Cowboy Quilt is a Flimsy

I am not sure why, but this quilt has always made me think of cowboys.  There were no cowboys or horses or bandanas involved in the making of this quilt, but it still makes me think of cowboys.

It's a flimsy!

I had finished the center a while back and then it waited for just the right borders.  One of my summer thrift store fabric purchases was dark brown and that was just what this quilt needed for an inner border to frame it all up.  I already had the aqua with brown dots for the outer border.  I made square in a square blocks for the corners.

Now to choose a backing.  Auditions will be held this weekend.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Busy Hands Quilts to show off finishes.

Thankful Thursday

As our summer vacation comes to an end I can honestly say it was a good one.  We didn't go anywhere.  We didn't do anything out of the ordinary.  We had some major "upsets" at the start of the summer, but it turned out just fine.

I did not get as much accomplished as I imagined I would, but that didn't matter.  The important thing is that I was able to spend time with all of my girls.

Don't feed your sister to the alligator!  2011

Grown Up R works full time, but doesn't live too far away, so we fit in some outings, lunches and dinners.  She is helping with me a side project in her down time and we are in frequent communication about that.  She makes sure to have her sisters over regularly and spend time with them.

College E was home for the summer and I am trying to take full advantage of her being here.   Sometimes it is having her sit on the kitchen counter and tell me how her day went.  Sometimes it is just knowing that she is up in her room.  We even got in a few outings with just the two of us, when Little S was away on her trips.

Little S keeps me young.  I can't go anywhere without her, so I think it was nice for both of us when she had her own trips this summer.  One was a mission trip with her church youth group and the other was a Young Life camp with her after school youth group.  We share a love of musicals, so we will celebrate the end of summer vacation with a local production of "In the Heights."  This might be as close as we get to "Hamilton" so we are excited.  Her sisters are thanking their lucky stars they don't have to go with us!

Sunset on Assateague Island.  2012

I am thankful that my girls truly love each other and being with each other.  No arguing or bickering, not even when they were little.  I am thankful for the uniqueness of each daughter and that what makes them unique is just what our family needs.

Wooden Stool Makeover

This little wooden stool has been around a long time.  We got it second hand when we moved to the US over 7 years ago and who knows how old it was at that point.  It never really "matched" anything or even itself, but it didn't really matter since I'm pretty much of a "make do" kind of gal.  Living overseas will do that to you!

Before - cute little nondescript stool

We recently got a new couch, so I decided to revisit the stool situation.  I had a gray chevron decorator weight fabric that someone had given me a while back.  It was perfect for the new look of the living room and does in fact "match" the couch and the freshly painted walls.  There is enough left over to recover 2 couch pillows.

So here is my stool makeover.

Take out the nails or staples and remove the old fabric and batting layers.  This was so old it had upholstery tacks.  I remember my mother using them oh so long ago.  There was the maroon layer, a taped-on batting layer and what I suspect was the original layer.

Lots of layers

Probably the original cushion with a hand sewn detail.

You can almost see where the hand sewn stitches go through all the layers. 

This was so old it had a straw-like material as stuffing which was then covered in the lining, batting, top combination which was all sewn together by the decorative details.

Straw-like padding, lining, batting and fabric layers.

I didn't bother to keep the old fabric as a pattern, but I did air out and save the wooden base piece to be reused.

I was able to use the scraps of the super thick batting from the recent Carpenter's Star quilt as the new padding for the stool.  I used 4 layers.  I did not wrap the batting around the wooden base.  The base had cut out corners and I figured it wouldn't make that much difference in comfort as opposed to a lot more work in fitting the corners.

Finicky corners!

The hardest part was making sure the chevron lines were straight.  It was a printed design so I had to cut it not squared to the original lay of the fabric, but squared to the chevrons.

So glad I had a staple gun and didn't have to reuse the tacks.

I centered the fabric, stapled on one long side, wrapped it tightly and stapled the other.

Then I cut out the batting from the corners and stapled the short ends of the fabric.

Lastly was fitting the corners.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it might be.  I just made sure it was all even and consistent for each corner.

After - statement piece!

Voila!  Love it.

Tasty Tuesday - Parmesan Chicken

This easy Parmesan Chicken recipe has become our new favorite this summer.  It is so easy I can literally have it ready from prep to table in well under an hour.  With just 4 ingredients I almost always have what I need on hand.  It has become my new company dish.  When College E's BFF came to visit I sent her back with the leftovers.  She was very glad to have something new instead of the slim pickings in the summer campus dining room.

