Do you?

I do now!!!! Look what arrived yesterday...

And look what is on the back - one of the features of EQ7 is to import a photo and transform it into a one patch quilt. This sample is with hexies!!! OMG - I need to pick a photo - where to begin?? (Yikes that makes 3 more hexie quilts I want to make after I finish the current 2)

The LQS purchased the software for me to learn and then use at the store. I've already signed up for some EQ Yahoo groups and I'm looking into classes at International Quilt Fest in Houston (125 days to go!!!). I'll start with the lessons that came with the software this weekend. Wish me luck that I have the strength and fortitude to step away from the computer for more than 5 minutes at a time :)

Almost Wordless Wednesday - 6/29/11

Two of Castile Fire Department's FINEST!
Uhhhhh...need I say anything more?

(Maybe this should be on the label for my fireman quilt...)

Fresh fruits and veggie season

Now that we are officially one week into summer there are lots of fruits and veggies coming into Casa Grande. The local Farmers' Market opened on 6/18/11 and it's fun to meet up with friends and see what's finally in season.

This past weekend I found CHERRIES for the first time this year. I was never fond of cherries growing up - I think it was the over-sweetness of the marichino cherries we had at home. I've eaten most of this week's batch so far and never even had a chance to "make" something with them - maybe after I get more in 4 days! I was thinking cherry ice cream but what else could I make?

I forgot to get the year's first ZUCCHINI - so dissapointed in myself when I remembered on Sunday.

I did buy SCAPES tho - do you know what they are? It's essentially the curly flower stalk on a certain kind of garlic. Remove the stalk and more energy goes into the bulb. Hmm...shouldn't they pay me to take the scapes since it improves their garlic harvest? Anyway...last week I made grilled pizza with scapes that had been coated in olive oil and sea salt and grilled on my new grill wok, fresh mozza and left over doctored pasta sauce. I didn't care for the dough recipe I found so I'm open to suggestions. I've also cut them up onto a salad and pesto pasta. This week I hope to make pickled scapes and/or scape pesto.

Can you tell I like to collect old or handmade wooden spoons? This is just part of the collection in an old milk bottle basket. I can provide my address to anyone who needs me to adopt their wayward spoons !!!


I've got RHUBARB in the fridge waiting to be made into Rhubarb Crisp - can't wait.

The veggie garden is in full swing. It's time to put the TOMATO cages up and I need to put up a fence for the SNOW PEAS to grow on. I had planned to plant the GLAD bulbs on a "schedule" so the flowers would last longer into the season - can you guess how that's going?

And last but not least, Mom and I made STRAWBERRY freezer jam on Saturday. It's a staple in both houses. Last year I only made 4 jars for lack of freezer space and that only lasted 6 months. I made 8 jars this year and leased freezer space elsewhere! Jam is a particular process at our house(s) making for lots of dishes and timers but we've got it down to a science and the end result is soooooo worth it. Leftover strawberries are destined for sorbet.

What fresh fruit and veggies do you have?

Design Wall Monday - 6/27/11

Not much sewing on the schedule lately... Altho there has been "food." I'll try to show you the "food" later this week.  I finished 3 more zippered pouches (on the left).

I've also got the bottom section of the "bathroom quilt" half done. I think this picture shows the final layout for the four sections. The border will be Seminole piecing so I'll have to fill in the corners. I am debating if it should be that neutral fabric (which does have nice varied coloring) or if I should do something more with the double diamonds. I am leaning towards just the neutral because this is my interpretation of the bathroom tile floor and there are no other designs altho I have rearranged what designs there are. Thoughts?

For Cheryl

Hi Cheryl - glad to see your comment yesterday - glad you understood my directions. Now we need to get you to sign in with your Google account so I can write back or you just need to get your email to me somehow.

Cya soon

Feline Friday

At least some one enjoys the pink carpet!

I do believe this is the last pink in the house and the ATEP is thrilled!

