Easy Street

Easy Street is now completed.  It was a big rush to get the binding finished Monday night... just in time for the FCE competition Tuesday morning. (I'm waiting for a dry day to take it outside for a final picture)

Good thing too, because I won a BLUE RIBBON!!

Blueberries!

There is no beating the taste of home-grown fresh-picked made-from-scratch blueberry muffins!

Except, of course, unless they are fresh blueberry pancakes!

They were so good, I almost forgot to take a picture!

Back to School

It's that time of year again... summer is over and the new school year begins.

Or, as in the case of my grandson... his first day of school...pre-K

Today was just a short day... a few minutes to register, meet the teacher and discover that your best friend from daycare is in your class!

Summer Time Recipe

It's that time of year when the garden is beginning to put out lots of fresh vegetables.  One of our favorites is yellow squash.... and below are two family favorite recipes.

Battletown Squash Casserole

 from the chef at the 1776 Battletown Inn, Berryville, VA.

6 small yellow squash

1 small onion, diced

1 cup heavy cream

12 saltines, crushed

2 Tbs butter

salt & pepper to taste

Peel, slice, boil till tender, and mash squash.  Drain excess liquid and set aside.

Lightly grease individual ramekins or a casserole dish, (I like to use a 9x12 baking dish and top with extra saltines for the topping).

Finely dice onion and sauté in butter.  Add cream.  Heat until not quite ready to boil.  Add  half of the crushed saltines.  Stir… it will become thick pudding like consistency.

Fold into mashed squash.  Spoon into ramekins or casserole dish. (It will be a thin layer in the 9x12 pan)  Sprinkle with remaining crushed saltines and dot with extra butter for a slightly crunchy topping.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake in a 400deg. Oven for approx 20 min or until golden.

Yellow Squash Muffins

2 C mashed yellow squash. 

2 eggs, beaten

1 C melted butter (2 sticks)*

1 C sugar*

3 C flour          

1 Tbs + 1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Peel, slice, boil until soft, drain, then mash several small yellow squash for a total of 2 cups mashed squash.  You can puree the squash if you prefer no chunks in your muffin.  Set aside to cool to room temp.  Drain excess liquid.  When cool, mix in eggs and butter and set aside.

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and fold in squash mixture until moist.  Spoon into muffin tins ¾ full

Bake at 375deg until golden …. 15-20 min.

These are a nice breakfast muffin and freeze well if you want to make large batches.

 Options:

I have added blueberries or strawberry pieces to the muffins,  but it is best to use foil papers in the muffin tin so that they don’t stick.

*These can be made lower fat/less rich by using only 1 stick of butter.

* 1 Cup of Splenda can be used in place of sugar

You can also add some cinnamon to the sugar/splenda before mixing for a different taste.

 

Wednesday Sewing Sisters

This morning I met with my girlfriends at the library to chat, sew and have a bit of fun!

I think it was back in March the group agreed to work on a Spring Wall Hanging together.  I really didn't need to start another new project, but this one appealed to me and since several others wanted to try it too, well, why not!?!

I purchased the pattern book, raided the stash, and organized fabrics (my only purchase was that blue butterfly background fabric... but it was just a rementant ... on sale!)  

Here is the book we are using... the pattern is on page 96

Applique The basics & beyond by Janet Pittman  
ISBN 13: 978-1-890621-06-3

At our April meeting I cut and pieced the background and cut and pinned some of the fencing.  I was disappointed that none of the others were starting yet... they had other projects they were finishing up first, but planned on starting soon.  I have other projects too, but decide I would work on this one only at our meetings and find time at home for the other projects.

In May, I needleturned the fence rails.

In June I began with tracing and fusing the flowers together.

When fusing multiple-part or layered applique (like the grouping of daffodils) I learned that once the fusible  is ironed onto the back of the fabric and the shapes are cut, you can peel off the paper and place them on a piece of parchment paper fussing with them until the are set just right.  Then you lightly press with the iron to fuse them all together.  (I use Heat&Bond Light.) When cooled, the entire grouping easily peels away from the parchment.  If it isn't quite right, you can still carefully peel it apart and easily correct the placement before finally fusing the entire grouping on the background.  In this case, the hyacinths are added after the daffodil grouping to cover and hide the mess of stems at the bottom.
  
