The Quilt Is Almost Done

I am so excited; my first quilt is almost done.

Last night after cutting the fabric for the sashing and stones I laid out all the squares, stones and sashing to figure out how I wanted the squares laid out. I just love it and am proud of my color choices but it could not look this good without the help of Lain Stowe at Sew Much Fun.

I like the layout a lot and didn’t want to mix it up so I would pick up a square and a piece of sashing and sew those together and then come back to the living room and get the next and so on. I was on my last row of squares and when I walked back into the living room my cat was sitting in the spot where the square I was just sewing was suppose to be.

Then I took two squares to sew together and went back to get the third and she was sitting in both squares spot. This happened over the course of an hour as I was easily side tracked last night. But it was so funny and very cute that she knew not to get on the fabric. I guess she learned that she was not suppose to be on the fabric by watching me use the lint roller the other night to get her hair of my squares. I love my kitty cat.

I have one square that is a Snail’s Trail and it should measure 12” x 12”. Let’s just say that every side is not straight and is wavy almost. The seams should be ¼ “and a lot of times you could fix the problem by just making the seam smaller or bigger. But this squares is so uneven that I should have remade it but I didn’t have enough fabric and I went to Joanne’s yesterday and didn’t notice the pattern so I some how managed to make it look okay. I can’t wait to see how that one deformed square affects the whole quilt. This is my first quilt so I can’t beat myself up to bad I guess.

I took the fabric today to have my label made so I can complete the back and take it to Sew Much Fun for the quilting process. I can’t wait to post the completed quilt pictures. Check back you never know when it will be done.


Happy Quilting!!!

9 Ways To Stay Happy From...

There's a couple named Bill and Marie DeCaro who live in Springfield, Pennsylvania and they've been married for 80 years. That makes them the world's SECOND-LONGEST MARRIED COUPLE.

Marie is 99 years old, Bill turned 100 in March, and their 80th wedding anniversary is June 20th. They got married in Philadelphia in 1929 . . . lost their money in the Great Depression . . . travelled the Vaudeville circuit . . . and danced in theaters during the silent movie era.

--Here are NINE tips from the DeCaros about how to make your relationship last:

1.) FORGIVENESS: Bill says the relationship has lasted so long because Marie, quote, "never gets mad at anything. If we have a little dispute . . . which we have . . . in about 5 minutes she'll come over, or I'll do the same thing to her. Forget the disputes!"
2.) CUDDLE: Bill says that when Marie can't get to sleep, quote, "I turn around, put my hands on her stomach, and she falls asleep."
3.) BE INDEPENDENT: Marie says she likes a man who's an independent thinker . . . so according to her, quote, "Don't just gobble everything that I say . . . you got a head of your own . . . use your own head." (???)
4.) DON'T OVER-SPEND: Marie says, quote: "Where do couples go wrong? They spend too much money."
5.) TALK A LOT
6.) LOVE A LOT
7.) LAUGH A LOT
8.) EXERCISES A LITTLE
9.) HAVE A LITTLE FUN

I See a Quilt in the future!

Here they are...my first 11 quilt squares. I still need to make one Twin Sister square and I will be ready to learn how to do stashing and the borders.

Getting the Feet Ready for the Beach

The other night I was trying to finish my sewing and Keith came in the guest bedroom to talk to me. I kept on sewing and my back was to him. When I took a quick break and turned around he was scrubbing his feet with my sanding block from Lowe's that I bought to use on the compost bin. Here is his supplies... and in the process of getting those babies beach ready...

My Garden Yesterday

The tomatoes

My BIG brussel sprouts

A flower on my potato plants

My fourth of july tomatoes

The GIANT lemon cucumber

The End!

