Gardens and quilts

Apparently, I can only manage one post a month. Sheesh!

This one will be short, but picture-heavy, as I am so behind in chores and projects.

First, the garden.

The cherry tomatoes have gone ballistic! I have harvested at least a couple of hundred and given away more than half. Some have been eaten on salads, just eaten by the handul, tossed in the freezer, and chopped up in a salsa.

The jalapenos have been prolific, too--also given away, tossed in the freezer and chopped up in said salsa. The squash got decimated by a squash borer that ate through the stalks and rotted everything. I only got one squash off of it, but my neighbor's boyfriend brought a sackful from his garden for me, so I've put some of those in the freezer as well.

These pictures are about a week old, so I've already harvested these peppers--one is red, the other yellow. I'm not getting many from these plants, so I'm not sure if they didn't get enough sun early on, or if that's all they produce and I need to plant more next year.



My one okra plant! I am so surprised! There aren't many, so I may just pickle these few and give the jar to my daughter for Christmas. She loves them, and I bought some burgundy ones at the tailgate market last Sat. Red and green pickled okra--just says Christmas, doesn't it?

See my eggplant? Another surprise! It has a couple more blossoms on it, so I may get more than I figured. Last weekend I bought some Japanese eggplant from the tailgate market, and made this eggplant casserole with them. They were so good, I think I'll have to grow this kind myself  next year. Since we aren't big eggplant eaters, I was unsure about planting any, but hubby declared the recipe a hit, so there you go.

I already harvested most of the carrots, but I think there's time to plant more. I'm headed to Home Depot this afternoon to buy 2 more raised bed kits and am going to go for some cool weather plants before winter gets here. I am by no means a farmer, but it has been so gratifying to raise some of my own vegetables. The Homeowners' Association hasn't said anything, so I'm hoping as long as I keep the beds neat, no one will complain that they are right out there in what's practially my front yard.

The new job is going great! I am working with and for a great group of folks, and that has made such a difference. I'm a bit easier to live with at home, I think, because I'm not stressed out as I was before. I've been doing all 12-hr shifts, and that's working out really well for me.  As a plus, look at what's all around me on the beds:

 

 

and on the walls:

 

and tossed over recliners.

 

(Sorry some of the photos are so dark--they were taken with my phone, at night, and the lighting is okay for bedrooms, but not for photography.)

 

We have volunteers who have made these, as well as butterfly pillows, patient gowns, and drawstring pants, and we have a washer and dryer for washing these bedquilts, so they don't have to go to the commercial laundry.  Since ours is a non-profit organization, and we try to make these rooms as home-like as possible, we have gowns and pants made from old sheets, and lots of mismatched pillowcases. (Kinda like my house.) I never knew what was the big deal about making pillowcases for gifts, but since we use so many pillows repositioning people, and making up the sofas and recliners for family members to sleep on, I think I may just have to jump on this bandwagon.

 

As you can see, most of these quilts are works of heart, not necessarilyworks of art, but they do cheer up the rooms so much. I peeked into one of my rooms the other night to find the hubby in the bed under a red, white, and blue sampler quilt, the wife on the sofa bed under a scrappy quilt, and the daughter in the recliner with a lap quilt over her legs--all of them asleep. Not a normal situation, but made more comforting by quilts instead of hospital blankets. And if a family really loves a quilt that was over their loved one, we will give it to them.

 

I don't know if there's a hospice facility near you, but if there is, I hope you'd consider donating some bedquilts or pillowcases to them.  If you don't have much spare time, but do have a pattern for gowns or pants, they would be appreciated, too.  And please, consider volunteering if you can manage it. Again, as a non-profit organization, we depend on our volunteers so much. They save us so much money and time. We have volunteers who maintain the flowerbeds, run lab specimens to the local hospital, push patients in wheelchairs through the gardens, play music or CDs in the rooms, run the washer and dryer and fold towels and linens for the closets, and so much more. They free up the CNAs and nurses to do the more technological or hands-on care and the reams of documentation that must be done to qualify for the Medicare assistance that covers most patients' expenses. Our organization figures the volunteers save us the equivalent of 15 full-time employees' salaries every year. I wish we had some volunteers at night. If I ever get to retire, I think I'll have to stick around as a volunteer. 8^)

 







 Remember the catastrophe that was my sewing room?

Well, it's been downgraded to a minor disaster now:

Yeah, it's no coincidence there's a poster for the TITANIC in my sewing room. One good disaster deserves another, don't you think?

It's looking better. At least I was able to do a little sewing this weekend. No quilting yet, but some simple sewing to get back in the groove.

I covered some foam with muslin and then made another removable cover for it and placed it in Tandi's crate:

Her old pad is a fake fur kind of thing I bought at Petsmart when we first got her 5 years ago, and was getting pretty flat, so I opened a part of the side seam and shoved more stuffing into it, then whip-stitched it closed. But as it begins to get warmer, I figured the pad would get too hot and the foam might be a little cooler. Right now I put the fake fur pad on top so it's all super cushy for her.

