Wednesday, May 16, 2012

One-Flower Wednesday and My Jane I-2 and J-4

Encouraging Words of the Day:


And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

~ Colossians 3:15, NLT


We got back to El Paso last evening. I crocheted on the trip. From time-to-time, I will crochet prayer shawls. I hadn't done one in quite a while so I spent the time doing that.

Once again, it's that day when Karen at Journey of a Quilter hosts “One Flower Wednesday” and provides a linky for all of to share our hexagon flowers. Here are a couple of flowers I made for my "some-day scrappy hexie quilt."

And then here are a couple of "My Jane" blocks, also easy paper-piecing.

I-2
J-4
I've been going through the mail this morning. There was a package from my oldest son and his family. I received this cool pen, perfect for a mother/grandmother that hunts:

In case you can't see it very well, it's a pen made to look like a rifle bullet.

That is all.



Monday, May 14, 2012

Feral Hogs and "My Jane" H-13 and I-1

Encouraging words of the day:

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations." ~ Jeremiah 1:5, NLT
God knew you, as he knew Jeremiah, long before you were born or even conceived. He thought about you and planned for you. When you feel discouraged or inadequate, remember that God has always thought of you as valuable and that he has a purpose in mind for you.

It's been beautiful in the Texas Hill Country but all good things must end and we will be traveling back to El Paso tomorrow. By the way, we love El Paso too so it's all good :) I'll get some more hexies made tomorrow and maybe a little crochet done since I've been ignoring that.

We've been hunting some. You may have heard how feral hogs are spreading all over south Texas. They are considered predators since they compete with the whitetail deer for food. They will also kill the whitetail deer and are a threat to their population. We are not a threat to the whitetail population as we will harvest one or two per season and we use them as food. All of my family enjoys venison and we eat it regularly. After that disclaimer I can continue about the threat of the feral hogs. When we sit in a deer blind and watch the wild game, when deer are feeding, they will disappear in a flash if feral hogs are in the area. Long story short (well, too late as I already made this pretty long but now I'm digressing...) anyway, I have managed to kill 3 little feral hogs. Remember that they will grow up to be parents of large litters and will begin to add to the hog population as early as 6 months of age. Not only that, but a little moving target is harder to hit so here is a photo of me with two feral hogs I killed.


After all that, I managed to get some time in with my sewing maching and completed a couple more of "My Jane" blocks, H-13 and I-1. Both were really easy paper-piecing. It's really relaxing sewing these easy blocks. Something tells me this won't last long and soon I'll be running into the difficult ones again.

H-13

I-1

Sewing these blocks up is even easier when you sew them up crooked like I did with I-1. I'm saying that the stripes just didn't line up and it only looks crooked.

That is all.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Saturday in the Texas Hill Country and My Jane F-3 and G-4

Encouraging words of the day:

But for those who are righteous, the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. LORD, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart's desire is to glorify your name. ~ Isaiah 26:7-8, NLT

At times the "path of the righteous" doesn't seem smooth and it isn't easy to do God's will, but we are never alone when we face tough times. God is there to help us through difficulties, to comfort us, and to lead us. God does this by giving us a purpose and giving us provisions as we travel. God provides us with relationships of family, friends, and mentors. God gives us wisdom to make decisions and faith to trust him. Don't despair; stay on God's path.

Not much going on. We're still at the ranch and it stopped raining after we received 3 inches of rain. Thanks to God who knows how much we need the rain. We had to replace our water heater and since I was the supervisor, after all, I didn't get much sewing done. I cut out some 2 1/2 inch squares since I will some day make a postage stamp quilt.


I also finished a couple more of "My Jane" blocks and have F-3 and G-4 to show you. I now have 117 blocks completed. I'm beginning to think i might actually finish some day. 118 to go. That actually means I'm not quite half way done. Gosh. Well... onward I go. These two blocks were easily paper-pieced.


F-3


G-4


I'm planning a giveaway soon with some "stuff" I've ordered from Connecting Threads. I hope it will have arrived by the time I return to El Paso next week.
Speaking of giveaways, there haven't been a lot of them lately but I did find this one:


Quilting Lodge at http://www.quiltinglodgeblog.com/2012/05/time-for-giveaway.html


is giving away your choice of 13 fat quarters or a layer cake. - ends May 12th. That's by midnight tonight so hurry. I'm still working on blogging from my iPad and couldn't get the link to stick on the name "Quilting Lodge." Back to the drawing board...


That is all.





Wednesday, May 9, 2012

iPad Posting, One Flower Wednesday and BR-13 and C-1

Encouraging words of the day:



"I, yes, I alone, will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. ~Isaiah 43:25, NLT


How tempting it is to remind someone of a past offense. But when God forgives our sins he totally forgets them. We never have to fear that he will remind us of them later. Because God forgives our sin, we need to forgive others.





Thank you, God, for a rainy day in the Texas Hill Country today. We have been needing the rain and are grateful. The rainy day makes it a great day for sewing, reading, and eating stew.


Once again, it's that day when Karen at Journey of a Quilter hosts “One Flower Wednesday” and provides a linky for all of to share our hexagon flowers. This week I sewed up a pretty pink flower. It looks like I have several flowers that don't fit in with my landscape hexie quilt I'm planning so I may have to make a scrappy hexie quilt too. Here's my little pink flower fo this week.


