Busy, Busy

 I don't know about you, but I am currently challenged to keep track of the days.  I know when it's Wednesday, because I babysit my grandson.  I know when it's Sunday, because of church.  Other than that?  I have to check my phone.  And the date?  Why is it even important any more?

Oh!  Dates are important, because birthdays are celebrated on them.  September we have three birthdays, so we're in the middle of celebrating. I've made a few cards, but, as usual, have fallen behind.  I feel like most of my time is spent with grandchildren.  With 4 locals, aged 2 and under, well, I need to pay attention when they are here.  No doubt about it!!

I've made more masks, for Fall.

And I made my first potholders, as a gift.

I quilted some Komforters for Kids, our guild philanthropy.

I baked baklava.

My husband's garden keeps producing, which keeps me busy making Mediterranean stuffed bell peppers and ratatouille.

And, finally, we had our first shake of walnuts.  If you've ever wondered what a good year looks like, take a gander of all those nuts!!  I've never seen so many before.  Outstanding!

As you can see, there has been plenty to occupy my time, though nothing overly exciting.  I guess the biggest news is that my hand quilting project is 19/25 of the way complete.  I've got about 6 square feet of hand quilting left to finish.  I've been quilting on this project since April, so I am excited to think that I might actually have another finish before the end of the year.  Goals are good!!

A Bit o This, A Bit o That

The Tulare County Fair is long gone, but I have a few favors to remember it by.

 This week we're having the floors replaced out at our walnut ranch.  There's going to be a wedding there next month.  We are definitely looking forward to it!

The nuts are ripe, and were harvested last week, on the same day that they began work on the floors.

Our granddaughter turns one on Friday.  That year has gone quickly!!  She's walking everywhere.  Here she is with Raggedy Andy.  I made him for my daughter 35 years ago.  I think Little A likes him better than my daughter ever did.  

And that's about it for now.  There is a bit of stitching going on right now, but not much.  My quilts came back safely from PNQE.  I have a different quilt packed and ready to ship to PIQF.  Other than that?  I got nuthin'.

More Updated Chairs

I got my last chair back from the upholsterer.  They used the same foam, and fabric I bought from Joann's.  I'm pretty happy with the results.  What do you think?

 Fixing up all of these chairs inspired me to finish a chair that has been stripped and waiting for at least a year.  When in Oceanside, I bought some red (chalk?) paint.  I really like the results, though I got a couple of unwelcome drips on the top coat.  I'm not sure what to do about those.  Sand and coat again?  Like I said, I'm not sure.

 My son got a new puppy.  She was a stray, found on the other side of Tulare.  When he picked her up (no collar, no chip, no response to ads), she was covered with ticks.  After "helping" with the irrigating, she was covered with dirt.  She's yet to be named, but that's Roscoe in the background.  They are both sweethearts, and a lot of fun to watch.

 Here they are, cavorting with my youngest son's wife.  The two of them (son&wife) did the last round of irrigating.  Their newly purchased home (Sept) was just discovered to have serious water damage in the kitchen.  They need to pull out everything, including the subflooring.  The repairs will be pricey, so they're trying to build their savings to fund the repairs.  Welcome to Grownupland.  fun, fun, fun.  (And they're expecting in 2.5 months.  Lots to do, not a lot of time to get it done.)

Quiltwise, I don't have much to share.  Sacred Threads is open now through July 23.  If you are in or near Herndon, VA, I encourage you to see it.  (And then report back to me!  ;)  I do have a quilt hanging in the exhibit.  I had hoped to get there to see it, but life gets in the way.

And I guess that's it.  Until next time...stay cool!

Paint

The return home has been a busy one.  This past week we had the house at the walnuts painted.  wow.  We used the same color chip for paint as the first time it was painted.  I knew the color had faded, but wow.  It REALLY faded!

 You may have to click on the photos, to see the dramatic difference between before and after.

Yesterday, or was it Tuesday?  I actually cleared enough space in my sewing room to be able to sew.  Not much, just a bit, but it was enough.    It measures 6" almost square.  I think I need to fiddle with the facing, to see if I can improve the shape.

The next item on my quilting ToDo List is Attack The Studio.

