Apparently, I need to go on a fabric diet. Yikes! When I went into the dungeon yesterday, this is what I found:
All of my older fabrics were neatly stacked in an old 60’s style china closet. It has glass-front doors and I love it because it protects the fabrics from dust. It has faithfully served my fabric collection all these years, but apparently, the new folding method that I instituted a few years ago allows for more fabric per shelf, and the poor shelf finally caved in. Sooo sad. ;-(
Not much else going on around here. I’ve been pre-shrinking my City Weekend fat quarter pack from market and neatly folding it. Fortunately, I hadn’t planned on putting it in the china closet.
And I’ve discovered the Dollar Tree. Those stores have always been so crowded that they gave me a headache. A new (cleaner) one recently opened up here so I ventured in. That pretty cherry blossom soap was only a dollar. I’ll definitely be going back — even if it’s just for the soap!
Have a good week. Things will definitely be picking up here by the weekend, so I might actually have something to talk about.
Here in ThimbleannaLand we live in the corn belt. Most of the corn grown around here is field corn, but there are local farmstands that grow the good people corn. (And btw, if you live in a country that considers corn only for pigs and other animals, you have my sincere condolences!)
I know that strawberries and blueberries and raspberries mean summer to a lot of people, and while I do love them, summer is all about the corn for me. I patiently wait until the day that I open my mailbox to reveal the card from my local farmer to tell me that the corn is finally ready. This week was the week!
Yum oh Yummy Yum! Look at those luscious yellow kernels. And slathered with butter, salt and pepper? Heaven. How could I possibly be expected to resist? By the end of summer, TheManoftheHouse and the kids have always been sick of corn on the cob. But not me. Never! (Btw, in case you’re currently lucky enough to have fresh corn, the fabulous Ms. B has FINALLY posted and it’s for a delicious corn salsa recipe.)
So, while we’re munching on our corn, can we talk traffic? I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Mostly because TheManoftheHouse and I drive to work together. Every morning we pass through an intersection that has a right turn lane with a yield sign. TheManoftheHouse maintains that the yield sign means that you can turn right on red without stopping. (There is a dedicated lane for just such a thing.) Every morning, there is a car in front of us that stops to wait for oncoming traffic. And Every Morning TheManoftheHouse yells at said person and honks his horn. AND Every. Morning. I’m the only one who can hear him. One of these days I’m going to jump out of the car and run up to the stopped car in front of us and ask them to please get moving ’cause I’m sick of the complaining!
But, I digress. I read in the paper that our local authorities are planning on re-vamping a local freeway interchange by using the Diverging Diamond pattern. Have any of you ever heard of such a thing? It’s a cool new traffic concept where traffic actually ends up on the wrong side of the road for a brief time. The first interchange of this type in the US was built in 2009 and there are quite a few more being planned. (All of you blog peeps in Utah are scheduled to get two of them in American Fork, if they’re not already finished.)
The US version was developed by a college student. While I think it looks pretty darn amazing, I can’t help but wonder what kind of drugs he was on to come up with a goofy plan for shifting traffic all around like this! Anyway, you can see a visualization of how the traffic moves in this short video.
And one last thing on the topic of roads — check out this cool map I found via Anglotopia: (click to enlarge)
I love it! That map was possibly another drug induced event!
I feel like it’s just a broken record around here. Nothing exciting going on, but still working on things. I spent most of the weekend painting kitchen cabinets at MeMum and BigDaddy’s. We finished up Phase2 this weekend. Each phase takes three days — two to paint and 1 to put back together. (And by days, I don’t mean full days — we have extra time to play a game of cards or run to the store or whatever.)
I figure we have about 4 phases, which means we’re about half way through. They’re going from this old little-bit-scruffy white with brass knobs,
to a softer white with knobs that are a better match to the hinges. We did discuss swapping out hinges and then decided that was just too much work for all those cabinets. I love the new handles on the drawers – very fun.
You can also see a glimpse of the pretty new corian countertops that MeMum picked out. She wants a very neutral palate and I think it will be really pretty. The kitchen will then be accessorized in blue. She has some of those old Bing and Grondahl (I think?) Mother’s Day plates that she’s been hauling around for years and now she’ll finally have a pretty place to hang them.
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, I spent a little time organizing my flours and sugars into canisters. I was tired of all the flour and sugar bags sitting on the shelves.
And there has been a little quilting. It’s been very SLOW though.
Matching all those little points is fussy work. And they’re rarely right on the money. I’m about half way through with these blocks too.
I hope you had a productive weekend and that you’re staying cool if you’re in a hot place this month.
Summer days around here are so lazy, it’s hard to find much to blog about. Anyone else feeling the pain? I’m pressing on with my beehive UFO — now I’m working on the borders. I took some of my little half-square triangles out onto the patio tonight to trim them up. (Love that little swivel table.)
I love being outside. I’d move my sewing room out there if I could. It’s nice to be outside where I can enjoy my flowers.
Lots of pretty daisies this year.
Oops…ugliness slipped in. More bunny carnage — hostas taken hostage — most of them didn’t make it out alive.
We have a bumper crop of coneflowers this year though.
Thankfully, the varmints aren’t chomping on these little beauties. I think the daisy/coneflower families are my favorite flowers. Although, I do love hydrangeas. And lilacs. And probably some others.
The bumblebees seem partial to the coneflowers though. Those orange buttons are full of yummy, powdery pollen and the bumblebees are picking them clean this year. It’s fun to sit and watch them busily flit from flower to flower.
And look. Another small visitor to my quilt squares. I think she was flirting with the little bee on the right side of the fabric.
Zip. Zip. Turn. Zip. Zip. New block.
Repeat.
Zip. Zip. Turn. Zip. SWAT!
No, not the butterfly. Mosquitos.
I only made it through that little green pile before I had to admit defeat and come inside. ;-(
Hidee Ho Neighbor! How’s the week going? I’m super happy that the weekend is almost here — I’ve been really tired this week for some reason. I haven’t done much but water the flowers after work (it’s been HOT here) and sew a little on my UFO. It will be a wall hanging for my sun room. I’m almost done with the handwork and then I can start on the pieced border. There’s a little bit of silk ribbon embroidery and I’m really enjoying it. My technique is lacking (it’s my first silk ribbon project) but I love the little bees.
After seeing the picture in my last post, someone asked me about how I make my applique circles. There are many different ways, but MeMum taught me the plastic template method years ago. I used to cut my own circles, but it’s not easy to get them even, so I bought this circle template set a few years ago.
First, I cut a piece of fabric just a bit larger than the template.
Sew a running stitch around the outside edge of the fabric circle.
Draw the stitching up tight and finish off with a knot.
Turn the circle over and press long enough to be sure that the fabric creases around the outside edge of the template.
Turn the circle back over and remove the plastic template. This takes a little wiggling and stretching of the fabric, but it’s not too difficult. After the template is out, press from the right side again.
Then, sew the circle onto the background in desired location and you’re done!
In other news, remember the rodent wars? I’m officially admitting defeat. Even though we caught three little devils, we didn’t catch the perpetrator and a day or two after I posted IT finished off the rest of my lilies. I didn’t even get to see them bloom. Bum. Er. Not only that, something (presumably a chipmunk who is too small to trip the trap mechanism) is sneaking into the trap and enjoying the carrot and peanut butter buffet. AND, to add insult to injury, the squirrel rodents are back and starting in on my patio chair cushions again. Not that I could shoot a little rodent, but an Uzi could be my friend!