Now it's July, and today my daffodils and some hyacinths are complete and fused to the background ... and I am started on the tulips.  (I forgot to take step by step pictures, but here is a picture of how far along I am today).   

The tulips are fused together, but just laying on the background for now.  I still need to cut out the stems and leaves before layering and fusing everything in place.  There are narcissus and a bunch more hyacinths to be added before I start the process of blanket-stitching all the pieces.  There will be some embellishment stitching, also, to hopefully bring out the finer details of the flowers.  I plan to add a pieced border, and a final border that should, hopefully, make it big enough to fit my wall.  If I keep plugging away at this each month, I may have it quilted in time to hang next Spring!

Rain

This has been an extremely wet summer.  We had almost 8 inches of rain in the last 5 days alone!  The run-off ditches at the side and back of our property have been flowing like a river.... the ground is completely waterlogged!

Back in the end of May/early June we had arranged to have some large trees near the house removed because we noticed some of the large branches were splitting and there is a risk of them breaking off and damaging the house! Because of the proximity to the house and fenced yard, they need to bring in some heavy trucks with buckets and cranes... and that is just not possible with the ground so saturated... unless we want the lawn totally destroyed!  The almost constant rains are preventing any work being done.

We also wanted to have our driveway repaired and repaved.  The city did their part and fixed the top, but again, the paving must wait until the rains stop. 

So far, the rains have not damaged or washed out the new gravel base.  Once the paving is complete, we will have to bring in some dirt to "support" the sides of the driveway and hopefully direct the water away to prevent damage again.

The rain has kept me inside and I have been working on a challenging (for me) customer quilt.  The majority of the quilting I do is with pantograms and occasionally, some echo stitching.  This quilt has twenty 15inch blocks and she requested a different quilting design for each block.  There is lots of ruler work and some free-hand quilting that I am not accustomed to doing, so progress has been slow.  But, I am nearing the end and hope to get some pictures soon.

Pat Sloan issued a challenge to sew at least 15 minutes every day for the month of July as a means to bust some UFOs!  My Orca Bay quilt has been my leader/ender project for quite some time as I completed other small projects and worked to complete my Easy Street.   Orca Bay is now my daily sewing project and I am making steady progress.... I'm about half-way done with the Step 5 Winged Triangles.  Only 3 more steps to go!

I've been following Esther's blog and the excitement over her newest pattern, Love Entwined.  I've gathered some fabrics and just found and ordered a fabric that I believe will work well for the background.  I still haven't decided if I will do this or not as it involves lots of very challenging applique over the next 18 months.  I could possibly make just the center block... which may be enough of a challenge and time commitment for me.  I'm waiting on starting until her next updated post... and the release of a simpler pattern (Lilly, Rose & Cherry??) that I hope will be more realistic for me to accomplish.

2013 Totals June

June was a slow customer month with only 3 quilts completed.  Toward month end a large custom quilt came in and I began working on that after vacation.  It is a 20 block sampler and she wants each block quilted differently...my challenge for this summer!

We took a week-long vacation and I brought along my sewing to work on while hubby was off fishing.  The cabin porch overlooked the lake and it was a very peaceful and relaxing way to sew.

Matthew's Puppies quilt is now assembled and waiting it's turn to be quilted.  Easy Street is now a flimsy also!  
I moved Orca Bay a bit further along by doing some cutting for step 5, but forgot to bring parts with me on vacation so sewing had to wait. 
Disappearing 4-Patch blocks are now completed.  Now I have to decide how to assemble them into a quilt... with or without sashing?!?

Because I forgot to bring my OB parts on vacation, I ran out of sewing to do.  YIKES!  So a trip into town looking for a fabric store (none existed) but I did find some nice fabrics in WalMart ... a floral and two coordinating solids.  I planned to make pinwheels with the solids and alternate with a square of the floral. A new quilt is born, Florals&Pinwheels. But, once a few pinwheels were made and laid out next to the floral, I realized their bold color was too overwhelming for the floral square.  The new plan is to get some WOW and mix with the pale green I bought for a backing to make 9patches using the coordinating solids for the center square.  I think that will tone it down and play together better. The new name is now Florals&9patches!  (I'm so clever when it comes to names! LOL!!!)   to see pictures of the above projects go back to this post from a few days ago:  http://madakamom.blogspot.com/2013/06/lakeside-get-away.html

My handwork this month was mostly tracing to flowers for my spring wall hanging.  I did finish up knitting one more dishcloth.  A lot of my "free" time was spent helping care for the grandsons and helping my daughter move the rest of her stuff into her new home.

