checking in

It has been quite a week. I cannot say that I will be sad to say goodbye to April. at this point. Between the horrendous weather, a morning spent at the doctor's office, DJ's birthday, home duties to tend to I have not been very motivated after the sew-in. Understandable, I guess

I have been asked if my quilt group is okay. As far as I know, yes. I have not heard from a couple of the girls but judging by the storm's track none of us was in the direct line of fire. Some power outages and trees down but not on anyone's house. So minor compared to what others are going through. We are all saddened by the fatalities the state suffered, 9 in our county alone. Please continue to hold those affected up in prayer.

Above, left--This is what I SHOULD be working on. Well, at least the top is finally done. Trust me, I had my doubts for a while there. I pinned the giftie at the sew-in first thing but have not touched it since other than to switch out machines. I guess I shoot for Monday to start that machine quilting, is all I can say.

Oh the doctor did not notice that I had switched from red Santas to green baskets when I went for my appointment. I guess he is just to the fact that I was stitching by now. I told him I thought they were making the eyes of the needles smaller since I last saw him. He related that he had gotten his first pair of reading glasses---neither of us were wearing our corrective lenses though and I really need to get my eyes checked as I am going thru some changes, I can tell. I am afraid I might hear "trifocals" UGH!


At right, what I picked up to piddle with yesterday and today. Talk about small needles and needle eyes since I use 12's. I do love hand quilting and do not get to do it often enough. What do you think? Should I be quilting thru the whole block or leave it like I have it so the Santa looks to be floating on the top? What is the classic look for embroidered blocks? I am undecided about quilting around the main motif. It might detract too much from the stitchery plus I think the cross hatching will provide enough "weighing" down in the block anyway.




And here is the "Happy Birthday" Dutch Apple Pie I made for DJ the other day. I do cake much better when it comes to baking, if the truth were to be told. BUT we had had cake recently and he wouldn't/couldn't tell me what kind he wanted. I suggested "pie then?" My dad would be a pie for birthday guy---cherry pie specifically.My sister-in-law Jen makes a wonderful mile high apple pie that is delish! I will have to be sure to get her recipe when I go "home" next month. Anyway-------

I used the recipe found on Food.com HERE after comparing 4 or 5 recipes from various sources. As with most recipes, they never clearly tell you what type of apples to use or necessarily, how many to buy which aggravates me no end. I don't make pies often and some things need to be spelled out! One source said not to use Granny Smiths and another said TO use them. HUH?? Make up your minds and quit with the contradictory information! Then I read that Golden Delicious, Gala and Fuji would be a good choice along with some that I knew I would never find in our market. I am marking this recipe accordingly 2 of each kind. For the record it took 7 1/2 apples to equal the 5 1/2 cups of peeled, cored sliced apples. Pet Ritz did the deep dish crust far better than I could too. I know how to make pie crust but just do not very often. Pretty yummy pie, if I do say so. I made a mess serving the first slice as it was just a tad too warm from the oven but it ate up just the same.

Soon I better be solving that old dilemma of what to fix for supper. The day before grocery shopping is always a challenge but we won't starve.

Hope things are going well in your neck of the woods----

we're fine

I had intended to post some pictures from our sew-in for my next post----and I will in a day or two but that is not what is on my heart today. Distant friends, family and my blog readers may be wondering...............

Yesterday the State of Alabama went through the worst weather outbreak of tornadoes they have ever experienced. The weather guy says a "once in a lifetime weather event" and compared it to another similar outbreak from April 1974. Other states were involved, don't get me wrong, but I think Alabama bore the brunt of it. It may not be done yet as this heads to the East Coast and Atlantic Seaboard. You can read about it HERE or possibly you have read about it in your own local paper since it is on the AP wire. Or it may have made the national news blurbs. There is video on You Tube HERE of some of what we were seeing yesterday in weather coverage. There is also good information on the ABC 3340 weather blog HERE, a source that I use often.


Often when we have tornadoes in the state they seem to move in a track that roughly follows I-59 which angles across the state from Tuscaloosa on up towards Chattanooga, TN. The topography of the land made it a good spot to build the interstate but it looks like tornado alley. We watch our weather guys on ABC 3340 track them across the state----the tornadoes pop up and blessedly, peter out or pop back up in the clouds and dissipate before they quite get to Calhoun County. DJ and I breathe a sigh of relief and he goes out to check if any shingles blew off the house the next morning.

