Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday & naps

Another week -
the second week of the year is almost gone already!!
And, it's still 'Igloo cold' here in central Ohio.

I had a break from my quilting,
as I got to keep the grand-kiddos aka: the little guys
while Sonnyboy and his beautiful wife-y had the chance to go to 
the National College Football Championship Game in Texas.
Way to go Ohio State Buckeyes!!

It was a wonderful Sunday, Monday, Tuesday for me.
But now I know why the Good Lord has the young having babies!
Man-O-Man am I bushed!!!
They are good grand-kiddos -
a three year old and a molar-teething one year old that's walking
kept me on my toes (and out of sleep :)!
I am so blessed that they live close and love to come to GrandmaB's!
And Sweetie and I were able to watch the final playoff game from our easy-chairs after grand-kiddos went beddy-bye.

Anyway, what all that means is that my in-progress quilting project - Flags of the American Revolution, got stacked and piled onto the sewing table in my quilt studio (aka: spare room, aka: Sonnyboy's old bedroom).
Here's the layout of blocks before said stacking and piling:

I still don't have the quarter-square-triangles on my center eagle medallion...
I'm going with 'I'm still auditioning fabric colors'. :)
Note: the folded fabrics on top of some blocks?
That is the backing fabric for each block.
Yes, each block's backing, 
as I've decided to do this quilt in the hot-pad method,
with knife-edged sides 
(more on that later).

Now that the grand-kiddos are back home with their parents 
and I've had a nap,
I've unstacked the previously stacked and piled project
to work on the rest of this week.
But maybe with another nap scheduled in.

Happy Tuesday and Happy Stitching!

A Fat Pig

I just had a call from my brother and he has an extra pig to send to market, so I told him yes, I'm in if no one else wants it.  It will go in to be butchered sometime late in the month, so I need to do some reducing in the freezer department...I need to do that anyway, pig or no pig. 
But, that made me think of the Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme:
"To Market, To Market, to buy a Fat Pig".
Now, the Fat Pig is taken care of, and I'm singing and dancing around, 'cause, wait for it....
I get to go "To Market, To Market!!!" 
No, not the butcher shop, but Texas!!!
Yep, I'm off to Houston for a few days.  For the Quilt Market!  To Market - can't believe how excited I am.  I was going to try to work in this post about "leavin', on a jet plane", but that was too slow.  I like the "To Market, To Market!!!  It goes better with my singing and dancing around!


Hopefully I'll have some pics and new stuff to show when I get back.  *still singing and dancing around*
I really want to see in person that new line by French General - Rouenneries.   I keep seeing sneak peeks of it in different designs by different designers.  Check out Lynette Andersons' blog, she even had some to work with in Austrailia and has a new pattern to go with-beautiful!  And Lecien Company has a new Cosmo thread that is two strand and would be great for redwork, I think.  And I have seen quite a few new patterns by different folks that look very promising. 


Hopefully, I won't see a fat pig at market as it really is the wrong type of "market" for THAT and, already have one of those coming!

OH.... almost forgot, catering another home Ohio State tailgate party before I leave:

 I guess I just have the extra time, ha ha! 
See that stamp on that Wear-Ever pan in the left pic?

Yes, that says 20 quarts......

Now, see the pic on the right? Yes, that is about 18 quarts full.  (You know chili is best if it's cooked a couple of days ahead, right?)  Also a whole buncha/bagga cooked elbow pasta (some Ohio folks like to throw a little more starch in their bowl of chili for some reason).  Then in front of the chili and pasta, is the corn bread.  One pan of regular corn bread, one pan of jalapeno corn bread.  I also grated about 4 pounds of sharp cheddar cheese and minced 3 large sweet onions.  Both the cheese and onions get liberally sprinkled on top of your bowl of chili if you know what you're doing!  Then a couple of shakes of hot sauce on top of that, and Yum, Yum, tailgate food ready!

Later, I mean, see you when I'm:

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig! *still dancing*
Life is Good!

How many flies can a fly tier tie if a fly tier can tie flies?

Many years ago I "drew" my B-I-L's name for the Christmas gift exchange.  He is a fly-fisherman extraordinaire, so I decided that since I like small, very detailed, hand work, I could learn to tie flies for his fishing and give him a great gift in the gift exchange, as nothing is better than a gift made from the heart, right? So.....
One:  I found a local gentleman that was well known for his expertise in fly-tying, was willing to give me a lesson or three, allowed me to purchase supplies from him according to where and what my B-I-L was fishing.
Two:  Flies are VERY small and even dozens of them don't make a very big or impressive gift unless they are "hooked" into something substantial - thus, I walked along Hoover Reservoir for many miles until I found a piece of driftwood I could use as a base for my flies to be attached to and gifted. 
Three:  I tied flies and flies and flies.  
Four:  I hooked those flies into the driftwood and dropped it into a large, wrapped box.
Five:  I gifted and it was loved!!!  
Six:  I had a new hobby that I loved.  ('cause I needed a another new hobby - har har) I don't know that it's really a great hobby for a non fly-fishermanwoman in inland Ohio, but I do like the creativity and fibers! And I was good at it, or so I was told. 
Seven:  Tying flies is the same process as making feather trees: a by-product NEW hobby (hee hee - another new hobby - I needed that!).
Anyway, fast forward to this month:  every year about this time, my brother-in-law asks me to make flies for him and his buddies for their annual fly fishing trip.  (The purpose of the different flies is to LOOK like something that would be in the river water at the time of fishing, like fish eggs, water creatures eating fish eggs, or flying insects hitting the surface of the water, etc.  Since I don't fly fish, I just make the flies that I am asked to make.)

Back to my original question:  How many flies can a fly tier tie if a fly tier can tie flies?

