{Post 1,621} Home, Sweet Home

We made a side trip to IKEA in relatively nearby Charlotte on our way home from PA. This tree was right beside where we parked our van in the parking lot. We left my daughter’s house last night and drove two hours and spent the night in a hotel. The reason was that they were getting icy precipitation during the night. By the time we got down to sea level from their house, the temp had gone up ten degrees.

I came home to this...and went without a jacket into the store.

I wish I knew what kind of tree this is. It had such delicate blossoms.

The reason we stopped at IKEA was to buy a Ingo table. I saw a tutorial for making a sewing machine table where the sewing machine sits flush with the table top. I kept looking back to see what kind of table they recommended. I told my husband that I couldn’t remember it. When I told him the name, he said, “it’s *clap* I-N-G-O, and Ingo is its name-o!!”  Ha ha ha ha ha...

My husband agreed to make me one. He sort of did that with the desk I use now. The desk used to be L-shaped. When he removed the piece that jutted out at a 90-degree angle, I kept wishing the machine was closer to the right end of the table. You see, that is where I have my Bible reading and prayer time in the AM, and the space to the left of the machine is very small. This table was intended to have the tray below used as a keyboard tray for a computer.  It was the perfect height for my sewing machine once my husband cut a hole to fit the machine snugly into it.

{Post 1,620} Visiting in PA

We are visiting my daughter and SIL in PA. We’ve been busy non-stop. It has been so enjoyable. They are getting an icy precipitation and live at the top of a mountain. We are thinking of packing up and leaving tonight instead of the AM as planned. We have done several projects with them. The biggest is painting their living room. We removed the mirrors in the first picture and painted over the “chair rail” below them all around the room. It is a dark wood with brassy trim! They live in a mobile home, and it is in need of several updates. Here is a picture of the progress from day 1 to 2 to 3 in a grid form. The change is amazing, and there is more to be done.

{Post 1,619} One Lonely Moth

I stitched one Moth in the Window block this AM. I spent two hours straight decluttering my sewing room. It feels good to have another Chick-fil-A box of donations and a 13-gallons bag of trash. At some point, my room will be completely decluttered.

I deboned two more shirts and went through lots of stuff. 

Yesterday I finished the re-machine quilting of my youngest daughter’s first large quilt (that I made for her when she was about four). She got married this past summer. When she still lived at home, this quilt’s machine quilting started wearing off, leaving big “toe-catcher” stitches. I had sent it out to be quilted before I started machine quilting all my own quilts. The unquilting process took a couple years because I hardly ever worked on it. It’s no fun at all. I love the new thread color and the density of the quilting (simple loops). Here is about half of it and a close-up after washing and drying.

A commercial moment. I am selling Thimbleberries from my house for $5 a yard, plus actual shipping. Let me know if you want some pictures. This quilt looks as good as it did when I first made it. Very minimal fading, if any at all. It is made from all Thimbleberries. Enjoy!

{Post 1,618} Two More Moths

I had hoped to have many more blocks by now, but life happened. On a daily basis. We had company for a couple days, I bought a few more shirts, and we were out of town for two days. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking with it.

Tonight I cut just one sleeve off 2 shirts and made the two blocks below. The fabric on the left one is a dark purple (my favorite color is purple). The one on the right is a very dark grey stripe.

 

Here they are with their friends:

Before I can proceed, I need to determine how large I want the finished quilt to be. Bonnie’s is 88-1/2” square, I think. I will figure my final size before I make any more blocks. We have too many quilts that we don’t use because they are a strange (non-bed) size. In the meantime, I’ll debone the rest of my shirts.

Here is my little Valentine quilt on the wire “Welcome” hanger. It is not exactly what I wanted, but I like it. It is at the top of the stairs from the basement.

{Post 1,617} Taters and Flowers

Here is a close-up of the nearly-finished edge of my Grandmother’s Flower Garden.

I just love working on this quilt. I did not do any sewing at all yesterday. I like to do a few minutes every day, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Some new friends had us over for lunch right after church, and we spent a lot of the day with them. 

On Saturday I machine quilted a customer top. Three more for her to go! I did not take a picture since it wasn’t my quilt.

On a totally different subject, I have two relatively new appliances. A Power Air Fryer Oven and an Instant Pot (I actually have two, a 3-quart and an 8-quart). Today I made mashed potatoes in the IP for the first time. I’ll never go back. Six minutes of pressure cooking, quick release, drain water, and proceed as desired. The recipe said one could make up to five pounds in the 8-quart. I was only making them because I had some russet potatoes going bad. I also made some boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the PAFO for lunch with a rub of seasonings. They were splendid. My son, who doesn’t like thighs, could only eat two, LOL!

Hope each of you has a wonderful night.

{Post 1,616} Not Much New Here

I knew I would get very little machine sewing time today. I have been trying to cook one meal a day. That doesn’t sound like much considering that when all my children were at home, we’d have 3 from-scratch meals every day. My husband and I both eat about every three hours, and we try to eat together once a day. With Timmy (4) here, it is even harder. He doesn’t like many foods. I am trying to change that, but that is the fact. Cooking take a long time when one includes clean-up.

I tried a new recipe for supper, and it was, sadly, not so scrumptious. It was a weight watcher meatloaf recipe. It was too soft in texture for us. At least Timmy had some. It won’t go to waste (or waist either, evidently), but I won’t make it again.

Earlier this week, my right knee unexpectedly gave out on me. I felt a little pop in it, then I could not bear weight on it for a few minutes. It happened several times this AM. I spent a lot of time icing and resting it.

I did do some hand sewing on the filler units for my Grandmother’s Flower Garden. Everything just takes so much time, you know?

This afternoon, I remembered that I had 4 quilt tops to machine quilt for a friend. I got those out and made a plan. This AM, I ironed a top and backing. My knee started acting up, so I did not work on it any more. I have the backing pinned and ready to add the top and batting. I hope to get some quilting done on it tomorrow.

For interest, here is an old quilt top of mine that I unearthed during the recent decluttering. I don’t even know how big it is. After I get the customer quilts quilted, I am going to add another border to this and quilt it for my family. I designed it after coming across a very large number of HSTs. I kinda love it.

I just now remembered that last week at this time, Timmy could not stop vomiting and we took him to the hospital in the AM. Seems like yesterday. I am glad he recovered so quickly. I am exhausted, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Enjoy the eye candy below...

{Post 1,615} 29/64?

If I make the Moth in the Window the original size, I am almost halfway there with the blocks.

Here are my 4 new ones from tonight, and then a pic of all the ones so far, with the new ones down the right side (above my assistant’s head).