

I will be going to a class sponsored by our guild NEIQG for a quilt design by Quilt Moments and the pattern's name is Twilight Kaleidoscope I need to decided on the border print and from there what the quilt will be.

The designer has some beautiful quilts on her sight that I do really like. Though why I am starting a new project I am not sure.

Sun Bonnet Sue is moving along

2011-02-05T16:30:00.001-06:00

Well it has been a while since I have posted time does fly by. I have all the Sun Bonnet Sue’s attached to their blocks for the first quilt. “Yes there is going to be two of them” I have them laid out on two twin beds the black sashing is not in place yet. I not sure I like the placement of the blocks.

Take a look and tell me what you think!

I still have to put black sashing between each block and that will help I just trying to balance the light and the dark borders.

What is going on in my sewing room!

2011-01-12T16:46:00.001-06:00

LOL that title sound very ominous. I have been sewing like crazy the last week on the Sun Bonnet Sue project. There are 14 Sue’s to be attached to the black background in there block. I have 30 total Sue blocks so that is going to mean a second quilt. Originally my thought was to make a smaller wall hanging quilt to use the blocks that were not in the main quilt.

Then after laying things out if we use 14 Sue blocks in the quilt and then do a picture of the block maker on one of the squares there are enough blocks to make two quilts. I doubled my work on this project but I think it is a perfect plan to have two quilts they are both going to be queen size. So far they are going together just as easy as pie. I debated at first if I was going to machine button hole stitch around the Sue blocks when I put them on the black background but the more I thought about it with the Sue blocks all hand button hole stitched I just could not go to the sewing machine for that part. It is a showy part of the quilt and so I really feel that they should be hand stitched down.

Yepper it is more work but it really is going fast. I have 7 blocks all ready stitched down and only 7 more to go for this top. Then I need to sew the black sashing around the blocks and the top will be done. I am debating if this quilt would be better to have it hand quilted or if machine quilting would be good. Decisions decisions. Though the owner will have some say in that part of it. I am leaning toward suggesting that the quilt be hand quilted.

I took a picture of the blocks that I have done and the one I am working on as they are on my flannel wall. Some of the colors are not where I want them to be on the outer border of the blocks but they can be moved around that is not a big deal yet.

I also am working hard on getting the blocks done so I can sew the black sashing on them since it is on sale this coming weekend and 20% off is a good deal.

Fun and interesting New Years

2011-01-02T10:21:00.002-06:00

We had a fun and interesting New Year’s Eve. A lot of times have some friends stop over and that was the plan. We got together during the day with some other friends and then they ran back went back to where they were staying and the other friends stop in.
Usually we hang out until midnight and then everyone heads home well the next group went out to eat and then the decided to head home around 10:00. They had a long day the day before and just decided that they were going to give them selves a break and head home early.
Along with all of this our granddaughter came to stay also. So she and I stayed up until midnight and then headed off to bed. Grandpa only made it until about 11:00 and he decided to head up stairs to bed then. I might of gone along but somebody wanted to see in the new year.
Along with New Years we gave our granddaughter and her mom a Christmas presents but I did not get my camera out so no pictures sorry. Each one got a quilt this year. Then on New Years Day DGD and I made a Cell phone carrier for her cell phone from a pattern I had. She picked out the colors from my stash an then we went to town it is a cute little kitty face and then has a pocket on the back of it that hold the cell phone and a loop so she can put it around her wrist or loop it around her back pack. It was a cute little item I may try and make another one.
DGD stitched the whiskers on the kitties face and had so much fun doing that little bit she wanted to try some more embroidery so I have a simple design with a vine around it and a snowman in the middle and the words Let it Snow and so we drew that on some fabric and she took that home with her last night to work on and when it id done I promised to finish it off. It is a little wall quilt item I picked up I think last year after Christmas.
If I did not have so many projects all ready I would be tempted to make one up for me. I have a group of blocks to try and get done on my Farmers Wife quilt. Plus the Sun Bonnet Sue’s to attach down on the black squares. I think there are a couple other projects to work on finishing also.
So no new things to start for a little while I do think I should finish off a couple of those UFO’s first and catch up on what I am to have done by my self imposed deadlines.
I wished we had snap a picture of the little kitty purse for her phone I may try and get her Mommy to do that for me. Along with the quilt too.

A Dr. Seuss Give away

2010-12-27T19:56:00.001-06:00

Check out this give away of some fun Dr. Seuss Fabrics. See the Give away here.

I hope to get back to working on my Farmers Wife quilt blocks this week. I have all the blocks sewn and am ready to attach the Sun Bonnet Sue blocks in the black area. I cannot decided if I should had stitch them down or machine stitch them down. I am leaning towards the hand work even though I have tons of hand work going right now. After putting the block together I recounted where we are at and I have 13 Sun Bonnet Sue blocks left. I stop over and had Pat the lady I am making this quilt for check it out. She paying for the fabric and I am putting it all together free for her.

If I take one of the Sun Bonnet Sue’s out of this first top we could put a picture of her mother in once square and then there are enough blocks to do a second quilt and putting a picture of her mother in that quilt too. Since she has a son and daughter she could then in time have a quilt for each of her children or she has 2 granddaughters and a grandson that maybe these quilts could then go to them. The jury is out yet but I think that would be a wonderful plan.

She is so happy with how the quilt is looking so we are moving forward in a very positive way on this project.

Cookies

2010-12-26T15:58:00.001-06:00

I have not made this recipe in a while but was in the mood for some Chocolate Chip type cookies

So this is what I decided to make
Chicago Crunch Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 T milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 Cup Vegetable oil
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup corn flakes
3 1/2 cup flour
3 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-12 oz chocolate chips
Slivered Almonds
Cream first 5 ingredients. Add egg; beat. Add oil, oatmeal, and corn flakes and mix well. Sift dry ingredients and add to moisture. Stir in Chips and almonds. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 min.

It has been a Christmas with some sad news in it. We received a call from a niece that her sister had passed away. She is not that much older then our son and so the news was very unexpected that is for sure. As to what happen they are not sure. It is just a sad thing she was so happy earlier this year she just got married on 10/10/2010 and was starting her new life with her new husband and able to now go back to teaching what she loved because he covered her under his insurance so she could substitute teach and in time hope to find a job at a school.

We have not heard yet when the funeral will be but I am sure that her parents and sister are having a hard Christmas.

