Friday On Thursday

Moon flowers are so cool.  This one is a volunteer that appeared out front by the road as a full blown bush the very first time this summer.  Now this is not on our property... note the fence post in the background... it is just on the other side of our line. The neighbor has agreed not to chop it down and has no problem with me collecting the seeds from it. Although he would not care if I relocated it, I don't think I want to move it cause it may not survive.  Blossoms only last one night and disappear by about 10 the next morning.


Fridays are always fun days... more often than not, we head into town.  San Antonio has lots of stores and restaurants.  Also, there are lots of things to see and do while you are there.  Well, this Fun Friday got moved to Thursday this week, so Friday is just another day... problem is, it feels like today should be Saturday because we went into town yesterday.  On the other hand, things were not as busy in the stores yesterday, which was nice... and if today is not Saturday... but tomorrow is, does that mean there are two Saturdays this week?  I get a bonus day this week... how cool is that.  Now it is not possible to switch our schedule to do Friday on Thursday every week... and if we did, it would become routine and would no longer be a bonus day.

July, where did it go?

The weather outside surely lets you know that we are in the middle of summer.  We have been trying to get out to Colorado to our cabin for several weeks now.  The cool temperatures that we find at 10,000 feet is quite refreshing after you have experienced all the heat that we have here.  We potentially will head out there this week... we shall see if we make it this time.

It's been a while since I posted here, but sometimes things get busy, and before you know it a couple weeks have gone by.  We had company with us on our last Friday "lunch out day".  We have friends that had heard about the Huisache Grill in New Braunfels, but they had never been there.  The atmosphere and food is great, so any excuse to go back was welcome.  This picture is the garden path that leads to the back entrance to Huisache.

I have finished my first I-Spy quilt, but that was more than a week ago, so I thought it was time to put something new out there for those who might visit now and then to see if anything new is going on.  I bought the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt book and have started at block one and I am working my way through.  I already have 15 done... that is 15 that count as real blocks.  I made one using the wrong size HST so I had to add several more to make it come out to the right size.  I actually like it more than the real one.  The other block is from the book Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.  All of the blocks are the same size, and I am not going to enter any competition with it, so I am going to forge ahead and keep the strays that wander in.

 

I'm using all scrap fabric... somehow at this rate I can't see my stash going down very quickly.  I'm not being fussy about the colors, just trying to stay away from "too bright".  The two on the left are the orphans.

I will likely not have a new post here for a couple weeks... the connection at the cabin is super slow at best. Have a good week, and stay cool.

The right size pillow form

 Yesterday I decided to make a pillow that was featured on ModaBakeshop.  I used fabric I had on hand... I even had some linen and the fusible fleece, right down to the buttons and rick rack.  I think it turned out pretty nice, but I ran into a problem when I tried to find the correct size pillow form.  I thought it would be a normal size, but I was mistaken.  Most pillow forms that I found were square sizes or rectangles nowhere near what I needed.  My husband was with me and he suggested that I buy stuffing and create a pillow the correct size.  I remembered that I had bought a couple pillows at IKEA when I was there a few months ago.  They have all the air squeezed out so they store pretty small.  I needed a pillow form that was 12" by 20" and this IKEA pillow was 20" by 26".  I sewed a double seam down the middle and cut between the lines of stitching, then I pushed the seam inside itself to make it like a French seam.  When it was done I had a perfect 12" by 20" pillow form.  Stash isn't just fabric, it is also stuff to go with the fabric.

This is a closer picture of the end of the pillow and the back.  It is a really pretty pillow.  One that would be pretty on your bed or on your sofa as an accent.  I also made a quilted binder cover, again from fabric I had on hand.  I really would have saved soooo much time picking out the fabric if I had bought a jelly roll or honey bun from Moda, but these were practice pieces.

 

I tried the new technique I learned from an episode on TheQuiltShow where Ricky Tims demonstrated a Binding Miter Tool.  The binding goes on pretty slick using this technique.  Of course I had watched it a few weeks ago, not thinking I would need it right away, then when I wanted to add a binding, I couldn't remember which episode, so I had to request assistance from the Forum on TheQuiltShow.  They came to my rescue and I found it on the Series #3 DVD, espisode #310.  It is a little ruler/tool and you can find it at Animas Quilts.

Last week I thought I would do something different because I only took one picture at the restaurant that we ate at, and I thought it was pretty unique to that restaurant.  Having people guess turned out not to be a good idea.  The restaurant last week was Red Robin.  I am quite sure that I saw a carousel horse at the one I went to up in Ohio.  The Red Robin is no longer in Columbus, Ohio so I can't go back there to check.  This week we didn't go to a new place, but it is one of the ones we enjoy going back to because we have a favorite pick on the menu.

