T Stands for Tuesday & a Wool Quilt Finish & New Walking Friend

  The first day of September-Wow-and the first Tuesday of the new month. I am really happy to see fall approaching. This also brings us to T with our hostess Bleubeard and Elizabeth where we share a drink related photo and "chat" with friends. 

   I worked every day on the wool quilt and got it finished late Sunday afternoon. I had some ups and downs but am happy with the finish.

   The hand stitching around the edges with the blanket stitch took me a bit to get a rhythm going so I could work faster. This was allot of fabric to hang on to, try to get mostly even stitches (front and back) and get the knots hidden. It came out well and I decided to just use one of the colors of wool.  

    I got the quilt frame set up and got the quilt on it-which was heavy to get on there-started to knot-and what??? I totally forgot that I needed to baste large stitches all over the quilt to keep the three layers flat together-could not believe I did that haha  It's been awhile I guess.  So I took it off the frame, did the basting on the wood floor in front of the windows and decided easier to just knot the quilt there on the floor-it took most of the day on Sunday. In the process I discovered a huge flaw on the flannel fabric I just purchased-a large knot of fibers where the machine must have skipped or something,  well it was already in the completed quilt-was not going to take everything apart-so I cut out a fish and sewed in over this area.

When I got into sewing this on the machine-I said to myself what was I thinking putting this finished quilt into the machine to zig zag this-allot of turns.  It came out better than I thought it would but thinking I may hand embroider over the edges as well

for some reason I can't delete photos once there in my blog-and my labels are not showing up either will see if I can still add them after I post

When I finished with all the ties I put the quilt into the dryer on no heat for about 40 minutes that just kinda put it all in place

My new couch quilt-ready for the cooler weather

Larry has been noticing a lady walking in the early mornings going past our home. So one day he stopped her and asked if she would like a walking partner-she says yes. Soo for the last several days I have gone from walking 4000 steps (around 2 miles) on my own to 8000 steps (around 4 miles) with my new friend.  I told her its been too hot and humid for me, so I haven't walked much the last couple of months and she says she has been getting out super early walking around her home in the dark and when it gets light works up to 3 to 4 miles total.  So Larry said I needed to be ready early and she has been arriving around 6:30 am all of a sudden now this past week it's dark later in the mornings.  

    Talking and learning about my new friend (Karen) (Oops Update correction: I keep thinking my  new friend's name is Karen for some reason but her name is Nancy (she doesn't seem like a Nancy to me)  makes the walking go really fast-I get back home around 8 am  She is of the Lakota nation in the Dakotas lived on a huge ranch with horses and misses it so much-marriage has taken her to this area. I asked her if she had any hobbies-yes I am painter her prefered medium is acrylics. I told her I had decided I wanted to try painting not knowing anything about it and that I had been too hard on myself trying to make my painting too realistic. She told me that she can paint to look like a photograph or her preference is primitive and whimsy.  So I am quite anxious to hopefully see her work and she said she would help me as well.

  My drink reference  It's been much cooler in the mornings-finally-so when I finish with my walk I have a bowl of granola with a nut milk and my decaf coffee out on the deck.

We are sooooo dry here no amounts of rainfall for at least 2 months-so everything is drying up and the leaves are falling-already. very few nuts, acorns on the trees do to this drought.

and one morning I had a chicory "coffee" and made more keto donuts-these are so good

a little messy getting the chocolate on them-these cupcake liners worked out nice though

That's my catch up-Happy T everyone and have a good new week and month

T Stands for Tuesday & Very Hot & Humid at the Lake & Wool Quilt Progress

   Hi everyone, I am thinking this may be our last Tuesday for August.  On Tuesdays we share a post with our hostess Bleubeard and Elizabeth for T. Anyone is welcome to join in for the T Party just be sure and share a drink related photo in your post.

   We have been back to very hot and humid weather again here at the lake, looks like it will continue for awhile. No rain here either for over a month so everything is drying up and burning up. Of course the chipmunks are still eating my tomatoes-they must need the food this year, as I have never had this issue with them before. They seem to love the small green ones-so I have not yet had one tomato make it to full size. 

