11:11 p.m. on August 31st, and I can claim a gold star! I made it through the month with no fabric purchase. I conquered the Fabric Depression Diet...yah!!! Thanks Vicky!! Perfect way to end my day and this month..*VBS*

In the shadows...

Morning sun, WIP rug, and another wallhanging to baste....
This little (19" X 23") wall hanging is already several years old...not quite double diget years, but close. I do love it and yet, never seem to get around to quilting it.
The leaves are an odd size, probably were suppose to be 4", but finish at 3.75" instead.
My creative touch will be(the next one..LOL) will be give them 1/8" satin ribbon stems. I want to come up at the V of the leaf, twist the ribbon once or twice and then anchor it by going down at the corner of the background. On the back side I will probably have to stitch that stem stub down by hand....*VBS* That should keep me busy for a few evenings. Hope you are all having sunshine on your shoulders today...*S* 

Good Morning from the north woods...and a cool gray 60 degree morning at that. I'm still in my sewing
slump, but I decided that I should dig out something to baste and quilt. Actually, this one seems perfect to me..*VBS*







Its from a very old(1980's) Country Threads pattern.
So many of those were incredibly putzy! This one is no exception. But I love it. I think Paul is really fine, and ya just gotta love babe.




These tree are a personal favorite of mine, and I think I could do a whole wallhanging of just them in
different sizes.

I also am very found of these tiny flying geese. They are 1.5" X 2.5". The lodge works for me also, and that tea dyed red and cream flag striped fabric is the one I have yards and yards of, if someone needs a piece. I'm feeling really happy and upbeat this morning, and I think this little wall hanging did the trick! Have a great Wednesday everyone...*VBS* 

If you're worried, and you can't sleep.....count your blessings instead of sheep....


and I have blessings a plenty...*VBS* A delightful gift in my email box tonight. My beautiful oldest daughter and grandsons #5 and #8. Yes, they have names, but I'm not comfortable using them here, and with 8 grandsons the numbering works well...LOL.
DD had invited my youngest son to bring the boys up to their home town for a trip to the Deer Park, which is also a very small hometown amusment place. Nothing fancy, just petting zoo, pony rides and such. Very, very low tech, but from the pictures, I'd say they had a blast!!!
We don't see much of these boys, I haven't seen them since Christmas day. That's pretty normal in this case as the ex DIL feels that "his" family is the source of all evil. Luckily youngest son has them twice a month and does what he can to get them to our side of the family. They only sort of know their cousins, which is sad. Actually I haven't seen any of the grandsons since Christmas. Young parents get very caught up in their own lives it seems. I'm not able to drive the hours and hours to where they live, and that is my reality. I know there are worse situations.
So it's a delightful ending to the day to find these new pictures in my mailbox and and I just had to share my joy with you..*VBS* If you see your grandchildren regularily, count your blessings. 

Grandma Lottie and her sister Harriet. The young lady on the left is my maternal grandmother. Born in 1885, I believe and lived well into her 90's. Her sister, whom they called "Birdie" wasn't as lucky and died in her 40's from consumption. Gram alone carried her bloodlines forward, having 3 sons and then a baby daughter, my mom. I love the look of the picture, and would love to have seen more of those dresses. Pictures are few and far between, and this is about the youngest I've seen of her.
But I really came back today to fill in a couple of blanks about my crocheted rug. I got my inspiration from Darcie, as I mentioned when I showed the first picture a month back. Darcie's rugs can be see at her blog http://quiltingbydarcie.blogspot.com/ This won't link you to the actual post. You'll have to find June 13, 2006 all on your own. That's where she gives the general information, and then goes on the next few days to tell you sizes, etc. and a how to on joining the fabric strips. Her rugs are beautiful and look as if you planned where the colors would fall. She doesn't mention hook size, but my book on rug making suggests a K hook, or a J with narrower fabric. I'm using a K hook to make mine. I'm not sure how big my rug will be...I don't have a specific size in mind. My book also suggests started with a chain 6 and slip stitch to join. Maybe Darcie will tell us more if we ask...*VBS*

Progress Report...the rug..

