My Hydrangeas, Daisies & More

 My lovely hydrangeas and daisies are in full bloom.

When we landscaped our yard six years ago, I deliberately told the landscaper I wanted to keep my plants small.  After having over grown shrubs in previous homes, I knew how fast and huge plants can grow over the years.

The original landscape design was loaded with plants.  I cut it under half what was shown.  

I didn’t want shrubs that would obscure the view of the house or allow someone to hide behind them.

One thing I miss from our Pennsylvania home is the flower window boxes on our cute shed.

My plan is to someday add window boxes to my garage windows.

I’m holding out running the sprinklers in the front yard.  It’s so expensive to water the yard here.

I was shocked when I received my first several water bills the first season the grass was put in and watered frequently.

I didn’t even know how to run the sprinkler system.  I googled it and learned.  This is the first house we have had sprinklers.  One thing I learned over the years, the brown grass will turn green again.

I was in pain the last week.  So I didn’t get much done.  I even had to cancel one of my strength training sessions on Friday.  I don’t know if it was bursitis and/or arthritis in both hips.  All I know was it hurt and it disturbed my sleep.  Last night I finally took an Aleve and slept better.  It’s not gone completely but it’s not bothering me as much now.  We have had a lot of rain and more is forecasted for the next week. 

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A friend gifted me her Brother Cut n’ Scan machine.  I have misplaced the manual but I found the DVD with all the information and the manual.  I’ve printed out the manual and it is much easier to read than the original one that came with the machine.  So maybe it was a blessing I misplaced it.

I have to rearrange my sewing area [..again] to accommodate the machine.  It has to be connected  to my PC.  I’m hoping I can get it connected  so I can at least tell my friend I used it.

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I went out to lunch for the first time since March 2020!  It was wonderful to visit with a dear designer friend who is helping me plan to convert my screened in porch to a 4 season room.

We looked at Pella windows to replace my screens and a sliding door to replace the current door which has never closed properly.  

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I had hoped to finish a July 4th wall hanging in time for Independence Day but I don’t think it will happen.

It’s pieced but needs to be sandwiched with batting and back and quilted.

We plan to BBQ for Independence Day.  

I might fix Strawberry Shortcake because it such a nice summer dessert.

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I keep changing the subject, but I have 34 Inspector George Gently books by Alan Hunter (pocketbooks and kindle versions).

There are more but I haven’t found them all yet.  I’m going to try to see if Barnes and Noble can order the ones I am missing.

So what have all of you been up to this summer? 

Have a wonderful day!

Valentine’s Day

 This is not an easy day for me.  

Memories of past Valentine’s Days with my sweet hubby are flooding my mind.  

Several cries already.  

So lonely for him.

My niece and her sweetheart greeted me with chocolate chip pancakes this morning.  They are are a joy to me and so much comfort.  

I sliced fresh strawberries last night and piled them on my pancakes this morning.

And a good friend dropped off a Valentine’s gift yesterday.

It’s the first Valentine’s gift I’ve had since my hubby passed.

 It was such an unexpected surprise and touched me so much with her thoughtfulness and generosity. 

 I’m sure she doesn’t even realize what it meant to me.

I’m typing here with romance music playing on my Echo.

I’ve washed and changed the sheets on my bed and laundry is almost done.

I’ve made frosted brownies for a treat today.

We have two rounds of snow forecasted..one after midnight and another coming Tuesday morning. 

Three to six inches.

Three fourths of my driveway is icy.  The weather been too cold to melt it.

Usually I’m in Florida at my cousin’s on Valentine’s Day.

My sister-in-law sister’s took this beautiful photo of a lovely deer couple.  

She’s quite an accomplished photographer!

Enjoy your day!

Row By Row “Bits ‘n Pieces”

 Another very cold day here in NE Ohio.  It’s in the teens (17 degrees feels like 8 degrees).  Snow is on the ground.  I tried applying de-icer the other day but it’s so cold out it’s not working.  My garage doors face north and are always in the shade and get icy very easily.  