This recipe came from a magazine, which I left no identifiers on either side of the torn out page.  Here is the original.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

from Hellmann's

Place 4 chicken breast halves in a single layer in a greased pan.

Mix together:
1/2 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Spread over chicken breasts.
Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Bake 20 minutes at 425F.


I have started making a double batch even if it is just the 4 of us, because it is great as leftovers as well.

I forgot the bread crumbs the last time I made this and my family liked it just as well.

Unfortunately we ate it all up before I remembered to take a picture.  It was yummy!

Hexagons on the Walls

I have been sewing enough that my Leader & Ender project has moved forward a bit.  I got another hexagon finished - the pink flamingo hexagon in the upper left.

Hexagons are encroaching upon the BOM blocks!

I stood on the chair so that I could reach to pin some up high and lay around with the layout a bit.  I think there is another yellow and another orange cut.  Then the last 4/6th block I will cut after I decide what color it should be.

Linking up to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts to show what we are working on.

Stash Report

I did not do very well this week.  College E wanted to go thrifting.  My favorite little store had some amazing deals.  I know I had just told myself that someone else might want that great deal and I could leave it there, but it didn't work this week.  One of the volunteers even said, "I knew you'd be back!"

 Fabric In:  Not all of it was fabric, but it was all useful and "a great deal".

Unopened packages of double wide binding! $0.25/each

Iron - on interfacing/stabilizer.  3 yd / $0.50

Whites & neutrals & a fun fabric for a burp cloth.

The deals were so good I have to tell you.  The turquoise sheep was 1/2 yard for $0.25.  The solid white was just shy 1 complete yard for $0.25.  The white on white was one yard exactly for $0.50.  The dark brown was 2.8 yards for $0.50.  The best deal of the day was the beige 10 yards 15 inches complete and uncut for $2!!  I say I have plans for all of it, but you know how that goes.  If I end up giving it away no great loss either.


Fabric Out:
Finished and bound the Carpenter's Star.  I counted out the backing last week, so this week I can only count out the binding.  0.36 yards

I like this design a lot.

Recovered a little stool, which I will post about later this week.  0.25 yards

This stool got a complete makeover.

There were a few other odds & ends, but I was busy sewing and not keeping track so they will get reported another week.


Fabric Purchased since last report: 15.84 yards
Fabric Purchased YTD: 71.51 yards

Fabric Acquired since last report: 0 yards

Fabric Acquired YTD: 22.65 yards

Fabric Used since last report: 0.61 yards
Fabric Used YTD: 105.27 yards

Total: 11.11 yards destashed

My numbers took a hit, but I think the fabric stashed will be very useful.  Overall I am sewing more and using more, so I am not too worried.

Don't forget to check out the July Giveaway to see how you can help me get a cute piece of  fabric out of the stash!  A winner will be chosen on Monday!!

Kate over at Life In Pieces has challenged us to try to stitch 15 minutes each day.  I was a busy bee this week getting things finished, preparing samples for my sewing class, and a few more items to sell at the Market Fair.  I even got a good start on the next quilt in the "needs to be quilted" queue.  Going great guns on that and then ran out of thread.  White!  Of all colors to run out of.  Oh well.  No deadline on that one, so no need for the longish trip to buy more thread.

Days stitched since last report: 7/7
Days stitched this year: 193/209
Success Rate: 92%


Linking up to QuiltPaintCreate and Life in Pieces to keep accountable.

Carpenter Star is Finished

I was so close to being finished that I pushed through yesterday to get the binding on.

The sun is coming up over the clothesline.

I had used up all the polka dot fabric, so had to find something else for the binding.  There wasn't enough of the handkerchief or the woven squares fabric, so I went with the blue with tiny white details.  It is the exact same color of blue as the polka dot border and backing so it works well.  

Corner detail

I like the thickness of the quilt since it will likely go on the floor for baby to play on, but it was a bear to work with.  I think I'll stick with my Florida thin battings from now on.

Receiving the first morning's rays of sunlight.

This was a commissioned quilt and isn't due until October, but it is good to have it off my plate.  I would definitely make this design again.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Busy Hands Quilts to show off finishes.