Blogging again

I have decided to undelete this blog. I have new things to post....soon. Thanks for reading if you're out there.

More PB&JJ Quilts OR My Piddlin' Day.

The final arrangement.

(Although not the complete arrangement.)

Yesterday I spent most of the morning arranging and fidgiting with my PB&JJ blankets. (I've changed the name of these blankets AGAIN...because I can't seem to settle on any one name.) It will either be PB&JJ or PBJ&J...can't decide. Here's what it stands for...in case you missed it the first time.
P-Prayers

B-Blessings

J-Joy

J-Jesus

Just can't decide on the configuration of the initials...
I'd like the J for Jesus to be first
but don't think JPB&J has the same ring as PB&JJ.
I still like it with just one "J"
but don't want to leave the Lord out
and
Joy comes in the morning.
but
only if the baby sleeps through the night. :)
If any of you have any suggestions
as to what I should name these little gems,
please please write to me with your suggestions.

back to the quilts

First I stacked them this way....

Then I stacked them like books in a library.

Another shot of the library.

Then a close up......of the "books"

I ended up with the final although
incomplete arrangment at the very top of this post.
I haven't quite figured out the
photo uploading process on this blog
but I think I may have found my own
way around it.

So.......
aside for the quilt-play
and the piddlin'
I did very little yesterday.
Oh wait...
I did finish 8 more quilt tops.
How quickly one forgets what they've
done the day before. I need to journal more
huh Nancy? LOL

I just put a pot of black beans on to soak to make
a yummy black bean soup recipe I found.
If and when the recipe gets made I will
post my exploits here even if my
endeavor is a failure.
Exploits and Endeavors.
Sounds like another blog to me.
(Sounds like an Inspector Morse clue to me!)
that's an inside joke for those who watch Morse

More tomorrow....if I don't piddle too much.


In, to, and for Him.
Cindy

My salt and pepper shakers' POV and cinnamon muffins too!

Today was one of our days at Corner Bakery. We go on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, unless we can't and then we cry. JK As I stated before, they do have the very best coffee and it's free refills.
Bowtie Man: "But there's no coffee in the cups yet!" ok ok ok

Let me get this close up of the muffins first then I'll go fill the coffee cups.

I get the coffee because I have to doctor mine....Bowtie man doesn't. He says he drinks it like a real man...black. Have him tell you the story of how he went from cream and sugar man to "I take it black" man. :)

There...is that better?

Yes, that is better. Much better....he says.

Another view just in case you missed the one above.....

We eat our muffins backwards...crunchy sweet side down so it's our last part of the muffin to eat.

"Feed the Day".....

Moving on....

I was serious about that salt and pepper shaker view.

My favorite salt and pepper shakers. (currently) Those cute white birds...admiring the blueness and brownness of the new quilt. Ok...so it's only pieced but the quilting part takes a little less time than the cutting out, the arranging & putting together and the piecing. What am I saying...?... it all takes time.

Below: the side view for effect. :)

Here is a the full monty. (OK...not really)

So there it is....

The fully finished quilt won't look much different. It might be a few days for the finish project to emerge from the studio door...but I will post it when done. Since I made it a little bigger than the other PB&J Blankets, (5 squares by 5 squares instead of the normal 4 sq. by 5 sq.) I now do not have a piece of fabric big enough for the backing. Well, at least one big enough that I want to use. DRAT IT ALL ANYWAY!!! That means another trip to Joann's Fabrics to find the backing and that means more temptation. I literally have to pray my way through the aisles of that place. SO much to see and way way way tooooo much to buy. Pray for me as I venture forth. I'm serious about that request btw.

I find the day goes much better when handled with prayer and supplication. It's hard for me to understand it, but the Lord says he likes for me to talk to Him about everything. So be it....

More tomorrow....or maybe later today.

In, to, and for Him,

Cindy

Back to Quilting

Today was a quilting day....I guess I'm back at it. I will take a photo of my studio one of these daysso you can see the mess of fabric I still have. You'd think after the 85+ baby quilts and 20+ purses, not even counting the aprons, reusable grocery sacks, jewelry pouches and other wearable articles, I'd be out of fabric. Nope...not even close. Maybe I won't post a photo. It might not be interesting to anyone but myself. Somedays it's not even interesting to me....mercy. moving on...............