The sewing slump continues, but I'm keeping the faith. I'm sewing strips of fabric for my rug. There is no rhyme or reason to the colors or placement. I'm using left over 1.5" strips for the most part.
Yesterday I cut about 1 yard of black, and it
seemed like a lot. It didn't even make one round. The bigger rug measures 26" now..it grows slowly.

And I started a second one,
in the more pastel colors. It's the same size hook(K) but with narrower strips. These are 3/4" wide.
I'm hoping for sewing inspiration soon..or at least some get up and go to work on an existing project. Rain we have...but no inspiration anywhere near me..*VBS* 

Bits and pieces.....

is what I find in my hand this morning, as I pull things from my scrapbag.
Another piece of equilter.com Halloween.
Counted blessings this morning after a afternoon and evening of heavy storms. A few beat up petunias,and scattered flowers on my patio, buts part of WI and MN experienced tornadoes. I've heard up to 41 homes destroyed south of me, lots and lots of hail damage. One dealership in the Metro area, all 280 new cars in their lot totally destroyed. They reported baseball size (3.5"+) hail hitting the sun roof and windshields ! Actually went right through the roof of some cars. I got a few hail pieces that were golf ball size, but most were between a nickle and a quarter. Still pretty big! No damage to property here . Very fierce winds, probably the strongest I've seen in WI..appeared to be straight line, but it's hard to tell as I'm on the edges of prairie.
Luckily I didn't lose power, and was able to keep on top of weather reports til it was over. It was fast moving, and probably in Michigan or Ill. by now.

Anyway,on a different note, I wondering if others out here have a fascination with words and how they got to be what we use or call things?
Way back in the later 70's with DD#2 and a spelling lesson. She was so proud in (1st or 2nd grade) to get a 100% on her spelling tests. She was so pleased that she had spelled "flower" correctly. As we talked about it, I causally mentioned there is more than one way to spell flower. So of course, being true to HER nature, she didn't believe me. If there were more than one, she wouldn't have gotten it correct in the test.
So I showed her the white stuff I bake with is also called flower, but spelled flour. She still didn't believe me...LOL. Oh well.
Sometime down the road she found out for herself that you spell flower as flour if you are baking with it. And more or less said to me, "huh", there really IS another way to spell flower".

What she didn't realize is that the mulitple spellings a word that is pronounced the same way, is a little game I play with myself. Gotta keep those gray cells stimulated!!
Last night I was laying in bed, waiting for sleep to find me, and I began thinking. Already...a bad thing when you need to sleep.
What word might have the MOST possible spellings for the same pronounciation??? I can think about this one for a long time now...LOL
But here's one I came up with:
1.since
2.sense
3.cents
4.scents
seems like I had one more, but I must have fallen asleep right about then..*VBG*
How about you? Horse-hoarse? Blue-blew? Do young people still have the vocabulary skills that the schools used to emphasize? Does it matter? Probably not, but language is such a rich gift we all share, seems a shame.
In college bound English, as a senior, we were given a list of 20 vocabulary words a day, to memorize the spelling and know the definiation. I probably will never forget the defination of osmosis...LOL

I had this great idea....
but alas, it doesn't work. Don't you just hate it when your plan falls flat on it's face??? I have a stack of 5" squares , I added the HQT's to put them on point and thus, bigger. I have been wanting to get them used up. The plan was I could use up 1.5 and 2" strips,and make a strippy quilt. I could vary how many stripes were in between the squares, and get an even more unique look. I was so excited about this...LOL. Well, the truth is that I'd be crazy to do it with a center block on point. Either way you turn it, you are dealing with a full deck of BIAS!! Might be possible to get rows that lay flat and are not affected by being on the bias, but not likely in my case...*VBG* And I know it would a nightmare to quilt or tie, because of the stretch in those squares. So, back to the drawing board I guess.

