Do you paper piece?

I do.  I am currently working on a queen size bed quilt made up of 36, count them…36 paper pieced kimonos.  The pattern is called – Kimonos – by Betty Blais and is distributed by Embellishment Village.  The original pattern is a 9 kimono piece but when Bill saw a completed sample at Knights Quilt Shop in Cape Neddick, Maine he had to have one of his own and he wanted it to fit the bed.  He loves Asian fabrics, has two quilts already and was very excited when I said…ok.  Not sure what I was thinking, maybe it was a caffeine high or something.  That was several months ago and I finally got one of the kimonos finished.

kimono #1

The finished square measures approximately 12×11.  Each kimono has four sections and requires 3 fabrics plus the background fabric.  I cut one of the patterns into separate pieces and color coded them but still managed to mix the fabrics up in one of the sections. The pattern says it is designed for intermediate to advanced quilters.  Maybe I have over estimated my piecing abilities.  This pattern kicked my butt for a couple of nights.  I must have ripped out one section 4 or 5 times.  First, I sewed the wrong fabrics together.  Next, because the piece is on the diagonal, it doesn’t come together the way one would expect and the darn piece of fabric was not covering the appropriate section the way it was supposed to.  To make matters worse, the fabric was directional.  ARGH!!!   I actually put it down one night and found something else to do because I was so frustrated and the paper was coming apart.  However, I did persevere and I’m really satisfied with the finished product.  Only 35 more. **sigh**

I think I would have more completed but Bill purchased the fabrics for Wendy’s wallhanging and I started that instead.  The binding is nearly finished.  That will be one of the fastest pieces I have ever done.  It pays to have a deadline even when you miss the deadline.

I have been wanting to make cookies for several weeks now and today was the day.  The temp today was 61 so I had to go for a walk first and then run to the corner store for shortening.  However, 2 hours later I had 4 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies made using my daughter’s secret ingredient.

yummy choc chip cookies

If you are a regular visitor, you know I hardly ever post anything about food.  Bill does most of the cooking, I do most of the eating.  It seems to work for both of us.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

Read Full Post »

A “welcome to summer” surprise birthday party cookout

That is quite a title, huh?  We or rather Bill, has been planning a cookout for a month or so.  He has wanted to have one for several years and decided this was the year.  Soooo, we sent out some invitations to people we like…coworkers, family, friends, neighbors, etc.  Altogether there were about 40 people and most responded with “yes, we’ll be there.”

Last night was the night.  It has rained here for the better part of the month but yesterday it was sunny and warm, not humid and not…one…drop…of…rain!  The cookout started at 6.  The kids came, along with beautiful Ella.  She is pulling herself up now and says a few words.  She is just so cute!

There was tons of food…

and everyone seemed to enjoy the new firepit.

While I was snapping this photo, Bill announced to everyone that this was a surprise birthday party for me, as I’m turning 60 on Monday.  It was a surprise to everyone except the kids.  It sure was a surprise to me.  Some of my friends had brought along a card or gift, but we exchange on our birthdays anyway.  I didn’t think anything of it.  I was very surprised.  I have said it before, Bill is an incredibly generous man.

My sister-in-law (actually x sil) brought me this beautiful basket.  We have remained close friends even after my divorce.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Bill gave me a new iTouch.  I’m looking forward to playing with it.  One more thing to keep me entertained instead of quilting.  Oh no.

Greg and Vanessa gave me a $100 give certificate to the local quilt shop.  Oh my, what to buy, what to buy.  That was way too generous but I will spend it well.  I almost broke down and gave Greg his quilt, even though it doesn’t have a binding.  However, I held off.  I really want it to be done before I surprise him with it.

My former Captain brought me my favorite candy…non-pariels.  The joke was made…if these are non-pariels, what are pariels?  haha

It was a really nice evening.  After everyone left and the “kids” went to bed, Bill and I sat by the fire, alone, just enjoying the quiet.  It was a special night, with family and friends, good food, warm fire and No Rain.  What more could one ask for?

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

Read Full Post »

One door closes, another door opens

Anyone reading this blog knows that I have sold my condo and moved into Bill’s house.  Finally, the closing took place on Thursday and was bittersweet.  I have mentioned in earlier posts that I hated to sell my little piece of the world but now that it’s over and done; I can look forward to retirement in the fall.

