A day of running

I made 4 trips into town yesterday.  It's difficult to get much accomplished when that happens, but when I look back now, I did get some stuff done that needed to be done...........a lot of it just wasn't photo worthy.

Willow got to go see a new groomer for a bath and toe trim.  She loves it when I groom her, but going to a strange place and getting left is not her thing.  It took me and 2 groomers to get her inside the building.  They were so nice about working with her.  She was so clean and fluffy when I picked her up and her "grinch" toes were gone!  

A day of beauty can be exhausting.  When I told David the groomers said she was timid, he said "huh?"  

And this happened again in the afternoon..............

And these two..............

Cici would like to call a foul - encroachment!  If only she had stripes!

After that awful Chief's game Monday night, I hate to use any football analogies.  

I did spend a little time in the sewing room in the afternoon.  I got the backing made for my sister's really big quilt and I did the first border on this quilt.  It's called Proposal and it is supposed to have another border.  I'm headed up to Sew Sweet today to see if I can find something.  I love this pattern and am already considering other colors to do it in.

I also want to look for some fabric for a Halloween project for retreat.  David has the corn out and will be switching the combine over for beans.  He needs to have something repaired on it before he can start and it seems to be a mystery to everyone as to what exactly needs to be fixed.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll let you know the mystery is solved!

Christi

 

Photographic Proof

 

I never thought I would see this!  These two, sharing a cat tower!  The cedar chest used to occupy this space by the windows in the longarm end of my sewing room.  We moved the cedar chest into Sarah's room to provide a place for her to set suitcases when she's home and then moved the cat tower that was in her room to this space by the windows.  Esme used to be the only one who used it, but Cici loves a good window seat.  That's how her fur stays so sunny!

I texted this picture to David during the day.  He's been combining corn for several days and will hopefully get done with the last 40 acres today.  Then it's on to the beans.  I must be getting tired of being a harvest widow because he got several photos on his phone yesterday.........

I did the laundry.......

Asked him if there were anymore tools he needed laundered.  His response, "Thanks for finding that.  I wondered where it was."

I sent him this photo of the smoked chex mix I did on the smoker for snacking during the Chief's game last night.

I sent him a photo of the new Elizabeth Hartman quilt pattern which I have ordered.

I didn't send him any photos of all the things I have ordered from Missouri Star in the last week.  I had a bundle going and just kept adding to it a little each day.  Harvest time can sometimes get expensive.  I've spent less on my stuff than he usually spends at John Deere during harvest, so I think we'll still come out ahead.

I didn't send him this photo either.  He has no idea just how long these two have been getting to spend inside with me each day.  

The big adventure today is a bath/grooming for Willow.  We're trying out a new place and hopefully things go ok.  I also have a quilt guild meeting tonight.  I'm planning a trip to Sew Sweet tomorrow.  I NEED a border for a quilt.  

It's looking a little overcast here.  Hopefully that last 40 acres gets done before it rains especially if the farmer's wife can quit sending him photos.

Christi

Baskets and auctions!

 A couple of weeks ago David and I attended an auction that had lots of old stuff, primitives, antiques, etc.  It had rained the night prior and they had set everything out, so any time they picked up a dish or bucket or crock, they dumped a bunch of water out of it.  There was a LOT of neat old stuff.  Of interest to me was a harvest basket.  It was old but still in really good condition.  I have made a couple like it in the past.  Supposedly, there was some "name" fame attached to it, but it wasn't signed or dated.  My jaw dropped when it sold for $225.  I decided it was time to go home and save money, dig out my basket supplies (which were now all neatly labeled and organized) and get to work.  

Basket #1

When there are so many supplies and patterns to choose from, it can be overwhelming just getting started.  I settled on this round wood base sampler basket.  I have made this before and have had several 4-H kiddos do it as well.  Sarah recognized the pattern instantly.  I think she may even have one.

Basket #2

A big basket with a large round wooden base.  This pattern, called toy basket, was new to me, but I loved it.  Of course I changed it up a little and added the thin walnut strips as accent.  (Princess Leia volunteered to pose with each photo to provide some size scale.)  Apparently I was on a wood base kick.  This was the largest round one I had, so it was nice to use it and get it out of the stash.

Baskets 1 & 2 were woven on different days a couple of days apart.

