Happy Anniversary!

 Well folks, it's been 31 years for the hubster and I.  We're celebrating in our usual day to day activities.  I'm giving a half dozen piano lessons, going to church bell choir practice, finishing up some church bookwork, a few housekeeping chores (Cici and Esme just got baths.....me too!), etc.  The hubster is getting anhydrous tanks refilled and distributing them to the appropriate fields, and he is doing some banking for me and picking up a couple of things from Walmart.  I declared on Friday that I was not entering Walmart again for at least a week.  No, I didn't go Black Friday shopping, but just went to pick up a few things with Sarah in the afternoon.  It seems that in preparation for Thanksgiving, I was in Walmart about every other day for the last 10 days or so.  

So, Thanksgiving................

My sister-in-law announced that she and her husband were coming from Texas and she would be in charge of Thanksgiving for all of us at my in-laws on Thursday.  She told my hubby to have me bring the turkey, homemade rolls, and pecan pie.  She said there would be 10 for lunch.  Then my mother-in-law told me she wanted homemade noodles and I was to put them in a crock pot and to bring a crockpot of mashed potatoes and she wanted sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, and cranberry sauce from a can.  (I should note here that she was just returning home from 2 months in a hospital/rehab place from a stroke and was obviously hungry for home cooked food.)  Oh, and a card table because the crowd had grown to 14, which explains the crockpot request since we would have to do buffet style serving.  Of course, this meant I would need a bigger turkey!  And then it wasn't long before the SIL and MIL were arguing about who was in charge.  I just kept listing what I was asked to bring (recite the list here), and to let me know if anything changed.  

Of course the hubster felt badly for me to be caught in the middle of the arguing.  I wasn't arguing, I just kept making trips to Walmart.  (partly due to the fact that I was also doing my MIL's Christmas shopping  and wrapping for the gifts to send back to Texas................the SIL is going to have a GOOD Christmas!)  

Apparently hubby felt so bad that he woke up Wednesday morning sick.  A pot of homemade chicken noodle soup was made.  Sickness has been going around, so I kept him away from all the food preparation and hoped Sarah and I wouldn't get sick (What would they have to eat at my SIL's Thanksgiving if we couldn't come?).  Well, homemade chicken noodle aside, the hubs was still sick on Thursday, so he got to stay home and miss the "festivities".  We did leave him a little of the turkey, and all the fixins including a piece of his beloved pecan pie.  

Sarah had delivered the card table on Wednesday, so that they could have the tables set and ready to go.  While she was there, my Bro in law asked Sarah how the hubs was fixing the turkey, smoking? brining? etc.  She replied that MOM was cooking the turkey.  (note that I did have to access a Youtube tutorial on carving since I wasn't letting the hubs anywhere near the food prep).   It was knowledge that will be used again when I cook the smaller turkey that is still in the freezer.  It might have been nice to park close to the door for hauling all the food in, but those spots were already taken, so we parked close to the shed and carried food in.  

I have to say it was delicious!  My DD said, "Well of course it was.  YOU cooked it!"  Gotta love her!  The crescent rolls might have been the best ever.  We knew this since we had eaten a few as they came out of the oven before going to the dinner.  Another way to tell how good the food was...........I didn't bring home ANY turkey or rolls, just a piece of the pie, and very little of the sweet potatoes.  

And the best part of the day was this...........

We got to hold Flynn!  He was so soft and snuggly!  Four of David's great nephews were there.  The 2 year old was disappointed that Uncle David wasn't there to give tractor rides.  

My DD did help me put up Christmas decorations as well while she was here for the week.  She also attended church with me the Sunday before Thanksgiving.   

When we moved the bookcase to make a place for the tree, we discovered where all the cat toys had been hiding!

I did more cooking on Friday as we were going to the neighbors for an appetizer night.  So on Saturday, I declared a NO COOKING or CLEANING Day!  I spent time in my sewing room and got the first clue of Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt completed!

We also watched some movies during the week and I did some binding on a couple of projects.  The first is a wall hanging called Meowily on High.  

And I got the binding on this Elenore Burns Quilt in a Day pattern called Patty Cake.

Well, I need to get to those housekeeping and book keeping chores.  Cici is sunning herself in the window seat trying to get dry from her bath.  Esme has probably retreated to the sewing room to dry out.