The garage looks only slightly better than it did in an earlier post and the sewing room looks worse.  It will probably be at least a couple of weeks before I get it cleaned up enough to get some sewing done.  That makes me grouchy.  Unfortunately, another post with no quilting news.  Oh wait!  I got Greg’s monkey quilt back for the LA quilter and it looks great.  Now to find the time and space to get the binding on.  He will be here for the weekend but he won’t be getting it this time; maybe before the summer ends.

It rained for most of the month of June, effectively cutting our short Maine summer even shorter.  GGRRR!  Many of the potted plants, along with those in the garden, are moldy and being eaten by slugs.  GGRRR!   The sun finally came out yesterday and I was able to shake some slug bait into the gardens.  Hopefully that will slow them down.

Bill has been wanting to have a cookout for the past several years and tonight is the night.  I am working all day but he recruited Wendy to help get things ready.  He is grilling steak tips and turkey tips, along with smoking some ribs.  There will be several salads plus whatever our guests decide to bring along.  I told everyone that all they really needed to bring was chairs and a beverage if they didn’t want beer or soda (pop for those of you west of the Mississippi).

We spent some time yesterday getting the yard in order and putting some lights up around the canopy.  The weather has cleared since our weeks of rain.  We had a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon but the evening was perfect.  I’m hoping for the same tonight.  It is not as hot today and the radar doesn’t show any storms approaching.

We have a nice firepit for a campfire and the yard is surrounded by torches, which we hope will keep the bugs down if they become a problem.

I’m not much for parties and look forward to it being over and everyone going home.  However, once I get home and everything falls into place, I will have a good time along with everyone else.

Thanks for stopping by…

;o)

Read Full Post »

Today’s Title is…Composition in Growth

Composition in Growth

From seeds, to plants to radishes.  It’s a little too early for real radishes so had to use the seed packet instead.  Unfortunately, I can’t seem to leave a new post on the original site; what’s up with that?

Thanks for stopping by…

Read Full Post »

Novice Gardeners

We bought lots of seeds for the new veggie garden but so far have planted only a couple of things…radishes and cosmos.  I also put in some plants…broccoli, brussells sprouts and lettuce.  The radishes and cosmos have sprouted, which is really exciting to novice veggie gardeners like us.

garden seeds

Thanks for stopping by…

Read Full Post »

Some of this, some of that and lots of photos

I am behind on my Doodle Day and Today’s Title is… posts.  The most recent subject of Today’s Title is…Soft Comfort and here is my post.

Two super soft scarves

These two scarves provide me warmth and comfort when the weather is less than perfect.  The darker one was given to me as a gift a few years ago; the lighter one was knitted by yours truly.  It is the only one I have ever done although I enjoyed it and keep threatening to do another one.

The Doodle Day subject is…Dragons.  I have managed to get a tail on paper but haven’t gotten more than that.  I haven’t given up, just having trouble conjuring my pen to draw something that would be recognized as a dragon.

Ella's finished top, unquilted

I have finished the top of Ella’s quilt and now need to get it together and get it quilted before the end of May, actually the 24th of May, her first birthday.  This is where I get stumped.  I let a finished top sit around and languish as I try desperately to decide the best way to quilt it. I think I’m going to do CC in the small squares of monkey fabric, SID around the black/white squares and the larger orange squares.  Other than that, I have no idea.  If you are reading this and have suggestions, please leave a comment.  I need all the help I can get.

Bill and I spent a couple of days putting in a raised garden at his place.  It measures 5×10 which we may decide is too small but we can always add another one if necessary.  We haven’t planted the seeds yet but that is on the agenda for tomorrow.  We (actually, Bill did most of the manual labor while I raked the yard) cut off the sod (will be used elsewhere in the yard), tilled the dirt, added 8 bags of manure and potting soil with peat (bought 10, can always use it elsewhere).  Together we got the boards around the tilled area.  Bill added more bags of topsoil and got it all raked, ready to be planted.  We have been working steadily on the perennial gardens and it will be fun to grow some vegetables although neither of us really know what we are doing.