Eggs:

Egg-sucking leeches:

Wooly buggers:

A clamp, hooks, feathers, chennille, wool yarn, thread, glue aka head cement.  Tie on and wrap the thread, tie on the tail, tie on the chennille and feather, wrap the chenille, wrap the feather, wrap, wrap, wrap.  Wrap the thread around and tie off.  Cement the tie-off.  Remove from clamp and and hang to dry. (Here is a good part:  since I know how to make feather trees now, I have a bare tree armature awaiting wrapping with feathers, and that makes a great place to hang flies/hooks to dry.)

Bare feather tree armature:

Feather tree armature covered with drying flies:

The question again:

How many flies can a fly tier tie if a fly tier can tie flies?

100 eggs,

50 egg sucking leeches,

50 wooly buggers

Or until I'm out of supplies and/or time!

Then back to quilting!

Gwen's great "Turning Twenty",

Kay's great "Pastels"

Oh, and I baked some cookies for the OSU football game:

And the weekend is only half over!  Just think what I can get done tomorrow!

Sure am glad it rained all day, I got to enjoy time inside.  Hope your weekend is as enjoyable!  

a good book and a quilt

Back to the book "I couldn't put down".....

Three Moons Over Sedona
by
Sherry Hartzler

As you can see,
this is where I spent
an evening...
curled up with a quilt
('cause I didn't want to get up and close the patio door and it was REALLY chillin' off!)
and with a really good book that I hated to put down!
And before I start getting lectures about how I lay down my book and break the spine and all that librarian stuff, it is my book and I will lay it open and dog-ear the pages and heaven forbid, even write notes in the margin (!!!) if I want, because, 1 - it is my book, and 2 -that just means I love it!

And no, I did not read it for a book club, or for any other reason other than pleasure.  And it was a pleasure.

"Three Moons" starts out that the main character, Georgia, who lives in central Ohio, has an "event" in her life.  She's driving on Polaris Parkway to go get some milk and ends up on Route 71, heading south, searching for something, anything, maybe answers.  There was great character developement and the plot was intriguing and it made you think about life and regrets and hope and, wait, this is sounding like a review!  Not my intention, to do a review, there would be rules to follow and all that stuff!  I just wanted to share about this great book.   

This is Sherry's first published book and it is definately worth the read.  She will be in Delaware, Ohio at the Beehive Book Store this Saturday, Sept. 12th at one o'clock to meet and greet and sign.  Worth the drive if you can make it.  Just google Three Moons Over Sedona Sherry Hartzler and it will bring up complete info about the event.  This is a book worth reading again and having in your library.  I'm thinking it would make great Christmas gifts! 

Speaking of Polaris Parkway: 
I was on Polaris Parkway near Route 71
and saw THIS:

and THIS:

That is Buckeye Fever!

Doesn't it make you smile?

Go Bucks!

Now back to quilting, and cleaning and prepping for my family reunion!

If you have the time to leave a note saying hi, I'd appreciate it.

Hope your day is great!

cooking and lovin' it

Well, today was another busy day.  I worked at the quilt shop all day, stopped at the grocery, then came home and cooked for 3 hours!  My son has asked me to "cater" his OSU tailgate parties for every home game. So...only about 40 people for the home opener.  The weather is going to be wonderful, and the guys are very appreciative of home cookin'.  This week's menu is breakfast of hickory smoked ham, cheese, and egg soufle'.  Lunch is:  quarter pound (yes, Quarter Pound!) all-beef weiners with homemade chili sauce, diced onions and cheddar cheese; a taco dip with fresh tomatoes, green onions, and grated cheese on a bed of homemade bean dip and taco seasoned cream cheese;  and dozens of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. 
As the season progresses, the food quantities increase, as do the number of fans.  I have the usual standbys planned:  chili in a bag, chicken and noodes, brats and burgers.  If you have any great suggestions for tailgating food for crowds that can be heated on grills, let me know.  I'd love to hear from you.  Oh, yea, GO BUCKS!

p.s.  Friday, I will be working at the Circleville Quilt Show for Always in Stitches Quilt Shop.  It's held at the Trinity Luthern Church, 135 E. Mound St.  9-5 both Friday and Saturday.  It's a good show with over a hundred quilts and 10 vendors.  Stop and visit if you are in the area.

Zippity Do Dah

It's another beautiful day in the neighborhood here in Central Ohio.  Sun shining days; cool, insect chirping nights; garden greens slowly withering; sunsets around 8 p.m.!  I may have to admit that summer is winding down whether I'm ready for it or not. 
I love all the seasons as they come....and I hate to see each one go.  There are so many things I had planned for the summer, it just can't be going!  Not enough swimming/poolside days, not enough trips to the beach, not enough hikes in the woods or hills,  definately not enough picnics, and I haven't eaten enough of all the local fresh corn, tomotoes, green beans, etc, etc, etc. 
And the clincher - Ohio State Buckeyes Football this Saturday!  I have to admit THAT is a sign of the changing of seasons.
So.............."zippity do dah, zippity ay".  I will try to get as much packed in as possible:  the sun and the fun and the rest of the local fruits and veggies. "My, oh my, what a wonderful day!"

O H I O Snowmen pattern

This is a quick & easy stitchery/piecing pattern. It makes a nice wall hanging or pillow, and is designed by: me!

(No stunt stitchers used).

You just need a couple of fat quarters of white fabric, embroidery floss and some scraps of red and grey fabric. Easy-peasy. Makes a great wall hanging for those Ohio State fans...think gifting. You do know that Christmas is only NINETEEN weeks away, don't you?

GO BUCKS!

The pattern is available at Always In Stitches-a great quilt shop located in Grove City, Ohio. Phone: 614-539-7845.