New Quilt Finish and Wood Project and a Birthday Boy!

I'm always busy.  I guess God just made me that way.  A friend calls me the energizer bunny.  Although folks think I get lots of projects done, in reality, I don't have my grandchildren or family close by so it can be rather lonesome without projects to do, and I've never been one to enjoy watching TV.  I'm naturally an introvert so I tend to do my own thing.  I do enjoy having friends over for a meal, which we did last weekend and it was a lot of fun.  This week, I started a new wood project. But first, the latest quilt finish, "Happy Scraps."

 Pretty sure this will be a gift.

 It has started to feel a little like fall in the mornings, so I decided to put my fall quilts on the twin beds.  Still my favorite room in the house because, although my grandchildren haven't slept here yet, they know it is "their" room.

Next up the wood project.  I drew off a couple of plans to make a desk and a bench.  I wanted the desk top to sit on two black filing cabinets.  Found the cabinets, at the best price, from target.com.  This project would really be budget friendly ($20-25) if you could use thrifted cabinets.

 Used my Kreg Jig to make the pocket holes to connect the 2x6 boards, cut to 54" by Lowe's.

 Decided to put a 2x2 trim piece around the edges to make it look a little more finished.

 Of course with using white wood, and no table saw or planer to cut the edges more precise, there are some cracks between the boards, but I'm still very happy with it.

 I'm excited to be able to sit at the desk and work/research on the lap top.

I am currently trying to train myself to be a morning person.  I'm not naturally, which makes it terribly hard to get up at 4:30 two to three days a week for work.  So I decided to turn the lights off at 10 pm and set my alarm for 6 on all my off days.  Today is day four and I'm happy to report I am actually loving having the extra time in the mornings, and after the first night, I am going to sleep easily also.  I've moved my laptop to the desk so I am not tempted to research in bed before turning the light off.

 I have to share about this wonderful cat that has been hanging around my son's family's flat.

 They re calling her Silky due to her soft, clean fur.  We had all kinds of animals at the farm when Elijah was growing up but he loved his cat most of all -- definitely a cat person, and although I enjoy all animals, my cats have always lasted longer and were easier and sweeter than the dogs.

 Emma and Haddon were terrified at first, because they had only been around our cats and no others, and I suppose had forgotten those experiences.  However, Emma is now IN LOVE with this sweet animal.  It lets all the neighbor kids waller it around and play with it.

We facetimed yesterday for Haddon's birthday and she told me they kiss it.  Lol.....I kiss my kitty too.  Speaking of Haddon's birthday, he celebrated three years old yesterday.

 Momma made him a chocolate cake that he enjoyed with his sister and little friend. Haddon is such a sweet, laid back little fella, rather opposite from his wild, rambunctious sister.

 Family photo 😍

 Emma decided, on her own to make him something special for his birthday.  I know I'm biased but I thought this was so creative for a five year old.

Haddon's lovey is Winnie the Pooh, who goes everywhere with him.  She decided to paint the Pooh characters on some rocks for him.  The one at the top is Silky the cat, then there is Winnie, Eyeore, Christopher Robin, and Tigger.  I hope they save these.  Such a special gift.  The parents are doing such a good job with these two.  It was hard last year when he got gifts and she didn't.  This year, she understood more that it was a day to celebrate him, and she was so good to him, calling him the Birthday Boy all day.  Love these two little souls so very much.

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!