Staying Alive

We have been looking at paint color samples for the inside. I want an off white because our house is dark. It does not get a lot of natural sunlight so I feel we need a lighter color to help brighten it up. The Grumpy Ol Gazer wants to go with a grey. I won with a Snowy Pine (off white).

We had bags and bags of clothes and house hold items for donation. The truck finally came around and picked it all up so our bedroom feels a lot less cluttered now!

The Grumpy Ol Gazer finally got his new Bi Pap machine so he is sleeping better at nights. I thought I would too because the soft hum of the machine would just lull me into a sweet sleep but this new machine doesn't hum, whistle or even say BOO! It is totally quite!

I happened to find several quilt kits at Wash Tub Quilts on Etsy. I loved the designs and the kits help me by providing most of the fabric I will need instead of making multiple trips to the fabric store.

Barn Dance

Pocket Change

I love the new Words To Live By collection by Heartstring Samplery. Beth has hit another home run! She has Love, Faith, Hope and Justice. I know I said I would stitch from stash this year but I think this collection would make a beautiful grouping that will look perfect on my one empty wall plus they will make great infusion projects over the year! I found mine in the Heartstring Samplery shop over at Etsy.

As I promised, here are several house blocks from the exchange I was in. Talk about some talented ladies!!

We decided that we want a walkway (preferably cement) going from the driveway around back to the deck. It is so much easier to bring groceries in by the back door but that backyard gets so soggy when we have a lot of rain and is impossible to walk across!  A walkway is just what we need - like the one in front but in the back too! I will be anxious to see if anything comes of it.

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Sew What!

January and February always seem like they are so slow! Maybe it is the after Christmas effect or the anticipation of waiting for Spring.

Look what followed me home! It isn't fancy and doesn't have all the bells and whistles or jump through hoops like a lot of the grander machines but it is all I need. The aqua color gives it a vintage look too. I still have my white Brother sewing machine and it still works great but it never hurts to have a back up. Even though I remember my moma and my Grandma sewing on old Singer machines (plus I learned to sew on a Singer years ago), I have trusted Brother sewing machines for years.

An old quilt folk lore says that many people purposely put a mistake somewhere in their quilt while making it. This is to remind them that they are not perfect and to keep them humble in God's eyes. I usually get at least one mistake without even trying!

My late Christmas present has been ordered. I am so thrilled with it! I will have a place/corner to sew on quilt tops now and I can keep my machine out! No more setting the machine up on the dining table then taking it down before dinner! That got old real fast! LOL

And part 2 of my late Christmas also arrived! I just love this hoop for hand quilting! I have been looking for a good hand quilting hoop and this one seems to fit the bill. The Grumpy Ol Gazer was confused as to why I would want this because "you have so many hoops now"! LOL Yes, I do but they are for cross stitching! Big Difference! LOL.

I have a confession to make. I did something really stupid when I was quilting several years ago. When I began to feel overwhelmed by it all, I should have just sorted through my stash and put away the fabrics I did not want to use right then. Instead I just tossed everything! Well, just about everything. All my patterns. A lot of my fabrics. What was I thinking!!! So I am starting from scratch again with some supplies but this time I will keep it under control much better!

Luckily, I was able to find my cutting mat, rotary cutters and several rulers while cleaning out   the closet so not all was lost but between us, I could probably use a new cutting mat!

Here is another row by row quilt. I love all quilts but these are so much fun to make!

Lori over at Bee in My Bonnet is having a great Vintage Block SAL!  Check it out. She is sharing some great blocks that had belonged to her Grandmother.

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

Pot of Gold

The Grumpy Ol Gazer and I decided that we needed to get busy and clean out a lot of the stuff that has been cluttering up our closets and drawers for years. It has been a big task and one we are not going to hurry with. Cleaning out these spaces is like taking a walk down memory lane! We each would find little treasures from years ago that had been safely tucked away (then forgotten about). We are able to get rid of a lot of things that we no longer need or want while making new spaces for other items.

While cleaning out my closet I found some quilt tops that I had obviously just put away before finishing them off! I found three row quilt tops from exchanges I had participated in and I found some house blocks from another exchange I had taken part in. I will be sharing these over the month!

First of all is a Christmas row by row quilt. This is the top half.

This is the bottom half.

I also found several finished cross stitch pieces that I thought were gone forever! I had especially been looking for this piece by Plum Street Samplers. I see a Christmas pillow for next year!

I saw that LHN is coming out with a new series. I know that I said I had enough but I really really like this series. I am not going to make any commitments yet but I do keep looking at it and drooling.

I fell in love with this free block over at Quilters Cache. It is called Hard Times and is a 10 inch block. I automatically knew how I would put it together. I will save that for a later surprise just in case I can't find the fabrics I need for it. Or in case I change my mind about the colors.

I found several other designs I like but I am going to take them one at a time and enjoy the hand quilting on each one. I sure wish my Grandma was here so we could talk about quilting; gardening flowers and vegetables And even though I was not big on playing the piano, I sure loved to sit beside her while she played and sing those hymns after dinner!

This will be the year of home improvements around here. We have been putting things off for too many years and now we really need to get busy! Instead of listing all the things we hope to get done, I just post them as they happen!

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart.

It's A New Year!

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a safe New Year! I have a few new items to share! I was lucky to get some fun gifts over the holidays.

I was thrilled to get this quilt book! It has a lot of great quilt patterns that are drool worthy but I have already picked out 3 designs from the book that go to the head of my "to do" list.

This is a fun pattern. I have mentioned before that I love row quilts and Christmas quilts. Two loves in one pattern!

So far, it has been a rainy cold Winter. It certainly feels a lot colder when the heat goes out! Brrrrr. A little mouse climbed into our unit outside to keep warm and built a nest. I guess all the noise and moving parts were too much for him so he left but the nest stayed and slowly worked into the moving parts and locked them up! Unfortunately this happened on the weekend before Christmas so a lot of places were already closed for the long holiday weekend. We had to wait and shiver several days so the part could be ordered and fixed all because of a little tiny mouse!! We are already making some plans for warmer weather! Maybe a tour of state (and out of state) quilt and cross stitch shops!

Just like with my Chicken and Dumplings, I had been on a search for the perfect Chicken Pot Pie recipe. The first one I tried was awful! That recipe was trashed. The second recipe was better but was still not THE one. I found a third recipe that looked like it would be it. I tried it and (yahoo, kicking my heels together) I had found a winner winner chicken pot pie dinner! This is the ONLY chicken pot pie recipe in my recipe book now. Sorry I do not have a picture but it goes really fast! A good chilly night dinner with a salad.

Preheat the oven to 430. Use a 9 inch deep dish pie plate.

2.5 cups of shredded chicken

1 can of Veg-all

a handful of pearl onions

Put these in the pie plate and mix. In a small pot, mix 1/4 c. melted butter, 1 teaspoon of flour (I use a pinch more), a teaspoon of Thyme. Let this blend together then slowly wisk in 14 oz of chicken broth and a chicken boullion cube. Stir constantly until thickened (about 2 minutes) and pour over chicken and veg-all. Cover with a 9 inch pie crust and make 3-4 slits in it. Bake until brown

Until next time, may you have simple days and an uncluttered heart!