Canning and Sewing

I purchased some yummy jam from Costco a few weeks ago.  It was a peach, apricot, mango, and orange with bits of fruit, organic, and very good.  Made in Provence, France.  I decided I wanted to try to make my own.  Bought the fruit, and scoured the web looking for a good recipe.  I found several and I actually didn't follow just one, but combined a few recipes.  I started with this one.

However, I added apricots, and after cooking it a while, then added the sugar, a split vanilla bean, a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, and about a teaspoon of vanilla flavoring while it cooked.  After I let it boil about 30 minutes, I put in the Sure-Gel, ladeled it up and processed it for 10 minutes. It was so good, I actually thought it was better than what I had purchased.  And it looks so pretty!  I'd really like to make some more.

Spent some time working on my latest scrap quilt.  And worked on a new quilt project for a 2020 magazine.  It's going to be really special.

 And finished the day relaxing in my favorite chair.  I love this spot in our home.  So very thankful we were able to build this year.

Cross and Crown Quilt

This is my most recent finish. I took it outside to photograph the evening I finished it. It was almost too dark to get good pics.

 So I took it out again today in the sun.

Fabric is by Lella Boutique.  Pattern is a free one I found online by Sandra Clemons.  It was so time-consuming!  I am not used to that much precision, having to trim each corner piece of each block.  After trimming the triangle pieces before that.  Goodness!  I was making it for my nephew's wedding, but the couple broke up and called the wedding off.  His fiancé had given me a picture of some soft blues and greens and I found a fat quarter pack with those, and other soft colors.  I'm not really crazy about the colors.  Now I've got to decide what to do with it.  Should I sell it?  I've never sold a quilt. Should I give it to our annual church auction that raises funds for the youth ministry?  That is what I'm leaning towards.  Or should I gift it to a friend that I have already promised a quilt to.  But, I have another idea for that quilt and have plenty of time to make it before Christmas.

I was also looking forward to continuing the tradition my grandmother started when she gave my brother and his new bride a handmade quilt about 27 years ago.  "Now, if you two break up, HE gets the quilt!"  At the time we thought that was hilarious, but now I think it is completely appropriate!  If I give my nephew a quilt I've spend 60-70 hours working on, I want it to stay with him.

Other life tidbits.....we've been pretty busy this summer and did some canning.  We put up about 16 half pints of blackberry jam.  It is so easy to make and yummy, even if you leave the seeds in.

 Also canned about 15 half pints of sweet pickles.  We love these. Although this was the first year ever I had to throw out some after the two week salt water soak.  Not sure if I had too many in my bucket and not enough salt or what??

 We made a quick trip to Nashville a couple weekends ago to go to a wedding shower for my husband's niece.  That was fun.

 I recently discovered these.  Have you tried them yet?  Oh my, they are delicious!  Like eating a real candy bar, and with 16 grams of protein and only 3 grams of sugar.

 The kids had some warm weather in Cambridge this summer and my Emma has learned to put her face in the water and 'swim'.  She is also reading at 5years old!  It seems they start school about a year before most do here in America.

This girl has personality plus!  And her little brother is the sweetest, easy going little guy.  Love these two so very much.

So that's the news from our home to yours. Hope you are enjoying your summer.

Rachel

Scrappy Quilt Finish

I worked hard yesterday getting all the quilting and binding done on this one.

 I did have to purchase a lot of white, but all the rest is from my scraps.

 I recently resorted my scraps by color in small shoebox style plastic, see-thru boxes. It seems to be a great way to have them sorted and be able to see them easily.

 I like nothing better than scrap quilts.

 There is something frugal about them, and always colorful.  At least mine are, because I use every...single....type....and.....color.....of....fabric.

 As you can see, if you look close enough.  There is even some children's fabric included.

Did any of you take advantage of the amazon Prime Day?  I did.  After a friend at work told me how much she loved her Roomba, I decided to give one a try.  Our floors are darker in this house than our old one, and they do show more dirt.  And we have a cat.  Who sheds. A lot.

Well, actually, I am amazed at all it picked up and continues to pick up.  Mostly cat fur, but lots of other crumblies and such.  This may be gross to many of you, but the scientist in me loves a good technical workhorse of a device. First pic was the first time it was used.  Yuck!

