Quilt of Valor

 I think I have mentioned here before - a program called Quilts of Valor.  It's an organization that collects quilts donated by quilters and presents them to retired and currently active military service men and women...as a token of appreciation for their service to our country.

Our quilt group, Crazy Quilters, has a member who has served in the military.  We wanted to surprise Wanda with this special quilt, to show our appreciation for her service.

It wasn't easy keeping the whole thing secret and COVID made things even more difficult.

Way back over a year ago, we started making our plans when Wanda left the meeting early one night.

Isolde had the pattern and the background fabric, but she couldn't be at the next meeting because she had an extended trip planned out of the country. 

So she handed off the supplies to another group member who works at the library.

At our next meeting, after Wanda left, we divided up the background fabric and all members got a copy of the pattern to make two squares, adding their own fabric. One star square in blue and one 9patch square in reds.  Lots of variety to make it interesting!

At the February meeting, the member's completed blocks were turned over to Isolde, who assembled them into this beautiful quilt.   She also provided and attached the striped border fabric.  I think that really makes the quilt sing.  And the corners are mitered too!  Perfect!

Then COVID struck and there were no Crazy Quilter meetings.  Like everyone else, we had no idea how long the restrictions would last...but we knew we wanted to get this quilt finished for Wanda.

So in June, Isolde and I arranged for me to pick up the quilt top at her home so I could do the quilting. 

(I also have to mention that I had a tour of Isolde's flower beds and vegetable garden.  Wowzer, beautiful flowers, trees, shrubs, vines and plants in an idyllic setting,. She has such a green thumb!  Bonus...she sent me home with several plant starts and a type of lily I had never seen before).

But, back to the quilt....

The blocks are 10" square so the quilt is roughly 60" x 70".

Here is a view of the back.  Since there was a lot of white on the front, I didn't want to take a chance on any sort or color or pattern showing through from the back, so I chose to use solid white muslin for a backing.

I did a swirl design. My swirls are all a bit different in size but okay if you just look at the overall design (I think?).

And the lines you see here are just creases in the fabric...not accidental pleats!

Originally we planned to have a little party with refreshments and so forth when we presented the quilt to Wanda.  But when we found out we could start back with our meetings we wanted to get the quilt in Wanda's hands in case things go under strict lockdown again.

 Wanda with her quilt...mask off just for photos.

We really did surprise her...by pretending it was just a show and tell quilt made by our group for a service person.

She kept asking why she hadn't heard of this group project or been asked to participate in making blocks.

It was fun seeing the look on her face when she found out it was her name on the label as the recipient!

Thank you for your service, Wanda!

relaxing fall evening

 It's close to a deadline for finishing up this top secret quilt.  It's a group quilt and I am adding the finishing touches.

I took advantage of this lovely fall evening to sit out back and finish sewing down the binding (the dark blue outer edge).  For my own quilts I always sew it down on the machine, but hand stitching the last edge is really the correct and nicer looking way to do it.

It's hard to see, but I have the quilt folded in a plastic bag...only pulling out the edge I'm working on in an effort to keep it clean.

Well, what's this?   I am wearing two different color shoes again. At least I haven't left the house today.

I'm going to have to get better lighting in my closet, or maybe just keep my shoes better organized.

As usual, Puss is by my side.  It's lucky she doesn't like to sit on my lap or she would be trying to sleep on this quilt I'm finishing.

I'll be able to show this quilt in a few days and tell all about it.

new door installed

 Our new door for the bedroom finally came in and was installed by the same Pella crew that did our front windows.

This is the old door. The door wasn't bad but the frame was wood and rotten on the outside.  We'd had it worked on in the past but the repairs didn't last long.  Plus, it wasn't a tight fit and seemed a bit drafty.

The Pella crew was great. They used the outside steps rather than tromping through the house. They brought up the new door and all their supplies before removing the old door... to minimize the time that the opening was open.  They were finished in just over two hours.

Here is the new door. It's an all-vinyl slider.  Lot's of glass!

On winter days the afternoon sun shines in this room and makes it so nice and bright. It's a shame we're mostly only in here when it's dark outside.

Wonder if I could talk my husband into agreeing to let me swap out this room with my sewing room?

Lot's of good light, plenty of space, closets for my fabric and shelves for my quilting books!

Nah, I won't even mention it. It would put the bedroom further from the bathroom and it would be too big of an adjustment for both of us after living here 34 years.

brisket - deal or no deal?

 

One of our favorite meats for family meals is a Sadler's smoked beef brisket. They are cooked and sliced and all you have to do is heat them up and serve them.

I have never cooked a brisket starting with the raw chunk of meat...until now.

It seems like beef prices have been rising so when I saw this brisket marked down to $1.99 per pound at Kroger, it didn't take me long to lob it into my shopping cart.

It was huge...just under 13 pounds!  

After looking at cooking methods online, I decided to bake it overnight at a low temperature (215 degrees). I added just a bit of water and a few bay leaves. 

 I had to dig out my turkey roasting pan because I figured (correctly) that it would create a lot of liquid and I didn't want it to run over in the oven while I was asleep.

Here it is 9 hours later...Fully cooked and very tender.

And here is what I had left after separating the meat from the fat...five pounds and four ounces of meat!

