Mary's Stars

This is my friend, Mary's, quilt. she likes stars....and she likes feathers. so, she got both.

This was a true head scratcher for me for some reason. i agonized over it for a couple weeks. wanted something different.....but it had to be feathers. 

I did these 4 stars blocks differently than the rest because she pieced them differently. i put the CC on the outside of the star points and SID'd around the block.

All the stars got CC inside the star points, SID around the star, and a few feathers inside.

The white space is what was giving me fits. i was looking through design books to find something with a star and feathers. this is an Irena Bluhm design. it fits perfectly and Mary loves it. i had never done it before and it took a few times drawing it before i got the hang of it. there are 10 feathers on each side.....i was counting to 10 all day long.

Setting triangles got straight lines. border gave me more headaches. finally did 3 lines on either side of those paisleys in the middle...following the lines on the fabric. did lines about an inch apart on the outside and some scallops on the inside.

When i got to the corners i put more feathers to match the white space feathers.

The back was a pretty print....thread doesn't show much. i used a salmon color...Glide for the top, and Bottom Line for the bobbin. 

The good part is that Mary loves it and can't wait to get the binding on and show it off. i like it too....especially since it is now finished. hahaha

Selvage I Spy Log Cabin in primary colors

Another selvage project is now a top.  this was so much fun. i put this together in a few evenings. blocks are 6".

This was a panel....with this banner as the border. wish i had more of it.....but that is all that was left..so i made it fit the quilt top with the red border.  i had used most of the little pictures for another quilt and decided to use up the leftovers. the pictures are about 2". 

I did the log cabins in the same color as the background of the picture.

Plain selvages on the right and bottom; with the white edge on the top and left.

Sashings of red and yellow going across; blue and green up and down... alternating each.

I hope some child will have fun for hours with this.

I think i have decided to pull out all the selvage tops in the cabinet and quilt them all up.....right after i finish the quilt on the frame.....and the next customer quilt.   

Soon....soon

Selling tomatoes

Our garden has an abundance of tomatoes.....large tomatoes.  i have a sign out by the gate....advertising tomatoes for 50 cents a pound. i have had several neighbors stop and buy some.  and sometimes someone is just passing by and stopped.  what a deal.

But, i have not had any customers for a few days. so, i picked a few buckets worth and made pasta sauce....10 pints.

Still...no more customers. so, what's a girl to do.  

Sell to the local grocery store....that's what.  they pay 90 cents a pound.  no contest.

This is what i picked this morning....2 buckets worth..... about 44 pounds

And here they are....a couple hours later.....at the local grocery store......at $1.99 a pound. so, where do you shop.....with me.....or go to town. seems like a no brainer to me. 

When all those cantalope get ripe.....i'll bet they will be at the local grocery store, too.

Selvage Dots quilt top

Thanks to some friends on MQR and a few other nice ladies.....i got enough selvage dots to finish this top. it is 180  six inch blocks...set 12x15.  turned out to be 65" x 82"....good couch size.  i have been working on this for several months.

Rows are alternated...across and down.

I love that designers are now making their selvages a bit different.  this one has bats.....Halloween fabric.

Here are birds. and i didn't only use the dots.....i used the squares, too.

This one has ribbons

These might be my favorites....Texas. there are several blocks with Texas in them....4 blocks just in this pic.

Some of the selvages were colored, too. 

I'm not sure how it will be quilted....probably something circular. there are some thick seams there so will have to quilt it from the front of the machine so i can watch and not get stuck on a seam.

But this is a keeper.....i like it.

2 days at the Duck

I had to go and check on my windows....and my window installer....at the Duck.  they were special order windows and aren't in yet....another week or two.

SO, as long as i was down there....i stayed a couple days and prettied up a bit. hahaha

I hung more signs on the dining room wall.

Succotash....does anyone even eat that?  does anyone even know what it is?  the sign shows tomato, corn and beans.  i don't know......

I was only going to do fruits and veggie signs...put i saw these burger and dog signs and had to get them. they are around the corner...on the adjoining wall. hahaha   but i do have the pig sign up there....so i guess these are ok.