Here’s another quilting project.

The Cath Kidston buttons were brought in the UK during our tour there in 2013.

I used string for the threading the needle.

In 2017 I received this cute “row by row” wall hanging kit as a gift.  It’s called “Bits ‘n Pieces”.  I don’t believe it is available anymore.  I loved the black sewing machine on it.  I machine embroidered the Janome name and the Horizon name on it.  It’s pieced together.  I used little clips for hanging the tiny quilts.

My niece pointed out I forgot to add the doorknob button.

I still have not gotten around to it.

One of these days I will.

Keep safe and warm wherever you are!

Finally a Sunny Day

 Yippee!  The sun is shining today.  It’s all white outside after our snow fall yesterday.  The wind even blew snow onto my screened in porch.  I woke up feeling refreshed this morning.  It’s good to have a decent night’s sleep.  I managed to clean my bathroom but I’m still enjoying my Winter Tree!  

As many of you know who have followed my blog through the years, my hubby and I loved to travel in our various RVs.  We collected patches and pins with the thought to sew the patches on jackets and attach the pins to hats.  I never got around to it though until last year.  I made a wall hanging of black cotton and sewed all the patches from our travels throughout the USA and abroad.  I pinned all the pins on it too.  

I hung it in our downstairs media room.  I love looking at it and remembering all the wonderful times we had together.

Our rescue puppy, Lucky, continues to bring us joy.  He is a delight and just loves all his toys.

His big sister, Jewels, will take his toys away but Lucky doesn’t care.  He just grabs another one.  

They like to sleep a lot too!

My niece and her boyfriend had to cut Lucky’s nails last week.  Unfortunately while trimming one, Lucky moved and they cut the quick on one nail and blood went everywhere.  See the white cover Lucky is laying on.  They ordered a new cover but I took the old one and said I could get the blood out.  I tried using the Carbona Blood remover but when I used up two of the little bottles, I knew I had to find a better solution  So, I googled it and found out vinegar was recommended.  I had a big bottle of vinegar and it worked amazingly!  Quick too!  So, now they have a spare cover to use when trimming his nails.  

I should start working on my income taxes.  But I don’t think I have all the forms yet I need.  I was so spoiled because my hubby did the taxes our whole married life.  This will be the sixth year I have had to do the taxes since I was single.  Well, I don’t “do” the taxes.  I just gather all the documents and give them to my tax guy.  My hubby use to run the taxes himself just to check the results of our tax accountant.  He caught a few minor mistakes over the years.  Only two constants in this world...taxes and death.

Well, that’s all for today.

This and That..my iPhone Cases & My Sewing Room

 Sewing Room

Since I have been working on my sewing panel projects my sewing area in our Hobby Room really got messy!  Finally, this week I cut up left over pieces of fabric and batting to put in my doggie bag.  It’s a great way to utilize these scraps and some day will be a bed for a rescue doggie.  The cutting table is cleared...whew...so happy.

I bought some fabric eye glass cases at a Quilt Show last year and I have used them to hold my iPhone.  I pin the case to my pants waistband.  I don’t know why women’s pockets are made so shallow.  I like deep pockets to hold my iPhone and realized it was too much work to enlarge all my slacks pockets.  Much easier to make a few iPhone cases.  My first one was too small, the second one I used the eye glass case as a pattern but wasn’t happy because the seams showed inside.  I googled an excellent video of sewing a small tote bag with no seams showing and I was off.  I could make 2 in 30 minutes once I had my pattern and measurement down.  

IPhone Cases

Follow my steps to make an iPhone case.

1.  I cut my fabric pieces 4.5 by 14 inches.  (Some I cut a little larger depending on how thick the phone case is to 4.75 inches).  I used Pellon 926 Extra Firm Stabilizer.

