Horses & Pigs & Elephant Ears

Yes it is that time again - County Fair days! I have been to county fairs in California and Washington and now Idaho. I have been to state fairs in California and Washington. This county fair is TEENY! All of the displays of quilts, flowers, produce, baking, crafts, photography, 4H and even vendors are all in the same building. I know! Teeny! There is a large building for the cattle, a barn for the pigs and a barn for the sheep and goats. Oh yes, another small building for the rabbits and chickens. That is about it. No rides. No midway of games. No demonstration of the world's best mop or something that slices and dices and makes salsa. There is a strip building that has various food items for sale by different organizations and churches in the community. I go every year. In fact we go as a family every year. I go to see the quilts, see the raffle foal (and maybe buy a few tickets) and last, but certainly not least - have an Elephant Ear. You can't go to the fair and not have an elephant ear. Not in this family. That is the star of our 'fair food'. No deep fried twinkies or corn-on-the-cob. No blooming onions or funnel cakes. I'm telling you, this is small time county fair.

So here are some of the quilts. I don't know much about these because they hang most of them from the ceiling of this very tall building. I had to ask my hubby to take these photos. Hubby is pretty tall and he had to hold the camera up above him to get these shots. I couldn't read who made the quilts or what the pattern was. Hmph. I can see that a quilter was not in charge of this decision. But anyway, there were some lovely quilts on display. Here are just a few;



This next one appears to be log cabin blocks. I haven't studied it closely enough to determine where exactly the black pieces were put in to give it that sense of motion. It was really a unique quilt to me. Have you ever seen one like this??

These next two were in the 4H section. I was very impressed. The second one must have just been finished recently since the backing is with Heather Bailey's Pop Garden fabric. The gal that did that one is 17, I believe. She played basketball with my daughter a few years back.


Well it was nice to see that SOMEONE in this town (county) is getting something done at their sewing machine!!

I expect to be at my machine again in a few days. Sunday may be hot enough that we can enjoy a day at the lake again. We have had some weird weather lately and just not lake weather. Monday school starts up for my son and I have quite a bit to do before then!!! :0 I should have done it today but I decided to scrapbook in my spare time instead.

Prayers for a wonderful time of fellowship, worship and learning tomorrow at church. I just love our small country church. I am so thankful for the lady that stepped in to give me the month of August off from teaching Sunday school. I love teaching but it is nice to get a break too.

Olympics (and not a whole lot else)

That is about all that has been going on around here. My sewing room is a long way from the television. My family gathers to watch the Olympics. Together. We have even been recording them and are a couple of days behind. We are fast forwarding through commercials and replays and heats, and semifinals of sports we aren't crazy about. We still aren't caught up. I whined before that the network coverage of the games was biased (swimming and gymnastics and beach volleyball). Where were the equestrian events and sailing and boxing and weightlifting and such? Now I am so glad that all of the sports were not getting heavy network coverage. I would be watching recordings of Olympic games for MONTHS! My new sewing machine would feel neglected. My new fabrics would be out of sight and out of mind. The excitement of a new project would be lost. It was so exciting to watch Michael Phelps (and his mom) and the women's beach volleyball is growing on me. The gymnastics has been exciting and frustrating. I can only imagine how the contestants feel. I have been proud of the USA team members that I have witnessed. I love to watch them during the medal ceremonies. I get choked up even when they don't. I won't be sad when the games are over. I have things to do!

Prayers - for an online friend whose husband is being deployed this week. She will be a single parent to their four children for the next year. Prayers for his safety as well.

Retail Therapy - it does a body good!

I sewed last night, so doesn't that mean I need more fabric?? :D I started and completed a project that is over there on my TO DO LIST! How about that? Yes indeedy, I sewed Minkee 1. It is all packed up and ready to ship off to my dear friend. I won't show you the picture until she gets it. I forgot that my kids did a project from my TO DO LIST!! They did Fleece 1. I was going to sew the fleece into a pocket pillow/throw but then I decided to use two colors (college colors) and wasn't sure how to go about that. My machine wasn't here yet, we were pressed for time and the kids KNOW how to make a two sided tied fleece throw. So they did. It was presented to our friend on Monday and she headed off to school in the mid west on Wednesday Morning. I think she is going to need some double thick fleece.

