It's not Capistrano, but they still return ...

A few years ago, we had a swallow take up temporary residence just outside our side door (the main one we use to go in & out) up at the Country House. We let them hatch out that 1st year but after that we would scrape the nest down before they could lay eggs each year. It seemed they had stopped until a few weekends ago I was washing dishes & noticed they had found a new spot to build & lay eggs.

It's on the corner of the front porch. At least they are not in the direct access to the house & it's kind of fun to watch them. They do make a mess but it only last a few weeks so I guess we'll let them continue to return.

We have had a decent amount of rain up there lately & most of the trees seem to be doing well. Here's a shot of the orange tree which has quite a few oranges. there was a LOT more blooms but I guess many got blown away before they could form.

Here's a pic of one of the oaks in the field. This one has a very strong trunk but it will still be a few years before it provides a nice shady spot to sit.

Although I got the asparagus planted this year I didn't get anything else in the ground up there. Too bad too, since the rain would have been plenty this year. I did plant some squash, cucumbers & beans in the raised beds in the city. Not even 1 squash or cucumber formed even though they had a ton of blooms. I guess the neighbors bees never found them. I did however, get a couple of servings of beans.

I have picked them twice now & got about the same amount each time (just enough for supper & then lunch the next day). I may have one more picking left.

When I was at the last quilt retreat my sewing machine had some issues & my friend loaned me hers for the remainder of the retreat. I sort of got it working when I got home but it still wouldn't keep the feed dogs up enough to work properly. So, after much research I bit the bullet & bought a new machine from a nearby dealer.

She sews like a dream! The first thing I made was a table runner for my sister.

I'm going to give it to her this afternoon after I pick up their pup, Lexie, to dog sit for the next 10 days! Nelly has met Lexie before & they seem to tolerate each other. We'll see how it goes!

Just Plain Stuffed (Plus a Quilting Update)

A few weeks ago I attended another quilt retreat at Homeplace Bed & Breakfast (SC). As always it was a lot of fun, food, laughter & a good time spent with friends. I made my first 'big girl' quilt.

It's a king size! I used some fabrics that were gifted to me & some I had gotten at garage sales over the years. I finished the top at the retreat then had one of the quilting ladies there, quilt it on her long arm machine. She did a beautiful job! It's 108" x 112" & there was NO WAY I was going to tackle this behemoth! The pattern is called "Broken Star", a variation of a Carpenter's Star.from a booklet published by Debbie Maddy of Calico Carriage Quilt Designs.

Close up of center star.

Once I finished w/this I decided to make a laptop quilt out of some vintage reproduction fabrics I had in my stash. Pic is sideways but you get the idea. It's called a ribbon box quilt, free pattern from Coud9 Fabrics. It is 56" x 62".

Since I got home I've finished up on my Christmas Table toppers that I will be using as a lining for baskets of goodies to give away this year.

While at the retreat my sewing machine wasn't working very well & I had neglected to take my Featherweight. My friend Debbie (the enabler) kindly loaned me one of hers to use. Otherwise, I would have been twiddling my thumbs the whole time.

Now I have to get my mid arm machine (another post entirely) set up so I can get all these projects quilted & bound before Christmas time rolls around.

On another note, I actually planted a few things in my garden beds here in the city. As usual it is proving that only about 3 or 4 hours of sunlight is NOT enough to produce prolific results.

String Beans & carrots in the pot.

Squash Zucchini, Cucumbers, more carrots & marigolds in front.

Onions taken over by weeds.

I had waited way to late to plant the onions & scallions so most just died. I still have a couple at the very back of the bed, we'll see if they hang on. Too darn hot for them.

The squash & zucchini have lots & lots of blooms but never product any fruit. No pollination happening & I'm not doing it by hand. One of our neighbors has gotten bees but their scouts haven't come down to visits. Sooooo, since they aren't making baby squash I decided to stuff some of the blossoms.

Cheese mixture in bag.

Decent sized blossom. Most were smaller than this.

Stuffed with cheese mixture.

All stuffed & ready to fry.

I picked & stuffed yesterday & as the last pic shows, I had a bit of cheese left over so I picked a few more this morning & finished up the cheese. Will fry them up tonight using a tempura type batter. We've had these before & they are delicious!

Well that all that been happening around here ... until next time.

p.s. I have been scrounging the Internet looking for this discontinued fabric.

It's called Anastasia by Robert Kaufman (orange, black & gold colors). If you have some in your stash or see any for sale, please let me know. I'm more than willing to pay for it. 

Featherweight(s) & Christmas Gifts

I just realized that I've never posted about my new obsession - Singer Featherweights. My friend Debbie (THE ENABLER) introduced me to them a couple of years ago. Here's the Wikipedia link: Featherweight Sewing Machine. And, here's a pic of one of mine (standard size stapler there for size comparison).

They are the cutest little machines weighing in at about 11 pounds making them the 1st true portable sewing machines. But, what I like best about them is that they are workhorses! I started looking on Craig's List & lo & behold came across a guy selling 2 for a great price last August (2016). I bought them & once I got them home found out that one was made in 1935 & the other in 1950. I stowed them until further notice. Then "The Enabler" decided to host a Featherweight only Retreat this past February so I decided it was time I learned how to use this little gem.

