Monday, Monday - Going Wonky

It's Design Wall Monday - pop over to Judy's to see what others are up to.

After getting the fractured diamonds out of my system, I've now gotten into making log cabins. However, I decided to make the blocks askew or wonky.

I made the blocks 7 1/2 inches so that I could trim them to 6 1/2 inches by tilting the square ruler 30 degrees. Didn't that sound intelligent. Actually I don't know what degree I used. I just eyeballed it.

Here's the first little quilt - 36" square.

And here's the other which is also 36". No borders on either at this time.

Mug Rug Thursday

I can't believe that June is almost gone. We're having unusual rain here in central Texas. Yesterday, in a matter of three hours we got 2 1/2 inches of rain. My garden loved it.

Speaking of gardens, I've already picked my first batch of cukes (AKA - cucumbers) & made 9 pints & 2 quarts of sweet pickles.

Now for drawing for the birdhouse. 

The winner is

Chantal!!

Congratulations to you. Just leave a comment so we can talk.

The next mug rug in the give away is "froggy".

Leave a comment to be counted.

I'll announce a winner July 10th.

Monday, Monday

Remember to pop over to Judy's for Design Wall Monday to see what other are up to!!

I've been stuck on the fractured diamond  for a week. All the possibilities were circling around in my head.

This first one was made from the above "kite" type template which is very easy to make.

This next one is my favorite because the diamonds are floating free. I made another template making the square a half inch larger which lends for a wider space at the bottom of each block. When all  blocks are sewn together, you see more of the background fabric.

Notice the square in this template and the width of the pointed wedge at the bottom of the photo. This kite is not as wide as the others. This will allow the diamond to become more distorted and will float each diamond, as well.

All three of these will go to the helping hands ladies after I've quilted them. Each is about 36 inches which is ideal for their needs.

Hopefully, the fractured diamond thingy is out of my system for awhile and thankfully a large portion of my scraps are gone.

Me-Huntress

No, not that kind of "huntress"......hehehehehehe, but I have been known to go a-hunting for snakes in the yard.

I'm talking about hunting in the garden, of course.....hehehehe

I have a very small garden this year, so much so that all the cucumber vines are entangled as they run together. Believe it or not, I love poking through all those vines looking for cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers every day. It's rather cathartic.

 Those cucumbers grow quickly and tend to hide out under the shade of the leafy foliage.

I have a fence around my little garden to keep the rabbits out. Every morning, we go

 through the same routine.....I walk out the back door, spot two rabbits nibbling around the fence

 and start the chase. Around and around and around we go until I get dizzy and the rabbits

 make a break for the bird feeder to harass the poor birdies and eat their seeds

 that has fallen to the dirt.....sigh

It take me a few minutes to catch my breath before I start picking veggies. You'd think

 I'd be able to stop myself from chasing them but, alas, I've not broken myself

 from this habit.

These days I'm into canning the cucumbers into sweet pickles which take about 3 days

 but it's well worth the effort.

There are many recipes on the Internet that are inspiring and I have tried a couple. 

Mom and Cowboy love the pickles and so do all my neighbors.

Well, I'm off to rinse the cucumbers and begin the next step in the process.

On another note: I'd like to thank everyone who participated in my "big give-away." I didn't get to respond to all the comments yesterday so this is a great big THANK YOU ALL.

I'll be doing another give away in the fall, so stay tuned for that. 

The Big Announcement for the "Big Give Away"

Oh boy, it's finally here. The big announcement of the winner of my "Big Give Away!"

I'm so excited, I'm nearly jumping up and down.

 (No photo of that but I'm sure some of you felt a quaking sensation)

 Now back to the excitement.....

Ayden is excited!!!

Austin is excited!!

Buzz & Woody are excited!!

Is she going to go on and on until the cows come home? Goodness Ravelly,

 get on with it already!!

Alright, alright.....due to some technical difficulties with my blog and Random Picker, 

I've had to do this the old-fashion way...................

And the winner is.....

...............

........

....

..

A Nudge!

Congratulations to you.

 Let have confetti thrown and the band playing for A Nudge!

Just leave a comment so that we can communicate via email.

Another Finish

This 36 inch square quilt was made from my scraps the other day & quilted in a couple of hours. It's going to my helping hands group later today along with the Insect quilt.

BTW,

 I'll be announcing a winner from "my big give away" on Friday, the 20th.

 Here's some of what's in the BOX.....

It's stuffed in there pretty tight & waiting for a new home! If you're a FOLLOWER and you haven't signed up for a chance to win, there's still time. Just leave a comment HERE for all the information and to be counted.

Monday, Monday

Judy at Patchworktimes, is a fantastic hostess. Each Monday she allows any quilter who wishes to participate, to show off his/her work or home projects. Sometimes I forget to just say thank you to her and that I really appreciate the space she allows us to share with one another.
Make sure you pop over so that you can see what others are up to on the wonderful Design Wall Monday!!

Another finish for me!!

I started this hand embroidery quilt when my mom had heart surgery about 2 years ago. The work kept me sane while she recovered after being released. That was a hair-raising experience but the doctors are excellent and she is now doing very well for the age of 80. 

Anyway, the other day I ran across the quilt top, decided to add a border and quilted it with black thread. I'll be donating it to my helping hands group next week. Maybe some child will become inspired and study Insects in Science or something.

