Farmer's Daughter Quilter

All Gone

2011-12-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

My morning glories are long gone and the landlord put up new fences between the patios back in early November when we had some beautiful days. The morning glories grew through the fence to go visit the lady who lives on the other side. I had 3 plants that Fran traded me for tomato plants. Next year I'll have to plant more. They started blooming in August and delighted me every day.
Bob is doing very well. His eyesight is somewhat better. His home health care ended at the end of November. The people from Twin Tier Heath Care were great. We had RNs checking his vitals, an Aide who helped him shower and talked to him, PT and OT who got him moving. Now he walks around the house without a cane. The walker is here in case he has to go out on rough ground and he takes the cane when he has to go out. His last visit to the Binghamton VA went well. He walked up the steps and back down instead of taking the ramp.
I've done a bit of sewing. The Twister table topper top is done. I made an over sized pillowcase for the big pillow I bought. Now I wonder what people do who don't sew because the standard pillowcases are way too small.
Pat went back to Arkansas eager to show 'those Southern women' how to birth a pillowcase. She made one under our direction when she was here and even French seamed the side seam.
It's really time for me to put the Christmas tree up. Once I do that I'll be more in the spirit of the Christmas season. Only two more weeks. Gotta hustle.
Chris

Quick Note

2011-11-03T04:51:00.001-07:00

Isn't this pretty. It's Beth R's wallhanging made for her daughter to hang in her office. She said her daughter likes Claude Monet. This is her second of this waterlily she's made.

We just wanted to update everyone that Bob is doing well, gaining strength. He has therapists nearly daily, 5 days a week.

Yesterday he had his first outing since he came home on Oct. 20. He went to see Dr. Herceg about the eye problem that developed when he was in the hospital.

The doctor who saw him in hospital said "Dry macular degeneration, call my office for an appointment when you get out of here."

We decided not to do that, but a appointment was set up with the office where I go.

A preliminary exam was done and his records were requested from the hospital.

After a thorough exam yesterday, Dr. said "there is a little macular but this is Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy. The blood work and information indicates this. The optic nerve is pale."

The doctor will keep a close watch on his eyes and will see him in early January.

Possibly it will improve. We are hopeful and praying.

What's Happening

2011-10-23T05:32:00.001-07:00

We've been busy the past month. Bob lost all strength and couldn't get out of bed on Sept. 23. I called 911 and the ambulance took him to the hospital, UHS-Wilson. He had a bacterial infection in his blood and had also had a silent heart attack. After a week at Wilson, he was transfered to Binghamton General, Krembs 6 for rehab. He finally came home on Oct. 20. He is improving and getting around using a walker. In the meantime Chenango Piecemakers had their show on Columbus Day weekend. Here's my Sue Had an Idea for a Cutting Bee, Jacob's Ladder quilt that was at least six years in the making.

Yesterday Triangle Guild had their show at Fall Festival in Whitney Point. I call this one Crazy Chickens. The chicken fabric came from a basket at Keepsake Quilting the first time I went there.

The snowman wallhanging was made by my cousin Ella Lane. She calls this one Dolly. Can you see why?

Thanks to all who sent cards, prayed and thought and asked about Bob. He's so glad to be at home again. Four weeks is a long time to be away in a hospital. He'll have an RN, aide and PT and OT coming to the house starting tomorow.

Chris

Just a few words about the recent flood...

2011-09-17T17:00:00.001-07:00

Today I drove to Endicott on Rt. 17. Passed the Vestal Nursing Home with its ground floor missing all the windows. My neighbor who worked there until recently said the beds and other furnishing are piled in the front parking lot.
Home Depot has the parking lot filled with store items covered in mud. Ollie's, a new store here, which I didn't get to, is probably likewise stacked with flood refuse. Couldn't slow down enough on the road to see.
On a personal note, we were okay.
My cousin Marsha in Fairmont Park estimated 16 feet of water in her home. A picture of her in the Wed. Binghamton Press shows her in front of the house with her possessions piled at the curb.
Bob's nephew Unky (his father was Ernie, so they called him Unky, Bob told me) had his home flooded in the cellar. They have cleaned it and he, his wife and daughters are back. Two of his sons are with their grandmother.
Bob's niece Breanne had her home condemned. They were able to retrieve clothing and dishes & photos. Bob sister and brother in law are drying pictures when I stopped by today.
My granddaughter in Greene, Nikki, had 5 ft. of water in her cellar.
I'm so glad I live where I do. Thank you, God.
Chris

PA Quilt Extravaganza

2011-09-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

On Sept. 15th I boarded a bus at the Oakdale Mall for the trip to Oaks, PA to visit the PA Quilt Extravaganza. Here's a few of the pictures I took. Thumbstall Quilters in Marcellus, NY had a display of their Do Not Touch the Quilts no larger than 12 x 12". This was one good one.

I find the catalog not real handy. Quilt lists are in the back, just a number, quilt name and quilter name.

The quilt above is Smiles. It is hand appliqued, hand embroideried and hand quilted by Sieglinde Schoen Smith. Sieglinde was the Best of Show winner at Lancaster several years ago with her Mother Earth's Children.

A special exhibit The Unspoken Truth about Color: A Dialogue in Art Quilts about Racism featured this quilt, a copy of a poster in 1760 in Charlestown.

Marilyn Belford's Persephone, holding a pommegrate.
And here's a purple and lavender bargello My Purple Heart.
It was a foggy, rainy ride down and clear coming home. I met ladies from Afton, Sidney and Guilford on the bus. Learned some new sewing tips on the way. Laughed a lot.

Chris

Where Have I Been?

2011-09-11T14:34:00.001-07:00

Didn't realize how long since I've posted. No excuse. Just plain lazy.

Here's a tiny bit of Ella Mae's garden with Logan, who started out as her granddaughter's dog, then he went to her daughter and finally came to live with her. He's an old guy now, about 14 which is 98 in people years. Hope his social security check arrives each month.

She had a bear back in early June in her back lawn. He tore down the bird feeders.

We haven't done much this summer. Too darn hot for a long time. I had to water plants twice a day to keep them going. Recently I started picking tomatoes from those heirloom tomatoes and have saved seed for next year. I have enogh tomatoes for salad and tomato sandwichs nearly every day, not to mention a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato and fresh basil the other night. The patio is a real jungle this summer. I'm sharing my morning glories with my neighbor thru the privacy fence. Herbs are doing good. It will soon be time to bring in the rosemary, ivy, Swedish Ivy, Crown of Thorns (kids stay away from this with its inch long thorns) and the aloe plant.

Bob's been to the Dental Clinic at the Syracuse VA twice. The second time was for a consultation with the oral surgeon who had a cancellation after his appointment. He asked if Bob wanted his teeth out that day. Bob said "Okay" and it was done. Quiet ride home with him with his mouth packed with gauze. He's doing good, mouth is healing and he's eating more now.

My guild ladies are finishing up projects for Chenango Piecemakers show Oct. 8, 9 and 10th at the Oxford High School.

Only big news here is the flood last week. I came down Rt. 88 from my hairdresser's shop last Wed. afternoon to see the beginning of the landslide that has the east bound lane still blocked. A tree had slid down the hill and was on top of a pickup truck.

That morning the golf course at Chenango Commons flooded. McGirk's, a restaurant in the building was flooded. People have been working there since Friday, cleaning, tearing up stuff and all that is involved.

We were so fortunate that we are okay.

It won't be as long til I write again. (Sorry, Ellen. I know you watch for me.)

Chris

Open House

2011-07-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

We had an open house for the Huntington cousins to meet Bobbie who was here for a family reunion up in Otsego County the day before. Gilda and Bobbie.

Bob who enjoyed the food.

Front L to R...me, Bobbie, Mark Liddle, Eric & Michelle Dingler, Jack Glover & my brother Bruce Gaylord. Gilda got us organized finally.

Matt Ward, Gilda's husband, Eric & Mickey (my daughter), Jack (my son), Mark & Tonie Liddle, in back brother Bruce. Everyone was milling around before Gilda the photographernazi got us organized.

We had lots of good food. I baked a met loaf & scalloped potatoes, set out relish tray and cheeses and crackers. Others brought salads, sweets and more cheese & crackers. It was a hot day & we sat outside and some stayed inside where it was cooler.

The canopy I got a few days before worked out great. Jack read directions and put it up. Mickey and Eric read directions and took it down. It's in a little blue bag with wheels that can easily stored.

We've been staying inside during the heat wave. Now that the temperature is lowering I will be binding a quilt. Yes, my Sue Had an Idea Jacob's Ladder came home and is quilted beautifully by Peg Springstead at Quilted Crow.

It's a bit dark out and rain is predicted. We need it so badly.

Chris

July Birthdays

2011-07-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

This month I think we only have one family birthday. That is of my son in law Eric Dingler on July 19th.

Eric is a great mechanic and part owner of All Points Auto Service on Rt. 12A. He's kept my rattle trap cars running for many years. Besides that he's a great guy with a sense of humor and is a generally all around good person.

Tonight is the annual July picnic of Chenango Piecemakers at Boname Park at Oxford. Dish to pass. I'm in a quandry. Can't decide on what to make.

Sewing is not inviting right now. I'm busy reading. The latest is Belva Plain's last book Heartwood. Wonderful story.

Got to go look at my cookbooks to see what I want to cook or bake.

Had a momentary minute of panic this morning. Where were my donation blocks. I didn't give them to Triangle Guild last week, did I? No I did not. Found them on a shelf.

Chris

Summer Time and the Living is Easy

2011-07-13T05:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I found and read two great books. J. Courtney Sullivan has written Commencement and Maine.
Commencement deals with four freshmen college students from different life styles and their travels thru life.
Maine is the story of the women in a family and their struggles with life, love and religion.
Hope you enjoy both books.
I'm getting ready for my cousin Bobbie to stop by on Sunday. She lives in New Mexico and comes out each summer for a family reunion with her Mom's Webster family in Otsego County.
We are having an open house for our local cousins to stop and visit Sunday from 1-5 pm. Light refreshments and good talk. What more can we ask for.
Chris

Full Agenda Today

2011-07-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Our cousin Bobbie is coming out from New Mexico in a week or so. She'll be going to her mother's Webster family reunion up in Otsego County. Then on the 17th she'll be here. As I couldn't get a park pavillion for a Huntington reunion, I decided to have an open house here for the family to stop by and see her and other cousins. Maybe we'll even have good weather.
Two years ago we had a big thunderstorm at Chenango Valley State Park during the afternoon. Last year it rained and was downright cold at Dorchester Park.
Today I'm working on the Stone Soup Challenge for Triangle Guild's picnic tomorrow at 6 p.m.
I need to put beans to soak so I can bake them tomorrow as my dish to pass.
And later I need to work on my "Keep your hands off the quilts" 8 x 10" quilt challenge for Chenango Piecemakers, due at their picnic on the 14th.
The US Mail delivered two books to me yesterday. I am enjoying the first one Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.
Time for a short nap before I go back to the sewing machine.
Chris

Our Donation Quilts

2011-06-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

Both of my guilds make donation quilts from 12" blocks. The quilts are given to many organizations. Last Christmas some went to families at a local school district, Rural Services and several other groups. When it was my turn to provide the BOM for Piecemakers, the Red and White Quilt Exhibit has recently closed in New York City. I thought we should make a red and white quilt in honor of that show. I chose Double Square. Co-President Nancy asked for more red and white blocks so we could have several of those quilts to give away. This is my second block. This morning I found a fabric with 1" red hearts. That will be the red for my third block.

Triangle Guild, in honor of the 4th of July, chose a red, white and blue Calico Puzzle. The red in this block is in the center square, red stars.

This was Lorane's choice for the Piecemakers' July BOM, Greek Cross with Flower. I had just a bit of the pansy fabric for the center and a pale yellow with green and a bit of lavender for the inner bars. I think I used the pansy fabric in Becki's bridal shower quilt.

I'm sitting here looking at a Disappearing 4 Patch that looked strange to me. Had to get a ruler to measure. I made a cut 1/4" wider on one piece. It's 8" square and will make a good large potholder. Some of my potholders look a bit shabby so it will make a great replacement. The kitchen witch won't care if it is off kilter.

We always hang a potholder on the dishwasher so we know the dishes are dirty.

I was having a lot of trouble with the dishwasher. The glasses and cups were not sparkly clean. They had detergent residue on the outsides. I was at Lowes the other day and asked the front end gals if they had something to clean a dishwasher. One sent me back to appliances and told me the product would be there. I bought Dishwasher Magic for $4.17. I ran a cycle in the empty dishwasher and then washed a load of dishes. Wonderful. Our water is hard.

Coffee pot demands a cleaning about once a month. This Hamilton Beach sends out a beep that is very annoying. I was searching the kitchen to see where the noise came from. Saw the flashing signal and sound. Promptly unplugged it and got out the white vinegar. Presto. A happy coffee pot.

Chris

Cousins

2011-06-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

The Campfire Girls celebrate Ella Mae's 70th birthday.

There were lots of cousins to play with when we went visiting or they came to our house. This is Ella Mae. She was the second child of Uncle John (Jack) and Aunt Mary Gaylord. Her older brother Charles (Chuck, Charlie) lives in Okolona, Arkansas now.

She lives close by on a hill out of Chenango Forks with her husband, two elderly horses and two dogs. Ella Mae gardens, is a birdwatcher and quilter. She has been involved with a program at her church making Little Dresses for Little Ladies for girls in Haiti.

Dad was the youngest of four children. His oldest brother Uncle Harry and Aunt Velma (Wade) had one daughter Marjorie who passed away in 2002. Marjorie was married to Bob Loftus.

