'Tis Tuesday and still hot!

Good Morning from Texas!
I hope you had a nice productive day or a restful day yesterday, whichever the case might have been for your cup of tea.

I had a one o'clock Dr appointment so needless to say, the rest of the day was shot for me. Oh my! The sun on the open downtown parking lots was brutal! I have a legal handicapped parking permit & of course, all those places were full (90% had no visual means of being legal...always a bone of contention with me) so that means I had a fair way to walk in the summer heat & humidity on a dark pavement. GASP But I persisted & prevailed.

I hope your day is a delight ahead with good thoughts & happiness coming your way!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Block: 'Bachelor's Puzzle' from the book 'Sylvia's Bridal Sampler'.

'Tis Monday!

Good Morning from Texas!
How's every little thing with all of you? Doing well, I hope.

I am up, had to get a load of company on the road westward for very early start & then the laundry began. That should be done perhaps in this lifetime, though I have my doubts? Thankfully, the cleaning lady will be here tomorrow & so I can get all this picked up & surprise her with the chaos that waits on her arrival.

I am running the sprinklers through for a second go around. It takes a water bill the size of the National Debt to keep it lush. Wonder if I could qualify for a stimulus bail out? :)

Ya'll have yourself a wonderful day, hear?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Block: 'Crow's Foot' from the book of "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler" by Jennifer Chiaverini
(Hopefully, I have not already showed this one as it was finished some weeks ago)

Friday, the 13th!

Good Morning from Texas!

Oh Joy! We are to "cool down" to 102* today! Every degree lower, I am grateful for.

I am not a superstitious person so Friday the 13th has no particular meaning to me other than a date in time. It is rather interesting to remember the reason it is considered to be unlucky. Had to pull up some very old school girl memories for that one brain cell recovery! :)

I have been busy as a beaver getting ready for winter.(Wishful thinking on the winter part) I have had too many things going on to even find time to typo a few words here. Company, plus this, that, & other things to do. Hopefully after the week end, things will get back to normal. I do use that term loosely because I no longer really know what normal is.

Have yourself a wonderful week end!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Block: 'Grape Basket', from the book " Sylvia's Bridal Sampler"

It is Monday, all day long! :)

Good Morning from Texas!

I hope you've had a wonderful week end! The week end was quiet here where I hang my hat & call home. But that is OK, quiet is sometimes needed & welcomed.

I spent some time reading old diaries. I never tire of reading in these. If you have known me from other forums, you probably already know abt my prized diaries that were written by my G-Grandmother. I speak of them often & if I have ever owned anything materialistic I am prideful of, it is the diaries.

I have 12 leather bound diaries that begins in a child's scribbling scrawl (she was 8)& ends when Gran was in her 80's, shortly before her death, with much the same scrawl as she began the diaries. In the between years, she had a very nice handwriting.

Being a genealogy seeker & history lover as I am, these diaries are the things dreams are made of.

She & my grandfather left Ringgold , Georgia in the early spring of 1834 as newly weds, headed west to seek a new life. She (Martha) was 17 years of age & his name was James Levi. He was 10 years her senior in age. She never refers to him as James, it is always the full name. James Levi was a minister, or as most people called him , just "Preacher". They left in a wagon train of 46 wagons, a medium sized train. It was considered a very good day if they covered 10 to 15 miles.

I can not imagine the rigors of surviving a trip of such magnitude. The hardships were unbelievable.

They were stronger people than the stuff I am made of, to put it lightly.

Don't be surprised if excerpts show up here from time to time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Block: 'Swamp Patch' from the book : "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler"

Friday Again!

Good Morning from Texas!

Here we are , already staring at the week end. I used to look forward to the week end with mixed feelings. I always had so much to do to catch up from working that I was sometimes ready to go back to work to get away from such. :) Now days, I rack around here by myself & do what ever I wish to do mostly. Not much gets out of place.

I am still working away on quilting Jane. The joints are beginning to protest so perhaps I will quilt the rest of the day & then play with piecing a few Sylvia blocks over the week end.
I need to be more careful of my pressing....this block is straight but you would never know to look at it here. I don't seem to worry too much abt that since I tend to 'man handle' them until they are in the quilt itself.

Ya'll have a wonderful week end, where ever you might be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Block: "Mrs Cleveland's Choice", from the book of 'Sylvia's Bridal Sampler'

One past Hump Day, Hot Day, Summertime

Good Morning from Texas!

I don't have much news or happenings to post today as I spent the day yesterday straightening up the chaos from making those wretched curtains, then quilting a bit on Jane.

I did feel bad for thinking ugly thoughts on curtain making for that sweet child's room. I decided to make her a picture out of one of the blocks in the quilt. I appliqued her favorite block in the quilt & have it ready to slip in a frame. I think it will make a cute px to match out with her quilt. (I did ask her Mom) I had this oval mat so just used it. Will have to look in the storeroom for frames, am sure I have plenty of plain ones there.


