Wicked Blog Hop! My Day!

                                                 
Hello! Thank you for joining me today on the Wicked blog hop! Some of you know that my husband and I lost our house to fire on October 9, so the pictures I'm going to show are not great. I had them on my phone and they were taken before the projects were complete, but at least you can see what I would have shown! I did finish them, but lost them in the fire.

First of all, I live in south Texas, where many of my friends with a Mexican heritage celebrate Dia De Las Muertas or Day of the Dead. They have explained to me that this is NOT a zombie type thing for them, but simply a memorial for friends who have passed on. It is celebrated from October 31 through November 2. Some of the decorations are a little macabre to some of us, but are not intended to be spooky or creepy. Candies called sugar skulls are part of the celebration, as well as other skeleton figures posed in common positions they might have had in life. Flowers and pretty colors also play a part.

My first project is a doll. She is intended to be a skeleton doll wearing a pretty floral dress and a flower bedecked hat. I was in the process of making her some shoes and underwear, but they are not on her in this early photo.

                                                                                              My second project was a wall hanging depicting two "ladies" enjoying a sweet feast! 
                                                                          
The speech bubble says, "Finally I can eat whatever I want and I don't gain a pound!" This was a fairly large wall hanging and I had finished quilting and binding it, but not in this photo. I quilted in many details that are not in this picture.

Thank you to our sweet hostesses, Madame Samm and Wendy! Be sure you visit our other blogs on the hop today!

Grammie Q's

Stitchin By The Lake

Quilted Delights

Buzzing and Bumbling

Vroomans Quilts

Life in the Scrapatch

The Quilted Cat

Meadowbrook

Patchouli Moon Studio

The Nosy Pepper

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Sugarplum and her little friend send their wishes for a happy hop! (Can you tell she's chewing on the skeleton foot!? I had some cute props! I wonder if they gave the firemen a scare! If so, I'm so sorry, but what a story those firemen would have to tell!)

P.S. - Sugarplum is happy as can be in our temporary apartment! It happens to be over my parent's garage area and is connected to their house. Sugarplum thinks she rules the entire house now and even goes downstairs to make sure my parents are awake when we are! She stands on a trunk at the foot of their bed and makes mewing noises to tell them to get up! We are all doing fine and are getting lots of love from our family and friends here! My love to all of you who have sent prayers and well wishes our way! I can feel your hugs from here!

                                     

                                

A Real Set Back, But NOT a Tragedy!

I haven't been able to access my blog for a week now, but I have an excuse. Our house burned to the ground last Tuesday night. Here is a pitiful photo from my phone. This is from the garage side looking in to the house. The shell of a car was my husband's fairly new car. I'm told that coming back from a fire is a long process, so I'm hoping that blogging a little about it will help me.

                                                     

The fire started in the garage and quickly spread to the attic in the house. Our garage, although detached, was connected to the house with a breezeway and roof. We were told that our attic was on fire before we even knew there was a problem. We saw our lights flickering and looked out the window to see the garage on fire! We grabbed the cat, my purse, and the hard drive and ran out barefooted.  Poor little Sugarplum, the very talented cat you've seen in previous posts, was in such a panic she fought me really hard to get out of my arms, but I managed to hold on to her.
Our house was a total loss. Since we live out in the country, the volunteer fire department couldn't get there in time to save it despite their heroic efforts. Fire departments from four surrounding counties came. There just wasn't enough water to control the flames.
I stood among MANY friends and family who showed up to support us. Our sweet neighbors brought us shoes to put on and water to drink. It is very surreal to stand and watch your house burn. I shook uncontrollably for several hours despite the heat. I kept thinking, "This is not the kind of thing that happens to ME!"
Thank goodness, God took care of us and we escaped unharmed. We are so blessed to have family nearby. My parents have a little apartment above part of their house and we are very comfortable here until we can rebuild or find a house. We are keeping this in perspective, too. This is NOT a tragic loss. Losing a child or a spouse would fall into that category. We will come back from this and be just fine. We have each other as well as family. We don't need anything except patience and a clear mind to deal with the aftermath. Insurance will eventually replace most of what we needed. We're sad, but not grieving the loss of material possessions.
I am not writing this to gain your sympathy. Many of you out there are suffering losses much greater than this and I DO realize that! I'm so thankful for all my blessings!
I will participate in the Wicked blog hop started next week. My projects are gone, but I had a couple of photos during the process that I had taken with my phone to show my sister what I was doing. I will show those. You won't see them in their finished state, but close enough that you can use your imagination!
Thank you so much for being here, reading this, and coming back in the future. I will get back on track. My camera will be replaced as well as my computer. (I am borrowing one now.) In the meantime, blessings to you!!!
                                                     

Simple "Rag Striped" Throw Pillow Tutorial

 

Do you want a simple project that will use up scraps , make up quickly, and add a punch of color to your decor? How about a throw pillow made of fabric strips sewn to a fabric base? You can use any color you want! You can also make it any size you want!