We have a short pad that I lay out on the floor for when I tie her to the chair. She's still not happy to be confined, but it's better than staying in the crate so much.

Last Monday night, while we slept, she ate her bandage off her leg. As in swallowed it. I'll spare you the details, but she spent Tues. at the vet's getting progressive xrays to make sure it didn't remain in her system. I told you I was under no delusions about her level of intelligence. The vet just shook his head, and knocked $60 dollars off his bill, being as we have put out so much money on that rascal this year. He also took her staples out, saving us a trip to the specialist that was scheduled for Wed.  It's hard to keep her down now, as she's feeling so chipper.
 
Last, but definitely not least, I repaired the binding on a quilt I made my for my daughter years ago. It was my first flannel quilt, and I didn't realize you don't need batting for a quilt that's flannel front and back. This is one heavy quilt. Also, I didn't allow for the bulk when cutting the binding, so it pulled away from the quilt on the front in several places.

I tied this one (At least I had sense enough not to try to quilt it!) so that part's okay, though there was one square the cats had pulled loose and needed repairing. So I hauled the sewing machine to the dining room table and spent 3 hours yesterday machine stitching the binding to the front of the quilt. After a few stitches it was obvious I needed the walking foot, and then the upper thread kept breaking and the bobbin thread kept balling up. Grabbed the manual, loosened the top tension and that helped a little but not much. Searched the manual again and decided the thread must be too old (probably 6 years old), so switched to black YLI Select to finish it. Unless you look really closely, you can't see the areas that are a little balled up, because they're on the back, which is the same fabric as the border.

At any rate, I wasn't going to rip it out and redo it. Did I mention that thing is heavy?? Plus, it goes on the double bed in her guest room, so it won't be used much and I didn't make it to be an heirloom. Which is why I'll be taking it to the laundromat later this week to be washed and dried and then, after a final inspection, be mailed back to her. It's been languishing here for at least 2 years, so I'll be glad to get it off my to-do list and she'll be glad to get it back.

Now to finish the string quilt for her sofa, also started 2.5 years ago. Good thing she loves me, huh?

Broke the Barrier

With all that has gone on this year, starting with my arm injury last Dec., I had lost my quilting mojo. I'd walk into the sewing room, and walk out again, totally overwhelmed and uninspired. I didn't even buy any fabric between October last year and August of this year. Not that I really needed much--my stash is getting unmanageable.

But by late September, things had begun to turn around, and I finished 3 placemats for a blogging friend's children. I didn't think to take pictures, but she did, and they're on her site, here. I handquilted the center panels, as there were parts I wanted to stand out more, and then machine quilted the outer parts, all with glow in the dark thread--and it really does glow!

I also started 3 wall hangings for my own house for Halloween, but didn't get them finished.

As you can see, I've only reached the sandwiching stage. I have some embellishments to add as well, but they probably won't get picked up again until after the holidays.

In preparation for hanging them, I bought this hanger from Ackfeld Manufacturing:

Is this not the cutest thing?

They sent me a catalog with some of their products: fabric hangers, fabric hooks, ornament holder, etc.

I had never heard of them before, but I really like what they have, and will probably order some of their hangers to include with wall-hanging gifts. I know I never seem to be able to do justice to some of my little quilts with just a dowel and ribbon.

What do you use for hanging wall quilts?

End of an Era

Back in late July, I had the privilege of caring for the husband of the couple who own the closest local quilt shop.  (There was another one just a couple miles further, but they relocated about a year ago.) They have an unusual last name, but clueless me didn't make the connection until the off-going day nurse mentioned I would probably get along well with the wife, as she had lots of quilty stuff with her, and hmmm, she thinks they own a quilt shop. Duh.

I'm just one of many customers, and not a regular, so she didn't know me of course, but we talked quilting and about her daughter and son-in-law, (who service Berninas and used to live in my neighborhood) and cruising. When this couple lived in Florida, they used to arrange cruises for folks--didn't understand that part entirely--and we discussed cruise lines, etc. All in all, a pleasant case and I was able to get him comfortable enough to sleep through the night. I was off work the next two nights and when I came back, he was gone, so I assumed he'd gone on home.

On Thurs. before the trip, I dropped my Bernina off at the shop to be cleaned and oiled and serviced while I was gone, as I hadn't had this done since buying it second hand 3 years ago. It was then I learned that David had died! Seems he was diagnosed with stage IV cancer the day after I took care of him, was transferred to the hospital in Asheville, and died 2 weeks later. I was shocked--I'd had no idea. I dashed off a sympathy note to his wife and dropped it in the mail the next morning.

