The Help

Just finished this book...in record time. Stayed up too late a couple nights but I'm finished! Heard it's going to be a movie. ...doubt the movie will be as good as the book. Just a review... a friend recommended it last fall & I finally got it from the library recently. It was a ...good read!

Too Many Projects

I'm doing a thangles buck a block club...you buy a block each month for $1.00. The problem is that you have to buy the finishing stuff...ANOTHER $30 + dollars.

And you have to pay attention to your 1/4" -- you don't sew *exactly* 1/4", but a tiny bit less so that you have room for the fold!
It's hard to see, but the squares are supposed to be exactly the right size. If you sew actual 1/4" seams, your square will be too small. this was my first thangles block of the month. I didn't know this and have about 6 "too small" squares. Now I have one the right size & it's bigger than the rest of the quilt. I took the blocks to one quilt store and they said..."we don't sweat the little stuff like that here." Sigh...am I being to anal? I want my quilt to look good! These things get expensive after you buy the finishing stuff! Besides that $34.00 kit I've got 2 other buck a blocks in the works...plus there's backing & the fee for quilting. (around $70-$100 depending on the size of the quilt).

It's hard to see here but I bought a special 1/4" foot. If I used this--my pieces will end up too small. the lady at the one quilt store said to sew just inside the lines on the thangles to leave room for pressing.
I must just go forward from here.

I have a couple other projects as well.


These quilt blocks are like 16 x 19" each. It should go together a little quicker, but it was supposed to use up stash fabric and I've been buying more to finish it!

Then there's this blouse pattern for which I purchased fabric and another for which I still have to find fabric.

This is the finishing kit for the Christmas sampler quilt. (red & white squares)


And yet another color for that buck a block. That's a lotta' blocks! And they're *NOT * quick!
Then there's the sweaters:
This is a cardigan that's too fat based on the yarn (fisherman's wool) that I choose. It doesn't look like the pattern..which I currently can't find!
This is how much of my Audrey in Unst I've got done. Yes, that's a bit! This is out of mercercized Takhi cotton so it should wash up better based on my sample knit.


This is another sweater I've got going out of the Fisherman's wool. Not liking the Fisherman's wool, but I think I'll complete this for my 18 yr old. Hopefully the rolled bottom will straighten out with blocking!
This is a sweater I'm doing out of super bulky weight yarn because I *NEED* to finish something! I've frogged a couple things & am embarassed by how stupid the mistakes are...but on top of this I'm working an average of 45 hrs / week!

I think I need a nap!

Easter knitting

I haven't been getting a lot of knitting done lately. I made a couple of scarves and hats. I have a few half-finished sweaters.

I found a link for an adorable knit chick--the kind that goes over an egg. I have a couple of crocheted ones from when the big kids were small & we'd go to Detroit's Eastern Market. I loved that place & miss it!

I think maybe the crocheted ones would make up a little more quickly?

Christmas links

If only I had more time or if I'd have started earlier!
this would have been fun, as would these of these. Awe well...there's always next year I guess

Five Gallons of Salsa!

Yesterday, I finally decided to "do something" with the almost bushel of tomatoes the kids picked. My husband decided to "do something with" the half bushel of peppers he'd picked. The result: 20 quarts of salsa. It's sort of unbelievable. We had run out of pints so we just bottled it in quarts. I realized this morning that 20 quarts is five GALLONS of salsa! That's a LOTTA SALSA!

But that's the stuff that gets finished around here...at least in previous years. Hopefully the kids won't be burnt out on salsa this year.

All the peaches are gone!

We had the absolute *best* peaches this year. My husband canned some of them, but most of them we just ate. Ate as in right off the tree half the time. They were nothing like the peaches you get from the store..they were juicy & sweet and yum. We ate the last two yesterday. We only have one little peach tree, and we only planted it like 3 yrs ago, but this first year of harvest was so bountiful I'd wished we'd have planted way more of them! They sure *were* :::Sob::: good!

We have tomatoes!

Those are two half bushels! Yikes...we're squeezing them into juice as I type. We're like the ants getting ready for winter!