Sticking and Stabbing

Good Morning from Texas!

I decided to haul Jane Stickle out yesterday (last evening, actually) & do some sticking & stabbing on her. She has been rather neglected of late & seems to have set up a whining that can not be denied. Sticking & stabbing seems to be a better description than quilting on what I do to them.

WHUT? Your quilts don't whine to be quilted? Amazing...I am moving to your house...course it could be because I have more that needs quilting than already quilted? SO, does that make them WIP's, UFO's, PIG'S or exactly what does that make them? Besides UN-quilted quilt tops? :)

I managed to turn the corner & begin down the long row on the outer edge. I need to count how many blocks I like in the actual body of the quilt. Not too many truly.

The bottom px is one I posted back awhile ago. Have not taken any new ones & my camera battery needs charging, it was protesting on the corner px.

Ya'll have a great day & a wonderful week end!

One of the corners: My quilt is named: "Jane Stickle's Journey" (from the book: 'Dear Jane' by Brenda Papadakis)

What a difference a day makes...except in summer!

Good Morning from Texas!
The humidity slaps you in the face the minute the door is opened & saps the air you try to breathe right on away. I am no longer fond of summers as I was in younger days but this year has really sapped & drained me. I know the rest of the population has also suffered likewise. Whatever happened to our drier dessert climate? I wish it would return!

The mowing service comes today. I am always glad to have the lawn manicured & tidy. I used to do the mowing & enjoyed it. I like the comfort of the A/C better today. :)

I noted yesterday the Pampass Grass is putting on new heads.

The next person that mentions making curtains to me is going to get a knot slapped on their little pointed heads. I sew one stitch & frog stitch 10 stitches. I have no idea why I cannot seem to proceed as this is basic 5th grade school sewing.
Well, now..... I've answered my own problem...this is beyond my basic sewing skills these days. :)

Thanks for coming by! Wishing you a great day from Texas!

One block: "Chinese Coin" from "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler" by Jennifer Chiaverini:

A Past Quilt

I made little to no progress with my curtain stitching yesterday.

My only living sibling( 4 1/2 years my senior) found that she must have cataract surgery. For goodness sakes, you would think it was open heart surgery. Never mind that I had cataract surgery ( a true miracle surgery as far as I am concerned) in 2005. As she told me in one of her many calls yesterday "Yes, but that was you having yours done...this is ME I am talking about!" I find her amusing in that no one has ever had anything to equal her maladies.

I am indeed poking fun at her. Do it all the time, though to her face. In truth, siblings are some of our best friends(can be) They know us as well as anyone, perhaps better than we know ourselves.

Since I have no px of accomplished stitching yesterday, perhaps you would like to see one of my very early attempts at applique. We still had the Lake House when this was made. I would leave it down there & only worked on it when there. It took probably a year to do since it was sporadic at best to get to stitch. Some of our happiest years were spent at that small little house.

This was made in 2002. It reminds me of carpets of wildflowers Nature scatters across her meadows in the spring, our first flowers of the season after the winter passes. I hope you might enjoy a 'quilt from the past'.


This is one of my favorite quilts & one of the few I have kept. I really taxed my brain to learn to do consistent blocks, circles & then tried to hone my skills at hand quilting. It is full of mistakes but I really learned a lot on this quilt. I seem to learn on each quilt I make & it is a good thing to always be learning in something I love to do.


"Wildflowers In Farm Meadows", needle turn applique, hand quilted, queen sized.

Close up:

Not much!

I don't have much progress to show on anything....except age creeping in & up. :)

I have been out in the flower beds early in the AM's, too hot to do much past 10 outside, even in the shade of the tree. This comes from one that had a love of the sun her entire earlier life, hat less & sleeveless. I might add I am on a first name basis with the dermatologist these days as he tries to stay ahead of the spots that appear over night, seemingly.

I have curtains to begin today for the g-grandbaby's room, to match her Sunbonnet. I really dislike sewing curtains. I would toss that tidbit out that no one would dream of asking Picasso to paint a wall...cepting I 'ain't' Picasso! I have suddenly reached the point that I don't like regular sewing after sewing all my life. Definitely, the axis turns in my world.

Three Sylvia blocks & that about wraps up the day. The scrap pile decreases by nary a drop!

Ya'll have a great day from Texas...and thanks for stopping by! Give out a HUGE smile to the next stranger you meet, make them wonder what you are up to? :)

From the book: Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.......Gulf Star:
Stamp Basket:
Hands All Around:

Visiting Baltimore Orioles

I was out back yesterday & had a real treat. I get to see this year after year & it always pleases me to witness nature first hand.