No Sun Bonnet Sue’s on the quilt yet

2010-12-22T19:09:00.001-06:00

Well I am working on the Sun Bonnet Sue project and I am moving along nicely. I put some of the blocks up on the wall to see how they look and so far so good. You have to use your imagination a little bit. the blocks are going to have black sashing between them and right now on my white flannel wall there is not black sashing between them.

Still not to bad for the rose blocks the Sun Bonnet Sue’s are going in the black open space’s I think they will be button holed down around the edges of the muslin squares that they are on centered in the black squares. The Sue blocks are to close to the edges for me to piece them into a quilt and so this seem to be the best plan.

Tuesday the week of Christmas

2010-12-21T06:32:00.001-06:00

Well we got a bunch more snow yesterday at least no freezing rain or sleet that was predicted. I think it quit snowing around 6:00 or so might have been a little earlier then that not sure. Today is one of my late start days I get two in the week. Unfortunately I got up early and got ready to go in because with the weather I was not sure if my co worker could make it she lives on a gravel road and if the wind got nasty last night it would not of been easy for her to make it in.

I called her around 5:30 and she was in and all was going well so I now have extra time this morning. That I seem to be not using constructively and playing computer games. I have lots of other things I could and probably should be doing. Oh well that is how it goes.

I did get a bunch of the rose blocks and black squares sewn with outside color strips. So this project is coming along nicely!

New Project Sun Bonnet Sue, Weather

2010-12-20T13:34:00.000-06:00

Last year at Christmas I promised a good friend that I would finish off the quilt blocks she had. They were made by her mother and are Sun Bonnet Sue on a swing. With each Sue’s dress made out of left over fabric from her school dresses. These blocks have been around a while and a few of them needed to be button hole around and over the last year that has gotten done.

So I am going to set the blocks together with a black fabric and border them with another fabric around that and opposite blocks are a rose preprinted fabric.

Here is a picture of sort of how they are going together.

I have a different print to go around the blocks so that each Sun Bonnet Sue and each rose block will have the same border then a black sashing between them. Each Sun Bonnet block is button holed down on a muslin piece of fabric the plan is to button hole that into the center of the black square. They were to fragile and the applique part was to close to the border to actually piece the blocks with out loosing part of the applique.

So this is the plan.

On to weather this is what it looks like out my window as I sit at my sewing machine.

Farmer’s Wife update

2010-12-19T13:24:00.001-06:00

Well I have all but one block done off the list I am to be working on the last two months Oct. and Nov. Now there are more blocks for Dec but I am not going to worry about doing them until the week between Christmas and New Years.

All of these are hand pieced.

Dec. and now what!

2010-12-07T11:36:00.001-06:00

I am moving along nicely with my Farmer’s Wife quilt blocks I got another group just about done I am one short of the ones I was to do in Nov. Today is the group meeting but it is not going to work out for me to go to it.

We have two vehicles and unfortunately one of them has been acting up and this weekend decided to just not work/start. You turn the key and it grinds and grinds but will not turn over.

Today was my guild meeting but Fred had a job interview/appointment and since I kind of think that is more important them my going to a quilt meeting I am staying home. I had scheduled to get off work early so I did that and am thinking I will do some cleaning this morning/afternoon and go to the evening guild meeting.

Farmer’s Wife quilt continued

2010-11-25T21:20:00.002-06:00

Well earlier this week I was able to get a group of the blocks ready to sew together. I have 2 sewn together now and 1 about half done. So they are moving along nicely the goal is to have this group done by the next quilt guild meeting. on Dec 7th. So far if I can keep at them over the next few days I am pretty sure I will have them done in time.
The organizing the sewing room has not gotten far. As I seem to take one step forward the progress goes backward as I cut out blocks for a quilt or do some other project. Oh well as long as thing seem to swim to the surface where I can find them no big deal.
I will try and take some pictures of the new blocks done later I need to pick up batteries for the camera.

Electronic gadgets can be such a pain

2010-11-14T10:11:00.001-06:00

I have an iPod touch that I normally dearly love to use. Yesterday I found a book in a set of 3 I wanted to download off the web site provided by our local library. I love having downloadable books to listen to as I am working on projects specially if the project is one that does not take a lot of concentration to complete. So found the book added it to my cart and downloaded it to my computer then you need to transfer the book from that program to your devices that you are using to listen to the book with.

Sounds easy right well to download it to my iPod you have to use iTunes also no big deal make sure the setting are right and go for it. Then you can let it transfer and you are good to go. For some reason this book will not transfer. The previous book moved over to the iPod no problem but not this one. I figured ok no big deal I would just reload the iPod not a huge deal just have to adjust some things and the I can put things back into it.

You know what it is like when you think messing with an electronic gadget will not be a problem that is when you run into major issues. It took me most of the evening to get thru all the hoops and get it reloaded. Then the final straw is this morning I go to transfer the book and nope it will not transfer. So now I am in a quandary as to what to try next.

I have a second smaller player that I have not used in a while since I got the iPod so figured I would just charge that and use it to listen to this book well that plan is not going well either. I cannot find that player any where so it looks like I am going to be doing a major cleaning search for that gadget and hopefully I will find it before my 1 week loan on the book has run out.

I can listen to the book by playing it on the computer but that is just not as convenient having to move the lap top to what ever room I travel too since I don’t always stay put when listening a lot of time I am working on cleaning up and you know how that never seems to work all in one space at one time. You have to run and put something away etc.

I may just have to contact apple and see if they have any ideas though the last time they said it was the other program not there sure easy to blame something else.

Wonder where that Post Went

2010-11-12T14:51:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I did up a post and now I check and it does not seem to be any where. Hmm weird

Sunday started out with a scratch throat and Monday turned into a full blown cold that pretty much made the rest of this week miserable.

It has gone from a sinus cold to a chest cold and much more workable to deal with a simple cough and a little congestion and I am guessing a few more days to another week knock on wood I can shake that off too.

So all I have been doing is either sleeping or working and not a lot of anything else. Yesterday and today have not been to bad the rest of the week I do not want to do over!!!!

I skipped my small guild meeting on Monday one I did not want to share the germs with them and two after doing my think at work all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed and that is exactly what I did.

Today is a cold dark and rainy day. At least we are not seeing any of that white rain stuff. That too will probably happen as time moves on

Farmer’s Wife Update

2010-11-07T19:02:00.002-06:00

Today I finished the first 6 block for the month of Oct. Our two wonderful group leaders have gone thru the list of blocks and selected blocks that use similar type of units in the blocks.
So far I have enjoyed the hand piecing of these blocks it is an experience but a rather fun one.
I also took pictures of my sewing room after the program on an organizer I thought it might be interesting to see what I can do with the info she told us in the program.