   I baked us up another keto New York Cheesecake last week-this one topped with cherry preserves. Yum. I need to churn us up another batch of ice cream this week.

  I got the quilt backing sewn on to the wool quilt along with the thin batting. I messed up my measurements and needed 4 yards instead of 3 yards. But, I think it ended well as I found just enough of a plaid flannel in my stash that matched up to the colors of the fishing print. 

   This turned out to be quite the job getting the three layers smoothed out, pinned, and sewn together. I left a small opening and turned it all to the right side. Hand stitched down the opening. I like the plaid on the back as it picks up the plaids that are on the front.

   Now I started working on the outer edge with a blanket stitch. I had to stop to figure out a better way to hide the knot so not noticeable as there is no "back" side to this quilt that won't be seen. I took this out three times already. I asked the question on how to do this on my slow stitch group on facebook and someone gave me a way to do it-so we'll see how that goes. I will alternate different colors of wool "thread" (yarn)

  I then plan to put it on the hand quilt frame and decide from there what I want to do next. I wanted to add the thin batting to give it a little body and be against all those seams-so it needs to be either tied-like those old country style quilts-or  some large stitching near the seams-not sure yet.

   As soon as I set this up in my extra room where the desk computer and much more is-Larry's sister called and said they wanted to drive down to see a lake house. Larry had found it-it's about 15 minutes by car from where we are or a 5 minute boat ride apart. They want to rent it out for most of the summer, and spend time there during the fall especially. So I took this apart and set it up for the blow up double mattress-those are so nice now to have and actually really comfortable too. They came in very late Saturday evening, and left early Sunday afternoon. Allot of driving-about 7 hours. It would be a bit less but almost the whole route is under construction right now.

   We all went to check it out-it's a cute house, small rooms, it does have 80 foot of water frontage-not bad-but they are in a cove so all the docks are very very close together, as are the houses. Not for me at all-but the advantage of it is they don't have to contend with the high waves hitting their dock like ours. and looks like a family cove so may be nice for their young daughter to find friends. 

    It's way over priced for what needs to be finished up to make it nicer for renting-so we'll see what they decide. (they are looking to buy a lake house and then rent it out most of the summer)

   That's been my week since last Tuesday. I did wake up with a horrible tooth ache this morning from the area where my new crown was put on just a couple of weeks ago. Feels like an infection of some sort-so hoping I can get in this week to find out.

  For my drink reference-I poured me a glass of cashew milk over crushed ice-It's from the company Elmhurst that I had shared awhile back. Just cashews and water nothing else.

Happy T everyone. 

T Stands for Tuesday and Update on Wool Quilt

   Hi Everyone,

        T is where we share our post with a drink related photo with our hostess Bleubeard and Elizabeth. I look forward to this event and seeing what everyone has been up to and viewing their art and crafts.

    Last week Larry's sister, her daughter (12 years old) and husband wanted to get away for a bit so her husband could get some R&R from his Vet clinic.  Our lifestyles are totally different but we did get together a couple days. It was another very hot and humid week so Larry didn't take them out on our boat-they couldn't get up early and here by 7 am at the latest. and Larry just can't be out there in that heat any more. They did fish off the dock a couple of times and caught fish-they were small so didn't keep them. He also let them borrow fishing poles to take to their rented condo on the lake so they could fish as well.

     They did spend an afternoon at one of our state parks-Lake in the Ozarks State Park and had a good time. They rented a condo for the week so they could cook their own meals, and they also decided to look at lake homes and condos for sale. She says they will be back in October to look again. They are about 6-8 hours away from this area of the lake-and her husband says it would be a perfect place for him to hide away for a long weekend.  So we'll see what develops.

   I have been working on my wool quilt top this past week. 

       This was all from felted down sweaters and wool clothing that I had in my stash. I had allot of of it so this quilt really used up a bunch. I still have plenty to cut up for weaving or rug hooking, mixed media projects, and wool appliques for a folk style quilt-on cotton. 

