House Quilt, Slipcovers, Cucumber Pot

I had to interrupt the slipcovers for a few days because this House Quilt had a deadline.

I find house blocks to be challenging but fun.  The background sky & stars were quilted with stars and wind, and the trees have a tree design stitched over them.

This little row of geese got feathers.

The skinny borders were stitched with 'L's and 'E's, the wide piano key border was diamond x-hatched.

Tractors in the bottom green blocks.

Here's the 6-cushion couch, all slipcovered.

This is the 3-cushion couch.

If you are looking for some beautiful hand crafted furniture/woodwork, this couple owns Shaker Roads.  Check out the web site.

The cucumber pot I planted up is doing really well.  There are also 2 cayenne pepper plants in here, and 2 oregano plants.  

When Sadie figures out those are CUCUMBERS I may never get any.  That's one of her favorite food groups.  Hopefully she doesn't eat one of the cayenne peppers by mistake.  :-)

Breaking Bread and Flying Herons

I was surfing Pinterest one night and got fixated on Pita Bread.

I used THIS recipe.  It looks like my 'rounds' need a little more rounding.

Ooh, weird looking pitas.  Tasty, though.  The recipe makes 8 pitas, so the remaining dough is in the fridge (it'll keep for a week).  I found the PERFECT size of Tupperware, but now 2 days later, the dough is going to bust out of it's confines.  Apparently, it keeps rising even though it's refrigerated.  When I bake the other 4 I'm going to try the oven at 500 instead of 450 and see if they puff a little more consistently.  More thin-ness and more heat seem to be the tricks.  Fast - only 3 minutes in the oven!!

DH has been in the garage, all artsy-fartsy-like.

I find metalwork incredibly hard to photograph.  This guy will be gorgeous when it's finally installed hanging over the edge of a pond.  He's a big bastard - the wing span is over 5 feet.

The slipcovers went on hold for a few days while I got this quilted.  I'll show you the quilting next week, after the customer has seen it.

Coming up this week, I have the Scrappy Club all day Monday, then the other guild has the year-end pot luck Monday night.  note to self:  decide what to bring!!!!  I must call the doc's office and arrange for my semi-annual Prolia shot (osteoporosis.  sigh.)  Hairdresser on Wednesday so I stop looking like a Wookie.  And finish the slipcovers.

Log Cabins, IKEA with the Beach Girls, Stash Report

I quilted two really interesting Log Cabin quilts recently.  Log Cabin blocks are so versatile, they are one of my favorites.

This one has the blocks laid out to create a spiral pattern.

This one has wonky blocks with blues running in behind.

The Beach Girls arrived on Tuesday and left on Thursday.  One of the requests was a shopping trip to IKEA, so that's where we went after Tuesday's fancy humble lunch of Tuna Casserole.  Somehow, out of the five of us, I managed to spend the most.  But I came home with the cutest little dessert/yogurt/ice cream bowls.

And a lovely new rug for the front entrance.  (I know I'll regret this come sloppy fall weather, but it's sure pretty NOW.)

And a new IKEA bag to replace the one I have misplaced.  These bags are great for hauling around three or four quilts at a time.

On Wednesday we went to Quilt Canada in St. Catharines.  The quilt shows were very good (!) and I think my favorite was the Fiber Art Network Of Western Canada show where they had two artists work on one theme.  One would be representational, and one would be abstract.  Very fun.  Here's an example...

As expected there was also a VENDORS MALL.  Oy.  My downfall.  I fell off the wagon and bought a few pretty pieces.
STASH REPORT
Used since last report:  0
Used YTD:               45.2m
Purchased since last report:  2.75m (not so bad, really)
Purchased YTD:               115.75m (yeah, this looks a little worse!)
Net YTD:                          + 70.55

I can knock this down a little bit when I get my last SCRAPPY quilt quilted.  If only I could get away from the internet.  :-)

Clear the Decks

Mmm... pretty sampler!

Feathers in conjunction with straight lines and diamonds.

Feathered wreath inside the sampler blocks.

This is about 14 miles of welt cording.  OK, I'm lying.  It's only 3000".  Two hundred and fifty feet.

