Quilt Progress

I've been really busy lately, which I will fill you in on later, but for now I will just say that I am working away on the baby quilt.

 

The weather in Buffalo is starting to get warmer and warmer. This happens every spring here. We have cold and rainy weather in which you don't want to go outside and work in your garden, and then we go straight to 85 and humid weather in which you don't want to go outside and work in your garden. Then it's so dry that your soil turns into concrete.

I know this hot weather is just around the corner and when it comes I don't want to be sewing and having a hot machine in my dining room and I also will not want a quilt touching my body. Also, the baby shower for Ron's niece is on June 30th so I need to hustle here.

So far, I have finished 6 squares out of 9.

 The 7th is nearly done and then there will be two left. I'm guessing I need to pink the seams so they don't fray. It's too late to zig-zag them since I sewed some of them down when I attched the pieces together. Then I will press them and call my sister to ask her what's next. Lol!

 

Even though it was really too hot to work out in the yard last weekend, I did anyhow since I'm sick of the gardens looking like this...

...and this.

You can barely tell where the plants end and the weeds begin. OR, where the garden ends and the grass begins, for that matter.

So I took out my garden tools and started working the dirt (I can't call it soil), pulled as many weeds as I could and moved the rocks to get weeds and grass out from under and around them.

I got half done. Now I need to dig up all those daylillies and divide them. But, alas, I cannot do that this week because as I was walking around the garden giving it a good look-over, I tripped on a garden tool and fell on my arm. My right one, of course, since I'm right handed. I think I tore a muscle or something because now it hurts like hell. Yesterday I swatted at a fly with it and I saw stars. I don't know what to do about it, so I'm taking it easy.

The good news is, I have a few iris that bloomed out of the weeds.

And, due to that crazy warm weather we had in March, my peonies are HUGE.

I have never seen them this big before, nor have I seen them ready to bloom so early. They usually aren't ready until mid-late June. I can't wait til they open, it's my most favorite fragrance in the world.

Have a great day!!

How I Am Attempting To Make A Quilt

Since I have never made a quilt before and my sister cannot possibly sit with me the entire time to figure it all out, I am winging it.

I will show you my mad method that I came up with to make this project.

Since I only had a bad cell phone picture of the quilt I was trying to duplicate, I had to guess at the pattern and size of the pieces.

First off, I estimated the quilt to be 3 foot square in size. I looked at the photo I had and looked for repetition in the pieces. After a time, I came up with this pattern above as the basis of a 12 inch square.

I then took that square and rotated it eight times to have a pattern of nine 12 inch squares in different directions.

I broke it down into pattern pieces and cut them out of graph paper. I gave each piece a letter to identify it.

Then each fabric was given a number so I could keep track of which fabric is used for each piece in each square.

I didn't pin the pieces to the fabric and cut with scissors like you normally do with patterns. Since it was all straight sides I put it on the cutting mat and used the rotary cutter. I put the graph paper pattern pieces on top of the fabric as I moved my yardstick around to make sure I was cutting the right size, then I held the yardstick down as a guide to cut a straight line. (I got into this cutting thing so much that I cut straight through the mat in into my table :(.  )

I gave each 12 inch square a number and as I cut the pieces of fabric, I piled them up together and identified them with their square's number.

Periodically, I would lay out all the pieces so I could make sure I liked the position of the fabrics and also to be sure it was random enough to spread fabrics out away from themselves.

It is all cut out and the next step is sewing it all together.
 

I hope you understand my rambling directions. For my first attempt at this, I probably should have just done squares. But I never like to settle for sanity. :)

Annoying Chair Refinishing Part Three

I just wanted to update you on the chair project.

My dad decided the chair dilemma and the chairs went off to the refinisher for $35 each.

 

He said he would pay for it, but I will slip some money to him somehow. He said that after we let them dry last time, they couldn't even be sanded smooth. They were not even paintable. I should have just painted them in the first place.

So now, I have to pick a stain color and get to it.

I also have to pick a fabric for the seats. I think I will pick something neutral and light in color and then make a bunch of slip covers to go over them. I am a seasonal decorator so I will definitely want to change the look for seasons and holidays.

More on this later when I get stain and get to my dad's to get these chairs done. I'm so excited!

Banana Chocolate Tea Bread

Every week I buy bananas for my breakfast. But for some reason, they go brown so quickly, I can't use them all before they are too mushy for my taste.

So, today I used them to make a delicious bread.

~Banana Chocolate Tea Bread~

This bread is so delicious. My friend Maria gave me the recipe. It's the kind of bread that makes you have to decide if you should have one huge thick slice or two thin ones. ;)

It has chocolate chips and nuts in it, making it so delightful.

