Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again Another . . . ?

New Mexico is in a drought for the past few years.  So, we pray for rain. And boy have we gotten rain!!

The governor has declared the State of New Mexico a disaster. It hasn't stopped raining for several days. Several counties have severe flooding and people's homes have been damaged.  Interstate highway 40 has been flooded so severely that there is a sink hole in the middle of the highway.

It is hard to talk about quilting when all these disasters are going on around me.

I just noticed that the neighbor's wood stove chimney is oozing smoke.  That is a sure sign that summer is over.  She is always the first to fire up her stove. She lives in a 2 bedroom adobe house that her husband built. In case you have never lived in, read, or heard about adobe houses, they always retain the heat/cold for 12 hours. Adobe is a great insulator against the heat/cold. It is always cool in the summer because it retains the cool from the night. And, it is always warm in the winter with minimum effort and wood because it retains the heat from the stove. I love it! I wish my cabin was adobe!

Yesterday I got my latest order of fabric. Part of the order was for my daughter. She has a small business that she is trying to get off the ground.  She sells cookie bouquets . . . Carmela's Cookies.  She wanted specific fabrics for her bouquet baskets. 

I love getting fabric delivered! It's just like Christmas!  I know the fabric is what I will be selling, but still.  I get to open the package . . .(Christmas). I get to play with the new fabric (new Christmas toy). And last but not least, I get to keep the scraps (Christmas Present).  YAY!

I have always saved all my scraps from making clothes for myself and my family andI have always used them in my quilts.  But now, I have an abundance of scraps from cutting all the different shapes for my customers.  I am in heaven!  Just thinking about the scraps puts me in a great mood and with that thought I will close for tonight.

Meanwhile . . .keep on quilting!
Aveli

Lots of Unexpected Rain!

We didn't get a forecast for rain, but here it is! Although it wasn't expected, it was very much welcome. Since we have been in a severe drought in New Mexico, this little bit yesterday was welcomed with open arms.

 This is a view toward our hills from my sewing room.

 

 

And here is another view from the other window.  As you can see whichever window I chose to look out of, I have great scenery to look at while I sip my coffee, tea, soda or water while I sew!

  

In the meantime, everyone keep on quilting!

Aveli

Baby Doll Cradle and Finished Quilt

This is the baby doll cradle that we bought at the flea market. I thought it was a good deal because it is all wood and it was only $12!  You can tell it has been used a lot because it has a few "dirty" little fingerprints on it!  It just needs a good washing and that should take off the fingerprints.

I have put the actual baby doll and the little quilt that I made for it in the cradle so you can see how it will look all together.

It has curved pedestals so it can rock very easily.

 

 Now what I have to do is make a little mattress and pillow so the doll won't be uncomfortable, LOL!

I thought a couple of layers of batting inserted into a pillow type casing should do for the mattress and another couple of small layers for the pillow would be perfect! I think that I will actually attach the little pillow to the mattress so it won't get lost.  Anyway, if it needs washing, I can throw the whole thing in the washing machine!

I was also thinking of adding a few hexagons to the pillow cover.  A while back I made some 1/2" hexagons to see if I was interested in doing that size.  Since then, I have decided that they are too small for me and just put them away.  Those are just the right size for this project!

I will post more photos as I finish the mattress and pillow for the cradle.

Keep on quilting!

Aveli

Working the string blocks, baby quilt and more!

Every morning as soon as I get up, I work on my string quilt blocks.  I go straight to the coffee pot, make hot water for my tea and while that is brewing, I sew my 4 1/2 inch string blocks. I have a large supply of strips of various size widths, colors and patterns in a drawer next to my sewing machine. I pull out the strips, sew it onto a foundation paper made from my old phone book and keep repeating until I have 10 blocks sewn. I end the chain piecing with a foundation paper sized 2 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches.  It is from these little "feeder" blocks that I made my granddaughter's "baby doll" quilt.

I know that sounds very organized, but trust me its not!  Sometimes I run out of fabric strips and have to run to my scrap box and clean cut the scraps into various sized strips to put in my drawer next to the sewing machine. I have several plastic boxes full of these scraps. I am trying to justify keeping them or "hoarding" them, as my husband calls it. 

These are scraps left from years of cutting butterflies, cats, hexagons, triangles for my customers' orders.  There are all sizes and weird shaped pieces left.  But, if I cut just so, I can get several strips of different widths and many, many triangles of different sizes! I can't even begin to think of throwing all that fabric away! If that makes me a hoarder, so be it!

I have already made enough blocks to put together a quilt top from these scraps that you can see here Click Here   But, it was not big enough to drape over the side of my double bed.  So that's why I am sewing more blocks.  Plus, after I finish this one, I am making 2 more for my other kids. I think then maybe, I will have used all the scraps in the plastic boxes, LOL!!!

In the meantime, remember the "baby doll" quilt?  Well I finally decided, I am going to quilt it on the machine.  Even though I am not very experienced in machine quilting, I think I will manage with this one because it is so small. I will post a picture when I am done, maybe on Monday???

My hexagon quilt progress will be posted tomorrow!

Have a great time quilting!

Aveli

Hailstones!

Yesterday we went to visit my husband's cousin. He lives just 7 miles down the road and up the mountain. We wanted him to meet our youngest son, who was visiting for a few days.

Just as we drove into his yard, it started hailing, hailing and increasing in amount and size. By the time we dashed up the stairs to the porch, they were a mixture of  sizes of nickels and quarters. Ouch! I was lucky enough to not get hit by the "quarters" but my husband, his cousin were not as lucky. Our car was pelted for over 20 minutes by this surprise storm.  We were expecting rain, but not hail!

It was over as quickly as it had started. . . no rain, the clouds parted, and the sun shone so brightly on the melting hail in the trees. So much so that it looked like they were decked out in diamonds all over.  So beautiful!

My son met a cousin he did not know about or had met before. We chatted and were served home made flour tortillas wrapped around some home made refried beans with cheese.  Great burritos! Sun tea,  iced and sweetened made lunch perfect!

After lunch we took a walk further up the mountain to check out the progress on his guest cabin that he is building.  Beautiful work! It has a loft! I would love to be a kid and sleep up there!! LOL!!

After the cabin tour, we left for the town of Mora, another 7 miles down the mountain. That is our local town to get basic supplies like gas and Ice Cream! Yummy!

All in all it was a very nice day. This morning, I got an early start and was missing my son because his visit was so short. He left yesterday after the ice cream.  So this a.m. I immersed myself in my sewing and cutting some scraps into triangles, squares, and strings for the basket weave quilts. Yes, I said quilts! I have decided that I will make only basket weave quilts for my children. That way there is no complaining about colors or styles! LOL!  So, I will be cutting my scraps and sewing basket weave string blocks for a while!!