This is a panoramic view starting with the south West corner and working around the room. sure is looking kind of messy in this shot but that is how it is.
The closet area with the shelves full of fabric most of it is organized either by size of piece or color. The set of drawers has different things like elastic, ribbon, zippers, and rick rack in the different drawers. I have finished quilt tops and some fabric that is suited for clothing hanging.

Quilt Guild

2010-11-04T22:13:00.001-05:00

Well Tue at quilt guild we had a speaker Becky Esker about organization and setting up a system etc. A lot of what she said made so much sense.

Plus I always thought of those movie/tv sets you know nothing out of place etc. Well she definitely stated you can be organized and not be all fussy and neat. I thought that was interesting and in a lot of ways true being organized means that you can find what you are looking for. Not that everything is all sealed away in closets/drawers/or shelves.

I also thought it was interesting that the plan is to go thru things sort it and figure out what you need/want and what you can clear out and then get things to organize into and not to do it in reverse get a bunch of containers and then try and organize what you have to fit the containers.

Definitely a worth while program put on by an excellent speaker

I started a new quilt a little while back

2010-10-24T15:39:00.000-05:00

Farmer's Wife quilt has 111 block in it and are 6 inch square finshed size blocks. I am going to attempt to hand piece these blocks. So this is the first block done.

Not the greatest photo but it works. I don't know if I will like hand piece or not but figured it might be fun to try.

Pictures from Northeast Iowa Quilt Guild show.

2010-10-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

I did not take a lot of pictures just a few here and there.

This quilt is called Star Spin and won a Viewer’s Choice on Saturday of the show.

This quilt won best of show of the judged items. Not all items at the show are judge it is a choice made by the member entering the item if they wanted it judged or not. This is a very light pastel quilt and the photo is not the greatest.

Another wining quilt

The shading in this quilt was done with thread it is a machine stitched whole cloth with lots and lots of stitching on the quilt

Where has the time gone

2010-10-19T22:14:00.001-05:00

Hard to believe how long it has been since I have been on here with the blog. Life has been crazy busy it seems like. Between going to a niece's wedding and reception, quilt show and getting the binding on a quilt.

I had two quilts in the show this one a 9 patch that you make and cut in quarters and a Triple Irish Chain. The tops have been done for a while but got them to a quilter this summer. Love how she quilted them.

I got the fabric for the Triple Irish Chain and had a lot of the pink, blue and light print I made the 9 patch quilt I think it is called Shattered 9 patch. I also took my Over the Fence wall hanging for display (it was in an earlier post.

I will try and post a few more pictures from the show later.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-06T11:12:00.003-05:00

Had a wonderful weekend with son and his wife. DS got my old lap top up and running now I think I am going to need to replace the heat sink in it and probably get a cooling pad for it. So now Fred will have a computer too.

We wandered around the country side and took Stef to pet a cow.( I do have pictures of that I will post later) I don’t know if it was a life time dream but it was an experience. The cow wanted to lick her just like a doggie would only the tongue is a lot longer.

So this morning we sent them on there merry way home to Colorado. Hope they have a good drive home and don’t run into any funky weather on the way.

Also we have been picking a friends garden and have an over abundance of produce so did some dealing with that also. Shredded a bunch of what is called Zucchetta it taste and is like zucchinis and we have been eating it sliced and fried, in a quick bread, and today I mixed a cup of zucchetta with 2 eggs, added onion, garlic and salt to taste then decided it was kind of runny so added a Tablespoon of flour. Plopped about a 1/3 cup of the mixture in a skillet and fried it kind of like you would a potato pancake. We ate it with some left over Pesto sauce and it was good something to make again that is for sure. It would be a good side dish or morning breakfast dish. I think it would be good with a salsa on the side and maybe some sour cream. (sorry I did not think to take a picture of it)

Now I will work on catching up some laundry and work on the binding of the Triple Irish Chain Quilt. Oh and I picked up my other quilt a shattered 9 patch that I made with left over fabric from the Triple Irish Chain (I got carried away when buying that yardage is all I can say) The Shattered 9 Patch came out wonderful Thank You! Connie Klausen from Elgin Iowa. I would highly recommend her quilting if you need a quilt finished.

Looks like I have a bunch of photos to post on all this in the very near future.

So many things to do now to get at it

2010-08-28T12:11:00.001-05:00

I been busy finish off baby bibs for the Friends of the Library baby gift bag kits. I think I have two bib left to get done.

I think that and some housework is the plan for the day. Plus going out to visit Jeana and Loren and seeing their new to them camper. So I should get off my hind end and get to it.

Plus there is always some house work to be done.

I seem to love gadgets

2010-08-26T18:43:00.001-05:00

I have an iPod that I love and use almost daily! Well today I decided to try using it as a Kindle I purchased a book from Amazon I have been wanting to read and cannot find at the library and since it is part of a series and I have read the middle book I did not want to ask that the library buy it.

It might be a book others love too but I wanted to play with a new thing on my gadget. So I downloaded a book onto a amazon Kindle app that is a free download for my ipod.

Well I have read a fair amount of the book on and off today and do really like this medium for reading a book. I so wish that I could download the e-books to my ipod from the Library Neibors web site but so far that does not work. (sigh)

Maybe as time goes by it will but as of now it does not. Still this is a fun way to read a book in a totally different format.

I guess I could share the title of the book I am reading it is by Maria Bostwick and is called “A Single Thread” I read the middle one two this three book set and wanted to read the first one and then hopefully I can get the last one later. :)

So that is a feature on my gadget that I am in love with today.

Well it has been a wild week

2010-08-21T20:24:00.001-05:00

At the end of last week Fred got the word he has two more weeks and is unemployed. So then we will see what happens next.

I have been listening to a new book called the Good Children by Kate Wilhelm

It started with a promise, a pact. It became a secret that no one must tell: that their parents were dead and gone, including the one they'd buried in the backyard.

Now the McNair children are growing older, discovering love, college, and careers. But their lie haunts them. Their home holds them captive. Only the horrifying truth of their mother's death can set the children free. And only the truth can destroy them all.

I started out thinking this book was not for me but then I finished Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child and wanted something else to listen to so the Good Children was still on my iPod so I turned to it and got hooked I have about about half of the last section to listen to.