I stayed up late last night and then when I did go to bed I couldn't get to sleep. Oh I hate that. My plan was to get up and get to the Farmer's Market when they opened at 9 and go to grocery store and back home before it got too hot. Well I didn't get to sleep until sometime after 3:30 and when I rolled over and saw the clock at 7:15 I said 'NO WAY!' I rolled over and went back to sleep. I got up at 9, took my time showering and dressing, eating breakfast, reading emails. Just dinking around. I left the house at noon. I didn't beat the heat. First stop WM for a new fan for the bedroom (the lightning messed up the one we have - it will only go on timer mode and it is now very noisy). There were too many choices so that took way too long. Come to find out the one I chose is noisy. :( It will go back. Then off to the library to pick up a hold - a book on machine quilting. Then to the craft store to get some stabilizer and some - hmmmmm - I don't know what it is called - the pellon like stuff to iron an applique to a piece of fabric. I have an idea brewing. I visited with the gal that works in the fabric department. She was just starting a new fall apron. She gets to SEW AT WORK! I want that job! I mean, if I had to get a job that would be a good one to have. She is lots of fun and is very helpful. I need a solid red for a project but I didn't take the print fabric I am trying to match. Dumb. Red is tough. Oh well, good excuse to return another day.

Then I went to the local quilt store. It is quilt, knitting, beading. I haven't gone there much since they opened but the last few times I have decided to stop by they have had some things that I really like. It is so nice to see the fabrics in person and touch them. To see if I like them as much as I did when I saw them online. Look what they had today!!!

It is just as nice in person. Just as colorful and it makes my heart beat just a little bit faster. I know some of you know what I am talking about too. They didn't have the entire line and they didn't have all the pieces that I wanted. I think that Quilt Taffy has one of the other prints that I want from the line. I also want Ava Rose RED with a white dot. That has been hard to come by.

I walked down another aisle and found a good portion of the fabric for this;

That is the Galveston quilt from Andover fabrics. The picture is from Cherry House Quilts blog. Andover is not making it easy to find the fabric. I even contacted them but they never answered. Julie Comstock and Lindsay Moore of Cosmo Cricket have been VERY helpful though. I realize that small shops can't order in an entire line but man...I sure do wish I could find the rest of these prints. I guess that the hunt is part of the thrill?? It is brand new, so maybe I just need to wait a bit for it to start hitting the shelves.

I also chatted quite a bit with the two ladies working at the LQS. They were very nice and helpful and they were definitely kindred spirits when it comes to fabric love.

So no sewing today like I originally planned. But it was really too hot to be in my sewing room anyway - broken, noisy fan and all. The temperature here at 6pm was 95 degrees. Instead I will dream of these new fabrics and how I am going to use them.

Praises - hubby has worked so hard to get things back to normal here after the lightning storm. It is such a blessing to be married to a jack-of-all-trades. He and my son went backpacking yesterday afternoon until late today. My daughter and I had an UNeventful night at home. BIG PRAISE! :D

FINALLY - WAHOOOOOO!

This is what I did while I was waiting for UPS. Amy Butler's Frenchy Handbag purse with the purse straps. My daughter wanted it to be a shoulder bag but wanted the smaller sized bag. Amy Butler fabrics as well. It went together very easily. It was the first time I had used that pattern and I would use it again. I liked everything except the final step and would find a different way to secure the lining to the bag for future purses.