 I ran it yesterday and decided to run it again today.  I couldn't believe how much it picked up today.  I noticed there were a few spots it missed yesterday, but it seemed to catch most of them today.

 We got the Roomba 690, which can be operated by a phone app.  It doesn't however, show you the map of where it actually travelled.  The 900 series does that but it costs much more $$$. On the app this one keeps up with the time for each job and the number and time of all the vacuum jobs. Yes, I am very happy with it.  It also finds its way back to the recharging device. Amazing.

Back to quilting.  Once the scrappy quilt was done I started working on a gift quilt.  I don't know what I was thinking when I picked this pattern.  Beautiful sure, but so many little pieces. It is a free pattern I found online by Sandra Clemons.

I purchased a fat quarter bundle in some soft colors and some dark coral/red for the centers.  I think I have seven blocks made.  Only 49 more to go!

 It's not been all work around here.  The hubby and I went to our local McDonal's the other night for a dipped cone.  Yum.  This is a great dessert for only $1.50 each.  Of course it's probably 500 calories, or more.

My son and his family are now living in Cambridge, England. However, they were excited to travel back to Edinburgh last weekend for the wedding of a friend.  I'm so thankful they send me pictures.

See Elijah's kilt?  I love it.  His friend was married in his as well.  They both graduated together last year, and were two of several of the graduates of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland to wear kilts.

Goodness I miss these people.  They have been abroad for five years now.  Hopefully only one more and they will return to the U.S. for good.  It is my prayer, and hopefully the Lord's will for their lives.

Outdoor Table Reveal

Check this out!  The table is finished.

I am very happy with it, especially with the chairs.  I think they are perfect for it. They were purchased at Walmart.com and are from their Better Homes and Gardens line.

Figuring out how to make the turnbuckles work for the industrial look was not easy.  I finally figured out a way using an S hook to join them, since no matter what I did, I couldn't make it work like the ones in the ana-whitediy.com plan.

I really like the added metal corner brackets.  I couldn't find the ones I wanted so I bought these steel ones and spray painted them black.

The same with the threaded rod, washers, and nuts.  Zinc holds the paint better than steel or galvanized, but they all took the black spray paint pretty well.

I learned some things I should have done differently and a couple of things I would have changed.  I've made an offer to some of my friends, if any of them want to buy this table for what I have in it, they can IF they give me four hours of their time to help me build another one.  

What I'd do different?  I'd make it 1/2-1" shorter. It sits at 30" which is a normal height, so I don't know if it is the chairs or that I'm just short. I had the same problem with our wicker dining set.  I feel like a kid sitting low.  The other thing, I'd go ahead and make the top about 4" longer.  It's a tight squeeze on the sides for three chairs. For 4 more inches it could easily seat 8 but not look bad with just six as shown or three on each side.

I have a terrible habit of taking shortcuts and sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it.  I only sanded the top. If I do it again, I will sand the rest of it, and work harder at getting the top boards to align.  Having someone to help would make that so much easier.  I'd also use a different finish.  I wasn't too happy with the Minwax Polyshades.  I think I'll just do a regular matte stain, then finish with polyurethane or maybe varnish. Not use the two products in one. And I'd finish all of it alike.  So far, on this table, the top got two coats, the rest only one.  I haven't even done the underside yet.  I think I'll wait until it cools off before I tackle that......unless I sell it before.

Anyway it really wasn't too bad to build it.  I feel very accomplished and enjoyed the process immensely.  I looked at tables to buy similar and they were anywhere from $500 to $2500.  So for my $85 in wood, and hardware, I'm very happy!

Woodworking Project

I've been looking to spruce up our screened porch lately.  Found some swivel rockers and ottomans on sale at Home Depot. Score!  Our round wicker table just wasn't doing anything for the space.  A friend suggested I build one.  She knows I've done some woodworking and really love it.  However, it's getting harder to do that kind of work by myself. I picked a simple farmhouse plan made from 2x4s and 2x8s.

 This plan was an adaptation by thehappierhomemaker.com and an Ana-White.com plan, with a little inspiration by Pottery Barn.  Ever heard of a turnbuckle?  Me either.  I can't find details on how they did it but I think I've figured it out. The turnbuckles are the metal connectors circled below, with metal threaded rods on each side.