I made a little bag the other day and really like how it came out so am going to work on a second one in the pattern. using some tea theme fat quarters that have been sitting around.

I then got the pattern for a bag called the professional bag I think that is my next project if I have the right color zippers for it. If not I may have to put that one off until I can order some from a place called Home Sew. They have some good prices on things from there.

Vacation Review

2010-07-27T21:43:00.001-05:00

Well last week was vacation and we started out in Fort Dodge, IA at Brushy Creek State Park love it when you can make reservations. We had a rainy weekend with a lightning storm that really showed off some fireworks.

Then from here we moved on to Daly Park up by Mapleton MN. It is a beautiful campground but unfortunately the Minnesota sate bird tried to carry us off. Have to mention a barbeque place we found in Mapleton MN called Token’s the food there was wonderful and the owner a fun person to visit with.

So after two days we move back to Iowa to Pilot Knob State Park that is near Forest City. We had thought about a smaller park but with us being there for 4 days we decided a park with a shower house might be better since having enough water for that detail is kind of important when the weather is hot and sticky.

Fair

2010-07-27T06:53:00.000-05:00

I belong to two quilt guilds and today the smaller guild Fayette County Quilters and Piecemakers are going to be at the fair to offer a booth for children to color quilt blocks then the next year we put them into some small quilts and hang them up and raffle them off for a fund raiser for the local historical society to use the proceeds on the old school house that is on the fair grounds.

That seems tobe our community service type project and goes pretty well. I will see if I can get a couple photos of the blocks and activities there to put on line tomorrow.

Time to work on Binding

2010-07-11T08:04:00.001-05:00

Well today I am going to work on the binding of a King size quilt. It has been sitting and waiting for me and it is time to get it done. So Say after me I am not going to play on the computer I am going to go and get something done.

Oh well we will see.

High and Dry

2010-07-08T19:49:00.001-05:00

Wow a day with out rain how nice. Busy day tomorrow at work have a cake to decorate on Sat. so I need to get it baked tomorrow along with and order for cookies, 16 doz. Buns and an order for Donuts.

Can you tell I work on a bakery it has been a busy week with lots of bread sales I think the nice weather has boosted sales along with the fact that it has been warm and steamy I think no one is in the mood to bake for them selves.

I tired making a hamburger bun with white flour an putting sundried tomato paste and cut up fresh basil in it they did not raise very well not sure why the definitely had a basil taste. Hubby said they smelled like sausage.

With the nice weather I ended up doing the doggy walk we found a crescent wrench that belong to the neighbor across the street so delivered that back to it’s home and then went down on the trail along the river. I thought the water would of been up on the trail more then it looked like after all the rain. We did not go all the way to the park only part way and turned around. The humidity seems to be down so it was a nice evening for the walk.

Well I need to go do some cutting out of binding for a quilt that I want to get finished up. It is going to take a bit to get the binding sewn on since it is King size.

Will it ever stop raining and the Bathroom project is about done.

2010-07-07T20:11:00.001-05:00

Well it rain again this morning cats and dogs. I bet we got 2 or 3 inches maybe more. We live about 2 blocks from a river that most of the time you do not even think about being there. Then it rains and it rains and we all start thinking about high water.

After one flooded basement about 10 years ago in 1999 it really makes you think about high water at times. If the storms miss us tonight I think we may make it thru. Sure would be nice to see some sun shine for a few day or weeks would be even better.

For the doggy walk today I went along and took some pictures an posted them on you tube.

Brownies adapted

2010-06-28T13:51:00.002-05:00

Double Decadence Chocolate Chip Brownies
from Bakery Shoppe Memories Cookbook
1 c sugar
2/3 cup butter softened (1 stick and 3T)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup semi Sweet Chocolate chips (divided) *see note
1 1/4 cup all-purprose flour
1 C old fashion oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c chopped nuts, optional
Powdered sugar
Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease 13x9 baking pan. Beat sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add 1 C melted chocolate chips; mix well. Add flour, oats, baking powder, remaining 1 c chocolate chips and nuts, mix well. Spread into prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 min or until brownies pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely, Sprinkle with powdered sugar. if desired.
Makes 24 Brownies
Notes: I used 1 cup of the chocolate chips and melted them in with the butter since I did not have soft butter. Then added that to the sugar and beat it and added the eggs and vanilla etc. Then at the time you add the second addition of chips I put in a full back of Toffee Brickle Bits instead. I would seriousely consider adding in the 1/2 cup of nuts probably pecans into the recipe. They came out really good.

Must be good we ate over half the pan this weekend :)

Playing with EQ 7

2010-06-22T18:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday and today I been playing with EQ 7 and saw a wall hanging like this somewhere and decided to play with it as an idea.

So this is what I came up with then I did it in different colors not sure it is what I wanted but interesting playing around with it.

Quilts in the Garden a wonderful way to spend the afternoon!!!

2010-06-19T16:37:00.001-05:00

Went to Hawkeye and visited K & K Garden and saw lots of quilts and beautiful garden area

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Had lots of fun looking at the quilts and before the quilts there were motorcycles.

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On the way a squirrel jumped in our path

Motorcycles everywhere

2010-06-19T06:02:00.001-05:00

Today may be an interesting day there is a motor cycle ride stopping in town around noon with supposedly around a 1000 riders give or take a 100 either way. Fayette is to be the noon stop so food stand are popping up all over downtown and it should be an interesting day.

I sent off two wall hangings to the K & K Garden display that is today well really this afternoon. I hope to run over to see all the quilts they are going to display and take a few pictures on here. They always do such a lovely job showing off the quilts and the garden together.

So lots to do and see in and about today.

It’s here and I do really like them

2010-06-12T21:53:00.001-05:00

Well the new washer and dryer are installed and working just fine. They are larger then what I have had before that is for sure. I can now fit a full basket of laundry into the washer instead of splitting it in half.

On the quilt front I helped a friend with a stripe fabric and we did up a table runner out of it and have enough to do up some octagon table runner too.

I sent home the her table runner home for her to quilt but I have the fabric to do a some of the octagon units. yet.

Plus to practice I also did one out of a Jenny Beyer border print. LOL had to cut it down a ways to get it figured out correctly but hay we did. The pattern used to be free on the web. Unfortunately it is no longer there. It now cost $8.00

New Washer and Dryer are in

2010-06-10T16:43:00.001-05:00

Doing a happy dance!!! I was thinking I am going to have to gather everything up and haul it to the laundry Mat again this week but when I got home I found a message on the answering machine. The Washer and Dryer are in at Sears and ready for pick up.