Aunt Orrilla and Uncle Percy Birchard had one daughter Ruth who married Dwayne Shearer. Ruth died in 2003 and Dwayne in 1996.

On my Mom's side of the family I was the oldest of twenty grandchildren. Some of them are younger than my children.

I remember some of the cousins visiting at the farm and Bruce (my brother and a general pest) took Bobbie for a ride down Sap Bush Road and Cloverdale Road. By the time they got back home Dad had received a phone call from an irate neighbor on Cloverdale Road. Seems Bruce was driving at a speed the neighbor considered fast.

Bobbie has found lots of pictures of all of us when we were young. Such fun to look at. Bobbie writes a family newsletter for us and includes her latest photo finds.

We survived the big birthday week with six from June 14 thru June 20. They were:

Jaylynn Elliott 6/14, age 4, Bob's youngest grandchild

Eddie Goodrich 6/14, age 73, one of Bob's brothers

Dody Gage 6/15, age 67, my sister

Caleb Tennant 6/17, age 1, my great grandson

Larry Goodrich 6/19, Bob's youngest brother

Jack Glover 6/20, age 52, my son

Now to do the frog stitch on a Churn Dash block. After it was nearly complete, I discovered I had sewn in the center square wrong side too. Ripit ripit ripit.

Chris

School Days

2011-06-05T15:38:00.001-07:00

These pictures of Dad and Mom on Mickey and Eric's living room wall were taken in the Summer of 1943.
That was the summer before I started school at Chenango Forks. Miss Ginsberg was my first grade teacher. I wrote with my left hand and with my right hand. She told me to use the hand which was easiest. So I'm a lefty.
The next year Charlotte Kenyon was my teacher. She just mumbled under her breath and allowed me to write with my left hand. My friend Bertha Leonard wasn't so lucky. The other second grade teacher Mrs. Kinney made her switch to using her right hand.
Second grade opened up the wonderful world of reading to me. Thank you, Mrs. Kenyon.
Mrs. Kenyon had two rows of second graders and the rest of the large room was third grade. It was interesting to hear her scold a boy in third grade because he declared he would have no use for arithmetic after he left school. He told her he would become a ditch digger. She stopped him in his tracks by asking "How will you know how much money you will make if you can't do sums?" It was fun to listen to the third graders' recite. I think I learned a lot from being in that room.
Mrs. Kenyon was also my third grade teacher. We didn't have any second graders with us that year.
In fourth grade Mrs. Sparks was the teacher. We loved recess that spring. We went down to the far end of the playground and picked violets in the small trees along the riverbank. Then when the weather got warmer we decided to wade in the river. That came to a screeching stop when an older girl who had been held back several times pushed Bert and me in the river. We went back to class wet to the waist. After that we were strictly forbidden to go to that end of the playground.
I remember the other students pointing at the water puddles on the floor under us that day. They had the nerve to insinuate that we wet our pants.
I hurried off the bus that afternoon, changed out of my school dress and shoved it in the bottom of the hamper so Mom wouldn't see it. She never knew about this until I was an adult.
Mrs. Sparks became the librarian at the Mary Wilcox Library in Whitney Point after she retired. She later moved to Connecticut with her son and started oil painting. A schoolhouse scene hung in the library. It was of her first school, King Street School in Barker.
Chris

Housework

2011-05-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

Housework is something we have to do, unless we have Merry Maids come in each week.
Mom cleaned the rug with a Bissell carpet sweeper. Much later, when we had electricity she had a vaccum cleaner.
Last winter just before Christmas I was in Lowes and spotted small Bissell carpet sweepers and purchased one. It is great for cleaning up little messes. But the vaccum cleaner comes out for heavy stuff. Apparently either nostalgia or the idea of how handy the Bissell would be enticed a lot of people to buy one. I went back a couple days later and they were all gone.
Think of those women hanging their carpets on the clothesline and using a carpet beater on them.
Saturdays were dusting days for Dody and me. Mom had rags to dust with and furniture polish. "Don't forget the legs on the chairs" Mom would tell us. Or the windowsills, bottom shelves on stands, lift up stuff and dust underneath.
I should be an excellent housekeeper as I had good training but I'm like the girl in the picture at the top saying "My idea of housework is sweeping the room with a glance."
Laundry was another hard job. In those pre electricity days Mom had a wringer washer with a gas motor. Clothes were hung outside to dry. In winter they came in frozen stiff and we could have stood them in a corner if allowed.
Mom got a wooden drying rack when Dody was tiny. I can remember that rack near the cookstove drying diapers and other clothing.
Later, after they bought the farm, the rack straddled the register between the dining and living room.
Before the electric lines came up Sap Bush Road, the Brewers had a Delco generator in the cellar to provide them with electricity.
The cows were milked by machine that operated on another gas motor.
The school bus picked me up to take me to Chenango Forks. Bill Boughton was the bus driver. I missed going to the one room schools by about two years.
There was a one room school down near Cloverdale Road and another on Foster Hill by the creek. That building burned many years ago when it was being used as a home.
More another day. I have a lot of notes about the good old days.
Chris

My Dress

2011-05-28T05:40:00.000-07:00

The dress I was wearing in the picture in the previous post was made by Mom. It was one of my favorites. The dress was red voile with white polka dots. She trimmed it around the neckline and on the skirt with white bias tape and red rickrack.
As I have told people many times she was an excellent seamstress. She didn't quilt but she sure could sew.
Grandpa Gaylord bought her a very used New Home treadle machine when she and Dad were first married. She used it from 1933 or 1934 until I bought the Featherweight in 1956. The bobbin case wore out on the New Home. I learned to sew on the New Home.
Mom sewed clothing for Dody and I, herself, mended for all of us and made curtains and diapers on that machine.
I also remember her buying a toweling material that was a coarse beige with colored borders and hemming the ends for hand towels. Those towels were scratchy until they had been washed many times.
All this sewing was in addition to keeping an immaculate house and cooking delicious meals for her family. She canned, preserved and made pickles.
When Dad butchered a pig she made sausage which was put down in a crock and kept in the cool cellar.
Salt pork was also brined in a crock and kept in the cellar.
Dad put carrots and beets in a metal tray filled with sawdust. The tray hung from the ceiling.
We never were hungry. We had the resources to provide foot for ourselves.
Chris

Life on the Farm

2011-05-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

In May 1945 Mom and Dad bought the farm and moved up the road to the big house where the Brewers had lived for so long I remember saying "Oh boy, I can take a bath now." Mom was horrified because we were always clean.
We had a phone too. It was on a ten party line. Our phone number was 97F21. The F designated a long ring first so our ring was 2 long and a short. Of course the neighbors listened in. One lady with a large family had a habit of leaving her phone off the hook or maybe her children took it off. If you couldn't make a call you could listen to the neighbor's call.
The picture is of Bruce, Dolores (Dody) and myself taken August 11, 1948. I was 10, Dody was 4 and Bruce was 2.
We had a woodshed out behind the house with a second floor that had been a cobbler's shop. Mrs. Brewer's father Eugene Potter was the cobbler. There were cobbler's benches, tools and shoe pegs up there.
In the back of the woodshed was an outhouse. This was handy with five of us in the house.
Although there was running water in the house, there was a pump on the front lawn. The water was cold and the highway employees would stop for a cup of water when they were working on Sap Bush Road.
Do you know what a sap bush is? It's a grove of maples that are tapped for sap to make maple syrup. Dad made a fire pit and shelter and boiled maple syrup out there. Later Bruce made maple syrup out there.
There were many maple groves on this road.
We lived one mile from the Four Corners which was Cloverdale Road going east and west between Rt. 12 and Rt. 79 and Bear Swamp Road going south with Sap Bush Road going north.
On September 1, 1948 while we were away at a fair our dairy barn burned. Several calves and heifers got out. A bull died in the blaze. We lost the dairy barn, horsebar and sheds and the milk house. The Chenango Forks Fire Company sprayed water on the house to keep it cool. Several young maples in the front lawn had scars from the fire.
Dad sold the dairy and started cutting timber to rebuild. He worked in the woods for Art Bowman and also worked at the auction barn in Greene. In the spring he started rebuilding, moving the new barn south the length of the old barn and back from the road the width of the old barn.
Eventually Dad started working as a carpenter to support his family. He got the barn rebuilt and gradually built up a new dairy. In 1977 at age 69 he sold the dairy.
More about life on the farm in future posts.
Chris

When I Was a Little Girl

2011-05-24T09:13:00.001-07:00

When I was a little girl, in 1939, we moved to a farm on Sap Bush Road near Chenango Forks. Dad and Mom rented the farm on shares (splitting the profits with the owner).
We lived in a house down the road from the Brewer's home, in a house without electricity. We had a pitcher pump in the pantry and kerosene lamps. When I was 6 and had just gone into second grade we got electricity. I came home from school that day and Mom showed me how the lights turned on.
She was especially glad to have an end to the lamps as I had overturned one when I was younger and set the tablecloth on fire. She saw the flames and tossed the lamp and tablecloth out the front door.
Until the advent of electricity in our house she used sad irons to iron our clothing. They were heated on the kitchen stove which was woodburning, of course. She got an electric iron and the sad irons became door stops.
We had an ice box and went to Cutler's Ice Company to get ice if the ice house was empty.
Dad and neighbors would cut ice from a wide spot in the creek and fill their ice houses. Sawdust insulated the ice. The ice house adjoined the milk house near the barn. Ice was used in a milk cooler to keep the cans of milk cool until the milkman picked up the cans each morning.
When I was seven Mom & Dad bought the farm from the Brewers. Then we moved up to the big house that had been the home of the Potters and Brewers for many years.
We had a phone, bathtub and lots of rooms in that lovely old house.
More in my next post about living in that house.
Chris

Looking Back

2011-05-19T06:56:00.001-07:00

Today I was looking at these pictures of my parents. Dorcie Huntington Gaylord born 1914 and died 1986. Dad James Homer Gaylord born 1908 and died 1981.

I pieced a scrappy version of the Jelly Roll Challenge, using pieces of 2 1/2" strips, not many of which were 40" long. Martha O'Keefe said "You have an interesting collection of fabrics there."

Someone else said "Fine for you to say, Martha." Martha uses the brightest fabrics in her quilts. But this is scrappy, real scrappy. I had a 32" x approximate 70" quilt top so I frog stitched the center seam and now have 2 small quilts. I added a border to each and am about to layer one and practice my machine quilting. Pictures later.

The rain has stopped temporarily. Hope it holds off on Saturday as we will be going to 5 year old Natalia's birthday party.

Chris

Another Busy Week

2011-05-14T16:02:00.000-07:00

This past week has been busy. I started the 1600 Jelly Roll Challenge last weekend. I got the strips joined end to end.
On Tuesday morning I was sewing the first strips together when the phone rang. The car salesman said "Bob's car is ready." I shut off the machine and took him to Vestal where we picked up his new car. Finally on Wednesday I sat down and sewed the quilt together and pressed it. The above picture is not a great one as I don't have a spot to hang quilts for photos. But the colors are beautiful

Here's Bob with his new car. He's so proud of it.

The greenhouse has tomatoes, basil, parsley and sunflowers growing inside it. Mesculan is growing in a pot. Fresh lettuce soon for my sandwiches and salads.

Today I went thru my 2 1/2" strips and picked out a number that are not 40" long. I'm going to experiment and make a small top of scraps. It's definitely going to be scrappy. I've been sewing the strips end to end. Now I wonder how big this one will be. When it's done I'll post a picture.

We were watching the Nationwide Race at Dover, DE this afternoon. They had a bit of rain and the race stopped a short time. While the cars were covered waiting for the rain to stop I came up and sewed more strips together. Maybe tomorrow I can finish this top.

The 2 1/2" bin is still very full.

Chris

Roll on, Jelly Roll

2011-05-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a way to use those large prints you have and hate to cut up. These mornng glories spell SUMMER. The quilt was on display at the Common Threads Show.

Working today, if allowed, on my 1600 Jelly Roll Challenge. I am sewing the first seam and it's a long one. 1600 refers to the 1600 inches of the 40 strips 2 1/2" wide that are used.

Yesterday I got down the seam aways and the phone rang. After I took the call I shut off machine and we went to Vestal to pick up Bob's new car.

Wonder if we'll ever find all the bells and whistles on this car. I drove it home and to his doctors' appointments at the VA. Nice ride.

Will have to get a picture with the proud owner next to it or in the driver's seat.

I have so many sewing projects that I will never complete them. But that is what keeps us quilters going, isn't it.

Chris

It's a Miracle

2011-05-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

Marilyn Belford's Medea Escaping as shown at the Common Threads show last weekend. Beautiful art quilt. The colors are amazing. When you see it, you can feel the heat of the flames.

The miracle is that I was able to bend body to paint my toenails yesterday.

On Friday Ella Mae, Jeanie and myself drove over to Harford to have lunch at a little bakery and visit briefly with our friend June. We ran into JoAnne outside the shop.

After we ate lunch we purchased some baked goods to take home. Jeanie had a loaf of bread that had us salivating every time we got back in the car. There is nothing to equal a loaf of freshly baked bread, is there?

Then it was up the road and over the hills to JoAnn's in Ithaca. Found a little timer that I have now in the sewing room. Only $2.50. When it bings I know it's time to stop sewing and go on to something else.

Next stop was Quilters' Corner on West State Street. This was my first visit since they moved downtown. What beautiful fabrics they have. I'd recommenbd it highly if you are in Ithaca. I got a pack of 2 1/2" strips to do the Jelly Roll Challenge. I have 2/3s of them joined together so I can start sewing.

