{#764} Emily's Hearthside Memories Quilt

Here is Emily with her newest quilt from me.  It is called Hearthside Memories.  She really likes it!  Her kitchen walls are about the same color as mine.  This is taken in MY kitchen.

~Joan

{#763} Look Who's Sitting Up!

Look who's sitting up admiring her I Spy Quilt!  This is a friend's daughter.  I saved the picture right side up, but every time I upload it to Blogger, it's on its right side again.  Sorry about the crick in your neck as you peel your right cheek off your shoulder.

Time to start another I Spy, I guess.  Thanks for sharing the pic, S!!

~Joan

Which One of These Things is Not Like The Others?

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I have a love/hate relationship with painting.  I LOVE the way freshly painted items look, but I would rather be doing something else!  I also know a post w/o pictures is boring.  I painted all the trim in our tiny hall this AM.  FIVE doorways and a closet door.  It is definitely the trim nightmare.  But it.  is.  finished!!

I am working on some new secret blocks, but I am going to show one picture here.  I am thinking I'll need at least 99, maybe more if I make it wider.  I am planning on 9 x 11 blocks for now.  I am piecing them 4 at a time.  My 1-1/2" strips box is nearly empty...the most empty it's ever been since its birth.  That means cutting more strips in the future. 

Here are the first four blocks.  They all have the same dark for the center HST, but the finished quilt will, of course, have much more variety.  The blocks finish at 10" square...nice round number, eh?

They are the ones on the right (hee hee)...

The quilt top on the left is for an upcoming bridal shower.  I am fairly sure the recipient does not read my blog.  Have to just add a border to the one on the left (which has the blocks sewn together).  Scale is so important in a quilt.  The left top is going to be a wall hanging or table mat.  The one on the right will be a queen-sized quilt, so I can get away with larger pieces.  The left has 3/4" finished "logs" and the right has 1" finished.  It's the huge centers on the right that makes the scale look so different.

Off to do some more work!  Thank God for the strength to do it.

~Joan

{#761} Thees Ees Not Good

I talked to my husband briefly on my phone.  I vacuumed out under the frig and the coils, I reorganized and purged some stuff from two of my cabinets.  I pulled my phone out of my pocket to text the bride-to-be...I was shocked to see my phone screen was...well, not sure what it is, but I know what it is not...it's not working.  Have no idea what happened.

If I could find my to-do list, I'd know what else I had to do!

~Joan

{#760} Cure for Summer Boredom

I have been enjoying some extra time with the only two of my eight children that are home right now.  All my children are fun to be with, and somehow it is easier to notice when they are not all here!!

Anyway...with Emily's wedding coming up in less than two weeks and my oldest daugher coming home from being gone all summer, there are a plethora of small chores to do.  I made up a list, and we all (all three of us, that is) went through and picked ones we would be responsible for...it actually looks doable!

Yay for helpers!  Off to a great start this AM...

~Joan

{#759} Painting Pics

Here is my beautiful finished wall.  It probably doesn't look like much since you're not used to see it peeling off.  The box between the piano and my cutting table houses my quilts to be hand quilted.  The two of them have been there for quite a while!  Seeds of Kindness and "Highway Hearts".

My husband and three of my children are taking their turn to make a trip to Ohio.  Remember I took 3 kids last month?  It didn't work out with our crazy summer traveling schedules to all go together.  We thought it would be a better visit with two groups of 4 rather than one of 8. 

Below is the famous pull-out trash door that I mentioned yesterday.  It is one of the doors that (badly) needs painting.  The holes where the handle was originally were filled with wood putty.  You can see where the paint is chipped away from people gouging it violently with their talons when they opened the door, I guess.  That's the only logical explanation.



I have a multitude of projects to finish before Emily's wedding, August 13.  The reason for mentioning the trip to OH and the door above is to bring up my new favorite words..."Send the cabinet doors and the paint up, and I'll sand and have them painted for you."  My dad said that to me last night on the phone.  Glory, hallelujah!!  If I would have had the energy, I would have jumped up and clicked my heels together.  Emily promptly removed 10 doors and loaded them in the Pilot.  What a relief.  Suddenly, the rest of my projects look doable.

I take Susie to the airport crazy early tomorrow AM.  We are leaving here at 5:30, which means I'll be getting up at 5:29.  I hope it's not one of those nights where I keep thinking I'm sleeping in and wake up to check every 30 minutes.

I have another nearly-finished quilt over on my secret blog.  Hop on over there if you know where to find it!

~Joan

Everything. Takes. So. Long. To. Do.

People are always telling me they are amazed at how much I get done.  I don't think I get that much done, so those comments always amaze me. 

Guess what I've been doing today?  The top picture shows a section of paneling in our MPR (multi-purpose room) that replaced two bi-fold doors.  My husband walled in the room and cut a new door on adjacent wall of the room.  Shortly after the paneling was installed, I painted the room a lovely green...sort of light grayish green.  I.  love.  it.  Shortly thereafter, strips of paint started peeling off the paneling.  I had not sanded it to rough up the surface.  Well, I put it off for years, but the process had to be done!  Isaac and Rachel scraped off the old paint, Ben sanded it, and I primed and painted it.  The priming and painting were done this AM.  The paneling has those little grooves in it, so I brushed those, then rolled the rest of the wall.  It is nearly dry and looks m-a-r-v-e-l-o-u-s.  I started at 6AM.

My next project is to repaint 3 of my wall cabinet doors and the cabinet face behind it.  The problem with that?  The paint I used 5 years ago is no longer being made, and the color is no longer available.  Well, I went to Lowe's and had it color matched.  I am about to start priming the doors (wish I had taken a before picture...the difference between the old and new will, no doubt, be astounding).  The paint had been wearing off from around the hardware. 

There is one other door front that I will be painting.  Originally we had a "concealed" trash can.  The whole drawer pulled out.  There were several reasons I did not like it.  When I was cooking, my hands were usually dirty.  Hence, pulling out the drawer than opening the trash can nearly always transferred what was on my hands to the drawer pull and then the trash can lid.  The drawer also collected trash and spills inside (eeewwwwwww).  Wes had the pull-out drawer converted to a regular cabinet door and put shelves in.  Now it houses my crockpots.  At least six of them!

Off to prime those doors!  Wish me luck!

~Joan, the overambitious