Christi

An Apple a Day

 It was Cider Day this past Saturday.  We loaded up the car with buckets and coolers of apples, trash bags of jugs of all sizes, knives, a motor, quilts I had quilted for mom, and a small suitcase (that's all there was room for).  I asked, "Why do we always look like the Clampett's when we head north to Mom and Dad's???"  I told the hubster, "Well, at least we won't have all this to unload when we come home."  Wrong.  There were jugs of cider, a box of canned pears, and even some cherry trees to plant.  We should just change our last name to Clampett.  

There were even more apples at this year's cider making..........

I didn't get them all in pics as there were just too many.

But the revolutionary thing was this...........

David brought a motor which they attached to the grinder.  And we brought a hatchet and some of our own knives to chop up the large apples.  

And lots of neighbors showed up to help and they were excellent help!

And one of these young guys brought an old lard press (dated 1860) that he had cleaned up and since we had enough manpower, we used it too!

Bitsy did her best to be supportive, but it was still exhausting work.

We finished up by 12:30 and only got a little wet as the rain started.  Forty gallons of cider (not all pictured here)..............

I still have some apples that we are dehydrating and I am making into applesauce, and some to take to a friend's house here and make some more cider in a week or so.  We only brought back about 6 gallon and have already given some away.  David's nephew's wife is expecting in October and when she saw the picture, the cravings started.  We delivered a gallon to her in Columbia yesterday.

Nothing much has or is going to happen in the sewing room this week.  The first step is to service the longarm and do some major sweeping.  Then I have some customer quilts that  I need to get to work on.  But today is some house cleaning and 9 piano lessons, so I know there won't be any sewing time.

Sending Birthday Wishes a day early to my cousin Pam.  The card is in the mail, but I'm betting it won't reach her by tomorrow.

Christi

News from the Farm

 With a title like that, you probably think I'm talking about harvest or some such thing.  Nope!  Harvest may start this week, we'll see what happens.  

I'm talking about the Fab Farm quilt I have been working on.  The pattern is by Elizabeth Hartmann, and each block is tedious with a million little pieces.  But the results are so cute!  Four of each are now complete!

Sheep.........

Goats..........

Horses..........

Cows...........

Pigs..........

Bees..........

Chickens...........

Short Sunflowers.........

Tall Sunflowers........

I can't decide which blocks are my favorites........cows?   pigs?  chickens?

I did this as a block of the month (I'm finished with the blocks a little ahead of the game).  The pattern gave options for a large quilt which is what the block of the month was doing, or a small quilt, nursery size.  I think I am going to divide my blocks up and make four of the small quilts that will use just one of each block.  I have the sashings cut for in between the blocks and I am pretty sure there is enough fabric left for the outer borders.  I'll have to come up with bindings and backings.  But each quilt can be different, so that will be fun.

David's nephew and wife are having another baby in October, so I need to get at least one of them completed soon.

In other news from the sewing room, you may remember the tractor quilt for the other great nephew.  It is sewn together now and has backing and binding made.  In looking at this photo again, I realize that it needs a little embroidery on the tractor block.  

And all of my log cabin blocks are complete.  I have the rows pinned together but haven't gotten them sewn together yet.  I'm thinking this will be my state fair entry next year in the Log Cabin category.

I have also been going through my quilt collection and have mailed 6 quilts out to cousins, second cousins, and a friend.  I get the joy from making them and then sharing them.  They aren't doing any good folded up in my closet.  So, hopefully they will be enjoyed by others.  It was fun connecting with some people I haven't seen for awhile.  The gray and black quilt I made for my nephew for his bed at college (living in a house off campus at Iowa State) has not made it to school.  Apparently he is keeping it on his bed at home because he thinks it's too good for college.  

Hope you enjoyed this short update.

Christi

It's getting to be FALL!!!

We're getting ready for fall!

 

We went to Bethany for our annual Labor Day gathering.  Mom had planted all sorts of pumpkins, squash, and gourds in her garden which had somehow thrived in the summer drought, so we all helped harvest some and I brought some back to put in front of the deck.

I didn't bring any of the small gourds as I knew that would just be something for Willow to carry around the yard.  My piano students have already commented on how nice it looks.  

