Feeling Accomplished!

 I feel like I got a lot accomplished yesterday!!!  YAY!  I am exhausted but I was well satisfied when the day was over!  Then I got in bed and a million things went through my mind that I needed to do.  LOL!  

First off, I watched my 2 nephews and my niece for about 9 hours...ages 11, 8, and 2.  They were really good and I always enjoy spending time with them even though they exhaust me.  :)  So while watching the 3 kids, I pieced this very simple baby quilt.  I know it is hard to see the cream background fabric against the design wall. 

 You can it a little better here.  Nothing at all fancy but I'm hoping it has great meaning to them.  The plaids are from shirts that belonged to the great grandfather.  I made a Cross memory quilt last year and I had a few leftover pieces.  The baby's father, Ryan was very close to his grandfather and really took it hard when he passed. 

 The baby shower is October 28th so I still have a little time left to quilt it.  I hope to throw it on the frame between customer quilts.  I'll probably just do a simple stipple or something like that.  I think I will use this blue minkee for the backing only because I already have it.  :)

 I took photos of all three of the kids but the others turned out a bit blurry.  This is Addie (messy hair as she just woke up from her nap) She was so proud of working her puzzle.  Love that precious little smile.  Love all 3 of those kids! 

 If you look folded on the back of the couch is one of my quilts that needs the binding sewn down on it.  I thought I would sew on that while I watched the kids but I never touched it!  LOL!  This is the same quilt that I took to the beach in July and planned on doing the binding then....but never touched it then either!  LOL!

Also while the kids were here, I peeled and canned 14 pints of pears!  Someone gave my MIL some pears and she sent them on to me.  I already canned pear butter a few months ago so I just canned these in a light syrup. 

 For giggles....here is a little more of my canning.  Pears, jellies, jams, apple butters, peach butters, pear butters, candied apple sauce and who knows what else in there.  :)  Bottom shelf has pints of pickles, green tomatoes, green beans w/mushrooms, carrots, carrots & potatoes. 

 More pints...carrots & potatoes, beets, chicken vegetable soup, salsa, sweet potatoes, banana peppers, and fried apples.  Under the towels on the bottom is some of my kraut!  This does NOT even show my QUARTS of goodies that I also have canned.  I'll get a pic of those later. 

 So in the end it was a good day.  I was very tired but happy.  

Today...cook, clean, quilt....story of my life.  LOL!  Actually, I have to take Hunter for a haircut and then he wants to take his girlfriend out for lunch.  Since he is 15 and can't drive, I will be taking them.  :) 

Customer Quilts and Some Piecing....

 Here are the blocks that I have been piecing.  I'm just piecing a few here and there between the canning, quilting and just life in general.  

I found these blocks and I had cut them all out a few years ago but had not pieced them.  The pattern is called, "Lattice Bones" and it came out of a quilt magazine.  Weird name really but cute block. 

 I have more of the blocks done than this but I was just throwing them up on the design wall.  The plan is to piece 80 blocks for an 8x10 setting.  I think I still need to piece 20 of them.  Hopefully that will get finished soon.  Then I will also sew on a simple border.

 Here is another beautiful customer quilt that I quilted!  I love a Dresden!!!  I've quilted several of them for this lady.  She does an awesome job on the piecing.  This was also a king.  Actually this was pieced by the same lady as the red log cabin in my last post. 

 Saturday evening we went to a birthday party for 2 of our great nephews.  The party was held at Richard's brothers house.  It was great to see everyone as it had been several months since seeing some of them.  After we got home I canned some vegetable broth that I had simmered before we left for the party.  I ended up with 7 quarts of that.

Sunday after Church I quickly changed into my comfy clothes and got to work!  LOL!  It had been a busy week and my house was a total mess.  So while I was cleaning the kitchen I put 7 quarts of pinto beans in the pressure canner.  My busiest quilting time of the year is coming up so I like to have a lot of fast meals on hand.

I mentioned my busy week that I had last week...well here it goes...

Monday- Richard was home so I never get anything accomplished in the house.  LOL!

Tuesday- I watched my precious niece Addison all day.  She is 2 so you know that I didn't accomplish anything that day either.

Wednesday- I spent most of the day with mom.  My sister called me late Tuesday night and said that mom had fallen on the porch and was still on the porch.  By the time I got out there she was up but in a lot of pain.  So to make it short....Wednesday morning she decided to go to the doctor.  She has injuries to her right arm and left knee.  The knee is doing better and the arm is slowly improving ...well if she would stop trying to use it.  I was so worried about her.

Thursday- was payday!!!  LOL!  So I spend the biggest part of the day grocery shopping and running errands.

Friday- NOTHING!!!  LOL!  I just couldn't seem to get my crap together to get anything done.  I did go out and visit with mom for a while.

Saturday and Sunday- I already mentioned that above.  LOL!  So in the end...my house is showing neglect!

Feeling a little emotional...

