MARCH ing through the week

 Hello March 

Good Saturday Morning my friends and Happy Weekending... 

This is a week in review, yo...

How was your week?  What's going on in your life?

Mothering

Boy Child doesn't let me take his picture

so I have to be a creeper and sneak shots.  :)

Mailing

Save the Dates.  The "A Listers" have been invited, now we finish up the "B Listers". 

Muse"ing"

Loving Purple and Copper lately.  I put this bottle next to this picture

and I want to do a whole room around it now. 

Malcolm in the Middle"ing"

Love to turn on Netflix and stitch with several episodes of Bryan Cranston's genius. 

I have a major crush on Dewey too. 

Making

A rug for my mother, because I can only hand sew for so long before I completely blind myself.

Munching

That's right people, it's strawberry season in Florida and I can't get enough. 

Head to Plant City, FL for the Strawberry Festival for all you can eat Strawberry Shortcake.

Maturing 

My 16 year old got his permit, jumped into a car and figured out the stick shift in about 10 minutes. 

I think it took me weeks.  Love that boy.  He is the joy of my life. 

This is me playing chicken with him.  :)

Manure"ing"

The pasture behind our house is one of my favorite places. 

We sneak back there and "steal" poop for the garden all the time. 

Maintaining

The winter garden looking forward to harvest.  I couldn't keep the dogs out of my onions so I put rose bush prunings down to help.  It worked.  :)

Missing

My girl child and her man.  3 months till the wedding. 

She's in Texas, far, far away from her mama. 

***********************************************************************************

Choose Joy and be happy, no matter what. 

Be blessed AND Be a blessing.

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." 

~Charles Dickens

Moo says find a patch of sunshine, warm up and relax. 

Seriously. 

He said that.



Happy Birthday Texas!

  She is 176 today

Yeehaw!!!!!! 

Well that didn't take long...how long did you think I was gonna go without mentioning Texas? 

Day 2 and I'm already whining celebrating. 

***Friendly Texas Cheesy Grin and a Big Howdy Wave***

These are a few of my
FAVORITE
Texas things around the house...


A shelf in my kitchen.  Wish I could find more Texas plates. 

Yes, I know it's an ash tray. 

You don't really think I would leave a Texas shaped ash tray at the thrift store

to be bought by someone else, do you? 

A vintage "6 Flags Over Texas" ice tea set. 

It was in my mother-in-law's home and one of the things my husband wanted most. 

I treasure it. 

 

I just love this little guy.  I found it at a garage sale in Kerrville for .25 cents. 

A vintage TWU (Texas Woman's University) plate. 

Where I went to college. 

Dr. Pepper for my daughter's wedding on May 27th. 

She's marrying a Texan.

God love her!!!!

If you want to make a birthday cake for Texas,

here is a recipe for "Texas Sheet Cake"

in my mother-in-law's handwriting. 

We've already made ours today and we will eat it after our

King Ranch Chicken birthday dinner.  :)   

(PS:  I don't bake with margarine.  Gross)

******************************************************************************************

God bless Texas. 

Be blessed and Be a Blessing. 

"I'm about to enter Texas...my spirits are good and my heart is straight."
 ~ Sam Houston, 1832

Shug (short for Sugar) is our only native Texan pet. 

She says hide under the curtain for a nap. 

Shhhhhhhhh.....

Linking up with:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Open House Party at No Minimalist Here

Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt

My Magnum Opus

1. A great work, especially a literary or artistic masterpiece.

2. The greatest single work of an artist, writer, or composer.

[Latin : magnum, neuter of magnus, great + opus, work.]

Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt
Part 1

It's a wedding quilt for my daughter. 

All
hand pieced 
with her grandmother's fabrics using the
English Paper Piecing method.  

It lacks maybe 1 1/2 more rows. 

 I've been working on it 2 years. 

 ....pant, pant, pant....

I've gone through 2 leather thimbles and lots of Tiger Balm and Advil for a sore neck and aching fingers and shoulders. 

Just a quick English Paper Piecing tip: 

Don't be frugal and think you're gonna go all "old fashioned" and use thin phone book pages, or print out your own pattern off the internet.  

