I never promised you a rose garden

I married Jack because of his

ability to wield a shovel (and a watering can) and I wanted a border

of perennials.  He was also pretty funny with the

(garden) hose.

Of course, the trees in our neighbor's yard soon

shaded the border and we've had to

move stuff around, and every year is different.

I snapped a few pics (73) but had a problem with the

sun either in my eyes or sending my shadow through the middle.

For those of you who don't know me,

I'm really much taller and thinner.

Mushrooms make pretty cool shadows, too.

I love the white dots of clover in

the grass.

A mound of really good smelling honey suckle.

A lone poppy.

All of our bird houses are occupied.

this guy does not trust me.

Daisy waiting for a chipmunk.

A little pot of something.

We usually kill our clematis, but this

seems pretty tough.

Blue and white spider wart.  Only blooms in the morning

so I get such a treat with my coffee.

What's this?

My new rose garden planted by....

the other shadow.

Spamhaus has blocked my IP!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is not good

I tried to respond to an email from

my sis and it was returned.

Come to find that Comcast has blocked

Suddenlink.  So now this is my only means of communication.

I had some blocks left from the doggy quilt so
I decided to put them together and make a quilt for
my doggy.

I decided to pin-baste it to save the planet from

whatever might be in the spray-baste.

Here are some shots in progress.

About half quilted.
Below is a project I just started on that I had to move out of
the way. 
Pretty Cool???

 And now, I am still working on getting a new printer.

But,

as you can see,
I was able to print a pattern on pattern paper that
I cut to size.
Just goes to show that when you spend $40
on a printer, you get the equivalent of the
energizer bunny, it just keeps
printing and printing and printing....

but, as long as I can print

a pattern,  I will be happy.

I have so many things I want to make and
finish before I start my new bed quilt, and with four machines, I can work on
four projects at a time, if I had six more hands, there is no telling what I
could accomplish.

 This evening I will be "at the auction". 

The auction is for what could be machine #5 and ends at 8:20 our time.  

 If I get it, how many

more hands will I need?

I have a calculator, here, somewhere.

But enough of this.

Today is Mother's day and I got the sweetest card

(and look, two more hands).

I can use my printer to

make a pattern out of this

and turn it into a quilt block

and just

keep sewing and sewing and sewing.......

by popular demand

I talked with my sister , today, and she wanted me

to update my blog because she finds it amusing.  I told her

it is not amusing till something amusing is going on

but to humor her, here goes....

A priest, and rabbi and a monkey were sitting at a bar-

no wait-

a priest a rabbit and a monkey-

no

ummm?

enough humor.

My week started out with a headache from falling asleep on the sofa. 

I'm a firm believer in sleeping when you can

and paying for it later.

Anyway, after some Advil (gulp), coffee, and a coke,

I was ready for a Monday morning of making stuff.

A week or so ago I received this lovely mug rug in

the mail.

The artist had posted a pic of it

on Flicker and I expressed a desire to have it

and now it is mine!  It has the most amazing label on the back.

As you can see, it has a place of honor next to the Featherweight.

So, to reciprocate, I decided to make the giver a little something.

Sew, sew, sew. Cut, cut, cut.

And, I (copy cat) decided to try printing a label to put on the back. 

I am one of those people who thinks you can do anything you want with

fabric and anything else you want with a computer.

I designed my label, ironed the fabric to freezer paper, then let the fun begin. 

(viewer discretion is advised)

This does not look good.

Nor does this.

It is at about this time, I am wondering

what kind of cool printer I will get

to replace this one.

A wireless one, for sure.

Well, I got it out.  then plugged the printer in and tested it.  I put the paper in,

and it just rolled out the back.  I tried a few more times before I

noticed this on the table.

So I popped it back in, and everything is good as

new.

I did end up with an acceptable label, but I decided to iron it and sprayed on

a little starch and it bled.  (I know this is gory, but wait till you see

what else I have to show you)

The little house quilt with a fox looking out

the window is ready to go (once I fix the sidewalk).

OK

Ready for some more gore???

Here are the innards of the featherweight.

First, at a distance,

Now, a little closer,

now, up close

I know, enough, already.

Now, this is interesting.  I took some stuff (technical terminology) apart so I

could soak the parts and make them shine.

Only one problem, I put two parts in and got three parts out.