Each year, at least once during the season of raising their young, the Baltimore Oriole parent birds bring their young & teach them to drink from the hummingbird feeders. Both the male & female Oriole have a hand in raising the young.

Depending on how many they children they have, they may bring them all to the front feeder just off the patio or the back feeder under the big tree. And sometimes, if there are a number of children, they will split them up & use both feeders, as was the case yesterday.

Papa took the back feeder with 2 & Mama took the front feeder with 2. This pair seem to have successfully raised at 4, at least this far down the road. It does not take them long to learn to drink from the feeders. Another day or so & I assume these young ones will be on their own as they are almost as big as the parents. If I am fortunate, I will see the immature birds for several days. They will hang around in the tree or in the bushes...and then they are gone.

We have had an abundance of Orioles this year. Hopefully, I will be out at the right time to get to see this again.

This is the last block of the pattern I have been tossing out here. I am probably no more near to deciding what to put with this than the man in the moon. I am leaning toward using the same blue as on the body of the birds as cornerstones....but that is a maybe....or maybe not.

It is probably a good thing I am more decisive in my day to day life than what I am in my quilting! :)

Ya'll have a good day & thanks for stopping by!

Block 12: "Charity", from the book: "Celebrations of American Life"

TGIF ! (Every day here can be Friday ! :) )

GASP!
The humidity is 87% , with dew points at 68*. The only thing nice is the temperature at 76*.
You don't notice the temperature being nice with pea soup air to breathe.
To repeat myself...GASP!
I had intended to dead head a few flowers & putter around doing such outside for awhile this AM but I changed my mind. Took the household trash out to the dumpster & decided the outdoor needs would have to wait.

I am blessed with a very young hummingbird (Blackchin variety) that most likely has not been out of the nest very long. She is very small, even for her variety of bird. She stays near the patio feeder & I can see her there often through the window. If I step outside, she immediately flies toward me & gets near enough that the air she moves with her wings will slightly move my hair. She peers intently into my glasses & I am guessing she sees her own reflection & that is why the interest.

She & her kind brings a joy to the brutal heat of summer.

Thanks for coming by for a visit!Ya'll have a good day from Texas!

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Block 11:'Perseverance', from the book "Celebrations of American Life".
This is my least favorite block in this entire batch of patterns. I replaced & frogged that wreath 3 times & it still is skewed. SO, this block lives with a skewed wreath? (FROWN!)
Perseverance was a good name...I persevered but in the end, I did not win the game. :)

Big Sassy

The table came in yesterday for the Janome I named Big Sassy. Everything is given a name here.

My children suggest that perhaps I have finally lost "IT" in buying a machine of this caliber when I am almost primarily a hand piecer. (The joke is on THEM because I never had "IT" to begin with! :) ) The dealer made this as part of my purchase price & it is a nice lengthy table. (Nice place to lay the blocks I am hand piecing. :) )

I have to say the service provided by this dealer is beyond anything short of a miracle. They brought this machine out to my house so I would not have to lift it(it weighs a ton ),unpacked it, set it up, & the same for the table when it came in yesterday. They have called several times to tell me the table had not come in yet & was the Janome performing to my liking? Touching base, in other words.

I have always thought the key to a successful business was the advertising by the patrons, along with the product, of course. If I am unhappy with a service or product, I tell it to the world. By the same token, I double the efforts to spread the word of fabulous service.

So, what will a hand piecer like myself make with Big Sassy? Hmmmmm....
I guess I need to try to learn how to use her? I think I will see if I can make a set of curtains for Sissy's (g-granddaughter) room to go with her Sunbonnet quilt. I don't really like to sew curtains, but I might could force myself.
I talked to her mother & her mother loved the idea. I thought I would run a row of 4 patches across the bottom of the curtains to match the 4 patches I put on the border of the quilt. Sissy has 2 small , short windows(36 X 72) in her room. If it does not look well, not too much ventured.

The Fibby Weather People tell us we have a chance of showers tomorrow. I have decided if I see rain falling outside the window, it is raining. If I do not see rain falling, it is not raining.

Wishing ya'll a good day from Texas & a smile to brighten your day!

Big Sassy, sitting in her table: It is abt 45" long, she has a knee lift that is not in this px.

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Block 10.."Humor", from the book "Celebrations of American Life"

Hump Day in July

"Hump Day" cause we are in the middle of the week. The day promises more of the same high humidity & dew points. I wish we could go back to the dryness of desert heat? But then, we don't always get what we would like now. This too shall pass!