FEMA approved....and newly leased. After my amazing preformance last week, with my 6 appointments, I'm just barely limping along this week. I'm happy to report that my gum is healing nicely, and not to sore after the extraction. I haven't followed up with a call to the Pain Clinic to see what the MRI revealed. BUT I did go and get my hair cut today, and picked up the new glasses! Gosh I can see again! Well, better at least...LOL No sewing done, and I'm beginning to feel like I'm on "hold", listening to Musek...endlessly. Definitely a dry spell in the sewing room. Not even my Civil War block as yet.

The nights have gotten cool and crisp in my part of WI..an overnight temp in the low 50's. Northern MN reported a 37 degrees this morning. Autumn is on it's way. We still are very short in the rain department, and apparently the crops will be what they will be. I wonder how the apples are doing this summer? The tomato crop has really suffered, the skins are tough and almost dehydrated feeling. Sun dried tomatoes ..on the vine. That's something new.

I went looking for my free form fans from last summer, and found them.
Tonya did a tutorial about hand quilting baptist fans without marking them . I had to give it a try.
I chose a print that could stand by itself, added a couple of borders and away I went. I think my quilt is about 24" square. I put the weird spiders on the back because I don't like them as much. The quilting shows up pretty well though. I do like making the fans, and it gets easier as you make more and more. I wish I would have thought to just work on it from the back side. Sure would have been easier to see where the arcs were going...LOL 

Look what I found....

I got the newest newsletter from e-quilter.com yesterday, and tho I usually DON'T look at the fabric, I was curious what might be new for Halloween. This is the same witch that Tonya at lazygalquilting used for a demo last Oct. Same witch with with different stuff. Love those crows or vultures,whatever they are.

These festive skulls were also found at equilter.com. How about these Tonya??? There is alot of really great Halloween fabric out there ladies...*VBS*

Digging deep....
in my quilt picture album would NOT have unearthed this picture. Actually, today is the first time it's been photographed. And you might wonder why...*S* It's one of my Ugly Duckling..an older relative of the Orphan Train quilts of the future. These blocks didn't make the cut for a baby quilt that I had made. And I was wanting to try Betsy's "new to me" utility quilting idea.
And so I sewed them together with gay abandonment. The cornerstones are all the same, and it has only one border fabric. The rest is up for grabs as to what went where.

I made the backing with just as much free spirit as the top. Even stuck the last of the blocks in there. The batt is quite low loft, so the quilt is pretty flat. I wasn't totally unhappy with the quilt, but it's not the kind you take to guild..*S* And so it remained with me, and I ended up calling it "Celebration"...a tribute to my Mom's life. Something about it reminds me of her.
In our Maverick group, it probably would be fairly well accepted. But it's not a quilt that could be called any one thing...except finished. We all know the old saying about having a face that only a mother can love...I'm happy to say I went on from here, sticking together blocks and fabric that don't fit somewhere else.

August 19, 1935...... a
lifetime of hopes, dreams and happiness ahead of them.
Sweetheart roses in softest pink, a pale pink organda dress and hat...my beautiful mother married my handsome father in Chippewa Falls, WI. Their trusty Model T Ford decorated with crepe paper.
So long ago. And yet, as their first born child how could I not remember their anniversary. Both have been gone for many years now, but dates and pictures linger. Life has taught me that any month at all, is a perfectly good time for beginnings.....or endings. And then time just keeps flowing into the next and the next.


Purple Patches...the lump sum

total
sewing
for this
past week.
6 appointment
in 4 days
all but did me
in...LOL. I managed to cut some strips the other night and piece a few simple 9 patches to set with a focus fabric block. Obviously NO thought or planning was involved. I just needed to sew.
I can only speak for myself, but it seems that some combination of age and state of mind creates a dust storm in my head, and it's quite easy for me to get lost in the shuffle. Not physically lost as much as in my head. I rarely accept more than one appointment, two at the max, in any one week. So this past couple of weeks was "over the top" for me.
Everything changes based on "pulling" one card from the deck...and having the tooth pulled and then the MRI, each invasive in its own way, really capped off the week.
I'm feeling better today, and hope to be back to my old Finn self soon. Then I'll regroup and jump in. I'm behind of reading blogs and leaving comments...sorry about that...*VBS* Only one more weekend and then it's Sept...oh my! 