   The quilt sewed up pretty well. The most time consuming part was to really pin-use allot of pins, and to press all the seams open-a challenge on some of the double seams together that were sweaters. My walking foot worked perfectly for this project. 

   These are photos when I finished up sewing all the rows together-the stickers to the left are the number of the rows so I could put them together in order.

   Last night I finished up steam pressing all the long rows of seams open

  Here is that photo    I am quite pleased with the results. I had originally designed the lay out for butting the edges together-no seams that way-which didn't work out at all. I hadn't thought to add more of the rectangle pieces in the rows to offset all the double seams when sewing the rows together. So I would suggest that if you decide to make a similiar quilt.

I have been debating if I want to use a batting or not, I found this batting in my stash that I only paid a dollar for. It is very thin so I think it will give the quilt a little body. I laid it out on the quilt top to help flatten it, and then folded it with the top.

For the backing, I had wool yardage in my stash from garage sale finds but decided it would not be real "cozy" as the wool was a bit scratchy.  I did have two pieces of brushed cotton in my stash, but decided it wasn't quite right for this. So I went shopping online, couldn't find what I wanted at a low price, so went on ebay and found this cotton flannel-I think it's perfect. three yards for $25.00 free shipping

   I think I will still layer this-quilt top-batting-backing, and sew around the edges leaving an open to turn-and then blanket stitch around the outer edge, and add ties in the blocks to hold the batting together.

    I don't have any art to share this week. 

         I did win a signed book though, and photo shows my beverage reference. The brand is Ice that is carbonated water with flavorings.

    This is the author I shared awhile back for her novel The Blue-the search for indigo. That was a really a good book. This one is a short story that I really enjoyed by her as well. So I was thrilled when I got the email that I was chosen to win.

Looks like we are beginning to get out of the high 90's -finally It is still hot and humid here though.

  Hope you all had a good week  Happy T 

Plan B For the Wool Quilt

   Just a little update.  I tried the method I had read about and shared-butting up the two edges (so they are flat-no seams) with the zig zag stitch and just did Not work for me.

  I tried different sizes of the zig zag, but with the various different wool fabrics and sweaters I am using-is just not a secure seam, and I can see it raveling and falling apart.

   I did more searching online, this time looking for how to make a quilt with wool felted down sweaters-and found several posts.

    They are sewing 1/2 inch seams-and then steam pressing them flat. I did a row and it went well and I think this will be a nicer quilt. 

      Although now it will need a backing and perhaps batting. Being wool it may not need the batting, I will decided when I put the quilt layers together.

      I have some wool yardage in my stash so will check on the size once the top is put together. I also have different battings in my stash as well-including a wool batting. So am hoping I won't need to purchase anything to complete this quilt. I wanted to use up what I have in my stash into something useable.

  If anyone wants to try this-you will need a walking foot for your sewing machine. It sews bulky items much better, would for sure be a struggle without one.  It sews over this hand knitted sweater very well.

I will keep you posted on how this goes together. Loving it so far.

T Stands for Tuesday

 Hi everyone,

     T Stands for Tuesday and T with friends hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth.

As I type this up we are getting lots of loud thunder and lightening, no heavy rain as of yet.

  I realized I don't have allot to share this Tuesday, so will refer you to my previous post    Where I shared my wool quilt project and a hooked rug piece that is almost finished and needs to get done.  I have also dug out my basket of civil war reproduction quilt fabrics for the hexagon project, and I am still spinning too. Am also catching up on reading novels from my favorite author and a couple new authors to me as well.

  Larry's sister and family have come to visit this week. Today was extreme heat again but they did all fish a bit off the dock today.

My drink reference 

       I have been drinking more of this sparkling water that has nothing added except for a fruit flavor.

Happy T everyone

Happy Weekend and an Update on my Wool Quilt Project & a Rust Dye Video

   Hi everyone, we have lots of noisy thunder and lighting going on but no rain as of yet-sometimes it will just go around us.

