What a busy couple of weeks!

I've been absent because of several factors, but I will blame most of it on the fact that we

 have been painting the whole house.

I am now of the opinion that huge painting jobs are better left to the professionals.

We have two more rooms to finish before we pronounce it finished, but at least now we can see the end. We came to a good "stopping point" and I set out to do some other things that required my attention.

During this time, I ordered a case of apricots from Bountiful Baskets.

When I got home and opened the box, I discovered that about a third of them were moldy.

I was pretty disappointed. However, I was determined not to waste the rest and I knew they wouldn't wait for me too much longer. I hurried and made up a few batches of apricot-pineapple jam.

MMmmmm! It's yummy.

I also loaded up my dehydrator, thinking about how much I looooove dried apricots.

I put the dehydrator in the preschool room so as to not be disturbed by the sound,

shut the door and forgot about them.

For TWO days.

There was no happy ending for these apricots.

I also have been using the "you know what" out of my new toy....

It's an Accuquilt GO! fabric cutter! :)

I was given a very generous gift card to JoAnn's from my preschool mommies this year for Teacher Appreciation Day. (I was so surprised and touched! :):):) Thanks again!!!)

Craig also subsidized this purchase.......in the name of Mothers Day, of course! haha!

I have cut out so many shapes that I should have enough to have quilt top going until the end of time!

I can cut up to TEN layers of fabric at a time! Cutting out a quilt top takes just minutes! There isn't a lot of measuring...just layer the fabric on the die, put the cutting mat on top and crank it through the machine.

I love it so much.....

I could marry it!

hahaha! :)

Speaking of feedsacks......

I have another feed sack project to share!

I've been dragging around some vintage 9-patch blocks forever. I found them on ebay for about $7!

They are all hand stitched.

I decided to use the disappearing 9-patch pattern and make them into a little lap quilt.

Mary @ Gettysburg Homestead just finished up a great tutorial with this pattern. http://gettysburghomestead.blogspot.com/

First, you cut your 9-patch in half down the middle squares, then turn your block and cut it in half again down the middle square. (Sorry-I should have taken a picture of this step)

 The thing I like about this pattern is there are several ways to arrange your blocks after they're cut....

You can sew them back together like this-

 Or like this-
(I chose this way)

 Or like this-

 Then you sew them all together!

I quilted in the ditch for this one. It went fast and easy. Two of my favorite things!

This is my favorite block in this quilt. :)

 I put a small checked gingham sashing on it and bound it with a small rosebud print. I like how the black anchored it but it has all f the bright colors found in the blocks.

 I think I am really warming up to all of these fun colors.

Have a great day!

a vintage finish.

About 5 years ago, I bought a vintage quilt top on eBay. It was an incomplete top so it was very inexpensive. When I got it, I didn't quite know what to do with it, but what I did know was that I loved the colors. I was made from old feed sacks, which delighted me all the more.

I could see where the seams of the sacks had been picked apart

and there were stamps like this on a few of the blocks.

I loved the "make do" quality of it.....

See here where two of the light blue hexies are the same color but not the same pattern?

 I like to think of the thrifty hands that pieced this together using the last bits of fabric they had. :)

Since I couldn't make any sort of a quilt out of the top I decided to take it apart and make a few things with it. First, I unpicked enough blocks to make a portion of the quilt into a table runner.

Then, I took two of the unpicked blocks and framed them. I found these frames at goodwill and spray painted them black. Then I used spray adhesive to attach them to the fabric backing.

I took the largest piece for the runner and machine quilted it.

I used a stippling stitch with a red variegated thread.

When that was finished, I couldn't decide how I would bind the edges.

I finally decided to measure and cut straight edges, because some of the border hexies were so uneven.

 Then I bound it with a black pin dot fabric.

It was a ginormous pain in the neck to sew all those corners,

and it took a whole lot longer than I want to talk about,

BUT, I'm so glad it's finished!

 I like how it is just the right size for our big table.

And I loooove the red!

 I hope that whoever pieced this all those years ago, likes how it ended up. 

 I am certainly grateful for all the work that went into it before it came into my life!

A new look

I made this table runner many years ago, but I never really liked it enough to put it out. It had a horrible binding that I had it zig-zagged on.....

Ya. It was terrible.

Well, in all my sorting, I came across it. I decided to give it a new look.

I unpicked the hideous binding and added some sashing fabric.

Then I hand stitched around the blocks and added a much more acceptable  binding.

I really like all the little bugs that are on it.....

 Everything is blanket stitched....When I made it,  I used some pretty heavy duty fusible web to attach all the pieces. My fingers definitely paid the price for that! :)

Giving this runner a new look kind of inspires me to get a new look for myself......

But, if I cut my hair, then I would actually have to style it, and we all know how I feel about make-up, right? More importantly, if I changed my wardrobe, then what would I do with all of my stretchy pants? And certain shirts would probably require me to wear a bra and that's pushing it for me....

