Fall Quilt

Yes, people, progress has been made on the fall quilt.  If you'll remember (or even if you don't), I bought fat quarters of Sandy Gervais' new fall line when we were in McCall in August.  I used them to make a small Yellow Brick Road quilt and then realized I needed more fabric for the borders.  I was able to order what I needed online and got one border on and half the second.  Then life intervened and my quilt languished in my sewing room for a number of weeks.  

I finally forced myself to go down and finish that last border two weeks ago.  At that time, I was faced with a revelation:  I love to make the blocks for a quilt, but for some reason, freeze up when it comes to borders.  I think it's because the pieces are long and awkward and I have a fear of ruffled edges; I don't want them, and I (stupidly) allow it to stress me out while I'm stitching.  So I said to myself, "Self, get over it!  What's the big deal? It's a quilt!"  And I sat down and stitched.  :-)

Next up, I realized I had no pieces of fabric in my stash big enough to work for a back, at least a back that kind of matched the front.  Back to my computer.  At this point, I'd like to do a little pitch for shopping locally.  I love our little quilt shop, but there's no way it can possible stock all the quilt fabrics that are out there.  I shop at home first, and then (and only then) online.  I've had very good luck with the Fat Quarter Shop which is in Texas.  They are very nice to work with and the packages arrive quickly.  The fabric is sealed in a ziplock bag which keeps it nice and dry, even on very rainy days like the one when it arrived at our house.  The outside of the package had gotten wet somewhere along the line, but the fabric was safe.

I also decided to do a little experimenting with my thread and purchased a variegated King Tut thread called, appropriately, Autumn.  

Yesterday I loaded the quilt on my machine.

I'm happy to report I finished it last night!  Up next, the binding.  Hopefully I'll be back with my completed fall quilt in a couple of days. 

House Meanderings

My long-time friend Kathy commented that my blog muse seemed to be missing lately.  That's because it's hard to write exciting or interesting things about cleaning bathroom sinks, dusting, or vacuuming.  Erma Bombeck I'm not.  My poor house was in terrible need of some cleaning following all the dust of harvest and wildfires. There was no use in cleaning during those weeks because half a day later, no one could tell.  And we all know how much I hate dusting, etc.  

Fall has come, however, with rain and wind and cold. Time to find the tops of my new furniture.  So, I dusted, I vacuumed, and I scoured.  Meanwhile, I fiddled with the bare tops of our new furniture.  What to place on all the new space?  I've never been much of a gee-gaw collector, possibly because I've never have places to put them. Now, however, those bare tops have been calling for some.  For something.  For anything!  So, many mornings I have wandered around in my nice red fleece robe (it finally being cool enough to wear it), looking in cupboards and drawers, trying to find things we already have that will fill in the gaps.  I've been somewhat successful.  I think I may have to go shopping, though, after Christmas.  (About Christmas I have no fears about bare spaces; at last I'll have enough space for all my treasures.)

And oh yes, I know a number of posts ago I mentioned that the last piece of our furniture was in place, but it turned out that wasn't so.  We decided we needed one more large end table between the sofa and Dan's recliner. We had to order it, and it came this week.  There's no more room, so it's definitely the last piece.  

Its arrival necessitated another morning of looking for "things".  I found a little basket which now houses coasters, a little stoneware cat I paid way too much for years ago and therefore couldn't get rid of, and a corner for Dan's iPad.  The lamp turned out to be kind of funny. We have another green one on the other end table. When the older boys were little, it got knocked over many times, so I bought another lamp just so I could have a spare.  Turns out, it's not quite the same lamp! The shape is different, but I think it's close enough and I'm probably the only one who would notice.  And if others do, kudos to them!

Here's an updated view of the sofa table, which of course isn't near the sofa.  :-)

I love those little tiny pumpkins you can find at the grocery store this time of year.  Our usual store didn't have them, however, and I actually had to go on a search.  Safeway did not fail, I'm happy to say.

That little guy is just the perfect accent for October and November.  And here's a closeup of the left side of the table:

Dan's dad worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad as a conductor.  The watch was his, along with the chain and the attached knife.  The book is entitled Graded Lessons in English with an 1885 copyright and comes from my Dad's side of the family.  

So, that's the thrilling news of the week from here at the resort.  Stay tuned, as I will have an update on the fall quilt shortly!  Really!

And...It's Snowing!!

Last week it was still almost summer-like, and today, it's snowing!  First it was rain, then rain with spots, and now, just plain ol' snow.  It's even showing up in the grass a little.

And we all know that I'm excited!  :-)

Trailer and Boat Update

My faithful readers know that my nephew, JR, Bruder Bear's son, took Dad's Christmas trailer to its new home on Thursday afternoon.  That night Dad called to see if Dan could come help them get the boat out of the shop and onto the trailer Friday morning.  Dan was happy to be of help and witness and record the exciting event.  It turned out to be fairly easy to get the boat out of the shop as Dad had built a huge dolly for it to rest on.  Once out of the shop (out of sight on the far left) and into the garage, they were able to start loading it on the trailer.

Dad cranking it on:

Almost there!

And it's on!  Checking the load:

JR backing it into its new home:

And it's there!