Don't you just want to love on that all white belly? Unfortunately she's not a belly girl :(

Blog commenting

Hello all - no quilty stuff today. I had no get up and go last night so I just went to bed. With big thunder storms in the middle of the last two nights I was whooped. I tried to work on a UFO this morning but while the middle and borders were done already I finally realized I had to make a coping strip and I just didn't have the time to concentrate on the math... That silly strip is probably why it was a UFO in the first place.

This post is for Cheryl and anyone else who is new to blogging and isn't sure how to leave comments when they like something I've said. Everyone's blog is a little different but the commenting process should be very similar on other blogs.

At the end of each post there is a line that reads "Blogged by Sarah at 12:00pm" that is followed by "2 Comments". If you left-click on the number of comments (a link), a window will pop up so you can read those comments. Scroll to the bottom of the pop-up window and type your own comment in the "leave your comment" box.

After typing your comment choose an identity and sign in if required.
     Cheryl - I think we got you a Google account, right?
     For everyone else - even if you don't blog I highly suggest you get a free Google account. If you comment under anonymous I have no way of writing back to you but if you have a Google account I have a way to write back and I've met some really neat people that way. I've also found a ton of new blogs to follow in my (new) Google Reader account but that is a totally different story.

The rest is easy - hit preview to proof your comment first or hit publish to send it directly out into the world wide web. Some blogs will require you to type a misspelled word into the nearby box - that's just to make sure you aren't a computer/troll leaving a message. An extra step but the famous blogs need to stay away from trolls - no such problem here at Casa Grande!

Was this as clear as mud? Let me know if I need to clarify something...

Sew, now that you know how to comment - how many people can leave me a quickie comment today just to say you were here? Do you need a bribe?

Father's Day on the Arcade & Attica Railroad

For Father's Day, the whole family took a ride on the historic A&A Railroad.

Typically, the A&A consists of a steam engine, several passenger cars and an open car (without seating). For this event an additional steam engine was added - think "Percy" from Thomas the Train - Dad called it a puffer belly.

Part way into the ride the train stopped, allowing anyone that wanted to get off the train to do so for a few minutes. The train then backed up and "flew" past us as a demonstration. Can you guess how fast "flying" is! Mom chose to stay on the train.

I've been trying to upload a video for over an hour - anyone know the trick?

The train stops in Curriers so the engines can switch to the back of the train and take us back to Arcade. This allows everyone to get off the train, grab a bite to eat and for this event there was also pony rides and a petty zoo for the kiddies.

This is the Puffer Belly #6 - it's a privately owned engine that was brought in just for this event

Switching engines also gives us a chance to lay pennies on the rail for smooshing. Tom and I tried to overlap some pennies but the engine wasn't heavy enough to meld them together this time. I layed out 14 pennies, 2 are gone, probably stuck to the engine wheels and I gave several away to my nephews or random kids. Such cheap entertainment!

This has gotten very photo intense...I have a lot more photos if anyone is interested - just let me know...

Yet more photos from Quilt Show

I chose these first 4 quilts today for their scrappy potentials. 

I hadn't noticed until I was typing this that the first two were quite similar. Oops...

I really liked the border on this next quilt - what a great way to jazz up a simple Disappearing 9-Patch!

Design Wall Monday - 6/20/11

Well - the actual design wall is pretty much the same as last week - hard to believe I haven't gotten much of anything done for the second week in a row. Altho, mentally, I can tell I haven't been sewing - I'm all discombobulated and not getting anything done around the house or yard either. I have 3 more meetings for my various "projects" and then the rest of the evenings this month are mine. WootWoot.

The one thing I did work on this week was some of the zippered pouches. Here you can see 2 completely finished pouches and 3 more halfway done pouches. Yesterday I also picked up another pattern for larger zippered pouches. Liana also sent me some cute cell phone bag patterns and I have another pattern for a little thumb drive holder. I just hope people buy these at the craft show in July. If not, I hope my family appreciate cute gifts, LOL!

