Mountain Musings

Ruby & Bliss Table Runner

Almost a year ago I was the giveaway winner of a couple of charm packs by Bonnie & Camille over on Moda Lissa's blog. The Ruby and Bliss fabric lines with reds and aquas in these charms are just beautiful!  But I haven't used them yet!

Fast forward to yesterday when I finally decided to dig them out and make something--and I really had to dig because there's, unfortunately, no rhyme or reason to my fabric stash!

I started making a disappearing nine-patch table runner following Rachel's instructions over at ps i quilt blog. Here's what I completed already below, and the sandwiching, quilting, and binding will be done today.I've made several runners from this easy pattern in the past, and I just love seeing them in friends' homes knowing they're getting good use from them.

One table runner resides in Prince Edward Island, and I spot it sometimes over on Island Sparrow's blog (see #4 in her list). Another lives with Rose in Australia. This one will go to live with a local friend when the girls and I have lunch with her tomorrow. It will double as a hostess gift and an early Valentine's thinking-of-you gift. I hope she likes it!

That's what I'm up to so far this week!

Edited to add a photo of the table runner in its new home:
~Deb

Sunday Scripture

                                                         ~Credit~           

I Love My Quilt Shop ~ Patchwork Plus

We're celebrating Visit Your Local Quilt Shop Day! Today there's a worldwide celebration going on for independently-owned quilt shops everywhere.

What would we do without these locally-owned businesses? Well...maybe there wouldn't be as many entries in the checkbook each month...that would be a good guess! Hmm....

Hannah and I headed out to Patchwork Plus in Dayton, Virginia, which is owned and operated by Ken and Phyllis Reeves and advertised as the largest quilt shop in the Shenandoah Valley.

Below you can see the front check-out desk and all the beautiful fabric and winter-themed samples that catch your eye the minute you walk in the door: And more fabric, patterns, and samples looking inside the shop:Look at all the green batiks below! Delicious! Love this section with all the quilting greens! There are also displays of antique sewing machines around the shop which are interesting. You can see several displayed in this photo: Here's Hannah peeking through an antique Royal Electric on display: One thing I especially love about our quilt shop are the classes they offer. I thoroughly enjoy going to my monthly Block-of-the-Month class, because that means I've gotten my block homework done--which is always a relief!

Here's Barbara (Quilting Gal) on the left, my class teacher, and Phyllis on the right, the shop owner, showing a 12 Days of Christmas quilt during Show & Tell in last month's class:

As you can see...lots of inspiration can be found here:

I think I've posted the picture below before, but I included it here again for those who are stopping by for the first time on the I Love My Quilt Shop blog tour. Even the outside of the shop draws quilters in with the small barn quilt above the door:I hope you've enjoyed the tour of my local quilt shop!

~Deb

There's a Bed in my Living Room!

In my last Daybook post I mentioned that Tom was building a bed for Sarah...and its current location is, yes, see for yourself....it's in my living room!

Sarah picked out the plans, and Tom ordered them from Wood magazine. You can see what the completed queen-size bed will look like at this link. The plans are called Country-Fresh Solid Oak Bed, and it's shaping up quite nicely.

Here's another photo from the side...complete with chairs at one end holding up the headboard and a table bracing the footboard at the opposite end:Tom has to drill some extra holes (maybe for the feet?) before he starts taking it apart and bringing all the pieces back out into the garage.

And in case you're wondering why exactly it is in the living room...Tom's workshop area on one side of the garage just isn't big enough to position the bed like he can here inside the house.

I'll post a picture once this big project is completed! Then Dad can start on a bed for Hannah after she picks out a plan she likes.

~Deb

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today, Monday, January 21

Outside my window...the sun is just beginning to rise over the Blue Ridge Mountains this chilly morning in the Valley--a beautiful sight! The temperature tonight will be down to 12 degrees and tomorrow night even lower down to 7!
 
I am thinking...about what we'll do today with Tom home from work for the holiday. I absolutely love days that he's around the house!

I am thankful...for the new internet server we just installed--now I can watch sewing tutorials with no limits on band-width!! Last week was spent on the computer changing everything over...I'm sure you noticed it was quiet on the blog! It was a lot of work!

