It's Off The Machine

Before I begin, I have to state: I am so tired. I do not remember a time when I was more tired. I can hardly hold my eyes open to type this...

I just took the quilt off the rails and the yawning and achy shoulders and everything tells me I should not even attempt trimming off the excess fabric and batting.
I'm going to bed!


Okay, It's Nov. 8 and the quilt when on the machine on Oct. 15. This means it's been under way for 3.5 weeks and I have spent almost every day between working on it. A little here, a lot there.

What has taken the longest is not the actual stitching but rather the deciding on the designs I wanted to try to make. After I had blocked in all the 'negative space' squares on point, I waited to see how it looked before deciding on the filler stitches between them.

 Above you can see how I treated the lattice work and how the circles push down the background.


After the good night's sleep, I felt ready to tackle the trimming up. The quilt measures 86.5" square and is the widest one I've done on the Tin Lizzie 18.

Now, all that is left is to figure out how I will bind it. I'm leaning on using all the leftover strips from the fabrics I used in the center. 

And In Full Disclosure

I am a cluttered quilter.

But I'll get to that fact in a moment... bear with me.

One thing about quilt making that I've had issues with is hiding the threads that invariably come with machine quilting. Doing a pantogram or all-over design gives you the ability to start and stop somewhere off the quilt but when you work on custom-quilting designs, you start and stop wherever is best for the overall quilt. This means you end up with lots of threads all over the place and these must must must be hidden in the center of the sandwich, hopefully snug in the batting and unobservable from the front.

Burying threads is very easy, but time-consuming and can be hard on the back if you wait til the very end to do this. Recently, I began burying as I go and all you need is a 'self-threading' needle and a small pair of snips.

Slip the needle in right where you see the threads and out somewhere where there is thread-work already created or, anywhere you know you're going to add more. This is because you want those threads to get secured and not work their way loose over time.
Now, pop the threads through the eye of the needle (there's a space at the tip-top where they just pop in and don't easily pop back out. Over time and use, this gets worn out and can also break. They don't last forever.)

Pull the needle through the fabric and drag the threads out the other side....

.... and snip away the excess. Easy-peasy... and use a small square of batting to drop the snipped threads on or they'll end up all over the place.

If, over time, you get in the habit of doing this as you finish an area, you won't end up with hours of burying threads when you take the completed quilt off the rollers.

Now, here is where we return to the first sentence: I am a cluttered quilter and this is what the quilting frame looks like on a good day.


You can see I have a magnifying glass, screw drivers, tweezers, bobbins, paint brushes, markers, rulers and sheets with quilting designs. AS I say, this looks pretty organized than it usually does.... but look at all those nifty places a teeny tiny needle can get lost in and usually does!

I have spent an inordinate amount of time searching for the little devil because I can't seem to put it in the same place every time I use it but now I have the perfect solution:

This is the Needle Nanny and Peeper Keeper, a 2 in 1 magnetized device that snaps securely and easily on my shirt and keeps track of the needle. I can slip my reading glasses in the loop instead of on top of head, as well and it looks like a cute little brooch. 

Further Along

If you think I seemed to be behaving in a cagey sort of way by not showing what the quilt looks like in it's fullness, you would be correct.

The reason for this is straight-forward. I don't want to.

I want to focus on the quilting motifs and the learning process because I think lots of quilters are in the same situation as I often find myself: How Should I Quilt This Top?

The answers, I have found, can reveal themselves if I take the time to look and listen and learn.

The Modern Quilt Movement has certainly taken my notion of quilting in a different direction in the past 8 or so years. I enjoy the open spaces (or negative spaces) that they feature, because this opens the opportunity to wander around and create secondary designs in free-motion quilting. This is IMPORTANT to ME because I do NOT have a programmable computer assisted long-arm machine. Everything I do (or attempt to do) is guided by my hand so I am NEVER going to end up with a flawless quilt. Ain't Gonna Happen.

What to do. What to do?

Which brought me here to this video by Karen Hanson of Quilt Expressions. It will take 58 minutes of your life and add years to your knowledge.

If you don't want to take 58 minutes out of your life, take this piece of advice from Karen.

I paraphrase: Quilt what you can.