Lovely people coming by & leaving messages. Some I can reply to & some will not take my post. I must check into the why of that.

I have been doing some more research into the genealogy of my ancestry lately, an always fascinating thing for me to do. Genealogy is a strange journey into the past; it leads you on many twists & turns, a few surprises, a few shocks, & a few delights to give a smile. Aside from quilting, it certainly holds my interest.

I always wonder what those distant relatives thought when they viewed the shores of this new land for the first time, still out in the ocean. Did they still dream of what was to come or did they fear the unknown? Were they indentured for years ahead? I guess I will never know, at the least, I have not uncovered that fact, as of yet.

The Mother of Exiles (Statue of Liberty) was not there when my family arrived on these shores. I often think of Emma Lazarus’ thoughts when she wrote her immortal poem “The Colossus” in 1883. Ms. Lazarus only lived to be 37 years of age.

We all learned this poem in grade school, had to memorize them for Mrs. Waggoner’s 4th grade class. The only thing that stayed with me are the last 5 lines, I can still recite that from memory, as can most Americans.

Do you think Ms. Lazaras would still write this poem today? I am not sure………

“The Colossus”
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame,
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

by Emma Lazarus, New York City, 1883
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Block 9: "Industry" , from the book 'Celebration of American Life'
This is somewhat a plain block, compared to the previous ones.

'Passing Fancy' in the works

The day is about to begin & it holds the promise of another warm one across the Cactus Patches of Western Texas. The one thing to be eternally thankful for is that Texans are as prepared for heat as anyone can be with our A/C units, fans, & any other means available. Those poor folks that are not used to such heat are not so fortunate. Summer calls for heartiness in the heat belt as much as the winter time in the cold climates.

On to quilting & playing:
I layed out the blocks is some order of a possible joining yesterday. I use this bed to house my projects so that as I walk by, I get an idea of how it might look as a bed quilt. Easy to move a block here & reverse the order over there, etc.

One of the few advantages of living alone is no one bothers anything ....except me. The little "NOT ME" character that once lived with us when the daughters were young has moved on to other more lively places. You know the one...you ask "who did this mess? "& the usual answer was..."NOT ME!"

I do believe I have the corner unit upside down in this photo? (frown at myself) I will look at this for a day or so, make any adjustments I deem needed. Perhaps join the center blocks in some type of this order before working on the other 2 applique borders.

There is something quite soothing in the rhythmic joining of leaves to the background. Perhaps it is the same shape that allows the mind to wander where it takes itself.


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Block 8:" Thrift" from the book: "Celebration of American Life". I've decided the baskets will be the corner units. Check plus to me for one decision made on this fellow, still no ideas on the sashing. :)

Rye Grass

This is little abt quilting, me, or the Grandbabies...Rye GRASS is what it is abt.

I am busy out in the flower beds, abandoned the pleasure of quilting for a less fun thing. Sigh, some things must be done, want to or not.

Because this is a non-brain cell event, it allows me to ponder the many things toward solving the problems of the world. It also allows me to ponder strange things...such as...gender. Yep, gender , as in male & female. (Don't get all alarmed, I always write out a tidy post!)

I wonder why.........
It was decided the U.S. (Uncle Sam) would be a male?
Why is the moon considered a man?
Did you know Sam Elliot is doing Dodge commercials? Fabulous growl he has for a voice!
Why "Old Man Winter" became a male?
Planes during WW ll were designated female?
As far as I recall, Sacajawea & Susan B. Anthony are the only females to appear on US coins?

The Chinese always name their years. Here in the Cactus Patch where I live, my lawn is well maintained but it is still : The Year of the Weed, 2010.

This list could go on & on. Truth is, I am putting off going pull rye grass. So what gender do I think Rye Grass is?

A FRAZZLING THANG, of course! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have yourself a great day! :)
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Another "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler Block", "Cats & Mice"

A Sunny Sunday in the Offing

What a nice surprise to come here & find postings from other quilters & share this love of fabric & creating.

Many thanks to Crispy for mentioning my efforts to become a blogger. Who knows? I might become a Blogging Babe in this stuff. Truth is that I can barely type, much less deal with techie stuff. I don't think that is a big worry for me though. :)
Crispy has an excellent batch of hand piecing & other wonderful tutorials on her blog. I love her freedom with the dynamic use of color....total eye candy!

I managed to make very few blocks yesterday in any of the many WIP I have going. The G-Granbabies were over in full force of 2 & that is always a busy time.