In the pink....
The tooth is out, hurray for that. It went well, and amazingly enough, I am not in any pain. Kept the second appointment, and can cross that one off the list. Still the MRI tomorrow morning, and a second appointment at no0n. Then I'm done for awhile, I hope.
Tonight I'm sharing more vintage fabric. Not quite as old this time, but enough to be vintage. The pink floral on the left is a yardage of 36" fabric. I know they were making it 36" in the mid 1950's when I took a home ec class in junior high. The fabric on the right is a feed sack, compete with the holes along the sides from the stitching. It's a newer fabric design than those of the 1930's. I don't think it was a flour sack, as the holes are a bit too widely spaced for that..probably chick starter or cow mash. Both are very useable, and I will, some day...LOL. Thanks for all your prayers and good wishes, I truly appreciate your friendship...*VBS* 

Frankie...











from last summer. Here he is, taped to my closet door. Poor Frankie...he lanquishes in the pile of the un-finished, un-loved and un-inspired. Since last summer I have most of Frankie quilted. But I drag my heels everytime I even think of "picking him up"..he's a red herring in my basket. What did he do wrong? Nothing..silly old bear followed the directions. Which included using fusible web for his hair, ear knobs, hands, ankles, and shirt(in the V neck). Also the bat and the stars are fused. Is anybody good at stitching through that stuff??? Mine isn't staying "down" nicely, so I began by buttonholing around his hands and ankles. Now I almost have to do it around his head. And so it goes..I avoid Frankie. But I have nothing else basted to quilt on...oh my!!

In the "I am missing" department. Yesterday was a vision test(locally) for new glasses. In my case it takes about 1.5 hrs to test my vision. He really fine tunes it for every fraction of a level he can get. And I appreciate it. But you leave feeling like you ran a marathon.
Today I pushed myself out the door to lunch with friends. It was fun.
I called to set up the arrangements for the "contract" to get the dental work done...at least the low end, which is still about $3,000. Once I have the contract, the first thing is to pull the abscess tooth. That requires a stint of antibotics because of the knee replacement. So I got that taken care of. The dentist has a cancellation tomorrow a.m. at 9, so don't look for me here in the morning. Nor in the afternoon because I have a followup with my family dr. regarding medication changes and additions.
Once the tooth is dealt with, and I have the MRI behind me, the pain dr. can begin to treat my backpain.
It all gets to be "abit" much...LOL...like a WHOLE BIT too much.
One appointment per month other than a haircut is just about right...LOL
I just ran into town to pick up the new antibotic, since I re-acted to the penicillin last week. Hope there is no reaction to this one, or the pulling of the tooth will have to wait. I just took the first pill, so far so good.

I've been crocheting on my fabric rug in the evenings, and sewed up abit of strips for that this afternoon. And made a few purple 9 patches for a kids quilt..not much, but something. I'm already flunking the quilt that Judy is doing for you stash girls, and I'm behind on the one with Tonya...sorry! I'm hoping to catch up once I get Thursday's 2 appointments behind me. In the meantime, hugs for you all, anybody who needs one..*VBS* 

Civil War Block # 2







I chose a very simple block this week. I still have too many irons in the fire to relax and think about quilting. The 9 patch block is from the diary entry of Mary Austin Adelia Wallace. She was a Michigan bride. Her husband, Bruce, enlisted in the Michigan Volunteer Infantry in Jan. of 1862. She was 24 and left to run the farm as best she could. The book is calling this block "Selling The Livestock". I don't think what these diary entries are called has much to do with the particular block shown, but I'm going to consider them as such for this quilt. The entry is dated Sept. 22, 1862. Mary lived until 1921.

A Piece from my scrapbag...





a vintage scrap of child or baby print fabric. The background is darker than the picture shows. Really the pepto-bismal pink of the 1930's. It's so cute with the little one napping and toddler with the sand pail.
This one is closely woven, for sure NOT a feedsack. I suppose it could have been a flour sack, they were smaller(for 25 pounds of flour) and better material. I only have a few of those. One still in it's sack form.
I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms...no sewing at all this week. Time to change that. Company on Friday and more yesterday. I'm ready for some quiet time. Seems like most that are taking part in the Fabric Diet are doing well. So far, so good for me. I tore more strips for my crocheted rug last evening and got a couple more rounds done on that one while watching The Notebook. I had read it as book, way back when, but I did enjoy the movie. OK...now I'm off to the sewing room for sure...*VBS* Happy Sunday everyone! 