This means (to me!) you should not let what you don't know how to do stop you from trying to learn to do it. 

I loved how I was starting to see quilting in wide open spaces in big quilts but I had no idea to do this without a computer. This is where Research  comes into play and I can't stress it often enough... I love living in a world of 24 hours Search Engines. 

I wake up so early in the morning.... and I begin pouring through search engines and find great inspirations like Green Fairy and Quilting in Negative Space on Pinterest.  

Green Fairy Quilting, Judi Madsen, actually demonstrates on YouTube how she goes about marking her tops and using straight-edge rulers to guide her machine and break down the "big picture" into workable areas. 

Allow me to emphasize: These are not the acrylic rulers you use to cut your fabrics. They are thicker for a good reason. You run your hopping foot along the edge of them and if they are thin (like a rotary cutting ruler) your hopping foot can hop right on top and the needle will shatter it. I know this from Experience. I experienced it twice, for good measure, because I didn't learn the lesson the FIRST time! So now, it's Knowledge.

With this powerful knowledge, I began to tackle this top. I have now reached one step away from the center and wanted to accentuate the explosive look. So I stepped back and thought about how I would do this.

There are radiating 2" squares in a diagonal row and I thought if I allowed them to come forward and push the 'negative space' down, I could begin to achieve the desired effect. 

Here is the result and yes, I have stitched unsuccessful motifs and taken them all out and started over. It ain't that big a deal.

Charmed Blocks - Free Modern Quilt Pattern

A few days ago, I was in another of those "I just want to have a day of fun!" modes so I pulled out a charm pack I bought at the shop a few years ago.

Merry and Bright by Sandy Gervais

It's from Moda and my daughter was interested in a modern Christmas quilt. I purchase two charm packs and a few lengths of fabric 'friends' to go along with it. But time passes and I forgot all about it until the other weekend when I spied with my little eyes and thought, "A HA! the very thing. How much trouble could I get into with this?"

So, I came up with a quilt and have turned into a pattern that will be available for free on our store's website shortly.

I am posting this quilt pattern here first, however, because I was hoping that someone(s) would like to make it and be my spot-checker for mistakes. It measures 56" x 62" and is a snap to make.

To print the pattern, click on the printer icon in the upper left corner. You can increase the view by sliding the bar next to the printer button and you can view it full screen by clicking on the monitor button.

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If you would like to sew this quilt and let me know what you think, I would be very grateful. I am getting into this modern quilt thing.......

 In the meantime, I am going to throw this one onto the quilting machine and have a blast using modern quilting motifs in white thread. I'll post that photo later.

Carpe Diem--trunc Presse Diem

I think that is latin for :seize the day then squeeze it.

I could be wrong but in any case..... the thought occurred to me yesterday as I did this very thing.

It started by being out in the back 2 watering all the fruit trees and admiring the recent growth on the raspberry vines (finally). I was beginning to be concerned but it is all due to the (very) (remarkably) early Spring we had this year that everything is out of whack.

I wanted to clean out the coop and spread the straw on the squash in the lower garden which is also finally beginning to show strength. All the tomatoes are going gangbusters and that is such a relief. The corn is struggling still and the black-eyed peas did nothing. Hmmmm so I think I will try my luck at a drying bean on that frame instead. Something like a pinto or such. I don't want to waste the effort of erecting the grow frame altogether...

So after the coop cleaning, I pulled half of the remaining carrots

and made room for our last 6 tomato plants which were waiting for space. Seeing then side by side with the ones I planted last month really shows the difference in sizes. I hope this will also provide a staggered harvest as well.

The peas are really coming in now but I think the ones that did germinate are not the English peas but the snow peas, of which you eat the pods rather than wait for actual peas...... oh well! So much for home-grown peas n carrots! I will try (harder) again next year to get it right.

So after all this, I fertilized everything with calcium and scraped weeds off and mulched. Before I knew it, it was 10:30..... So I went in and worked on an applique, Glory Garden.

Fuzzy. Well those are only a few of the blocks that go into the whole quilt.

On Friday, we drove across the lake to drop off 21 quilts which are destined for the GSQA quilt show in Slidell, LA. afterwards we had lunch at the Taj Mahal, an Indian buffet, which reminded me how much I enjoy eating ethnic foods. We made a pitstop at the International Market and I picked up some spice packets to make another Indian feast tonight. I intend to use the veg from the garden to whip up a nice variety of dishes.