Thought you might like the recipe.

Banana Chocolate Tea Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cups chopped nuts (of your choice)

1/3 cup chocolate chips

1. Beat first 4 ingredients on medium speed then add the next 5 ingredients.

2. Fold in the next 4 ingredients and stir with a spoon.

3. Pour mixture in greased and floured loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan to baking rack to cool further.

I hope you enjoy it!



On The Run

Yesterday was one of those days when you go out, come home, go out, come home, go out. Then you come home at 10:30 at night and you can't believe the whole day is gone. I started Friday by going to a nearby estate sale with my sweet friend Nicole.

I got about 51 yards of lace and that big spool of twill tape for $10.

And I also got a vintage glass dome for $5. I was so excited, I have been wanting one of these. I think I'm going to have my dad show me how to make a nice base for this. I asked him if he could start teaching me how to make things. I doubt if I'll ever be able to make furniture like he does, but I could try to make some small things.

After the estate sale, Ron and I fixed our neighbor's fence. It divides our two yards and keeps our dogs apart. Well, he doesn't seem to be around enough to try and get out there and fix it so we had to. I'm tired of cleaning up after his dog in my yard.

Once we were done with that, we decided to take a ride to Delaware Park. I had been wanting to go there and get some photos.

Delaware Park is part of the "Olmsted Parks Conservancy". They are a group here that keeps the parks created by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. going. Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. created Central Park in NYC along with Calvert Vaux.

The park has two parts, divided by an expressway. The other side we didn't go to has a golf course and the Buffalo Zoo is on the outskirts of it.

This side has Hoyt Lake and a building called the Marcy Casino.

You can rent it for parties and weddings.

The lake has a walking/jogging path all the way around it.

There is a beautiful foot bridge in a more wooded area of the park. I've been asked to do a portrait for a family I know so I was scouting a place. This might be a really good spot. Once the leaves come out, the light will be more dappled.

Across the street is the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

When Ron was about 4 years old, he was the ring bearer for his uncle's wedding. They took the photos on the steps of the gallery.

It is quite a building.

I don't know anything about the history of it, but the details are beautiful.

Buffalo has a very deep architectural history. We have had some amazing men design buildings here. One of these is the Darwin Martin House .

This Prairie style home was designed by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright. This is one side...

...this is the rest.

This is actually called the "Martin House Complex".  The story about this property is quite extensive. Darwin D. Martin was a successful Buffalo businessman who had commissioned Wright to design a building for his boss, John D. Larkin, owner of the Larkin Soap Company. Martin also commissioned Wright to build him a house.

Martin lost all his money in the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929. Over the years, this property fell into great disrepair and parts were even torn down. It has been painstakingly rebuilt and restored, right down to making the bricks the same way they were made in 1903. We were just in the neighborhood here, and I had never seen it before so we stopped to grab a few photos. I want to take a tour of it soon, so if I can take interior photos, I will post them. Until then, you may want to click on the name of the house above. There are a few photos on there.

Unfortunately, the Larkin Building was torn down to build a tuck stop, back before the historic preservation groups were as strong as they are now. For some reason, people did not care as much then for historic places as we do now. The year was 1950. It even sounds like a year that no one cared. Lol. For all the architecture buffs around the area here, it's a black eye on the city that a Frank Lloyd Wright building was demolished. 

At least we still have this home, and the summer estate he built for the same family on Lake Erie. It is called Graycliffe. I hope to visit there one day too.

Here are some of Wright's signature Tree of Life windows.

Anyhoo, after we left here, I went to Joann's to get the blade for my rotary cutter. I also bought fabric for the back of my quilt.

We ate a sandwich fast, then Ron took the girls to the movies to see The Hunger Games and I went to help with the theme tray raffle at school. After that we went for a drink and a bite to eat with Bob and Nicole. Came home. Went to bed. Holy Crap! It was one of those days when you lay down at the end of it and let out a big sigh. Or a groan. Lol!!  

I am going to go and start cutting quilt pieces now. I'll take some photos tomorrow and put them up for you to see. I'm so excited to finally start. I hope it turns out nice.

Have a good night!

Spring Feeever

I have been trying to get a few things done lately, mostly things that need to be done in the house.

But, we have had the most amazing and unexpected weather here, that I now have heavy spring fever.