Start out by cutting a fabric base the size you want your pillow to be.The base will show between the strips after you fringe your raw edges, so use something that will look good with the fabrics you choose. I actually used a lightweight canvas for mine, but quilting cotton works too. You will need 2 pieces - one for the front and one for the back.
It doesn't have to be square. Rectangles work just fine.  Pull out the strips you want from your scrap pile. They can be different widths or the same, whichever you want. Use a glue stick to stick them in place. Glue them all down, sides touching, before you sew. 

 

After gluing all the strips down, you're ready to sew. 

 

Sew each strip down 1/4" from each edge. 

 Trim the edges.

 

Place your backing right sides together with the top.

Sew around all sides, leaving an opening in one side for stuffing.

Wash and dry to fringe the raw edges. This will produce a lot of stray threads. You can also choose to use a chenille brush to fringe the edges instead of washing.

Turn right sides out, push out the corners, and press if necessary. If pressing flattens your strips, just dampen them and fluff them up with your fingers.

Stuff with polyester fibers, stuffing corners first and then the remainder of the pillow. Sew the opening closed.

That's it! You're finished! You don't have to use different colors. You can use all one color or alternate between two colors. I used a "jelly roll" and cut the strips into narrower strips.

This can be a lot of fun! I think it could be fun for a grandchild. Hmmm........maybe a future project for a bedroom? 

Until next time....

 

Wait! Did you hear about the $250 giveaway? Go to the Sew and Show button on my sidebar and leave a comment on that post to win!

Fall Color Inspiration in South Texas!

Fall is in the air, and although the trees in south Texas do not give us the show of color seen elsewhere, don't feel too sorry for us! We have gorgeous sunsets! I took this photo from my front yard. The stripes in the sky are not a trick of photography. They were really there in the sky and extended all the way to the horizon behind me.(Colors are different on different monitors, but this sunset was brilliant orange!)

I love to find color inspiration in nature. Can you see these colors used in a quilt? I also try to notice just how much of a color you see in relation to other colors. For example, there is only a small amount of the rich orange in the photo above, but quite a bit of soothing blue and cream. Here is what I pulled from my stash that could be used. I may never even make a quilt form these, but if I did, I think it would be beautiful.

Oops! Sugarplum says, "Wait a minute! There's something on this fabric. Just let me move it!

 

There! got it!

Look around at all the inspiration outside and see if you can find something to inspire your next color scheme! 
 

                                             

A Group Quilt for a Good Cause!

I've been "coordinating" the making of a group quilt for a silent auction to be held in about a month. We were asked in August about doing this for the auction in Dallas in November! (Non-quilters don't realize the time that goes into the making of a group quilt.) Many of my quilting friends were gone or busy with school starting, so since the task was given to me, I decided to take one of my patterns and use it for the center of the quilt. I knew this design to be quick to make and easy, so I knew I could get it done in time to pass it along to others. My Little Cowboy quilt pattern has pieces to make your cowboy a girl if you want, so I just made both figures and enlarged the center to fit them. (I also added the purse and lasso.) Don't be afraid to play with your figures and colors!

 

I embroidered a verse around two sides and did a rope-like trapunto on the opposite two sides. Then I asked four others to make the "piano key" borders. Another added the blue border, then I took the quilt to a friend with a long-arm who does beautiful quilting. She volunteered her expertise since this was for a good cause! All that is left is the binding. I have brown left for that.

So....thank you so much to all of you who made this quilt a reality. Louise, Tina, Martha, Holly, and Debbie! It finished off at 54" x 54" before binding.

And a special thank you to Debbie Hayes, who did the quilting. If you are interested in her work, email me with that request and I will pass your name along to her.

Giveaway Winners and Loquat Pie!

The Random Number Generator has chosen three winners from my post in the Pin It! Blog Hop. They are Terry at A Quilting Blog, Marjorie of Marjorie's Busy Corner, and Jeanie of Gracie Oliver Arts. Congratulations to them all! I've sent an email to inform them. If you were interested in a pattern, but didn't win, you can find them in my Craftsy Store. I wish everyone could win. Thank you all for playing along.
I thought I would share an unusual recipe today.