Once I got up...I should say, Once I woke up, I fixed a bit of breakfast for the Bowtie man and myself. Eggs, sausage, toast, orange juice and coffee. Mine leaded, his not. Side note: three days a week we treat ourselves to cinnamon muffins and delish Corner Bakery coffee. We have tried many places...Shipley's, Mickey D's, Atlanta Bread, La Madeline, even Starbuck's, just to name a few...but our all time favorite place for coffee is Corner Bakery Cafe. CBC. (Inside joke for several that might view this.) Yesterday was the first of our every other days so we'll scoot to CBC tomorrow. One of life's little pleasures. I'll be sure and take a photo of the muffins tomorrow and post them so you can see what you're missing. :) ANYHOO....back to quilting. I get so side tracked sometimes. Comes from having six kids and having to multi-task I think....well...maybe not. You don't live inside my head...see...side tracked AGAIN. QUILTING...think quilting.

My nephew, John, (the Campbell side John not the Bramhall side John) and his wife, Laura are expecting their first baby, A BOY, (another Campbell man) in October. 21st I think. At Laura's shower I promised her a PB&J blanket (prayers, blessings and joy) for her little one when they knew what the sex was and had chosen the colors of the room. SO...they chose light blue and brown. I love light blue and brown. Those two colors always remind me of my very bestest of friends and shopping buddy...Ritabandita. Her bedroom always reminds me of a seaside cottage. Very light very bright and totally inviting. With the temperatures we've had here in the Dallas/FW area who wouldn't want to be by the sea by the sea by the beautiful sea or the mountains with it's crisp cool air and wonderful night of coolness for sleeping? I just have to hit the power button on my air conditioner in the studio and dream.....wow....totally sidetracked again... QUILTING....think quilting....

I wanted to show you the "bakerella" process of my quilting so here goes.
These are the basic fabrics I chose. The little paw print is significant because they have a little long haired weiny dog that they love.

Just some of the squares cut out and pinned together before they hit the sewing machine.

Here I have laid out the smaller squares to make the larger nine patch squares. It's a trial by error process. What fabric looks best with what fabric and which dark with which light. Stuff like that.

Here is the first "rough draft" of the quilt. I laid the sewn nine-patch squares along with some four-patch (four squares sewn together) down on my kitchen bar with large 9" squares to get the feel for what it wanted to look like.

Slightly higher view of the arrangement. I decided something wasn't quite right so I mixed them up a bit and took another picture.

Better...but not quite right. Then I decided that it needed to be a little bit bigger quilt so instead of having four squares across and five down it will now have five squares across and five down. These quilts have minds of their own sometimes. Geez.

The problem is my bar isn't big enough for that size quilt. I had to overlap the squares and hang some off the edges to get it all on there. Then I was one square short. drats. Went to the pile of scraps I had left over and put together another square which will fit nicely into the last place. Fifth down...fifth across. See the empty spot at the bottom left of the picture above? Well that's the position where the new square will go.

But I've run out of time and the fam is getting hungry. They haven't said anything yet but the infamous question, "What's for dinner?" I'm certain, is fixin' to be asked.

Hopefully I will make significant progress on the quilt tonight and be able to post that tomorrow.

Thanks for stoppin' by. 'preciate ya. (I think I've been living in Texas too long!)

In, to and for Him,

Cindy

ps. seriously considering posting something daily even it's mindless drivvle....afterall....DAILY mean daily...I'm just sayin'

Scones Anyone?

Late last night my son, Patrick, asked for scones for breakfast. Sooo....being the marvelous...no.....great.....no....adequate mother that I am, who is largely motivated by guilt, I acquiesced to his request and at 10:00 last night I made scones. Patrick LOVES anything that has to do with bread.

As I assembled the ingredients I had visions of my blog looking like an entry on bakerella's blog. I love her blog. I immediately decided that wasn't possible but nevertheless....I continued on.

In my haste I started mixing everything together, afterall...it was late. I then realized if I wanted to document this I needed to get my camera out to take pictures. duh. Since the dough was already mixed my documentation starts at that point.