So, that brings the true price up to $4.91 per pound of edible meat.  Still not a bad deal though.

I tried slicing across the grain like the store bought briskets but mostly it shredded and crumbled. It had a good rich flavor and needed only a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Better flavor than a chuck roast (which is nearby on a side of beef).  

This doesn't take the place of the Sadler's briskets that we like, but I'd buy it again if I saw it at this sale  price.

Unrelated, but I was admiring the afternoon sun shining on the field next door and a bit of autumn color showing already.

At first glance our driveway looks like a river in this photo (or it did to me).

One more photo...this is the big Catalpa tree at the Sasquatch's old place.  There were no Catalpa worms on it this year (mine either) maybe because of our late spring freeze? 

It is magnificent in real life and the leaves are as green as in springtime.

I will miss seeing this big old tree. I am glad I have one of it's offspring...raised from a seed.

I have a few more seeds...maybe I should try to start another one.

new front windows

 Finally the day arrived for our new front windows to be installed.

We have been working toward this day for years. I think I have mentioned before that we have had some of the exterior wood frame replaced, and that worked for awhile, but rotten spots kept showing up quicker than we could plug them with wood filler.

Every company we called for replacements was worried about what they would find behind the exterior "roofs" of the bow windows...worried that they wouldn't be able to make the new windows look good.

One fancy-pants company over in St. Matthews quoted a price of $16 thousand per window! One has to think that they pretty much didn't want the job!  Another company said we would need to hire a stone mason before they could do the job.

Finally we talked to Pella, and thanks to their positive-thinking installation manager, they said they could do the job and at a reasonable price.

We did go with regular windows rather than bows...about half the price but not quite as pretty. But for the savings, we'll get used to them.

We had to scoot all the furniture away from the windows to get ready for the installers.

Front Room...

And Family Room...

Family room first. Whoa! That is a big opening! The installers did have to fill in about six inches on each side to help support the lintel (a metal support piece above the window).

It had been built resting only on the outer edges of the old window frames.

There it goes...you can see no insulation in the top (or bottom) of the bow areas, just plywood.

I had some anxiety at this point!

But  they were quick to get the new window in place.

I mostly just stayed out of the way and stood at the kitchen counter cutting quilt pieces.

They moved over to the Front Room and quickly had the old window out.

And the new one ready to go in.

It was an all day job for them.  When they left they had trimmed and caulked the inside and vacuumed up around their work area.

They will be back to add the exterior trim.

Everyone was correct in assuming the wall behind the "roofs" would be rough. The installation manager said he is going to try to chip away the excess mortar to see if the rocks look okay under there. If not, he will come up with another plan.

We have to leave the protective film on the outside of the window until they are all finished.

I will show photos of inside and outside after the job is complete.

We have already noticed the new windows deaden a lot more of the noise from the highway. I think we will notice they block the cold a little better this winter, too.

in the mood to cook

 Nothing stays the same and now it seems like we are both satisfied with this routine of me cooking ahead foods to just heat and eat when we are ready.

This way Lonnie isn't locked in to eating some particular thing that I decide to cook for dinner and I don't feel put out if he isn't in  the mood to eat what I've cooked. 

We still do have a nice family dinner weekly but the rest of the time we mostly just rummage around in the fridge.

This time I've made two soups (again).

Homemade noodles for Chicken Noodle soup...

And Pioneer Woman's recipe for tomato soup (should have doubled this one).

Forgive my "schmeary" looking stove...I am not a neat cook!

Also made cheese stuffed jalapenos halves with bacon. I could eat these for any meal. Low carb, too.

And some oven roasted veggies - peppers, onions, eggplant, yellow squash, broccoli, with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Cooked just to tender crisp but I think I crowded these a bit. The moisture makes them steam rather than roast.

Some of the soup goes in the freezer to add variety to what's already in there.  The rest should last us a few days with the peppers and veggies.

bye bye shrubs

 We have new front windows ordered (yipee!) and the installation contract says shrubbery must be trimmed back two feet from the work area.

Looks like some work need to be done here!

The shrubs were due for a trim anyway.  But, the more I though about it, I just wanted to do away with them completely.

I don't think they were adding much beauty to the house. Especially bad, are the hollies on each corner.  They are huge things and were once nearly as tall as the house.  I had someone cut them short enough that I could reach them to trim. But, of course they always wanted to grow tall again. A lot of trimming to try to hold them back.

It was all planted too close to the house (by previous owners) anyway.  It's an easy mistake to make when the shrubs are young and small.

So, I got to work with my reciprocating saw, and in a couple of sessions had the shrubs all cut down to stumps and stacked in the front yard. The Sasquatch helped me load the trimmings onto a trailer and pulled it back to the burn pit.

Isn't this better?  Less closed in, less visual clutter.  By the way, that black spot appearing to the right of the door is dirt on my camera lens - not on the house.

Later, the Sasquatch will cut the Holly trunks down short with a chain saw and we'll dig up all the stumps and/or cut below ground level.  If that green algae on the stones doesn't dry up maybe it can be cleaned of with a light pressure wash.

Not a good time of the year to do it, but I also trimmed up this dogwood tree, which is also too close to the house - but it is staying.

Wish I would have removed the shrubs years ago!