Q has made progress on overcoming this licking fixation. The cream I have been applying to her ear has calmed her down to the extent that this morning, when Polo met her at the door, they touched noses and she let him walk past without turning into a hissing viper. She does sleep a

lot that this has me concerned.

I am off to Sam's this morning......

One Week and Counting

So.... the final week before the half marathon. I ran 7.5 today and have increased the odd interval to 2:1 from 1:1 and guess what! My feet don't hurt as much as they used to.

Now my knees are killing me. When did this happen????? My left knee especially and for te first 4 miles my right ankle felt like I had been sitting on it for hours and had a kink in it I could not shake. Eventually all the bones and muscles stopped complaining and by the time I hit 6 miles, I felt fine.

We check in on Saturday and get our numbers. The "race" begins at 7:oo am Sunday morning. We figure it will take approximately 3 hours 20 minutes to finish. I wrote the word in scary quotes because I don't see it as a much a race as an event for me. My goal is finishing upright and with the minimum amount of pain. Oh and under 4 hours. Even if I had to walk the final miles I can do this now.

Still, no weight has left the carcass.... muscles are more evident but the pudgy middle remains. Ah age. You are so cruel.

I made a sample of a Lone Star for an up-coming class at the shop.

This is all I intend to do as a sample but I will ring the entire quilt with more stars around the perimeter and make it larger. So much so I might not be able to quilt it myself. That's okay..... there are so many splendid machine quilters in this area, I will hire one to the job for me. This is a quilt I want to keep for our bed (king) so size is an issue. The fabric here is mostly from Kathy Brown's new Abigail line. Very talented artist just over in Baton Rouge.

I have the Seasoned Quilter on the machine right now and will go finish her up this evening.

I got a little depressed this morning while searching for something in the closet where the quilts hang, waiting for quilting. Depressed because of all the unquilted tops, lined up and stagnant. There are so many more in the works as well that will soon end up that black hole. And so many more I thought I wanted to make but it is getting ridiculous now.

There are 6 huge quilts in there, all identical except the fabric selection, that are making me really crazy. I was hoping to have them done LAST YEAR!!!!!! Ha! Fat chance. They DID make a real dent in my stash but not enough of one to make me less crazed.

I have to get more finished before the growing season starts up. Once that happens, I will be so far behind. Yikes... jus thinking about it makes me nervous.

I better go talk to the chickens

Feeling Sorry*

....for anyone who is even remotely like me.

One drawback to waking early (besides the obvious) is my habit of websurfing quiltblogs. Once in the web, I stumble upon so many potentially fun "challenges" that I really really want to join in on. Take for example this one:

Vicki Welch is hosting a challenge that makes you really think about color and how it is used to a great advantage in quilt-making. She has a 12 month challenge that looks so interesting, I immediately went to the the drawers of fabric and started pulling out what I had to match. Except not much matched with precision. Oh I found some fabrics but they were already ear-marked for other projects and I can't go scalping from to give to another. Which obviously means I will have to buy fabrics if I want to take part in this. And that goes directly against the resolution to use the fabric I have on hand and stop squirreling away all this boltage!

So I am in the horns of a dilemma of sorts. And I feel sorry for anyone who does this to themselves as well.....

Do I give this one a pass NOW before I really get immersed or do I pull up the web-site at the shop and find a few fat quarters and proceed with reckless abandon? What to do, what to do.... it really looks interesting and educational.....

see? I take on too many projects. That really goes without saying and I ought to simplify to some degree.

I'll think about it. I mean, it's just one block, right? One each month.... and I am coming to the end of the Civil War Commemorative quilts.

HEY! I made Miss February...

And we received our shipment of avocado trees! However, it is supposed to freeze tonight so now the orchard is in the entry hall, naturally. Can you believe how crazy the winter has been? I just planted salad greens and English peas out the garden on Wednesday and the tomato seeds indoors and here we get a hard freeze? I thought for certain Spring came early and completely. Goes to show you!

