the finished patriotic quilt

I finished the patriotic quilt that I made for a co-worker of the Sasquatch's.

The gentleman has been in cancer treatment for quite some time.  The cancer keeps moving and changing but yet he keeps a cheerful and upbeat attitude...and had continued working.  

Recently things took a turn for the worse when he had a fall and broke a bone that had been weakened by the disease. 

Not knowing if he would feel up to having visitors, the Sasquatch mailed the quilt to his home.

Even with all he had been through, the gentleman called to excitedly express his thanks and appreciation.   

I have made a few quilts before for Hosparaus, Project Linus and other organizations, but of course one never knows who gets them...or the rest of the story.

But, with this quilt, it's a good feeling to know that the Sasquatch and I actually did surprise this gentleman and maybe brighten his day a bit while he's in the midst of dealing with such serious health problems.

It is a very bright quilt. I used a few darker red fabrics to try to tone it down a bit, and used off-white fabrics in place of the brighter whites in the original quilt that I saw on Pinterest.   

You can click here to get that free pattern. 

The stars are appliqued on and I am glad original quilt photo showed them turned every which way because it would have been tricky to get them all lined up straight and exactly the same.

There is Puss, photo bombing!  She is pouting because I wouldn't let her get on the quilt.  She thinks everything I make is for her.

On the back I used a solid white.  I thought any kind of a print might show shadows behind the light sections of the top.

The finished quilt is roughly 60" x 70".  Not big enough for a bed quilt but a nice size to use for a nap or TV watching on a couch or recliner.

I machine quilted with my usual meander pattern.

Now it's back to working on the three dimensional looking "Y" quilt.

new things

I had a birthday last month and I was a lucky girl and got some nice gifts...including some cash!

I had been considering buying an air fryer since hearing the receptionist at my dentists office going on and on about how much she used hers.
So, I combined my cash gifts and ordered this one from Amazon, after reading dozens of reviews and comparing units.

Really, it basically works like a small convection oven.  There is a heating coil in the top and a blower to circulate hot air around the food.

The first thing I tried was zucchini fries.  I did what they suggested not to do - and overloaded the basket.

Before cooking, I tossed the zucchini with olive oil, parmesan cheese and ranch popcorn seasoning.

They weren't crispy like french fries but the parmesan browned and added a good flavor.

Next was jalapeno halves stuffed with cream cheese and bacon.

They cooked quicker than I expected and the cheese was melting out before the peppers were fully cooked.  No one turned them down when I put them on the table though.

There is a bit of a learning curve but that makes it kind of fun. Next time I will cook longer at a lower temperature.

Then, another day, roasted eggplant...

This had a really good flavor with just olive oil and sprinkle of seasoned salt.  The hot air dries up a lot of the moisture that can make some veggies soggy even when roasting.

I added jarred red peppers and crispy bacon and it made a nice meal.

The air fryer came with a book of recipes.  I picked out one for Coconut Macaroons to try since my husband really likes coconut.

Oops...good thing I checked them before the time was up...they were almost too brown. Lonnie liked them.

Back to zucchini - this time diced, along with red and green peppers and onions. Sprinkled with olive oil and Italian seasoning.

I had cooked chicken tenders one day too, coated with mayonaise and parmesan.  They were so good I forgot to take photos. The parmesan browned and crisped up a bit. (The recipe book instructed to bread with flour and panko crumbs but I wanted to avoid the carbs.)

I have also made sweet potato fries, again not really crispy, but a nice roasted flavor.

Overall, I like this appliance and even though I don't like a lot of stuff out on my countertops, I made a place for it there.  And besides it is too big to fit into any of my cabinets, ha ha.

It's easy to clean. The two piece drawer  is non-stick and can be submerged in soapy water.  

Less energy use than heating up an oven too.

I bought the air fryer choosing Amazon's "warehouse deals" feature, which means either the box was damaged, there was cosmetic damage, or in my case it was a customer return.  I've ordered several items like that and never had a problem, and it's a substantial savings.

So...I had enough cash left over to order this new ironing board cover! Whoo-ooo!

And last but not least, the Sasquatch surprised me on my birthday with a nice quilting fabric assortment.

My mind is swirling with ideas of how I want to use them...another patriotic quilt? a modern looking quilt featuring the black and white print? The pink gingham, definitely cute for a baby girl quilt.