  

Chilis is close and the food is good.  It even has quilt inspiration built right into the tabletop.  I am not sure that I will tackle a quilt with these blocks anytime soon, but they would sure make a neat quilt. 

I'm really enjoying my new Juki F600.  The machine sews beautifully and I can control the speed down to one stitch at a time.  I have put it through quite a spurt of production in its first week at my house, and it is scoring high on my list of expectations.

Have a nice weekend.

Another great Friday and a Giveaway

As many already know, Fridays are special around here.  There are exceptions, but as a rule we make Fridays special by going to lunch somewhere special, or doing something fun, and quite often both.  Today we didn't have anything special planned but we went someplace different for lunch.

I want to start something new here.  I have not done a giveaway before, but I will send a quilt pattern for the Yellow Brick Road to the first person who can identify which national chain restaurant this picture was taken at today.

We had a very nice lunch and it is a restaurant that we will do again.  I had been to one of these restaurants before, but my husband had not.

If you want to try for the right answer, send me a comment.

I have been working on a kitty wall hanging.  I think I have decided that maybe I will look for some nice simple kitty blocks that I can use to create an additional border(s) on this quilt to make it at least large enough to use as a lap quilt.  Right now I could just add the backing and start quilting, but I think I will put a hold on that, at least until I determine if I can find something for an additional border.

I mentioned yesterday that I bought a new Juki F600.  I thought I'd include a picture here.  It is still very new, and it takes time to figure out all that a new machine will do, but I think I am really going to be very happy with this one.

When we got home this afternoon, I wanted to resolve the issue I have with the chair I use when I am sitting at my sewing machine.  I previously had my two sewing machines that I use the most set up in my sewing room, and I moved the one I use more to the left side because the comfortable office chair has a high back and it would bump the ironing board every time I got up.  I have an older office chair that I gave to my husband that I really liked alot, but the seat cushion was worn and threadbare.  He took it out to use at his shop desk and bought a new one for me.  The new one is quite comfortable, but it has a high back.  When I set up my new Juki F600, I did not want to displace the other Juki 98Q, so that would mean I could not use the comfortable new chair.  The old chair that got moved out to the shop was very comfortable, and had a low back that missed the ironing board, but it was really ugly.  We looked at chairs today, but most have high backs.  I decided I would revamp the old chair and give the new comfortable chair to my husband.

My first step in this reconstruction was to secure the foam that was exposed in the cushion.  I didn't want the fibers from the old seat cover rolling back under the new cover, so I tucked a piece of fabric under the old cover and tack stitched around all the edges.  I then took a piece of upholstery fabric I had and fashioned the seat cover using a double layer of fabric and I made piping to go around the edge, and a drawstring to tighten the bottom edge and to secure it at the back.

 

I think it turned out pretty nice, and now I have my old familiar, comfortable chair back... with a new look.  Have a great weekend.

Design Wall

First, it is Friday and we did go out to lunch, but it wasn't any place really special.  I got to go out to lunch yesterday with some friends, so today I told my husband that we could go to IHop so he could have breakfast. That's not to say that I don't enjoy having New York Cheesecake pancakes.  We went to the music shop that he enjoys shopping in that is right next door to JoAnn's - so we both got to see what special deals we could find for the 4th of July weekend.  I bought a new rotary cutter, name brand was Claus.  It has a titanium blade - will have to see how it holds up to the others.  Best part was it was 50% off.  I was also able to use my 40% off coupon on another item.

I tried to post a response to the forum on TheQuiltShow.com on the subject of Design Walls.  In my attempt, I found I could not find how to put an image in the New Forum, so that is when I decided to post it here.  There are lots of ways to create a design wall.  It can be as simple as pinning your pieces to curtains or putting a flannel back table cloth on the wall.  If it works, that is all that matters.  I have limited wall space in my house.  I have a good size shop out in my garage for my quilting frame and commercial embroidery machine, but there is no space for a design wall out there - besides I don't do any sewing out there.  In the house my sewing room is sufficient for my sewing machines and ironing board and cutting table, but not alot of extra room... and no space for a design wall.  The hallway was the only available wall.  It is a very bright hallway because there is a skylight above it, and I can stand back in one of the two doorways to get a perspective view of whatever might be on the board.