So tomorrow sometime we will go and pick them up. Then I only have to wait for him to install them and I will be ready to wash clothes again. It is amazing how many dirty clothes two people can create.

No camping for us this weekend it is suppose to be a wet and hot and very humid weekend and so I guess we will be at home but then I have a bunch of chores to do here what with several very full laundry baskets.

Finished the Quilts for Kids kit

2010-06-07T21:38:00.001-05:00

I went to the Downy site and ordered a Quilts for Kids quilt kit and got it finished today. I am not sure that I di done part the way they wanted it done. They said to machine sew the binding on. I did sew it to the front of the quilt but I hand stitched it down on the back.

I decided that I would do it the way I usually do such things and what are they going to do send it back to me to redo. I think not. I did as I hand stitched it down every couple inches put in a back stitch and knotted it down. So if for some reason the hand work comes out it would not run a long ways and come out.

Here are two pictures of the kit. Now I just have to wash it and get it ready for mailing back in.

What to do What to do

2010-05-25T16:17:00.001-05:00

Well I started last night with laundry and did not get it all done but then do you ever get done with laundry. I been sewing on my charity quilt project it was a kit that I got in the mail from Quilts for Kids & Downy. That is getting closer to being done. I need to work on cutting out the binding for Kandi’s quilt and get that sewn on. I have been procrastinating on that one could be getting that king size quilt maneuvered around to sew the binding on is just not that appealing right now.

Why you ask? The weather turned like hot and humid up in the 90’s and just. That is the excuse for the day or so. Maybe this weekend I have a long weekend and so it will be nice to take it easy and get a little bit done around the sewing room and the temps are to be a little better for the next few days and I should take advantage of that.

I also hope to run over to K & K garden and take advantage of the Memorial Day sale they are having. I need some inspiration to get at weeding the flower beds and I think that might help do that.

Hope everyone is having a nice day.

May 19th Anniversary

2010-05-19T22:09:00.001-05:00

Well today is our Anniversary hard to believe that it has been 31 years that we got married. Makes you wonder where the time has gone.

We went out for supper and had a nice night. I spent the afternoon working on a small quilt that I got the kit for from Quilts for Kids and Downy site. It went together fast then it set for a little bit and now I am working on quilting it. Then to put the binding on and send it back. The kits make up cute quilts and have just about everything you need to get it done and sent back.

It is late and tomorrow is another work day so time to close down the computer and head off to bed.

Camping in May Working on embroidery

2010-05-17T11:32:00.000-05:00

Well we had a nice weekend and camped this weekend. Had a nice time quiet weekend with lots of relax time. That was nice we had a wonderful weekend the weather on Saturday was great. Plus we took some time Saturday AM and went to Barnes and Nobel and just spent some fun time looking around and looking at the books and magazines there.

Then over the weekend I worked on an embroidery panel for a quilt top. There is a saying that says thru the woods to Grandmother's house we go. Then two other panels of woods and etc that you might see on a trip to grandmothers house along with some quilt blocks. I don't work on it super regular but try to put in a little time on and off.

Today I am going to go help someone one with her computer it seems like a few things are messed up and she cannot figure out what happen or how to get it back. So I will go and see what it is and then go from there.

I hope to spend a little time in the flower beds later this afternoon it is a sunny nice day out not to hot but not to cool. Cannot ask for better I guess.

Pre Mother's day

2010-05-08T21:41:00.000-05:00

Not a lot planned for tomorrow. Had to cover up plants tonight we are under freeze warning and I sure would hate to have to replace the perennials out there. There are two Clematis that I would hate to lose and my mouse ear hosta. Plus the lili plant sure hope the frost does not put it all under that I did not cover up.

Since there were more plants out there then I have sheets to deal with. Oh well such is life and frost is also part of it all. I hope to divide the bleeding heart after they get done blooming they have taken over there spot and filled it so full it is over shadowing some of the other plants near by.

Tomorrow I hope to get the final border on one of the quilts and start the quilting on the Downy Charity quilt kit I received. I will try and get a picture of that as it goes along. That top is so bright and fun to look at.

Class I took a few days ago

2010-04-12T21:22:00.002-05:00

I took picture of class samples that the teacher used to explain how she works and makes her designs. There are some beautiful tops here hope you enjoy. If you think the photos are good you should of seen them in person they were wonderful

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Had a wonderful Quilt Class

2010-04-08T19:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was able to go to a class sponsored by the Northeast Iowa Quilt Guild taught by Rosalie Baker and it was a wonderful class Picture of one of Rosalie Baker's quilt it was a wonderful class and a lot of interesting info was shared. She is a teacher that explains how she create's such quilt and is very encouraging that you to can do things like this all you need to do is try.

She shared some wonderful techniques. So if you ever find a chance to take a class or go to a lecture by Rosalie Baker it definately worth while.

Pod cast and good books

2010-04-04T09:12:00.001-05:00

I was looking at Annie Smith’s Pod cast and web site and found a book there that I had forgotten about. A Thread of Truth by Marie Bostwick I received a free copy of this book for out quilt guild library last summer and set it aside for a while. Then ran across it and picked it up to read. I greatly enjoyed the story and it is book to in a set. The first one is A Single Thread and she has a new one released A Thread so Thin. I am going to have to start looking for these titles or check at the library and see if they can get them.

So hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter

Saturday and Easter

2010-04-03T19:13:00.001-05:00

I have had a busy day loading programs on to my new lap top. The bummer part of all this is I have to get all the data files off the old lap top that died and will take a bit.

Have to extract the hard drive out of it and I hope/think that it will be fine then move all the files off the hard drive to either a CD or a flash drive and then import it all into this system.

I am not as sure that I like Window’s 7 it is definitely different compared to XP.

I have trimmed the last 8 quilt blocks of Summer Breeze quilt and hope to get them sewn together tonight. Had sort of thought it would be good to clean up my sewing room things seem to be piling up here. How does that happen? It seems like an area goes from picked up to messy in no time at all.

Quilts for Kids

2010-03-30T16:29:00.000-05:00

I was reading one of my e-mail list and they talked about Quilts For Kids where you go on line and sign up and they send you a packet of fabric and you put it together with a backing and quilt it and send it back to them.

Well I did just that and got my kit today. That was fast I got it in under a week I would say. It has some of the cutest prints in it with the focus a bug print. So I now put together 4 patches and squares and make them a top. It even includes a label to sign my name and what I am calling the quilt. Such a cute idea.