Ya'll have yourselves a fabulous day, hear?

Quilting Gadgets

Good Morning from Texas!

I have been cleaning / straightening the main closet that I keep quilting supplies in. Now mind you, there are a few odds & ends of quilting goodies of some sort in most of the house. The little buggers sneak here & there when I am not looking, I am thinking.

I am a gadget person. Love any & all gadgets. I am not too much taken in by those ads that promise they can make you grow eyelashes long enough to french braid or rub this miracle liquid on that wrinkle & it is forever gone--I am a skeptic on those.

But quilting gadgets--OH MY! I am a sucker for those! Looking at the closet contents of gadgets, I must have been buying them by the truck loads!

This little gadget gives you such a SCANT quarter inch seam that you will be the envy of all your quilting friends. Un huh... (If it is a SCANT quarter inch, then it is NOT a quarter inch any more? It either is a quarter inch or it is not?)

This miracle pencil marks a line that no matter how bad your eyes are, you can see the line.Today's special is only $49.99 . plus shipping & handling! Un huh...

As an added bonus for an extra $19.95,(PLUS shipping & handling of course) buy this 1/4 oz liquid that magically erases all traces of that miracle line(offered above) you just drew on that heirloom quilt. Un huh...

Today's Special: Buy this handy quilter's helper that you attach to your quilting frame , go to sleep for a good night's sleep & by morning, it will have quilted your quilt. For an unbelievable $29.95(plus shipping & handling) buy this wonderful invention to add to the quilting frame & it will bind your quilt! Un huh...

The list goes on & on with claims as outrageous(almost! ;) ) as I have been in typoing this nonsense.

Do gadgets ever work? Of course they do! But, when they WORK, they become TOOLS!

Blessings to all of you today!

Block: "Cross & Crown", from the book "Sylvia's Bridal Sampler"

It is a Quilting Day!

Good Morning from Texas!
How's every little thing with all of you out in blog land? I hope you slept well & have a happy day ahead even if the heat is set to fry off your eyelashes down to the nubs.

I have a smile on my face & the spring is back in my step...those frazzling curtains are DONE! You have no idea how happy that makes me! I even managed to avoid people while doing them! That was to prevent me from snapping & doing bodily harm to un-deserving folks! :)
(On second thought, there might be some that would deserve a few knuckle bumps across their little pointed heads)

I have a busy day ahead ( :) )of sitting in my chair, threading needles to stick & stab on "The Journey of Jane Stickle" that I am working on.

I see a few more blocks that need some added stitches when I look at the px below. I always find (for me) that taking px, even poorly photographed ones like I take, clearly point where you need improvement in stitching techniques, more stitches or what ever. I can always find room for improvement by doing so. Some of my blocks are too sparsely stitched to be compatible with the others.

Have yourself a spectacular day!

"The Journey of Jane Stickle" from the book: "Dear Jane" by Brenda Papadakis

There are recipes & then there are priceless gifts!

Good Morning from Texas!

My 5 year old g-granddaughter (herself a priceless gift!) has a "fully stocked kitchen" that we all should have in our real world. She is a great Mommy to a slew of babies that range from bald to rather nappy, well loved derelict looking babies. She changes them, she combs their nappy hair, puts them to bed well fed. She spends her days busy as all Mommies do with a bunch of babies to care for.

Her Mother greatly restricts her TV watching (I sometimes feel I need to restrict what I watch with the type of programs on these days! :O ) but Sissy loves the cooking networks. (trust me, she did not get that love of cooking from me!) She happily cooks along with the shows in her kitchen, stirring this pot & chopping that ingredient--quite the chef! She does say occasionally that one or the other of the babies did not seem to like the offering of the day.

She is a quite smart little girl (well, of COURSE she is! :) )she knows all her alphabet, can write all of the letters & can do a fair job of sounding out the letters, well on her way to reading quite well. She needs a 'tad' more work on her spelling....
She insisted on writing me a recipe that she just knew I would cook & love & I needed it cuz I was not much of a TV watcher. BOY! It was a LONG recipe to write, she told me.

(I have translated for those of you that are not used to reading "5 year old" and what a fine recipe it is!)

unyiz reng
(Onions Ring)

flawr (flour)
solt (salt)
pepr (pepper)
unyiz (onions)

kut the unyizs. put in the flawr. shak it up. fri it up. eet it up.

(Cut the onions. Put in the flour. Shake it up. Fry it up. Eat it up.)

No doubt Sissy will be the next famous chef? :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Plain blocks made for Sylvia . Some days the eyes need a break from the razzle dazzle of outstanding blocks & they themselves need a supporting cast to help sooth & calm the waters.

(Well, doesn't that sound spiffy? I sometimes impress myself with what comes across my keyboard. LOL!!!) With that bit of nonsense, I am off to see what mischief I can get into.

Have yourself a wonderful day!

Block: "Shoofly" from the book 'Sylvia's Bridal Sampler' by Jennifer Chiaverini

Block: Amethyst