Things are moving and shaking

I have been doing a bit of hexie work the past week - I know I never show it here but I want to get a full section together before the big reveal. Truthfully, I'm second guessing my fabric choices. In theory the surrounding colors compliment the colors in fabric but am finding it a bit dull muted looking. I'm hoping the layout will make all the difference. My Dick and Jane quilt has been sitting waiting for me to come to terms with the fact that I am eventually going to give in to my current FMQ limitations and do straight line quilting. (pictured Dick and Jane on another fantastic online find- $10 for that quilt stand and was less than 5 minutes down the road)

So on to my too many purchases this past week. The cheapest purchase I made (sigh) were easy thread needles (hoping this will make thread burying easier). I picked up more minky (purple and beige), some body pillows that will need cases, a few meters of muslin, 4 other meters of different fabric, pliers & snaps/eyelets, a much needed second overhead light for my sewing room and a toaster oven.

I actually bought the body pillows and two super king size pillows (for our bed) with the plan to make cases to go on every bed in the house. The girls pillows will be made with whatever fabric is left over from their quilts, my sons using the fabric I bought.

Ours and my sons is a bit more complicated. I don't know what I'll be making for us yet. While I think a jean rag quilt would be best for our bed (the dogs are pretty rough on our comforter/blankets) I dream of sleeping under something pretty and delicate. I bought the fabric pictured with the muslin for him, these are the colors he prefers (greens and browns) and will hopefully match what ever fabric I eventually buy for his quilt.

The beige minky cause it spoke to me, the purple cause I loved the texture and can see it turning into something fun. The muslin is to use for piecing my youngest's crazy quilt - yes you read that right. There is no way the buzzsaw is going to happen. Lets just say I will try to work it out when my mind is a little less all over the place. I did the first section in under 10 minutes. 6 trys later I gave up on the 2nd section of the 4 that make one block. I don't know why I just couldn't wrap my brain around it. Thankfully my daughter loves the crazy quilt pattern after I made a throw pillow for her.

So why mention the toaster oven? Well our kettle and 4 slice toaster were side by side on the counter. Oldest daughter was making jello and long story short the toaster ended up full of lime Jello. There was just no recovering from that. The stainless toaster oven was cheaper than the cheapest toaster and with Chris busy in the kitchen making Dill pickles and 3 types of preserves I decided we really needed a way to make toast..

He made Strawberry, Strawberry with peppercorn and balsamic vinegar and Cherry. The mini cucumbers and strawberries were from the local farmers market (only place we've been able to find the unwaxed cucumbers), the sour cherries are from our tree in the back yard. The cherries on their own are very tart, but after boiling it down with the sugar and real lemon it turns out really nice. (top front is the Cherry, bottom right Strawberry and bottom left is the Strawberry & well the pickles are at the back of course)

Chris if off shift today so we did a second round of picking today over my lunch (benefits of working from home) in less than 30 minutes we had three large bowls full. This is our 3rd year since planting the tree and it's hard to believe that we had already filled that metal bowl last weekend (I think we may have got the red bowl worth in total last year). He's already busy making more - trying out using Certo this batch to see the difference. On the list for tomorrow are bread and butter pickles. He learned from last year to make lots! Pickles were eaten up before Christmas and the last jar of the preserves was opened shortly after that..

Pictured below is one of the shortcakes we made with the foam from the top of the jam. Topped with some cool whip and what a combination of sweet, tart and creamy all in one forkful. My man is one of many talents!

My trusty singer machine is currently in the garage and things are moving around in my sewing room again. Chris found a cheap sewing table online for next to nothing, its 3.5 feet by 3.75 feet. I had to come up with a plan to make it fit in my space. There is something about rearranging and cleaning/organizing an area that always makes me feel content. I don't know why but it's like when I come up with a new placement for furniture everything feels like a fresh start. The opening on the table was a smidge too small (1.5 inches off) and there was no way to mount my machine so he's built an adjustable shelf (to accommodate the different machines) to sit on. Just a few more polishing touches (have I ever mentioned he's a bit of a perfectionist??) and it will be ready to be moved to its new home.  The new light will go in the back section where my cutting table has moved. I can't wait!! Hopefully will have a picture or two in my next post.

Have an incredible weekend!