Yes the machine did come yesterday. Hubby went right to UPS to pick it up. Our friend had kept it from going out on the truck. Then hubby was helping paint a shop, then he came home and we ate lunch and watched the Olympics. Finally, he carried the box upstairs and opened it up. I took everything out of the box, looked at each thing, sat to read the manual, watched the DVD. That is as far as I got. I think I was a bit intimidated by it all. What to do first? What to sew? I am going to my sewing room right now. I am going to plug it in, wind a bobbin, thread the machine and sew SOMETHING! Maybe just a test of all the different stitches. If you don't hear back from me, send fabric!

Why I've been MIA - UPS a no show, a rabid bat, lightning strikes

So I thought I would take a day to get some things done, and another day to drive my quilt to the longarm quilter and do some window shopping and sew that purse. Little did I know that I would be away for so long.

My machine was scheduled to arrive Friday. It didn't. You would think it would be here for sure on Monday then right?? It didn't arrive Monday. So SURELY Tuesday. Nope. Not Tuesday either. Nice, huh? I didn't think so either. I am of the frame of mind now that when it shows up it will be a big surprise. I am no longer holding my breath.

I did sew that purse for my daughter Thursday evening. I can't believe that we haven't taken a picture of it though. I will try to get one tomorrow and get it posted.

Friday - after the huge disappointment of the machine not arriving, hubby and son head out for a two night backpacking trip. This was going to be my 'free' weekend to enjoy that new machine. Phooey. Remember - God laughs when we make plans. Received a phone call Friday evening informing me that a bat that was discovered on a gal at the church campout last weekend was rabid. NICE! My daughter was in that group of people. There was some mild hysteria and lots of confusion about the need for the rabies vaccine. HOURS spent on the phone with numerous different people about this. Then sometime around 10 p.m. it started to lightning, off in the distance. To the west. It got closer and closer. We turned off the computers. During one phone call I told the person that I HAD to hang up as the lightning was all around the house and being on the phone was not smart. I thought I had heard that somewhere. When I hung up the house phone my daughter's cell phone rang. I told my friend the situation and she said well at least get away from the windows. Uhhhhhhhhh, she has seen my house. That doesn't leave a whole lot of area to go to. My daughter and I stayed on the cell phone (no idea if this is safe) and went to the stairwell leading to the basement. The lightning was all around us and right on top of us. Front yard, back yard, driveway side and kitchen side. It was the most incredible lightning and thunder storm that I have ever witnessed. While talking to my friend about the rabid bat situation there was a very loud and bright explosion. My daughter screamed, I dropped the phone and my friend could be heard yelling for us. We have no idea what happened really. Did something explode? Was the house hit by lightning? Was it a power surge or a power outage? Now there was an insanely loud, repetitive ticking coming from the t.v. room. I was sure the t.v. was going to blow up or something. My daughter was shaking like a leaf. My friend's hubby got on the phone and instructed me on how to turn the power off to the room with the loud ticking. Whew!
We spent the next 40 minutes or so huddled on the stairs, clutching our flashlights (just in case) and taking phone calls (yeah, STILL!). Finally the storm moved on. NOW we started praying fervently for the backpacking group that was in the mountains to the east of us, where the storm was headed. We had NO WAY to contact them to tell them what was coming. I am not sure it would have helped anyway.

At this point, my daughter and I discover that half of the house is without power and our landline does not work. None of the three bathrooms had electricity. My son's bedroom, the living room and my bedroom had no power. My alarm clock was buzzing loudly. I unplugged it. The buzzing didn't stop. That was just a little too weird. My daughter's alarm clock was all messed up too, displaying parts of numbers. We finally got to bed but it took a long time to fall asleep. I watched the lightning for a long time, off in the distance, and prayed for the backpackers. I woke at 3 a.m. because the dog was barking. Someone was driving up the driveway. At first I thought it was hubby and son but then I realized they would not have hiked down in the dark, it would have been too dangerous. Strangely enough, having someone turn their vehicle and light up my front yard was the least nerve wracking thing that had happened all day. I assumed and hoped it was the power company, although I had never seen them stop at the house like that before. They usually have to drive on past the house to access the power lines.