On our way home we stopped to see our friend Leona at Jo-Le Fabrics. She's over 90 now and still going strong. We always enjoy talking with her. Got some nice fabric too.

It was nearly 5 p.m. when I got home.

Before I met Ella Mae I drove in the other direction to Quilted Crow to leave my Jacob's Ladder quilt with Peg to be quilted. Now I'm on the final lap with this one.

Chris

A Bit of Progress

2011-05-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of the Merry Go Round hexagon quilt I started ages ago. It is scrappy. The pieces are finally all cut out. Now it is a matter of sitting down and sewing the triangle into half hexs, strips and finally onto the quilt. It's going to be a long haul, I feel it in my bones.
I worked on it at retreat, getting all the strips cut.
Now to use the triangles as leaders and enders. I have to think of it that way so I can sew while I am working on another project.

Today's my two "L" day, laundry and library. The laundry's in the dryers now.
At the library I volunteer on Monday afternoons at the Local History and Genealogy Center, second floor, Broome County Public Library. The demand for microfiche of NYS Vital Records Index is steadily increasing. Several Mondays I've given 70 in a three hour period to patrons. People are so happy that they don't have to drive to Syracuse or Elmira to read the fiches.

Time to go fold clothes.

Chris

Caleb at 10 months +

2011-04-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

Here's our little cutie Caleb. He will be one year old on June 17th.
With six family birthdays that week, he picked a day of his own to be born.
He has big blue eyes and long lashes. Don't little boys always get lucky that way.

Chris

Snap, She's Got It

2011-04-27T04:42:00.000-07:00

This is my second snap bag. My daughter liked it and now has it.

On Easter Sunday I showed it to her and was telling her what was used in the top to make it snap closed.

My brother went to his van and brought me a 25 foot Stanley ruler that was cracked about 5" from the end. He said it wouldn't last him five minutes if he started using it. Thanks, Bruce.

I'm sewing triangles together to make half hexagons for the Merry Go Round quilt. I have a lot of triangles to sew to finish this quilt. I've used them for leaders and enders as well as chain sewing. I'd really like to get this quilt finished so I can enter it in the shows in October.

Chris

Quilt Retreat

2011-04-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

On April 15, 16 & 17 we went back to Casowasco for a quilt retreat.

Eugenia Barnes, AQS certified quilt appraiser came on Saturday and appraised our raffle quilt.

This beautiful quilt was appraised at $1,900.

Let's Try This Again

2011-04-12T08:46:00.001-07:00

There is nothing like posting a picture of a block that is sewn together wrong to make you humble.

Here's Lady of Lake Erie block sewn correctly.

I do like the block. It is easy to assemble. Just pay attention to the layout.

Chris

Lady of Lake Erie

2011-04-12T05:33:00.001-07:00

This is the latest from Bonnie Hunter as seen in Quiltmaker Magazine, May/June 2011.

She calls it Lady of Lake Erie as she did this version of Lady of the Lake in blues.

I just had to try it. It was easy. I used my Omnigrid HST ruler to cut the small triangles.

I wonder how it would look down scrappy, and working the colors on the diagonal. Hmmmm, might give it a whirl. Another project box please. Could do one in polka dots. Wonder if I have enough. Will have to think about what path to follow before I start.

On Friday I'm off to a quilt retreat with the Chenango Piecemakers.

I just looked at the picture again. I sewed the second strip of HSTs to wrong side of large HST. The strips of HSTs are to be sewn to the dark sides. Frog stitch coming up in my immediate future.

Chris

Snap Snap

2011-04-10T14:37:00.001-07:00

It's been a sewing day, culminating with the sewing of a snap bag. It's my first one and rather small. I wanted to try one and had some remnants of pre-quilted fabric so I used that. Now I want to make a larger one with handles. I'm not good with a bag that has no straps or handles. I'd walk off and leave the bag on a counter. Ellen Adams picked the Block of the Month for Triangle Guild and showed hers done in lavenders. The block is from quilterscache.com. It's named Scrappy Zig Zag. I made five in various pastel shades. It's looking like spring in the sewing room. And I didn't cut into any yardage. I just used small pieces in my baskets of small pieces....as opposed to tiny scraps in a big bag.

Have any of you seen the pictures of the WalMart people that someone may have forwarded to you? I went to Wallyworld today and they were there. Twentyish man was seriously into blowing a whirlygig. Young boy riding a skateboard around the store, cutting off customers. And it got worse.

Do you have a favorite ruler? I have one that I swear by to make half square triangles. It's the Omnigrid Fons & Porter Half & Quarter Ruler. I can make those HSTs and they are the right shape. I just need to trim off one dog ear on each HST after I stitch. If I want a 3 1/2" HST I align the 2 strips of fabric, which I've cut 3 1/2" wide. Cut one triangle, flip the ruler and cut a second. There's just a little flat spot on one corner and two sharp corners instead of three sharp corners. I feed the flat spot under the needle first. The triangle doesn't get drawn down the black hole like so many triangles do.

Recently I replaced my 6" x 12" Omnigrid ruler as the corners were getting rounded off. I bought a 6" x 14" Omnigrip. The new ruler is a non slip ruler. Love it.

Time to go start the grill and do the first burgers of the season outside.

Chris

NOW I'm Done

2011-04-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

After I checked the outside border on the Jacob's Ladder quilt top I realized I had all eight HST blocks running in the wrong direction. One block went in a different direction from the other seven. Think frog stitch to remedy this problem. Yesterday I removed the three blocks from one corner and resewed them correctly. Then I took the top downstairs and did the frog stitch on the other three while watching the NASCAR Sprint Cup race. This morning the corners are sewn back and the pattern follows out to the corners, unlike on Saturday when I thought I had the top finished. Now to press the top, removed the loose threads and press the backing before I take it to Peg to be quilted. It's rainy now and then and the wind is blowing hard. April Showers bring May flowers. We can only hope so. Chris

The End

2011-04-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

I say The End because today I finished the final border on my Jacob's Ladder quilt. After I spread it out to admire it, I figured out that I had one HST block in a corner set wrong. The other seven HST blocks might be sewn wrong too. Like Scarlett O'Hara "I'll think about it tomorrow." That border has been a PITA all the way. Otherwise the quilt looks good. Back to the pictures and directions, tomorrow. My sewing room is almost neat, except for a couple of boxes of stuff I don't know what to do with and a pile of papers on the computer desk. Fabrics are in neat piles. Projects and strips of fabric are in storage bins. Last Sunday I planted 70 of those jiffy pots with heirloom tomato seeds. Margaret, Bob's sister in law sent us tomatoes last summer. They were delicious. When asked where she got the seeds she told us she saved them. So I did save some seeds. Nearly all the pots have sprouts in just seven days. You know those people that bring around zucchini in the late summer. Well, watch for a white haired woman bringing tomato plants later this spring. Chris

Stash Enhancement

2011-03-26T13:53:00.001-07:00

This tiny pile is what I purchased in the Lancaster area to enhance my stash. Look at those shirtings on the left. Eat your heart out, Bonnie Hunter. And thank you Sylvia Petershiem for carrying them.
The pile in the middle is of Civil War fabrics for the Economy Block quilt Donna Laing sent me a picture of several years ago. I didn't have enough fabrics to make many more blocks and I found just what I needed. (Yes, I needed that fabric, I didn't have it.) (And I have the magnet on the refrigerator too.)

Isn't this a beautiful version of a New York Beauty, and in my favorite pinks.

I am happy to report that I have the blocks for the Jacob's Ladder sewn together. Now to cut a red border, sew it on, then finish sewing the blocks together for the outer border. Once they are sewn on it's off to be quilted.

Chris

A Cast of Six

2011-03-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

Do any of you have a cat who brings home a gift for you. Apparently this quilter does.

We have Rose in pink, Karen in blue and the other four of us together: Jackey, Debbie, Helen Marie and myself. Some nice man came out of Jennie's Diner and volunteered to take a picture of the four of us.

Jackey got to the airport at 1:15 am today at Springfield, Missouri. Then she had to drive home without her big suitcase. She got a call this morning to ask what was in the suitcase to identify it in case the name tag was gone. Fabric for a wedding quilt and Wilbur's Chocolates. Shouldn't be many suitcases with those two items.

This morning I washed a load of fabric. Glad I put a Shout Color Catcher sheet in the washer. Some fabrics ran a bit. I had red, browns and dark blue in the load.

Now back to sewing together the Jacob's Ladder top. I'd like to get it done this week so I can hae it quilted soon.

We have an interesting program at Triangle Guild on the 7th of April. Nancy Summers is coming to talk to us about her alpacas. I'd love to go visit them. I love their sweet faces.

Chris

Home and Happy

2011-03-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

First I need to correct a couple of shop names. BittyKinna in Intercourse and Dutchland Quilt Patch down past Ronk. On the way to Intercourse is Sylvia Petershiem's shop.
We had a wonderful time, speed shopping and to the show. We also went to the rogue malls to shop.
On Saturday we drove out to Burkholders where their spring collections greeted us. I bought several pieces of the Bliss on Blossom Street fabrics. I chose the yellow background. That will make a happy quilt.
The weather was beautiful. Friday the temperature reached 79.
Came home to 50 degrees and woke today to find snow on ground. It was raining a while ago.
We ate a late lunch at Dieners on Saturday. Great food. Bread filling that was so tasty. On the dessert buffet I found egg custard like my Mother made.
I was able to find fabrics to finish a number of projects, Economy Block quilt, Hexagon quilt binding, Anita's Arrowheads, more black and white.
This week I am determined to finish my Jacob's Ladder quilt. I've sewn more of the blocks together. I'm using the 4 1/2" squares for the outside border as leaders and enders. That will get them together much more quickly.
Will get the pictures of the girls and the show posted soon.
I especially enjoyed the Karen Kay Buckley collection.
Chris

Moo

2011-03-19T03:10:00.000-07:00

Evelyn brought some fabrics she had leftover from her sewing room to guild last week. I picked the cow fabric and a Charlie Brown fabric to take home.

I fussy cut some cows and used my MOO fabric and a yellow. One cow is just bordered to make a 12 1/2" block. Another is done in the Album II block of the month and another is made in the Shoofly pattern. The fourth is a Mile a Minute (or Crumbs and Chaos) idea. I can't say pattern as there is no pattern for it. Bits of fabric are sewn together in a crazy quilt style.

I'm at the Old Amish Inn in Ronk, PA right now. Debbie's sleeping. I woke up early. Maybe my chat room friends will be up and in chat now.

We have met with HMM, Fabaddict, Sage, RMuffin and had lunch and dinner with them yesterday.

Debbie & I drove down Thursday night.

Yesterday we went to a number of shops, Sylvia's, Zooks, Old Country Store, Bitty Hanna, Log Cabin Quilts, Weavers and Dutchland Quilt Pantry. I did add a bit to my stash. Will have to estimate how many yards I purchased.

We had lunch at the Smoketown Diner. Good food at a very reasonable price.

Today we are going to Burkholders and to the AQS Show. Home tomorrow.

Hope to get some quilt pictures to share with you when I get home.

The temperature was in the high 70s which was wonderful.

Chris

Why Am I Awake So Early?

2011-03-13T00:32:00.000-08:00

We set the clocks forward last night and here I am up already at 4:30 a.m. I'll get this time change worked out in a couple of weeks.

An Irish Country Courtship is Patrick Taylor's latest in this series. I enjoyed reading it.

The Police Were NOT Called

2011-03-12T04:55:00.000-08:00

The Campfire Girls met here yesteday and the police were not called.

Sharon came down the road to see what we do. She brought a pitcher of iced Winter Spice Tea. Delicious.

I made the Spice Cake from Yankee Magazine, May 1979.

June picked through a scrap bag for floral pieces for some pincushions she is making.

We expect a show and tell when she comes back from Tennessee in a month or so.

Here's the cake recipe.

Spice Cake

Mix in 4 quart saucepan:

2 cups sugar

2 teasp. cinnamon

2 teasp. nutmeg

2 teasp. ground cloves

2 teasp. baking soda

1 teasp. salt

Add: 2 cups raisins

2 cups cold water

2 sticks butter or margarine

Cook and stir until bubbles appear on top. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Add all at once:

4 cups flour.

1 cup nut meats.

Mix and pour into 13" by 9" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.

I like to use cream cheese frosting on this cake after it has cooled. I don't think I've ever used nuts in it.

This is a dense cake. The amount of spices may seem like a lot but it is not overpowering. Your house will smell delicious when it is cooking and baking.

Enjoy.

Chris

Tearing Hair Out

2011-03-09T07:48:00.001-08:00

Correction to names of blocks:
Top: Spinner
2nd: Old Kentucky album
3rd: Twin Sisters
Last: 4 Patch X

Chris

She's Sewing

2011-03-09T07:30:00.001-08:00

As you all know, I'm a Bonnie Hunter groupie. I got out all the 2010 Quiltmaker magazines and checked those off that I'd done Bonnie's blocks from her Addicted to Scraps pages.
This one is Old Kentucky Album from Jan/Feb '10.

The one on the right is Spinner from March/Apr 2010.

This is 4 Patch X from Sept/Oct 2010. These two are Twin Sisters from

July/Aug 2010.

I showed the Scrap Basket in a previous post. Three to go and I'm caught up. They are Carolina Chain, Hot Cross Bun and Jack in the Box.

Today I need to make several donation blocks for our guild quilts.

We went into Binghamton yesterday and found that many side streets were plowed one lane wide.

