Neglect

I know....

I've been neglecting my blog!

That doesn't mean I've been lolling about doing nothing though.

I do have a few projects in the works!

Really, I do!

 Like this wrought iron sofa.

A guy I used to work with needed some trash hauled away and this sofa

and a matching chair were in the trash pile!

SCORE!!!

(Why we were hauling trash is a whole other blog post)!

Anyway,

Steve cut boards for the seats and I got busy with the paint.

I covered some bed pillows for the back cushions

and just used an old quilt for the seat cushions.

Well...

A few weeks ago I was at my local thrifty shop

and spotted these cushions in their trash.

Hum...

They were mine for the asking,

 and now I have comfy seat cushions for the sofa.

All I need to do is cover them.

One has a broken zipper but, I think I will cover them in the pillow sham style.

A little more fabric is required but the need for zippers is eliminated.

The back pillows will also receive a redo.

I'll post the results as soon as I finish.

 Till next time,

Bonjour.

Soap, Ear Infection And Tornadoes

So....

Running out of soap.
The last two shows have been great,
but,
the soap supply is running short.
Odd.
We have been doing the soap scene for about seven years now
and the most popular scents have always been the floral.
Now?
Mostly the earthy, spicy scents with the fruity not far behind.
I was caught off guard, so now I'm scrambling to catch up.
What used to be a predominately female demographic (floral)
is now evolving into a unique mix of both the sexes.

Gotta love it.

Anyway....
I won't trouble you too much with my recurring ear infection..
BUT...
I've about had enough.
You would think,
one GP, one ENT and one emergency room visit (ruptured eardrum)
should have fixed this five or so year problem.
NOT...

I'm not kidding!
I have been told I have allergies.
I had about given up.
As a last resort I went to the local clinic and guess what?
I have a fungal infection.
Diagnosed by a PA!

The GP, the ENT and the emergency room blew me off.
I could have had a seizure, lost my hearing, even died....

This PA was appalled, O.M.G. she said.
Needless to say I'm pretty drugged up, and hopefully, on the road to recovery
without too much damage done to my hearing.

OK,

THE TORNADOES!
GEEZ...

Being that I couldn't sleep Monday night due to the storms
I took a vacation day on Tuesday.
I'm laying in the lounger on the deck reading, napping,
when I was awakened by the sound of dog nails clicking on the wooden deck around me.

Lady was circling me, trying to wake me up.
Seems there was a possible tornado about five miles away.
(We call Lady the weather dog because she knows when there's bad weather approaching).
 OK Lady, I'm awake now, what's up?
 I spent a few hours in the closet with her and Red.
The storms moved off to the east towards my mother-in- law's house in Canton, 
passing her but hitting Edam and Ben Wheeler.

Today Sunday, AM started out cloudy with signs of rain that never materialized.
I went out to pick wild blackberries and discovered several more berry patches on the property.
WooHoo, I do love free food.
Later the temps turned cold so we spent the day making soap, canning meat, berries,
 and also doing a little baking.
Also made some ham beans and cornbread.
YUM!

Believe it or not I had to get the winter quilt out of the blanket chest
cause it's cold in this house tonight!

Disclaimer
Any awry statements, typos or incorrect sentences will be blamed on the blog and not the drugs!!!

OK, there's the rain, darn. I have laundry on the line!
OH well....
Till next time.
Bonjour

P.S. For some reason the "blog" decided to bold almost everything, align things incorrectly and not

print most of my text! I swear, it's not the drugs!!! I give up. I'm going to bed!

DESIGNING A QUILT....THE EASY WAY!

SO...

In case you didn't know,
most computers have a software program
called Microsoft Word or Works.

You can do all sorts of things with this program.

Write a letter, make a spread sheet, do a table.....

Really you say?
YEP!

Why am I telling you this?

Because if you go to.... blank word document, click table,

click basic table, add rows and columns, you have...

TADA!!!!

A quilt

 Lots of little squares just waiting for you to add colors to each one.

There's also those horizontal, vertical, grid lines to work with.

This light bulb moment came to me

while I was doing some informational paperwork for The Soap Co.

