Design Wall and finishes

I didn’t have a design wall post last week.  Somehow, with a very long holiday weekend, I didn’t realize I had missed it until Monday night when I was getting ready to write and suddenly realized the day had passed.  Oh, my, do you suppose I am getting old?  No way!  I just don’t pay attention to the calendar as much as I used to.

So, here is my design wall for this week:

 

This is my 16 patch quilt top, ready for backing, batting, and quilting.

 

And here it is with the backing fabric.  I hope to be getting the backing ready this morning and maybe even get it on Mildred, too.

 

I also finished quilting JR on Friday, sewed the binding together on Saturday and on Sunday completed sewing on the binding.  I always love it when a quilt or project is finished.

And now another kiddy picture.  As we were getting ready to leave for our morning walk this morning, this was the scene that greeted us, Pewter, the momma, and her two growing kittens, basking in the sun.  We have two small families living around our deck: anyone want a kitten/cat?

WOW and stuff

I really had a slow start this week.  We drove to Pensacola to do some eating and antiquing.  For the eating we had…….

                                                                                                  

Taco pizza.   No one makes it where we live so we are always excited when we find it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we went to the Blue Moon Antique Mall.  As soon as we get there I start singing the song, one of my favorites. 

Anyway, just as we came in the door I spotted this chair. 

It is the 70s style of Scandinavian chair and footrest that I have seen for years but never could afford.  This one is done in gray leather and reclines and swivels.   I have been wanting a chair for the bedroom (for when I don’t want to watch what DH has on the TV) and this is perfect.  I will be making a throw and pillow for it but with the low arm rests it will be great for doing that hand embroidery the BOM designers insist on putting in their blocks.

And, of course, next to the chair is the dress form I just had to have.  It is male but this one has arms.  He will be dressed in cowboy clothes and will be a living room cowboy to go with DH’s B Western collections.

Now, I have been doing a little work in the studio.  On Monday I organized my pieces for the 4 Block 4s:

 

All of the pieces have been pressed to fabric and sorted into baggies, ready for me to start making those blocks.

However all that has been put aside as Mildred and I worked out our differences and have begun quilting JR.  I am using King Tut Lime Stone, a variegated lime green, for the top thread.  I like how it is showing but does not take away from the bright colors.

And lastly, there is Ms. Murphy.  I went to take this picture and what I got was a “get out of my face” look.  Somehow, I think she thinks she is the boss around here.  But, of course, everyone around here thinks that.  Just look at this look of contentment:

 

DH and Abby, doing what they love best.

Another Design Wall Monday

This has to be the most boring design wall in history.  I did take this picture Sunday afternoon but it looks a lot like the picture I took Wednesday.  The difference, however, is that I have started sewing the rows together.

I have three more rows to do and the center will be done.  And I have already decided how I am going to quilt it…….

Isn’t this cute?  I got it last month as part of the ‘panto of the month’ program from Urban Elementz.

And speaking of UE, yesterday I got June’s panto and have decided to use it on JR. 

I think this will be perfect for that strip quilt.

Speaking of quilting, I started quilting on this today but had to rip it all out (only got 6” in).  The tension, which tested perfectly, went all whacky.  I think it is really the thread but after ‘unstitching’ I was not ready to try again.  Perhaps this afternoon.

And one last picture, since my last cat picture did so well…         

I am not really into bathroom humor but I cam around the corner and this was what I saw.  She has water both inside in the kitchen and outside on the deck, so where does she drink?  No wonder she was so laid out last week.

 

Mid Week

Well, here I am, finally getting back to at least twice a week posting.  You can blame Esther Aliu for this.  She has started a WIP Wednesday on her blog.  So I decided that if I want to be a part of things I need to get back to Wednesday blogging.

I have been somewhat busy.  I got a backing sewn for my JR quilt and got it all on the frame yesterday.

That's as far as I got but Friday I will decide on the thread and pattern and maybe even start the quilting.  It should go fast and then it can travel with us next weekend.

I also finally cut the white squares to fit in with the 16 patch leftovers for a comfort quilt.  I have the top two rows sewn, not together, and plan to finish the rest this weekend.  Right now it is only 36x48 so it will need a couple of borders before I can call it finished.

And I did something that is unusual for me.  I cooked.  This is not my creative bent but my DIL posted what she was making for dinner and it sounded good to me.  I changed it a little to fit my Weight Watcher’s points (and what I had on hand) and look how my Ange’s Oven Fried Chicken turned out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn’t that beautiful?  I must say that those chicken breasts were huge so we split one, and look how I packaged the other:

I wanted to remember where I got the recipe when I find it again in the freezer.  

Today was my last day to lead one of my WW meetings and I am feeling a little down.  I hate closing a meeting when there are still some people who want to continue but we just don’t have enough to keep going.  I also feel I am loosing friends who are helping me as much as I am helping them.  But they have the tools and a list of other, further away, meetings where they can continue so we are all moving on.