So for those of you wanting to do something for others here is the link. Quilts For Kids

I will try and snap a picture of it later so you can see what it looks like when it comes out of the bag.

Today for lunch I made this recipe.

2010-03-27T13:00:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home Cooking School issue that was on the newstand at this time. It really sounded good and I had gotten some Bow Tie pasta from food coop and thought ohh I want to make this recipe.

Honey Mustard Chicken Pasta

1 cup bow tie pasta
2 strips bacon
1/3 cup sliced fresh mushrooms ( you could used canned)
2 Tablespoons chopped onions ( I used a lttle more)
1 clove garlic minced (I used 1 teaspoon of grated garlic from a jar)
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup cream of chicken soup undiluted
1/3 cup 2% milk
1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 salt optional
1/8 pepper
2 teaspoons grated Parmesan I probably used 1/4 cup

Cook pasta; mean while in a large skillet fry the bacon until crispy remove from skillet and drain on paper towel reserve 1 tablespoon of the grease. In the drippings fry mushrooms and onions until tender add garlic sauté for one min. Stir in chicken, peas, soup, milk, mustard, honey, parsley, salt, pepper, and bacon cook and stir over med heated through drain pasta add to skillet and toss to coat.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese

Notes: Well lunch is over and it was good though I thought the honey would do a little more to sweeten the sauce then it did. The mustard kind of overpowered the rest of it and I was surprised at that since it was only 1 T. It was good and not to complicated though now I need to find something to do with the other half of the can of cream of chicken soup before it spoils in the refrigerator and becomes one of those strange science experiments.

I don't know if I had posted on here that I am the main Bakery at our small town grocery store. Well this was my Saturday to get up and make the donuts. I got there and had quite a bit to do. Most of the breads had disappeared over the last 24 hours now that is not really a bad thing that way no mark down and it sure helps keep things fresh. (fresh is always best)

It was a busy morning between all the breads and then making donuts. I think I about sold out of donuts today. It sure makes it feel like it was worth getting up when things are selling.

Quilt is progressing

2010-03-25T16:14:00.010-05:00

Well the quilt Summer Breeze is progressing might even be moving along faster except for the TV and computer time oh almost forgot when work intrups fun and games. Though there are only 12 blocks left to finish and trim down. So progress is being made I would say.

I am kind excited to see how the border looks on the finished blocks so it is helping to keep me motivated.

Along with the quilt we have been doing some Easter decorating. Last weekend we went to Waterloo and picked up some cinder block that hubby wants to work on putting together for a raised bed in the garden. The bed he had planned at first was kind of large and I talked him down a little bit so that if it does not go well we don't have a ton of money tied up in cinder blocks. That project is not to far along yet the blocks are still in the back of the pick up truck.

While out and about we decided to stop at Hobby Lobby and I spotted these large Plastic Easter eggs it was a set of 3 eggs a large a medium and a small size. Well they were 50% off so we got 3 sets and hubby put them over some lights that we have outside. So at night they light up though I don't think they light up for very long since I was going to try and take a picture of them lit and did not get that done. I wished that I had found another color they only had them in orange and green and it would of been fun to find them in red or yellow or both. We would of probably bought all the colors but settled for two sets of orange and one set of green.

Holes were drilled in the bottom of each of the eggs and set over the lights. I think he used some kind of wire hook that go into the ground and hold the eggs in place. I was not in on that part of the project. The hooks were to keep them in place when the wind blows. It does not sound like a lot of fun to have to chase them all over the neighbor hood.

2010-03-21T12:50:00.004-05:00

This is the new quilt I have the first row on the flanel wall to see it and to make sure I put the block together correctly. The pattern is called Summer Breeze and is a queen size quilt 89 x 89 or in that range since I don't think my out side border fabric is as wide as the designers.

The pattern is designed by Wendy Congdon an her pattern company name is Truly Materialistic. I fell in love with this pattern a while back then waited to purchase it on sale from a local quilt shop. Country Calico up by Gunder, IA a fun shop that is out in the country and owned by Mary Anne Keppler.

So if you are heading out to take a drive this is a fun shop to go to and then there is a bar/resturant near by in Gunder called the Irish Shanty. They were on the Iowa PBS show recently for their huge Gunder Burgers and more.

So a fun idea for an outing.

New Purse

2010-03-14T19:09:00.005-05:00

I have had this done for a little while but did get a picture of it tonight to upload and post.

I think the light could be better but I do like this purse the pattern uses a bunch of embelishment on the upper area but I like it plain with the diamond fabric. The inside has a liner that is the same diamond fabric.

Recipe and bits

2010-03-10T10:51:00.004-06:00

Well I found a new recipe to try.

I ordered in 3 prebaked pizza crust from coop and they came in on Monday. Was looking at a Taste of Home Chicken special recipe magazine and found a simple recipe for Chicken pizza.

Takes one prebaked pizza crust. 1 cup of Salsa, 2 cup of cheddar, 2 cup of shredded cooked chicken.

Spread one cup of cheddar on crust then put on Salsa and Chicken and finish with the last of the cheese. Put in a 400 degree oven for about 10 min or heated thru and eat.

So that was supper last night it was good and the Salsa had some peppers, and onions etc in so that added to the pizza. Definately a quick and easy supper. Ready in no time.

Weekend and more

2010-03-07T10:46:00.005-06:00

Well this weekend I had a great time. I started out with not having to work any were on Friday Ha Ha I figured out someone's computer but that is not work that is fun. Did the sme thing again with someone else computer Sat morning

Then I did some time on my new quilt project called Summer Breeze quitl it is 89 x 89 size quilt that uses a border print on the out side and you pull colors from the border to do the center of the quilt you put 2 4 patch blocks together and then around that some rectangles cut on the diagonal so that the 4 patches twist and turn.

Sunday we went to the movie Alice in Wonderland that just came out. It is a 3 d movie and was interesting to watch that way though the glasses gave my nose a fit. I think wearing two pair of glasses was the problem. Still a very enjoyable movie. The previews did not have me wanting to see the movie in fact I was working on the Tooth Fairy movie but DGD had just read the book and so wanted to go see the movie so off we went and had a wonderful time spoiling her along with a fun afternoon.

Guess I am not a dispatcher

2010-03-04T14:30:00.003-06:00

Well today I had my evaluation but not surprising I guess things have not gone super great but all in all it was an interesting ride. I will not be dispatching for the Sheriff's office. It was an interesting experience and I apprecate all that worked to train me.