My oldest brother left life on earth on this date, following my oldest sister that had passed on June 11 , both back in 1993. So close together...just gone! I am not sure how this many years could have passed since that time?
Brothers & sisters are forever wrapped in our youth & probably know us better than we know ourselves. They were there to see all of our failings & all of our successes...and hopefully loved us in spite of the failings. Losing siblings pauses your step & reminds us of our own mortality. It reminds me again that life is precious, life is a gift, & it should never be wasted. Memories are also gifts from the past to be treasured.

Should any of you wander by, may your day be as blessed as mine surely will be!

Another block from "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler"by Jennifer Chiaverini: "Star of the Orient".




And lastly, Block 7..."Liberty" from the book "Celebration of American Life". This is truly my favorite block in this pattern book. What a handsome symbol for a country! I keep waiting for a flash of lightning ideas on sashing....it 'ain't' happened yet but it might anytime? :)

Sunbonnets & G-Granddaughters

The Granddaughter has been re-doing her youngest daughter's (known as Sissy to family, youngest of 2 children) room based around a Sunbonnet Sue Quilt that I appliqued for her 5th birthday. Sissy has a multitude of doll babies & loves them all. Having posted about this previously, I will not go into details except to say that this is a perfect quilt for her.

She has been searching for pictures to compliment the quilt without taking attention away from the bed. (I think the Granddaughter likes the quilt as much as Sissy! )
I suggested the idea of perhaps duplicating a center block made again, matted in the same as the bed ruffle, would be a good one for the center picture. I will repeat the one below, the block reminds me of Sissy & her sister, only 13 months apart.
I also suggested making single silhouettes of both girls in navy blue, matted in the lighter blue fabric of the dust ruffle & framing on either side of the center picture.

My suggestions seem to garner me a lot of jobs to do. :) I am in the process of starting the above today.

The block to be framed. I really need to invest in a better camera or learn to photograph pictures. The photographic skills are highly lacking here! Pitiful Picture! (Sigh)


Sissy's Sunbonnet Sue quilt on her bed, the lamp has been changed since this px to a blue shade, complete with a Sunbonnet frolicking on the shade.


Block 6..."Justice" from the book "Celebrations of American Life".....still thinking of sashing on this group of blocks.

Just gabbing

They are seal coating the streets in our neighborhood. Such a hot job for those men to be doing in already miserable conditions of mid-July heat. Taking the trash out, the stench of hot tar is heavy in the air outside but inside the house, there is no smell. I will hibernate like a bear in it's winter den for another day or so & let that waft on.

I am so grateful we chewed the bullet (& had to swallow a few! :) ) & had our windows replaced last year. All new overhead fans are ordered to be replace the older fans . The new faucets were replaced yesterday. The house is now 30 years old so it needs a little face lifting.

Kinda like me but I am not getting any of that, I have earned all of my gray (God Frost sounds better) & the character lines that crease my face.

I almost finished another row in the border of 'Passing Fancy' yesterday, that should be done today. Have to take a px of it for tomorrow. I have most of the leaves, etc already cut out & ready to go for the next one.

I appreciate my follower's nice words on my applique. She has such a fabulous batch of tutes on hand work over on her blog that I would link to here (not sure of the blogging rules of etiquette on that?) but it would be like sending her back to herself. :) When I get 'younger', I hope my work looks like hers!
She has a px of her beautiful granddaughter on hers. The baby's beauty is second only to my own grands.

My blogging is really like just random thoughts to help fill the time of trying to adjust to widowhood. It has been & continues to be a hard journey.

I believe I am living up to my name & I am rambling....

Block 5.."Remembrance"...from the book: "Celebration of American Life"

Trying to learn blogging here! :)

Strange things happening on this new journey of trying to learn be a Blogger. Parts of my posts are disappearing from previous day's posts. (I wonder if I might be doing that by trying to drag px around?) Well, if that is my biggest problem, then it is not a very large one in the general scope of things. Right? Right! (I seem to be talking to myself! :) )

I am suffering in this heat , extremely grateful for the central heat & air that I have. I am not alone in the heat suffering. The whole country suffers. We seem to be in one major crisis after another from heat to tornadoes to the horrible thing in the Gulf, an almost world upheaval.

Enough of the heavy stuff, we all can watch that on World News.

I am progressing on my borders for the "Passing Fancy", another one being partly finished & the rest of that one is prepped--meaning cut out & ready to stitch.