I have cleared the deck of quilting jobs over the next 2 weeks so I can make two slipcovers for a couple of 3-seater sofas.  One has 3 seat cushions, and the other has 3 seat cushions AND 3 back cushions.  One cushion down, 8 to go...

At the May guild meeting in Binbrook I scored a dozen Dresden Plates.  Sweet!  A former member had sent in several piles of 12.  I would gladly have taken another dozen, but I had to be NICE and SHARE.  Pfftt.

Out in the garden I'm starting to harvest lettuce.  And chives, of course.  We had a couple feeds of asparagus and now I'm leaving it to go to foliage for the rest of the season. The past several years the cucumbers have been the sh*ts terrible.  Some fungus has apparently moved into the garden soil and makes the vines wither up and die, so I'm trying a new plan this year.  I have moved a very LARGE pot on to the patio and I've put the cukes in there, along with a couple of cayenne pepper plants.  We'll see how that works out.  I also put a 14" pot for an assortment of lettuce, cilantro, chives, dill, and garlic near the back door.  It makes it much handier when I'm at the stove and just need a wee bit of whatever.

A large Rubbermaid tote full of raspberry canes was donated to me, so DH planted those yesterday.  Yum - I can't wait to start harvesting those babies!  If I don't eat them all fresh off the vine I may have to try the Chocolate/Raspberry Jam from Judy Laquidera's blog.  LINK

Last weekend I got the outside doors painted.  Today, if it doesn't rain, I'll be tackling the trim.  I had to visit the paint store for another liter of primer because the old can had turned a weird pale green colour.  And, I will finish two more cushion covers.  I am working the weekend because the Beach Girls are coming to visit for a few days.  As a rule, our get-togethers involve lots of talking and giggling and often includes a bit of falling-asleep-on-the-couch.  We will be heading to St. Catharines for QUILT CANADA.  If the gods are smiling, Diane will be taking home another big fat ribbon to hang on her wall.  We'll see...

Green & White quilt & some food & gardening chat

This is a perfect quilt for spring!

Ruth won a bunch of blocks at the Binbrook guild from the Block of the Month, then made a zillion more blocks.

I had fun quilting this one.

The outer border doesn't really show on the front of the quilt, but it's a beautiful scallop with a motif inside the scallop, and skinny piano keys outside of the scallop.

This year at the Binbrook guild, for the Block of the Month program we are making our own quilts, not blocks that go into a pot for a draw.
As you can see from the picture below, I seem to have made some kind of awful mistake this month.  That block doesn't look ANYTHING like the pattern.

So, we tried turning some of the patches around.  Ha ha.  FAIL.

I had to recut fabric - the black polka dot was supposed to go on the corners.  And the center block had to be remade with the proper YELLOW on the outsides.

This time of year I am busy-er'n a fart in a windstorm.
TO DO LIST:

• plant the veggie garden
• pot up hanging baskets and annuals for back patio planters
• flower beds need clean up and weeding
• plant the summer annuals & bulbs
• dead shrubs- dig out and replace
• woodwork on the front porch all needs painting.

Some women get shiny baubles from their husbands.  Me?  I get mulch.  Lots and lots of mulch.  Three yards in the truck.

Another four yards in the trailer.  Thank you darling!!

In appreciation for that big pile of thoughtfulness I have been cooking from the Looneyspoons cookbook again.  Earlier this week I made Penne From Heaven LINK.  On Friday I made Aunt Chiladas Stuffed Tortillas LINK (one pan for supper, two pans for the freezer).  With the leftover torilla stuffing mix I made Breakfast Burritos this morning, adding scrambled eggs and chopped fresh tomatoes.  Note to self:  must buy salsa.

So, yesterday we got the veggie bed planted.

• potatoes
• onions, red
• onions, white sweet
• green beans
• beets
• peas
• butternut squash
• bell peppers
• jalapeno peppers
• cayenne peppers
• roma tomatoes
• eatin' tomatoes
• broccoli
• early cabbage
• red cabbage
• ____________ this is where the ZUCCHINI should be.  What the hell?  Can you believe that I have no zucchini seeds?  Must go to garden center today.  Now.  Immediately...