A few days after I returned (and could manage not to sneeze my head off!), I picked up my machine, which had been serviced by Pete Bonesteel, husband of Georgia Bonesteel, of lap quilting fame (!)  The family was still recovering from the loss.  I renewed my 20/20 membership there ($20/year for 20% off all non-sale items all year long) when I paid for the machine.  The next week, I dropped by the shop in search of some more blacks for some Hallowe'en wall hangings I've started. Usually I just get a few fat quarters, but I was having trouble finding many. While searching, I heard a customer ask didn't the shop carry something-or-other, and the shop gal said they usually did, but they were in the middle of a going-out-of-business sale and didn't have any more. Clueless me again--I whipped my head around, and noticed for the first time how empty all the shelves were looking. There were sale signs on all the Horn tables, most of the notions had disappeared, and the long-arm machine was gone out of the shop. None of this was present 5 days before, so the decision had to have been made over the weekend. I'm assuming the shop help got first dibs on items in the shop, because they hadn't advertised the sale and there were no signs outside.
I guess the shop must have been too much for one person to handle, so she decided to just close down.  The signs stated everything was 40% off if you paid by check or card, and 50% off if you paid by cash.  So the next day I came back in with some of my pocket savings and loaded up. I felt like a darned vulture, but told myself she needed the money and I "needed" the fabric, and that's just life.

I loaded up on solids, and fabrics that "read as solids", and some that will coordinate with some rose fabrics I intend to put together later this winter. I also needed more kid fabrics, as I'd like to make some I Spy quilts for my great-nephews.

Grand total before discount: $198.00. And mostly in fat quarters, with a little yardage thrown in, as minimum cuts were one yard. With taxes and discount, $101.06.  And that included 2 cute little jack-o-lantern candleholders I couldn't pass up. All that fabric has been washed and dried, and about 1/2 of it has been ironed and put away. The rest is still piled up on the cutting table, ready for another marathon ironing session, but heaven knows where I'm going to store it.  I am running out of room.

I drove by there the first week of October. The shop is empty, dark, and no signage even to show it was ever there. So very sad. I wish his family the best.

Yes, Virginia, There Really IS a Quilt Police Force.

I just have to link to this post today; it really burns me up to read of such snobbery.  With a little research, you can figure out exactly who the Quilt Police are.

Saturday Fun

Within 24 hours, all this appeared on my front steps, courtesy of UPS and the US Post Office:

First, from MightyMom, wrapped in fabric scraps (that I am about to look at more closely):

a papier mache  skull.

You can never have too many skulls.

And this little casket, which, when opened, emits a Fun House type laugh which goes on as long as the box is open. I have plans for this small casket.

Next, from Victorian Trading Company, this set of electric candles, perfect across a shelf or windowsill.

There are 5 groups of three.

And, of course, THE  pincushion.

Jeepers, it's tall!  But I love it!

Then, from Dark Candles:

Tea light votives in Clove, Graveyard, and Bonfire scents. I think they'll smell great in the jack-o-lanterns.

I like it a lot, even though it's not red as it was labeled.

.

I'd call it purple, wouldn't you?

Which is fine with me, as purple is my favorite color.

However, it isn't what I ordered.  This is what I ordered:

I want it for my Gyspy tent.

I've sent an email to the gal at Dark Candles to work out a solution, because, now that I have the purple one, I want to keep it. It's taller and I can envision it on another table or shelf in the tent.  This red one needs to be right beside me and the crystal ball, don't you think?

Yesterday was like Christmas here!

This morning I got up and showered and went out to the tailgate market for some fresh eggs and vegetables. I know I've mentioned it before, but I really enjoy going out there and seeing all the stands and jars of fresh-cut flowers and lovely colors.  Today there was a banjo picker out there entertaining folks, and a big yellow lab on a leash, walking along with his owner and cleaning up all the stray green beans near the trucks.  He'd hit the motherlode and he was happy!

I drove to another fruit and vegetable stand, where an older gentleman is usually parked with a couple of helpers.  I've cared for him and his grandson both in my hospital, and he was an inpatient only a couple of weeks ago.  Since I wasn't his nurse that time, I don't know what was wrong with him, but today his open air shed is locked and completely empty.  It appears he has closed up shop. I'm sorry to see that.

Back at home I unloaded the car and fixed myself a late breakfast, then got back in and went out to get my hair cut.  In the same small shopping center is one of our 2 local quilt shops.  I stopped in for some machine needles.

I came out with a bit more.

 

All the "fun fabrics" were 30% off today.  If I'd known before checkout, I might have bought more!

Lovely fall array.  I never can pass up fall-colored fabrics.

Nor could I pass up this panel fabric.  I had to fold it in half to get all of the panels in.

I really like that spooky tree.

One of the blogs I visited last year had some stuffed fabric candy canes, and I've been collecting some red and white fabrics to make my own.  Let's hope they get made for this Christmas.

Now it's raining steadily outside and I'm dying to get into the sewing room, but the kitchen is a disaster, and it's not long til I need to start supper.  Guess I'll toss all this in the washer and hope for a nice rainy day tomorrow.  Somehow I am more inspired when it's cloudy and dreary. Maybe it's the contrast of bright fabric with overcast skies.

Does the weather have any effect on your productivity or creativity?