Fortunately, I knew what the third part was, and was

able to get it all back together. 

There are about 48 places on this machine to

oil.  There is no place to oil the new machines.  

And no parts to soak in a bowl.  

Here is the quilt top I pieced using her.  It's doggy fabric and will 

look better once it is quilted.    

this is a doggy

 the other doggy

and both doggies.

Life is good

Light as a feather

Look what the postman left me whilst I was at the quilt shop.

I got home and found a big box on the kitchen table.  I was

not expecting it till Saturday, and all I could do was try not to think about it.

I got it on Ebay.

So now the PeacedGoods Studio

has become the PeacedGoods singer repair shop.

I didn't get her up and running until this morning. 

Thankfully, everything you need to know about these little girls in on the web.

And I needed to know how to take the bobbin case apart to

dislodge a piece of thread that was stopping her from sewing.

I got up at 5 am to do this.

Here she is all dismantled,

and the offending thread removed and properly disposed of.

And here she is sewing merrily along. 

Tomorrow, instead of going to the studio to sew in my

jammies with a cup of coffee,

I'm going to curl my hair,

put on some lipstick and my best frock and pearls and grab

a bouquet of fresh flowers.

This could change the way I sew, forever.

Daisy

I  posted a pic of my beloved Barney the Wonder Dog (yes, that is is registered name) and have a request to give Daisy equal time so here is my special girl.

You can't tell from this pic, but she has been under the weather.

After a second visit to the vet, ($$$$)and three meds($$$$$$$),

she is getting better.

The pink pig in the picture had rubber hands and feet for about five

minutes.  We are just not happy till we dismember

our toys.

And here is Barney (the secret agent dog)

spying on me from behind the bushes.  When you have a dog,

you are under constant surveylance, just in

case you are carrying a concealed buscuit.

Do you remember several years ago when everyone

was making the underground railroad quilt?

I did it as a block of the month at a local quilt shop.  The instructor was a
fabric historian and her lectures were on constucting the block and
how it was used in the underground railroad to send messages to the slaves, based on the book "In Plain Sight".  It was all very fascinating since I live not far from  Henderson Hall which  "literally was on the dividing line between the free North and slave owning South.."
I made all the the blocks, except the last one, and never did anything with them.  I decided a while back that I would put them together and practice

free motion quilting, but since I kept the blocks hidden (not in plain sight) in a closet in an unmarked pizza box, I forgot about them.

So,  I picked out my six favorites, made sashing and corner stones,

and will start quilting soon.  It feels good to have something on my design wall, again. 

I'm also going to start cutting a layer cake of
doggy fabric, to quilt next.

and I will leave you with this little doggy picture of Barney in Daisy's bed.

Could you ask for anything better in your bed?

TA DAAAAA!

I have worked exclusively on this for the last couple of weeks, and especially hard since I ordered a kit for the "Sandcastles" quilt using Pat Bravo fabric.  I saw the quilt on Hawthorne Threads blog, and was smitten.  The fabric is here and waiting patiently for some attention.

But, first things, first. I wanted to get an outside pic of this quilt, but my batteries died and are recharging.  I, too, am recharging.

Here she is.

Seams like the harder I worked, the slower the progress. 

The closer I got to the end, the more I had left to do.

And, while I wasn't looking, someone

put a few fabric scraps on the floor.  After I noticed them, I scooted them out of

the way (just across the floor, not into the trash can) but the post clean up shots weren't very good.

Now, let the quilting begin.  I was going to spray baste, but the 505 Spray that I would

normally use has gotten pretty expensive (the same as 2 yards of fabric for a six ounce can). 

When I was working and had less time, this is what I would have done.  But, now that I'm retired and have plenty of time, I'm gonna have a go at pin basting. 

Just trying to be economically and ecologically responsible.

 My chief concern is how heavy the pins will make the quilt,

and it will be heavy enough as it is.  It is 60" by 70" and will be the biggest

quilt I have attempted to machine quilt.   Maybe I'll give this basting decision a little more consideration.

Do you know anyone who would trade me a can or two of spray for 2 or four

yards of fabric????

One more pic.

This is my sweet Barney.

Daisy, my other sweet pet, is the pile of sleeping

fur next to the fence.

Makes my heart melt to look at these critters.

Every girl needs a dog (unless, of course, she has a cat).

Piece!