When I told my husband I needed a design wall he decided to use corrugated plastic board that is used for signs.  It comes in 4 x 8 foot sheets, and is typically white.  I covered the board with flannel using a spray adhesive, which included the edges that fold over to the backside.  He attached a 7' piece of molding that created a lip to hold onto the two screws on the wall.  He attached the molding with two screws from the front side and reinforced it with a couple staples in between.  I lifted the board off the two screws on the wall to take these pictures.  If I ever didn't want it on the wall, I could take it down and slip it under a bed.


A few months ago I needed a larger area for a quilt I was working on.   My design wall is mounted so that the bottom is about 24" off the floor.  I created a hinged board that folded was 24" by 48" and it made my wall expand to 6' x 8'.  I slipped the opened hinged board under the bottom edge of the one that was hanging.

I have one at our cabin in Colorado.  My sewing area is in the loft and there is no wall to hang a design wall so we took a 4 x 8 sheet and divided it into three pieces and put two hinges on it so that it can stand on the floor pretty stable.  It folds up and stores behind my sewing table very nicely. I have also made a couple different sizes that I can take with me to quilt meetings.  One of them I even covered the back so it would look nice sitting on display on a table.

The cats like to get in the middle of whatever might be new in their space.

If you have any questions about my design wall, I would be happy to try my best to clarify.

Friday in Gruene pronounced green

When we left the house on Friday morning we only had a couple little items we wanted to pick up in San Antonio, and no plan at all on where we would go for lunch.  Several times we have mentioned, or I should say I have, going to The Gristmill in Gruene.  Ron told me we could go if I found good directions to get there because neither of us had ever been to Gruene.  Several of my friends gave me the directions a couple weeks ago, but it was kind of out of the way from where we were on Friday, so I didn't even suggest it.  So when Ron said how 'bout going to The Gristmill, I totally agreed that it would be a good day to find the restaurant.

 

I had heard alot about the Gristmill, and our outing to Gruene was every bit of what they had made it out to be.  The Gristmill itself is really quite a unique restaurant with all the surroundings, including the Gruene dance hall.  We didn't go in there, but it was right next door to the restaurant.  The sign that we used for navigation before we actually found Gruene said to turn left at the light and it would be right beneath the water tower.  It was a very accurate description... the water tower was directly over the gift shop just to the right of the entrance to the restaurant.

They asked at the entrance whether we wanted to be seated inside or out.  Not being sure of the wind and how hot it might get, we said inside.  Well we walked through the door into this very large covered porch kind of room with windows that were probably 12 feet high that opened to make it like a completely open porch.  We were seated at a corner table that hung over the river.  It was almost like we were in a garden.  It was really a great atmosphere in there, complete with a longhorn over the fireplace.

Gruene is a quaint little town with  several antique shops, a general store, an outfitter and a couple boutiques. Totally enjoyable day. Almost definitely a place that I would take any visitors we might have come from out of state... that would be after they have been to the RiverWalk and Alamo.

It's another busy week ahead.  Hope you have a great one.

Castroville

If you haven't heard of Castroville, it is a neat little town just west of San Antonio.  It has often been a destination for us when we want to go for a nice ride.  It is probably about 40 miles from here.  Now Friday is the day that we go, and the destination we sometimes don't even decide until we leave the house... we just know we want to enjoy the day and have lunch some place nice.  If we have a particular item we want to shop for, that can influence our decision of where to go, but it is kind of like our "date day", so the sky is the limit.

Castroville is where we headed today.  We always go to the bakery first.  It is an Alsatian bakery and the breads and pastries are wonderful.  After the bakery, the next item on our agenda is the quilt shop.  The shop is on my list of favorites.  My husband visits with the sales person while I shop around and I think about all the wonderful quilts I could make... then I think about all the fabric and quilt kits I have at home that I have no idea when I will get to them.  So I look for a couple neat fat quarters.  In fact I took one of the fat quarters that I bought and made 4 little zippered pouches when we got home.  I had to use some fabric from my stash to go with it, but I was inspired from a new piece of fabric.  I have my gift show in November to prepare for, so I try to use any spare time I can making something neat for the show.

After we left the quilt shop is was approaching lunch time and Castroville has a really neat cafe on the green.  The food is really good and the atmosphere is very quaint.  There is an antique shop to the rear of the parking area... some day I may go explore.  Today we chose to eat on the porch.  There are tables under the trees in front of the porch as well, but we thought the porch looked appealing today.

There was a cat that appears to be the greeter on the patio. He never approached the tables or tried to get too close to the people, but being a cat person, I thought it was kind of neat just to have him there.  The tree at the end of the porch behind the cat was a fig tree.  I don't think I have ever seen one before, at least not up close.