I tried to make yogurt yesterday. Tried as in failed to make yogurt yesterday. Was the milk too hot when I added the yogurt? Did it get too cold? hmmm so I am going at it again this morning. This time I am incubating it in a crockpot on low setting. Perhaps that will keep it at a steady temp.

I used to make yogurt, in India. And we made paneer but I don't remember how. It was just something we did every other day when the milk wallah came up the stairs and sold milk straight from the buffalo. Unpastuerized so we did that first. Boil the milk for 20 minutes. Cool. Skim the cream off the top and make butter and ghee. But that was so long ago...

Have you tried the "greek" yogurt out there? It is much thicker and I really like it. But it is expensive and I had a quart of milk extra (I forgot I had one in the fridge and bought a second one) so instead of drinking more milk than I ought, I thought HEY make yogurt!

See? I just keep adding more things in my day! Crazy!

I have decided to enter two maybe three quilts in a regional quilt show.
Two are finished and the third on needs quilting but I have another to get on the big machine first. It is for a cousin and will be picked up in early March. I'll post a photo of it when it is done.

*I don't feel sorry in the poor poor pitiful me.... I feel sorry there aren't more hours in the day to do everything. There are just too many fun things to get involved with out there!!!

Keeping With The Resolution

.. to get my closet filled with awaiting tops to get quilted, I have pinned the Six Halves Makes a Whole Quilt top on the machine and have finished 2 out of 9 rows. This is slow going but I am in no rush. (As long as I have it off the frame in 7 days!)

Linda Kay and I taught this as a class last year and each made a sample using different fabric schemes. I went, naturally, with batiks.

This is going to be heavily quilted with feathers and spikes. All the colored pieces will have simple wavy inlines and I'll let the heavy stuff show on the large expanses of background neutrals so they don't pop off so obviously.

We started off the day weeding in the raised beds. I have this sneaky suspicion that Spring is coming very early this year and I don't want to get caught with beds of healthy weeds! We received our seed order form Parks today and I am eager to get the seedlings started. Not yet! Not yet! I know.

John pruned all the peach trees and gave them a spray. We are planning on planting 4 avocado trees shortly as well now that we have found a good reliable source of them, cold hardy varieties for our location.

Last week I started to cut back severely on carbohydrates to see if that diet could help knock off some of this unshifting poundage I am carting around. The first two days were a snap but day 3 was weird.... I felt light-headed & ravenous and yesterday was strange, too. I've been eating eggs, cheese, meat, butter like crazy, etc but no substantial starch at all and at this moment I would gladly drink 4 oz of orange juice except for the fact that I have come so far and don't want to mess it up.

We ran 5K again today and I felt fine. I have not been hungry today since I ate 3 thick slices of bacon and scrambled eggs with cheese. It's nearly 5 o'clock and I am thrilled to learn that carrots and rutabagas are low carb roots. Thrilled because the garden is teeming with these veg and I want to eat them! That and kale.

Have I lost any weight? well... maybe two pounds. That is still in the range of daily fluctuations so I'm going with .... let's give it 2 weeks before I make any claims to success.

Now, why am I doing this? Because I don't want to haul any unnecessary weight around a 13.1 mile track!

Do the Funky Chicken!

Okay, here is the first month of the Funky Chicken BOM. So silly and whimsical.

And now I have excavated these to UFOs.

IS this on it's side? Or right-side up? Hard to tell.

A little washed out in the photo. The batiks glow

I had made, oh some 10 + yrs ago, a couple of mariner's compass wall-hangings and one huge quilt. These were the left-overs. Too much to throw away and not enough to make a lap quilt. What to do? I started by making blocks like a string quilt (although I didn't know back then that these are string quilts) and then just let the composition take it's own course.

THe one on top is very loose and reminds me somewhat of a Rothko painting. Blocks floating inside blocks and thin lines breaking the surface.

The bottom one, Angles, is much more controlled. Very balanced and 'equal', with the contradictory blocks making a break-away for the eyes.

Now I am back at the indecision as to where to go with them. I want to complete both or either.