2.  I quilted the right side (outside) fabric to the stabilizer.  And sewed up the side seams and added box corners.

3.  I turned the right side fabric to the outside but the inside fabric (lining) is left inside out.  So when they are sewn together the right sides are facing each other.  The right side and lining  are both done with boxed corners.

4.  Stitching the lining and outside fabric together.

5.  A small opening is left in the lining on one side so the right side (outside) fabric can be pulled through and then that opening is stitched closed.

6.  Then the edge is stitched around.

7.  All done.

My niece and her Mom asked me to make them some too.  So I whipped up five more.

I forgot to take photos of all of them.

Do you want to see my sewing area?  When we were planning our new retirement home, we decided to have a super large hobby room.  One half would be for my hubby’s model trains and the other half would be for my sewing.  We were thrilled to think of having all that room. 

Unfortunately, and sadly, my hubby didn’t live to see his side set up.  So, I had this huge room that was mostly empty.  I had Closet Factory put in shelving in my sewing closet and added a wall of cabinets to put my hubby’s model train equipment and photography stuff away.  I bought three more sewing machines.

Then my niece moved in with me and we planned to set up my hubby’s side for a small business for her.  She has it set up nicely but has been too sick to start her business.

I modified a few of my hubby’s model train tables for my nieces’s use and one for me as an ironing station which has worked out beautifully.

I love my cutting table.  I bought it a few years before we moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio.  The TV belongs to my niece’s boyfriend.  He moved in this past year and has been such a help and blessing for us.  He does all the shopping and running around for my niece and myself.  My niece has Lupus and many other illnesses and I’m in my 70s so we are at risk with COVID 19.  I’m so glad I’m not alone during this pandemic.  

As you can see, my fabric really needs some refolding and organization.  That’s on my to-do list.  I purchased the big covered ironing board and it fits the former model train table nicely.  Buried under the mess is a sewing cabinet next to the ironing station.  It was my mother’s, and before my Mom, was my paternal grandmother’s Singer sewing machine from the early 1940s.  It needs to be repaired one of these days but when working it stitches beautifully and even has a reverse stitch.

Well, that’s all for today.   I don’t know if anybody reads my blog anymore.  But if you are visiting I hope you enjoy reading about my life and hobbies.  Have a lovely day!

Charming Christmas Tree Wall Hanging

Just a few days before Christmas I decided to try my version of the free quilting pattern, “Charming Christmas Tree” by Pat Sloan.  It seemed everyone was making this fun pattern.  I used scrap fabrics I had on hand in some of my favorite Christmas patterns and colors. 

This pattern is made up of 2.5 inch squares and half square triangles.  When I tried sewing the half square triangles in the method where you draw a diagonal line and sew 1/4 inch on each side of the line, my squares ended up much smaller than 2.5 inches.  I tried cutting the squares larger to 3 inches but that sample was still too small.  I ended up stitching on the diagonal line and cutting off the part not needed.  Those were perfect 2.5 inch squares.  

After attaching the inner border of mixed fabric squares, I discovered I had just enough of a lovely green fabric for the outer border.  I liked it better than using white as the pattern instructed.

To embellish the tree I drew a star pattern, cut out the star from a yellow fabric and appliquéd it to the top of the tree.  I used my Jamone 15000 sewing machine’s triple stitch to add the rays coming out from the star.

I had some fabric scraps printed with cardinals so I fussy cut four cardinals and appliquéd them under the tree.  To finish it off, I used red fabric for the binding.

I free motion quilted falling snowflakes and snow drifts.  I tried out my new Marcia Baraldi Quilting Grip gloves I ordered from Amazon and really liked them.  They have excellent grip on the palms and one’s fingers are free.  

