Another Wonderful Week by Paradise Lake

On Wednesday a couple of friends came over to baste a quilt.........  We had a grand time......

We basted till noon, then broke for lunch.........  Grilled chicken salad sandwiches with deviled eggs...

and a lovely plate of fruit.....

with sweet potato pie for dessert.............

Friday was a trip to the library and a stop at Happy's.........Picked up this flower arrangement along with the witch.....

a photo holder for my pictures......

this is a close-up

a jacket for the fall.........

with a bit of sparkle added.............

and this delightful wee lamp.........  just perfect in the kitchen......  well for now at least...

and a couple of planters......  I am always on the lookout for planters because when my plants reproduce I give away the excess.......  These were just two dollars each.....

Then I found that the necklace my sister gifted me was a perfect match for the jacket (the color is off in this picture.)

I finished the scarves for Jean and started the scarves for Beverly.....

I went upstairs to pull fabric for Rebekah's Flamingo...........  I hope to get it done next week....  I am going to try machine applique for this project.....

and if all goes well I want to make a journal cover.......  I have the fabric selected for a dozen of them....  Time to start thinking about wee gifties for Christmas.........

Design Wall Monday

At long last I have accomplished my goal..........  I began this quilt and stayed with it till the end.....

It is wonderful to have a finish and so quickly too.......... Now to find a place to hang it..........

I tried a few embroidery stitches........I think it looks simply delightful.....

Now this week I need to make two more table toppers.......  I found four more autumn charm packs and I can use them up by making a table topper for Kim and Amanda.......

Lots of others are posting delightful pictures.....  Go to Patchwork Times to see them.....HERE

Another Finish

 Sunday was Family Dinner Day...........  It takes me awhile to get ready......  I started on Thursday and by Sunday at 12:00 I was ready.........  All the serving dishes prepared.....

Glasses ready for beverages and devil egg dish waiting.....  Kim does the best deviled eggs so I have them ready for her to make when she arrives......
 

Table was set ....Yes, I know the cloth is too short but you try finding one big enough for that table with both leaves in place.....

Centerpiece that Donna made last year......  I store it on the top shelf in the bathroom closet... 

Pillow finished.........  The quilt behind it is a new finish too..... It is "A Road Less Traveled" by Lori Smith...It was a BOM from years ago and at last it is done........ All I needed to do was put the binding on and after two years I finally got it done.

 

This is a close up of the pillow.........  I did machine quilt it.......It looks just like I thought it would....

Took a break from the list and sewed together a couple of charm packs I got from Connecting Threads a few years back........  Used left over material from the backing on "A Road Less Traveled".  Searched in my 2 1/2 inch scrap drawer for left over binding.......  It is two different fabrics but it is done and I have used what was on hand.......  Snoopy Dancing here today..............

A Thing or Two.........

As fall approaches I pulled out a few things for the season to make.......  This is a design that I found online....  I do not remember exactly where.....  I am hoping that by next week it will be a wee pillow....

This is my list of chores for today......  Lunch time already and you can see that I am not making much progress.........

Family coming for dinner tomorrow and I want to have everything ready before bedtime......  Lem will be watching a ball game this afternoon so I should be able to work uninterrupted......

Here is the menu for tomorrow..........  Lets see just how much I can get done ahead....

Design Wall Monday

My dear friend Jean was here for a week.........  We shopped and stitched and talked for days..........

It gave me a chance to finish my Halloween Stitchery.  This morning I sewed part of the log cabin strips on them........  I might even get the top put together today but I must take a pause for a bit of house blessing.....

Head on over to Patchwork Times and see what others are stitching......HERE

Fences Make Good Neighbors.........

But I don't think that this is what Robert Frost meant........

A neighbor has decided to put up a fence....... It seems that the leaves from the tree in the yard next door blow into his pool..........  Until the fence can be installed this is a picture of his solution.......

Yes, you are seeing right...........  that is a fence made of black plastic and stakes...........

