October Git 'Er Done Challenge

October seemed to fly by.....and i am finishing my git 'er done projects today. nothing like last minute scrambling. things i had to do:

1.  Pressure can some cushaw squash. DONE!  so far i have canned 9 quarts.  more to come.

2.  Clean out my studio and get things on eBay.  Started!....6 items on eBay as of today....doing 3 a day. have a few weeks worth yet to do. but i am calling this done since i do have some out there.

3.  Trim up all the apple trees.  DONE!  as a bonus, the bigger apple tree branches got saved for the smoker.

4.  Dye my t-shirts that have been waiting for me. DONE!  i dyed 7 t-shirts. like getting a new wardrobe. Also dyed 2 fingers dark purple. hahahahaha  gloves apparently had holes.



November's list might look a bit like October's....but, hey.....that is what i have to get done....so, so be it.

1.  Get at least 12 more items listed on eBay....get that studio cleaned OUT!!

2.  Finish piecing Antebellum. just needs sashing and borders.

3.  Finish piecing Glory Garden. 1 more pieced row to go; 3 more embroidered rows to go. then put together.

4.  Pressure can at least 4 more quarts cushaw squash.


We are nearing the end of the year and i hoped i would have more of my UFOs completed this year. I completed 30 UFOs but also pieced about 30 new projects, too. that is not exactly helping me. i need to try and be more diligent in 2014 with those UFOs.  the to-be-quilted cabinet is full ..... minus the one i have on the frame now...LOL. I need a quilting plan for 2014 and a whip and handcuffs to tie me to the sewing machine to finish more UFOs. sigh!!!

Work at the Duck

I just got back from some time at the Duck. i spent 4 days hanging insulation.

The living room is now finished

Around the door was all narrow and short pieces. ugh!

And the kitchen insulation is finished, too. took me 2 days to finish those 2 rooms. and some of it was already done.

And i got the back dressing room /  storage area finished. lots and lots of small pieces.

Other side of same room.

And street side. 

After 3 days of that i was pretty sick of it. so, i hung a sheet of luan in the dining room so i could continue my barn wood installation there. i cut it into 2 pieces so it was easier to install by myself. cut it right under the light switches. still have to paint it black. and have another sheet to install on the other side of the window and above the window.

I took some time to paint the 3 cabinets in the pantry area. pink

Inside and out are pink. top pic is truer representation of color. more paint brought from the farm. gonna use up what i have. the Duck will be colorful. hahahahaha

And i got cute little blue and white knobs.

The counter top is going to be covered in these dark blue and white tiles. more castoffs from my sister.

And while at an auction last weekend, i picked up a few things that i liked.

This bowl looks hand made. it is heavy pottery....no markings on it. 

A cool clothes hamper....lined inside. about 2 foot high and wide.

A cute little chair with a heart back. maybe find a doll to set there.

Some metal lamps with Tiffany style shades. i need some small screws to hold the shades on.

And my bardello lamps. hahahaha  there are 2 of them. check out those hanging beads.

And a cool lamp that i found that has a pleated shade.

A small table. the shelf sitting on the top goes in the bottom....behind the 2 doors.

And another small table that sort of matches the larger one.

My summer has been filled with auctions and yard sales. i now have lots of pieces to re-finish or paint or something.

And i have this barn wood hutch. i brought a bunch of paint from the farm to the Duck and decided to paint the inside of the cubbies purple. don't ask me why....seemed the thing to do at the time.

I think i will like it when it is finished. if i don't....i can just repaint it.

And i had pieces of red ceramic tiles that my sister gave me from one of her projects. i glued them on the counter top....puzzle style. i have most of them grouted now...but didn't get a pic. should finish the grouting next time i go down.

I got some bright white paint to paint the rest of it. and some new knobs for the doors. maybe next time it will be finished. 

So, it was a fun few days.....although i am sick of insulation for a bit. still have to probably hang another couple rolls. 

I really hope i get my walls up soon. i need more decorating options. and painting options. LOL

Stars in a Churn Dash

I finished a customer quilt.....very scrappy. but a pattern i had not seen before. it has stars in the Churn Dash block.  Since nothing was going to show well, we did a pantograph on this one.

I might have that hung sideways....not sure.

My customer used lots and lots of scraps

i like those little stars in the middle

The panto is a flowery one....you might be able to see it a bit here in the border. the top thread was a Glide called Sierra.

And a light gray on the back. i like the strip of extras that she pieced down the back.

Now just waiting for her to get back into town and pick this up. hope she likes it.