All of this fall goodness, put me in the mood to get the fall quilts and decorations out inside the house.  First I had to do some deep cleaning (actual furniture polish was involved!).  I spent several days cleaning and rearranging some stuff (mostly quilts), and we are now looking very fall-ish!  I can't believe how many fall quilts I have.  It is my favorite season and I just love all the colors.  

I should show you Jackson's quilt after it was quilted.  I was really trying to keep Esme off of it, but I turned my back for one minute and look what happened!

What can I say, she's a quilting cat!

I used some of the scraps to make a pillow to go with it.  He's going to have the best looking college room at Iowa State!

And here is the completed Bars and Stars quilt.  I really tried to pace myself on the binding so that I wouldn't stress my thumb.

I thought it turned out pretty well.  Sorry for the light/shadows on this photo.  I'm going to take it to quilt guild tonight for show and tell.

It was loaded on the longarm for a couple of days before I got around to quilting it.  Someone thought it made a nice tent!  

My yellow/gold, and gray scrap tubs were running over.......like lids were sliding off, they just wouldn't balance on top of the pile, let alone snap shut.  So, I started making some hourglass blocks with them.  And they evolved into this which will be a gift for David's great nephew who got his first tractor ride when he visited us in August.  I have the top blocks together and am working on the bottom portion now.

I also made snowballs from an old chenille bedspread for the bazaar we have with the quilt show in October.  These are now sitting on top of the piano to keep them away from the paws that like to play with them until the quilt show.  Yes, we are definitely mixing our holidays/seasons up a little bit.  

And, lest I forget, I want to wish my cousin Pam a very Happy Birthday later this month.  She's celebrating seven decades!  We had a cake for her at the Labor Day gathering.

And a couple of other pictures to wrap up summer.............we celebrated Willow's birthday at the end of July with a trip to the lake at Bethany.  And she enjoyed her usual McDonalds cheeseburger on the way home.

And we saw this at a Mennonite restaurant we ate at down by Tipton on a late summer road trip.

Well, that's it for now.  Today's plan is to quilt my challenge project.  I keep thinking about different ways to do it.  It is definitely a challenge.  It's got to get finished though because projects are due at the October meeting.  Wish me luck!

Christi

No, I didn't die in surgery.............

 And here it is, almost a month since I last blogged.  I know you have been waiting to hear about the thumb surgery, so let's just get that out of the way first.  I survived!  

Do you think they used enough bandages?  I was supposed to be icing it, but there was no way to feel the cold through all this packing.  I'd have appreciated it if they had cleaned off the iodine they had painted allover my hand and arm up to the elbow.  This caused an allergic skin reaction..........so I basically used that ice pack on the rash on my arm. 

And here it is uncovered!  I know you really appreciate me sharing this photo.  My dear husband didn't want me to suffer alone, so about a week later, we made a trip to the ER in Marshall to get some stitches in his finger.  

Yes, he won because he had more stitches.  Although I'm thinking I may be the ultimate winner when we get the bills for both events and compare them.

I worked diligently trying to get lots of quilting done before the procedure.  This was a large tumbler quilt I made from a winter themed layer cake I had.  

And I used this cute red plaid flannel on the back.  It was a find from Marshall Dry Goods in Arkansas.

I also custom quilted this big star quilt.  

Here is a close up of the quilting......

And I got my team's Quilt of Valor quilted.  

This was a new quilting design that I tried and fell in love with.  

Of course, Esme had to give it a snuggle (and some stray cat hair........LINT ROLLER!)  before I passed it off to be bound.

And I finished piecing this scrappy Bars and Stars top that I designed.  (As of now, it's been quilted, but I'm holding off on the binding as I'm having some trouble with my thumb swelling.  Hopefully soon I'll get it done though.)

AND, that brought my TBQ (to be quilted) closet down to just these two!  The one on the right is the quilt top I made for my nephew's college bedroom in the house he's renting.  It's done and was delivered this weekend.  I was waiting on backing, so had to quilt it with a bandaged thumb, and did the binding as soon as the stitches were out.  This is probably a contributing factor to the swelling I'm experiencing now.  The doctor told me last week that it was just stress and over use.  

The other quilt is my challenge project which is next up to be quilted.  I'm going to be doing some free motion, so I want my thumb to feel better before I start.

And for those concerned, the hubster's finger is healed.  He even took out his own stitches!  

I'll continue catching up on life in the next post!

Christi