New raised garden, sod partially removed

Pile of sod removed from new vegetable garden

Borrowed rototiller

Bags of manure and potting soil

Bags tilled into garden area

Box in place around garden area

On a final note, Iam lucky enough to live only an hour or so from Keepsake Quilting.  What a wonderful store, with thousands of bolts of fabric.

Deb and I drove over Thursday afternoon, did some shopping, ate lunch in Meredith, NH and returned home by early evening.  It was a beautiful day to be along Lake Winnipesaukee.  I only spent a few dollars because I still have a freeze on discretionary spending.  I got two pieces of oriental fabric on sale for only $3.99, a piece of bee fabric and some Misty Fuse which I have been wanting to try.

I should post more often, maybe I wouldn’t be sooooo long winded.  Have a great day.

Thanks for stopping by…

Read Full Post »

My Ella fix

Yesterday Bill and I drove to MA to visit with Ella and her parents.   Her dad (and my son) Greg offered to keep her home from daycare for the day.  We arrived around noon and were able to spend the afternoon “babysitting” while Greg got some work done from home.

We fed her lunch and found they she loves vegetables.  They buy frozen veggies then heat some up in the microwave.  She enjoys feeding them to herself as finger foods.

feeding myself veggies

We read some new books that were delivered by Amazon.  We took movies of her new crawling skills as well as sitting from crawling.  We played with toys, fed her a bottle (which she absolutely inhaled) changed a really disgusting diaper (don’t miss that at all, they had given her asparagus the evening before…P  U!) and put her down for a nap.

Vanessa arrived home from work about 4 while Ella was napping and the three of us were chillin downstairs.  Bill and Greg were reading and I was kind of napping.  After Ella woke up, G & V went for a driveby to look at a potential house to purchase.

Greg prepared a new fish and mushroom entre for dinner which was very good and was served with quinoa, a grain cultivated in Chili and Peru.

We left about 7 while V was nursing Ella to put her to bed.  We had both driven down and left my car on Rt 1 so that Bill didn’t have to drive back from ME for work today.  I headed home from there and he drove back to the firehouse.

I’m still dealing with conjunctivitis, 2 weeks now.  Went back to the Dr. on Wednesday and got another prescription for eyedrops.  She advised me not to wear makeup (ARGH!) for 5 days and buy everything new.  Great…it is going to be hard to keep my “no discretionary spending” pledge for the month.   I have to admit, I can’t go out and about without makeup; however, I’m home today and tom and I will be makeup free.

2 1/2" black and white strips

I finished cutting the black and white fabrics into 2 1/2″ strips for the improv border that I’m going to make for Ella’s FM quilt.  My plan is to get started on that today, right after I pack up my good china to move to Bill’s shed.  Then I can get rid of the piece-of-junk hutch that sits on the wall opposite the dining room table and that will open up the room and make it look more spacious…appealing to potential buyers.  *finger crossed* I hope.

Happy Spring everyone; thanks for stopping by…

Read Full Post »

“My” holiday…St. Patrick’s Day

Wishing everyone a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  I call it “my” holiday because my great grandparents on my father’s side came to this country from Ireland.  I think that makes me Irish, don’t you?  My first name is Kathleen and my middle name (Allyn) was  an Irish movie star that apparently my mother liked.

I have to work at 5:00 tonight so I cooked myself corned beef and cabbage for dinner the other night.  Everyone knows that the traditional St. Patrick’s Day dinner is corned beef and cabbage.  For some reason,  in New England it’s referred to as  a New England Boiled Dinner.   Maybe that’s because it is sometimes cooked with ham rather than corned beef and they throw in carrots, potatoes and an occasional turnip.  Call it whatever you like…it’s darned good.

For breakfast I’m eating a couple pieces of Bill’s homemade Irish Soda Bread…yum.  It is also darned good and he only makes it for this holiday.  He is very generous, making a loaf for Brian (a fellow firefighter and my daughter’s ex-fiance…long story) and my best friend, Su.

The weather is decent today, the sun is out and temps will be in the 40’s.  I looked back at last year’s post and it was very cold!  It was nice and warm over the weekend, melting quite a bit of snow.  It’s beginning to look like spring, which arrives on Friday.  The only part of the garden that is free of snow is the bleeding heart so I check it every day to see if there is any sign of life.  Once the ground gets good and warm it won’t be long before the shoots will peek out of the ground.