Group Photo

Debbie & another lady taught a session on how to clean, oil & lubricate. I discovered there was a problem with my 1950 but pulled out the 1935 one & it ran just fine. I think it sews so much better than my new (cheaply made) Brother that I bought a few years back. Yes, you have to oil & lube it on occasion but I think it's well worth it. I eventually acquired a 3rd one but I'll post on that later.

While at the FW retreat I decided to go ahead & get a head start on some Christmas gifts. I always plan on making friends small handmade items but always seem to run out of time. I got a few table throw tops made.

These will be quilted & then gifted to former co-workers/girlfriends for Christmas this year. For two of them, I decided to add a few more blocks for a lap quilt for a long time friend who absolutely loves Christmas.

I had started a project several years ago that I am bound & determined to finish this year.

This is one of 3 larger lap tops that I've made (2 for different friends & 1 for me). They are made out of old conference shirts that we all had to wear during shows. 

The shirts were changed out & a new color was introduced for new conferences. They are a heavy twill fabric & very hard to work with. Especially when trying to join seams. I cut up each shirt, then cut them down for piecing the star blocks. I started sewing them on my Brother but finished on the 1935 FW. I sure wish I had that FW when I started these blocks because it sewed through the seams like butter.

I still need to quilt all of these pieces & will start on that next month. We have another retreat coming up at the end of this month & I plan on making a Queen size quilt while there. I'm currently obsessing over fabric choices & placement for that. Will post on that later.

Quilt Retreat 2016 & No Water

Went to our annual quilt retreat last week. It was in Lancaster, same as last year, you can read about the facilities here: 2015 Retreat. I got the same room with a separate entrance & private porch. It worked out great as I had Nelly with me this year. She became our official retreat mascot. A little skittish at first but by the end she had settled in quite nicely & everyone really liked her. Especially because she is so quiet, she would only bark when someone new came around.

Met some new ladies, many of whom are master quilters. Way out of my league but I had a great time anyway. Food, as usual, was excellent. Got to get back on the diet & exercise routine.

I must say my quilting skills are slowly improving. Here are a couple of projects I worked on:

Lap quilt top made w/fabic I had in my stash.

Started on a baby quilt. Plan on putting borders on each square.

More stash fabric. This will be a wall hanging or table topper.

The lady who owns the B&B is so very sweet & kind. Her husband died a few years back, from complications of Alzheimer's. My friend Debbie, who organized the retreat, suggested that we each make a fidget quilt to have Mrs. Catoe give to the local nursing home. A fidget quilt is a lap quilt with many sorts of things sewed on to make it easy for a patient to fidget with. Different fabrics for texture, velcro, zippers, etc. I didn't get mine made until I got home but I finished the 'male' version this morning. Will make another one & get them in the mail to her soon.

Our water pump switch went out last night so we are without water until Greg can get a new switch installed this evening after work. Gotta run to the hardware store. Hope I get the right one!

Hope everyone has a good week.

I Got My Dining Room Back!

Even though I didn't take a pic just imagine ... on my dining room table .... sewing machine, thread box, extra parts for machine, scissors, seam ripper, bits & pieces of material, quilt patterns & a whole host of other things, plus unfinished projects draped across each of the chair backs.

I have a workout room in my house in the city. It held a treadmill & yoga stuff. The treadmill hadn't been used in quite some time. It was a very nice one but when I looked on Craig's List there were 15 or so listed so I gave it away to a former co-worker instead of listing it & then waiting for it to sell. I had a project in mind ... a sewing table!

I now have a sewing room!

The opposite side of the room.

Got filing cabinets & chair from work. Greg bought & cut a 3/4" piece of plywood 34" x 8'. I had an old picnic tablecloth that fit it perfectly. We attached it w/spray adhesive & stapled to the bottom.

I still have plenty of room for stretching & doing my little exercise routine. The top bin is empty & the other two contain my less than desirable fabrics & my work shirts waiting to be turned into more of these:

One end looking onto courtyard. Door to right is to back porch.

Grow light stand/storage shelving. The other end is just a closet wall.

I found that I had enough room to the left of the sewing machine to hold a mini ironing board.This was made with leftover plywood, some batting & an old pillowcase. I don't have to set up the big ironing board for pressing those small quilt pieces. It's 9" x 26". Here's how I made it.

Board, batting cut just a bit bigger than board so it wraps the edges & pillowcase.

Place batting on top, flip over, then start stapling pillowcase to back.

Simple letter fold & staples.

Viola. a mini ironing board!

That empty bin in the above photo used to contain what is now in 2 of the drawers!

Some of my reproduction fabrics.

Solids, misc, Fall & Christmas.

One other drawer contains patterns, books & my unfinished projects & the last one contains extra supplies like batting & large background material.

Now I can invite friends over for supper & we have a place to sit & eat. I am a happy girl! 

First Full Week of Retirement

Still walking most days, it was pouring this morning so only did a few stretches. Hey, I deserve a day off right? Oh, I have every day off, guess I shouldn't whine.