I have taken down my Christmas decorations but this adorable wall hanging is still up.  I just love it.  I have removed my Christmas ornaments from my pencil 7.5 foot new tree and switched from colored lights to white.  I now have my Winter Tree which will be up until the tree bag I ordered from Amazon is delivered.  Last year I started storing some Christmas decorations upstairs rather then in the unfinished basement.  This way I don’t have to lug everything up and down the stairs.  I’m thinking about storing the new tree in my guest room closet (if it fits) along with the ornaments.  But first I have to measure and go through the old clothing I have in there. I’m lucky my niece, MJ, and her fellow, Andrew, currently live with me so Andrew carries the heavy stuff for me. 

I really need the cheer during this COVID isolation and all the political crap going on. It continues to be lonely facing each day without my hubby.  At least my hobbies and house responsibilities keep me occupied.  But now holidays and special occasions will never be as happy and joyful as they were with my sweetheart.  

Friends gifted me this huge beautiful Poinsettia plant!  I can’t believe I haven’t “killed” it yet.  I usually “kill” any house plant.  At least I’ve learned.  I’m not over watering this one.  

And here is a photo of my Christmas Tree decorated with ornaments and colored lights.

  I called this my “smart” Christmas tree because it is prelit and I can program either colored or white lights in various modes.  The star topper is similar.  I am so pleased how nice it fits into it’s space in my Great Room.  Excuse the furniture moved out, I was still working on how and where to plug it in.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  

Colorful Quilt “Trinkets”

 

I quilted this colorful quilt about two years ago.

I can’t remember the name of the pattern.

I’ll have to look it up when I’m in my hobby room.

Update:  The name of the pattern is “Trinkets”.

I cut strips of all the different fabrics to make a variegated binding.

It was a kit I bought at a quilt shop.

I like the white background and fabrics.

I’m using it as a tablecloth on my dining room table.

I don’t have the wall space to hang quilts.

This one just fits the table.

  The table was my parents bought in 1961 and is solid maple.

It’s scratched from many moves from Ohio to Florida, then to Illinois and Pennsylvania and finally back to Ohio.

Many family dinners were around this table over the years.

So many memories.

Camper Wall Hanging

Before our warm Fall days leave us I wanted to show you this cute little project.

It was a kit I purchased.

I love the fabrics I chose.

As many of my long term readers know,  my hubby and I were campers when we first married and then advanced to RVing.

We owned many different RVs over the years:

Pop up Camper truck, Sunline trailer, Chinook (a Class B van), Hitchhiker Discover America 5th wheel travel trailer and lastly a Pleasure Way (Class B van).

We traveled to Alaska in 2010 in our 5th wheel which is like having an apartment to live in.

We were on the road 105 days for that trip.

I liked all of our RVs but my favorite was the Pleasure Way van.

At just 21 feet it could park just about anywhere and it’s small size helped when looking at campgrounds sites.  It was so easy to keep clean and we learned to take just the essentials.

My hubby designed our new garage to hold the van with huge 10 foot garage doors and an extra long bay so we wouldn’t have to store it off site.

We never had a chance to take the van on a trip after we moved into our new home.

I reluctantly had to sell it.

Oh, how, my hubby loved to travel all over our great country.

And I loved being with him.  

 

Mr Spider

Back in 2016 my neighbor and good friend, Deb, asked if I could sew a new yard spider for her.

She gave me the old spider to use as a pattern and I proceeded to order black nylon fabric.

The project sat until my college room mate came to visit and made the mistake of asking what project we would be working on.

I said “a spider”!

My friend, Karen, taught me to sew all those years ago in college.  She made the pattern pieces from the old spider and I sewed it all together.  We had fun putting it together.  It took us three days to finish.

Deb and her hubby were thrilled with it.  But I did tell her no more spiders.

Every Halloween Deb and her hubby put huge yard spiders out.

Mr. Spider is just one of many.  And he isn’t the largest one either!

Mr. Spider gets moved all around the neighborhood.  

You never know whose yard he will end up in.

I just saw this morning that my town is having Trick n’ Treat this year.

Guess I better buy some candy.