Yesterday that was not how these things were behaving. Wave after wave of tornadoes were coming and these were the long track kind. They were definitely down, staying down, 1/2 mile and at least a mile wide and nasty------and heading for extremely populated areas of the state. Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and its suburbs, downtown Cullman just to name a few areas that kept getting bombarded. Worse yet, we were seeing them form right in front of our eyes on the u-stream, on the video, because of the continuous weather coverage.

DJ and I are fine. One tornado tracked just a tad to the north of us apparently in a similar path as the Palm Sunday tornado in 1994---Piedmont and the Cherokee-Calhoun County line. (Mary Frances will remember that one and I knew about it even when I lived in IL) . It occurs to me now, that this was the very same tornado that was on the ground from MS, thru Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Fultondale, Ohatchee in the northwest part of my county and then on to Rome and Ringgold, GA.

Later another would come up from the south end of the county. We were hearing parts of our more immediate area called out on the radio . There was rotation spotted on radar and moving towards the north. By that time we were without power for a couple hours. Following our tornado plan we sat in the bathroom and/or interior hallway with hard hats on. Skyler spent most of the day under the bed---he hears the sirens, weather alert radio, wind, blowing rain, thunder, he's gone. Even after that threat ended, another one seemed to be heading our way from Talledega but that one did seem to peter out and go away. We went to bed. Anyway, we dodged the bullet in our immediate area. The northwestern part of the county was not so lucky. (Our house is sorta central Calhoun County)

Before the worst of the weather blew in from MS earlier in the afternoon, parts of the state had been hit by straight line winds. The NOA radio was going off about 6:30 in the morning. We did the hard hat routine around 7 a.m. Parts of the county already had trees down, damage to property and such. I had seen the pictures from an area west of Jacksonville (Pleasant Valley), near Ohatchee, Ragland, huge tree had fallen on the Victoria Inn in downtown Anniston from our local paper's website. A quilting acquaintance of mine that lives near J'ville had reported her roof was gone, lots of trees down, and outbuildings gone in that blast of weather. There was a death reported on the radio but that later proved to be incorrect. It cleared up, the sun came out, we had a 1/4 inch of rain in the gauge and no missing shingles. DJ was able to go to his morning doctor's appointment without detours or difficulties. We even went out to his fav spot for an early birthday lunch.

But it got worse, far worse last night. I don't know if you will be able to open this article in our local paper or not as you may need to be a subscriber. Anyway, it describes a situation similar to what they are finding all across the state. There are flattened houses that may or may not have survivors in them but they can't get to the houses to check due to downed trees and power lines.

Last night the reporters described people were being carried out by volunteers on doors or boards whatever they can find in Pleasant Grove, near BHM. Things that WERE there are gone, just gone. The death toll is rising as search and rescue does its job and cleanup efforts begin. The National Guard has been called up.

No part of the country is immune to some form of natural disaster, I know. We personally are fine but others in the state are hurting, badly. Please keep them in your prayers.

Now, since the power is back on I have no excuses for not heading out to the kitchen to make that Dutch Apple Pie I promised the birthday boy. (THX Marilyn for the offer of your oven last night. Power came back on about 30 minutes after we spoke.)

finished to flimsy

I just finished taking the last stitches on the borders of the FAB bday giftie---woohoo! Finished to flimsy.

Nope, can't show it till we have the reveal. For a variety of reasons, another birthday has been pushed back a month when hopefully everything has calmed down and we can all be in one spot, one weekend in early June. Still, I want to get this moved on to the recipient sooner than later as I have other things on the horizon.

I'll pull some backing in a bit but it is doubtful that I will spray baste it and start quilting it this evening. I want to do a little maintenance on the machine before I swap out for the one I use to quilt. Truth be told, the Brother is way past due for a service call but it will not happen this week. Or next.

Tomorrow my quilt group is having an all day sew-in. We used to do it for two full days and kind of got out the habit in recent years. We can work on whatever we want to but I plan on spray basting the giftie first and then focusing on a donation top and/or blocks. Most likely that will be the top I had started with the triple rail blocks but I have some bowtie block materials in the car as well. I already made my "dish to pass" this morning. Next thing I know it will be time to make supper. This day is going quickly!