Monday I decided to clean, I mean really clean our master bath. Toilet scrubbed top to bottom, sinks, vanities, cabinets, floor, wash rugs, etc. 

I'm still sorting through work paperwork & need to nail down Insurance, 401k stuff, etc. Received the new TV HD hookup boxes but they aren't hooked up properly. TVs work but not as clear as I think they should be plus I cannot program the new remotes to save my life. And, they forgot to send 1 box. I spent several hours trying to figure it out & now I'm giving up. Called for service person, they are coming next week. I'm sure it will take them all of 30 minutes to do what I couldn't.

Had Lab work for upcoming Dr. appt. on Tuesday morning fairly early so since I had to shower & put on a bit of makeup I decided to run a few errands after taking Greg some breakfast. Wow, what a difference in going from place to place without having to rush back to work. Shopping is not a favorite thing of mine but it wasn't bad that day.

I have a baby shower to attend for one of my former co-workers. It's this coming Monday morning. Last weekend I looked at her registration list from Target & saw that her colors are grey & white. Hey, I just happened to have a stash of grey & white fabric. I think those in the know call it a "charm pack". Anyway, I decided to make her & her future little one a baby quilt. It rained several inches this week making it a great week to stay inside & make a quilt. 

I had to buy the inside & outside borders & binding (didn't know if I would have enough leftover fabric to make it, turns out I didn't). It's a bit wonk eyed but the colors are very pretty together. It measures about 45 x 55 so it's closer to a crib quilt that a baby quilt. I even tried my hand at fancy machine stitching on the borders. Probably shouldn't have done that but it does add a bit of homemade charm to it, plus there are plenty of mistakes. I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to quilting so it doesn't bother me, but I know they're there, but I doubt the baby will mind. I'm calling it my shabby chic style.

The quilt took up most of Wednesday, Thursday & just finished binding it today. Messed up on that too but I didn't notice until I was 1/2 way done & I had made the mitered corners perfect! No way was I going to rip it out & start over so I just made do & it still turned out ok. I needed to finish today as we are headed to the country this weekend & the shower is early on Monday.

Hubby went to the Dr. & got some meds & seems to be on the mend.

Meals this week consisted of pan fried Cod w/Quinoa & Squash Casserole (pulled from freezer), Lamb Sliders w/Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Pork Tenderloin w/leftover Quinoa & Casserole, Ham (pulled from freezer) & Brie Sandwiches. Greg is bringing home Italian takeout tonight.

Gotta go feed my worms & get quilt wrapped. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Quilt Retreat 2015 - Lancaster, SC

Normally, I travel to my friend's (Debbie's) house the day before the retreat, spend the night at her house then we head on to the retreat itself. This year the retreat was scheduled to be held only a few miles from her farm. That saved us about 3 additional driving hours, yeah! Here's a link to her farm - Fox Trot Farm they sell lambs & lamb meat products.

I arrived on Friday afternoon & unpacked quilt stuff then moved on to my room which was in a lovely house built with much love throughout the ages. The house started as a small log cabin in the 1800's & added on as the years & the family grew. Mrs. Catoe decided to turn the house into a Bed & Breakfast at some point & has decorated each room beautifully. Here's the website if anyone happens to be in the area - Homeplace Bed & Breakfast. They are a Christian based family & very family oriented. Many family members still live on the property & have goats, horses & cows they take care of. They have an Open House & Betheham Marketplace during the Holiday season. You tour the house (with a Christmas tree in every room - 33 in all!) then the family puts on a play in their large barn. The play depicts the birth of Jesus through to his homecoming.

In addition to the house you can rent the banquet hall to do whatever you please. We obviously were going to quilt the days away. My friend & her local quilting buddies decorated it with first class quality quilts on display along with work stations for each of us. There was also a cutting station & design station as well as ironing stations on either side of the room.

The hall also came with the use of a commercial kitchen. Each person makes at least 1 dinner & we all snack on the leftovers for lunch or make whatever we each brought.

A couple of the girls had some weather delays out of KY & didn't come until Sat. Debbie made a wonderful Tuscan chicken soup, bread & salad the 1st night. I cooked on Saturday & the menu included pork roast in the crock pot, smashed potatoes & broccoli casserole, plus homemade rolls that got really brown (read, burnt on the bottom) but still very tasty.We went to a local restaurant Wagon Wheel, on Sunday so that constituted our large meal of the day. Oh . my . gosh, the fried squash they serve was wonderful!

Our friend from KY served Taco soup & cheesy corn muffins on Monday night. Mrs. Catoe & a couple of local quilters joined us & it was a wonderful meal complete with family stories at the end. Plus, she made homemade pimento cheese & we had grilled pimento cheese sandwiches for lunch one day.

The last night was for leftovers. I also made my famous stuffed mushrooms & a cheese dip that left something to the imagination.

All in all it was a great vacation at a wonderful location. Here are a few pics:

Cathedral Windows. Not mine! This was part of one of the master quilter's bedspread!

My Starflower Block - the beginning of a special project w/special fabric. Later post.

My crooked Flower Basket Throw - I don't like triangles!