Pick-Up Sticks from Strip Smart Quilts

I mentioned a few days ago I was scurrying to finish this in time for Saturday's Demo at Bright Hopes and as it happens, I will be able to get it there on my work day instead! Whoo-hoo!This is using Thimbleberry fabrics from my stash with a background I have been clinging to for 4+ years. It's about time it got (half) used up. The only thing I 'had ' to buy was the binding fabric because I really didn't have anything left after the pieced border. In fact, I would've made it larger had I had more fabric but I am truly stickin' to the resolution.

Well. It's Been Quite a Day

It started off with a passel of puppies.

8 black standard Poodle puppies to be exact. The mother of St. Tammany's Greatest Techie (AKA UberGeek) has a Poodle which just became a mama-dog to the sweetest litter on the planet. 8 squirming sausages all eager to latch on and grow except the runt, which has her work cut out for her as the others are so much larger and aggressive & basically hog all the available faucets.

She was warm in her own box but didn't stand even a fighting chance against the others, until the Vet said to take the others away totally and let her have as much as she could take in. I really hope she makes it. Mena, the mama, is the perfect mother. She dropped 6 of the puppies alone and took total care of them and then popped out two more. She doesn't make a fuss when we people interfere with nature. She is so good-natured about the whole process and this is her first time.

When I was a first-time mama, I was snarling at everyone. And I only had one!

I got home in the afternoon after stopping by the quilt shop to get some binding fabric. YOU KNOW WHAT MEANS!!!!

I finished the sample of the Pick-Up Sticks from Kathy Brown's Strip Smart Quilts Book and will sew on the binding tomorrow so I have it for the shop on Thursday. We have a Demo Day on Saturday with Kathy Brown showing her new Fat Quarter Cutter ruler and I was really hoping I would get in done in time.

And Kat came home for Spaghetti dinner with a sauce made from the garden. (summer garden, that is) Tomoz she is going to help me clean out 2 closets..... a Christmas gift!!! yippee!!!!!

I ran 4 miles yesterday and am gearing up for 11.5 next Sunday - Monday. Since I got off schedule over the holidays (c'mon... tell the truth.... would YOU run on Christmas Day and New Years day?) I am still working towards getting back on the Sunday long day runs....

This means I should be training Tuesday and Thursday and long runs on Sunday but I work on Thursday which make the schedule awkward.... so I go Tuesday Friday and (usually) Long Run Sunday. 11.5 miles..... man.... that sounds so far. And now I don't, won't have Rachel with me. Just the Ipod.

Ok.

Kathy Brown Is Coming to Town

I bought her book, Strip-Smart Quilts and the bizarre ruler I think back in August..... don't remember exactly and have been diligently clearing the decks to make time for one of the quilts in it. Pick Up Sticks is her version

And I am making it with Thimbleberries in autumn colors. I know, it's closing in on Spring but I am still sticking to my resolution of whittling the stash down to a more manageable size. It is so large, I still cannot see much difference.

(I can say the same thing about plogging and my thighs... but let's not go there, shall we? At least for this morning, I shall be foward-looking and completely optimistic.)

Anyhoo, Kathy Brown is coming to the quilt shop on Saturday, Jan 14 and I want to have this on hand to show her. I doubt I will have it quilted as well, but you never know.

I intend to take down the Christmas trimmings and tree today as well. Give the whole house a good dusting. That and another 5K.

Such a busy bee!

What A Way To Start The Year!!!

You're not going to believe this!!!!

I get a phone message from John, on the golf course, stating he hit a hole-in-one on the first hole, the first shot of the first day of the first month! His first hole-in-one!~ AMAZING!!!!!

And I finished my first of two Civil War quilts by Barbara Brackman.

It measures 84" Square which is really pushing the limit on my long=arm but I intend to try to do the quilting myself, hopefully by mid-January

Incrementally Speaking, I'm Okay

When I started this plogging, running around the block was out of the question. I couldn't make it to the end of the block, much less around it. 30 minutes seemed quite an achievement. Then 5K was an accomplishment.

Then going at it 3 days a week and looking forward to it seemed ludicrous and yet I passed that test a month ago.

So the 6.5 mile a few weeks ago made a 'mile-stone' in my thinking. Up til that point, I sort of thought of this whole plan in a negative way. "If I can can make it to 3 miles, I'm not doing bad at all!"

"If I can just get to 5 miles, I won't be a slacker for not going out yesterday. Or the day before. Slacker."