The Granddaughter has brought me a small stool that goes in Sissy's room (recipient of the Sunbonnet quilt, youngest g-granddaughter) to recover the top. Told me to do as I wished. Fun to have license to do that 'whatever' with someone else's things.
I intend to cover it in a pale blue that matches the dust ruffle & then applique navy hearts with points almost tipping in a type of clover leaf look. The quilt is bound in a navy binding & I have enough to do the heart project left over.

Looked over the flower beds this AM & I see that they are surviving the heat quite well. I am glad I placed all that mulch on them earlier in the summer, cools the hot Texas sun. Pictured below is one of the many little "junk interest" things(being my junk interest! :) ) I place here & there in the beds. The flowers are Lantana, well suited to my climate.
I have many HUGE pieces of the petrified wood like the smaller turtle is sitting on. That is getting hard to find & I am glad I have a lot of it, all from the farm land of my youth.





Block 4..."Community" from the book "Celebration of American Life"

Quoting John Keats

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases. It will never pass into nothingness" ~John Keats

Block 3: "Opportunity" from "Celebration of American Life"

What's in a Title anyway?

I don't have a title today. I am rambling along & talking about everything & nothing. Maybe I should have called it that. Maybe I will need that title more another time? Nothing like small minds & smaller imaginations. :)

Cooking has never been my favorite chore. We have always hosted the huge family holiday gathering, having the only house large enough to gather the relatives. I also had an arrangement at one of the assisted living centers that we would welcome any able bodies residents that wanted to be part of a family for the holiday. Many lovely people simply outlive all family

I would assign the children / grandchildren to an older guest with the knowledge they alone were responsible for the guest’s comfort. I wanted the children to realize that sometimes life happens & the person is still a worthwhile & productive member of society. Advancing age brings diminished eye sight , a tremble to an aging hand, & a slower step ….but the mind still receives a kind word & is nourished by such.

Today’s cooking consists how to use up that second pork chop I cooked yesterday? Cooking for one has its own challenges.

Did I mention I am rambling today?

I worked on the border for “Passing Fancy’ yesterday & have one almost complete. I will leave a slight amount open at each end (since I altered the size of the center blocks) until after attaching the corners.

I really do not like to frog but would rather do that than cook.(see how well that hooks up to what I was talking about earlier? :) ) I placed it against the un-joined blocks & I think I will like it just fine. Probably should have pressed that border before adding a px. Oh well....

“Diversity” …Block 2 : “Celebration of American Life”

If I look at this online everyday, perhaps it will help me decide how to sash?

Pictures (even lousy photography like mine) show faults the naked eye does not see?

Dog Days of Summer

The water is not green, it is a reflection of the grasses. The Pond, as it is called offers up a bit of respite in the sounds of water gurgling along in the heat that surrounds us. The Pond cleaners (goldfish) swim happily around the confines of their world.

The heat has promised to be returning to normal again for the southwestern plains of the US. Or as I like to call this:"the Cactus Patches of Western Texas". I always find the term 'normal' a bit of a misnomer for anything, what is normal weather? For us, it is heat ahead as per usual & that pretty much sums up the days of summer.

I will thread needles to day to increase the "Fassing Fancy" leaf joining on a border. I did make good progress yesterday. Somedays, things seem to come together nicely. And somedays...well, they just don't. :)

In the meanwhile, I am trying to decide how to change the joining on a set of blocks that I appliqued in the folk art look .

"Patriotism"---from the book: "American Celebration of Life"

If you can not have real squirrels, enjoy some fake ones? I do love playing & plunking around in the flower beds. Except for the heat....


I have begun the applique on the border of 'Passing Fancy'. Needle turn applique is my favorite thing in the whole wide world to do.

I am doing mine a tad different than Ms Diehl does hers but that is OK, we each have our own ways though I surely would not insult her by comparing my puny efforts to hers. For one thing, I don't have a staff such as she has. ha ha (Mama always said it was rude to laugh at your own jokes? I will lay this off to being senile in my advanced age. :))

I enjoy the peace of 'in & out' with the needle as it joins one layer to the next. There is no rush, no strain, no have to sit where I don't want to sit....I so enjoy the hand work.

When I bought the Janome Horizon last month, the owner of the shop kept telling me I would never use a needle to do hand work again as this machine would do everything but purchase fabric. I smiled & said probably not but I will always do hand work. (I would have to start using tranquilers if I did not do hand work....and why do that?)

The blocks are made, more or less. These blocks are not joined but will be something along these lines, I believe.
Now to get back to the applique that is always my favorite part of any quilt.