Shoe Quilt

This is just THE most cheerful quilt, ever!

Shoes, hearts, cupids, pink, red.  How girly can you get?

Even the back is adorable.

I thought I'd post this today because I have a $10 voucher for DSW that is burning a hole in my pocket.  So I'm going to spend it today.  Yee hah!!
For those of you who live in a gopher hole - DSW is Designer Shoe Warehouse.  My very favorite store in the whole wide world.

Vintage Tulip Quilt and Saturday Nights...

I really appreciate working on vintage quilts.  It's so nice to have them finally get out of the cupboard.

This was quilted with s.i.d. along all the blocks and around all the applique and embroidery.  Setting triangles got the cute little tulip/heart motif.  It took sooo long to do the s.i.d., I cannot imagine how long she worked on the applique and embroidery.

Pretty back.

Summer entertainment on Saturday night.
Step 1:  cocktail

Step 2:  recipe & music (excellent c.d., by the way!)  Notice that the recipe is printed from the internet.  I find myself using the cookbooks less and less.  But I need to get things organized somehow because I can never remember WHERE the recipe I want is located.  Book?  Printed and in the recipe box?  A WORD file on the hard drive? Pinterest?

Step 3:  garden bounty and a sharp object

While the tomato paste was baking I enjoyed my pretty flowers and weeds.  Cosmos, trumpet vine, black eyed susan, queen anne's lace, goldenrod, ornamental grass.  I have picked some gorgeous bouquets out of the ditch.  Another of my favorites is chicory with blue flowers, although I restrained myself this time.  I'd hate to ruin the beauty of them in my lawn.  Pfftt.  We're at the time of year when the grass is all brown but the weeds are so tall I'm tripping over them.

Out in the veggie garden I had to rip out my cucumbers.  They came down with blight and the leaves all turned an icky yellow.  They started to infect my BS (butternut squash) so I decided to protect the squash.  I currently have enough zucchini and cucumbers in the fridge to make a batch of relish that will last the next two years.  I can live with store bought cukes.  The tomatoes, as you can see, are starting to come in. 

After I get the relish in the pot my next canning job will probably be the Orchard Fruit Chili.  I prefer this over regular chili sauce - it's made with brown sugar instead of white, and cider vinegar instead of white.  It has a more mellow flavour, and it's sweeter with all the fruit.

And, what you've all waited a whole week for:
ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked this week:  8
Picked YTD:  34

Grand Rapids Quilt Show

We don't look too bad, when you consider that we'd been tramping around the show floor all day.  The Gammill booth was giving out tote bags, so I grabbed a couple for two friends of mine who will appreciate them. 

Entertainment while we were walking: Great Lakes Pub Cruiser.  Ha ha, a bunch of slightly tipsy people cycling themselves around town.

Five women and one SUV.  Packed to the gunnels on the way home.  The drive to the show on Tuesday was pretty comfy and roomy, but coming home... not so much.

The award winner in the Longarm category.  Gorgeous.

I don't think I have it in me - what is required to win a ribbon at these shows.

The yellow sash quilting reminds me of Welsh Quilting designs.

A gorgeous job on the feathers.

And the background fabric - she quilted along the lines of the print on the fabric.  Hoo boy!

Lovely little squiggle quilting behind the applique.

Grand Rapids Quilt Show

Shopping yesterday - new decoration for the front of the house. Yay.

JAWS, Scraps, Garden, Stash Report

I am a very organized person, cutting all my leftover scraps into strips and storing them neatly.

Sometimes I just don't have time so I fold them neatly and store them in this little post-officey box that Jean gave me years ago.  I'm going to cut these later.  Really.

It appears that my little post-officey box thing is crammed full and fabric is falling all over the shelf, so I had to resort to a cardboard box.  Out of sight, out of mind.  (somebody's out of their mind, but we won't go there today)

I am not the only one with the problem, though.  The Caledonia Guild has started a new Scrappy club, and we've picked a pattern from Quiltville as our first project.  Boxy Stars uses 2 1/2" strips so I put JAWS to work.  These muslin strips had all been cut in years gone by, and were hanging neatly in the first pic.

I laid them out on the 2 1/2" strip die in the opposite direction and hacked up over 400 squares in no time flat.  I love you JAWS.  I am going with a palette of blues & greens, although I don't have the greens cut yet so that might change.  Maybe I won't have enough green scraps.  insert me laughing maniacally.  I actually have so much fabric I could probably hide the Titanic. In my basement.  No one would ever find it.

STASH REPORT
Used this month 9.4 m - this was the Calgary quilt.
Used YTD 47.75 m
Added this month 0
Added YTD 24 m
Net YTD (- 23.75 m) Yay.  The next reported numbers may be bad... Grand Rapids quilt show is this week and I already know I'm bringing home wide backing.  But when I get the scrappy BOXY quilt done I will have more 'used' to report.

Here is this year's garden.  From the top down...

• flowers in the cutting garden with the asparagus on right side of the phlox
• potatoes on the right hand side 
• butternut squash - I planted 2 hills of 3 seeds per hill.  It's a good thing we are digging the potatoes because the squash is getting very, um, NEEDY about space and is encroaching on the sweet potatoes and the cabbage.  Every day I fling the vines over my shoulder and relocate them.  I feel very 'you tarzan, me jane'.
• the bottom corner contains zinnias, peppers, beets that the rabbit missed (the little bastard), cilantro, cabbage, and more zinnias.