"If my feet don't give out at the 4 mile mark, it'll be a miracle!"

And here we are with just over 2 months to go and I can't believe how differently I look at the whole adventure.

This is similar to what I experience in quilting. When I first started, the idea of making a full-sized quilt seemed ridiculous, but I did it. Slowly. Then I made another one. It's been 26 years. Now, when I see a pattern or project, I automatically look at in terms of blocks. I break it down into it's elements and it doesn't seem so daunting a prospect.

A friend showed me the Civil War Quilt at the beginning of this year. This is a Block of the Week that stared back in January and every Saturday morning a new block and instruction was posted. They are all 8" and I thought that was a good idea. I didn't know how long it would hold my interest but making one 8" block doesn't take a lot of time. An hour, tops. Who doesn't have that time?

So, being me, I started making two color schemes. This is the reproduction fabric BOW

Just nine blocks there. But now I have two stacks of 51 blocks each and the year is almost finished. If I had not taken that first step and then the next, one foot in front of the other, sure, the time would have passed but I wouldn't have much to show for it.

And now two months into the plog-cycle, I look a little different. I feel a lot better and I look forward to something I can hardly believe is true.

I'm going to put that sticker on the back of the car, if I cross the finish line.

And don't be surprised if I change the if to when!

New Sample for the Shop

I have a large stash of fruit and veg fabric that I have been steadily plowing my way through....

Here is the latest sample made with a pattern in the book, Strip Six by Cozy Quilt Designs.

Squeezo Press Redux

Last year, I recounted the saga of the Squeezo tomato press and railed about losing so many tomatoes as we waited for it to arrive. This year, life is ever so much different. (I am pleased to say)

Here is it "in action" or at least as in action it could be considering I am alone pressing and shooting photos

The tomatoes go in the hopper ( I have been cutting up Romas only because this Margerita variety is so large, they can't enter the shaft unless I do)(they are very meaty with few seeds)

and the skin and seeds exit out the left while while the pulp flows down the chute into the bowl!

~Voila~

I am able to stay on top of the tomato crop as they ripen this year. So far, all the pulp is going into the freezer until I get so much I can thaw it all out, cook it down and can with the pressure cooker. The house heats up during that process so I don't want to be doing it all the time.

The jalapenos are busting out as well so I'll get busy with those here shortly, too. I grew a new variety, Mucho Nacho, and they are MUCH bigger than the ones last year. Less difficult to clean out.

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Here is the latest quilt I have been working on for a recent LSU ag graduate. The Dresden plate blades are fruits and vegetables.... get it? One more border to go and I'l throw it on the machine.

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I can't leave without mentioning Stu, best bird ever. He keeps a watchful eye out for the flock and never lets down his guard. I am so glad we have him out there. Good boy.

Well, Life On The Farm Is Kinda Laid-Back!

Ah, I miss John Denver's voice. When I am out wandering around the vegetables and chickens, I have that song playing in the recesses of my head.

We have had some great weather these past two days. It might be only one day but it feels like more. This is because I got all sorts of things accomplished yesterday.

Let's begin with...... THIS!

I have been wanting to paint a block on the coop and I knew it would be this one. It's called Chicks and Hens. HAhahahah love it. Subtle. An inside joke for us quilters.....

The chickens hung around and watched me do it as well. They are SO much fun to hang around with.

Stu talks all the time. He is out there clucking and muttering and crowing all day long. There were a few times when a hen was laying and he'd walk into the coop and chortle at her. If one of them made that buk-buk-buk-BAWKKK sound upon laying, he'd be in there in a flash to see what was happening.
See that? It's the beginning of our first artichoke........ so tiny, so delish! Well, okay, I don't know what they taste like, yet.

Now, yesterday on Facebook, Home Grown Edible Landscapes had a link to a recipe for Leek, Potato and Zucchini Potatoes. If you have been keeping up with the cats and quilts, you will know that leeks are something of a passion with me. They are so delectable and expensive in the stores and I have been trying to grow them for several years now. The timing has to be right to get a decent size. I have more than 40 out there growing and two of them were good-sized. We also have frozen zuccs and lots of baby greens out there and even the parsley in the herb garden so I made it exactly by the recipe and only needed to use bought potatoes. I added walnuts and some blackberries I found out by the mailbox.