The shelter used to house Mom and Dad's camper before they sold it earlier this year.  Now to make plans for a windshield, steering and motor.  

And, of course, now Dad has room to sort out his shop.  

The Wheels on the Car Went 'Round and 'Round

Yes, they did.  The wheels on our Explorer went 'round and 'round over the last two weeks.  First we took my mom to Seattle for an appointment with her eye specialist.  The day after we got home, we left to visit Bruder Bear in south Idaho,  The day after we got home from that trip, we drove my dad to Spokane for an appointment with his heart specialist.  I think I can still hear the rumble of the road.  

Mom's appointment didn't go as well as we'd hoped, but Dad's turned out great.  They speeded up his pacemaker a little so he'd have more energy, said he was amazing, and told him he didn't have to come back for a year. Yay!!

We had a great time at Bruder Bear's.  Karen and I again stripped wallpaper, which of course had another whole layer of wallpaper and borders underneath. Shades of the border we removed from her kitchen soffits last year. We're getting to be pro's at stripping multiple layers. We didn't get it all removed, but at least we got a good start on it.  

Dan and John worked on a special project:  tuning up a boat trailer for Dad.  Well over fifty years ago, my Dad started building a boat.  He'd work on it now and then and finally fiber-glassed it ten or so years ago.  It's been sitting in his shop ever since.  Since Dad is now eight-nine, John came to the conclusion that if that boat was ever going to enter the water, something had to be done. He found wonderful used trailer and called to see if we'd like to go halfies with him on a Christmas present for Dad. Of course we would!  The guys did some rewiring and had the wheel bearings repacked.  They were even able to license it in Dad's name.  We towed it back up this week on Monday.

Tuesday morning Mom and Dad drove up so we could drive them the rest of the way to Spokane.  We had an elaborate plan of revealing that the trailer in our driveway was Dad's, but it was a terrible, stormy day.  The less time we were out in the elements the better.  Dan decided to tie a red bow on it, so he ran out and did it--just in time as they arrived a minute or so later.

When Dad pulled into the driveway, he had a grin on his face.  Through the rolled down window, Dan told him a man in a red suit had dropped the trailer off and said that it was Dad's Christmas present.  Then we told him it was his present from John and Karen and us.  

He's looking pretty happy!!

When we got back from Spokane I said I had to get a picture of him next to the trailer before he left since the weather was much more cooperative.

  

Our nephew JR is heading down to Mom and Dad's as I type, towing the trailer to its new home.  He was planning to spend the weekend with them and do a little hunting, so it worked out perfectly for him to take it. I'll bet there'll be a lot more grinning going on in a little bit.  

Last Piece in Place

We decided on the last end table and while I was working at the shop on Saturday, Dan picked it up and brought it home.  I keep wondering whose house I'm in!  :-)

I need to make a new little topper as the old one is much too small for this table.  Soon.  Meanwhile, I just finished a little project for the shop and need to get back to my fall quilt.  

It's an absolutely beautiful day with a steady breeze.  The wind chimes Matt made us are singing and sound so good with the slider wide open.  Have I mentioned I love fall?  :-)

Fun Day!

When I got up this morning, I wandered into the living room and asked Dan if he'd like to go out for breakfast, just have a play day, and he said, "Let's."

We drove downtown and went to our favorite breakfast place where we proceeded to stuff our faces eat a couple of very tasty plates of food.  (Yum to omelets and hash browns!)  The fun thing about eating breakfast out is we can each order what we want. Actually, I guess that's true for any meal you eat out, but it seems like more fun when it's breakfast.  We could each only eat half, so we have containers in the frig that we're saving for Sunday morning when we'll enjoy having a ready-made breakfast as we get ready for church.  :-)

When we finished eating, Dan said, "Now what?"  I mentioned a walk and he said maybe we should go to a furniture store to look for a new recliner for the living room.  One arm of his recliner had somehow gotten ruined, we know not how, and was very dark, almost black.  It looked bad.  At the furniture store, we perused the La-Z-Boys but nothing jumped out at us, so we took some fabric samples home and thought we'd see if we could find something to work and just order one.  On our way out the door, Dan spotted an end table he liked.

We came home, gave a thumbs down to all the fabric and looked glumly at our chair.  Inspiration struck and I asked if we could try the Resolve carpet cleaner on it and see what happened.  The chair was already on it's way out, so there was nothing to lose.  We gave it repeated applications, and lo and behold, it worked!  We still have no idea how the arm was blackened, but it now matches the other one and the chair looks perfect!  

We took the fabric samples back, found the end tables Dan had seen, and spotted several other matching pieces.  Here is where I confess that after almost forty-one years of marriage, we've never had real end tables. Our itty bitty trailer had no space for any, and in our next three homes we used the giant speakers Dan had purchased when he was in the Navy.  When we moved to this house, we stuck the speakers in the basement and used some old night stands for end tables.  That is, until today!!

As you can see, we didn't stop at end tables.  I love, love, love that sofa table by the rocking chair!  And I thought the coffee table would be too large, but it's perfect!  We need one more end table, but we're pondering that decision and have several choices.  I'm so excited!!!

And it all started with breakfast out.  :-)  (I should probably mentioned that we ate lunch and dinner out, too. I told you it was a fun day!)