So that is how it goes.

2010-03-01T06:43:00.002-06:00

Had a quiet weekend here at home and did some sewing. The Six in the City bag is done it seem like it was such a challenge and to be honest it was not that hard to put together. I have a feeling because I have been so distracted by things I made it harder then it needed to be.

Oh well that is how it goes sometimes.

Hmm Friday

2010-02-26T16:22:00.003-06:00

Well today went much better then I expected it to go. I really expected to have a very bad day at work and it really went much better then I expected hope that does not mean that Monday is going to go to #*#*ll in a hand basket. I guess time will tell.

Had a friend give me a pin that is a cross with the word trust on it and I did that this week and so far it has been the right theme for the week. So I am going to say that will be my theme for the rest of this week too.

On the sewing front I found a pattern I really want to work on it is a simple design done with a 9 patch and then you put elongated triangles on the four sides and make it a twist and turn block. It has a fun look to it and I just decided it was what I hope to work on in the very near future. Something simple and fun.

New Projects

2010-02-18T11:45:00.007-06:00

Well I have been busy learning a new job and there have been some real bumps in the road but but things are slowly working them self out not over the hill yet but it is getting better.

In some down time I did another raw edge applique project.

Grandma's Little Cowgirls. by Mary Stenros Willow Bend Creations this design was one I had to trace out on Steam a Seam the other iron on fusible that I had was not large enough it was in the 17 inch size and the pattern takes an 18 inch width of Steam a Seam.

So this was done on one of the ombre fabric lines where the fabric goes from a light to a dark shaded piece of fabric. It seem to work well I used the dark end of the fabric to do the outline of the design and the lighter shaded are to give it a interesting background.

Then I picked up an batik for around the outside border. I did think about doing a black small border and then use the ombre fabri on the outside going from the darker to the lighter in the opposite direction of the center piece but that just seem to complicated and I did not get enough of the fabric to do that. So this worked just fine.

Found another bag to try making.

2010-01-27T12:29:00.002-06:00

I seem to be in a purse/bag making mood and of coarse I don't seem to select the simple cute rectangular bags oh no not me. I find these neat fussy bags to make with extra details.

This is what my new bag looks like.

Six in the City
Click no the link above and it is about half way down the page.

I found two brown fabrics one has daisies in it along with diagonal lines running in a grid and the other piece is browns geometric design. So far I have the handles made and the outside fabric gathered. between work and other things I have not spend tons of time on it but a bit here and a bit there it will slowly get done.

bag and a new project

2010-01-24T11:42:00.005-06:00

I am posting a picture of the new purse that I did finish it I ended up using some of the buttons that were for the pocket area to hold the handles in place. The two bottons on each side where the handles are attached were to go along the side of the purse and I don't miss them from that location at all and think they work well at the top since I had to have a way to secure the handles the buttons are large and cover up the sewing I had to do to attach the handles to the top of the purse.

I am adding a photo of the finished purse. I love the style of it but it is soft and kind of floppy so not sure that I would make another one still it is a cute style and organizes well the stuff you seem to carry around. :) I had thought to put a card board bottom in it to give it a little more stability but not sure I am going to do that. I may as time goes by.

I also finished off a iron on mini wall quilt last night. It is all ironed together and now it needs quilting to stabilize the top and finish it off. I love the picture it is a kit I picked up at Forest Mills Quilt shop up near Postville IA. The quilt is by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts.
and called "Over the Fence"

It is a Raw Edge Aqqlique Landscape Wall hanging not sure the photo here does it justice.

I definately like the look of this one and then the quilting will secure it all down. I will work on machine quilting it and I used Heat and Bond light as my iron down for the item I am thinking it could use a couple more leave on it but I will look at it a day or two before I decided.

Bag is going slow

2010-01-16T19:32:00.005-06:00

Well after a run of nights I am back to a normal work day. 7 am to 3 pm. oops need to be thinking in military time now days. 700 to 1500. So much to learn and so many things to deal with. I am having fun testing my brain and putting it to work a little bit more.

Working at my other job (bakery) after being there for such a time I could do a lot of it with out a lot of thought it just flowed. Things like frosting donuts do not require a lot of concentration so it would let my mind wander it really made for times that I would come up with some good ideas and some rather wild and crazy thoughts too. You never knew what one thing would lead to another.

Today was a 3 shop hop we (my self and a friend) did not go to all 3 shops stop at the one that is closer Forest Mill's Quilt shop by Postville, Iowa. Found some things that I wanted to try plus picked up a couple kits. I also needed something to use for handles on my bag that I showed photos of earlier. I wandered thru the fabric but did not see anything that really struck my fancy. I was talking to one of the gals there saying I was looking for a fabric for a bag/purse that I was making out of towels. Told her the colors and she said Oh we have the red plaid towels and it was the same as what I had. So I got one and will use that as the handle. I think I am going to get a 4 d rings to add to the bag to hook the handles to the bag will decided later tonight. I may also just stitch them on and maybe use a few less buttons around the pocket area's lower and put a couple on the top of the bag instead to disguise where I am sewing the handles on. Decisions Decisions!

Shopping trip booty!!!

After stopping at Forest Mill's Quilt shop we circled home thru Decorah and stop at Pineneedles shop. They were listed on the shop list for the professional bag pattern I have been lusting after. Well I asked if they had it and one of the clerks thought they might. So she went looking and we wandered the shop looking around. No luck on the bag I wanted but they had some other patterns and I found a purse called Six in the City that I decided I really wanted this pattern.
http://www.artful-offerings.com/purses_&_totes.htm (pattern is about half way down the page)

Now I need to get at it and work on some of these new projects.

New purse/bag

2010-01-14T14:19:00.002-06:00

I promised photos so guess I should get at it.

This is a picture of the bag with the top flap area sewn in. I may of screwed up and should of done the handles before putting the stipped top curve piece together so may have to figure out a solution to this oops

Oh well that is part of the fun of it I guess. There are 8 buttons to put around the edge of the yellow strip pocket area that i need to put on I may have to rethink that and use some of the buttons to hide attaching the handles. Glad I waited to put the buttons on the patter wanted them put one earlier before you sew up the sides while the project was flat. I decided to wait until I had it together and hand sew them on.