Also, remember UberGeek? The best computer and cute dude who has straightened me and my issues with viruses now twice? His mother and my friend brought us a whole buncha rhubarb last year and I have a little bit left in the freezer so, after adding some Ponchatoula strawberries to the rhubarb, I have this for dessert. Rhubarb Crumb

So that you can see the progress on the green stuff, here is a shot of the herb garden. So mature compared to last year. The cilantro is still going strong and the fennel is ready to be braised. I can't believe how huge the oregano has grown and I have to really get a handle on the mint because it is getting out of control.
Here you see the beginning of the lower garden. Last year we laid it out a little differently but this year I have divided it up in quarters.

Imagine if you will, in the lower left, you have 4 rows; 3 of tomatoes and one of assorted winter squash. To the right with the supports are 4 rows: Cucumber, summer squash, green beans and ornamental gourds. Behind this in the 4 uncovered rows are the potatoes and to the far left back are 4 rows of bi-colored corn.

Now there is a disappointment growing. Or not growing , to be precise. Last week, we planted 2 kernels in every spot and 24 spots per row. As of now, there is less than half coming up and to be even less successful, although 2 kernels were planted, only one of them have bothered to show up.

So I think I will go out today and plant 3 in the empty places. They are supposed to germinate in 4 days and if I wait much longer to replant, they be so far behind the others as to perhaps not be fertilized later.

When the days are filled and sun's setting low, I pull out the fiddle and I rosin up the bow,

The kids're all asleep so I keep it kinda low........

THANK GOD I'M A COUNTRY BOY!

Signs, I'm Seeing Them - Update!

... and I do mean everywhere, lately. It is weird.

I love applique.

Let me rephrase that. I love the way applique looks and I appreciate the work that experienced stitchers create with this technique but it has never been a friend to me.

I have done it. Badly. I have done every technique in applique as well and have never been able to do the one I like the best, needle-turn applique. I couldn't figure out way I was so bad at it, either.

I work at a shop that hosts the Applique Society once a month and I get to see some beautiful handwork over the years. It pains me to see this and accept that it is simply beyond my reach. I thumb through the books that arrive before the hit the shelf and marvel at the designs. I yearn for it and still, I know I can't do this. groan.....

And lately, it seems there has been nothing short of a plethora of books and BOMS and projects every day in front of me!

Now, I have plenty of projects that need doing so it isn't like I'm looking for something to occupy my idle hands but I am drawn like an insect to a candlelight. It burns in me.

Well, whaddaya think happened the other day? A woman dropped in the store on her way home form GSQA seminar, where she had been the instructor for applique ..... and brought in her lovely samples of designs. Again, the burn began and we talked about my lack of ability in conflict with desire.

So, Violet Newby gave me a 25 minute class. One on One and she was equally informative and patient and concise. She showed me how to hold my hands to minimize joint stress, how to thumb the fabric to get a crease and most important: "Look only at the two stitches in front of the needle. Don't worry about the curve or the point ahead or anything else. Not even dinner. Focus on the 2 stitches in front of the needle. All the rest will be there when you get there."

Can I tell you how illuminating that was?

and guess what?

I can needle-turn.

I can needle turn. AND I CAN MAKE FINE POINTS! Well, okay finer points, then.

There was a reason I was being inundated with all this applique. They were signs. It was to soften up my resistance to be ripe for that moment.

I'm am working on my first block now and can't wait to post a photo.

Update Ta -da!!

Don't look too closely... no, go ahead! zoom in. See the 5 small circles below? Compare them to the other two. I needle-turned the 5 and was frustrated at my incompetence!

Yesterday was Applique Society at the shop (signs... I'm tellin' ya!) and I slounched over at one point to see if anyone was sewing circles and ask questions. They told me about this "Perfect Circles" plastics and how helpful they were to creating a more perfect circle. So I bought a pack and you can see them on a metal ring in the upper right corner. They did indeed make the circle more round. Now it is up to me to sew them down a little better.

I am finding that tools, (the right ones, that is) are critical to this technique. The needle I have been using is a tad too thick to pierce this batik I am using. I will try again (soon) with a straw needle.

