Mountain Musings

Work in Progress ~ Finally Completed!

The month of January so far has not turned out to be a very productive month.

Unfortunately, the plans for organizing my sewing room and getting a zillion things in order all over the house.....has been postponed a bit.

I am finally coming out of a long 3-week cold virus that had both me and Tom down for the count!

Today I actually felt like sitting at the sewing machine, and it felt good!

I leisurely started sewing binding on a quilt, clipped it in place, and started the satisfying work of hand-stitching around the quilt.

It's quite embarrassing how long this quilt has been in limbo. My quilting buddy, Chris, and I each started sewing this row by row quilt together in 2015...8 years y'all!

Here's evidence from the label I sewed on the back and stitched when I finished the top. I called it "Sewing in Snow" because we sewed in the snowy winter when there was no gardening to do...she in her cozy home and I in mine...comparing notes as we sewed each row.

And here's the whole label below, which I sent to the long arm quilter to quilt onto the back of the quilt. I normally add just a small label with my name and date once the quilt is returned to me. This label was a big honker!

I think the reason the completion has been so long in coming was once we completed our quilts in 2015, my top sat folded on my shelf for years waiting until I could find a long arm quilter to quilt it.

Once I did find someone, the quilting was completed, and it was ready for me to pick up. Then the quilt sat yet again for a couple of years waiting for me to do just what I did today...bind it!

Here's the quilt laid out on our queen bed for display...it's really for a twin or double bed size:

And kudos to my friend, Chris, who, to her credit, had her quilt finished and on her guest room bed when I visited her several years ago. You can see why this is embarrassing on my end!

But...as of today 2023 my Work in Progress from 2015 is now complete. Quilt's in the washer and now dried, fluffed, and ready for use!

Today's binding and seeing the quilt finished definitely brought back some good memories!

Looking to start a new project next week!

~Deb

Christmas Memories Part 4 ~ The Quilts!

Is this not the sweetest picture??  This is the puppy quilt I made for my grandson for Christmas.We were not with them at Christmas this year, so I especially loved seeing this photo!

He's pointing to the one puppy who has blue glasses just like he wears! Sarah told me that the kids were pretending that the puppies had stolen Andrew's glasses! So creative! I think he likes it!

Pattern is by Elizabeth Hartman and called The Puppies. Quilting is by Snowbird Quilts. Quilting pattern is called Puppy Love with hearts and paw prints. So adorable!

If you scroll Snowbird Quilts Instagram link, you can find photos of various stages of the puppy long-arm quilting on her site (scroll through), and you can better see the Puppy Love pattern.

Special thanks also to my friend Cindy who appliqued the blue glasses on the puppy for me...her skills are far better than mine when it comes to applique!

The backing is flannel from JoAnn Fabrics, and this is the personalized label I sewed on:

And this is how I packaged the quilt in the box before wrapping it up. Here's looking at you, Andrew!

This is the flower quilt I made for Hannah for her new home in Michigan. Maybe all the spring flowers will help her forget about all the snow she'll be seeing this winter!

I think this is the first quilt I've made with a colored background, and this charcoal fabric really does make the flowers pop!

I think she was surprised when she opened this quilt because I amazingly kept it a secret that I was working on it. Plus she knew I was busy making the puppy quilt. Great surprise!

This pattern is called Walk in the Park by V and Company:

The fabric is Ombre, also by V and Company. The quilting pattern is called Bloom and Plume. It was quilted by Snowbird Quilts.

If you go to her Instagram link, you can scroll through and see the quilt in various stages of long-arm quilting and also pictured on a queen bed. Quality quilting!

 

Well, I think my sewing room needs some January clean slate cleaning before I decide what my next project might be. But I'm looking forward to starting something new and fresh later this month.

~Deb

Christmas Memories Part 3 ~ Jonathan's First Christmas Goose!

Our second wave of Christmas guests came in after Christmas to celebrate with us.

Our son Micah and his family spent a couple of days here. Sooo glad they could come!

It was great seeing our 14-year-old grandson, whose birthday we celebrated during their visit. Grampa played guitar and led in singing Happy Birthday:

The newlyweds, Christopher and Hannah, were also back home at the same time! It was great having their visits overlap! They especially enjoyed Virginia temps in the 60's on their walks around the property!

We got the distinct impression that they are enjoying married life!