Basket #3

Bread Basket - another new to me pattern but still on a wood base.  This base was oval shaped.  Of course I changed it up as well and used some variegated reed called royal oak.  It had blues and violets and neutrals in it.  I love this one.

Basket #4

I guess you'd call this a pie basket.  This was a base/handle set that was taking up lots of space, so it was nice to use it.  I pretty much had to design my own pattern for this one.  For accent, I used cranberry reed and cane.  

#'s 3 & 4 were both done in the same day.  (When you are a harvest widow and don't have to stop to cook meals, you get more done!)

So, I am going to admit that #'s 2 & 3 are my favorites.  And I will admit that my hands and arms were really sore after doing so much weaving.  These were finished on Friday, just had to be stained.  So on Saturday I went to an auction.  You may remember David's "craft" project from this summer.........

Well, he's been looking for more old propane tanks ever since.  I had seen an auction north of Warrensburg that showed 4 in one photo and 2 large ones in another.  He gave me a limit on what to spend for them and I headed out.

I got there just prior to the start of the sale.  After looking around, I didn't see the big ones anywhere, but there were 5 of the smaller ones on one of the wagons.  This was a sale of mostly tools, lumber, basically "guy" stuff.  There was just a little furniture that sold first.  I have to say it was an interesting crowd, not my normal group of people.  Things were going really cheap and slow to sell.  The only facilities were part of the auctioneer trailer and did offer toilet paper (which I had questioned based on the make up of the crowed and auction company) but no water or soap for washing.  When I pulled hand sanitizer out of my purse, I sensed I was being looked at as something of a curiosity.  There was plenty of shade and some chairs to sit in so it wasn't too bad.  Just when it looked like "my" wagon was next, they took a sudden detour and sold the tractor, pickup, and other equipment and then diverted around to the back for some stuff and then into the building for tons more tools and some lumber.  It was well past lunchtime, but the food stand was sketchy.  When I say stand, it was more of a folding table, grill, and coolers on the ground.  I went to order a cheeseburger, but the helper was too busy running her mouth to take my order.  As she was complaining about her ex keeping a thousand dollar wheelchair and with the restraining order against her, she couldn't go get it, I just backed away and decided I wasn't that hungry.  I found a nice shady space on the empty wagon next to "my" wagon of stuff and pulled out my phone to read a book for awhile.  

They finally got around to my wagon and some of the men (it was mostly men) had pulled all of the propane tanks off the wagon and lined them up on the ground.  They told the auctioneer that 3 of them were full and asked him to sell the tanks first.  Now, all day long, they had been selling choice - take one or as many as you want at that price - and people would bid (I'm talking less than $5) and take one thing and then make them go around again and bid again.  No wonder it was taking so long.  Well, I stood my ground with all these big guys and I outbid them (still $6 under David's limit) and when they asked me which one I wanted I said, "I'll take all 5."  Jaws hit the ground, but the auctioneer moved right on to the next thing.  I knew I wasn't too popular, so I just grabbed the 2 empty ones and headed to my car with them.  I pulled it up closer and loaded the 3 full ones and then went to the cashier and paid and left.  I wasn't paying until I had my stuff in my car.  Several people had bought stuff during the day that mysteriously disappeared before they got ready to load.  I wasn't paying for anything I didn't put in my car.

So here are the spoils from the auction.  We're going to have to do some major grilling to use up all this propane.  Sarah mentioned that she could use a spare tank at her house, so we'll probably give one to her.  Stay tuned to see what David does with the others!

Christi

More catching up

 In more news from the last 2 months, Cousins Pam and Susie bought a house in Marshall and moved here from Ashland.  Pam celebrated her birthday here just a short time after the move.  My parents came down to help her celebrate.  I baked a lemon cake.

This is a new thing I've been trying............reverse applique.  This is the sweat shirt I made for Pam.

The photo below was my first attempt.  I didn't do the reverse applique with embroidery floss by hand, but used the sewing machine.  It was faster.

Then I added the arrowhead on the sleeve by hand using the embroidery floss and I really liked that look.

This gray practice shirt was something I picked up at a second hand store.  It was a little tight for me, so I'm donating this to the guild bazaar.  It was thoroughly laundered before I worked on it and again after.