So to keep this from being a pictureless post a view of some of the flowering stuff around here. Both are invasive plants/shrubs and quite fragrant. Above, you see the honeysuckle that is taking over the needle point holly at the end of our lane. To the right, Chinese privet is pictured. Everywhere you drive, you see one or both of these growing, flowering and stuffing up the nose, LOL.

We are due for some stormy weather by mid week again. Not surprising considering what I know has been brewing up in the Midwest. The St. Louis area was badly hit over the weekend. DJ and I are Cardinal fans and the team was playing host to the Reds this weekend and they got all the games in. (And even better, the Cards won 2 out of 3!)

I hope you all had a good Easter weekend. DJ and I elected not to go the traditional Easter meal with ham and all the go-with's. I wanted scalloped potatoes but not enough to have the oven on for 90 minutes when it was up to 81 inside my house before we turned on the a/c. We went with steaks on the grill which was a real treat for us. Since I am NOT planning anything special for his birthday meal later in the week (he wants to go Cici's for pizza lunch) I told him that steak meal could go for both his birthday AND Easter. Since it took us 3 days to get that grill put together, I am going to use it!

Thanks for stopping by---------

WIP Weds

Another day with waves of thunderstorms rolling in. I have powered down the computer twice already and elected NOT to even get started on the sewing machine for the same reason.

How about marking the next set of embroidery blocks instead? The basket blocks are somewhat monthly or seasonal themed by Cyndi Hoeller of Bee Tree Designs. Norma and I located the design printouts HERE on Flickr but she is currently showing some wonderful child friendly designs on her blog called "Pennies for Rylee".

Since we have done some embroidery in red (Alex Anderson's 12 Days of Christmas hearts and flowers) and blue (calendar snowmen) I said "how about green for something a little different?" It is Norma's fav color, after all. A friend of mine had done the blocks in Nancy Martin's Kitties to Stitch and Quilt in green. It turned out wonderfully. I own the book and they show one set of the blocks done up with a triple rail and nine patch sashing, cornerstones in 30 repro fabrics for a framed square version. Anyway, I shared a picture of the finished quilt with her and she's" in." I was still not sure about that decision but the more of these blocks that I mark with the green pigma pen, the more I like the shading!

I am due for a doctor's appointment in about a week. Last time I saw the doctor he commented about my embroidering at the visit "you were doing that LAST time you were here" Uh, yeah! It is my carry around project, after all. It helps me wait more patiently as I just can't sit and read ancient magazines. I want to see if he notices that I changed colors, LOL as well as subject matter. Santas to baskets, red to green. One color projects are easier to transport and we will be logging some car time when we go back to IL for the grandson's high school graduation.

Hopefully the weather will clear up tomorrow and I can get to sewing on the giftie. The deadline got pushed back a bit but I may come close to getting it to the Bday FAB fairly close to her special date. My goal, anyway.

got yellow?

FAB pal Cher had asked the group for some yellow strips, any length and width. I had raided my 1 1/2, 2 and 2 1/2 inch strips but in the process of digging around should have waited to see what else might be hiding in that large tote on the right. I already mailed a packet to Cher this morning but she may be getting more when I mail out her giftie before long.

One of the errands I ran today was to get a couple more stackable snap totes. I have several of these separating out fabrics by color and/or theme. To this point, the yellows and golds were all lumped in with a portion of the orange, peach and rusts. Not anymore. I filled up a 20 qt like you see on the left with the orange groupings from the big 28 qt container on the right. I am starting to wonder if a 20 qt. is going to be big enough for ALL the yellows. The math does NOT add up..

The basket was just a temporary arrangement containing some recently used yellows that need to go BACK in a container. It is not as full as it looks once I get things re-folded and joined with some dupes in the large tote.

I see some yellow quilts in my future, don't you? Or yellow added projects anyway. It IS one of my favorite colors---so cheerful. Actually I think this is a good way to re-visit your stash and remind yourself just what you have. I already pulled one piece out that would go well with a bricks project I already have cut. No doubt there is more that could be set aside. Some solids are in there that don't really "belong", for example.

Best get crackin' as this stuff is not going to fold itself. Wish me luck!

no design wall today

Well, I did have something on there but I can't show you yet. Top secret project continues today though I did finish up a segment of it. No, not even a peek.

