Too Much Fun

I told you I had too much fun checking blogs. One day I will have an original thought--but not today. I did my own sign.

Street Sign Generator

Blogs -- So Much Fun

Oh, how I wish I had time to play in my quilt shack! Each morning I check my favorite blogs to see what these ingenious ladies are doing. Now--I want to do all the crafts.

Look what I found this morning:

Make a designer hospital gown. Check this link, too at Skip to My Lou blog. How neat is that?

Make useful items out of ice cream cartons. Cool!

Look at this precious Memo Board. I am going to work on one of these soon.

Make your own Lick and Stick paper -- homemade stickers.

And then for an inspirational thought for the day, I love checking out Rachel Anne. What an uplifting blog!

I will think on these things as I sit on the lawn mower and cut grass--along with my thoughts and prayers of mission trip to Peru, crafts for children in Peru, parents transition into retirement home, grandkids, son's job hunting, learning a few Spanish words, etc.

Wednesday

Today is a beautiful day outside. Hopefully, it is as cool and nice tomorrow when I cut the yard.

My days in my quilt studio have been far and few between. Lots going on here in the country.

I now have a picture of another tag blanket I made for Josie Clare. Hers has a satin back. Hope the babies will enjoy their tag blankets.

Sew Many Ways

Sew Many Ways blog has a great giveaway. Check out her blog. Every Tuesday she gives you a cool, inexpensive tool tip--http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/2009/08/give-away.html

Another WIP Completed

In June my Michigan grandchildren visited, and I began two quick projects (dresses) for them--while they were here in the South. Well, now it is the middle of August, and I am just now finishing my projects. We have had a busy summer. Oh, they wanted purses, too. Then I wanted to make a tag blanket for little Maggie.

I am not much on making dresses since my granddaughters are growing and so far away, but I loved making the little purses. They were too easy. I kind of made it up as I went. Really I was thankful for the request for dresses and purses because they said they were going to go back to Michigan and Mammy (other grandmother) could make them circus outfits. I will gladly let her make the circus outfits.

My daughter-in-law, Jaime, said this dress was really "funky". I think that is a compliment.

After Surgery

See what can be done while waiting for hubby to have surgery. He is doing great and we are so very thankful. God is so good and we are so blessed. (Oh, I just finished two hexagons at the hospital.)

Sunday

My posts have been slim and few between. I have several WIP and have been working on them in what little spare time I have had.

I wanted to post a project that I have begun, and I can work on this when Sonny is watching "Dirtiest Jobs" or when I travel, take parents to doctor visits, . . . take with me tomorrow when my husband has back surgery. He has been in lots of pain and we are hoping for instant relief.

I love the hexagons. My mother asked how long it would take to make a quilt. I am not sure but know all quilts are "one stitch at a time." Anyway, hexagons are cheerful! (I am using the English piecing method. See tutorial at SewManyWays)

Vacation

Well, I have been busy the last month and have neglected my blog. This last week Sonny and I went to the Smokies and then to Knoxville to the quilt expo. We had a great, relaxful week.

Here is a picture from our cabin--don't think I need any explanation.

View from My Porch

I am blog-post happy today. I just had to take a picture of my view. I love the blue sky and a little bit of green after such a wonderful rain yesterday.

Honey Bun Cake

Today I needed a quick dish to take to someone's house. This is one of my Mother's favorite desserts because it can be used for a breakfast bread, too. I decided to post a recipe and pictures. Hope you enjoy.

1 yellow cake mix (without pudding)
4 eggs
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup water
8-oz. carton sour cream

Mix above ingredients together, and pour into a 13 x 9" pan.

Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the brown sugar mix over the cake (pic 1), and take a knife and swirl it over the cake (pic 2), being careful not to touch the bottom of the pan.

Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes.

The glaze consists of whisking 1 cup of sifted powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp. milk, and 1 tsp. vanilla together. Pour over the top of the hot cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.

This smells so yummy!

Last Week's Meals

I have taken some time off this past week to enjoy the week with grandkids, Gabby, Hannah, Andrew, Jacob, and Maggie and sometimes Jase. We enjoyed having the Michigan bunch. They are good eaters so meals were not such a chore, and I also had a plan. For future reference, the temperature was close to 100 degrees each day. We have had rain since they have been here but when they were here, no rain for 30 days.

Tuesday
Lunch -- homemade barbeque pork sandwiches
Dinner -- Fried catfish, potatoes, salad, pound cake

Wednesday
Breakfast -- they really enjoyed a variety of Kellog's small cereal boxes. I had also made bran muffins.
Lunch -- Hot dogs
Dinner -- roast, rice/gravy, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, salad, homemade rolls and ice cream dessert (mixture of vanilla ice cream, oreos, and Cool Whip)

Thursday
Breakfast -- pancakes and bacon
Lunch -- picnic at water park with Kentucky Fried Chicken
Dinner -- Gabby's birthday -- hamburgers and the works, birthday cake.

Friday
Breakfast -- cereal again (cereal with sugar is a treat) (I cannot believe I have not fixed this Michigan crew some grits. Oh, well, maybe next visit.)
Lunch -- ham sandwiches and chips -- picnic outside on patio
Dinner -- Chicken spaghetti, corn, peas, rolls, brownies

Prayer Quilt 6

Here is the latest prayer quilt for a dear lady who has been placed on hospice.