 I can't help but feel a little emotional this morning.  Today Hunter starts back to school.  It's hard to believe that my baby is a 10th grader.  I already miss him like crazy.  I'm one of those mom's that enjoys having her kids home with her all of the time.  Anyway, this isn't the best pic but it's the best that I could get.  I guess when you are 15 you really don't want mom to take your first day of school pic.  LOL! 

 No posts lately but I will get back to regular posts soon.  I've just been so busy that it's hard to take time to post.  Here is what I have been up to lately....

Baking lots of fresh breads...

 I can't eat a lot of bread because of my diabetes but with my stomach issues I find that homemade bread is easier for me to digest than the store bought bread that has a lot of preservatives 

 A yummy Blueberry Cobbler that my guys really enjoyed.

 A ton of apples!  This is just from ONE tree!!!!  There are 5 others!  Mom, Chantal and I usually split them between us all.  Richard and Hunter climbed the trees and shook them for us as they are very tall trees. 

 I'm still working with the apples and this will be a long process.  I'm just trying to get them all worked up before they ruin.  As you can see they are big apples!  They are all natural, no sprays or anything. 

 They look a little spotty on the outside but as you can see the inside is very pretty.  I have blisters in my hands from peeling them.  I do have an apple peeler but it doesn't work well on these apples so I'm just using a good sharp knife. 

 As of right now, I have 21 quarts of Apple Pie Filling and I have a lot of other things that I will be canning these apples for. 

 I've also been canning green beans!  Everything hits at once!

I'll be back in a day or two....

Canning, Canning, and more Canning

In case you have been wondering where I have been...I've been canning!  LOL!  No quilting, just canning!  A couple of days ago Chantal, my sister brought me a bag of apples that she picked up in her yard before she cut her grass. 

 I turned those into 7 pints of Apple Butter!

 Her is little Addie, so proud of her blackberry cobbler that she made with her mommy!  She helped pick the berries and then helped make the cobbler.  Love that proud little smile.  :)

 I also baked an Apple Cake!  I didn't eat it but my guys liked it. 

 Then the next day Chantal brought me about a 1-1/2 bushel more apples!  They have spots on the outside but once you peel them they look perfect.

 So I sat and peeled, peeled and peeled...

 Then I made 15 half pint jars of Candied Applesauce.  Just applesauce with Red Hots Candy in it.  It's not hot but gives it a wonderful taste.  I still have a bunch of apples to process.  As far as the apples go...I'm just getting started on them.  We will end up with a ton!  The trees are loaded!  Since these apples grow on our properties I feel like they are pretty much like FREE food.  The Lord's gift to us.  :) 

 Then Richard picked our first picking of green beans for the year and ended up with a bushel.  This is just the start of those too. 

 I got those all strung, broke and canned.  I ended up with 14 quarts so far.  I still have 43 quarts leftover from 2016, which is fine as they will be eaten. 

 So I will be working on the rest of the apples over the next few days, then probably more beans....tomatoes....just whatever!  LOL!  It is a lot of work and very tiring but I love it!  

Today is Richard's 47th birthday!  I thank the Lord everyday for bringing him back into my life.  We dated in high school, he graduated and joined the Marines...got married...divorced and then 13 years later we got together and have been married for 16 years!  He and the boys are my world.  This man amazes me everyday.  Anyway...I hope he has a great day even though he has to work all day. 

Sauerkraut and a precious little one...

 Yesterday was a long busy day.  Mom came out and help me put up this kraut.  We ended up with 46 quarts total and we are not finished yet.  38 quarts of regular kraut...

 ...and 8 quarts of hot kraut.  We had to stop there because I ran out of canning salt.  We will finish the rest of it today after one of goes to town to pick up more salt.  LOL!

 I was given 100 lbs of cabbage!  I am so grateful for it and we will eat it.  We love sauerkraut!  I also have cabbage in the garden that is not ready yet so I will probably be making even more later. 

No sewing for me at all yesterday.  I was just too tired as I was on my feet most of the day.  My ankles are sore.  Anyway, today mom and I will finish up the kraut and I'm thinking that we will have 60+ quarts when finished.  Then after that...I have to finish up that quilt that I have on the longarm as it needs to go back to it's owner this weekend in NC.

I will leave you with this beautiful pic...  How gorgeous is this precious little girl.  This is my little 2 yr old niece, Addison.  I love her more than words.  I took this pic at mom's yesterday morning as Addison was getting ready to go to the doctor for a check-up.  She was proud of her little dress as she kept showing it to me.  I keep trying to get my sister to just give her to me but for some reason she will not do it.  LOL!  We all just love her to death. 

 Richard is off today.  Not sure what he has planned but he better stay out of my hair....I have things to do today.  LOL!

Blocks and Jam

 After a wonderful Church service yesterday I came home and worked on some blocks.  I ended up with 6 more blocks finished.  This makes 11 blocks and I need 25.  I'm loving these little blocks they go together so fast and easy.