At the other end of the garden I have the onions, the beans (sewing number three.  Damned rabbit!!!), and oh, look:  volunteer butternut squash - three of them taking over this side of the garden, encroaching on my tomatoes.  And some volunteer sunflowers in the bottom left corner.  Geez.  Somebody should straighten those fence posts.

We are going to have a BUMPER crop of butternut squash.  Because the zucchini is being very manageable this year I may have to change tactics and quit with the zucchini report - and start a BS report.  Ha ha, I could include lots of BS tidbits.  Like, I could tell you that I'm organized.  Oh, I've already pulled that one on you? Right.

Anyhow.  Here's the zucchini minding it's own business, living in the grass compost.  Sitting very cozy with the rabbit trap (empty, as you can see).

ZUCCHINI REPORT
Picked this week: 5 (gave away 1)
Picked YTD 26
I have a couple in the fridge, but mostly I've been cutting them up and putting them in my salad.  DH sliced one really thin and put it in my panini the other night.  Somehow  he did not get any in HIS panini.  Odd, don't ya think?

Three More Calgary Quilts

This is the quilt that I made for the basement rebuild lady.

These are very muted colours and totally NOT my usual style, but she wanted something light & airy.  

Love that panto - FANTASIA by Hermione Agee.

Two quilt tops & backings were donated by a customer.  The first is this Iris quilt.

I like to use clamshells when the print is directional.  It is such a nice, traditional quilting pattern.

Her second quilt is a bright, scrappy Sunflower quilt.

What a great collection of botanical prints.

The backing is cheerful and sunny, too.

My big complaints of the day (so far):

• I woke up at 6 am.  Again.  Why can't I sleep in a little bit on the weekend????
• Computers.  We have a new keyboard and I have to retype half of my stuff because a firmer push is required for contact on each stroke.  AND the backspace button is positioned a wee bit differently, so I keep hitting F12 instead.  Every time I try to backspace and retype, I'm hitting the wrong key.  Aargh...
• Classico.  I 'pinned' a bunch of their pesto recipes the other day.  When I click on my pins, I get a message that the link does not work.  Damn.  I will have to break down and print them out.  This will require an informative note to their comment page to let them know that their 'pin' button is the shits does not work.
• Facebook and their Networked Blogs.  I tried to 'follow' a blog and got bupkiss (sp?).  I'll have to add it to my 'blogs I follow' on Blogger instead.
• Can you tell I am cranky and whiny from not enough sleep?  Somebody should swat my bum and send me for a nap.

ZUCCHINI REPORT
picked this week:  7 (gave away 2)
total picked ytd:   21
Without looking, I would guess there are probably 6 zucchinis in the fridge right now.  Maybe 8.  Time to start the zucchini loaf baking.

quilts for Calgary, and Basil Harvest = PESTO

This past week has been dedicated to quilting items that are being donated to Calgary flood victims.

Love this batik quilt.

Quilted with Willowy Weeds pantograph, a freebie pattern from the Quilters Niche website.

Here's a scrappy Snowball quilt going as a donation.

Love the little hourglasses that show up between the snowballs.

This has been quilted with Starburst pantograph, a free design from Urban Elementz website.

So far, I have quilted seven tops that are going to Calgary.  I'm still making a quilt myself that I am sending to my brother and s.i.l. in Calgary.  They are helping to rebuild a flooded basement apartment for their friends, and it's the grandmother who lives in the apartment and will get the quilt.  In an odd quirk - the family is originally from Caledonia (where I live).  I will be taking this quilt to my s.i.l.'s mom, who I travelled to Bali with back in March.  She's heading out there next week for a nice visit so she will deliver the quilt for me.

If you have a quilt or two that you'd like to donate and you're in southern Ontario - you can deliver them to Cherished Pieces quilt shop in Tillsonburg until Sept. 18th.

In some down time yesterday I harvested a sinkfull of basil.  Half of it got pulverized and made into pesto - 3 cups worth.  I took one cup to my darling nephew and his wife (1-800-luke-tek ... my I.T. nephew.  And don't phone that number, I'm just being funny) and the other two cups are in my fridge.  To DH's delight, I took them a couple of zucchinis too.

What a friggin' mess!!!  Four measuring cups, shredder, food processer bowl & blade, blender & lid (Helpful Tip:  don't use the blender to make pesto - FAIL!), cookie sheet from roasting the pine nuts, and cutting/mixing/scooping tools.  On top of that my fingernails are BLACK from the basil, and the whole house is, um, fragrant with basil.  Of course, while I was elbow deep in olive oil & parmesan cheese the phone rang.  aargh...  I'm hoping the green oily stain will come out of my pink t-shirt, otherwise it will get added to the growing pile of 'cooking clothes'.  I have, like, SIX aprons in the pantry.  Apparently, though, no brain to go with them.

The rest of the basil... I picked the leaves off and have them dehydrating in the basement.  When they're crispy they will get crushed and put into jar(s) for winter cooking.