So,  after spending only $65 in lumber from Lowe's, who cut the 2x8s to 6 foot lengths for me, I came home to get started on it yesterday.  The cuts were pretty easy using the miter saw.  Everything was going pretty good, but putting something together like this by yourself, is rather difficult. You have to get creative.  I used the stool and book to get the 2x4 just the right height on one side while I screwed it in on the other.

I used pocket hole to put the boards together for the top, but that proved to be difficult also.  I was supposed to turn them top side down, put them together using the pocket hole screws, the upright it and place it on the frame.  I could barely lift three of the boards so I had to put them together while they were on the frame.  Screwing them in from underneath the table.  Ugh.

 I did think to sand them before putting them together.  But a couple of the boards must have been a little warped.  You can't tell in most of the pictures but two of them stick up more than the rest.

 My plan is to get a hand planer to work them down some before staining.

I also have plans to spray paint the metal hardware (turnbuckles, rods, nuts, and washer) a hammered bronze before put that together.  And I also plan to mount some metal corner brackets to give it a little more interest.  Hope my vision comes together! I wish I could find the square washers like in the picture above.  The guys made them from an old license plate.....hummm....wonder if I could do that??

Stay tuned for the final product!

Idyllic Quilt Progress

I've been rather obsessed with this quilt pattern.

 Busily sewing away.  Although I am still having trouble with the exact 1/4" seam width.  The needle on my machine does not move!  Seriously, it does not move.  Argh!  The regular Janome quarter inch foot fits on it, but the seam is way too big when using it.  I've changed back to the regular foot but it is a little too narrow. It is very frustrating.

 I find myself eyeballing it which is most definitely not a perfect scant 1/4" seam width.

 This puts most of my blocks not square, not meeting correctly, cutting off points to make things match...you get the picture .......

 But....I still love this quilt pattern and how it is coming together.  My favorite quilt of all is one with a lot of white and a lot of scraps.  This will have both.

 It will have a 2" white sashing around each block. I've got all 30 blocks completed but plan to make one more.  The red one in the right bottom....I don't like it.  All three colors are just too dark.  Too solid.  My favorite blocks are those that have lots of pattern and movement in the fabrics.

I've got so much quilt wise to be doing right now.  Two in the works for magazines, two gifts for this fall, and this one.  I really want to finish it to have it on my bed during the summer.  It looks so summery.

So, I've got to force myself to put this one aside while I finish one for QuickQuilt Jan/Feb 2020 issue, and start and finish one for another early 2020 issue.  It might come next though, then I'll have a bit of pressure to do the two gift quilts.  Heck, I work better under pressure anyway.   :)

The Weekend!

We have had some of the most pleasant spring like days around here.  I don't think our air conditioner has come on in the last three days.  We've enjoyed having our french doors all the way open. The air has been so clear, just a beautiful few days.

I have a gift quilt to make for a wedding this fall.  I asked what colors they like.  Well, you want to make something they will actually like, but when you ask, that means you have to make something in those colors, lol.  Their colors were very muted, but I did find a fat quarter pack to use that will work.  All but the navy.

And even picked a pattern, but, whoa, I am not sure now.  I love the pattern and think it would look so pretty with all the background being white.  I made a test block using some of my scraps.

 It's by Corey Yoder and I just love the little pops of color.  But....this will be a lot of work. I think I might save this to make out of my own scraps for one I'll keep and find something a little easier for the gift quilt.

I do think it is sooooo pretty!

I also tried to reorganize my fabric scraps/stash yesterday.  I had big plastic bins but they were full to the brim and too difficult to really find something in, so I purchased some plastic flip top shoe boxes. They are a little small, but I think they will still work well.  I managed to pull out several different colors to make it easier to find something specific.  Do you  organize by color or size?  I tried organizing by size a few years ago, but color seems to work better for me.

I'm determined to get back to posting more on my family blog (this one). I've said before how I print my blog every few years using Blog-2-Print.  It takes the actual posts, pictures and text, and puts them in a hard bound book.  I absolutely love going back and looking at them.  I've often pulled a book out to see when we went somewhere or when I was doing something. If you have a blog and don't routinely print photos (seems hardly anyone prints photos like we did in years gone by) these books are a fabulous documentation of your life and activities.

Enjoy your weekend!
Rachel