Happy birds border

I have added the third border to Happy Birds quilt. The more I finish, the more I like it. The third row included 96 one inch hexagons. I glue basted them around the cardboard EPP and then pressed them. I hand stitched up a row on the right side and as I came back down the row on the left side, I took the paper out of the hexagons. I had ironed the vertical center as a guideline for placement.

It was time to pack up a few of the 2 1/2 inch squares that has escaped their box while searching for the fabric I would use for the hexagons. I realized there are way too many. I need to do something to sew them into a quilt. I don't really use 2 1/2 inch squares much. If I have the option, I prefer using strips. But I tend to cut them at the last when cutting up a scrap. So I have more than I need. I remembered that I have wonky wishes started, and it  actually uses the squares. So I got that box out to see how many I would still need. The next thing I knew, I was hooked on making the wonky star blocks again. I need 30 blocks and there were 19 finished.

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TGIFF

Finished or Not Fridays

Whoop Whoop

Crazy Mom QUilts

pickled eggs

And time for pickled eggs...
My Mother used to say just a little more sugar than vinegar was the secret to great eggs.

For a dozen eggs, I use the juice of the beets and 1/2 cup sugar over the top, 1/2 cup vinegar, and 1/2 cup water. Heat it enough to dissolve the sugar and pour it in the jar.

The last several years, I have suspected that something is different in the eggs we buy, as they are extremely difficult  to peel. We tried baking soda, cream of tartar, a bamboo steamer, and baking them in the oven. We stopped having hard boiled eggs for awhile, until I tried the instant pot. They work like a dream. I use 5 minutes on high pressure. Here are the instructions. I love it, and we are back to hard boiled eggs again.

I have made more of these. I have 7 more to go.

And I finished a customer quilt.

In my little world, this is the second time I have quilted this pattern for two different customers - small world.

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needle and thread thursdays
oh scrap

pink sampler finish

I have a finish. The pink sampler is quilted and bound and ready to be gifted to my friend who loves pink. This is one of my one monthly goal finishes. I received these blocks as an orphan adoption. you can read about it here. Many thanks to Cathy. I love it.

I brought home a few treasures from the fiber fair. I have never spun alpaca before, and this lady was very encouraging, so I bought this from her alpaca named Halesisa.

As I sit more and more, I thought this lamb fleece would be comfy. The gray stripe is a merino combed roving for me. And the dark roving was a blend for my hubby.

I haven't heard of this sheep before in our markets. It's called Gotland. The Gotland, also called the Gotland Pelt, is a breed of domestic sheep named for the Swedish island of Gotland. wikipedia

The fiber is very soft.

And then there was this crazy color lady with a booth full of all kinds of color, and I had to add some to my stash.

When will I find the time to spin again? I love the quiet, calm of spinning, but, I forget it when I am looking for something to do. I have a few hand stitching projects that keep me busy. This yummy fiber is too tempting to resist. soon....

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WOW
Midweek Makers
Jo's Country Junction UFO
Bee Social
Silly Mama WIP

dandelion jelly

With our Grandson visiting, I didn't get much time to sew. I opted for some outdoor activities with him instead. His Grandpa helped him fix the lawn mower, the tiller, and plant potatoes.

 He was a great help picking up sticks in the yard, and getting the scooters out of the barn..all of them.
I decided to try dandelion jelly. So we picked dandelions. Oh to be seven again, where picking dandelions is a fun treat.....

The directions said I would need 2 cups of dandelion petals. I washed them first, and from that point, I knew I would only make dandelion jelly once. There isn't supposed to be any green in the jar, but that was the only part that was willing to cooperate and land in the jar. I was covered in little tiny whisperlike yellow petals, they were everywhere, and they were glued to my hands. When I was close enough to the needed amount of petals, I poured 4 cups of boiling water into the jar, and let steep overnight in the refrigerator.

I strained and cooked with sugar, lemon, and pectin. I water bathed canned them.

It has an interesting flavor, much like honey and lemon. I can't say that I taste anything that might be a dandelion taste. Matthew was excited to take some home.

We had a trip to a Japanese steakhouse, and the chef really played for Matthew. and Matthew was entranced.

And He asked to visit his Mommy up in heaven. She died shortly after his birth, after a brave fight with Leukemia. Our son has remarried a wonderful woman who seems to be an answer to prayer. Easter is an especially important time to remember that families are forever. And we will all be together again.

All the parts for Happy Birds are done and ready to be assembled. Time to get back into the messy sewing room, and see it come together. woohoo.

I am linking to:
Fiber Tuesday
Free Motion by the River

Making Monday

Moving it Forward Monday 

 Patchwork Times

Main Crush Monday

stash report April 16, 2017

Happy Easter! HE is risen!


Stash report

Fabric Used this Week:0 yards
Fabric Used year to Date: 156 1/2 yards
Fabric Added this Week: 5 1/2 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date: 54 1/4 yards

Net Fabric for 2017: 102 1/4 yards more used than added

I won this scrap bag of wonderful fabric from Brooke Sellmann of Silly Mama Quilts

She makes some wonderful quilts

and has a link up on Wednesdays. She gives away scraps from her projects on a regular basis. and I was the lucky recipient of  some really great scraps. And I love scraps.... really do. So thank you very much Brooke.
I added these scrap bundles from a flea market visit. There were 3 bundles of 6 fat quarters at 2.00 each. I'm not sure why each fat quarter was the same. But I can always use neutrals.

I saw these Kaffe Facett prints in this scrap bag for 8.00. I have a very small collection of his fabrics that I will figure out what to do when I have enough. Again, I love the neutrals.

Still more of these to hand stitch

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Patchwork Times

Slow Sunday Stitching

Fiber Fair

Hubby and I spent a day at the Green castle Fiber Festival. Greencastle is Southwest of us enough so that there were more Spring blooms everywhere. This tree was so amazing.

The colors  of roving were inspiring.

But this custom spinning wheel was very unusual. It reminded me of the Jetsons cartoon.

I hand stitched the hexie stars to their squares during the car ride. Plenty of multi - colored fabric for the RSC 17 challenge

And this little guy is spending some alone time with Grandma and Grandpa.

We have Easter egg hunting, and birthday caking, and spoiling to do. The first thing all my Grandchildren do when they visit is grab their scrapbooks and look through them. It reminds me that I haven't added anything to them in a long while.

Happy weekend ahead..

 SewCan She
Oh scrap

rsc17 super saturday

More Happy Birds

Our first very small batch of asparagus. yum!

I have the second border on Happy Birds quilt, one monthly goal and april ufo. The scrappy fabrics make the whole thing look happy and bright.

These were pesky little blocks to piece. I needed to finish 11 of them.

And then there are 22 blocks like these. I still need to put corners on them.

Border 3 is ready to attach. And I need to hand applique the circles onto plain blocks.

I am linking to:

TGIFF

Finished or Not Fridays

Whoop Whoop

Crazy Mom QUilts