   I will be busy this weekend getting ready for Larry's sister and family's visit from Chicago. She wants to see our new lake house and go fishing and enjoy the lake. She will be in late Sunday but she has rented a condo for her family. I kinda suggested this do to the covid and they are very active people. Her husband owns and all animal and bird clinic and is a vet and surgeon, and her and her daughter are always off doing things.  So this weekend I will be cleaning house and grocery shopping.  Should be a fun week.

   I wanted to update my last post for my wool quilt project. 

      When I had moved to the lake house I didn't realize all the felted down wool I had. I was buying 100% wool clothing from the resale shops felting it down with very hot water in the wash and took it all apart from the seams. I had plans to use it for rug hooking, mixed media projects, and wool applique. I still would like to  make the primitive wool applique quilt from a very old quilt pattern by Barbara Brackman. I also had an idea in mind to make a wool quilt. They are really pretty when sewn together with crochet-and nice and warm and cozy too.

   I don't know how to crochet-I could learn, but there is allot of handwork involved and I am already working on small hexagon quilt which is all sewn by hand so I don't need another one of those especially at my age with so many more things I want to make.

  Searching the internet I found the perfect method from this old blog post  She made a hexagon quilt but I cut up blocks and rectangles. You zig zag over the two edges with them butted up together. I thought this sounded perfect.

   I ended up getting so engrossed in planning out the layout and size and then cutting up almost 200 pieces. I cut from about 4 pm to midnight-no wonder my back and hands were hurting lol  I haven't been this engrossed in a project since before covid.  Its all on hold now til I catch up on the things this weekend for our guests.

    I greatly reduced my wool collection-eliminated three large stuffed pillow case "bags" cut up all the sweaters I had felted down, and didn't save the scraps so tossed a huge kitchen garbage size bag. 

I still have this large bottom drawer of a trunk filled (that is dried tansy to keep away the  moths)

This trunk is filled to the top, the cool doll was made by Barbara-I love her and she needs a name-any suggestions??

    In the closet I also have two small tubs filled with mostly wool yardage

This is hooked rug project-my first one and would like to finish this up. I ended up making the rug a little too tight with the loops so will need to get steamed down-was hoping for a bench cushion

These are the wool strips I cut-I still have my Mom's rug wool cutter she did allot of amazing hooked rugs with her hand dyed wools and her strips were very narrow like they used to make these. This new larger size is the folk style

In the old days they used burlap now they mostly use linen, my Mom always used burlap. One holds the strips under the rug and uses the hook on top to bring it to the top.

  searching around online about wool I found an amazing textile  wool artist  and I wanted to share this rust dye video with you-it was on a blog I follow Botanical colors and on Fridays she shares different things about dyeing  here is the link

      Happy Saturday everyone   

I Have a Question for Any of you that sew-quilt-do embroidery etc

   Hi everyone, well I am still looking for that gold hand dye fabric and if it's here at the lake house it is really hidden somewhere.  sigh

    However, going through things again just now I ran into big bags of reclaimed sweaters that I have felted down. I have made mittens from the sleeves from some of these, but now I am thinking I would like to cut into squares and sew them together for a quilt-throw somehow.

   I don't crochet-I may need to learn how to do a simple stitch--but I did find where someone was embroidering a blanket stitch around all the squares-and then used those stitches to crochet the blocks together.

  My question is-any ideas on how to embroidery these squares together so they will lie flat for a quilt instead of the crochet?

   thanks for any ideas you may have

Better Success With Donuts

   I really wanted to bake up these donuts again, so I made two batches, which made 24 mini donuts.

    I discovered that the donuts must totally cool in the pans before taking them out. I wanted to share that in case any of you decided to bake up some donuts.

   I struggled with the first pan so by the time I started on the second pan-magic-they all came out easily as the pan and the donuts were totally cooled down.

  The ones that came out in pieces I sprinkled Lakanto sweetener with cinnamon, the rest I drizzled melted keto chocolate chips all over the donuts.