The wall o'signs so far. i have to get that trim up at the top so i don't go too far with my signs. that might have to move up on the priority list. hahaha   and the corner trim. no one i know...but me....decorates walls before the room is finished. that other room that you see is the office. that is the next project.

Here is the doorway woodwork that i installed last time....and forgot to take a pic.

It is wood work that i saved during the demolition. i sanded it and painted it white. there were several layers of paint on it. i did not fill holes or patch things...i wanted it to look rough. this is the corner detail.  nothing fits together evenly because of the barn wood. those boards are all not the same thickness.

I found this yoke thing at an auction. hubby says it is called a single tree.  don't know...that sounds weird. hahaha  but i hung it above the doorway.

I had some chain to hang it with but that didn't work....so went to the local hardware store and found something that would fit through the ends that i could hang.

It has a lovely hook in the middle and i was searching for just the right thing to hang there.

Found a cow bell that i got at an auction some time ago. Ta Da!!  hahaha

I also had a few more stars to hang, too.

Another auction find. 

I already had the rooster bottle and found 2 more to go with him.... sunflowers and pears.

These lovely plaster columns were found in another thrift store. i am going to use them for legs for my table in my office. i need to work on the office next....once i get the dining room trim finished.

I found this cute little turtle downspout thing at a thrift store. isn't it adorable? now i need some rain to see if it is sitting in the proper spot. i hope my lawn guy sees it and doesn't run over it.

After all that hanging of things.....i did manage to put a final coat of paint on the inside of the back door. i think i am done with that door now.

I also put another coat on the inside of the front door. it still needs 1 more coat after this one.  and if you check out that wall on the right.....i sanded 2 of the boards....and scraped paint off of about 7 of them. and i sanded a bit on the bottom boards, too. the ones that are gray.....that now look white on part of them. there is a whole lot of scraping and sanding to be done there yet. not looking forward to that.

And that is all that i accomplished. no actual physical labor....just playing around. it was awful hot. it has been in the high 90s out here with heat index over 100.  so, i 'worked' from about 5am till noon and called it a day. i'll make up for it when it gets a bit cooler.

Today's garden harvest

This morning i went out to the garden and looked to see what i could find for dinner. a lady told me yesterday that she dug out her potatoes and found a lot of rotted ones. so, i checked mine. i dug up 3 or 4 plants and did find 2 rotted potatoes. and a whole lot of tiny potatoes. but i did manage a few good sized ones.

And i dug up 2 sweet potato plants, too. i had never planted sweet potatoes before and have vines covering an area about 50' x 15'.  and they would be much further out, but i keep taking the ends of the vines and putting them back in the pile. there are pretty purple flowers blooming there.

I found several good size sweet potatoes. i really didn't know how they grew. the roots stretch out from the main plant and tubers grow on the roots. weird. there were quite a few smaller ones that got fed to the cows. hahha    by the way, cows (and bulls) love sweet potato vines. they were fighting over them. potato plants...not so much.

So, then i picked 1 yellow bell pepper .... i have one more out there for next time. and a few banana peppers. pickins' are slim there.

So, dinner tomorrow will be baked pork chops and my potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peppers. and some tomatoes for good measure.

Eating from the garden is a good thing.

Random Rail Fence I Spy

I stole this idea...hahhaa....from Riel Nason. her blog is The Q and the U....at  www.quispamsisquilter.blogspot.com

You cut 2.5 inch strips and sew them all together....like the jelly roll challenge.  then cut them into 12.5" long strips. use 6 and make a rail fence block. turn every other one in the opposite direction.  quick and easy.

Can you find the hedgehog?

Find the knight

Where's the gingerbread cookie?

I see money...do you?

Crayons and pencils...ready for school.

Love those NYC taxis

This is 56x68".  i put a crazy green and purple border on it. i figure some kid will have fun with it.

My next one will be more controlled...size wise....and will use the same color fabric between the I Spy pictures. ..... it's in the works.  stay tuned.