Phew.
That was close.

Now. Let's just hope those people from "What not to Wear" never find me.

A swap teaser......

I can't show you the whole surprise,

but Julie over at Country Girl at Heart and I have entered into another swap.

I love swapping with Julie....she is so talented and generous!

I hope she likes what I sent to her. It should arrive today or tomorrow. :)

Well, I have been busy sorting and organizing these past few days. I rarely get the "bug" to do that, so I suppose I need to go with it when I do. I spent the majority of Friday and Saturday working on my craft closet and my preschool closet. It feels so good to get rid of things and be all sorted out again.

 Next, I will be working on a couple bedrooms.

More specifically, the half empty bedrooms that Mark and Makenzie recently vacated.

(sad face)

I will be selling anything of value at a yard sale....

That'll teach 'em to leave their mother!

A first try

After making the wool eggs that I showed you in my last post, I decided that I would make a penny mat.

I have worked with wool in the past and have found it very fun and easy,

but never have made a penny mat.

 I have only admired everyone else's!

I actually bought a little kit for this one so I would have a pattern and the instructions for future reference.

And here it is.....

(I put in on this big wooden charger so it could be seen on my black table)

To be honest, I struggled just a little bit.

It's not that it was difficult.

I think it's because I tried too hard.

Or maybe it's because I don't follow instructions well, or possibly,

 because I feel compelled to do my own thing.....

I don't know, but there is probably some medication that helps people with problems such as this.

The instructions had me trace the pattern onto freezer paper (brilliant!). The circle pattern had a large circle with a smaller circle inside it.

The smaller circle was to be cut out from the larger circle......so I had 16 "donuts" and 16 "donut holes".

Make sense??

Then, they were arranged as seen above.  The problem I found was that the little circles weren't necessarily the same size as the holes. The wool did stretch as I blanket stitched it into place but they smaller circles appear to be "sunk into" the larger ones.

Is this the way it's supposed to be?

I always assumed that the smaller circles were on top of the large circles.

Mine seems to lack the dimensional look that I have seen before.

Anyway, it is what it is.

I still like it.

And, I will more than likely try making another one.

That is, after all of you professional penny mat makers, impart your wisdom and knowledge unto me.

 And since that little black children's chair is showing in the background, I will include a larger picture. This is a re-do of a children's chair I picked up at a consignment shop many years ago. It was spray painted with a very light coat of white. The color was fine when I got it, but I recently decided to wood glue it in a few loose places and give it a new coat of paint.

Ahhhh. Much better. 

Happy Saturday. :)

A Sampler...or two.

Recently, I shared a cute little sampler that I found at a thrift store. In that post, I mentioned that I have a fondness for samplers.

I thought I might share some of the ones I have with you.

This first one I also found at a thrift store. I tea dyed it because the colors were very light. I re-framed it to suit my house. The frame was purchased at a Goodwill and then spray painted black.

I found this at a local Goodwill. It's not a sampler, but I love the little house on it! Same story with this frame. It was gold in it's former life. I would like to think it feels so much prettier! ;)

The rest I have made. I never follow a pattern.....I just make it up as I go. (Story of my life.)

 I say that so you will understand any uneven bits and counting mistakes that you might notice. :)

I saw this in a magazine and made it to my liking instead of following the pattern.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my samplers.

Happy Day to you! oxox

Some quilty finishes.....

Before I share my latest finishes, I wanted to let you know that I have linked up with The Prairie Patch for a linky party she is having. She wants us to share a primitive item that we have either made, purchased or made over. Pop on over and you will see some fun things! (I'm number 14!)

So, I have finished up a few projects. It sure has taken me long enough!

I kept giving myself the deadline of Friday, but I guess I should have specified WHICH Friday.

It took me about 4 Fridays to be exact!

I have a friend who was expecting her first little girl after three boys. She told me she was really into purple and orange and not the traditional pink that people thought she might like. So, I took my inspiration from her, and since I had an order for 2 other baby girl quilts, I made them all with the same fabric. 

These days, there really isn't any method to my putting together a baby quilt.

I sort of go with what I have and however randomly it turns out. 

 I also blame my lack of adequate math skills the complete lack of desire to improve them. :)

This is another quilt that I finished right after Makenzie's wedding.

 I was going to send it when I sent the baby quilts.

                                 It appears that this quilt is a victim of my ambiguous goal setting.

They all should be on their way to their destinations soon.

I am hoping to get to the post office by Friday.

Not much longer......

Do you remember about 2 years ago when I wrote a post about our son Mark, leaving to go to Uganda to serve a church mission?

Well, he will BE HOME in just 2 short weeks!

I know that the people of Uganda and Ethiopia will be sad to see him go, but we are sooooo excited for him to come home.

We have missed him, but have been so happy about the hard work he has been doing. We are also as proud as we can be of him!

