View, unobstructed wrote:

I "see" you, gabriele.  Must be nearly bedtime for you.  I hope you and your family are well.  It is autumn in Australia...is your weather wonderful at this time of year?

That IS a current picture of Tango!  She is a marvel.

 

Sorry, view! I was occupied trying to get my pics up.  It is 11.30 pm as I log off.  Have a good day everyone. 
 

View, unobstructed wrote:

Well.  

We shall have to nix the idea of boulevard landscaping for a while!   Apparently our city has to replace all the manholes and the drainage system in this older part of town ---  due to age and the flood.   I looked out our window to see what the "big equipment" noise was, and a huge forklift type thingy was busy transporting these things from their staging area about two blocks away.  When they were done for the day, our block and the blocks beyond looked like this:


I don't yet know the time frame....but I suspect our summer is going to be a "headache" of torn up streets, dirt, detours, and noise.  

View I know you will be glad when you can get all this behind you....

I just had a thought for another guess for our chart.



I was scrolling through twitter time line...and saw this from DWTS





Yes, anything can happen....

Should we have a column - yes or no - "will someone drop out of the competition"   any reason, any week.  But we should probably get our answer in before week ...what, 2?


O.k.   Back to the kitchen.  I'm baking a rhubarb crumble.  Last of the frozen rhubarb.

Good morning....and happy National Quilting Day to you all....even if you don't quilt!  Just to let you know, if you can sew a semi-straight seam, you can quilt!!!  The fact that they offer 1/4" "feet" for virtually all sewing machines makes a world of difference because, basically, all seams can be sewn straight and the seam allowance is accurate!!  So if you have any inkling or interest and a little time, I encourage you to give it a whirl and see if you like it!  I love the history that goes along with it....it is a blast to the past!  One of my next projects is going to be an "underground railroad" quilt...with blocks that had meaning for slaves who were taking the "underground railroad" from the south to the north.  Certain blocks had meanings which indicated safe houses that only they knew.  Civil War history is an area of interest and there are beautiful reproduction fabrics of the era as well as many books that offer patterns of quilts from that time.

So here is my virtual quilt show for National Quilting Day!  Hope you enjoy it!

This one is called Grandmother's Flower Garden.  It is a very traditional pattern which my grandma did a bit differently.  Usually there is either a white or green border around each flower, but she just sewed them together....which gives it a somewhat different and unique look.  This one was made by my paternal grandmother who probably provided the inspiration for my interest in sewing and quilting.  She died in 1965 so this quilt was probably made in the early 1960's or late 1950's (she didn't put a label on it, but I've added one on the back with all the information I have about the quilt).  It is all hand pieced and hand quilted...and is made from real vintage 1930's flour and feed sack materials, so it is a real treasure.  I actually have 2 quilts she made using this pattern; the other is from fabrics she collected in the 1950's and maybe very early 1960's.  I have the rest of the fabrics and have pieced together most of the hexagons she had cut and left when she died.  I hope to make each of our 4 granddaughters a quilt from what remains (there is also a bunch of uncut fabric that will probably make this prossible).  Wish me luck....I need to get started!!!  LOL

This quilt is one of my largest and best in terms of workmanship.  I finished it in 2012.  Took me about 10-12 months to make and finish.  It's called "Bears in the Cabin"...an original design by our quilting teacher.  The center and borders are machine pieced; the border motifs around the sides and on the top and bottom are hand appliqued.  I love doing needlework, so it was fun (and I did all of the applique before putting the borders on the quilt).  The appliques could have been done by machine, but I opted for the hand version.  I machine quilted the entire thing on my regular sewing machine (a technique known by quilters as  "damn it and cram it!!!)!!  It is toasty to sleep under since I used wool batting, which is incredibly forgiving during quilting and which gives a bit more loft and warmth than cotton batting (which is great for summer).  For whatever reason I don't use polyester batting.  In the 1980's when I first tried quilting, polyester was the only batting available and it was horrible to work with since it "slipped" during quilting...and then often "disappeared" over time for unexplained reasons!! 
This is the center of the quilt...the block is called "bear paw".
   
These photos show some of the applique motifs around the top, bottom, and sides of the quilt.  It is queen size bedspread side with a pillow tuck and overhang on the sides.
   
 

I have one more quilt to share but tinypic quit working for me when I was trying to upload them.  Will try again after I post this.

Last edited by JetmamaDiDi (3/19/2016 10:48 am)

gabriele wrote:

CED sorry to hear that your Bella's prognosis isn't as good as you were hoping for.    ((((hugs))))
We have a 15 year old, who has been deteriorating noticeably for a while.  She was always such a talker, but since her hearing is gone, she has gone quiet and seems to have lost her zest  for  life.  

 
So sorry to hear this, CEK.  It is almost as hard to lose a furry family member as it is to lose a human.  I have always hoped that we could lose a pet in its sleep....but have never had that experience, which makes it even worse.  Enjoy the time you have with Bella.  It's tough to know when "the time is right" to put them down.

View....I read that you have standard poodles!  When I was growing up and into the first 20 years or so of marriage, we had standards because one of my brothers was allergic to dogs, but poodles are "exempt"!!  All of ours were black...1 male and 2 females.  My hubby said that they were all "dumb" because when they escaped out the front door they ran down the street and in front of cars!!!  I have to admit, if that is the definition of "dumb", our mutts and labs have been much smarter!!!  LOL  I did most of the poodle grooming...and still cut hubby's hair with the dog clippers!...so I don't miss that part of poodle ownership.  Vacuuming up dog hair is easier!! 

Our poodles, all of which had fairly impressive pedigrees, lived to 14 or 15 years of age.  It is so sad when any of them lose their hearing and/or sight.