Needless to say I felt like a genius!

I know there are quilting software programs out there,

but for an occasional quilter like me this will do just fine.





QUILT TEMPLATE

 



THINKING ABOUT MAKING THIS ONE

 





BLOCK



BLOCK CLOSE UP



The template on the left is the quilt from Saturday still waiting to be finished.

I'm thinking about making these 2 blocks into a purse or bag. (12 3/4 x 11 1/2)

Haven't decided yet. Any ideas? Maybe a throw pillow?

I've also been making pot holders and drink coasters using the crazy quilt method.

Steve's old cut up jeans make a thick back for these.

If you have any comments or suggestions feel free to share.

I'm missing a piece to that lamp I was painting on Sunday.

Drat, I need to go look for it.

Till next time,

Bonjour

I AM SOOOO... OVER THIS WEATHER!

REMEMBER ME?

SO.....

When the weather turns cold my mind either goes to cooking or quilting.

Today it's quilting. Not that I don't have enough or anything,

grandma's, great grandma's, mine....

I'm not really a quilter, I'm more of a piece-r.

I can design, cut, piece, just can't quilt.

By the time I've sewn all those little

squares together I'm ready to be done.

For me the easy way is best, strands of embroidery floss

knotted every foot or so, to hold everything together,

some edge binding and I'm good to go.



I NEED A BACK



NOT QUITE DONE





(The pinkish fabric used to be curtains.)

At this point I can either add something in between

the front and back or just leave it with no middle.

Summer quilt versus winter quilt.

Back is going to be a sheet I snagged for $3.00 at Wally World.

Quilt batting for a queen size bed is about $15.00.....HUMM...

Perhaps an old blanket instead?

I've even see faded comforters at the thrift shop...

Go for the summer quilt?

What to do, what to do?

Perhaps you have some suggestions?

Till next time,

Bonjour

OOPS And Super Nate Spice

OOPSIE...

I posted my Christmas swap today only to realize I had forgotten to enclose all of the goodies!

Drat, so be expecting two packages Sue.

 In a previous post I mentioned baking a Foccacia bread for Roland's b-day. (Roland is my husband's employer) Well, one of Steve's co workers saw it and asked for one also. My pleasure!!!

The bread machine is super handy when you want bread with very little effort.

Just throw the ingredients in, push dough cycle and Viola, 90 minutes later you have kneaded dough.

Oil the pizza stone, sprinkle with herbs or spices, coat/roll dough in THE SUPER NATE SPICE, let rise 30 minutes and bake. Couldn't be easier!

The reason I bring this up is,

Sue wanted to know what THE SUPER NATE SPICE is.

I grow herbs mainly as additives to my soaps and such but we also eat them.

Rosemary, thyme, sage, all kinds of mints, oregano, Mexican oregano, parsley, basil, lavender, fennel, lemon balm, lemon verbena, I think that's all.

Let me just start with this...

We have Nathan, my grandson over every weekend.

When Nathan was about 6 years old (he's 12 now) I started to teach him about herbs. How to identify them and how to use them for cooking and healing. (Also taught him to make soap.)

Well, he has taken a great interest in the cooking part. (His favorites are gravy, bread and popcorn.)

He takes the gathering basket, goes out into the herb beds and gathers herbs.

Then he brings them back in, washes them, puts them into the drying baskets and labels them.

Now comes the fun part.

When they're dry he gets creative.

He has blends that he does. Earthy, lemony, spicy, minty, or a mixture of all.

(You never know what he might do.)

He gets down the mason jars, the mortar and pestle, the sea salt and starts blending.

(He also likes to make lemon pepper.)

VIOLA

SUPER NATE SPICE!!!

(The kid can make some awesome popcorn with his blends, (just watch out, sometimes he adds crushed red pepper seeds!!!)

So when I make bread I just choose what category I want and go with it.

He is just too cool!!!

Old school phrase, I know.

So to answer your question Sue, It's just a blend of herbs, Nathan Style!

Now, where is that snuggly quilt?
There's time for a few minutes of TV before beddy-bye!

Till next time...

Bonjour