Quilting, Walking and Khaleesi

 Well I'm happy to say I've made very little progress in the Studio.  HAHA!  Seems like an odd thing to say doesn't it?  Well I might as well be happy it about it because being upset isn't going to change it.   But what little I have done has gone pretty smoothly with little to no issues.  Sure there's a few uh-oh's in the quilting but I'm not going to point them out.

This afternoon after doing a few chores I'll advance this quilt and try to at least quilt one more row of blocks and sashing.  Wish me luck because I've busy day planned.

As usual me and my girl Khaleesi will go for our daily walk.  We typically walk at least a mile a day but weather permitting we can walk up to 2 miles.  I'd like to increase it to 4 miles before the end of summer.  Along our walks I like to take in the sites.  This time of year there's always a new pop of color in nature.  The elder gentlemen down road has a very unique landscaping style.  I love this old tire that he has painted gold.  I can remember both of my grandparents had old tires turned inside out and cut to look like tulips.

This is the prettiest Lily flowerbed I've seen in years.  So many colors, Gorgeous!  I think I'm going to need to up my Lily game.  I want a bed full of the bright beauties of all colors.  But I think I pass on the old tire decor.

Last Thursday my girl had to go for her yearly checkup.  She's doing really well but the blood test showed she might have a kidney issue.  They did another test on her kidney and we should find out today if the test was accurate or if it was due to the stress of being at the doctor.  I'm thinking it was stress related because she's very skittish and easily scared.  Crossing our fingers for a clean bill health.

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No Quilting but Busy All Day

  I was on the go pretty much all day and thought I would be able to squeeze in a at least an hour or two quilting.  I was sadly mistaken, by 9 p.m. I was exhausted and called it day.  But I did get a lot accomplished.  As usual I took my girl Khaleesi for a walk and listened to an Audible book as we walked.  Most of the the time when doing our daily walk I'm inside my head not paying much attention to the things around me, well other than the occasional car I hear coming.  Today was pretty much the same but I came out of my walking coma long enough to take in the beauty of a couple pretty weeds.

You all know I'm not a big fan of purple but this lavender-ish bloom caught my eye.  How gorgeous is this?  I have to admit I thought about how pretty this would be in my flowerbeds but I also know it's not a good idea to plant weeds where you don't want them to choke out everything else.

Mother nature decided to reward me for being present.  She tossed in a pinch of color.  You all also know I'm not a fan of orange in my quilts but in nature it is stunning. We have some very colorful butterflies, moths and other bugs here in Podunk that all would have been stunning to see on this flower/weed but Mother Nature and the powers that be decided this was the perfect opportunity to work it's magic on me.  I'm often inspired by the colors in nature.  And it worked, I started dreaming up ideas for a quilt using more purple an orange.  Sadly I didn't have time today to draw it up in EQ but the idea is still blooming in my mind.  So don't be surprised if you see me working with purple and orange someday.

As soon as we returned home it was time to get in the kitchen and bake a cake.  Mr. Podunk is having a birthday this week and his favorite cake since he was a child is a Red Velvet cake with Cream Cheese icing.  I tried making one from scratch last year.  It was good but it didn't turn out as red as it should have.  And the red food coloring was a nightmare.  Everything it touched it stained.  This year I'm a little more pressed for time so I decided to buy a boxed cake mix.  Cooking from scratch is always better but convenience sometimes wins the race.

Oh my goodness this looks like blood pudding. YUK!  Red cake is just not right. 

In my mind all I can think about is the Armadillo cake in the Movie Steel Magnolias.

There's no turning back now so Red Velvet cake it is.  What a mess I made of this cake.  A cake decorator I am not.  The red cake was flaking off into my icing.  So what's a gal to do but try to hide the problem.  

The red crumbles on top are from the part I cut off to make the cake tops flat.  It looked much prettier in my head.

The mushroom tops will not be thrown out.  I've cut them up into chunks and have frozen them to use on the Fourth of July.

The plan is to make these really cute Red Velvet Parfaits.  You can find the recipe where I borrowed this picture here.  Lets hope my parfaits turn out prettier than my cake.  I'm not holding my breath because I'll be using clear disposable party cups instead of fancy little glasses.

While the cake was baking in the oven I started another batch of canned milk.  If you missed my post about canning milk you can find it here.

By this time the jars come out of the canner its about 3p.m. and I need to clean up the kitchen in order to start cooking supper.  There's also laundry to be finished up...chores, chores and more chores.  

Here's something some of you might not know.  I don't eat sugar or grains of any kind.  But today I decided to make an exception.  I must taste this cake.  If it's good I'll have a small slice a reward for having such a restrictive diet for what seems like forever.  In order to eat a slice of cake I will need to take a pill to ward off the side effects.  Just tasting one bite shouldn't cause a reaction. 

One bite is all it took.  This taste like a car engine smells.  YUK!  How did I ever eat this kind of food.  Does it really taste this bad?  Will Mr. Podunk like it?  Something must be wrong with this cake mix. I can't serve this poison to my husband.  What am I going to do?  Should I run into town to purchase a deli cake at the local grocery?  My taste has changed over the years since I stopped eating certain things but I can't see cake not tasting good. 

 Much to my surprise Mr. Podunk loved this toxic tasting blood cake.  So much so he ate 2 pieces.  He said it was DELICIOUS.   It's official, my taste buds are broken, I'll never be able to enjoy a sugar treat ever again.  How strange that he tasted yummy and I tasted motor oil.  The icing was the worst.  It's supposed to be cream cheese icing.  I still eat the occasional sugar free homemade cheesecake and it's amazing.  I did noticed the last time I opened a bag of sugar it smelled like a chemical but I thought it was the bag or the glue used to seal the bag.  Nope it was the sugar. 