7 a.m. Saturday arrived way too soon for me. My daughter and I had agreed to head to the hospital about 1.5 hours away to see about the rabies vaccine and what they thought of her requiring it. Or not. But first we had to spend 2 hours on the phone. Lots of confusion again about the bat incident and false information. The worst part was not being able to talk to hubby about all of this. The power situation is the same as when we went to bed and a phone call to the power company gives me no information. It was them at 3 a.m. Now we see the microwave and the trash compactor don't work either. Although the computers work we have no internet connection. I have no idea if the dish got hit, if it was their antennae on the mountain or if it is an equipment problem. Really though, it is the least of my worries right now.

The long trip to the hospital, hours in the ER, no vaccine required, a stop for Orange Chicken and Fried Rice at Panda Express (mmmmmmmmmmm) and the long trip home. With no internet, no t.v. (Olympics) and no sewing on an old or new machine, my daughter and I decided to head to bed. It was 8:30! But we were beat and slept pretty good that night.

Sunday morning it was just like a college dorm as my daughter and I were both blow drying and curling our hair and applying make-up in her room. My alarm clock was still buzzing and yes, it was still unplugged. I had the inkling to check the circuit box before we left for church and saw that some of the breakers were tripped so that was PART of the power problem. Easily fixed. No idea why I didn't check that out sooner but really, electricity is not my thing. Church was great. A time for fellowship and worship and some great teaching. Just what we needed. The guys got home about 4 p.m. and then we had to relay the entire story of our weekend to them. Then they got to tell us about their trip. They had a little bit of rain and no lightning right on top of them. An answer to many prayers. Hubby started working on the electrical problems.

Monday hubby stayed home to deal with the power mess and I took the kids shopping. For college textbooks and clothes and new phones. Yup, all of our phones were fried. Hubby called us while we were on the road and said the phone company had come and that was the verdict. He has installed the new phones and says there is STILL a problem. One computer was fried. My computer speakers were fried but my sound card was okay. Hubby's sound card is fried but his speakers are fine. The microwave and trash compactor were fine after all, just needed the GFI to be reset on their outlets. A receiver used with the t.v./stereo is toast. The loud ticking you ask?? It was from the massage chair!!! Toast. At bedtime Monday we still had no internet connection.

Tuesday - the internet provider showed up and replaced some equipment. We have a connection again, although it is sketchy for some reason. It may be that some cables need to be replaced. UPS showed up but brought a teeny box that I don't think anyone retrieved from the back door. Hubby opened up my alarm clock and took out the battery. It stopped buzzing. He has a collection on the floor of his office of all the things that need replacing. I should take a picture of it.

It is probaby a blessing that my sewing machine didn't come on Friday. I either would not have gotten to it because of the rabid bat incident OR I would have had it all plugged in and it would have been fried too. So ya see, I wasn't just loafing around and not blogging. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Praises - Although my hubby was not available this weekend my brother-in-law was. He is a doctor and speaks to me in words I understand, he is calming, he is logical and he is wise. He and my sister-in-law have been on the other end of the phone with us during many medical emergencies and we sooooo appreciate that. God saw us through this wild and wacky weekend. All of us. He sees us through every weekend but this one was especially tough and there were times I was really wondering how it was all going to end up. To God be the glory!

A confession and a plea for help

I hate hand sewing. That is my confession. I mean I HATE hand sewing. If my hubby loses a button he 'jokes' that he will just kiss the shirt goodbye. Well it is SORT OF a joke. He at least has to get used to not wearing that shirt for a VERY LONG TIME. It takes me a long time to feel really guilty about not sewing on a button and returning the shirt to him. I finally do it. Oh and scouting...gimme a break. It is bad enough you have to cart your kids all over the place to meetings, go to meetings yourself, take hikes you don't want to take and carve and paint pinewood cars but then they expect you to sew the dern patches on their shirts!!! I think that should be the FIRST thing scouts learn - sewing on patches. By yourself. (I usually did them by machine anyway).