We have had 5 days with record high temperatures, and, we are supposed to have one more tomorrow. Normally in Buffalo in March, the high temp is around 47 degrees. Yesterday was 81 degrees, today was 82. It was the highest temperature ever on record in March in Buffalo. We are so unused to this! I even slept with my windows open last night. I can't believe it. March 21st and I'm sleeping with my windows open!

Things are starting to come up in the garden.

Here are my tulips.

Here are my neighbor's tulips. She is on the sunny side of the street and, she is really good to her soil. I should buy some of her compost. Lol.

Normally, the tulips are the last to open, around the end of April. All around her tulips are peonies.

Mine are barely poking through the ground. They will not be this tall until May.

Of course we can't forget the hyacinths and daffodils.

Back to the non-sunny side of the street, I already have leaves opening on my hydrangea.

The great weather is fantastic, but it's only March and we usually have snow here into April. It's not unusual to have snow on Easter. I just hope everything doesn't freeze and die off. The local apple growers are nervous because their buds are starting to open and a freeze will mean curtains to this year's crop. But right now, I'm being thankful for a month or two of extra time to get the yard, patio and screen porch ready for summer. My wheels are turning!

So, even though I need to finish raking the yard while it's warm, I'm working on some things inside. We have our theme basket raffle at the elementary school this Friday and I made a few things to put in a First Communion basket. Here is one of a pair of bobby pins I made for it.

I also made a pair with a beaded flower with a pearl on it and a bracelet with vintage crystals from a necklace and pale blue Chinese crystals but I forgot to take pictures of them before I took them in to school. Duh!

Here is a bobby I made to put away for next Christmas.

My sister and I are trying to do a few things each month throughout the year to make sure we don't have so much to do all at one time. I always end up feeling like I should have a little something for nieces or nephew's girlfriends. So I'm starting early on getting some of these done.

Baby Quilt Update:

I pre-shrunk the fabrics for my baby quilt, but my rotary cutter blade couldn't cut butter so I have to get a new one this weekend.

Oh, one more thing, I went to a local quilt shop today and bought another fabric for the quilt.

Isn't it so cute? I love it. I needed one with some birds on it and the colors are great.

Hope you are having some great weather where you are!

And Speaking Of Quilts...

In one of my recent posts, I mentioned that I am going to make a baby quilt for my husband's niece as a gift for her baby shower this summer.

Well, my sister-in-law Donna called me the next day and asked me if I was interested in having my great-aunt's quilt handed sideways (not down) to me from my brother, Thomas.

Well I said YES!

Most of it is in pretty good shape.

But there is some damage along two of the edges.

My sister-in-law thinks maybe it was a full size quilt used on a twin bed and it got stepped on a lot. I think that's a pretty good deduction. She's smart, that Donna.

Anyhoots, I would like to wash it, but I don't know how, especially without ruining it. Does anyone know a good way to do this? I suppose I will have to do it by hand, and in the bathtub because its too large to put in a wash basin. I don't know what kind of soap to use either. Or should I just leave it alone? It is really yellowed on the back, which is white. And maybe I should wait until my clothesline is back up so I can hang it out in the sun to dry. If anyone has a suggestion, I am all ears.

Well, we are off to watch some of our old Irish dancing friends do a show at one of our favorite restaurants. Have a great evening!!



Annoying Chair Refinishing Part Two

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was working on refinishing my two bent wood chairs at my dad's house. You can see that here.

I also mentioned that I put a coat of furniture stripper on them and it didn't do much.

Well, my dad got me a different brand of stripper but it was caustic so I had to wait until we had a warmish day so I could use it out in his garage. So, I went back to his house to try again.

(We did have a conversation about all the caustic things he used in the basement workshop over the years and how he was never concerned. I had to interject how all of us kids and my mom had to breathe that stuff in. We came to the conclusion that now we know what is wrong with all of his kids.)

Anyhoo, this is the best it came out.

This little spot of bare wood.

The rest is still the same, but I believe the varnish is starting to break up.

Not very good. And, annoying because I will probably have to cover it again. Or let it all dry and sand them. Yuck. There is nothing I hate more than sanding. So my dad got out the phone book and called a few numbers of people listed as furniture strippers. The cheapest price we got was $35 each, hand stripped. I suppose that's a good price when you think about how long it will take to sand them.

I know what my mother-in-law is thinking while she's reading this, "You shoulda took them out in the yard and spray painted them like Jenny." Well, I'm not Jenny, Ma, and I know, OK?! I even have the paint. I just thought they were nice and old and would look good with that old stained look.

So should I spring for the $70 to get them stripped, put another coat of stripper on them,  sand them, or paint the doggone things like Jenny would? Oh, and by the way, I need them for Easter dinner. :)