Chris

I Really Have Been Sewing

2011-03-05T07:28:00.000-08:00

This week I sewed a bit. (And I squeezed in a bit of reading too.)
I like the Bonnie Hunter page on using scraps in Quiltmaker. This 6" basket block is her latest in the March/April '11 issue. Anita's Arrowhead block is from the Nov/Dec '10 issue of Quiltmaker. I have a batch of squares cut out to sew. Oh dear, I don't have enough of the black and white fabrics. Whatever will I do?

This little 6 1/2" square goes by several names, Crumbs and Chaos or Mile a Minute. These blocks are mindless. Just grab your bag of tiny pieces that most people would toss out and sew away. I square them off to 6 1/2". Just the block to make when you want to sew but don't want to pay attention. Sometimes I square up at an angle. Makes them more interesting.

It was 41 degrees when I got up today. The March winds are blowing.

Chris

After the Storm

2011-02-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

The snow was frozen on the cars this morning. I really had to chip away to get it off. There's always some left of the car top. That finally slide off when I was nearly back home.
Hope granddaughter Nikki is in sunny Florida by now. After sitting on a plane for over 3 hours yesterday and then found their flight was canceled with no flights available today, they drove to Washington, DC, had dinner and a 10 p.m. flight to Florida.
Her sister Becki slid into a snowbank taking Caleb to day care yesterday morning. She was within sight of the day care provider so she walked there, carrying Caleb who is now eight months old. Got the car towed out of the snow bank, no damage to them or car.
The official report was 6" of snow here and wind gusts of 30 mph yesterday. Whiteouts here. Ella Mae lost power for several hours.
Now to sew and read. Another Anita's Arrowhead coming up. I've been to the grocery stores today. They were normal Saturday crowded.
Chris

Anita's Arrowhead

2011-02-25T06:36:00.001-08:00

Do you ever see a pattern in a magazine and think "I'll try one of those." This is Anita's Arrowhead, from the Nov/Dec 2010 Quiltmaker magazine. Mary Rose called me the other day to ask about that pattern. A friend had described it to her. I thought I'd seen it. But I had to google the name to find the pattern. Then to find the magazine. Never an easy task. Found magazine yesterday.
This morning I cut and sewed the block. Pretty easy. I like the black & white with pink. Hmmm, could make a black and white with a bit of pink quilt.
The block is by Anita Grossman Solomon. Check out her site at makeitsimpler.com. She is the author of three books. We have at least 3" of heavy wet snow today. The snow is clinging to trees and power lines. Our parking lot has been plowed but it is icy underneath. When I went out to move the cars, the snow was nearly at a sleet stage. We have a winter storm warning until 5 p.m. tonight.
The last I knew my granddaughter and her husband were waiting in an airport, hoping to board a plane to Florida for a meeting.
The Campfire Girls canceled their lunch today. Ella Mae said 5" on her hill. Lois Ann said 4" over in Hartford Mills.

Bob's four year old granddaughter Natalia just got glasses. She looks so cute in them. She's turned into a chatterbox. She used to sit back quietly and watch the others. What a change. She's in pre-K this year.

Time to do some more sewing.

Chris

Some More Good Reads or Why I Haven't Sewn Much This Week

2011-02-13T07:03:00.000-08:00

These are some recent good reads for me: Bootlegger's Daughter, Shooting at Loons and High Country Fall all by Margaret Maron and Though Not Dead, the latest by Dana Stabenow. Okay, I confess, I spent a lot of time reading instead of sewing.
I do enjoy the Deborah Knotts mysteries by Margaret Maron and the Kate Shugak mysteries set in Alaska by Dana Stabenow.
And ditsey that I am, I messed up on the date for the Daytona 500. It is next Sunday, February 20th, not today.
We did watch the Budweiser Shoot Out last night. Interesting race. Newly resurfaced track at Daytona.
How to imagine that it was 32 years ago that I went to Daytona the first time, for motorcycle races.
Enjoy your day.
Chris

Hitting the Road

2011-02-12T07:09:00.001-08:00

This has been a busy week for us. On February 4th we went to Jeanie's house, enjoyed a sandwich and then worked on various projects. Here's Jeanie sewing away. Ella Mae showed Lois Ann how to make bias binding for the Little Ladies dresses. I need one of those Clover gadgets....I don't have one so I need it.

Here they are, Ella Mae and Lois Ann.

On Sunday, February 6th members of Chenango Piecemakers met for Super Sew Sunday. Below you will see Mary Rose (left) and Nancy Carney working on some quilts.

This quilt is laid out on batting and ready to be layered with the backing. This is what happens to the donation blocks.

Elaine Schwan, Noel Briand and Betty Sue Christian are having a consult about the blocks for a top, selecting from many made by members.

After volunteering at the library last Monday afternoon, answering questions and bringing out microfiche of the New York State Vital Records Index to patrons I went to a baby shower. This was for Laurel Stallman, the mother of Kaitlyn Marie Ruby who was born 3 months prematurely on November 9, 2010. Kaitlynn is nearly ready to come home from the hospital.

Laurel received many wonderful and useful gifts for Kaitlyn including lots of diapers in premie and newborn size.

I thought I had forgotten my camera but found it tucked in my purse after the shower.

This is the cake after it had been cut. Great grandmother Alice cut carefully around the edges. It was so pretty. Sweet Pea was appropriate because Kaitlyn weighed 1 lb. 9 oz. at birth. She now weighs over 3 lbs.

A picture of Laurel finally enjoying her cake after the gifts were open. The shower was a surprise for her.
Thursday Red Hats met for game day at Helen's home in Sanitaria Springs. We never did get to playing games. We just sat and chatted and caught up that cold afternoon.

Yesterday I hosted the Campfire Girls here. Corn Chowder to warm them after a -1 on my thermometer. We played a couple of games of cards, Cody's game and Skip Bo.
Today we slept late, not waking until 9 a.m.

This will be a good day to relax. Think I'll make a pot of vegetable soup.

Tomorrow we will watch NASCAR starting the season with the Daytona 500. Seeing the pictures of the new resurfaced track brings back memories of 1979 when I went there the first time. I pointed out to Bob the finish line and the banking. I walked across the finish line that year. That was steep.

Enjoy your day and try to stay warm. It was 32 when I finally got up.

Chris

Sue Had an Idea

2011-02-04T04:56:00.000-08:00

Sue had an idea back in 2003 or 2004 to do a strip swap of autumn and light colors, using the Fons & Porter Cutting Bee book as a model. Now that my quilt is nearing completion, I think one of the borders should have "Sue had an Idea" in the border.
Today the Campfire Girls are meeting at Jeanie's house up in Lisle. We're doing sewing of some sort. I think I'll take the cutting board and some fabric.
It's a sunny day. Yeah!
I found the red for a narrow border and binding yesterday. Now to cut 68 4 1/2" blocks for the outside border. I really love this quilt.
On Monday at the library my friend Bonnie from Owego came in. I had a chance to show her pictures of her relatives, Becki and Caleb as I had posted them on Facebook. What fun to find another branch of a family for my granddaughters.
We have been so lucky here in this part of New York. We seem to be on the border of the storm fronts that have moved in. We've gotten just enough snow to be a nusiance. But we aren't thigh deep in snow and ice.
Chris

Lazy Saturday

2011-01-29T05:13:00.001-08:00

Caleb is in his pajamas and ready to be tucked in bed when he gets home. That's Jeremy and Becki with him and Great Aunt Mickey in background. Caleb looks like his Dad and Mom. We had a lot of fun with him last Saturday night.
Mickey and Jack cooked my birthday dinner of lasagna and a big green salad. Delicious.
We also had a great surprise. Jeremy appeared without an orthopedic boot on his foot and walking without crutches. He's going to PT to get back use of muscles and tendons that have been idle for many weeks. He's gone back to work since the surgery in early November.
I've been working on my Jacob's Ladder this past week and have just six blocks to sew together. I'm looking thru my stash for an orangey red for the border and binding. Or do I want a brownish red. I'll know it when I see it. I do need to cut more 4 1/2" blocks of lights to make the outside border. The corners are 4 patches and an HST block on each side. I'm going to enjoy this quilt on my bed. It will be 84" x 84" when completed.
To date my favorite bed quilt is the Nickel Brick that I've been using since last summer. The black borders on each side of the 3" x 5" scrappy pieces set off the various blocks so well. I just love looking at it. When I change the sheets I rotate the quilt a quarter turn so I see something different each time.
Do you remember having quilts on your bed when you were small. We did. Many were in blacks, browns and pale tones. I remember following a color in a 4 patch or 9 patch with my fingers to see where they went in diagonal lines. Our quilts were old ones but in good condition. I think they might have come from my Great Aunt Cin's house after her death. She was Lucinda Gaylord English and lived in Whitney Point on Main Street. Uncle Harry told me she was a tailor and dressmaker.
Martha O'Keefe from Chenango Piecemakers Guild told us she was put down for an afternoon nap and not wanting to sleep, she checked out the ties on the quilts. If she could find a loose one, out it came.
Time to start my machine and get those six blocks done. Then to arrange the blocks and sew them together.
It will soon be NASCAR season in about three weeks. Hand sewing time when that starts. Good time to do bindings.
Chris

Can't Put It Off Any Longer

2011-01-21T04:50:00.001-08:00

A few years ago Sue Had An Idea. Now Sue has a lot of ideas but this was one of her best. She saw the Fons and Porter Cutting Bee book and thought we could do a strip exchange at retreat.
On a Saturday at Casowasco we meet and exchanged strips, amidst a bit of confusion as some had cut their strips from fat quarters instead of across the width of 42" fabric. We exchanged 4 1/2" and 2 1/2" strips of assorted medium/dark autumn fabrics and assorted light fabrics. After we finished we were all going to make a quilt from the book. Donna Hanley had hers done first and we didn't see another for at least a year of more. Now some are appearing. Sue made two last winter in Florida.
I had good intentions and started the Jacob's Ladder, took it to retreat several times, put it away and decided to finish it this year, in time for our October quilt show.
Yesterday I got out the package of instructions, strips, blocks, pieces of blocks etc. Before I went to bed I finished this block. I need to make six more of this block and fifteen more of a variation on this block. It will be a great quilt for my bed when finished.
After Sue received an email from me yesterday morning, she called me. It was great to hear her voice. She is doing better and gets her cast off the wrist on February 10. She told me she has 5 screws holding the bone together and a pin to keep the wrist at the correct angle. She said the pin is under the cast so she can't see it. She is improving and had been out walking that morning.

Somehow with the Christmas hubbub I got behind on my donation blocks so I made this December block yesterday for Piecemakers. It is called Album Block Variation. The purples and lavendars in the fabric are just so spring looking.

This is the February block, done ahead of time. It is called Nelson's Victory. I think pink is my favorite color.

We had a dusting of 3 or 4 inches of snow overnight. Schools are on a two hour delay. I can hear snowplows at work clearing roads and parking lots.

Hopefully the roads will be clear by lunch time so I can go out to lunch with the Campfire Girls.

Now it is time to sew the next block. If I can do one a day they will be done quickly.

Chris

Sewing Donation Blocks

2011-01-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Here's my donation block for January. I mislaid the pattern and dark blue snowflake fabric until just before the meeting. Rail Fence is a great beginner pattern. I posted pictures of some of the blocks in my last update. Some used reds, greens and several other contrasting strips. Here's my February block. Attic Windows is the name. Joanne gave us the center square. I just happened to have the dark fabric (Quest for a Cure). The outer pink has small white dots. I've been collecting dots for some unknown reason.

This is SweetOldBob bringing the mail in. The Postman doesn't ring here. He just walks in. No school today in most of the schools in our area. Even Broome Community College is closed. Lots of accidents reported on the scanner. Red Hats cancelled for today. Ice underneath the snow we got overnight. Cars on their roofs, a tractor trailer tried to go under the Robinson Street Underpass in Binghamton. Left the catwalk from the top of the tanker behind. One car MVA on south side of Kattelville Hill, with injuries.

Sewing day today. I need to make a couple of blocks for PIecemakers Guild now.

On February 6th we will have Super Sew Sunday up in Norwich. We get a lot accomplished on that day. Good food, good friends and sewing.

I'm reading the Margaret Maron books in the Deborah Knott series. Today's choice is Death's Half Acre.

Last night Jeremy posted a picture of Caleb standing on Facebook. He was seven months old yesterday.

Be safe and stay warm.

Chris

Quilts, Calamities and Donation Blocks

2011-01-07T06:46:00.000-08:00

Last night at Triangle Guild we turned in our Block of the Month for January. Ann sent us home in December with the dark blue fabric to use. The other two strips were our choice. This should make an interesting donation quilt. In February we are making Attic Windows. JoAnn gave us the pink cancer ribbon fabric to use as a center block. I have some deep pink dotted fabric that will be a good contrast for this block.
Each month we make 12 1/2" donation blocks and use them for quilts we give to various groups in need.
In December we sent a number of small baby quilts to Fox Hospital in Oneonta, Cincinnatus Rural Services and to Whitney Point School for distribution to families in need.

This is Carol Maslin's Underground Railroad quilt from the Eleanor Burns book of the same name. Carol's sister is on right.

This past Fall Carol and Eleanor closed the Sisters Snack Shack at Triangle. Their smiling faces will be missed at the Snack Shack. They had wonderful gardens that people strolled thru while eating their ice cream cones.

Eleanor said they are taking the quilt to school because a teacher asked them to bring it as that group is studying the Civil War.

Earlier this week we had news that one of our members Sue McDonald fell on a tennis court in Florida and broke her wrist, tailbone and pelvis. She had wrist surgery and now has a plate and pin in the wrist.

Carolyn Tirpok is having therapy at home after suffering a bad broken hip. The doctor in a local hospital sent her to Upstate in Syracuse after he saw her xrays.

Sylvia has been back with us following chemo and Paulette has her cast off. She fell and broke her wrist.