Feline Friday

Once again, I'm late posting but only becasue I chose to be outside during lunch today. The sun was shinning and it was just shy of 70 degrees...couldn't be more perfect so I trotted across the street with my hexies and asked the furniture store if they would mind if I sat in one of the rocking chairs they had outside for sale. Ahhhh...

Today I was going to show you Pepper's favorite activity - being brushed! Unfortunately, he enjoys it so much he can't hold still and it's impossible to get a half-way decent shot. And, once I pull a gob of fur off the Furminator and lay it on the carpet to continue Furminating he wants to roll in that too. As long as he's happy, right? The fur has a lot of static electricity, meaning it flies about and sticks to everything but a good lint roller will pick most of it up.

While the girls enjoy a good brushing with a (dog) paddle brush, Poppy likes to be brushed with the Furminator!  I first saw this tool in the pet store and thought it was outrageously expensive but I later found it on Amazon at a deep discout, even with S/H.

The tool apparently has a razor blade inside it - even if I have that totally wrong it pulls out gobs of undercoat and makes a world of difference. I'm bet you're greatly relieved I didn't photo the gobs of fur! You have to be careful when you use the Furminator and I wouldn't let little kids use it just to be safe. Pepper likes to roll around while I Furminate him so it can get a little dicey. If you have a chance to buy a Furminator I would go for it. I must add that boney kitties like little Midgie are not good candidates for this brush.

Zippered pouches

Oi - how did it get to be the end of the day and I haven't posted yet?

Have you made any of these neat-o zippered pouches yet? What was that? You said you are afraid of zippers? No worries, my friends, this is one of the easiest patterns I have and once you get in the groove, you can really pump them out. I've altered the dimensions slightly so there isn't so much fabric waste and I've marked the pattern with the various foot #s I use so it's even faster.

Oh, and did I mention they are addictive? With about a dollar for the zipper and scraps of fabric and batting for the rest it's a super customizable quickie gift that has a ton of uses. You may remember I use one to carry my hexie projects in, Mom uses hers for manicure supplies and I've stuffed chocolates or other gifts in them. They ARE like Lays and I bet you can't make just one!

Just look - I have all those little kits lined up to make more assembly line style.  And then there are even more gorgeous colors to play with (half of these zippers were from the quilt show - wish I had gotten more).

Almost Wordless Civil War Wednesday

#23 - Illinois Roads

#24 - Ladies Aid Album

More Photos from Quilt Show

Today I picked 5 photos from the art quilt section of the show...enjoy!

Design Wall Monday

Chaos - that's the only word I can think of to describe this mess...it is organized tho!

From the left on the wall:

• a kitty panel on the bottom - waiting for inspiration
• Tumbler table runner - waiting for time to piece it
• Tumbler flag - top is put together and I have purchased backing. I know how I want to quilt it and I know that I want to keep the angled edges which means it has a "tucked in" edge that is edge stitched and no binding. Any recommendations on the best way to do this? I am guessing sew the three layers around edges and then turn right side out but do you quilt before or after that?
• 2 more civil war blocks completed yesterday
• 3 dresden plate mug rugs that need quilting and binding
• Several hexie diamonds that I have started stitching together with the black sashing
• The angel panel has been there a year and a half - I like to look at her but have no plans to do anything with her yet. Anyone have ideas?
• Top right is a border design that has also been there ages. I don't like it very much and that's why it's still there and I'm sticking to it...

On the table:

• The white baskets have a pieced border I am working on.
• One green basket is leftovers from a "camping" tablerunner I made for Mom and Dad's new camper - they need to be trimmed and put away. Actually I have enough to make a second runner.
• The next two green baskets are bits that need to be trimmed and selvages that need to be put in their box
• The stack of blue fat quarters on the cutting mat are for another Civil War block
• The bag of Snickers is what keeps me sane. Not really. Ok, maybe.

Feline Friday

Squeaky was on bird patrol this morning. This window is in the dining room and the bird feeder is about 4 feet out the window. You can barely make out the hummer feeder in the upper right corner which hangs from the big mixed seed feeder. The birds don't seem to mind her or the other kitties sitting there.