***Face Palm*** 
(Not that I tried that or anything, it's just what I've "heard"). 

Spring the money at Paper Pieces and buy pre cut, firm, sturdy, card stock pieces which hold their shape and can be used and reused.  They make piecing more accurate. 

(In all seriousness, you can print or make your own template, but I suggest card stock, for sure...You'll get neater corners and seams)

You will thank me.  

This quilt is made using  1 1/2" Hexagon Bulk Pack, 600 pieces. 

Here is a nice tutorial, and there are a few on You Tube as well. 
English Paper Piecing at Sunshine's Creations

Sharing with:

Sew and Tell Friday at Amy Lou Who

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Masterpiece Monday at Boogie Board Cottage

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Choose Joy. 

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing.

"Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might."  Eccl 9:10

Lee Lee the Cow Dog, says brush your teeth and pose upside down.  It's fun. 

Wedding Quilt Progress

Grandmother's Flower Garden Progress

Here is what my view looks like most of the time.  A big bulk of hexi strips and a TV on in the background.
Don't you wish you were here to sew with me?  

Holy Moly....at this point, I'm wondering why I am doing this.  Oh yes, now I remember.  I'm crazy in love with my daughter and I'm a quilter.  How can a quilter NOT make her only daughter a wedding quilt?  Never one to shy away from punishment, as I'm a glutton, I am still working on my daughter's wedding quilt which is queen sized, hand pieced, English Paper Pieced, hexi quilt....pant, pant, pant.  That was a mouth full.   Grandmother's Flower Garden... Oy Vey ~ Face Palm...yada, yada yada....what was I thinking?

Can you tell I'm watching Malcom in the Middle?  LOL  I loved that show.  I LOVE Dewey.  What a sweet boy he was.

Don't let my whining fool you.  I AM enjoying the process.  Hand work and hand stitching of any kind is my favorite thing to do.  Although, I have noticed I'm going blind.  I don't know if it's because of my age now 40+ or from paper piecing a queen sized quilt.  Hmmmm....probably both.  

You are getting sleepy.  And more sleepy.  And more sleepy.  Slump..... Honestly, I think these fabrics are boring me.

Anyway, here is a reminder for the audience of why I'm doing this.

• Grandma died.  
• My kids are the babies of the family and never got their handmade wedding quilt from her. :(
• Determined to carry on the tradition of each grandchild receiving a hand pieced, hand quilted wedding quilt for their wedding from their grandmother, I take this challenge on.  How hard can it be to hand piece a quilt???
• I decided English Paper Piecing would be the easiest way for me to hand piece something.
• Spiritually and emotionally, this quilt would be "from grandma".  I only allowed myself to choose fabrics she would have chosen.  She loved 30's reproductions.  Voila! 
• I also used a lot of her stash in this quilt, which I inherited.  
• I'm using 1 1/2 inch Hexagons from Paper Pieces.  I am not an affiliate.  I just like their products.  

Annnnnnnndddd....here we are.  I'm getting close to being done.  I think this is my last row.  And let me just tell you.......my photos are horrible.  I know it.  The lighting in my living room is terrible.  I don't think I EVER got a good photo of this quilt.  *sigh*  I can blame it on the camera and the lighting but let's face it...it's probably me.  On well.  Onward.......

It takes up the whole living room floor.  I'm exhausted just looking at it.  100% hand pieced.  Doh!

I always liked 30's reproductions until I worked on this quilt for 2 years.  I hate them now.  Sorry.  

It took me awhile to figure out it would go faster if I stitched in rows.  Hello????  Why did no one tell me that trick?

Well.  There you have it.  My progress thus far.  I'm getting so close to finishing.  I only allowed myself to quilt something grandma would have approved and stitched herself.  I think she would have LOVED this.  Just wish she was here.  I miss quilting with her.

You can see the finished quilt here.

Have you made anything large with English Paper Piecing yet?  Or Hexies?  

Have you challenged yourself with rules similar to the ones I've made for myself, above?  

• Share with me in the comments below. Link me up to your work.  I would love to see it.  

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