It's snowing hard here. Snowplows are out. I watched a car going around the corner sliding all the way. Accidents reported on the scanner. Good day to sew.

Chris

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all of my readers. I hope you have a safe, happy, healthy 2011. For a change today is warm, unlike so many I remember with zero temperatures and blustery and windy. This painting hangs in my kitchen. It was done a number of years ago by the late Esther Brooks who lived on Rt. 369. I think the barn is one on Rt. 369.
I'm packing up the Christmas decorations. Yesterday I bought a large red bag for the tree. It will hold a 9 foot tree. It isn't that long but it's fat. Bob wondered if it was a body bag. I told him to watch himself.
The snowman figures are staying out for a while. They look so jolly on top of the tv and on stands.
Off to Dawn's house for pizza and wings this afternoon.
Chris

They're Out There

2010-12-31T07:18:00.000-08:00

Elsie Poyer gave each of us one of these Santa ornaments that she had painted. She's a talented crafter.Campfire Girls are meeting at Jeanie's home today. I have a green bean casserole in the oven. Love that old dish and don't make it except to take to a potluck.

I finally figured out how to get pictures onto the computer and how to post some to Facebook.
More fun ahead.

Bob and my brother Bruce were pleased by their photo albums that I made for each of them for Christmas. I copied lots of old family pictures for Bruce, found some oldies of Bob's family for him and lots of new pictures as well.

Happy New Year
Chris

2010-12-30T05:07:00.000-08:00

I made this little fabric basket after Sue mailed me the directions the day before she left for Memphis and Florida. She had one in shades of soft oranges that she learned to make last winter in Florida and taunted me with it all summer.

Here's SweetOldBob and Maddy, granddaughter Nikki's German Shepherd. She's six now and was a rescue dog. She is well mannered and beautifully marked.

The quilt on the back of the couch is one I made for her bridal shower back in 2003. I used a pattern from the Nickel Quilt book.

Here's Bob again with Nikki's oldest cat Chessy. Nikki brought her home from a farm in her pocket. Chessy is the friendliest, loving cat. Max, the second cat, stayed upstairs.
Great grand son Caleb is pulling wrapping paper off one of his gifts. He's a ham, flashes a big smile when he sees a camera. He's six months old now.
It was a good holiday. We went to Nikki and Mike's home in Greene on Christmas Eve. Then to Mickey and Eric's home for Christmas dinner and had a very relaxed day.

I baked lots of cookies and took most of the remainder to the library yesterday for our Volunteer Appreciation Lunch.

Now to get busy sewing. I haven't had much time for sewing lately. I have lots of projects and ideas to work on.

Chris

Note to Self

2010-12-22T00:30:00.001-08:00

Disappearing Four Patch done in red and white and blue and white and set on point. Saw that in Alycia Quilts blog for Sept. A quilter sent that to Alycia for Quilts of Valor. Striking. Have to try making this block with white and a reads solid color.
Have to finish baking this morning, clean a bit, wrap last gifts for Bob's grandchildren. I was going to bake more last night but fell asleep in chair after I made four batches of cookies yesterday and did laundry. Got to make a quick run to grocery store for more kid friendly finger foods.
Dawn's four and her boyfriend Tom's two will be here around 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. today.
I forgot the last sheet of maraschino cherry cookies and they got a bit brown. (No, they got a lot brown.) So out the back door they went. I watched the crows picking them up and flying to the Quickway roof next door. Guess they had a tea party. One time I tossed some very hard bread out. Then I came up here to sew. Crows were flying to same roof and dipping bread in a puddle of water. I know guys, I'll toss bread to you quicker next time.
When I am at the computer in my quilt chat in morning, I've been printing old pictures to make an album for my brother. Some of those old pictures when we were kids really bring back memories.
One picture is of me and Prince, a shepherd/collie that Dad got from Grandpa Huntington. Prince went back over to Grandpa's house the day Mom came out the back door to find three or four year old Bruce laying on the ground and Prince was standing over him growling. We figured Bruce pulled his hair. Prince was a touchy dog. Great cow dog. Prince and I got along but little kids weren't his thing.
Have a great day, try to sit down and relax a few minutes while you are in the midst of preparing for Christmas.
Chris

It's Getting to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2010-12-16T05:57:00.000-08:00

Sea Gulls are dumb. This one is going to eat an ice cube we tossed to him at our family reunion last August.

Today I'm printing some pictures to put in Christmas cards. Some are from the Goodrich reunion, others of the Lavens Girls and the Campfire Girls. Then I think I'll make Bob a little album as he likes to look at pictures of his grandchildren. This new printer is great. It automatically removes red eye from pictures.

Apologies to Lois Ann who felt her picture in this blog a while back was not flattering. She was drinking pickle juice and saying "Even the juice is good." Sorry.

Most of my pictures are not flattering. A dear friend said "Chris, your pictures look like something smelled bad in the bathroom."

Have got to bake today. I've been procrastinatiing.

It's sunny but cold, with some new snow overnight.

The top picture is of SweetOldBob and myself.

Chris

More Snow & Cold in Forecastg

2010-12-08T07:41:00.001-08:00

That's right, more snow & cold in the forecast. After all, it's only December 8th.

No pictures today. I'm busy cutting out potholders. I need to make couple sets.

We had Triangle Guild party last Thursday night. Tomorrow night is the Chenango Piecemakers Guild party. Good food at both.

Our Red Hat party was postponed on Monday. We'll get together on Tuesday. That's winter in New York for you. We'll meet on such & such date, weather permitting.

Chris

A Good Read

2010-11-28T05:20:00.000-08:00

I'd give this book a 10. The South in the 1960s, segregation, Klu Klux Klan, all told thru the eyes of a young girl. After CBS was at our library's Local History and Genealogy Center recently to do research on William Moore, this book was especially pertinent. It kept me on the edge of my chair until I finished it.
My friend Jackey asked for this recipe that we made for Thanksgiving Dinner. I found it in the latest issue (November 2010) of Southern Living.
Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta
2 lbs. Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 tsp. sale
1/4 tsp. pepper
6 (1/8 inch thick pancetta slices (I used bacon)
1 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss together Brussels sprouts, olive oil, salt & pepper in a 15x10" jelly roll pan. (I used a cookie sheet w/sides.) Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until sprouts are tender and edges are lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile cook pancetta (or bacon) until crisp. Drain of paper towels. Crumble pancetta or bacon.
Remove sprouts from oven and place in serving dish. Top with cheese and crumbled pancetta.
Enjoy. We had no leftovers. Jack finished them.
I'm finally finished with the little fabric basket. Sue McD sent me the directions after she tantalized me with hers since she came home from Florida last spring. She sent the directions and left town the next day. Hope she brings home some great ideas next April. Gonna miss her.
Picture in next post on blog.
I received an email that one of our guild members, Carolyn Tirpok, broke her hip, was at Upstate and returned home on Friday. Hope she continues to recover rapidly.
Mickey and I made our traditional Black Friday trip to Skaneateles on Friday, stopping at Patchwork Plus where I chatted with Kitsie D. I bought some pinwheel fabric in red, white and blue. This will be great for a Quilt of Valor. Then on to Skaneateles where we shopped, enjoyed lunch at Blue Water and saw the parade of the Dickens costumed people. We enjoyed the musicians on the main street (Route 20) and finally stopped at the Green Mountain shop for Chai tea and coffee before returning home.
Chris

Beware

2010-11-19T05:26:00.001-08:00

Yes. Beware! The Campfire Girls are meeting today. Lois Ann is our hostess today. In the above picture she is drinking the liquid from Ella Mae's 7 Minute Pickles. "Even the juice is good."

I heard she is making Bean & Ham soup for us. Good soup day. It was 34 degrees and frosty when I got up.

Catching my breath, trying to decide what to sew next. But today I am going to teach LA how to make a pillowcase using the hotdog method. I have the cuff and case cut and the cuff is pressed.

While I was preparing those Conkerr Cancer cases for her to practice on, I cut one for myself in lavenders with a bit of green. These are so easy to make. Twenty minutes tops. The children at Upstate Medical Center who have cancer will appreciate them. My goal is at least one a week.

I have several to make for family members for Christmas. I got one particular fabric in 2008 when we were in Lancaster.

Chris

Finally Finished

2010-11-18T07:21:00.001-08:00

This morning I finally finished this little reversible table runner. I love the light summery fabrics on this side. The pattern is Game Board.

This is a close up of the center panel. Love those seed packets and promise of summer contained in them.

Here's the Christmas side, all ready to put on my table on November 26th.

And here is a close up of the center panel. Cardinals, greenery and Christmas Roses. What more could we want. The Christmas Roses remind me of visiting my relatives Olive and Nora years ago. They had a clump near their door. I loved to see those roses blooming in December.

Here's the vest I made in class. There are ten tree fabrics in the striped side and two of those are repeated in the back and left side plus in the lining. I am enjoying wearing the vest. The only item I bought for this vest was 3 buttons. I didn't realize I had such a stash of batiks.

Just realized I have a 20" strip of the Christmas runner border left over. Will border it and use as another runner. Waste not, want not, our grandmas said.

Are you baking for the Thanksgiving holiday? I have three loaves of banana nut bread in the freezer. I plan to make some cranberry bread and pumpkin bread.

And then the cookie season begins. Kolachkis, mincemeat cookies, marachino cherry cookies and more will come from my oven. Bob swears I only let him have the kolachkis that are burned or fall on the floor.

Campfire Girls are meeting tomorrow. We generally take a bag of returnable items when we go. This time I have Lois Ann's black and white bag and Ella Mae's scissors. Think I'll take a handful of those quuilt magazines that are in the giveaway box.

I need to show Lois Ann how to make a pillowcase. I have two all ready to be rolled up like a hot dog, sewn, birthed and side and end seams sewn. Nothing like hands on to learn.

Chris

Sleeping Babes

2010-11-16T13:18:00.000-08:00

Caleb was napping in his Aunt Nikki's arms when I delivered his baby quilt recently. Yes, that is a camo shirt he is wearing.

His Mommy Becki is holding the fireman's coat he wore on Halloween. Caleb will be five months old tomorrow

Today is the 77th anniversary of my parents marriage. James Gaylord married Dorcie Huntington on November 16, 1933 at the Fairview Methodist Church Parsonage in Binghamton, NY. Dad died in 1981 and Mom died in 1986.

Isn't this a happy little basket. It's made of Christmas fabrics covering clothesline.

Now to relax a bit before I have to fix supper. I'm not hungry after the meal we had at Red Hats.

Wonder if Bob would go for a peanut butter sandwich. I suppose not.

Chris

Strings and Scraps

2010-11-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

Here's Martha O'Keefe, our Chenango Piecemakers Program Chairman and Sue (I have an Idea) McDonald busy at our quilt retreat last month.

Martha uses lots of bright colors, as witnessed by this suitcase of fabric she opened.

Last Saturday Triangle Guild sponsored a vest class. Unfortunately the instructor got mixed up on the date, so Sue taught the class. She showed some how to paper piece. Their results were great. Then she showed them how to do prarie points. Several used the points in their vests. Great results. Cousin Ella Mae was there and helped several of us fit the muslin pattern to our bodies. Thanks Sue and Ella Mae.

I finished my vest on Thursday, just in time to wear to Piecemakers meeting. I love it. It is batiks in diagonal strips on the right side with tree fabric on left side and another tree fabric on the back. All of the fabrics have trees in them. A picture will follow in a future post. This is the first article of clothing I have sewn in a very long time.

Sue's going to Florida for the winter shortly. Sure gonna miss that gal. She has great ideas and is always learning sometime new to show and inspire us.
Today I worked on a table runner with pattern called Game Board. I made one top back when I got the new sewing machine in the summer. I decided to make a duplicate backing in Christmas fabrics. It's nearly done. I'll wait til morning to finish.

I'm thinking about making a Christmas vest. I checked the tote of Christmas fabrics and have plenty of fabrics.

While searching for some fabrics I'd grouped together for the table runner fabric I found the Disappearing 4 Patch blocks I made in the spring. Sashed and bordered they'll make a nice couch quilt for someone. I also found the yarn and needles I bought last Black Friday at Patchwork Plus to make socks.

I noticed Nikki had the couch quilt I made for her bridal shower on her couch when I was there. Becki uses hers all the time. Jack, Aaron and Mickey & Eric sleep under the quilts I made for them.

Caleb has his now so I have my family well covered.

Sue said they counted seventeen quilts at her oldest son's home the last time she was there.

Chris

So Many Pillowcases and More to Come

2010-11-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here's more of the pillowcases we made at Fall Festival. That's Cheryl hiding in the corner.
On Friday I'm going up to Willet to show the Willet Stitchers how to make those easy pillowcases using the "hot dog" method. June Lee would like to help make some for Conkerr Cancer.
Tomorrow I plan to cut a muslin vest and adjust the fit to my chubby body. On Saturday a group from Triangle Guild is meeting with Barb Ackley at St. Patrick's Church for a day long vest class.
I have my fabrics picked. There was a stash of batiks hiding on a lower shelf and I found about ten pieces that will work great for the front strips, maybe for the other front and back too. I do need to shop for some lining fabric but I can do that after the class.
I had ordered the Carol Doak Easy Reversible Vests from (yes, you guessed it) amazon.com. I was given a delivery date of November 17-19 but the book arrived yesterday. Once I had a chance to scan thru the book, I was more certain of what I wanted to use and approximate amounts.
My third wrapped clothesline bowl is nearly finished. This one uses Christmas fabrics. It needs about four more rows wrapped and sewn.
Grandson in law Jeremy Tennant came home on Monday after his foot surgery. He told me Sunday he has to keep weight off it for at least four weeks while the bone graft heals. We all hope he will have less pain when it is healed.
Chris

Bowl Again

2010-10-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a view of the inside of my Halloween bowl. Colorful, isn't it. I couldn't get the zigzag stitch to work for me so I used the #4 stitch on my Husquvarna 855. It's a zig zag stitch but takes about 4 tiny stitches instead of one straight zig.