I suppose it takes all kinds.........

The little bit of brown in the center of the picture and on the waters edge are our ducks....... The big birds in the yard are geese........... The mother laid her eggs in a nest behind the yellow chair in the first picture..........  They come to our yard to eat...  They are all grown up now and I do hope they will stay and become permanent residents..... Time will tell.....

I finished the third stitchery for the Halloween quilt.......  Six more to go.....

I also cut the fabric and kitted six more stitcheries............A girl can dream.........

Ohhhhh.... Rabbit

My daughter has a wonderful dog that has a very short attention span...  On the way inside to be fed she says......."food--food---food" but then a rabbit runs by and she says "rabbit" and takes off to follow....

I seem to suffer from the same thing.....

A friend asked me to stitch a few little things for her and of course I did.......  It excited that stitching gene and now I am off and running ..........

I pulled this one out.........  I bought the kit just after the flood of Noah and even began it....  I have three rows of six complete..........

Then I checked a hanging organizer behind the door and found these all ready to make.........

Next I went online to find a pattern for a wee knitted pumpkin.........

Not to mention a few Halloween stitcheries.....

A friend gave me this pattern a few years ago..............

Two done and seven to go.....

I have no idea how long this muse will stay with me but I will stitch till the next muse steps in to take her place.

On the Needles Friday

I have finished quite a few things but they have already been given to the recipient of those gifts....

Here are the seven scarves I have finished for Kate.......  Now to get them in the mail.............

Life has been busy with Dr appointments and such....  Perhaps this week I will get back to my list....  It is growing faster than I am marking things off.

Check out Patchwork Times for more pictures of ideas.....HERE

Turkey Bone Gumbo

Last Thanksgiving I saved my turkey carcass.........  My sister had given me a recipe for Turkey Bone Gumbo..............

At long last I found time to make the soup.......

Easy....Easy.....Easy.........

You don't even have to chop much.........  Just cut the onions in half, add carrots and celery including the tops.........Simmer for 2-3 hours while you do something else.......

Strain the whole thing, remove the turkey from the bones and mash the carrots..........

Add a few other ingredients (it did not call for okra but I added okra to mine, after all is is my soup)....

Three quarts in the freezer waiting for winter.........

Since I got the food saver I find it is so easy to cook ahead..........  I watch the sales on meats then come home and do a lot of cooking.......  Put it in food saver bags and I have excellent meals ready to eat.........

Design Wall Monday Diversion

I have been thinking about this magazine for several years.........  I try not to subscribe to magazines because they seem to collect unread till I give them away........  There are a few exceptions.........

I decided that this would be one of them..........

First issue arrived last week and of course there was a project in it that caught my eye........

Here it is............  Doesn't that look like fall?

Reading the directions I found that it was for a king sized pillow........  Too big for what I had planned...

So I made mine smaller................  It is 18 x 22 and will be a small pillow for a chair in the family room.......

Hopefully by next week I can show the finished product............  It has been a most pleasant diversion.

For more ideas on diversions for yourself check Patchwork Times to see what others have on their design wall............HERE

Off the Needles Friday

Hurray..........  A finish..........  Thank you Judy for having "On the Needles Friday"........  That was the encouragement needed to keep working on this sweater till it was finished.........  Now I have a lovely top to add to my wardrobe........

I like the detail around the neckline....

And it is repeated around the sleeves................

The next knitting project is Jean Mello's socks.........   I will try to get some knitting done on them this coming week..........

Go HERE and see what others are doing.........

On the Needles

This project has been on the needles way too long............... I was nearing the end of the body of the sweater........  I did not like the way it looked at all.......  In order to get gauge I needed to go to a larger needle and the weave was too open to look the way I wanted it to look.

Ripped it out and began again on Saturday night............ This color is closer to the true color......  The one above was taken late Saturday night under artificial light........

I also altered the instructions a bit to suit myself......  After all it is my sweater.......... 

See what others have going on at Patchwork Times...HERE