This and That

  We are into August already and so far the last few days feel like autumn. I am reading from a lake area facebook group that the hummingbirds are migrating already-which is a month early-Wow they must know something about the weather that we don't.

   Tuesday brings us to T with friends hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth. You are most welcome to join in just show a drink related photo on your post and link up.

  I won't be linking up this week as Tuesday I will be up early voting, and then off to the dentist and then perhaps check on the woods house since I will be half way there. I may be going back on Wednesday as well.  I don't want to link up if I won't have the time to visit all of you.

   Over the weekend for Second on the 2nd I shared a dye project for curtains that I did several years ago.  I had forgotten about the fall yellow color yardage. The plans for dyeing that was to make curtains in the dining room where the walls I had textured and painted and glazed with yellows and golds to look like a country European kitchen.

   So after being reminded of this pretty fabric, I went in search for it-some of you will remember the super packed craft room closet filled with mostly spinning fibers and quilting fabrics. After spending most of the day on Sunday I can't locate it any where. I just can't think where it could be. It was not with the other hand dyed pieces. So of course this has me frustrated. I looked a bit in the weaving yarns too. I need to make it a priority to check on the woods house this week so will look again there-I can't imagine it is still there though. I am really at a loss as to where it could be.

   In my search though I uncovered a bag of small quilts my Mom had made for charity but didn't get them quilted yet. I brought them out to see what they are and work on those.

   I also got out my civil war reproduction quilt project of small hexagons. I brought that out in the living room so I can get back to working on those. I would love to be able to finish this one. It's just barely started though, but I am in love with the colors from that time period.

   Over the weekend I tried out a new recipe-keto mini donuts. I have had donut pans for baking for years now-I had found them at Publishers Clearing House before baked donuts were even popular. I have the mini pans, regular size pans, and also for jelly donuts.  The recipe I tried was made with coconut flour and very good tasting. However I had a really hard time getting them out of the pan. They didn't stick to the bottom but I think it was the shape of the donut-will fill them less next time.

     I glazed them with no sugar chocolate. They ended up quite a mess haha so didn't take a photo of the finished product. I will try this again Larry liked the taste of them though

  

   The weather has been brutal here for veggie gardens, but I was hoping for a few heirloom slicing tomatoes-Not -I have discovered that the chipmunks here love the tomatoes-and have eaten every single one sigh 

    I did save one small tomatoe that was almost ripe.  I will have to think again if I want to try and have a small veggie garden here at the lake or not. Gardening etc is in my farm girl blood so will see, not sure how to even battle these cute critters haha

   Enjoy your new week everyone

Happy First Day of August and Another Watercolor Pencil (Painting) & a Movie for Saturday

  Happy August everyone, even though July was extremely hot and humid here in the Ozarks the month really flew by fast-don't know why but it did.

  Last Thursday and yesterday (Friday) we finally got a good soaking of rain-much needed here-with much cooler temperatures-We really needed a break in the weather. 

  Friday for most of the morning, I worked on another painting with my watercolor pencils and in my watercolor small journal.

  I am pleased with this one for the most part-but I am now ready to put the pencils away for a bit and bring out my watercolor paints. 

     I will make up a color chart with the paints I am using-have seen these charts referenced in several places now and sounds like a good idea for me-I will have a chart that I can look at to see what color mixed with what color paint will give me what color. (hope that made sense) 😀

  The video I had watched about watercolors was really helpful to me, and she did show how to mix colors onto watercolor paper with the pencils-but I think I am more comfortable now and ready to use the paints. I have a better feel with these watercolors opposed to painting with acrylics. and the colors I have in the pencils are very limited.

  This was my reference photo-and after I took this photo-I realized I wanted something more on the right upper green area  I didn't want blue water because it isn't blue with all the clouds-so this the closest I could come for the colors.  The white pencil doesn't show up so I use a bit of black for the direction of the water flow.

I like it better now adding in the tree

     My movie share is The Longest Ride-I watched it on the tv the other day. If you like the author Nicholas Sparks this is based on one of his books-It's a good one.

Happy Saturday!