Job and project back up front and center

2010-01-13T06:41:00.004-06:00

Well I am surviving my new job. My head is still spining but I am slowly getting a handle on it. Learning all the different systems that make up what I am trying to learn to do. I deal with 6 computer monitors and 4 mice and LOL finding the right mouse for the right screen is sometimes and interesting challenge. Still it does make sense I just need to practice to learn what to do quickly and that is just going to have to take time.

Today I am going to go check in on my bakery person to see how she is doing. It is her first day on her own and then I also need to check on what needs ordered for the rest of the week's supplies.

Then I am going to try and head off to bed and sleep for a while. Since tonight I go to work at 11:00pm (2300) and will be on 3rd shift for the rest of the week.

Depending on when I wake up today I hope to start working on a purse that is in the Art to Heart book Cider Mill Road. I got the tea towels to make the bag in Aug. Cut off the sides that needed done and then did up the top section but needed some buttons to go on it. Well that kind of put it all to a hault. Found the buttons at a shop last month but the holidays slowed down progress on this.

The other day I found the buttons so decided that I was going to dig out the project and see if I could get it done. So will see how it goes today and when I wake up.

New Job and Coop today

2010-01-11T09:20:00.002-06:00

Well today is coop day. The good part about this orde is that it is small so it should not take to long to get it all done. So I can pass off the info to the next coordinator later today.

I am also going for my first day of training at the new job. It will be a new experience I am sure. I do have my username and password so LOL hope I remember it correctly and don't violate myself on the first day.

I been picking up and cleaning up some piles around the house today and organizing and found a Friends of the Library newsletter from last Jan. 2008. As I was glancing thru it they were talking about a friends group that take old books cut out the pages and make purses out of the cover. I am rather intrigued by the idea may have to see if I can find some instructions. It sounds like a really interesting fund raiser idea. May have to haunt the used book shelves at the library to see if there are any likely candidates.

Hmm another new project not sure that this is a good idea.

I also want to pull out the fabric and pattern for Eureka Quilt this fabric has been sitting in the sack for a while now. Time for it to get out and start become something other then a PIG (project in grocery sack).

Hope everyone is having a great day.

A new Project I think I am crazy

2010-01-06T11:38:00.004-06:00

I reading some e-mails in off a quilting list I belong to and someone asked about a new tote back and this pattern was suggested Professional Tote I really like the looks of this bag and am considereing ordering the pattern.

Like I am going to have time for a new project with starting a new job and still filling in some time at my old job. LOL as I said I do think I am crazy but this one is really kind of clicking for me to consider doing.

So do you think it looks as interesting as I do.

Santa Collection is doing well and growning

2010-01-04T19:27:00.002-06:00

I got a couple fun new Santas this year. One is a beautiful handmade ceramic/pottery Santa in a white robe. He is a wonderful new addition to the collection though when packing him up he made me nervious about breaking him. I think he is snug in his box for now. Sorry I had him all packed up and put in the closet under the stairs before I thought of taking his picture.

He came from a pottery person that was at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival purchased by Grandaughter Chloe and her mommy Brenda.

Then there was a new wooden Santa he is a tall diamond or maybe you would even say pyramid shaped the the arms are put on so that they swing if you move him he is very cute too. That Santa Whispered to Pat Custer and said he need to go home with her to become part of my collection.

I don't know how many Santa's there are in those boxes but lets just say there are a lot of them and it seems like everyone is different.

2010 Hmm a New Year Wow

2010-01-03T20:33:00.003-06:00

Hard to belive we are 10 years into 2000. I remember when we started 2000 and all the worries about the world coming to a stop and all the computers and everything would be such a disaster. Sure glad that was a doomsday prediction that did not happen.

I spent the last two days organizing the work schedule at work so that HA HA everyone is happy I am dreaming about that one I am sure. It had to start somewhere and so I did up a schedule after talking to most people now to deal with the last bits. Will drop it in the bosses hands and he can check on it and see if it fits what he thinks it should be.

Oh well it had to start somewhere and so that is what I did right or wrong. Since I am upseting the apple cart I guess some of how it goes is also on me. LOL

Some where my sewing room is in there

2009-12-28T10:21:00.002-06:00

I am working on finding the surfaces in the sewing room. Since nothing is really heavy it is just things that need putting away and instead of dealing with them they have been stashed in here.
It seems like the tables, chairs, and any flat surface has gathered stuff.

How does that happen give me a flat surface and it can be covered in stuff in no time at all. I sure wish I knew how it happen but is sure seems to. I am hoping to deal with all this stuff today before I go to work tonight. It will be a challenge.

This way I can start out the New Year on an upnote. We can only hope.

Love my new scanner/printer/copier/fax

2009-12-26T16:37:00.003-06:00

Well the week before Christmas we went shopping and I got a new 4 in one HP Officejet 6500. Well so far it is a love afair that is going well. I can scan a pile of photos in one fell swoop and do not have to lift and feed each one by hand.

I do have to edit them a little bit because it scans the whole screen area but I can live with that part.

Plus the ink in this is pigma ink that was a question I asked before getting it. To do quilt labels on fabric if you have pigma ink it will make things so much more permenant. I was told that this printer has pigma ink. I have not tried a label yet in it and have a couple that I need to do to catch up.

I will probably test this like I did the last time I created labels for the first time. I made a label and then threw it in with blue jeans and washed it several times just to see how it comes out. I will try and put up some photos of this in the different stages so all can see.

Christmas Day

2009-12-25T22:03:00.002-06:00

Well we had rain, we had snow, and I don't know what else out there. Though the western part of the state seem to be rather burden with snow.

It is icy and walking is not a lot of fun but I think the worst of it is done for now.

I spent the day dealing with the http://neiqg.com web site. In the computer reformat I lost my guild web site file and all the info in it. So I proceded to recreate the site. It is not done but a good start was made. Then when I went to upload it to the server nothing worked. I e-mailed tech support but that did not help much. I finally used the program uploaded the site to the personel web space that my internet provider give me. Then I used an FTP file program and moved the files from there to a folder on my lap top and then moved them to the guild web site server.

Talk about the long way around. I then called go daddy tech support the location of the server and talked to them. At first they were blaming the program I was using. When I could upload to a totally different server that did not work any longer.

I have a feeling that some setting on their server needed tweeking and then I could upload what I needed to upload. Since I could get in with the other program and I could used the program I create the web site in to move things to my internet provider server. The problem was not on my end. Let's just say I was getting a little fustrated.

Oh well it is all up now and I should be able to tweek it over the next couple weeks and get the rest of the links and info updated.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful day.