The few quilts that I have made have been the turn method (does that make sense?). So no binding but ya know the opening after you turn the quilt?? Well let's just say I haven't made a quilt like that since my mother passed away. She was always great with a needle and thread and would hand sew the opening closed for me. Go ahead, roll your eyes. I think one quilt was closed by my mother in law that was visiting. She is still alive but lives too far away and is almost blind. No help there anymore.

So I am moving on to quilts that require binding. This first one I am taking to the longarm quilter on Friday. They are also going to attach the binding. At this point I think I am going to have them handsew the binding on the backside. My thought was this; my daughter is supposed to take this quilt with her to college in September. If I don't have them do it now, will it be done by the time she leaves?? Unlikely. I think they really need to be done by hand, don't they? How frustrating to try to do it by machine to have the binding shift just a smidge and you miss catching it. Then what?

I took home economics from the 7th grade all the way through the 12th grade. I loved it. I am sure I must have had to hand sew in that time. Did I have mono and miss a month of class? I don't know where this aversion came from. I don't care for embroidery either. Counted cross stitch is okay. Stamped cross stitch is okay. They both show me exactly where to put the needle. I have even considered getting a Yo Yo maker since they show you exactly where to put the needle. The thought of doing them all on my own was mind boggling and never appealed to me.

I have looked online some for binding directions. I have looked in quilting magazines. The directions that they give are for sewing the binding on the front side, with that cool little trick at each corner. I have yet to try that since I was in no way prepared to do anything with it once it was turned to the back. The detailed directions stop there. Everything just goes on to say stitch the binding on the back side. Uhhhhhhhh, thanks so much!! THAT is exactly where I need help! With pictures would be even better! Why is it assumed that everyone knows how to do that next step? Tell me I am not the only person out there that does not know how to sew the binding to the back of the quilt. Lie if you have to.

Any chance my new machine has an attachment for attaching the binding with a blind stitch so that it will look handsewn??? I never could figure out the blind hem stitch on the machine I have now. They have the fabric folded about 4 different ways and then put it under this special foot and I am saying "HUH???"

Any suggestions? Any offers to handstitch my bindings? My hubby would love it if you would sew some buttons on too. :D

and the Winner is.....

This is what I TRULY wanted. I only know about them from other quilters, from reviews I have read online and from the comments and emails I received from you. It should be here Friday. I am SOOOOOOO excited! Do I need to take a class to sew on it? Can I figure things out on my own?? I do know two gals from church that have this machine so I guess if I get bogged down I could give them a call. I have heard that the manual is very detailed. I think I will just GO FOR IT! Did I mention how excited I am??? :D

Not much going on around here to report. The Lakeside Charm quilt is all set to go to the longarm quilter. I made the binding after getting a call back from the quilter. I stitched the backing together and trimmed it down and I bought the batting. All stacked up nice and neat and ready to go. Hmmmm, I WAS going to do that on Friday. Well maybe if I take care of that Friday morning I won't wear away the carpet by the door waiting for UPS. He never comes until afternoon. OH! I just remembered, hubby is going to UPS bright and early to get a backpack he is expecting and then heading out on a two night backpacking trip. I wonder if the machine would be there at the same time!! OH. MY.

I have the pattern all traced and cut out for an Amy Butler purse for my daughter. I thought she wanted the smaller bag but it looked SO small so I had to wait for her input before I cut anything out. She wants the smaller bag. Off I go to my sewing room. Maybe I will have a picture to share soon. I have this issue...do I sew on this OLD machine or do I wait for the NEW one to arrive. I know. Kinda weird. I recognize that.

Prayers for a lady that lost her husband in a motorcycle accident yesterday. I don't know her, but she is friends of some friends. My hubby and daughter saw the aftermath of the accident on their way home yesterday. Life is so fragile and you just never know the time or the place.