Sweet Potato Harvest 2013

Back in the spring i had a sweet potato that was sprouting. so i did what any person would do...i stuck it in a glass of water and let it sprout a vine. once it got going good....i cut it into 3 pieces and planted them outside. i had sweet potato vines going up the trellis along with the morning glories and one in the tire with the flowers.

When i came home yesterday from the Duck, we had gotten a frost and the vines were dead. so, i went and dug them up. this is what i got from my 1 sweet potato that i planted in the spring.

There are going to be a few batches of sweet potato fries in my future. 

Woohoo!!

Back to Square One ..... Clue 10

I believe we are coming to an end with this mystery quilt. there can't be much more .... can there, Judy?

Clue 10 was to make 12 star blocks....done.

My best guess is that these star blocks will alternate with these log cabin blocks from clue 9 and make up the next border. maybe not....who knows. but i am anxious to find out.

And Judy promises an even more spectacular mystery quilt for next year. i better get more UFOs completed before the end of the year so i can keep up with Judy .... and Vicki.

Thanks, ladies

545 + 600 = ?

It equals how many black walnuts i have picked today at the house and at the studio.

That is what happens when you leave town for 3 days and your husband won't pick for you.

One tree at the house and one tree at the studio are finished producing....but one tree at each location still has quite a few hundred walnuts left up there. 

Gonna have a freezer full of walnuts.

Quack, quack

I spent the weekend at the Duck ..... but like a dumb cluck ....  i forgot my camera. so, you just have to imagine.

I accomplished:

1.  Second wall of dining room has all barn wood on it .... and is painted.

2.  Third wall of dining room has about a fourth finished in barn wood....then i ran out of sanded boards.

3.  Didn't want to sand more barn wood ..... so, I...

4.  Painted the inside and outside of 3 cabinets in the pantry.  Pink!  it was back breaking....tall enough to need a ladder and far enough back over the counter that you needed to be a contortionist to get all in and around and under. but i got it done....two coats.

5.  Painted the inside cubbies on a hutch in the living room. Purple!  hahahaha   another contortionist job. 

6.  Glued red ceramic tile pieces onto the counter part of the hutch. will grout them next time i go down there. i had leftover broken pieces from my sister's project, so it looks like a jigsaw puzzle. will paint the outside of the hutch bright white.

7. Found 2 little tables and a piano bench at a yard sale across the alley from my sister's on saturday morning....scored those for the duck. just need a few more lamps....table and floor lamps. 

8.  Got hold of my contractor and will order some wallboard next time for the walls. hope i get some walls up next month. but, that means i need to finish putting up insulation on the outside walls. that wall that has little sections about 2'x3' that i have to cut each piece of insulation to fit. ugh!!

There are so many things that i want to do ..... but can't do until i have walls. 

I need a sugar daddy with deep pockets.

Sigh!!

Lemon, Lime and Orange .... sounds like sherbet

This is a bright top pieced by my sister for her DIL.  Alicia picked out her fabrics. I love the brightness .... makes me want sherbet. LOL  I have it hanging sideways, though. 

Cool colors, cool pattern, cool quilt.

Used an orange/yellow Glide thread for the top

And a light gray Bottom Line in the bobbin for this pretty gray backing.

Panto was Botanical Blossoms by Anne Bright.

Wonder which one she will send me next to quilt for her.

Fracture is healed!

Not my bones .... my quilt.  the name of it is Fractured. the fractured blocks are healed (pieced).

It was a Quilt Along with Vicki Welsh. We started about a month ago and reported in every Friday. i got so close to being finished that i just did all the blocks and then put it together.

I love this quilt. thanks, Vicki, for inspiring me to make it. it seems so simple....but was a headache in the beginning until i figured out the blocks and how to cut. there are 4 different blocks. i sure hope i got them all in the correct spot. i would think it was right....stand back and look...and find a mistake. should have been called Brain Teaser. LOL

Once i got almost finished i noticed that the red blocks were really popping out. so i decided to do the 3 center 'circles' in red. that meant i had to re-do an A and a B block. they are now orphan blocks. and then i had to re-do parts of about 12 other blocks. on the first go round....i did most of them wrong. (insert bad words here..LOL)   then i figured it out once again. this quilt is not for the faint of heart or someone who gets aggravated easily. i was running out of red and piecing little parts together. i still had to do 2 little pieces with a different red/black print. but i don't think it is too noticeable.  it is on the left 'corner', bottom. with the orange background.

I tried to move things around so the same colors weren't together but it didn't work too much. i would have had to plan that from the beginning. so, it is what it is. and it is done. and i like it a lot. 

I am already starting another quilt from that book. Vicki, you get me in so much trouble. hahahaha