This is the little rice filled wrist cushion I use when I am using a mouse as I don't have an ergonomically correct mouse pad.

Today's NASCAR race from Talledaga, AL should be a good one. The track is a challenge to drivers. It is sometimes called the Alabama Lottery.

Now to drive up to Greene and deliver Caleb's quilt. I don't get up there often and am so thankful that Becki & Jeremy post pictures and videos on Facebook.

Caleb's daddy Jeremy is having foot surgery tomorrow to reconstruct the bones. Jeremy was in a horrid accident on Feb. 14, 2008 on Kattelville Hill. He was hit headone. Luckily his Dad wasn't with him that day as he'd planned to be as there was only an airbag on the driver's side of the truck. His heel and ankle were shattered and his knee was badly messed up. Prayers for Jeremy.

Chris

All Wrapped Up Bowl

2010-10-31T04:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, all my witchy friends. Here's a bowl I finished last night for Halloween candy. It is clothesline wrapped with Halloween colored or Halloween fabric.
I made a small bowl before the book It's a Wrap by Susan Breier arrived. Sue McDonald made several at retreat a few weeks ago and I thought I could make one. With the instructions in front of me the second one was much more successful. Bob has the first bowl on his table for keys.
Now I'm waiting for Amazon.com to deliver the Carol Doaks Reversible Vests book. Triangle Guild is holding a vest sewing class on November 6 at St. Patrick's Church in Whitney Point. Barb Ackley is the teacher. She sent a vest and several of her beautiful quilts to our show. Barb did a trunk show for us last winter. What fun it was. I'm looking forward to making a vest. I can wear it to the Lancaster show in mid March.
It is almost a requirement that one wear a quilted item to a quilt show.
Triangle Guild is having Jean Ellis do a program on the little dresses many church ladies have been making for the Haitian children.
Guild members continue to make pillowcases for Conkerr Cancer and bibs for the residents of the Oxford Veterans Home.

Chris

It was a Wonderful Day

2010-10-24T06:08:00.001-07:00

This is Carol Maslin's time and Seasons from Piece Makers. It was one of the hits of the show. Carol and her sister Eleanor Lindow are skilled applique artists. From where my sewing machine was I could see people stop and study the quilt for a long time. Carol embellished the quilt with a bell on the church steeple, buttons and other materials.

This is the beautiful raffle quilt made by our members and raffled to raise money for the Triangle Fire Department. Gladys Hamilton was the winner.

We do a raffle quilt every two years for the fire company's benefit. This is a Disappearing Nine Patch.

I keep thinking of all the fun I had yesterday sewing and meeting folks. It's Old Home Day at its finest.

We are holding a vest making class with Barbara Ackley on November 6 at St. Patrick's Church in Whitney Point. I ordered the Carol Doaks Reversible Vest book.

Thanks to all of the Triangle Guild members and to Mary Hibbard who coordinates the Fall Festival events at the school for their work in making our show a success.

Chris

Our Fall Festival Quilt Show

2010-10-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

Today was Fall Festival and Triangle Guild held a quilt show at the Riverside Academy in Whitney Point.
This is Caleb's quilt, made from Eleanor Burns Quick Trips book.

Mary Hibbard's One Block Wonder Quilt.

My Roosters and Chickens wall hanging. The poultry fabric came from the scrap basket at Keepsake Quilting in NH some years ago. I used a feather stitch on the strips around the roosters and hens and machine quilted corn leaves on the border.

Sue McDonald's quilt from the Fons and Porter's Cutting Bee book. At least six years ago Sue had an idea after seeing this book. She sold the quilt retreat organizers on doing this on Saturday morning. After a lot of confusion we swapped the strips we'd cut at home. I've only seen a few quilts made from this swap. My Jacob's Ladder is a UFO. Maybe before next year's shows.

Mary Hibbard who is the Superintendent of Schools at Whitney Point and also a quilter.

Margo holding a squash Steve Aboff carved. Steve and his wood carvers group were on hand again this year to carve pumpkins. Margo and her husband raised the pumpkins.

It was a great day, beautiful weather, no rain like we had the previous three years.

We set up a sewing center and had kits cut for pillowcases.

Beth's Water Lilies from Quick Trips. This was made for her daughter who is a fan of Claude Monet.

Here are some of the pillowcases we made for Conkerr Cancer. We think we made 32 today.
In the center of the pillowcases is an adult clothing protector that we made for residents of the NYS Veterans' Home at Oxford, NY.

It was a great day to sew, visit with old friends, meet new ones, do a bed turning a number of times and visit the vendors. I brought home a delicious apple pie.

Now off to bed.

Chris

Quilt Retreat

2010-10-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

On Friday I left for Quilt Retreat at Casowasco on Owasco Lake. We had a wonderful time eating, talking, eating, helping each other, eating, and occasionally we did a bit of sewing.D

Donna and Ann are shown in the top picture. Ann volunteered to act as coordinator of this semi annual event. The quilt on left is Donna's and on right the stars are Mary R's.

Second picture, Donna H. (the other Donna H.) and Sue McD are walking to breakfast at Emmaus. This building was rennovated, added onto and refurbished to seat many more people who gather for retreats, meetings and summer camp.

We stayed in the Case's summer cottage Galilee.

The Case family developed technology that put sound in motion pictures.

The group in the third picture are some of our retreat members. We sew in the Foster Center underneath the Lakeside Chapel.

Our meals are so good thanks to the chef who came there last year. We had a couscous salad with pommegrante seeds, dill and grape leaves for lunch yesterday. Barbequed brisquet on a roll was part of lunch. Last night we had a turkey dinner with a wonderful seasoning on the turkey, dressing, smashed potatoes, dressing, gravy and vegetables, complete with a salad bar and cake.

Now to finish unpacking.

Chris

Going Public Here Today, Vital Records Index

2010-10-11T04:22:00.000-07:00

Today at the Broome County Public Library, 185 Court St., Binghamton, NY, the New York State Vital Records Index will be open to the public for the first time.
The hours the Index is available will depend on volunteers who will provide the service to the public. Today, Monday, October 11, the hours are 1 pm to 4 pm. I'm the volunteer who will be assisting the public.
We have two microfiche readers. People will be limited to one hour's use if a third person wants to use the Index.
As there hasn't been any publicity in the Binghamton Press to date, I expect today not to be busy.
Chris

Yes, I do sew

2010-10-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here's Bonnie Hunter's latest block Hot Cross Buns which appeared in Quiltmaker Nov Dec 2010. After I quickly sewed it together I realized I had sewn the green strips to the two squares haphazzardly. 'Pay Attention Christine,' my mother is telling me. If she was here she'd make me take out the stitches and resew the block correctly. It will make a great donation block. I used 2 1/2" strips and squares instead of the 1 1/2"strips and squares Bonnie called for.
I'm going to add a border so the block will be 12 1/2" unfinished and I will call it Hot Cross Bun on a Plate.
We are busy preparing for our little quilt show at Fall Festival in Whitney Point on October 23rd.
Our display will include quilts, wall hangings and table runners as well as a display of donation quilts and Conkerr Cancer pillowcases. Some members are cutting kits for pillowcases and we will be sewing them at the show. Anyone can sit down and sew a pillowcase. We'll be glad to show people how.
Triangle Guild is a small guild but we do a lot of donation work for several places. In a blog back in the spring you saw the adult clothing protectors that our members made for the men and women at the NYS Veterans Home in Oxford.
Bob was so good to model several for me. By the time I did the second one his expression was more like 'Bah humbug.' He's Korean War vet and he thought it was great we were doing for veterans.
Tickets are being sold for our beautiful blue and yellow Disappearing 9 Patch quilt. The drawing will be held at end of the show on October 23rd. The proceeds will benefit the Triangle Fire Company where we hold our meetings.
Chris

Now I'm a Family Group Photographer

2010-10-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

Bob's daughter Dawn asked me to take a group picture of her family the other day.
From left to right, Kohdy, Natalya, Tom (her boyfriend) with his daughter Destiny on his lap, Dawn holding Jaylynn and Mikayla at right.
Raining here again, or should I say still.
The extension table for my new sewing machine came in the other day and I have it installed with my sewing machine. I know I will like it.
Now I can quilt larger items much more easily.
Chris

Rainy Day for Campfire Girls to Play

2010-10-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Here's Sophie, Ella Mae new dog. She's part Lab, Golden Retriever and Akita. Five minutes
after this picture was taken, she had given the giraffe a lobotomy. Fluff was all over the floor.
Pat was there, out from Arkansas. She brought all of us plum jelly and hot pepper jelly.

And here's June Lee and cousin Ella Mae. "See, I'm sick. JoAnne had to take off work to take care of me."

And arfen't these two so sweet. JoAnne and her auntie June.

We had a great meal, seafood chowder, made by Shelly, Ella Mae's daughter. Just right for a rainy day. BTW we got about 5" of rain on Thursday.

On Wednesday I lost my cell phone. Didn't realize it until Thursday night. I called or went to each place I'd been on Wednesday: VA Affairs, grocery store, son in law's garage, hairdresser. Nobody saw it. Brian at VA Affairs in county office building even picked up the helmet on his desk to look for it.

I have been dialing the cell # from our house phones. Finally today, in the bedroom, I heard a faint ring. Kept trying it and moving around. Pinpointed it to the laundry basket. There it was in the pants I wore on Wednesday. Apparently I took them off when I had a nap, tossed in basket and put on something else later. Phone is on the charger getting ready for our next adventure.

Chris

Shine on Harvest Moon

2010-09-25T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here we are nearly at end of September and trees are changing color. This hillside is behind Nimmonsburg Square and Aldi on Front Street. If there was a bit of rain the colors would be more vibrant. My friend Jean Perry did a lot of photography and said a rainy day is a good time to take foliage pictures. Over the years I've done that and got great pictures.

Hope all of you saw the Harvest Moon earlier this week. It was spectacular. My picture can't begin to do it justice.

This has been a busy week. Off to the VA at Syracuse on Monday a.m. with Bob. Back home, lunch and to library.

We had training on helping visitors to the Local History & Genealogy Center obtain the microfiche of the NYS Health Dept. Index to Vital Records for birth, deaths and marriages. These microfiche are just that, an index. They contain the person's name, date of the event and the political subdivision (city, village or town) where the event took place.

Photo identification will be required for the users. They will consult the book listing the names, like a phone book heading, write down the fiche # and give paper to the volunteer. They will be allowed 5 fiches at a time. We will have 2 microfiche readers. Time will be limited to 1 hour if others are waiting.

Our Go Live date is Monday, October 11. Yes, the library is open on Columbus Day.

I have my personal list of lookups. Hope I can work them into the available time when nobody is wanting to use the machines.

On Thursday our Red Hat group drove out to Candor to Edge of Thyme for tea. The teas and food were delicious. Edge of Thyme is a Bed and Breakfast in a beautiful old home at the edge of Candor. If you live within driving distance you might want to make a reservation for tea someday. I bought a cookbook written by Eva Musgrave, one of the proprietors. Mrs. Musgrave served us cucumber sandwiches, "properly made." The receipe is in the book as well as many other delightful recipes.

After tea Fran and I stopped at Puckey Huddle Delight, a quilt shop on the Rt. 96 truck route around the edge of Candor. Of course I found some fabrics I needed to bring home and several notions I needed. Of course I need that fabric, I don't have it.

In between going places and doing things I started emptying some boxes that haven't been opened since we moved here in February 2008. Off to the dumpster with most of the stuff.

The other day I had an email from Sally Chirlin of Norwich asking about the Mary Ann Tripp and Joseph A. Hamilton genealogy. Jean Perry and myself worked on this about twenty years ago. Of course most of the material isn't here but I remembered quite a bit. Now to get my family group sheets of the Hamiltons and send material to her.

It's been an interesting week. Needless to say, I am never bored. And I did squeeze in some machine quilting.

Chris

House Tour

2010-09-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

This house on River Road, Chenango Bridge, was once a dairy barn. It was converted to a house
in the 1930s, with a second renovation done in the 50s. The last owners did another renovation beginning in the late 1980s. The cattle were in the lower part and the upper storeys were hay mows. The hay track remains in the peak of the house, but covered now.

It is now a luxurious home with so many rooms a person could get lost in it. In fact the current owners were living there three months when they found another room.

This barn is a tobacco barn and still smells of tobacco when you step inside. The barn is not far from the river and I believe the tobacco was grown in a field near the river bank. Windows have been put into the openings.

The barn is on the former Thomas property in Chenango Bridge. The house was there when the Thomas family came from Connecticut just before 1832. The house has many of its original features including remains of a cistern in the cellar, wavy window glass, original doors and hardware and a stairway with a newell post.

We visited a house on Shore Acres Drive that was remodeled from a house with cardboard and paper insulation to a modern home with a spiral staircase that the current owner and his father built. The fordway from Chenango Bridge to Port Crane is down the driveway. This was used before the bridge at Chenango Bridge was built. This home is charming and decorated with art work done by the owner's mother and brother and features a beautAiful stone fireplace that was part of the original house.

