WOW! What a beautiful day!

We are having such beautiful day. The temp and humidity are perfect for getting outdoors and enjoying. DH, DS and I went downtown for lunch to the City Deck, a boardwalk along the river. Several restaurants set up tents on Wednesdays and there is live entertainment. Today there was a duo with electric guitar and electric violin. They played mostly standards and some classical. Really entertaining. When we were ready to leave, we stopped in front of the duo and watched them finish a number. I looked closely at the guitarist and realized he was our daughter's 4th grade teacher. I quick took a photo to send to her. They were amazingly good.

A Great Find

I always love finding something useful. I recently saw this box of plastic jar lids at the store and thought 'Why in the world would anyone want to buy these when you can just use rings?" Two weeks later I was mixing up some salad dressing that I put in a glass canning jar and had to fool around with plastic wrap and a jar ring. After using it several times, the dressing had made quite a mess and it dawned on me. This is why the Ball people made those plastic lids.

So off I went to Fleet Farm and bought a box. I have used almost the whole box on jars of dry mixes, rice, and today's newest batch of Ranch dressing from scratch. I love them.

Yesterday was our 24th wedding anniversary. It didn't really dawn on me until late in the day. We don't ever celebrate it. We seem to have a lot of birthdays and other celebrations that fall in May and June, so by the time our anniversary rolls around, I guess we are just too pooped to party. I am happy we have made it thru our first 24 years and hope for another great 24.

Today we have a tile person upstairs and a plumber in the basement. No water!! Yikes!! Guess I will have to sneak out into the woods if I have to go.

F-9

I began working on a Dear Jane quilt 2 years ago. I bought the book at a quilt show held by our local quilt guild. The show only happens every 2 years and they just had another this past April, so I am pretty sure I bought it 2 years ago at the last show. I had seen the Dear Jane quilt and book advertised and was thrilled to find it on sale at the show. I didn't look thru it until I got it home and then discovered much to my dismay that there are no instructions, just patterns. Well, that didn't seem too bad until I really started looking at some of the blocks and I knew I would never be able to make them. They are just too complicated.

I did a search on the Internet and fortunately for me, Anina, had just started a blog that is now called That Quilt. I had already made quite a few of the easy blocks on my own and her blog has provided the directions and some great motivation, too. Thanks, Anina.

I have completed 154 of the center blocks and 24 triangles. I hate the triangles. I don't know why exactly, except they seem to come out kinda katerwampus. I am making my quilt in fabrics and colors similar to the original. On Anina's blog, she posts photos of Dear Jane quilts that others have made in beautiful colors and styles. Why didn't I think of that? I saw the original and went with that. I have no imagination sometimes. I doubt I will ever do another one, so I will just have to enjoy the work of others in the photos.

We spent Sunday evening on Skype with our sweet daughter whom we never see enough of and with my husband's folks who live way too far away from us. I am doubly blessed as they are truly the best in-laws in the world plus she is a quilter, too!. Last night we were both hand sewing while yakking.

What Are You Reading?

I am in the middle of a Michael Connelly book written in the 90's. It's funny to read about his main character, Harry Bosch, having to find a pay phone and other kinds of out dated things. The world has really changed in a short time. I am headed out to my swing to read some more.

I am in a book club and we are always looking for new reads. Any suggestions?

Finished Product

I used to work in a manufacturing plant. Our goal everyday was the amount of Finished Product out the door. That term Finished Product will forever be glued in my brain as a measure of success. So I am happy to announce that I have Finished Product to show today. This table runner I started last week is now complete. I used English paper piecing to make the flower shapes - a technique I have been wanting to try for awhile. I found some patriotic Civil War fabric on a half price sale at Hancock's and pulled the rest from stash. The backing is a print of Confederate money. My favorite piece of fabric has pictures of Abraham Lincoln all over and I never got it into the quilt.

What I'm Working on Today

Here is my latest project on the design sofa. No, I don't have a design wall. So I use my design sofa or my design floor or my design table which doubles as our kitchen table, so I have to keep things moving when I use the table.

I'm trying to get this ready for the July 4th holidays. I need a new table runner as I still have my Christmas table runner on the kitchen queen. Time for a change!!

I found a slug on one of the new grapevines. Yuck. I am now on a heightened state of alert. Probably yellow, but I'm not too up on the whole Homeland Security thing. Except I may need to call in the troops if slugs are on the move.

A Beautiful Day

Welcome to the Emerald Woods. We are having a beautiful day and everything in our world is green and lush. I am a quilter and enjoy our home and yard. Today we planted grapevines to trellis up the sides of the pergola my husband build for my porch swing. This is our 2nd attempt to find something that will grow here. Our first try was a climbing rose, but they died the first winter. If grapes don't work, we will resort to tried and trusty clematis next year.