So as the day get closer to his return, I have been staying very busy with a few things.

First of all, we have been PLANNING A WEDDING!

Our oldest daughter will be getting married after the first of the year. Makenzie met a wonderful young man and they have decided to get married.  He is so funny and very sweet to her.

He fits in the family perfectly.

They have been engaged since October but I just recently got the green light to blog about it. :):):) However, she has written this post on it!

I have also been doing quite a bit of sewing....mostly Christmas gifts, so I can't really share at the moment.

But, I finished up a few little cute things that I CAN share!

Quite a while ago, I found two sets of brand new receiving blankets at the Goodwill store. I am not really a fan of the store bought receiving blankets as they are so thin and flimsy, but bought them anyway.  I thought I would put two of them together with some batting and see how they turned out. I just machine quilted the whole thing and then bound them with some more flannel fabric.

They are so cute and cuddly!

I think they will make cute little tummy time mats.

We sort of pulled out the stops in our Christmas decorating this year.

We have a lot to celebrate with Mark's return and with adding a new member to the family.

Here's a quick photo of my Santa collection.

Funny thing is, I didn't really know I had a Santa collection until this year.

I hadn't ever grouped them all together in one place.....  :):):)

Happy December, folks!

Stay warm and be happy!

some finishes.

I have been spending a lot of time with my sewing machine lately.

I think I've run the old girl right into the ground actually.

 I am hoping that if I give her a little rest, she will start acting like she should again!

The tension is all wonky and I have unpicked my fair share of tangles threads.

Because, seriously, if she's a goner, I will be really sad....and bored.....

Anyway, tomorrow is the volleyball banquet for the high school. Makenzie coached the freshman team this year and had a total blast. The coaches do a little something for each one of their players. Makenzie wanted to something personal for them. So, she asked if I would help her make a little blanket for each one of them. We went and got a variety of those soft and cuddly fabrics and made blankets.

I did an overcast stitch around 15 of those babies!

Oh,  but they are cute. And soft. And cuddly. (I'm thinking I might need one for myself!)

She also put together a little bag full of candy and a lotion for them

 and she tied it on with the ribbon that you see in the picture.

 Also, thanks to Makenzie, I got another project done.

She is always wanting to do big projects....projects like painting a room.

She suggested we recover a chair that is Ragans room that has been waiting to be recovered for a long time.

Last year, for Christmas, one of Ragans gifts was some fabric to recover it. I got the chair at a thrift store (for $5!) when Ragan was in the 5th grade. At the time, her room was full of bright colors so we covered it with purple fun fur.

But, now that she is all grown up it needed an update to match her new room.

This is how it looked purple!

This is how it looked when I picked it up at the thrift store. (except that it wasn't disassembled!)

And now, here it is......

 all

shiny and new!

The legs were really a light colored wood so I spray painted them.

Ragan loves how it looks.

 And, that makes me happy. :)

Thanks, Kenz, for your gentle nudging. :):)



Just wanted to share..........

Did you know that September is National Sewing Month?!?

Ya! It really is!!

For a gal whose BFF is her sewing machine, that's a great excuse to do some sewing.

So, do you want to know what I have been doing?

BAKING!

I bet you thought I was going to say sewing....

Sadly, I haven't been doing nearly as much sewing as I would like......

Crazy, isn't it?

You would think that I would have been cranking out the projects on account of there being a whole month dedicated to sewing!

Well, I had a hankering for some of my favorite muffins, so baking was in order.

(Even though it is still over 100* here!)

These are called Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins.

They are so delish that I am quite certain they will become a favorite of yours, too!

 

They are easy and healthy to make. They freeze really well so go ahead and make a double batch!

CRANBERRY OATMEAL MUFFINS

1 C. Oats (I use old fashioned oats)

1 C. Sour Cream or Yogurt (any flavor)

(I prefer yogurt...it makes the muffins lighter & fluffier)

1 C. Flour

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 C. Applesauce

1/2 C. Honey

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

(For the "ultra healthy" version, I cut the honey & sugar in half)

1 Egg

2 tsp. of grated Orange Peel

3/4 C. Dried Cranberries

Preheat oven to 400*.

 Soak oats in yogurt for a few minutes.

Sift dry ingredients and add to oat mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine egg, applesauce, honey and sugar.

Beat until well blended. 

Fold into dry ingredients.

Add orange peel and cranberries.

Stir gently to combine.

Cook 20 min. in a greased muffin tin.

So, there you have it!

I promise you will love these....even if you aren't a big cranberry fan.

They would be yummy warmed up with a little hot cocoa.

Especially all of you who are enjoying some cooler weather now that fall has hit just about everywhere but Arizona.

(yes. I am still whining about the heat- and, said whining, will more than likely continue until December.)

I shared this recipe with my friend Sharla. She blogged about these muffins and their yummyness but added a frosting to them!..........Go check it out!