One of the highlights of the visit was a special meal prepared for us by our daughter-in-law while they were here...excellent beef tenderloin with Apple and Cheddar Crisp Kale Salad, which was absolutely delicious! She also baked the birthday cake we all enjoyed! Thank you, thank you, Kerri!

Jonathan invited everyone over to his house for a meal again! He is becoming quite the exotic chef! And this time he served...Christmas goose!

On the menu: Roasted Goose with Five Spice and Honey, Pink Peppercorn Lemon Thyme Spiced Potatoes, Spiced Pears, Tossed Green Salad, and Chocolate Coffee Babka Wreath.

Hannah helped with the potatoes, which were cooked with some of the goose fat instead of olive oil:

Waiting for the meal to be ready...I am in the far background...just relaxing and enjoying all this special treatment of other folks fixing three of the meals for me! Amazing!

Exploring Uncle Jonathan's property before time to eat:

After the successful meal...we played Five Crowns card game and took photos again for Jonathan's guest book, although the younger ones needed to get back early for bedtime and missed the guest book photo:

All too soon it was time to take the traditional grandparents-and-grandchildren-on-the-sofa photo before Micah and family left headed back to their home! These times don't come often...so we enjoy them when we can:

Then we got down to the business of celebrating Tom's birthday. We were thankful for the warmer weather since his birthday meal request is usually Grilled Pizzas with Diavolo sauce. (To simplify, we use Greek pitas for the personal size pizzas which are sturdy and hold up great on the grill.)

The next day everyone wanted to do an outside activity before the rain began, so these four hiked the Blue Ridge Tunnel and sang the Doxology in the darkness before finishing up the hike.

I stayed home--using the much needed extra time with no one in the house--to finish working on the quilt label and sewing it on before I gifted it later on New Year's Eve. Whew! Washed and dried and finished in the nick of time!

New Year's Eve I received more help in the kitchen for chopping Sunday's veggies. I am grateful for everyone pitching in!  I thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas visitors....we just missed those munchkins in Georgia being here this year!

This post almost wraps up this blog series of our Christmas guests and the fun times we had together.

I do have a few more photos to post about the two quilts I made for gifts....stay tuned for a final Christmas Memories Part 4 ~ the Quilts!

 

~Deb

Christmas Memories Part 2 ~ An Invitation to Jonathan's House

Long time blog readers know that Jonathan has been building his own home over the years in his spare time on weekends and whenever his job doesn't demand his time and attention.

This fall he has gradually been moving his furniture and belongings over to his new place about 15 miles down the road and has moved in. Congratulations, Jonathan!

He wanted to host us this Christmas for a meal when my sister visited, so he did all the planning and cooking....keeping the menu a secret until we arrived.

The house was smelling delish when we walked in, and it was cozy and Christmas-y with candles and the tree's sparkly lights as we awaited the meal:

He had even wrapped and arranged "host gifts" on the counter for each of us. Now that was a special touch to welcome his guests! And that certainly did my momma heart good!

One of the gifts was a bag of sweet treats which we were told was a forerunner of the special dessert he had prepared.

His menu consisted of: Slow Roast Leg of Lamb, Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots, Roasted Potatoes, Toasted Bread, and for dessert a Wreath Cake (with Candied Fruits).

And here are some photos he took and captioned:

Christmas Sweet Treats for the Wreath Cake:

And more goodies:

Colorful simmering:

The cake with all the goodies added:

Well, that was a feast! Thank you, Jonathan, for all your hard work and hosting!

Afterwards he took photos of us for his new house guest book...like he's seen his mom do sooo many times!

1 - 2 - 3 - GO!

My sister, Aunt Bet:

To conclude the evening's activities, we played a couple of rounds of Password...always a fun vintage game!

What a very fun Christmas gathering! Thank you, Jonathan!

~Deb

Christmas Memories Part 1 ~ Visit With Friends

Our annual December get-together with our friends, Fred and Chris, happened a few days before Christmas. We were all so happy that our calendars coordinated to finally make it happen!

They live on one side of the state, and we live on the other. Richmond, our state capital, is the central meeting spot.

And Whole Foods grocery store is the chosen location with a food court where it's fine to sit for hours and catch up on life!

Always a special time to enjoy time spent with kindred spirits! Thank you, Fred and Chris, for your 40 plus years of friendship!

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

~Deb