WORK COMPLETED INJUNE
 .....03.....customer tops quilted (YTD 36)
.....01.....customer quilts bound (YTD  10)
.....02.....flimsy completed waiting for quilting(Easy Street, Matthew's Puppies)
.....00.....quilted flimsy (YTD 9 )
.....04.....hand-work hours (66 YTD )

MY PROJECTS COMPLETED THIS YEAR:
Lucky Charms wall hanging (1/21/13)
Basket Sampler Welcome wall hanging (2/15/13)
Knitted afghan  (3/20/13)
Scrap Mania quilt (3/19/13)
Orange/Blue Jelly Roll quilt (3/18/13)
Hope Academy Banner (3/27/13)
Jaxson's quilt (3/22/13)
Baltimore Album (4/5/13)
Civil War Snowball (4/5/13)
Big Brother Quilt (5/7/13)

Projects Waiting to be Quilted
 Sloanie Christmas Star Swap
 Floribunda
 Easy Street
 Matthew's Puppies

Projects in Progress 
  Spring Wall Hanging....backing prepared.  preparing flowers for applique
  Disappearing 4 patch...blocks are completed, ready for assembly
  Sweet & Sassy.....9 blocks completed, sashed and quilt corner assembled
  Becky's Barn basket wall hanging...4 blocks completed, assembly to be decided
  Novelty Quilt... blocks cut, need assembly
  Happiness Key...background complete, needs applique/embroidery
  Floral & Pinwheels.... made 4 pinwheels then renamed.... Florals&9patch
 
Bonnie Projects in Progress
.....01.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced (YTD  1  of  81)   ...  (81 of 162 in 2012)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD  0 .... 9 of 18 in 2012)
...done....Orca Bay Step 1 hourglass blocks made (YTD 49  plus 21 in 2012) total  70 of 112 
....done...Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (completed in 2012 )
....done...Orca Bay Step 3 2in HSTs (YTD 55 plus120 in 2012)  total 175
.....done..Orca Bay Step 4 5.5in string blocks (YTD 08 plus 24 of 32 in 2012) total 32
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 5 cut 350 triangles and stitch to part 3 (0 of 175)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 6 cut 2.5in squares and assemble Ohio Stars (0)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 7 make flying geese (0)
..done.....Floribunda Blocks assembled into flimsy and ready to quilt!
..............Talkin Turkey..... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..............Midnight Flight....1 block complete plus parts
..............Winston Ways... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..done....Easy Street is now assembled into flimsy and ready to quilt

driveway

Some years before we moved here 10 years ago, the city came through, cut off the top of all the driveways in the neighborhood and installed sewer lines.  All has been well until the last couple years when we noticed the ground sinking across the front of the property. I've called several times and they just keep telling me that the ground is settling... nothing to worry about.  Last year it got so bad that the driveway started breaking on the right side.  We called to have the city come check out what is going on underneath and make the repair.  All they did was pave over the broken area and level things out.   

In the picture below you can see the patch line where they repaired and leveled it out last year. That worked fine for a while, but this spring, it is sinking even more,and the corner is now totally breaking apart. So we began getting estimates on repaving the entire driveway and arranged to have the city repair the top part.  Today they arrived bright and early!

 First Dustin used a saw to make a cut between the edge of the driveway and the road.

Next, Justin came in with the back hoe and lifted up all the pieces of the old blacktop...I was amazed watching him move small pieces into position then scooping them up and dropping them into the dump truck.

 Nate came next with a load of gravel to fill in the hole.

Then back to Justin with the backhoe.  He just smoothed out the pile of gravel then rolled over it to pack it down some.    

Justin added a couple more scoops to fill in the edges nicely. 


 And Nate finished it all off with the wacker...yes.. that's what that thing is called.. says so right on front! ... packing it all together and smoothing it level.

A few finishing touches with rake and we are done!