On Monday, my housekeeper is coming for three hours.  We are going to empty the loose items from the studio.  She will deep clean, as I decide what to keep, what to toss, and what to give away.  It's either that, or move into a larger room.  And once I move my quilting furniture?  the larger room wouldn't have any additional useful space.  I need to just fit into the current room.  Goals are good.  I'll keep you posted.

A Pseudo-Finish

Lesson #2 of my Katie Pasquini Masopust class was due yesterday.  I've already received the assignment for Lesson #3.  oh my.  I was looking for something to spur me on, and this is absolutely doing it!

This is what I turned in at about 11pm last night:

I had planned to add more detail to the lifeguard tower, but now I'm having second thoughts.  The background is machine pieced, the people, tower, and sand are hand appliqued.  Yes, the small poles were tough, at just over 1/8" finished width.  Call me crazy.  I deserve it.

I didn't have time to quilt it, and don't know when I will.  Another baby is due in 2 weeks, as is Lesson #3.  This next lesson is going to be particularly challenging, because it is specifically ABSTRACT.  If you're familiar with my work, I just don't do abstract.  I wanted to be stretched, but I feel like I'm getting ready to be attached to the rack, a device of torture from Medieval times.  I'm not sure I wanted to stretch THIS much!  :)

In other developments, our new well is finally functional, and the walnuts are getting watered much more efficiently.  I talked to our farmer last week, and he said, "It's almost time for harvest!"  wow.  I guess harvest does start in September, so, wow.  Time passes SO quickly!!

Pretty soon, it will nuts to you!  woohoo!  :)

So Busy

I guess I was right, when I thought my days would be full.  There hasn't been a bit of quilting going on, though there was one day when we played a game, then stitched a label, then read a book, then stitched a label.  I stitched out seven labels, and probably read twice that many books.  And we played Pen the Pig, all day long.  The labels are pinned to the quilts.  One day they will be stitched down.  Maybe tonight?

 One day, we went out to the walnut forest.  Here Uncle is teaching P the finer points of clay/dirt/sand differentiation.

 Inside, he introduced her to the kazoo. 

 It quickly became a favorite.

 All this photo-snapping of P means that turnabout is fair play.  Really?  I'm in my jammies!  My excuse is that it's only 7:15am.

Here I am again.  She finds my camera, turns it on, takes off the lens cover, checks the image and presses the button.  She'll be 5 next month.  I was more than twice that, before I ever touched a camera.

 On Monday, we visited the home of Best of the Valley's 2016 Featured Artist, Ann Hinman.

 This is her Grandma room, where her grandkids hang out and drink rootbeer floats.  Penny settled for reading through a stack of classics.

The past two days have actually included some "real" sewing.  I'm working on a Captain America suit for a friend.  All I have left to do are the pouches for his utility belt.  It will feel good to cross that one off of my list.  Other than that, the deadline has arrived for the quilt show, so all entries need to be processed and prepared for jurying.  The jury meets on Monday 2/22.  Good luck, if you entered a quilt!  This year's selection is spectacular!

Zoom, Zoom

For a person sidelined with a healing bone, I sure seem to be zooming through the days.  I can't believe it's been a week since I posted.  But I was busy, quilting.  And I finished, by the 1/31 deadline I was trying to meet.

"Oceans" by Suzanne Kistler

I squeaked it in for a call for entry with the theme of "Tranquility."  Nothing calms my nerves more than an ocean view, so I just had to sew it up.  On Saturday morning, it still looked like this:

 I sewed like a woman possessed to meet that deadline.  I'd planned to add beads, but then thought they would only distract from the calm of the waves of blue.

Something else I did during the week was to drop this chair off at Quality Upholsterers in Visalia, along with 5 yards of fabric from Joann's.

 Three days later, they had refinished and reupholstered it to create this delightful addition to my living room.  Not bad for a $35 estate sale item, eh?

Another thing that I did was to head out to the walnuts, to see our new tractor.  I am able to walk either with a boot and no crutches, or in shoes, with crutches.  I was wearing the boot.  I acted as spotter for my son, as we tried to clean up some of the mess left behind from the well drillers.

 This was the sky, the day before it opened up and rained down over an 1" of life-giving water.  Today, the snow can be seen so low on the Sierras that it looks like it's almost dusting the foothills.  It's a beautiful thing.