Here are a couple more of "My Jane" blocks. I am amazed at how easily the triangles sew up. For some reason, I thought that those would be more difficult than the squares. Here is BR-3.


BR-13

C-1
C-1 was easy paper-piecing. It's really relaxing to sew these easy blocks.


I also worked on a beautiful paper-pieced wall hanging I found on a fellow blogger's blog. I still need to do the border and backing. This was such fun to make that I will probably make a couple more to have ready as Christmas gifts.


It still needs the border and binding but I'm happy with it :)




Giveaway:


The Amateur Quilter is giving away 10 fat quarters. - Ends May 19th.


Whew. I think I'm finally finished with this blog post. I'm trying to get better at blogging from my iPad but this has been a trial. It has taken me about 3 times longer than posting from my laptop. I KNOW this has to get easier with practice but, really. I could be sewing or eating or something instead of spending all this time trying to figure out "Blogsy" which "they" (those in the know?) say is supposed to be great for iPad blogging. They have all their tutorials on "You Tube" and I just do better if I can just read the instructions rather than download or upload the little movie and then watch it, miss something, have to go find where I missed it etc. etc. Does anyone have an easier way to post on iPad?


That is all.




Monday, May 7, 2012

My Jane F-4 and Triangle BR-1


Encouraging words of the day:
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 

~ Romans 8:38, NLT


 
I’m making a lot of headway on “My Jane” lately.  I’ve told you what a treasure I’ve found in Aunt Reen’s tutorials at "Aunt Reen's Quilts."  I have finished all of the appliqué blocks (I think) and that’s what Aunt Reen is working on this month so I’m trying to catch up with the blocks she’s already posted.  Today I’m showing off F-4 and BR-1.  I think Aunt Reen started us off with the easy blocks so these were not much trouble.  


F-4

 BR-1

That’s all I’ve done as far as sewing goes.  I’ve been going out in the evenings trying to kill a feral hog since we’re at the ranch for a couple of weeks.  No luck so far.  We also have a leak in our house. Seems like it’s the water heater so we’re going to replace that.  Well, I won’t be replacing it.  I stand around and wring my hands while the plumber tells us what needs to be done.  My husband supervises.
 
That is all.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Charity Quilt Done and My Jane M-10 and M-12


Encouraging words of the day:

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." ~ Matthew 20:28, NLT

We’re back at the ranch for a couple of weeks.  When we were here last, I had been working on a little “Hand’s To Help Charity Quilt.”  I had finished the top and thought I would finish putting it together when we returned to El Paso.  Well, that didn’t work out because the quilt top was nowhere to be found in the quilting  “stuff” I took back.  Mama and Dad had gone with us and Mama also takes her quilting “stuff.”  I asked her to look through her items and see if “maybe” my quilt top was among her things.  Nope.  So, I decided I must have left it at the ranch.  I could NOT find it.  Finally, I did find it in a drawer full of fat quarters and other miscellaneous.  Yay!  So now I’ve spent the day finishing it and here it is.  Some of the blocks are crazy quilt blocks and the others have an I-Spy charm.


Aunt Reen at "Aunt Reen's Quilts"  is working on appliqué blocks this month.  Since I’ve finished most of those on our road trips, I will have time to finish the blocks she started out with. Here are M-10 and M-12.  Both were easily paper-pieced with the pieces cut out in the sizes recommended by Aunt Reen.

M-10

M-12

These blocks are not as crooked as they look.  Sometimes my camera takes crooked pictures :)  Really.

 That is all.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

One-Flower Wednesday and My Jane TR-2 and TR-5


Encouraging words of the day:
So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.  ~ Ecclesiastes 8:15, NLT
Solomon recalls the remedy for life's unanswered questions. He recommends joy and contentment as encouragement for us along life's pilgrimage.  We must accept each day with its daily measure of work, food, and pleasure. Let us learn to enjoy what God has given us to refresh and strengthen us to continue his work. 

Well, we took another road trip yesterday - back to the ranch for a couple of weeks.  I worked on my hexie flowers for “One Flower Wednesday” where Karen has organized a linky for all of to share our hexagon flowers.  If you would like to see more flowers out there in Blogland, just click HERE.  Meanwhile, here are mine.

Yes, I know they look pretty weird for flowers but I really do have a plan.  The top is going to be the sky in the picture I’m planning for my hexies and the darker part will be the ground.  Later, I’ll figure out what goes in the middle, I'll post those.  I do know that part of it will be a “little house” that looks like our little ranch house in Rocksprings, Texas.  My sister at “My Sister Made Me Do It…" is sewing it up for me.  And, NO, I didn’t make her do it.  I probably just hinted a little.

 I took the plunge and started on some of the triangle blocks for “My Jane” using the tutorial at "Aunt Reen's Quilts."  It was actually pretty easy.  I just love this site.  Aunt Reen says we can finish up the DJ in 13 months and since I already have several made before beginning with Aunt Reen, I just might be able to do it.  Here are two triangle blocks: TR-2 and TR-5.

 TR-2

TR-5

That is all.