Now that block is crude applique, I admit. The pieces themselves are HUGE compared to fine designs these hard-core stitchers in the Society whip out. Here, check this out!

THese are from a Halloween BOM and if the blocks are 12" square, I'd be surprised. We are talking tiny.

This shot is of the larger center of the design. She is stitching down candy now and in the empty spot will be a cauldron. Look at the bats' wings. Look at the acorns!!!! Compare her hands with the design and you get an idea how small the fabric pieces are. It is a marvel!

Quilts of Valor

For many years now, the organization Quilts of Valor has been spearheading the project of getting a quilt to wounded US soldiers and this year many fabric companies are getting on board.

You will begin to see a new push of patriotic fabric lines and patterns that promote this endeavor and if you are interested in making one or many to donate, here is the link for all you need to know.

Additionally, if you are new to quilt-making or have never made one and would like to take part in this, please contact your nearest or favorite quilt shop to see if they are planning to participate.

Bright Hopes Quilting in Mandeville, LA is going to be receiving fabric shortly and plan a sew day..... in anticipation, I have made this quilt which will be one of several to go on display at the shop.

When I get a better shot of it, I'll repost the picture.

One last thing...... Moda is also sponsoring this as well and has this to offer, Just One Star...check it out.

Twenty Years In The Making

When we moved home from working overseas 1989, I got a job working in New Orleans at a t-shirt printing company. It was there, in my last months that I met a man from Kenner with a fishing company (making lures and lead) who wanted to compete with Guy Harvey.

He liked those shirts but wanted to see more realistic representations of his favorite fish and hired the company to take a stab at it. "I don't want those dead cartoon eyes, either!"

I got the assignment and the next thing you know I am drawing and redrawing a speckled trout until I have it exactly right.

Then he said, "Now, turn the tail and make it look like it's chasing shrimp."

WHAT?!! Why didn't he tell me this 40 hours ago, right? Next thing I know, I have a pail of shrimp on my drawing table, and I am making them look like they're trying to flee from a turning speckled trout! This was the beginning of a long friendship with Pete Canal.

It's also how, after 20+ years, I have this T-shirt quilt finally completed. Every one of those t-shirts, I made; either through the old way of hand-made screens or as a painted canvas-turned t-shirt, all thanks to Pete. And also thanks to Pete, I actually have a copy of them after all these years in order to make the quilt.

This was the first: speckled trout. (If I knew that day when we started this project how long it would take to turn out, I am not certain I would have volunteered to take this assignment on. I am so glad I did.)

Here's where it gets interesting..... a few weeks ago, we were looking at the rebuilt camps along Lake Catherine and popped into a marina. Look what I found on the sale rack:

This is NOT mine but whoever made it, copied me. No one, including Harvey, was putting the bait in the design until Pete did it. (and they used shrimp. hello!?)

This one was so much fun to paint. I think I was living in Alaska at the time. The first large-mouth bass we did was a real hoot. I left the company I worked for right after the trout shirt came out and Pete hired me independently to create the next shirt: Large Mouth Bass (this is not it)(I have no copy and Pete's stock got damaged in Katrina) Pete wanted a LMbass chasing a frog through lilypads and brought over to our house both a dead bass and live (large) frog. When it was time to draw the frog, it escaped from me and started hopping all over the house. Man, can they jump! It took me, the girls and the guy next door lifting the sofa to finally catch the darned thing!

So a few years later, we make another LMbass chasing sac-a-lait. This one was painted.

The very last shirt we made together was in 1999 I think. Alligator. No, he didn't bring me a live alligator but I bet he would've , if I'd asked it of him, he is that crazy.

I loved this one. I think it is fitting that we ended on a high note.

Pete has all of the originals. I think we did a pretty decent job of this. All the shirt we have have held up to repeated washings without losing their ink. The shirts he bought were always of high quality.

I get a kick when I see someone wearing one ... besides us.

So two years ago, I contacted Pete about getting some of the shirts because for whatever reason, I was missing some. I have pellon copies but I wanted the actually jersey for this and as luck would have it, I had such a terrific selection of batiks, I was able to trap all the images with a complementary fabric to get them all the same size.

I just finished the quilting 2 days ago and now have the binding on.