 I was winding a bobbin and look what happened.  I've never had one to break before.  It was an old bobbin, original to the vintage machine so it was probably just worn out. 

 Then last night I settled in to work on more of my EPP.  I enjoy working on these. 

 Here is my stack that I already have in sets of two.  They add up pretty fast.

 Now let me catch you up on the rest of my day other than the above sewing...

We had a wonderful Church service yesterday.  By the time we got out of Church it was already in the mid-90's.  I thought I was going to have a heatstroke in Church it was so hot.  They never keep it cool in there because we have so many elderly members and they freeze.  LOL!  

After Church, I worked on the Fox blocks.  I got a couple of them done and ended up with a horrible headache.  You know one of those that you just have to lay down for a bit.  So I did that and after a bit it eased off.  Then I worked on a few more blocks and made some jam!  Yep!  Peach Cobbler Jam!  It tastes just like Peach Cobbler.  I ended up with 2 batches.

 While I was doing all of this, Richard and Hunter were working on building part of the back deck.  One of the benefits of owning a sawmill is endless lumber but just not enough time to use it.  LOL!  If you've read my blog for years you know that is how we built our house.  Anyway, the back deck was never put on.  It will go the full length of the house 40ft, just like the front porch does.  Right now they are only doing 20ft of it and then will do the rest of it soon.  So they almost got it floored yesterday, just need to finish that up and treat it.  Of course, that doesn't mean there are banisters or steps yet.  LOL!  It will come...

It was just too hot to be upstairs at the longarm so I worked on my fox blocks.  I'm hoping that today I can get up there and get that hexagon quilt finished.  I've had it on the frame way too long.  Now I will really have to rush extra hard to get things done before vacation.  Speaking of vacation...I will have to fill you all in on that soon. 

Quilting and Camping

 My weekend pretty much consisted of this!  LOL!  I had to pick it out because I had a big pleat in the backing.  No clue how I did that.  I've been longarming for about 9 years and this is a first and I'm hoping my last.  LOL!  I'm a little past the halfway point on it now.

 A closeup...

 Richard was off this weekend so Friday night he and Hunter spent some much needed father/son time together.  They went camping!  I stayed home and picked out that quilt.  LOL! 

 They set up camp in the middle of the woods.  They even built a little rustic bench.  LOL! 

 Hunter had a blast and so did Richard.  Next time I will go with them.

 So while they were camping I picked out that quilt and made some Peach Cobbler Jam.  Tastes just like peach cobbler!

 It's early Sunday morning now and I will be getting ready for Church soon.  I'm hoping that after Church I can get that quilt finished and either go ahead and load another one or piece more of the Fancy Fox blocks.  Busy, busy, busy...

Hexie Update and some Canning

 Here is a little update on some of my hexie progress.  I didn't do all of this yesterday but I did about half of the cream hexies. 

 You know me...when I should be cleaning I do something else.  I had plans to do more deep cleaning as soon as Richard left for work but I ended up canning 13 pints of chili instead!  LOL!  Anyway, these will go in the pantry but probably will not last too long as we all love chili. 

 Now I will leave you with a photo of my precious niece playing in her new pool. 

 Richard has to work all weekend so I will probably be cleaning and working on my hexies and going to Church on Sunday.
Blessings...Kristie

Catching up on the past week...

 It's been a little over a week since I have posted so I will catch you up on things.  Not a lot of sewing but I have been busy.  

First up...look at the back bumper on my Envoy.  LOL!  I know it's dusty but I live in the country and on a dirt road.  :)  Anyway, I ran over a stick in my driveway as I was going to my sister's house and by some freak accident the tire threw it up and into the back bumper.   I was not please but, it's life.

 I showed Richard when he got home and I knew that he would just roll his eyes and that's exactly what he did.  He laughed and said that he was leaving it in there!  LOL! 

 Hunter had a ballgame on Friday and another one this evening.  He is the tall one in the orange.  Not a good pic but oh well. 

 Richard was off work this past weekend so we took Hunter to a local festival over in the next county.  He loves cars and they were having a car show.  Andrew had to work so he didn't get to go.  Hunter's friend, Mason went along too.  Look how tall that Hunter is getting.  Richard is 6'2" and Hunter is close to his height.  My baby is growing up and looks down to me...I'm only 5' tall.  LOL!

 A little fun at the festival.  Hunter in the middle, Mason on the right and my niece, Madison on the left. 

 Hunter riding the mechanical bull. If you look real close it looks like he has a little person hanging from his right hand.  LOL!  That is someone on the zip-line behind him.  :) 

 I prepped all of my kits for my next hexie class which is October 2nd. 

 I canned 5 pints of homemade hot dog sauce from my mom's recipe. 

 I also made Addison more hair bows. 

Two of the pink ones....one for Addison and one to sell. 

 

I guess that pretty much gets you caught up on my week.  LOL!