Hello...I'm back *VBS*










sorry to be missing for a couple of days, but I got a little more "beat up" pain wise at the pain clinic than I expected. Definitely touch sensitive. Now I have a stronger pain reliever, but it makes me very sleepy. Need an MRI before they can diagonsis for certain. That will happen next week...the MRI part.
What I'm sharing today is that scrap of feedsack I mention way back when..the bubbles girl. I think it's absolutely adorable..LOL..and quite funny as well. I can't quite imagine what a farm wife, faced with a feedsack size bag of this would have done with it. Feedsacks were commonly used for almost anything from aprons to pillowcases, blouses to curtains. The farm wives were only limited by the amount of any one prints they had. I've seen so many cute, really neat feedsack prints over the years...but I've never seen another one quite like this one...LOL Of course it will work fine in a quilt, but what else??? Any ideas?? 

The visit to the eye doctor went well. He found two more tiny pieces of original suture that were working their way up and out of the cornea and removed them. That probably will save me at least one emergency trip to his office. The last of the sutures from the 1998 cornea transplant came out last summer..hurray!! But..one lost its knot in the process(that gave me the eye infection this past January) and two others were "embedded" in the cornea. With the sutures out, you'd think you are home free. No quite. Because of the nature of the disease, and the muliple surgeries, I will be seeing an optholmolgist for the rest of my life. But vision is important, so I don't mind that much.
Yesterday's appt. and the one tomorrow involve the ungoing lower back pain. About time I addressed that one..and I am.
The quilt above is a queen size lovers knot(Quilt In A Day booklet) that I made for the daughter on the left. I made 5 of these that year(1998) and while 4 were tied for customers, this one was machine quilted for her. Needless to say, I won't mind if I never see another Lover's Knot. She loved the quilt, chose the fabrics and uses it still today...quess that's not all bad.

Reaching back...

deep, deep into my scrap bag to pull of pieces for this first Civil War Diary Quilt block. From the diary entry of Rachel Young King Anderson, written on January 1st, 1963. A block that is known by the name Special Blessings. She wrote about feeling blessed as they were still in their home and had food and comfort. The green background fabric was a gift from a special friend..*VBS*. The goldish yellow is fabric for "staging". I counted today and I have gathered together 27 fabrics so far, most from stash..and feel I am off to a good start on this quilt top. I will need some blues, more rust and brown, but I'm happy for now. I'm not very well acquained with the suggested freezer paper method, but I will read up on it, and plan on giving it a try for this quilt. For now, I'm starting with blocks that I can measure the pieces and rotary cut. I'm very pleased with this block..*S*

This is the red, black and white Trip Around The World..ala Bonnie at Quiltville. I have it listed on my sidebar as an August goal. The blocks were made, just have to lay them out and sew them together. It's for a WTIL quilt, and will travel to Linda J. in Alabama once I get my part done.

I'm thinking about layouts..which do you like?? I'm off to a eye dr. appointment shortly..no time to snap a Civil War block picture, but I will later today...honest!! *G*

Civil War???






I've been digging through my stash again, looking for things that I think would work in my Civil War Diary Quilt. What do you think of these 7? The darkest green one is Museum Reproduction from back in the 1980's, and lightest green is an older reproductions also.
The next two pictures are the ones I've already selected(bought them in July)

And here are the next new selections I pulled from stash.


The softer green is actually a Civil War print from Marcus Bros. Not sure how long that has been in my stash. The darkest one is a black and dark green that I think might work. I'd like your opinons please. With these 12 I'm getting closer. I'm not committing to the "sew at least one hr. a day", but I am setting a goal of one Civil War block a week..mininum. I have the first one ready to show you..*VBS* Tomorrow..*G*