Another Quilt Finished On The Handi-Quilter

Advice to self...don't buy 30 pounds of ground beef at one time again.  Ever.  I mean it.

On my way home from the Y, I stopped to get a few items at a locally owned grocer.  They had 85% lean ground beef for $1.50 a pound.  It was only good for another couple days.  So I declared today beef day.  Several of the kids helped me off and on, especially Rachel.

So I fed the freezer with semi-prepared meals...9 batches of Salisbury steak (I grill these on my contact grill, so I just mixed them and formed them into burger shapes), ten pounds of BBQ meatballs (shaped and ready to bake after adding sauce), 6 pounds of porcupine meatballs, and 10 pounds of browned burger for sloppy joes, spaghetti, chili, etc.

Made home-made chicken fried steak (from cube steak), mashed potatoes, and milk gravy for lunch.  It.  was.  perfect.

Susanna pinned her rail fence quilt on the Handi-Quilter frame, and I quilted the whole thing after 4:00, off and on.  I did loops and hearts.  It is adorable.  It's twin-bed size.  She used up all my '30's scraps.  The back is pieced.  I will get some pics later.  My camera died today.  I do mean completely dead.  Just last night my husband asked if I wanted him to buy me a new camera.  I told him I didn't want him to spend the money on me...mine was working just fine.  That was, until it died this AM.  He said my new one should be here in a couple days :)

Going to go read for a little while then collapse.

Will be quilting the Texas Braid soon!!

~Joan

Treadle Machine Top Being Upgraded!

My darling girl is upgrading the top of my treadle sewing machine base.  Years ago I saw a treadle machine base at a friend's house.  Her husband had made an oak table top for her.  I loved it. 

My oldest daughter, knowing my love for sewing, found and bought me a base at a flea market.  It had no top at all.  Bless her heart, she hoisted that thing all the way to the car by herself (with a recliner under the other arm).  It is made of case iron, so you know she looks like Hercules.

Today I took the plunge and started repainting the thing.  My husband had sawn the legs off an antique rickety table that used to grace our foyer.  That table was seriously a danger.  I kept expecting one of the legs to give way and have all the decorations come crashing to the floor.  So today I sanded down the bottom edge of the table where the legs used to be and painted the sides.  Rachel is painting the top.  And doing a marvelous job.

In this first picture, I had already removed the drawer and painted the front and sides.

This top seriously needs help.  Will a coat of paint be enough?  The wood is rough, the beveled edges of the top even worse.  I did not want to sand it because it was so wavy.

In my defense, I always had a quilted table runner on it, so all that was exposed was the nasty edges.

Here it is with the top half painted.  Looking better already, eh?

My lovely assistant (get a load of those curls, will ya?).

Finished!!  Now I need to entice her to wash off the cast iron part...it's very dusty.

This might be foyer-worthy again!  For now, it's in my bedroom.

~Joan

Updated Bathroom and Checkerboard

 

We had a new shower/tub put in our main upstairs bathroom over the past couple of weeks.  At times I thought it would never be finished.  But lo, and behold!  Old wall color on the left (cashmere white) and my new bold bluish/green (mostly bluish) that I cannot recall the name of.  I like the new color a lot.  Couldn't take the painter's tape off yet.  My DH also installed the shower head since the picture.

Check out my secret blog for some sewing pics.  I'm making this from the leftovers.  I think it will end up being a square table topper for my RED kitchen, but time will tell.  In the meantime, check out my other blog (email me for the addy if you want).  Here is where I got my inspiration.

~Joan

This Mother's Heart 25 Blocks Strong

Went for a little trip this past weekend.  I made a few blocks (I think six) in the Pilot on the way there and back.  It was very crowded and not very comfy (for me at least). 

Here is a view of my lap on the way there...

Non-quilters can stop reading now.  You will have no interest in the following information.  In the above picture I was hand appliqueing the colored piece onto the cream background.  That is how I have made all the blocks except for two today. 

The two made today were machine zigzagged instead of hand stitched.  You know what?  They look OK.  I now have an "even" 25 blocks (even as in they make a square on my design wall).  So I'm not going to work on those for a while.  See my secret blog for projects I'm going to be working on.  If you don't have the address for that, send me an email, and I will send it to you (unless you're in my family).

I gave my FIL the Zigzag Stars quilt Saturday.  He seemed to like it.  I also gave my SIL the Cotton Seeds wall hanging.  She sent me a phone pic today of it already hanging in her foyer.  She says she likes it a lot. 

~Joan



Supreme Slider Opinion

Above is a picture of my Supreme Slider being used for the first time.  It is a self-sticking pad you put over the base of your sewing machine.  It has a coat of Teflon on the top, making the quilt sandwich slide around effortlessly, or so they want you to think.  I didn't notice a great improvement in my sliding.  That surprised me because my sewing machine is set down into my cabinet, and the cabinet has a slightly rough top.  This is not a product I would recommend getting.  I did not notice a significant improvement.  Just my opinion.

~Joan

This Mother's Heart Update

I added a few more blocks last night with different colors and "backgrounds". 

Here's a funny story for you.  If you read my blog because you're a quilter, you will chuckle with me.  If you don't quilt, you probably are thinking like my young friend.

There is a young lady (I think she is 20) that our family picks up for nearly every church service (two on Sunday and one on Wednesday night).  She and I are good friends.  In fact, she said the other day that if she was getting married, I would be her maid of honor.  Slightly strange to most people's thinking, but we are buds.

I was hand piecing some of the blocks for this quilt last night as I sat in our vehicle and waited for all the kids to arrive from their various locations at church for the ride home.  My friend was the first to arrive, and we were enjoying some chit chat as we caught up with each other from the past few days.  She asked me what I was doing (in all our times together, and there have been many, I don't think she's ever seen me sew, which seems strange now that I think about it).  I explained that I was hand appliqueing the end sections on the triangles.  I pulled out my iPod and showed her a picture of how the blocks looked set together (like in the above picture).  She said with all seriousness..."I have no idea how doing that could bring pleasure to a person.  I mean, what is the POINT?"  I actually sat there speechless for several minutes.  Then I felt sorry for her.  She lives with her brothers and father and has never had the example of a woman making something with her hands.  She has never experienced the pride of a hand-sewn garment or other object that brought beauty and joy to her life.  Poor girl.  Do you agree or disagree? 

~Joan

Texas Braid Photo Shoot

This is my Texas Braid after the row-ectomy.  There is enough at the top for a pillow tuck, my preferred way of bed-making.

I am in no hurry to finish this, especially with all the secret projects going on.  There is just not enough sewing time in a day!

You can see my quilt frame to the right in the picture.  The leaders (what the quilt is pinned to) are hanging down...they are made of muslin.

~Joan