I have been to the gym already so the rest of my day is free, free, free.  I’m going to pick up the house a little, then attempt to piece a black and white border for Ella’s quilt.   Bill and I are traveling to MA on Thursday to spend the afternoon with her.  I had conjunctivitis last Friday and even after10 days on the eye drops, my eye is still bothering me.  Thankfully, I have an appointment tomorrow so I can get it rechecked.

Once again…Happy St. Patrick’s Day…enjoy and be happy.

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.

Thanks for stopping by…

Read Full Post »

A fun play, a down day and flowers

As I mentioned in the previous post, Bill surprised me with tickets to see Dirty Dancing at the Boston Opera House; this was my Valentine’s Day gift.  We had tickets for the 2:00 PM show.  It was a good weather day, temps near 40* so walking from the parking garage to the theatre, a couple of blocks away, was not brutal as it can be this time of year.  Our seats were in the upper section of seats, right smack in the middle of the stage.  The play was awesome!  I have seen the  movie dozens of times and the play followed the story line very closely, using much of the same, beloved dialogue.  For example…”I carried a watermelon” and “no one puts Baby in a corner”.   Sadly it ended after nearly three hours.  Very well worth the money; I admit, I have no idea what the tickets cost.

From there we went to dinner at Polcari’s.  This is a great restaurant located on Route 1 out of Boston south toward Route 95 to Maine.  Dinner was excellent, as usual.  We each had a chicken meal and brought half of them home.

Not only did I get to see a great play and have a great dinner,  the flower fairy brought roses for me.

I didn’t really feel good all day but was able to hang in there till we got home.  I quickly slipped into my jammies and sat on the couch with the cat catching up on my email and blog reading.  Then promptly to bed at 10.

Yesterday I was totally wasted!  I had no energy and spent a lot of the day lying on the couch and coughing.  Bill was content to read the Sunday paper and watch a little TV.  Later in the afternoon we moved into the glass room and sat in the sun before he headed outside to fix a piece of the siding on the house and move some stuff  into the shed.  The glass room was quite warm and comfortable and the sun always feels good.  We reheated the leftovers from dinner at Polcari’s and I packed up my things and headed home as Bill was driving to Cambridge for work today.  Except for being sick it was a great Valentine’s Day weekend.

Read Full Post »

Feeding my spirit

I always feel better when I have a chance to soak up some sun.  Today I had the opportunity to take a chair outside into the driveway and sit in the sun for a little while.  I put on my iPod,  settled in with a nice Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and just took in the sun.  The computer says it is 46*,  pretty nice for February and especially welcome after so much really cold weather.  The sun is melting the snow and ice and I listened to the drip, drip, drip of water off the roof.  Every once in a while the wind would shift and I would get those drips right in the face, but it didn’t matter one bit.  It was heaven.

On Friday,  Bill and I went to Malden, MA where we met with the tax accountant.  It’s a long drive to have the taxes done but Bill has been using the same guy for many years and he is quite savvy about deductions for firefighters,  so it’s worth the extra time to get some extra money.    From there we drove to Norwood, MA where we spent the night.  The TomTom said it was a 30 minute drive;  however, it was 6 PM when we left so we hit lots of Friday night traffic through Boston and Cambridge.  It took nearly 1 1/2 hours and I find that kind of traffic very anxiety provoking.  I was really glad to arrive at the Courtyard Marriott.After we checked in we drove a short distance to The Outback for dinner.  The reason for staying overnight rather than coming home was to visit with Ella and her mom and dad on Saturday.  It seemed to make sense to stay 20 minutes from them rather than driving 2 hours home on Friday and another 2 hours back the next day.

We arrived at Ella’s around 11:30.  She is recovering nicely from her broken leg but still isn’t allowed to stand on it.  She is trying to crawl but hasn’t quite figured it out.  She gets up on her hands and toes, then pushes off with her toes and inches forward.  She is really good at swiveling around on her tummy to go another direction.

Greg made a great potatoe soup for lunch, along with a fresh garlic bread.  I was thinking italian kind of garlic bread but it was bread made with pieces of cooked garlic incorporated into the dough.  They were both very good.

We headed home around 3PM in order to get home and give Bill a little time to relax before driving back to Cambridge for work today.

Ella and Papa Bill

Read Full Post »