Pepper was catching up on some reading materials. At the time of this photo he was on the Historical Wyoming, a local publication about the history of Wyoming County. This edition has a great article on my town - Castile. I still need to catch up on that article...

And last but not least, Miss Midgie was enjoying some nip in the kitty tunnel. I'm just sorry I couldn't get a good shot of her rolling around.

UFO Thursday

Hah! Bet you thought I was gonna talk quilts today, didn't you?! Sorry, but I can't even remember the last time I turned the machine on - too many meetings and rescue calls and rain and headaches and and and... Luckily my summer Friday's off were approved so I am looking forward to July and August. Last year I didn't have time to drive down to Penn Yann to get my Bernina serviced so that is #1 on my Friday agendas.

Instead of quilts, I'll show you some other UFO's in the yard:

It was finally dry enough to till the veggie garden and I've got about half of it planted with potatoes, onions, tomatoes, purple peppers and spaghetti squash. I still need to add the glad bulbs (over several weeks for longer bloom time), the plants you see there (romaine, broccoli, cauliflower) and radish, leaf lettuce and snow pea seeds. Yes, I carpeted my garden as it keeps down the weeds. Hammock - I know you are waiting for me - please be patient and I'll be out soon...

This is the nursery, commonly known as a side porch. There are 5 hosta, 2 sedum and 2 ladies mantle for a new garden bed that I have planned. There are also some other random plants (wild ginger, lilies, yellow firecracker, etc) that I still need to find spots for. The newest addition is the "My Love" peony - it just jumped into my car as I slowly drove past Palmiter's Nursery last weekend. I just couldn't resist the blossom size, color and the perfume of this one over the yellow one I was also interested in. Unfortunately, overnight it dropped most of the petals on 2 of the 3 blooms.

Finally there is this uber rock that I found beside a corn field. Can you see my skeeter biten foot for size? It was a struggle to get it in and out of my little car but the lady who pulled over and helped me get it in the car was a life saver. It almost looks like Oz upside down. I think I'll place this in front of my new hanging hose reel so I can step on it in that new flower bed I mentioned above.

On the bright side, literally, I am thrilled to have enough flowers in the gardens for continuous vases at work. Today we have purple lupins, purple jacob's ladder, purple iris, yellow iris and white peony. The scent at my desk is heavenly and almost hides the piles of work to do...

Almost Wordless Civil War Wednesday

I'm still playing catch up...

#7 - Log Cabin

 #22 - Blockade

Quilt Show Photos

Sew...I thought I could just post my 5 best photos from the quilt show and be done with it...Bwaahahahahah. not gonna happen because I liked too many quilts. Lets just say that I'll peridocially post another 5 until I forget to add more....

"Ode to the 60's - Not your Grandmother's Flower Garden"

You knew I would find some hexies, right?

I really liked how the flowers were overlapped and the petals were quilted.

"Tropic Twist"

Yup - bright colors are just my style.

The little flanges had yellow on one side and a pattern on the other. Just by flipping them over with the stitching made such an impact.

I've seen these before and it was on my bucket list but now I think it needs to get moved up...

"Contra-Dance"

I love tesselations. I've made one - have I shown it to you? I don't think so...

I'm not sure that I am in love with the fabrics as much as the design but the quilting was phenom and only on the solid fish. I'm even pretty sure that each fish was different.

Yeh, I know, not the best photo. I didn't even document the name of the quilt, let alone the remainder of the quilt. I'm pretty sure it was a standard GFG.

What I wanted to remember was the quilting design. Very simple curves that created a rounded shape. I see 2 things: a series of stretched pie shapes running left to right and an elongated oval that is two hexies wide.

I have no idea who made this, nor did I save the quilt name but it was attributed to a class with Mary Diamond. I loved the animal print for hair and the dyed cheese cloth for her clothing. Flower earrings were a nice touch.