Had to have a bite before I thought to take a picture!

 

I'm just returning from a trip and I'm craving something delicious! I thought I would show you how to make a Loquat Pie. (No, I don't mean Kumquat!)
Some of you may not know what a loquat is. The Loquat is an evergreen shrub that originated in China. It has large leaves and small yellow fruit. You can read about it here.  The birds love this little tree, by the way! If you don't get the fruit as soon as it ripens, the birds will! The hummingbirds love to hide in its branches and I often see them bathing in the leaves that have caught rain or sprinkler water. This tree blooms in the winter with a wonderful aroma.

hummingbird near the Loquat tree

                                               
I have three loquat trees around my patio. You have seen them many times if you read my blog because I often use them as part of my "prop" in showcasing projects. They are always green, so I love to use them. This year, we had a bumper crop of loquat fruits.The fruit was ripe in April, so I picked them and froze them to use through the year. The taste is a little tart like a MacIntosh Apple, but the texture is more like that of a peach. (You could use this recipe for peach pie if you don't have access to loquats.)
I decided to make a pie.

 I thawed about 4 cups of loquats.

Added a teaspoon of lemon juice....

 1/4 cup of sugar (you could add more or less to taste, I like it tart)...

and 1 1/2 tablespoons of Minute Tapioca (the dry kind - not the ready made pudding!) I use this for all my fruit pies. I much prefer it to flour for thickening my pies.

Pour the fruit into your prepared pie shell (uncooked). (I use an oil based crust instead of one made of shortening, but you can use one of your choice....even purchased.) I dotted the top with butter. (Most of the time,  I just melt a little butter and add it to the fruit! I forgot this time!)

I used the dough left after trimming to cut out little "gingerbread" men to dance around the outer edge. Don't forget to make a few slits to allow the steam to escape. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes. (This may be different for your pie crust, so use what you might use for a fruit pie.)

YUMMY! I couldn't wait and ended up eating the tip off the pie before I got a photo! Oh, well. 

If you live where loquats can grow (I'm in south Texas) you might consider getting one...or two...or three! They're delicious in a smoothie, too!  I just peeled and seeded  them and plopped them in a freezer bag. I plan on using them up before Christmas, so I'm not sure how long they will last frozen without any type of preservative. I put them up in April and they are fine so far!)

 

Pin It! - My Day at the Spa! (or at the Hop!)

Do you ever ache after a day of sewing or quilting? Have that pins and needles pain in your joints? Come on in and relax! Pour up a bubble bath, a cup of coffee or tea, and soft music! .....Ahhhhhh...now, that's nice! 

..or, if you're not the soft music, luxury type,....kick off your boots and climb in the old tub! (Just be sure you're the FIRST one in! Being last means cold, dirty water!) Since I live in an area with REAL cowboys around, I had fun with this one!

Oops! He's dropped his soap!

Both of these are pin cushions. I used felt, pom poms, and a few embellishments like beads. The first one has a "girl" attached that I made from polymer clay. They both function quite well! The little galvanized tub was purchased over the internet just for this. It is 4" long.)

If I had not been unexpectedly called away, I would have worked some more on the details of this little cowboy, for as with most first tries, there is tweaking to do. I plan on trying again when I return to see if I can make him even better! You can see that he is wearing a little cowboy hat!
I do have a giveaway!(Giveaway is now closed.) I will choose (by random number generator) a winner from the comments on this post. I will choose three winners! I have three pin cushion patterns available on Craftsy. I will give away a PDF copy of one to each of three winners. Just tell me which you like best in your comment!

Easy Elephant

Miss Bumble

Handbag

       

After hopping through all the blogs participating this morning, maybe you can have a bubble bath of your own!
Many thanks to  Mdm. Samm of Sew We Quilt and Kristen or Meadowbrook for hosting this blog hop!
 Here are the other bloggers today:

September 13

Quilting In South Carolina

Negligent Style

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Sew Many Yarns

News From Bear Hollow

Around The Homestead

Living with Purpose

Buzzing and Bumbling- this is me!

Colorpoint Quilter

Scraps of Life

Daisy Days

Stitchduchess

Life @ RuffHaven

AnnieOak Designs

Grandmama's Stories

Suebee's World

Handmade by Mama

                            
     Now I'm off to do a little relaxing of my own! (Actually, I've been called away to California to babysit and we will be attending a very important Naval (military) -not navel(belly button)- ceremony today. If I'm slow to respond to you, please know I will catch up as soon as I can!)