Sunday Morning Musings

Last October I took this picture on Sunday morning in the chapel at Casowasco. We were there on Owasco Lake for a quilt retreat. It was a misty morning and the sun was just breaking thru.
By now the new dining hall should be open and waiting for the hundreds of children who come there in the summer. We'll look forward to eating there in late October.
This morning I pulled fabrics for a few donation blocks for both guilds. Triangle Guild would like a Zany Anne block in red, white and blue. Chenango Piecemakers asked for a Churn Dash using a child's novelty fabric as the center block. We make the blocks 12 1/2" unfinished size.
As I pawed thru ten baskets of small pieces of fabric I found a selection of black and whites that might get used for a project immediately. And then there is that gorgeous fat quarter in dark gold with berries and leaves, just little green, burgundy and a splattering of gold. I see another octagon table topper for fall in my future.
In the immediate future I see breakfast. What shall I fix. SweetOldBob likes a big breakfast. I'd be happy with a bowl of cereal with a banana sliced over it. Coffee cup is empty so guess I'd better go cook.
Enjoy your day.
Chris

Doing the Happy Dance

I was beginning to think I was never going to finish this top. It's the Nickel Brick Quilt from the Loose Change book. If you think a piece of fabric looks like some of yours, maybe it was from a nickel block swap at guild.

Now to go a good pressing and go over front and back with the lint roller. Those lint rollers are the handiest items for cleaning off your table, self or quilt top.

I'm going to take that black thread out of the machine and put the black fabric away....but not to far as I need to cut binding. This one is going out to be quilted.

Now to go to Campfire Girls today at Jeanie's up in Lisle.

Chris

It was all my fault!

Here's a picture of my son Jack and his daughters, Becki and Nikki at his 50th birthday party yesterday. The girls changed the location at Chenango Valley State Park to Pine Plains where we were under cover and had lots of room. It was pouring rain most of the afternoon. Lots of golf umbrellas were in evidence.

Mike, Nikki's husband and Jeremy, Becki's husband, did the cooking. in the pictures Jeremy is at left of grill and Mike is standing off to right side.

We brought covered dishes and the food was all delicious. The cake was yellow with a lemon filling, my favorite and probably Jack's too as lemon meringue pie is his favorite.

I made a macaroni salad from recipe I got from Lois Ann. Glenda's Macaroni Salad ~ The Kitchen Corner Recipes Jack liked the mac salad when I made it a few weeks ago. Then I baked a double batch of banana blueberry muffins in mini pans. My brother Bruce said the muffins were too small.

The grandchildren camped at the park on Friday night, Nikki & Mike in their new camper & Becki & Jeremy in a tent which they took down on Saturday morning before the rain started again.

Nikki invited a group of people she and Jack had worked with at Haworth Press. Haworth Press sold to a British company and closed in Binghamton in February 2008. So these people had fun catching up with each other.

Back to the sewing machine to see how to rectify a mistake I made sewing on borders.

Chris

Scrappy Quilts

This morning in the quilt chat we were talking about scrappy quilts. I think Elaine's Swartz Creek Scrappy is a good example of controlled scrappy. Pepper Cory came to Chenango Piecemakers in 2006 and gave us a trunk show and classes. I chose to take the Swartz Creek Scrappy. It is a reproduction of an old quilt Pepper Cory found.
Pepper walked around the room and rejected some fabrics we so proudly put out. At the time, I just didn't understand the concept of picking and choosing scraps to make a harmonious quilt. Eventually the idea got thru to me. In the past I just used whatever I grabbed.
I love Elaine's quilt. The yellows and lime greens give it a little pop. Elaine exhibited this quilt at our 2007 Chenango Piecemakers Show. In this quilt the lights appear to be nearly white. The quilt has a pinwheel, four patch and a square.
Hmmmmmmmmm, maybe I'll get back to this one of these days.
Meanwhile I need to finish the Nickel Brick quilt.
Chris

We're Celebrating Flag Day

Here's our patio decorated for today. I love the red and blue flowers. I like to plant the blue lobelias with red geraniums. If you look closely you can see the pink tomato cages just behind the red geraniums. Aren't they a hoot. I have one in the car to take to sister Dody whose birthday is tomorrow, June 15th. Guess I'd better not tell how old she is. But I will say this, she's at the speed limit on Rt. 81.