Now we have to wait for the pavers to come in with the blacktop and finish the driveway.

Follow me to....

I have been informed, by my very good friend Sara,  thank you very much!  that Google Reader will be disappearing on July 1.  Yes, like many others, I've heard about it here and there, but didn't pay any attention because I had no idea what it meant or how it would affect me...   I figure, ignore stuff and deal with it later.... not necessarily the best plan of attack... but good tech savy friends like Sara hit me over the head, scare me with what is to happen, and keep things moving smoothly for me by telling me how to solve the problem before it happens!

Sara explained to me that Google Reader is what we have been using to follow all the different quilty blogs we love....who knew???  Not me!
That list of blogs will no longer be available!  YIKES!  How would I ever find all my favorites once they disappeared??!!! 

Thank goodness, Sara has done the research for me (YAY!!!) She has tested several other available "programs??" and decided that Bloglovin' is the easiest and best available alternative.  She put a link on her blog, told me to click it, and set up an account there. Magically (automatically) my blog list will continue to live on there!

SO.... if you would like to continue following my posts (and I hope you do!) click on the Bloglovin' icon at the top right of the page, follow the simple directions and we can still stay connected!

Love Entwined



I'm not sure how I got there, but I recently found myself on Esther's Blog.  She is preparing an 18month long BOM reproducing her version of an antique applique coverlet, Love Entwined.

There is no clear picture of what this will look like yet, but there is a lot of chatting going on over at her yahoo group about it.  So I have been watching and waiting and trying to decide whether or not to attempt this, or not.    Esther does explain on her blog that this is definitely NOT a quilt for the faint hearted (or beginner). 

Today, Esther posted this picture of the chintz fabrics she is using.  I LOVE these florals, but I have nothing in my stash that would come close.  So,  I was still waiting to see the pattern before jumping in.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, I stopped at Hobby Lobby today to get some Heat & Bond lite for a different project.  After locating it hanging on the wall, I turned around to find this:

My colors are a bit different, and I won't be sure they will work until the pattern is released, but I think I have now committed to do this project! 

I can still change my mind though. She will also be releasing a second BOM that will be simpler, which may be what I use these fabrics for instead. 

Hop on over to her blog and check things out. 



http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Lakeside Get-away

Last week we escaped for a week to a rented lakeside cabin in the mountains of East Tennessee.   Once off the highway we left all of life's stresses behind... as well as cell phone reception!  I drove up into the mountains on roads that were, at times, so curvey the 25mph squiggle signs didn't do them justice.  Often times I couldn't see what was around the bend.  The area borders on the Cherokee National Park and the views as we climbed were gorgeous!

 


Our first stop was to unload and launch the boat where the guys could then cruise across the lake to our cabin.

  I set up my sewing machine by the sliding glass doors with a view of the lake off the covered porch.  The weather was beautiful most of the week and I was able to slide open the screen door and listen to the birds and get the fresh air without all the bugs! 

The early morning view with the "smoke" rising off the lake and mountains was phenomenal!

 

I worked on several projects throughout the week... 
         

First... and most important to him... was Matthew's Puppy quilt.  He spent the past 8 months embroidering these puppies and I promised to help him get it assembled into a top and quilted to enter into the county fair in August.  I've got a white with black dots for the backing to match the white dots on the blue sashing and red cornerstones (I'll have to try for a much better picture later).

I thought I brought along fabric and parts (HSTs) for Orca Bay Step 5, but all I had was the fabric.  So I cut the 350 triangles...and the sewing will have to wait until I find time at home.

I did bring along my Easy Street fabric and parts.  I had the square-in-square pieced borders almost ready to attach to the center, and a few extra pieces to fill in the corners.  I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it all fitted together...there was minimal tugging or easing to fit.  I love how it turned out! 

 
















 
After adding the final border, I forgot to take a picture out on the porch deck.  Now that I'm home, my floor space isn't big enough to lay it out, and it's raining outside today, but here is a picture of one corner showing all the borders.

There was only one day that the weather didn't cooperate, so we went for a long drive and ended up in Elizabethtown where we did  some grocery shopping and enjoyed a nice steak dinner out to celebrate Father's Day.  