After tearing up the room on a fabric hunt and messing up the sewing room with strings and foundation piecing papers laying all about, the next thing that happens in here had better be a good cleanup.

I have been bent over the sewing machine for the better part of 5 days so I think tomorrow I will take off, go to lunch with my husband, run a few errands. Maybe some of the hand work on the April button up or hand quilt a bit on my Santa quilt. Yeah, that's the ticket!

WIP Weds

Okay, what I am actually working on , I cannot share since it is a gift and the recipient does follow my blog. I got a bit of the piecing done on Monday but approaching storms necessitated shutting down shop.

Yesterday was quilt meeting so I didn't feel much like working on it last night. It is one of those patterns that require paying attention and follow the pattern step by step. I know better than to sew when I "don't feel like it". I vastly enjoy piecing but the unpiecing, not near as much, don't you? VBG

SO here is one of Lois' wonderful scrappy tops that she brought to the meeting with her. I found the pattern online at about.com's quilting site and ran her off a copy, knowing how we look for scrappy quilt ideas or ideas on using cut squares and strips. This year our hunt is increased since the group is doing a scrap bag challenge! You can find the pattern HERE. I did combine all the pages into a document though to make it easier to print off. If anyone wants it as an email attachment that you can download and then print, let me know.

Lois' daughter has recently bought a long arm (or maybe it is a mid arm, not sure?) machine and they are both going through the instructions provided by the company. The donation quilts are a great way for them to practice. After discussing whether the three tops she brought should be pinned or her taking the tops with just our batting over to Lauri's, she cut out what she needed. I know she has other ones that are already pinned at home. On those she possibly have skimped a bit or even trimmed the batting down for quilting on the domestic machine. The tops she brought yesterday, she could be more generous or take extra batting home to piece it to a wider width.

I marked the Santa top for cross hatch hand quilting and we pinned it along with one of the donation tops. Oh, I have "tons" more to pin, personal and donation, but I am bound and determined not to have a pile of pinned tops up there till that last personal quilt is dealt with! (read: as soon as the gift is done)

We did find out that one of our members will soon be moving up to the Knoxville, TN area. As I suspected, the tops the group recently pinned for her will be coming to me after all. I had wanted her to at least TRY to quilt them herself rather than her continuing to expect me to do it just because I am the group leader. She will not have time to deal with them with packing, moving and unpacking. They can live at the meeting site for the time being if they have to till I am caught up enough to allow them to come home with me.

Changing course here. Before I forget, I had referred to the Billie Lauder way to doing two four patches at one time from two squares. A couple people asked about that so I went hunting and found a link to a video tutorial of Billie demonstrating the technique. It includes a way of looping them with say, a string of 5 inch charm squares for scrappy 4 inch finished 4 patch units. Too bad I didn't see that before I started the 4 patch diagonal quilt, LOL. It possibly would not have worked for my version with the background color remaining the same but I can see other applications that it would! All that narrative is probably making NO sense to you so go watch the video, LOL. The link is HERE .

You can, of course, make the 4 patches any size. The formula is "the finished size of your 4 patch unit plus 1 inch" for your cut squares. 4 inch finished 4 patch? You would cut 5 inch squares, 5 inch finished, 6 inch, and so on. I know she shared all this stuff on the old "Simply Quilts" show and you find other Billie things online as well.

Also you may be interested in her method of doing two nine patches at once from two cut squares from her Quick Quilt Tricks booklet shown on in a tutorial on this blog post . While the blogger does not specifically say it is a "Billie" trick, it IS how it is done. You end up with one 5 dark/4 light squares and one 4 light/5 dark nine patches out of the deal. The formula you use is "finished size of the block plus 1 1/2 inches" NOTE: something easily divisible by 3 is helpful. If you want 7.5 inch finished 9 patches then you use two squares 9 inches to start with and 9 is divisible by 3 at 3 inches. 6 inch finished, squares are cut 7.5 and divides by 3 at 2.5 and so on. I don't think she included that in her instructions. Clear as mud? Go look at the pictures, LOL.

I have a couple of things to follow up with for the quilt group so will close this for now. Hopefully I will be able to report a "finish to flimsy" on the gift piece in a day or so--even if I can't share any pictures till after the online birthday party.