But, now that January has ended, my sewing time has dwindled considerably.  The Best of the Valley Quilt Show will be held April 8-10, 2016, and entries are due by February 14.  You can check out the website and either download entry forms or enter online.  It's pretty straightforward.  Which reminds me.  While I'm in the midst of paperwork, I really need to remember to enter my own quilts into the show.  Goals are good!

Flying Time

Christmas is just around the corner.  Are you ready?  Oh, I thought I might be, but life had other plans.

I basted a stack of baby quilts, and even got one quilted.  I suspect that the month of January will see me spending a lot of time in the studio, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

 Quilts from earlier years were put to good use, as Penny recovered from a stomach bug.

 On the 18th, Grandpa took Penny (and her mom) to see the SF Ballet perform The Nutcracker.  Looks like they had a GREAT time!

I stayed behind, to keep track of the well drillers.  Yesterday, we finally made it to 500'.  We're about a week away from completion of the drilling portion of this project.  Machines broke down, rain came (yay!) and in general, it's been a muddy mucky mess out there.

 Look at that glop.  I'm not even sure if this is what they dug out of the well, or if it's what they were using to do the drilling.  It's just...gross.  blech.

I spent last week keeping watch over the doggies.  This is what Pixel looked like when she was at her house.

 This is where she hangs out at my house.

Roscoe was there too

 And Sheila.

When my son got back into town, I took a few days off.  Then yesterday, when there was a break in the weather, I suggested we let the dogs run.  One thing led to another, and in the end, I slipped in the mud.

 The bad news is that I broke my fibula.  The good news is that my son put lights on the tree for me.

We've got family coming in tomorrow, and lots of plans for the next 10 days.  If I don't check in with you, don't worry.  We're not planning on breaking any more bones.  Merry Christmas, my friends!!

So Busy!

I'm stunned by the fact that I haven't posted in two weeks.  How did that happen?  Where does the time go?  Turn the calendar to December, and the days flip faster than ever!

When last I left you, I was piecing baby quilts.  I have one more to piece, but the basting tables have gone up and come down, and they won't be going up again until after we ring in the New Year.  In the meantime, I can begin quilting one of the SEVEN quilts that I basted last week.

Actually, the fifth from the bottom, with the black on white fabric, has already been quilted.  It still needs its binding cut and attached, but that should happen sometime soon.  The others?  I'll get to them when I get to them.

Our Itty Bitty quilting group had our annual Christmas party on Dec. 2.  Wow!  It came and went so quickly, I wasn't even sure it was December yet!

 It did inspire me to hang some Christmas quilts, but other than that?  I'm way behind on decorating.

 Then again, my husband was on it, when it came to putting up the outdoor lights.

 I did a wee bit of baking, beginning with a family favorite.  These are toffee squares, from the Betty Crocker Cooky Book.  I've been making them for almost four decades!!

 Our persimmon tree is LOADED.  I've never been much for baking with persimmons, but this year?  I decided it was high time to get my act together.  I've been picking them and giving them away.  I think I've placed about 5 dozen, to date.  :)

 My first loaf of persimmon bread fell.  It was raw in the center, so I put it back in the oven for almost double time.  The second attempt, in which I went from 45 minutes at 325 degrees to 60 minutes at 350 degrees was much more successful.  I will be making more, just so you know.

The tree is in the house, but nary an ornament hangs upon it.  I still need to put the lights up.  I am unexpectedly home today, so perhaps I will take advantage of the gift of time.  I had planned to be out at the walnuts, just in case I was needed.  We have a BIG project going on right now.

We put down our deposit in April, and now, eight months later, our well driller has arrived.  Yesterday they drilled 80', so we've only got 420' to go.  It rained yesterday - thank God! - and saturated the ground so that they couldn't bring in the fuel truck or more pipe.  They expect to be back at it tomorrow morning, bright and early.  Our current well did not go dry, but the possibility was there.  I think we've got 20' of water left, which should see us through until the new well is functional.  That's going to be a while, but goals are good, doncha know?!

Merry Christmas, and I will try to post again soon, rather than allowing another two weeks to pass in silence.