Finally Done

After 2 months and 2 calls to our power company about them dumping a load of mulch from cutting limbs off the power lines I was mad. We found out that a neighboring county has free mulch for the public if you load it up yourself. So that is what we did and made two trips. It was back breaking work and it didn't cover as much as we thought it should. Here is Keith loading mulch on the trailer after filing the truck bed. Then the other day I was looking through my notepad that I keep in my purse and passed the page where I made notes on when I called our power company. So of course I was mad because a house down the road got a huge load and I see the trucks at the gas station pretty much every day on my way home from work. So I knew that they were close by so why wasn't I getting any mulch. So I called again and left a not so nice message and about 3 days later someone knocked on the door and said to Keith "Your wife called and wanted some mulch, where would you like it?"! That is what I thought!!!! The funny thing is we used it all but about a quarter of it.
Then the next day Keith called me at work and said that they dropped another load off. The picture above is Keith standing by the second load.

We cut some cedars a couple weeks ago to act as a barrier between our front yard and our garden/hammock/firewood/chicken part of the yard. We wanted the mulch to cover that area. This is it finished finally.

Root Vegetables

I haven't learned the trick to planting root vegetables yet but I am trying. My carrots that I picked a week after the maturity date are mostly tooth picks and the radishes have the same story.

I just wanted to share so that if something isn't turning out right in your life right now you will know that you are not alone.

Vegetable Markers

I don't mind my family asking what is this, what is that but every week or other week makes me think that they aren't really paying attention. I am probably wrong and might not remember something they tell me so I took it as a chance to make something crafty for my beds.

I called Lowe's and Home Depot to see if I could buy the paint sticks since I needed around 50. Lowe's said they will not sell them to me but Home Depot said they were FREE to come get what I needed. So I did in three different trips and bought something every time so it didn't seem that bad. I got some lively craft paint and got busy painting. The caribbean color took five coats to cover up the writing on the sticks. After they were all paint I got a paint pen and wrote the names of my veggies that I have planted this year and veggies I plan to plant in years to come. Then I clear coated them a few times to keep them nice and pretty.

Besides the breakfast table being covered in paint sticks for a week or so I am very pleased with the way they turned out.

Red Velvet Cake Balls

I got this great recipe from Ann Jones, the wife of a fishing buddy of Mr. Larry's.

Thank you so much it is really great. It is so easy to make and I wanted to share it with you.

What You Need:

Red Velvet Cake Mix

3 Almond Bark Bars Vanilla Flavored

1 Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients Needed for Cake Mix

Wax Paper or Parchment Paper

Cookie Dough Scooper

1 cup Chopped Nuts

Pyrex Type Pan

Really Big Mixing Bowl

How To Make Them:

1. Make the cake as directed on the box and bake it in a Pyrex type pan.

2. While the cake is baking make room in your freezer for about 2 cookie pans to sit flat.

3. Cover two cookie pans with wax paper or parchment paper and sit aside.

4. Right after the cake comes out of the oven dump it into the mixing bowl and crumble it up.

5. Take the Cream Cheese Icing and mix it thoroughly into the crumbled cake. Next mix in the chopped nuts. Mix until everything is well blended.

6. Take your Cookie Dough Scooper and form balls with the cake mix. Place them on the cookie pans and when all the balls are made place them in the freezer for 1 hour or longer. (Hint: After they are frozen you can place them in a ziploc bag and put back in the freezer for a later use)

7. Melt the Almond Bark Bars per the directions on the package. While that is melting cover a portion of your counter with wax paper or parchment paper.

8. When melted completely, dip and cover the balls and then place them on the paper for the coating to harden. You can double dip but more bars might be needed.

9. Eat and Enjoy!!!

New Roosting Pole

Last Sunday I was thinking the chickens needed a new roosting pole so I went to Home Depot for their free paint sticks (I am making garden markers) and I was looking at the lumber seeing what they had that was already cut to size since Keith was at work. I ended up getting 2 step risers and 3 porch rails. I was really thinking out of the box and this I think will work perfect. I eventually want to make it taller and maybe get some risers with 5 or more step so they will have more places to roost.