It was interesting to visit the Birchard home on Kattelville Road. This large house was once the Wagner Rest Home. It was purchased by Endicott Johnson for a rest home for female employees. The women recovered from nervous ailments and surgeries. They slept on a porch dormitory, with beds heated by soapstones in winter. The women spent much time outside with mandatory rest in the afternoons. One of the visitors yesterday was of a woman whose mother was there. She had pictures of her mother at the home.

We enjoyed a visit to the Beach farm on Prentice Road. This farm has barn quilts, which I've shown in a previous blog early in the summer.

Thanks to Chenango Historian Alice Ruby and her deputy Fran Lamb and to Laurel for all the work they put into this tour. I hope they do another one next year.

After the tour I went home and made BLTs using more of those heirloom tomatoes. So good and what a wonderful flavor they have.

Back to machine quilting my Chickens and Roosters wall hanging that I pieced some years ago.

Chris

Dori Hawks Class

2010-09-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

Dori Hawks at class for Chenango Piecemakers.

Sue doing Wiggles, Squiggles, Feathers.

Here's Sue's grapes.

We had a wonderful class on Friday with Dori Hawks, learning to free motion quilt. She led us thru wiggles, squiggles, feathers and leaves.

At the end of the session we sat and she discussed ways we could machine quilt the quilts we brought in for help.

It was a truly enlightening day. Afterwards I looked at a table runner top I placed on the back of my love seat and decided how to quilt it. Easy Peasy. Yeah, right. But now I know how to attempt it.

Thanks, Dori and came visit us again. Thanks to Jane Stillman for arranging the class and lecture/trunk show at our dinner.

Did you ever have heirloom tomatoes? Yesterday Nancy, Bob's sister, sent home a bag of them for us. Ron brought lots to her. We got home to find a bag of them on our door from Ron.

Margaret started the plants and they gave 40 plants to her brother David up in Interlaken. Apparently he had good results. Wonderful flavor. We had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch and BLTs for supper.

Thanks all of you, Chris

Conker Cancer Pillowcases

2010-09-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

There, I've made three more Conker Cancer pillowcases. Pillowcases are easy and fun to make.
Yesterday I cut these three out and sewed one. This morning I sewed the other two.
Since July I've made eighteen pillowcases, eight for us, three for Mickey, Eric and Aaron and seven to go to Syracuse for chldren ages one to eighteen.
The background is the Nickel Brick quilt I made last year. The black border on each 3 x 5" piece makes the colors pop. The ugly fabrics are small enough that they look good too.
Chris

Happy Birthday Jeanie & Dawn

2010-09-06T04:46:00.000-07:00

Jeanie's birthday is Wednesday the 8th so we surprised her at a cookout at Lois Ann's house yesterday. L to R Jeanie, LoisAnn, June.
Bob went with me (surprise) and had a good time. June's husband Sam Lee is a talker and makes Bob feel comfortable.
Sam can eat. He told me "Your squash dish is good. I'm not eating it to be polite."
We left the cake and ice cream in the kitchen with the men and they polished both off.
Good food, good friends, no rain, what more could we ask for.
Yesterday was Bob's daughter Dawn's 28th birthday. She's moving into a house in Binghamton. Her four children will finally have a lawn where they can play. They've lived in second floor apartments for most of their lives. They have a large backyard to play in. Saturday when we dropped some items off, the kids were clustered on or around the porch. They'll learn fast.
Happy Labor Day to all.
Chris

It was Roberta Horton's Idea

2010-09-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

Remember my writing about the guild program of switching FQs with your neighbor while standing in a circle. Here's what I was left with to create a Sawtooth Star. It's cut and laid out, just waiting for me to sew it. Not as ghastly as I'd imagined.

Today we're going to Lois Ann's for a cookout. Weather is sunny and cool this morning. Fall is coming.

I'm making that delicious Calico Squash Casserole recipe that Tonie brought to the reunion and shared the recipe with me.

Triangle Guild is making pillowcases for Conker Cancer. We started at 5 p.m. (some did but I had a short nap so arrived at 6 p.m) on Thursday. I had 2 cases done by 6:45 p.m. Thanks to Judy, Cheryl and Shirley for cutting fabric into kits for us beforehand. Shirley pressed and pinned as we stitched. I didn't get a count but we had a batch for Pam M. to take with her. Pam is the coordinator for a large section of New York State for this project.

She said she recently delivered 350 pillowcses to a Syracuse hospital where children with cancer from this area are usually treated. She will be making a drop there in a few days.

The next day I found fabric in my stash to make more cases. If I use it up I can buy more.

Enjoy the holiday weekend and fly your flag,

Chris

Car Review

2010-09-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

When Bobbie was here over a week ago she had a rental car, this little robin's egg blue Nissan Cube. I had just seen my first Cube about a week before. So I was glad of a chance to ride in it.
It was comfortable to ride in, lots of leg and head room. Bobbie said it was easy to see behind and to sides of the car.
We both have Nissans so it was a fun trip both checking out the car and looking for spots we'd been to when we were kids.
As a genealogist I check several out of town newspapers for obits for my family. I was saddened to read in the Syracuse paper of the death of Martha Higgs Ferrens of Zephyrhills, FL, formerly of Phoenix, NY. Her father and mother were Wesley & Roberta Davis Higgs of that area. Martha was very involved with the VFW in her area and was a past president of the state VFW auxillary.
Finally I moved my new sewing machine upstairs. Now to haul some fabric in a laundry basket and miscellaneous tools up here. The upstairs AC cools this room nicely.
Ella Mae loaned me a book 9-Patch Pizzazz by Judy Sisneros. I need a 40" quilt top layered for the workshop with Dori Hawks on the 10th. Sure I can get one made in time.
I've been checking out the supply list and have nearly everything except the extension table for my machine. Hope it arrives in time.

Chris

On Guard Duty

2010-08-26T17:34:00.000-07:00

Jack and Bob guarding the cooler and keeping an eye on the food table. Haven't been in much of a mood for writing lately. Had a toothache for days and finally had two teeth extracted. That was last Friday. Yesterday was first day my mouth felt better.
Today the Campfire Girls went to Panera Bread for lunch after a quick stop at the Christmas Tree Shop. Later we went to Sew Many Quilts and to Kohls. After this boost to the economy I went home and took a nap.
Next month I'm taking a class on free motion quilting by Dori Hawks. Looking forward to it as my machine quilting could use a lot of help.
While I was taking a sabatical from sewing last week I read several more of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series. One book arrived from Amazon.com yesterday and another today. Broome County Public Library has the rest of the seventeen books in the series. I finished Breakup yesterday. Spring breakup in Alaska is worse than a full moon is here. Kate is commanded to take her friend Mandy's very proper Boston parents on a short tour of the Park to keep them away from Mandy's boyfriend Chick. They encounter a wife shooting at her drunken husband, two women with guns fighting about and access road, an angry bear attacking the truck, a plane crashing into a truck. Then when they went to the Roadhouse the proper Bostonians got properly snockered. This book is Alaska at its best and worst. Kate keeps mumbling "I hate Breakup."
Chris

Our Family

2010-08-19T09:17:00.001-07:00

Our reunion was held on August 15th, which was a chilly and rainy day.

Cousin Bobbie came
from New Mexico to
go to a Webster (her
mother's family)reunion
up in Otsego Co.
Then she drove down
here to join us.

My brother Bruce and

his daughter Tammy,

her husband Mike and

their kids Madison and

Logan.

She said Logan is reason

she has gray hair. We had some great food. Bruce cooked burgers and hot dogs for us. Tonie made a great dish of yellow squash and cheese and some other ingredients. I'm waiting for her to send me the recipe before the yellow squash season is over.

There was a banana pudding that was wonderful, blueberry bread, scalloped potatoes and lots of other great dishes.

Chris

Reunion Time

2010-08-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

These are Bob's two youngest grandchildren, Natalia and Jaylynn. They are 4 and 3 now.

Today is our Huntington Reunion at Dorchester Park. We plan to eat at 1 p.m.

I remember the Gaylord reunions at the Grange Hall at the fairgrounds in Whitney Point when I was a kid. So much to eat and such fun with all those other kids. Of course we wore dresses back then in the late forties.

And who were those old people. I remember tall, gaunt old men and hadn't a clue who they were except for their names. After I got interested in genealogy I was able to connect names, faces and how they were related.

Strange but now I'm probably the age those men were back then. I'm not old.

Speaking of families, there is a Thomas Family Cemetery on a knoll on Rt. 12A. Price Chopper is building a supermarket there. There has been some questions about moving the cemetery to allow better visibiliy for vehicles going in and out of the parking lot. Finally the State Supreme Court Judge has approved an order to construct a new Thomas Family Cemetery. The bodies will be removed, temporarily stored and then reburied in a location close to their original resting place.

Chris

Happy Birthday Kohdy

2010-08-11T10:17:00.001-07:00

It's Kohdy's 7th birthday. Best wishes Kohdy. He's Bob's second grandchild.

This morning I sewed 2 blocks for Piecemakers for Block of the Month for September. It's the D4P block. Hope the members like it.

Chris

Happy Birthday Michelle Joy

2010-08-09T02:24:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my daughter Michelle Joy today August 9th.

Are you a Bonnie Hunter groupie? This pattern was in the latest issue of Quiltmaker (Sept/Oct '10). She calls it 4 - Patch X. The magazine came in the Saturday mail and I had the block made before bedtime. Because I had some 4 patches made using 2 1/2" squares, I used them instead of using 2" squares to make my 4 patches. I changed the size of the triangles accordingly.
Now I think I'll use Insulbrite for batting and make a nice hot pad for the table.
Off to the library this afternoon. I enjoy volunteering at the Local History Center.
Yesterday I finished reading A Night too Dark by Dana Stabenow. It's the seventeenth of her Kate Shugak series. The library has some of the other sixteen. It's an ntriguing Alaskan mystery with some humor.
The coffee's ready and the paper must be at the door.
Chris

Up, Up and Away

2010-08-08T18:00:00.001-07:00

Tonight was the final balloon launch from Otseningo Park at the Speidi Fest. Many of them drifted up here and over our home. The last one from Rogers Service Group set down just up the road behind Project Concern. The parking lots and road were full of cars chasing them. There were lots of kids at hand to help roll up the balloon.

Yesterday I came out of Maines on Front Street and found a van with a basket on a trailer parked next to me. I think the sign on his door read Balloons over VT, but he drove off before I could get a picture. So ungracious of him.

It was a perfect weekend for the Balloon Rally & Speidi Fest.

Chris

Mrs. Right turned left...............

2010-08-08T05:05:00.001-07:00

Liza Lucy told us in the AOL Quilt Chat about taking a class from Roberta Horton with object being to make colors work that we really don't think go together.

The group stood in a circle, put one Fat Quarter (FQ) on their head and one on each shoulder. Then the quilters exchanged the FQs on their shoulders with the persons next to them. Keeping the FQ on their heads they were given a Sawtooth Star pattern and told to make that block, using the three FQs they had.

We did this and then played a quick game of Left Right, passing the FQs in our hands left and right as the story was read. At the end I passed out the Sawtooth Star pattern and asked members to bring the blocks back to the October meeting. (And I saw Sue exchange one of her FQs with someone. She said her mother told her when she was a kid that if she didn't like game rules she altered them.)

The Sawtooth Star block is one I made for display and the three FQs are what I have to work with.

It's going to be interesting to see the results. We'll put them up on a wall and see how they work together. And then there will be another donation quilt.

Yesterday I finished hand sewing the bindings on the two doll quilts just as Marcos Ambrose crossed the finish line. Bob's littlest granddaughters should like the quilts for their 'babies'.

This is a birthday week for our families. Daughter Mickey's is the 9th. Bob's youngest sister Janice out in CO has her birthday on the 10th. Kohdy, Bob's grandson, has his on the 11th. My grandson in law Mike Dietrich has a birthday this week too.

Sewing Along With NASCAR

2010-08-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

This quilt is for Jaylynn to use for her dolls.

This little quilt is for Natalia to use for her dolls.
As we watch the NASCAR Nationwide race from Watkins Glen this afternoon, I'll handsew the bindings. The quilts were made from leaders and enders and from triangles I cut when I demonstrated the Fons & Porter ruler. They went together quickly. I used scraps of 2 1/2" wide fabrics for the binding. I quilted in their names but had to go over Jaylynn's with a marking pen.

Thanks to JoAnne for reminding me of the sale at Creative Threads this morning. As soon as my son in law Eric finished the small repair to Bob's car, at his garage All Points Auto Service on Rt. 12A, I scurried right down to the quilt shop and found sale fabrics much to my liking. In fact, there was one in pink that I loved. I had a small piece of this in lavender a while back.

In my next post I'll tell you about our program at Triangle Guild on Thursday night. It was fun and a bit crazy. One of the members said she hoped nobody was looking in the window.

Chris

WOPs

2010-07-25T08:04:00.001-07:00

Works in progress in both my garden and from my sewing machine.

This cucumber will be on the table tomorrow. There are more on the vines.

These works in progress are providing us with fresh tomatoes lately. We had BLTs last night. Bob said the tomatoes were delicious. They smell so good.

Speaking of works in progress, this yellow squash will be on my table in a couple of days.

Here's my most recent WOP (work in process). It's the Twin Sister block by Bonnie Hunter as featured in Quiltmaker July/August 2010. I had lots of 2 1/2" strips so after I was reminded by
by Maureen this morning in our AOL Quilt Chat about the pattern, I deided to try it. Two blocks completed and more in various stages of completion. This is one I can pick up anytime or use for Leaders and Enders.

Have a great day.

Chris

Campfire & Lavens Girls

2010-07-24T05:32:00.001-07:00

Forgot to pack for Show & Tell this table runner top I finished yesterday morning. This one is Game Board, sewn mostly on my new machine. It's going to be a learning process to use this Husqvarna 855 machine. Totally different from the Elna Quilter's Dream and the Featherweight 221 that I've used for so long. But I know already I will like this machine.