************************************************************************************

First , you must find the tattered and stained copy of your "Simple Scones" recipe that you printed off from http://www.allrecipes.com/

Then, you gather your ingredients....flour, sugar, butter, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sour cream and egg. Use your imagination as I did not get those photos....when all the ingredients are completely mixed you have....ta-da....something that might resemble this: Remove the thoroughly mixed dough onto a floured (not flowered) surface and roll the dough into a circle that has the diameter of 7"-8". Sprinkle the top with about a tablespoon of sugar (or more if you have a sweet tooth). The thickness of the dough should be 3/4th inch. Not 8/16ths or 10/16ths but 3/4th. I didn't measure mine. I just eyeballed it. :)

Now...cut the circle into 8 equal pieces. Remember that geometry class in high school? Well...what you learned will now come in handy.

The recipe suggested that you use parchment paper on your baking surface but I didn't have any so I was forced to use a naked cookie sheet.

Open the hatch and in they go........

So while they were baking I just had to open the oven door and have a peek at those cute little scones.

I almost forget some pertinent information....preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 15-17 minutes. Mine took the full 17 minutes.

Here I have arranged the scones, quite nicely I might add, on my cake platter. Last but not least, the dreaded note to Paddy. My bread-head. And yes, I actually did put that note on the cake server thingy. I have learned I must make my sentiments known...and they must be clearly stated especially when it comes to food.

I am sorry to say I have no new quilts ready to post but one of these days I will post all of the PB&J blankets that are finished. I currently have 30+ pieced and ready for quilting and 50+ ready to be pieced.

Enjoy your scones. I'm sure we will.

In Him,

Cindy

Wake Up America

Yesterday I came across a blog which has kept me glued to my computer all of today. Well, most of today anyway. It is about a woman who has sold everything she had, given quite a bit away and set out on an adventure of learning to hear from God and trusting Him for everything. Her hot water for a shower, the money for gas for her van, and ice to stay cool. A friend is also reading this blog and said they read where this "living without and free" was a life long dream of this woman. From time to time I have had this "call" in my heart. To be able to carry all your worldly possessions in a nap sack and be free to follow the leading of the Spirit. This is hard to do with a house full of children. There is an old Indian saying that goes something like this, "Children tie the feet of the mother." While this is certainly true, being a mother has been my greatest joy and my greatest sorrow. A microcosm of life each waking day. Learning to be a servant to all and loving even when those given to you are not lovable. It's all just a picture of

New Quilts - The Beginning of a Blessing

The above quilts are small. They measure 32" x 40". Smaller than a regular crib quilt but slightly bigger than a receiving blanket. These "little" quilts (19 in all thus far) have been my projects for the last few months. Cutting out the squares, putting the colors together (the best I could with what I had) and then sewing them up. My plan at present is to get them finished and donate them to the Edna Gladney home. This home, in Fort Worth, Texas, for those of you who do not live here, is an adoption agency. It gives pregnant girls/women, if they want to give birth to their babies, a place to stay until they deliver. It's a very real alternative to abortion. From all I've heard, they are doing wonderful work. So these "Blessing Blankets" will go home with those babies who were fortunate enough to have life chosen for them. Indeed a blessing for these little ones. Please keep these babies in your prayers. Their lives hang in the balance as does the nation of America for the slaughter of children that they have legally approved. God is not pleased.

In Him,

Cindy

New Quilts....New Beginnings

I have been working...and the above crazy quilt is one of the finished quilt tops I have folded up and put away, awaiting the machine quilting I will soon learn to do. Not quilting done on my Bernina...but on a large machine quilting machine that will require lessons to learn to use. I have been also been cutting out quilt pieces from my stacks of fabrics that have been resting in bins for years. These have now been sorted by color, cut out into various size pieces, including squares, and stacked according to size of square. They will eventually all be assembled later to make more quilt tops. Now they are just piles of colored fabrics, resembling nothing, waiting to be assembled. Sometimes I wonder if that's not the way the Lord looks at us. He cuts out the pieces of our lives, sorts them by shape and color and plans what he wants to make with them. Eventually, in His time, he will piece it all together and it will make something useful and beautiful. Our job is to remain patient and faithful while He does his sorting, cutting, planning and assembling.

There are several other finished quilts that I will post in the next few days or weeks. They are nothing to ooh and ahh over...but they are finished and done. A few steps closer to finishing my assigned project of "getting to the end of my basket".

I want to make baby quilts on a regular basis once all the other projects are done. I already have a name for what I will call them. Blessing Blankets.

I guess my quilts have taken the place of my painting for now.