A Mess

A mess.......

that's a Texas saying for enough to eat with a meal or enough to put up in the freezer or in my case, enough for canning.

I couldn't wait to get busy preparing this babies.

I have 28 cucumbers here. I will cut the ends off before slicing. 

Once I gave them a couple of good rinsings it was time to slice them up. I don't know where I purchased the gadget in this photo but it's one of the best items I have in my kitchen. I was able to slice 28 cucumbers with in 20 minutes.

Once the cucumbers were sliced, I placed them in a pickling lime/water bath for the next 24 hours or so. Phase two happens roughly twenty-four later which will include rinsing the lime off then placing the cucumbers in ice for about three hours which cools them down from the cooking chemicals of the lime. Then it's into a wonderful brine.

The brine is made with one half gallon apple cider vinegar; 4 lbs. sugar; 2 Tbsp. salt (on iodine); 2 Tbsp. Pickling spices (that's what's in the little bag). These ingredients will dissolve over a 3 hour period (stir occasionally) while cucumbers are cooling on ice.  

Drain ice from cucumbers then pour brine over cucumbers. Allow to sit for at least 12 hours.

 

I will start the actual canning tomorrow.

 

Cleaning Helps/Design Wall Monday

So I was cleaning out a couple of scrap boxes of what I thought were 2 inch fabrics and fat quarters when I ran across these blocks......which are now on my Design Wall.

I immediately remembered working on the blocks over a year ago....my, how times flies. All I need to do is do some filler blocks and strips to put this little quilt together. I'm not going to put them back in the box and hope to work on them "very, very soon"......you've heard here folks!!!

Then I ran upon this block....the log cabin I worked on about 6 months ago.......what was I thinking? where was this going? why didn't I finish it? who am I kidding?

Any thoughts????

I need help.......sign!

Which brings me to this little project.....the T-bird.....so far this is it but I do want to add so scenery, maybe a road.....we'll see, I hope.

 

What have you found while cleaning out some of your scraps, I'd love to hear about it???

Pop over to Judy's to see what others are up to.

 

A Note to.........

No-response bloggers.

 

Please know that I read each comment and respond to all except the no-response ones.

 Sometimes the blogger may not be aware that your response thingy

has to be activated via your SETTINGS but I understand if you don't wish to receive responses. I know I'm babbling but I just wanted you to know that I do thank each and everyone for leaving their comments.

 

When Chickens Fly...

That's about when this quilt will be bound.  I really need to make a note to myself to bind this puppy!

The top is from when I was a member of our local guild.... many, many years ago. Each block was made by various friends from said guild and I quickly put the top together.  BTW, this was my chicken period.

Do any of you know what I'm talking about???? Those time periods where you can't get enough of a design or fabric designer or a particular thread...... then years later, you're thinking ....... "What was I thinking?????"  That's me, always in a phase or fad of time.
Well the other day I was cleaning out a "box" of stuff and lo' and behold, there it was... quilted but no binding........ I need to just do it!!!!!
I was thinking about binding it when mom had her surgery so ...... who knows when I'll get back to it....... When Pigs Fly...... maybe???

Family Photo

Mom found this photo of my Great Aunt Erma.  What's so special about it is this was taken her second year os sewing class at Paul Quinn College, Waco, Texas.  I knew that my grandma & my Auntie were quilters and seamstresses but I hadn't realized that a few other members of the family were as well.  I was so excited to see this old photo and to gather little tidbits of my family history.

Way Back Then 2

This block is also from the 90s. We took a class from Cindy Walter - Snippet Sensations and 

More Snippet Sensations just to name a few.

I was really out of my comfort zone and this little project shows it but I did enjoy the day with Cindy and some wonderful friends.

Way Back Then

I was burrowing through a tub of scraps

when I ran across this old thing. It's from the early 90s when I was really into learning to paper piece. Some of you might recognize the background of apple fabric.  Of course this is one of my many UFOs that will probably never get done.

See the little worm in this last apple. It was machine embroidered on a machine that doesn't machine embroider...... LOL