The Campfire Girls, left to right: June Lee, Lois Ann Vincent, my cousin Ella Lane, Shirley Jean Marks and myself Chris Gillette.

Darla, Dennise and Donna Lee Lavens.....they all have married names but they'll be forever be known to us as the Lavens Girls. Their sister Darlane stopped by for a few minutes yesterday. We had a pot luck lunch at Donna Lee's home at Hunts Corners. We had planned to eat outside at Darla's camp but the rain stopped that plan.

Later we walked down the road to Darla and Dennise's camps. Checked out the Amish men building a barn down over the hill. They were just starting to put roofboards over the rafters when we went back to Donna Lee's house as it was starting to rain.

When Ella Mae, Jeanie and myself went home they had a tin roof done on one side and were putting the tin on the other side. We counted seven men working on the barn.

The Lavens Girls told us there are nine Amish families who have bought farms or farm land and will be living on this road. In addition there are about six more in the area.

We saw a sign Baked Goods - Fri. & Sat. They also have butter for sale.

We played a rousing game of Pay Me, won by Darla.

Rain stopped in late afternoon.

This morning it's back to hot and muggy.

Chris

Sewing Again

2010-07-21T06:58:00.000-07:00

Pillowcases with camping theme made for Mickey, Eric and Aaron.

These two pair of pillowcases were made for my bed.

Here's our little sweetie, Caleb with his Mommy. His eyes are blue gray.

The sewer's block is gone. I sewed yesterday and will sew more today. I have fabrics picked for a table runner.

My shipment came from Amazon.com. Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank and Beachcombers by Nancy Thayer.

When I was at Barnes & Noble (my favorite store next to a quilt shop) I bought Paula Deen's It Ain't All About the Cookin'. Funny, heartwarming and some recipes.

This morning I picked 3 Roma tomatoes and 2 from the patio tomato plant. I smell BLTs for lunch.

Now to go to grocery store and quick head home to sew.

Chris

Hot Chicken Salad recipe

2010-07-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

This sign is over the doorway in my kitchen.

Batty/Liz, a quilt chat friend, asked me to put the Hot Chicken Salad recipe on my blog. The recipe comes from Dorothea Benton Frank's book The Christmas Pearl.

Frances Mae's Hot Chicken Salad for Twenty
10 cups cooked chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
10 cups chopped celery
1 #2 can ripe olives, sliced
1 bunch scallions, sliced, including stems
5 cups sharp cheese, grated
8 ounces sour cream (may use low fat type)
8 ounces mayonnaise (don't use low fat type if you used low fat sour cream)
salt & pepper to taste
lemon juice to taste

Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl, with about half the cheese. Stir the sour cream and mayonnaise together, add lemon juice, then seasonings. Add mixture to other ingredients. Put into 2 greased 2 quart casserole dishes. Top with remaining cheese and some bread crumbs.
Bake uncovered at 375 degrees untill bubbly. (approximately 30 minutes).
This recipe may be made the day before, storing in refrigerator.

I made about a half batch of this, using a 3.8 oz. can of ripe olives, sliced. The Campfire Girls loved it and asked for the recipe. I only used about 2 cups of chopped celery.

Back in May at my granddaughter's baby shower, we were given seeds to plant and watch grow. Mine were doing nicely, thank you, until today. I watered them and then looked again. Some four legged varmit has chewed off some of the snapdragons. Some were just topped so they will come on. Now it is time to plant the small plants in a tall pot and maybe they will bloom before frost. We have squirrels here and I did see a rabbit one time. Do I have to sit on the patio with my shotgun in hand?

I picked two more tomatoes today. BLTs for supper tonight. There are wee little cucumbers on the vines.

Chris

How does your garden grow?

2010-07-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

With ripening tomatoes, cutting celery, basil, parsley and rosemary in a pot and cucumbers blossoming all in a row.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells

And pretty maidens all in a row.

I'm not Mary and there's no silver bells or cockle shells in my garden, but my little garden is doing nicely, thank you.

There is constant watering, several times a day, last week when we had 90+ weather, but my little garden in pots is doing great. The summer squash is budded and nearly ready to flower.

I love to be able to go out my kitchen door and pick lettuce or a spring of rosemary, basil or parsley to season and garnish my food.

We are going to have BLTs for lunch in a couple of days. They are my favorite sandwich and with home grown tomato slices, they will be extra special.

Chris

Aunt Jane Port

2010-07-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Last week after I took the barn quilt pictures I wandered out to Rt. 12 and went north to Kattelville Cemetery. My mission was to look for some very old Kattel graves which I didn't find.

Instead my eyes wandered to the monument of Jane Collins Port. Aunt Jane, as she was called, directed her heirs to place a very larger monument on her gravesite. She wanted the monument to be the largest in the cemetery so people would know 'she was somebody.' It is the tallest in the cemetery.

Jane Collins Port died at the age of 90. She shares her plot with her husband John Port and her daughter and infant grandchild.

As I was taking the pictures I thought about Collins Hall of New York and Arizona who I met when he came back to New York to live several times in the 80s. He would stop at my office and take me to lunch and reminise about his family and people he knew here.

Collins was a descendant of Dennis Hall who died about 1848 in Barker and is reputed to have been buried in the dooryard of what was much later known as Strawberry Valley Farms on Route 79. Dennis was married second to my great great grandmother Permelia Gaylord Lyon.

Dennis and Permelia had two sons John and Charles Hall who both died in Andersonville Prison, Georgia, in 1864, just seven days apart.

My great grandmother Caroline Lyon Young is one of Permelia's children by her first marriage to John Adams Lyon.

Collins was the grandson of 'Old Doc Hall', Collins Hall, who is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Whitney Point.

Kattelville Cemetery is the burial place of many members of the old families of the area, Palmer, Smith, Bishop and Fuller and just to mention a few names.

I hope my readers are able to keep cool and hydrated this week as we endure this sweltering weather. I'm wearing shorts and have both air conditioners turned on. I plan to stay inside.

Chris

Happy Fourth of July

2010-07-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July to all of you. Yesterday I watched a program on our local public television channel about the Revolutionary War. Amazing what those men and women went thru to achieve American Independence. Let us never forget and strive to keep this country free.

On July 1 our Triangle Guild had a tour of Cutler Gardens just north of Binghamton. Two of our members Carolyn and Sylvia are in the Master Gardening program there. If you are traveling south on Rt. 81 you can see the gardens on your right, just south of the Cracker Barrel and Applebys. The gardens are on Rt. 11 just north of Exit 4. If you are in the area, stop and walk around. It is an always changing scene.

There is a gazebo that is used for weddings, vegetable gardens, herb gardens, perennials, annuals, bird sanctuary, a heaths and heathers bed, rock garden and a rose walk. There is also a composting area and a propagation area. One area is planted with flowers that humming birds enjoy and also has hummingbird feeders.

The pictures are of a drumstick allium, black hollyhock and one of the many roses.

Carolyn explained the rose pruning process after the roses have stopped blooming. New growth is used to propagate new rose bushes.

The gardeners are now using newspaper and cardboard under wood chips for mulch, cutting back on time spent weeding.

Barn Quilts

2010-06-30T11:44:00.001-07:00

Aren't these barn quilts beautiful. They are all on several barns about a mile or so from my home in Chenango Bridge. There are two more on the left side of the barn shown in the fourth picture. Those two are visible from Kattelville Road.

If you are driving on Kattelville Road, watch for Prentice Road. The farm is just across the railroad tracks on Prentice Road.

I wonder if the yellow and green quilt on the rose trellis is being prepared to hand on a barn.

How many more barn quilts are there in Broome County?

Alert - Campfire Girls Meeting Today

2010-06-25T04:33:00.000-07:00

Yes, the Campfire Girls are meeting today at Lois Ann's home. She's making some kind of green chili stew for us. I made Black Bean Salad, recipe courtsey of Joan Reno. It needs to be made ahead so the flavors can marry.
Joan's Black Bean Salad
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can green beans
1 jar roasted red peppers (or roast your own)
1/2 Vidalia onion, chopped fine
Vidalia onion salad dressing
Drain the veggies, add chopped onion, vidalia dressing and a little salt & pepper to taste. Let set for at least 12 hours.

The picture above is of a quilt at the Lancaster Show back in late March. The flames were so realistic. The artist captured the despair of the man who owned the building.

Now I have to get working on my entry for Chenango Piecemakers' Challenge in July. The theme is What's For Dinner. We have a fat quarter to use in the article. Will post a picture after the picnic on July 8th.

Chris

What Happened to my Post

2010-06-23T04:20:00.000-07:00

The planter on my living room windowsill has Tiny Toonias, a new hybrid Alyssum and Hysop. I'm not sure of the name of the silver leafed plant but it adds an interesting contrast to the other plants. The Alyssum is so sweet. I sometimes smell it thru the open window or when I walk down the sidewalk. The leaf of the hysop is also fragrant.

On our patio I have geaniums that were purchased at least 3 years ago. I yank them out of the dirt in the fall, place in brown paper bags and store in my daughter's cellar. About the beginning of March I repot and they reward me with lovely blooms all summer.

We have three tomato plants in pots, Patio, Roma and Early Girl. All have wire cages in the pots and all three have tomatoes.

Lettuce (mesculan mix) grows in a pot and I've been picking that for a month. Herbs (basil, parsley and rosemary) are in another pot. The parsley and rosemary are last year's plants. I wintered them in our kitchen in front of the slider door.

I also have cucumbers and yellow squash in pots. They seem to grow by leaps and bounds.

The Crown of Thorns cactus is out there as well, enjoying the sunshine.

Today I need to make some donation and hugs blocks for quilt projects. Sewing has taken a back seat this year. Somehow I'm not motivated to sew as often as I was last year. It will be back.

I did make several pairs of pillowcases for myself and I'm enjoying them on the bed. So pretty. I do love selecting fabrics for them.

Meanwhile, iron a blouse, shower, breakfast and off to grocery store.

Tonight we are going to a graduation ceremony for Bob's daughter who is graduating from Elmira Business Institute. Best wishes, Dawn.

Chris

My Tiny Garden

2010-06-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

More pictures of Caleb

2010-06-19T03:08:00.000-07:00

Jeremy is holding Caleb in top picture. Notice those long fingers.

Second picture is a four generation picture. I'm holding Caleb, Becki in bed, her sister Nikki at head and my son Jack at right.

The sun is up and it looks to be a good day.

Chris

He's Here

2010-06-18T17:19:00.000-07:00

Caleb Douglas arrived on June 17th at 3:38 p.m. He's my first great grandchild, the son of Rebecca (Becki) & Jeremy Tennant. He weighed in at 8 lb. 8 oz.

He has long eyelashes, lots of dark hair like his father and long fingers like his Mom and Aunt Nikki.

Reunion Time

2010-06-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the nearly annual Goodrich Reunion held in Endicott, hosted by Nancy & Ken. In the front row are Bob and Bev, back row: Ron, Gene, Nancy, Ed and Larry.
Good food, good company, high winds and a bit of rain were features of this day. Their sister Janice lives in Colorado and wasn't with them. Their cousin Roger Twining from Allentown, PA drove up to be with them.
A tornado warning in mid morning didn't deter them. I looked up at one time when a gust of high wind hit and saw people holding on to the tent poles.
Three of the children of Hiram P. & Blanche Smith Goodrich are deceased, Sam, the eldest, David and Joyce.
The previous day family members attended the wedding of Ashley Goodrich, Ed's granddaughter, and Joseph Fuller in Newark Valley.
A good time was had by all.

And the Winner is..........

2010-05-30T05:06:00.000-07:00

Here's Zack, KLL's entry at the Lancaster and Paducah Quilt Shows. He makes me laugh, Klonda. Thanks for bringing quilting happiness to our lives.

Last night the Campfire Girls and several male companions went to Tioga Downs. Some needed a crying towel and a few won. Ella Mae, Jeanie & Lois Ann were among the winners.

I was so happy when a horse I bet $2 on won. Then that horse was disqualified for interference. The winner paid over $14. Guess I'll never be a big time gambler.

We had the most beautiful sunset. The track is set in a huge bowl and when the sun went down over the trees it was spectacular. By the time I saw JoAnne with her phone taking pictures I thought 'shoulda brought your camera.' Too late to dig out my phone. Will have to remember it in my mind.

Huntington 13 - The Blog

2010-05-27T05:34:00.000-07:00

Shelter and bridge to restrooms

East Shelter, lake in background

Stream flowing thru the park

Hi Huntington family,

Here are some pictures of Dorchester Park and our pavillion which is named on signs "East Shelter".

The park is located on Rt. 26, off Rt. 206 just outside Whitney Point, and not far from Rt. 81.

I can see a bit of Dorchester Lake in the background. When we visited a few weeks ago there were ten tables in the shelter as well as a charcoal grill. Water is close by.

Sunday, August 15th is the date. Let's plan to eat about 1 p.m. If weather permits, I'll get the charcoal fire started about 12:15 p.m.

Bring a dish to pass. There is an electrical outlet so I can make coffee, just in case we have cool or rainy weather. I'll furnish table coverings, table service and some beverages, iced tea and lemonade. Don't forget a chair. Much easier to sit on than the picnic benches.

Bring pictures and family stories.

Our newsletter editor Bobbie will be there to gather stories for the newsletter.

On Mother's Day Jack and I went for a ride over the hills and went up to South Oxford and found Grandpa Huntington's farm. I got a picture of the barn, which looks to be in good shpe.

Chris