I also stopped and picked up some fabrics to work with.  Back at the cabin I cut and stitched some pinwheel blocks but wasn't happy with the results.  I think the pinwheels are too strong and overwhelm the floral print.   Plan B is to make 9-patches using some white on white and the matching green I was going to use for the backing and use the pink and blue as the center square... hoping it will all play together better.

The water was a bit on the chilly side for me, but that didn't stop Matthew from going for a swim.

  
The fishing wasn't exceptional, but we did catch a couple of bass... enough for dinner one night.

This guy came swimming by nightly looking for bread scraps.  He and three others were brought to the area when a gentleman from Florida relocated nearby several years ago.  His companions are gone and he refuses to stay in the pond he was relocated to.  So the locals and tourists feed and take care of him.

It was a very relaxing and much needed vacation.  

Totals 2013 May

The biggest and best accomplishment for the month of May was being there for my daughter and the birth of my second grandson.  Everything went better than expected and all are well.  I completed quilts for both the new baby and big brother... just in time!
I also helped her finish up the necessary sweat-equity hours with Habitat for Humanity and she will be closing on her new home in June.

My second nephew graduated high school last weekend in Baltimore.  The next day, the family drove over to Gettysburg to visit Pop's grave and see the stone in place.  The three grandsons presented a cross to the parish that my brother had made.  The cut squares on the cross depict the stations of the cross.  Father was so pleased to receive it and felt it would be perfect to carry during the stations ceremony next Lent/Easter!

 WORK COMPLETED IN MAY

 .....05.....customer tops quilted (YTD 33)
.....01.....customer quilts bound (YTD  09)
.....01.....flimsy completed waiting for quilting (florabunda)
.....00.....quilted flimsy (YTD 9 )
.....08.....hand-work hours (62 YTD )

MY PROJECTS COMPLETED THIS YEAR:
Lucky Charms wall hanging (1/21/13)
Basket Sampler Welcome wall hanging (2/15/13)
Knitted afghan  (3/20/13)
Scrap Mania quilt (3/19/13)
Orange/Blue Jelly Roll quilt (3/18/13)
Hope Academy Banner (3/27/13)
Jaxson's quilt (3/22/13)
Baltimore Album (4/5/13)
Civil War Snowball (4/5/13)
Big Brother Quilt (5/7/13)

Projects in Progress 
  Spring Wall Hanging....backing prepared.  preparing flowers for applique
  Sweet & Sassy.....9 blocks completed, sashed and quilt corner assembled
  Assemble Matthew's Puppies... blocks complete, needs sashing/assembly
  Novelty Quilt... blocks cut, need assembly
  Happiness Key...background complete, needs applique/embroidery
  Disappearing 4 patch

Bonnie Projects in Progress
.....01.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced (YTD  1  of  81)   ...  (81 of 162 in 2012)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD  0 .... 9 of 18 in 2012)
.....49.....Orca Bay Step 1 hourglass blocks made (YTD 49  plus 21 in 2012) total  70 of 112 
....done...Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (completed in 2012 )
....done...Orca Bay Step 3 2in HSTs (YTD 55 plus120 in 2012)  total 175
.....done..Orca Bay Step 4 5.5in string blocks (YTD 08 plus 24 of 32 in 2012) total 32
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 5 cut 350 triangles and stitch to part 3 (0 of 175)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 6 cut 2.5in squares and assemble Ohio Stars (0)
..done.....Floribunda Blocks assembled into flimsy and ready to quilt!
..............Talkin Turkey..... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..............Midnight Flight....1 block complete plus parts
..............Winston Ways... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..............Easy Street Steps 1-8 Completed in 2012
...done...Easy Street  inner border cut and attached
............. Easy Street  2nd border: square in square blocks  (108 of 116 YTD
............. Easy Street final purple border

Floribunda

Last year, with Bonnie's permission, I cut kits and stitched up a couple of quilt blocks using her pattern, Floribunda, to offer as a class for  FCE Craft day.  The extra kits and fabric I have been using as one of several leader/ender projects.  I finally have 20 blocks complete and assembled the quilt several weekends ago... I've just been too busy to get around to posting this.  Unfortunately, I didn't refer back to the pattern before assembling and I slanted all the blocks in the same direction instead of alternating to make an "X".  Oh well,  it's done and I like it anyway!

Now I must find fabric for a backing.