That one bite caused more of reaction than I thought it would.  And of course it happened in the middle of the night.  I'll spare you the details but I'll tell you I spent a considerable amount of time in the bathroom.

My cake may not be pretty but it definitely looks better than it tastes.

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Quilting the Blue and Yellow Leaders and Enders Quilt

 One of the most challenging parts of making a quilt is the actual quilting.  I suppose that's why longarmers have wait lists that can be several weeks or months long.  When I purchased my midarm on a frame I had big plans of quilting for others someday.  The only problem was I don't like the quilting process.  I had grand illusions of the quilting machine making the quilting process more enjoyable.  Ten years later and I really don't enjoy quilting anymore than I did on my domestic machine.  Sure it is easier but enjoyable? Not really.  

My quilting setup is one of the cheapest out there.  It has what I call an old school Stitch Regulator with a learning curve that make some owners throw in the towel and buy a different set up. 

 Over the years I've made some modifications to my Bailey Home Quilter.  She looks like a monster   but the old girl gets the job done.  It doesn't matter what she looks like or how much I paid for her, what matters is we have learned to work together and make some pretty good looking quilts.  

 Every once in awhile after finishing the quilting on a quilt I will still need a binding fabric.  The easiest way to find just the right binding fabric is to take the quilt with you to the quilt shop.  Of course a finished quilt in a quilt shop is going to draw some attention.  The questions are always the same...

1.  What's the name of quilt pattern?

2.  Who designed it?

3.  The quilting is amazing, who quilted it for you?

4.  What brand is your longarm?

The Bailey Home Quilter isn't a brand that most quilters know.  And when I explain to them how cheap it is and it's lack of bells and whistles they are shocked that I can make it look like a "big girl" machine did the work.  It may seem like I'm bragging a little but really I'm not.  No one needs a frame quilter to make beautiful quilts.  I too have been impressed with the quilting on a quilt and ask some of the same questions.  And I too am shocked when they sometimes say...I quilted it on my mothers old sewing machine with a seven inch throat.  

The first thing I learned when I first starting quilting on a frame is....

Buying a quilter does not an artist make

Only time and lots of practice is going to produce a pretty quilting design.  Some learn it faster than others but all can and will if they put in the blood, sweat and tears.  I think I've paid my dues and for the most part I can give a quilt a little character with the quilting.  

And then there's quilts like this one.  I love this quilt.  It's simple design and bright colors just tickle me pink.  But my choice of quilting design...EH...I'm not feeling it but I'm not changing it or picking out the stitches.  The quilting doesn't look bad it just looks to be the wrong scale or wrong shape.  To me it's just off.  But it's quilted and that is all that matters.  Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't.

The real win is when a quilt is actually finished and no longer a UFO, right?  Yes ma'am!  So I'm moving forward and getting this girl done.

I'm linking up this post at a new to me link up over at 

Quilting and Learning-What a Combo

for the Free Motion Mavericks Linkup Party

Hop over to be inspired or to link up.

My word of the year, MOOVE.  Moving along UFOs and moving physically.

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Piecing a Scrappy Quilt Backing

 Back in my earlier years of quilting most of my quilt backs were made from a flat sheet or scraps of fabric from the quilt top and smaller pieces of yardage.  These days most of my quilt backings are pieced from one fabric or a wide quilt backing.  Wide quilt backings are great when quilting on a longarm.  It makes the loading of the quilt to the frame a breeze.  They are also convenient, expensive and in my opinion boring.  I love a pieced quilt backing.  It adds a little whimsy and character to the quilt.  Sure it takes a little more time but it's worth it to use up some of the ever growing stash.   With this quilt I've decided to get back to my roots and make a scrappy backing from the quilt top scraps and some green yardage from my stash.

The backing didn't come together as quickly as I had hoped.  Two hours!  My goodness it was a real chore.  My head just wasn't in the game.  It was one error after another.  Miscuts and sewing mistakes.  The red arrow shows the seam that gave me so much trouble.  The first mistake was cutting.  Measure twice, cut once is the rule.  Well I measured 3 times and still cut it wrong.   After fixing that issue I sewed them with wrong sides together.  The numbers below show the order in which I sewed the fabrics together.  Piece 3 was another sewing error.   Somehow I sewed it just below piece 2.  Had I pinned them together I would have caught my mistake before sewing due to they are different lengths.  At this point I was getting a little....lets say grouchy.  No seam ripper required when you are a little grouchy.  I literally ripped the seam with my bare hands by pulling on the fabrics.  It made me feel better.  The grouchy mood was ripped right out of me.

Thankfully adding the quilt label was smooth sailing.   A simple framed square label, machine appliqued into place.  

Instead of matching the thread to the fabric I used a white thread and a tiny blanket stitch.  I thought this would make the  label stand out and give the backing some more visual interest.  

There's no hurry to finish this quilt.  It's for Mr. Podunk to use when camping.  His next camping trip is in the Fall.  So this will be stored away for a few weeks before quilting.  Almost all of my quilts needing to be quilted are stored with backing and binding.

Lets hope the quilt police don't see me storing them in a plastic bag.  It's the easiest way to keep them all together.  Now to find a place for them in the dresser full of quilts to be quilted.  Maybe I should see what's hiding in there.  I might find a hidden treasure!  I let you know .

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