On the way home we went by a few fields of sunflowers.  It was a  real reminder of our trips through Kansas.  The neat thing about sunflowers in a field is they are always facing towards the sun, so in the picture of the field, they are all facing away from where we were.

Decided to take a couple pictures of my pouches that I made, the four from this afternoon, and the one I made yesterday.  I think these guys are really neat and very easy to make.

Have a great weekend.

It's a beautiful Friday

It's been a while since there has been anything new here.  The last week or so it has been very eventful.  Last week at this time I was getting ready to leave for a ladies retreat where I was going to be a facilitator for the craft event that would follow the speaker for the evening session.  I'm not a jewelry maker, but I can string a few beads without a problem.  I have lots of beads and ribbon and I think you can come up with some pretty neat creations with beads and ribbons. It was strictly the "fun factor" that was most important. The event went over pretty well with lots of variations in the completed "necklaces".  Of course another reason that I was elected to go was to drive the church bus.  I get that honor bestowed upon me often when it's a ladies' event... being the only "lady driver" of the bus.

When I was on the way home from the church on Saturday, I got a call from my sister to let me know that my brother had a stroke.  Now this is a younger brother, and it totally took me by surprise.  I thought he was a pretty healthy, strong individual.  Saturday night while at the hospital, he had a heart attack... and my sister calls me again on Sunday morning to advise me I should call to speak to him before he went in to surgery for the brain aneurysm.  He was in a lot of pain and was not able to talk a lot, but he was able to let me know "God is in control".  Well his surgery was successful, it was determined that he definitely had a heart attack, but here it is Friday and last I heard he was able to pick up a fork and feed himself.  Praise the Lord!  I won't go into the ups and downs that he has gone through this week, but he is still not out of the woods, and he still needs lots of prayers, so if you are reading this please add my brother Tim to your prayer list.

The whole week has been very busy.  I made a decision on the binding color for my apple quilt, and I will post a picture when I get the wall hanging quilted and have the binding complete.  I decided on a red AND green binding.  Thanks for all your votes.

I belong to a smaller quilting group that meets on Thursdays twice a month in a little cottage in a rural setting. It is a really neat place with quilts all over the walls, and antiques all around.  I got a call on Wednesday that the creek was up and it would not be good for a normal car to try to drive through, so I was asked to have the girls come to my house for quilting.  So yesterday I had 7 ladies here quilting.  We had sewing machines all over the place.  I think it was a pretty productive day for everyone.  It somehow seems that meeting in a different place adds to the fun.  We did a lot of laughing and story telling... and did I say that no one went away hungry didn't I?  Of course I had to show everyone my "mini" garden before I would let them come into the house.

Now Fridays are good days.  Ron and I used to go to dinner on Friday evenings.  That was what we did every Friday... kind of like date night.  A few months back we decided it might be fun to make a few changes.  We changed the time.  Instead of going out to supper, we go out to lunch... and we changed the place... actually every week is different, usually anyhow.  We head to San Antonio and beyond sometimes.  Because we are going to San Antonio, we wait until Friday instead of making a special run to Lowe's or Joann's or the big WalMart or anything else we might need up that way.  Doesn't mean we can't go other times, but if we know we are going on Friday anyhow, we can typically wait.  Instead of repeating the minimal selection of restaurants they have in our little town, we try to pick something new and/or exciting.  We've been to Chili's a few times because we love those "burger bites", and their desserts are wonderful, and there is this really neat Italian restaurant way up on the NW side of SA.  I found out that IHOP had cheesecake pancakes... if you have not had these and you like cheesecake... you need to try them.  We sometimes target an area for the restaurant and then find some place interesting or fun to shop, or at times we have something particular we need to shop for so we shop then look for some place that looks like a good place to eat.

Now it wouldn't be the same without a picture, so here is a clip of the restaurant we visited today. I have to tell you about this little restaurant I remembered visiting with some friends a couple years ago when we went to a quilt show in New Braunfels.  The name of the place is Huisache Grill, and if you don't know where it is, you could drive in circles trying to find it.  I guess if you are from New Braunfels you would know about it, but you cross the railroad tracks and there is one block of buildings then an alley.... you have to know it is down the alley cause there is no sign.  Boy what a neat place.  I convinced my husband that I could find it and it would be worth finding... so we ate there today, and lunch was wonderful.... and he agreed.

The sun is out and it is quite beautiful, so we drove home with the top down on the Miata.