Hello again

OK, I've been away a while. November and December were busy.  In my last post, I detailed all of the things we had lined up for the month.  Add in the holidays, time spent taking care of the twins and my constant drive to do a few more quilt squares.  I spent one evening in December at my local quilt shop learning an easy exploding pineapple table runner.  I think it turned out pretty well.

Front of the Exploding Pineapple Tablerunner

Back side of the Exploding Pineapple Tablerunner

In the new year I have been working on another Block of the Month.  Soon I'll have enough finished to begin to post.  I've also been working on a king size bed quilt and a sofa quilt (about 60 x 60).  We start the spring series of BBQ judging this weekend at Perry, GA and are heading out to Florida for a vacation with Meg and her family in late March.

Almost done with my Block of the month

Well, I'm down to sandwiching, quilting and binding my Craftsy block of the month quilt.

Not a great picture, but it is turning out much nicer than I had expected.  It will probably end up on one of the bunk beds in the camper.  So I guess I will have to do another quilt before camping season in the spring so both beds will have quilts.

I am still working on a king size quilt for our bed, but I'm a long ways from being finished.

The color is a little faded, but you get the idea.  There will be 25 of these block sets (5x5) and I will quilt them individually and  put them together with lime green sashing.  I want to do another four-block set with pieced seasons blocks (snowflake, daffodil, sun and autumn leaves) to set in the middle of the backing with the rest of the sets a deep grey-green.

I have couple of small projects in mind for Christmas, but they may turn out to be Easter gifts.

Sid and I will be camping later this week in Pine Mountain, GA at FDR State Park.  Next week we head to Charleston, SC for Thanksgiving, and the following weekend we are judging BBQ in Calhoun, GA, almost to Tennessee.  The KOA campground is sponsoring a BBQ contest right in the campground, so we should wake up to the delicious aroma of smoking meat.  Sid will be in California working for 2 weeks in December so I will have a chance to catch up around here.

Retirement sure is exhausting!

A busy Fall

OK, I'm still remiss about taking a picture of the twins' quilts.  I made a pair of placemats for us

and a casserole carrier.  I was trying out my pattern on the casserole carrier hoping to make one suitable for a Christmas gift.  Well, the first one is mine--too many flaws for a gift.

 But I can use it as a pattern for a future one.

I got involved in non-quilting projects - a marble maze made from those wooden trays from Michaels's that have those handholds on the side.  I used dowels to make the walls of the maze, but next time I think I'll get wood strips about a quarter of an inch wide and at least a half inch high.  The dowels make it too easy to jump the rails (and cheat). 

We have been judging a couple of barbeque contests on the weekends as well.  Yesterday we were in Blairsville, GA, a town in the North Georgia mountains where the leaves are just beginning to turn.

 Nearly every town was having some kind of festival (Apple Festival, Sorghum Festival, etc.) so the traffic coming home was rough. But it was a great day with great barbeque.  Next weekend we will be at another contest, this time with Steve and Elise judging as well.  We will be camping with them and the twins, and we are really looking forward to it.

Well, I finally finished the quilts for the twins, but I took them over without taking a picture.  Next time I go over, I take a picture in situ and post.  I thought they looked pretty good in their rooms.

Coming out of the stone age

Well, my iron wasn't exactly "Stone Age" but I'd had it a lot of years.  As I have been spending more time quilting lately, I have gotten really frustrated with it.  It had a mind of its own!  When I wanted steam, I hoped it wanted steam at the same time.  When I needed dry, I prayed that my iron would cooperate.  Most times my iron and I were on opposite sides of the wish.  So yesterday afternoon, ready to pull my hair out because old unfaithful refused to deliver steam no matter what setting I was using, I broke down and bought a new iron.  Yes, I paid more than I would have liked, but it was a $40 Shark rather than a $100 Rowenta.  The reviews online were mixed (I've been checking for a couple of weeks) for both the moderately priced Shark and the higher end Rowenta.  So now I have lots of steam when I want it, and none when I don't.

 

And speaking of quilting, a plan change on Fisher's quilt.  As I started to lay out the fabrics, I realized that the crayon motif for the border was too dark, so I'm looking at a white border.  Don't tell me boys and white are doomed to fail, I know it.  But the reverse side is dark (with the crayon border) and thoroughly boy-proof.  This is a reversible quilt so that when he gets too old for Richard Scarry (I'll never be too old for Richard Scarry) he can use the sports balls side.  Meredith's quilt is also reversible with mod-ish owls on the reverse.

We'll now that I've finished lunch I guess I'll go play with my new iron.

See ya next time.

this weekend....

Well, posting two days in a row---that's a record.

This weekend, Sid is gone to New York and Pennsylvania to work with the Boy Scouts.  Meg's husband Rich and our second grandson Patrick are involved in the Boy Scouts' National Youth Leadership Training camp for this week.  Like last summer, Sid is participating, mainly working in the kitchen.  That is a big surprise, eh?  He even brought a "magic chair" that forces him to fall asleep whenever he sits in it ( a carryover from the camping trips when Steve was a Boy Scout).

So, what does that mean for me?  Quilting for one.  I am working on several items right now: a block of the month class from Craftsy.com, twin size quilts for my youngest grandchildren, Meredith (call me Missy) and Fisher (but I'll answer to Buddy).  Missy's is pink with a nursery rhyme motif  in the center each of the squares.  The back side will be a pink and green frog pattern.  I am adding the border next as I have pieced all of the squares.  Buddy gets to enjoy Richard Scarry's Busytown  in window-like blocks, alternated with light blue and white rail fence blocks.  I have a crayon motif border ready to go on and the back side is alternating squares of sports balls and a red white and blue pattern.  I've got the fabric for a queen size quilt for the camper when these projects are done, and I plan to make an insulated casserole carrier in my spare time.

I've just returned from the new Publix supermarket with the fixings to make pizza tonight for dinner.  I also picked up a six-pack of craft beer to accompany my pepperoni and mushroom pizza.  Publix has a good dough available in the bakery section, so it is now proofing in the kitchen.

My nook is plugged in and charging and I expect to get back to reading later this afternoon.

So now you've visited Weekend at Bernie's....glad to have ya here.

Well, I'm back and this time maybe I'll continue with this.  Since my last post 4 years ago so much has happened...retired, moved, had a couple more grandchildren, started quilting, etc. etc. 

 A lap quilt I made for my mother as she was in the final stages of cancer.  It brightened her room for the last month before she died.

 Fisher -- my youngest grandchild.  He's just a few minutes younger than his twin sister, Meredith.

Yep, that's a barely warm marshmallow that passes for toasted when a 3 year old cannot wait any longer.