The blue in the middle is my favorite...and Lonnie said I should make him a shirt with the blue print on the left... yeah, right.

Also, snugged in the box of fabric was a jar of Marcona Almonds.  They are my favorite so they have all disappeared without a photo.

sewing pillow cases

I recently visited a different Homemaker group meeting at the extension office. This group meets monthly and they do different types of crafts.
Two of their members had passed away in the past year and they felt that their group was getting very small, so invited us members of Crazy Quilters to come visit and join if we wish to.

On this day they were sewing pillow cases to be donated to Norton Childrens Hospital.  All the fabrics were Halloween themed to bring a bit of cheer to the kids who are hospitalized at Halloween and missing out on trick-or-treating or parties.

Here are Joan and the two Lindas from my regular quilt group.

A few finished pillow cases. One fabric for the body with a coordinating fabric at the side.

The fabric was already cut and mostly pinned and ready to sew.

The cases are pinned and sewn in such a way that when you turn them from inside out, you have only one raw edge to deal with.

Linda brought her serger to finish those raw edges and we zig zagged some of them too.

Fun fabrics!

There are sure to be a few sewing boo-boos, so someone gets stuck with seam ripper duty.

We finished up a big pile that day.

Linda took these home to wash with a required non-allergenic laundry soap. Then she will bring them back for ironing and packing individually in zip lock bags.

This group has a potluck lunch at every meeting...temptingly dangerous to one's weight goals.

I slipped away this time because I had to make a run to the post office. Next time???

A very nice group of ladies though, friendly and welcoming.

catching up

It's been the usual day to day stuff around here so not much to blog about.

I did get a new mobile phone with a different service. The Sasquatch has one he really likes so when my old one went haywire and somehow kept using all my prepaid data, he urged me to get one like his.

The service is a bit more expensive, but hopefully more reliable.

Think I need to let go of some of these old ones?   That's my new one on the top right.

In the sewing department...I have some finished things from earlier this year that I haven't shown here.  I hate to take them outside to drape them around for photos.  Because we have had so little rain, everything seems to be covered with a blackish residue...polution? dirt?

But I have been working on more quilts.   I have paused work on the big "Y" quilt - that's how I think of the three dimensional quilt I am sewing.

I've switched off to this patriotic quilt that will go to a coworker of my son's.  I will tell more about him when I show photos when the quilt is finished.

I saw the design on pinterest.  Not sewn together here...just the layout.

Just so you know, my carpet isn't filthy - that's a smudge on my camera lens!

I thought about this layout but think the original is more striking.

 I used several different shades of red, most with a star theme. Used only one blue and one gold.

The Pinterest design had the stars in white but I thought the gold would add warmth.

The stars are fused on then zigzagged around the raw edges (maybe should have used a tighter zig zag stitch).  The fusible web causes some stiffness but hopefully will soften up after handling and quilting.

 Of course Puss must help in the sewing room.

I appreciate your loyalty, girl, but that's really not a good place to lay...right in my chair wheels!

 Maybe flip over at least.  Nope, the tail is on that side.

She decided if she couldn't lay there she would just bunch up the quilt top and lay on it.

Okay, but you'd better not shed even one hair on it!

I also finished some crochet baby blankets then started another crochet project...

This yarn was a give-away by one of the ladies in my quilt group.  When she brought it in, I used self control and didn't take any of it.  But she left it there that evening and one of the other ladies ended up carrying around in her car for weeks after she gathered it up just to leave the meeting room tidy.

I felt sorry for her and took it off her hands (ha ha). 

It's cotton yarn, which I had never used. I found a pattern online for a tote bag, made in panels.  It's an easy thing to crochet while sitting on the back porch in the evenings. 

And here is a couple of random things....

A tiny frog on the back door glass one morning after we had some rain.  (excuse my worn nail polish, I wanted to show how small he was)

And these vultures...I had dumped out some leftover homemade beef stew in the yard that had been in the fridge a bit too long.  I was expecting the crows to come for it but instead, it was vultures.  

They liked it and thought it was worth threatening each other over.

I was surprised that they would eat beef stew, but I guess if there are no dead rotting animals available they will settle for second best...my beef stew!