Just a little information about my choice of fabric and design. First, we receive the material and then select a simple pattern. I receive one charm pack of 20 squares from Keepsake Quilting each month. I do not know what material will be in the package and just use what they send to make a quilt. I must add material for borders, fill in, binding, and backing. There are only two of us completing the quilts. I usually cut and iron and Jeri sews. I finish the quilt with borders, backing, quilting, and binding.

PS -- I have a great camera but always use the picture manager to crop and make smaller--so the final photo does not do the quilt justice. The border on this quilt is a soothing shade of pale yellow.

Wedding

My blog and interests are in quilting, but I have found so many blog friends who are so talented and love working with their hands. I thought I would share this picture with my blog friends. My brother and his wife, David and Marilyn, and his family of 5 children built this home from the ground up with their own hands. This is a picture just days before the wedding. They were still working on the banisters around the porch and steps. My brother is so proud of his real working shutters. The home is beautiful and a wonderful place for a wedding.

Ellen and Ryan's Wedding

We had a wonderful weekend attending the wedding of my niece, Ellen. My brother and his wife, sisters and husbands, my husband, my mother-in-law, my niece and her husband and I had a great time together as we honored the bride and groom with a rehearsal supper. My brother, Oby, and sister-in-law, Shirley, are so talented, and we just did as we were instructed.

Shirley instructed us on how to fold some cute angel napkins. Then she showed us how to decorate the candle stands. If anyone needs to know how to fold an angel napkin, just ask me, because we ended up folding almost 100. The menu consisted of a cold tomato soup followed with a tiny ice cream cone of sorbet. A buffet was set with grilled chicken, baked potatoes, green beans, and rolls. Dessert was banana pudding. We served about 65 seated guests.

The outside wedding on Saturday was so sweet. The bride was glowing. The bride is quite a cook, so she, her mother, sisters and friends fixed the food for the reception complete with a lemonade stand, an ice cream bar, and tables of good food. They even had a children's table complete with all kinds of outside games and toys.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the guys around me. Sonny is a great father to five sons who are good fathers. We have been blessed with wonderful fathers and grandfathers and father-in-laws who have had a tremendous influence on us. This is our day to reflect on our blessing and thank the greatest Father of all, our heavenly Father.

Grandchildren

Today is my birthday and I am so very blessed. My wonderful husband prepared me a delicious dinner. My son cut my yard and I had many Happy Birthday wishes. Here are more of my blessings--the rest of my grandchildren--Gabby, Hannah, Andrew, Jacob, Maggie, Nikolas, and Shannon. Jase and Josie Clare are shown in yesterday's post.

Josie Clare

Josie Clare is here. She arrived at 10:14 a.m. on June 8, 2009. She weighed a little over 8 pounds. Josie Clare and mother are doing great. Big brother, Jase (2), is great. He is staying here with Grammy and Granddaddy and wakes up with a smile and goes to bed with a smile. He is so much fun and doing great. Hope to have a picture to share.

Coin Quilt

Well, I finally completed the coin quilt. Recently, I saw on Moda Bake Shop a quilt that had a ruffle edge and thought I would add a ruffle to this quilt. I do not think I will do that again. It was a PAIN! However, I have learned how not to do it. Adding the patchwork to the back of the quilt seems to be quite popular. (I saw this on http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/). I used a pantograph for the stippling quilting. I cannot doodle. I tell the story that even as a child I did not color, because I could not make up my mind which color to use. I find the same problem with quilting so I tend to buy charm packs, or copy colors from a pattern, or I get someone at the quilt shop to help me out with color selection.

By the way, the pink material were scraps from two baby quilts I have made.

Pic 1 -- front of coin quilt

Pic 2 -- close up of front

Pic 3 -- back of coin quilt

Another P & S

Here is another Prayers and Squares quilt. After ties are added, the quilt is presented to the church and members will voice a specific prayer for the recipient of the quilt, and tie a knot. The quilt will be presented to Nancy who is battling effects of cancer.

About the quilt--made from a Moda layer cake, it measures 50" x 50". It is quilted in a 2" arch.

Joining the Binding Ends

Do you have problems joining the ends of your binding. Well, one of my favorite tasks of making a quilt is finishing with the binding. My only problem has always been joining the ends of the binding. I always had too much material or lumps but never a smooth finish--until I found the following method. I have wanted to prepare a tutorial, and this is my first quilting tutorial. I have not been able to find a tutorial on this subject on the blogs I follow. My tutorial pictures are not as clean as those on other blogs but here goes.

1. When you begin stitching the binding, start in the middle of one of the sides, leaving an 8" tail. Stitch the binding on all sides of the quilt but stop about 10" from where you began. Remove the quilt from the machine.

2. Working on a flat service, pull the binding ends together to meet in the middle.

3. Crease both ends where they meet, leaving a 1/4" space between the ends.

4. Cut one end off at the crease.

5. Measure and cut the second end the binding width from the crease. My binding is 2 1/4" wide so I cut the second end 2 1/4".

6. Now join the two ends with a diagonal seam careful not to twist.

7. Finish sewing the binding to the quilt.

That is all there is to perfect binding. Hope this tutorial helps with your binding success.