And, hey, no teasing me about making this quilt when I'm so not into anything that flies, flutters, slithers, hops, crawls, meanders.......well you get the picture.....LOL!!

Jelly

I've been canning watermelon jelly. I'm really excited because this is a new one for me. I love canning but have never thought about making jelly from the meat of a melon.

The jelly only took 4 ingredients: sugar, pectin, melon meat and lemon juice.

 I'm also canning the rind of the melon. I've done this before. It is way more time consuming than making jelly but just as much fun. When finished the rind will be sweet perfection in a jar. I'll share photos when it's finished.

Oh my gosh! More & More..............

 

Our local post office lady thought I was a bit nuts asking all kinds of questions about shipping prices nationally and internationally and how much I could cram in the box, close it successfully and tape it tight. She just shook his head and shooed me away after the umpteenth question.......the box weighs 16.4 lbs. Just under the 17 lb. qualification.....Yeeeeeepy!!

Lookie what I found to add to my "big give-away!"

Yes, these books & more are going into the box.....that's why I had to know the weight.

I was so excited when I found the books. Of course I looked through them and thought "oh, why didn't I make that and why am I putting this in the give away!" Who am I kidding? There is no way that I'm going to make all those wonderful projects but maybe someone else will or they can re-gift it to another. Who knows.....I have to tell you, when I was looking through the books, several were duplicates. Has anyone else bought two of something? Good grief, the money I spent....oh well.

If you haven't left a

  comment HERE

to be counted, there's still plenty of time. The only requirement is that you have to be a FOLLOWER of my blog whether it's recent of you're an old timer. I'll announce a winner on June 20th, so tell everyone you know to pop over and leave a comment!!

Now to clear up, hopefully,

 that strange dog silhouette for some of my blogging friend who just couldn't see it.

Said silhouette frontal view

Boxer

Pincers

Can you envision the dog now? LOL 

My silhouette doesn't have eyes. I think that would have helped a bit. I'll do better next time.

Mug Rug Thursday

The winner of Letter "C" is Bonnie.
 Congratulations to you. Just leave a comment so that we can chat via email.

Next mug rug up is another birdhouse. I used fabric from my stash of landscape scraps. I can just imagine a little birdie nesting in the birdhouse.

Leave a comment to be counted and remember to read my NON-reply note near the top of my blog to allow me to contact you if you are a NON-reply-er!!

I'll announce a winner June 26th.

That Time Again!

BB near the lead with a quick gait!

Hurry up cowboy & pour out those cookies (AKA range cubes)!!

Bully is not impressed!!

Is that all you've got cowboy?? Get back here!

We're leaving, this is ridiculous!

These heifers will hopefully have babies by the winter so that they fed a little extra. I see them nearly everyday. They live in a pasture across the road from my house and each day I walk to my mailbox, they come running and are not happy when they notice that I'm not lugging a bag of cubes with me. 

Playing Around

I'm playing around with some UFOs from my stash. I made the mockingbird a couple of years ago & haven't decided to use it yet. I'm also playing around with what I call filler spaces & the color ranges to lean towards. What are your thoughts?

Monday, Monday

First........

Don't forget to get counted for my "big give-away" by commenting HERE!

It's Design Wall Monday, again and I've been cleaning for the give-away but I did get in some design work for a mug rug that I'll be giving away one of these days.

I love making silhouettes.

Can you tell it's a dog??

Next, I did a silhouette of "The Duke" John Wayne.

On this particular one, I worked from the bottom up.

Remember, I'm using my favorite fabric adhesive, Steam-a-Seam, which

 I should have bought stock in.....LOL

It's easy cutting the tiny pieces because I using small scissors.

The dark handle scissors at the bottom 4th from the left, is my favorite but I'll use any of the smaller one at any given time.

I also use straight pins and tweezers to aid in placement.

I know this will be hard to believe but working on projects like this is therapeutic to me. I can't think of anything but what I'm working on and when I get my favorite radio station going, well it doesn't get any better than that. Plus, it's just plane fun!!

So far "The Duke" measures about 9 by 11 inches. I don't know if I'll add a border. This is one of those times I'll need to think about it.

All fabrics came from my stash. I haven't shopped for fabric is months. I can't believe that myself but it's true.

Make sure to pop over to Judy's to see what everyone else is doing.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I was going to use this block in a quilt when someone noticed at problem. 

Since I have dyslexia, it didn't pop out at me. Should I still use the block since it already pressed down

 or is it a failure?? 

Help!

My Big Give-away!

As some of you may have noticed, I've been away from my blog. I've been pinching fat little cheeks and reading stories to my grands.

I've also been doing some gardening. But the other day I was digging around in some of my quilting boxes and ran across some items that I'd forgotten about and will "never" use again. So are from my crafting phase.

So I'm doing a big give-away.

Buttons, ribbon, designs, patterns and stamps.

I have used some of the stamps but they are in great shape. I cleaned them after each project.

All these will fix in a box to be shipped to one lucky commeter.

All you need to do is .........

Be a FOLLOWER of my blog, which, if you aren't, it's easy to become one and leave a comment stating that you are.

That's it. Easy as pie.

Normally, I don't require the "followers" bit but this is a big give-away for me 

and lots of neat items to enjoy!!

Tell everyone you know about the give-away. The more the merrier!!

I'll announce a winner on June 20th.