Welcome to our home. The flag's hung properly on the front door with the field to the left. I have a planter of shade loving flowers on the windowsill.

If it ever gets hot we'll pop an air conditioner in the left side of the window.
It's nearly time for a NASCAR race from Michigan. Do love to watch those boys keep turning left. But I still have time to sew a few more pieces.

On Monday I made three
pillowcases for SweetOldBob's
three granddaughters Mikayla,
Natalia & JayLynn.
Hannah Montanya and Barbie
were the fabrics used.














This is the big birthday month in our two families. Bob's brothers Ed and Larry Goodrich, his granddaughter JayLynn Elliott, my sister Dody Gage and my son Jack Glover who hits 50 on the 20th. Happy Birthday to all of them.
I remember the day Dody was born. Dad took me up the road to Brewers to get on the school bus that morning. I was 6 and in first grade. When I came home from school Mrs. Aylesworth, a neighbor who lived up the road, was there and showed me Dody sleeping. Wonder how she got there?
When Dody was one I invited the neighbor kids for a birthday party. When Mom found out she baked a cake and went to the store for ice cream. Dody was the only one of us to have curly hair.
Today I've been sewing the piano key border for the Nickel Brick quilt. I have both borders on it on one side. It looks good. Bonnie Hunter was right. "When you come across something you don't really like but can't quite toss out, my rule of thumb is to cut it as narrow as possible--1 1/2" is good. If it's still ugly, you haven't cut it small enough!" (page 29, Quiltmaker Jan/Feb '09) Some of my fabrics were ugly but look good with the other colors used.
I do enjoy Bonnie Hunter's site and her blog Quiltville's Quips & Snips!! She has some great information for quilters and insights into her life.
Have a great week quilting!
Chris

TGIF

Somedays we feel like this.

Just want to sit on a bench

and dish the dirt with friends.

This quilt was exhibited at the

show in Harrisburg in Sept. 2006.

I bet those ladies are holding their

purses firmly in their laps so muggers

grab them. Just realized that LOL could be Little Old Ladies, not Laughing Out Loud.

It's been a busy week. Not enough time for sewing. Today I had to exert some effort and do a bit of housekeeping, laundry and pay bills. Later I'll go to the grocery store. I must be crazy, grocery shop on Friday.

Yesterday the Campfire Girls met at Jeanie's house in Lisle. I showed them how to make the folded purses. We had our lunch and went over Rt. 79 to Slaterville and out in the country to Jo-Lee's shop. I bought 20 yards of fabric at $3.00 per yard. I have the backing for my Nickel Bricks quilt.

Now to finish sewing the top together and finish the border. I have all the bricks mortared together in four brick sections and some are in sixteen brick sections so I have a good idea of how gorgeous it is.

When I went to the drugstore on Monday, Carol asked me where the burial place of Charles Johnson and his wife Martha Young was. I told her "that's my family and they are buried in Chenango Valley Cemetery." She called me that night and put me in touch with ladies in CA who submit pictures and information to the Find A Grave - new site. I have to go take pictures and put them online too. Martha was the half sister of my great grandfather John W. Young. One of the CA ladies is a descendant of the Johnson family and is tracking down all of them.

I sent this site to my cousin Bobbie in NM who was quite enthused by the site.

Yesterday I mentioned this find to June who said "My grandfather was Charles Johnson who lived on Merrills Creek Road. We think there is a connection. It will be fun to hear back from Sassy to see what she knows.

Got to go get the sheets out of the dryer. Five loads of laundry today.

So many quilts to make and ancestors to find.

Keep on stitching,

Chris