I did finish the 81 blocks for my sister's quilt.  She wanted something really big in very neutral colors for her bed.  It measures about 108" square.  I am working on making the backing and then can hopefully get it on the longarm later this month.  I have a couple of days without piano students (parent teacher conference week) so would like to try to quilt it then.

We also got a new group of pigs in the first week in September.  

Friday didn't really like the pigs when he first arrived last April.  We thought it was just because they were so big and he was just a puppy.

Now he's bigger and they were cute small pigs.  During the unloading, he would only peek in the door at them.  David tried him out with just one little pig, but he sniffed and backed away.  He's an office dog.

My dad came down to help Pam and Susie move.  So did Pam's son, Tom and a friend, Donna.  We had the first meal in their house.............Plowboys BBQ.  

This was prior to the table being moved in.........my Dad was showing off his height.

It was nice to rest on the glider on the patio.

This was the only quilt I totally finished in September.  A baby quilt for our pastor at church...........yes, it's a girl!

I know I mentioned working on baskets, but I'm still waiting on them to dry from staining before I get photos.  Hopefully I can share them and some great stories tomorrow.

Christi

Summer's End

 We were selected as the State Fair Farm Family from Saline County and were recognized at the State Fair in August.  It was a blisteringly hot day and we had to call it a day before the awards were presented that evening.  So, we staged a photo with the plaque.  Of course, we had to move around to get the best corn in the photo.

Labor Day weekend also brought the annual dog plunge (before the pool gets drained for the season).  We didn't go last year because it was so hot.  It was much cooler this year, perhaps a little too cool for David and I, but Willow didn't mind.  Friday had to stay home because he had just had a little "surgery".  So Willow got undivided attention and a McDonalds cheeseburger on the way home.  

Sirius Black and Harry Potter kept growing a LOT!  Growing requires a lot of napping.

And they kept moving into others' territories.  Princess Leia was not impressed with Harry's ability to share her cat house.  Another cat house was purchased as we know that Harry is just going to get bigger and will need more space.

He also very much likes Cici's window seat.  I think it's big enough for the both of them, but sometimes Cici doesn't agree.

Willow never seems to mind sharing her space though.

We experienced the Great Dishwasher Flood of 2025 just before Labor Day.  A hose broke in the middle of the night (when David had set the dishwasher to run) resulting in a lot of water on the kitchen floor and a literal flood in the basement.  Over a truck load of stuff was disposed of.  Most of my basket supplies had gotten wet.  If it hadn't been 4 am, it would have been a great time to weave as everything was wet and pliable.  After days of drying stuff out, I did some sorting and storing and realized just how much basket stuff I had.  I've given myself a year to weave some baskets and then I will reevaluate and decide whether it's time to get rid of stuff.  So expect some basket photos in future blog posts!

Off to weave!

Christi

Quilt finishes!!

This was the block lotto block for September and I only made 1 and I didn't win - Surprise!  

This is the leaf block quilt from last year's block lotto that I made 27 blocks for and didn't win, but was gifted the blocks from the winner.  There were 25 blocks that I hadn't made and I added the pumpkin blocks and then bordered all of them in a churn dash style to make this really large quilt for my bed.  Another UFO in the finished column!

I also finished the farm panel quilt and got it hung up over the piano.  Another UFO!

And Spangled got finished in time for show and tell at the September meeting.  I love this quilt.  I'm really glad I made it even though I really lost interest in it for awhile.

And work on the last UFO - the potato chip quilt -  happened.  It's called potato chip because supposedly you can't make just one block.  Maybe I'm not that much on potato chips, because I was getting really tired of this one.  I finally laid out the blocks I had to see if I was close to "the end of the bag" and "could just toss the crumbs".  I only needed one more block to make this layout.

Tah Dah!  The blocks are sewn together and it is hanging in the TBQ closed with it's backing and batting.  So, I'm thinking I'll get that UFO list zeroed out by the November meeting.  If you think that means there won't be a UFO list next year, you haven't seen all the things I've started this year.

And I made myself another purse...............KC Chiefs!  This is the smaller version of the one I made last year.  I love it.

Mabel had surgery in August.  You can see her shaved belly in this photo.

A box of potato chip "crumbs" made a nice place to sleep.

Willow gave her support during her time of recuperation.  She was also down to just 2 kittens to watch over.

Harry Potter and Sirius Black gave her something to take care of for awhile.  Willow helped of course.

Christi