In the kitchen...the plan for tonight's dinner is leftover spaghetti with salad, homemade bread, and the remaining brownies for dessert from Sunday's potluck. Sarah experimented with two new brownie recipes for Market and brought them for the church families to sample.

I am wearing...navy skirt, purple turtleneck, light blue sweater, and knitted scarf of blues/purples/aquas, navy stockings...and navy crocs.

I am creating...next month's Block-of-the-Month for sewing class--this is the last block for this year's session, and it will be wonderful to get it finished!

I am going...out to lunch today with Tom. Where? No clue yet--doesn't matter--I'm looking forward to it.

I am reading...With Fabric and Thread by Joanna Figueroa that's listed under What We're Reading over on the left sidebar. There's a beautiful Blossom quilt pattern in the book, and I already have the fabric kit...maybe something to start after the BOM is all done.

I am looking forward to...The Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA, in February. It's possible I might be able to go--not sure yet.

I am learning..."in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Philippians 4:12

Around the house...at the moment, there's a bed in my living room! Tom brought his wood-working inside and laid out the headboard and footboard that he's building for Sarah. It's looking good!

A few plans for the rest of the week...it's Love Your Local Quilt Shop Day coming up on Thursday. I'll be visiting mine!

A picture to share..a cross-stitch Sarah recently finished for Hannah's birthday. It still needs to be stretched, matted, and framed which Hannah will do--in fact, she has a stack of past completed needleworks to frame this winter before the busyness of Farmers' Market resumes.

It's been awhile since I wrote a Simple Woman's Daybook post, so I hope this helped catch you up on what's happening in our neck of the woods. To see other Daybook entries, visit here.

~Deb

Sunday Scripture

Busy Birthday Baking!

The Mountain Musings kitchen is a'buzz today with preparations for Hannah's birthday meal tonight.

Her birthday tradition has been requesting a meal which we've never had before--usually the more exotic the better! Last week she researched some recipe sites and came up with her choices.

Here's the kitchen scene as Sarah prepares the sauce for Coconut Chipotle Roasted Chicken a'la Crockpot. I've never bought Thai Kitchen coconut milk in my life--but it certainly looks yummy!She also requested Coconut Lime Rice and/or Coconut Lime Rice Pilaf...so we're putting together a mixture of the two. The kitchen smells very lime-y!

Sarah's already baked the Blueberry Streusel Cheesecake, and it looks delicious! This was also an experiment to see if Blueberry Cheesecake might be a future menu item at the Farmers' Market.I just arranged the chicken in the crockpot with the garlic and onions, and we'll steam some green beans and toast some homemade bread to go with the main meal.

I think Hannah will love her special birthday meal. Happy Birthday, Hannah!

~ Deb

Vintage Quilt Table Runner ~ Yellow!

Whenever I'm back in my hometown of South Boston, Virginia, I try to stop by Toots Creek Antiques Mall. It's located "down by the tracks in Halifax," and I almost always bring something really neat home with me.

My visit this past fall was no exception. I spotted a vintage yellow quilt scrap that I envisioned could be made into a table runner...maybe for my sister for Christmas.

Here's a picture of it...so let me explain what I had to do:

When I bought the scrap, the yellow border you see detached on the right was actually part of the left border, and there was no border on the right at all.

The original owner had cut the quilt into sections to sell--and had cut over into the flower design. You can see part of the blue point surrounding the flower is incomplete.

When my friend Dorothy visited me back in December, she suggested cutting off part of the left border and sewing it to the right side to make the piece look balanced--even though the seam allowance would eliminate even more of the flower design.

A visit to my local quilt shop--Patchwork Plus--yielded the same suggestion as the best solution. The owner helped match a Kona light blue fabric for the binding and placed an order for it.

The Kona bolt didn't arrive until December 21--and my sister had already arrived at my house for her Christmas visit! How would I ever go pick up the fabric and get it finished without her knowing about it on the busy weekend before Christmas!?

Well, somehow it all worked. I normally sew on a table set up in our living room. In this case that was impossible, so Tom set up the table and my machine in our crowded bedroom. I closed the door and got started--hoping my sister wouldn't hear the whirring of the machine. I was hand-sewing on the border on Christmas Eve!

I decided to go with a yellow theme this year just for my sister--she likes yellow things as evidenced by the Yellow Board on her Pinterest site--I LOVE everything on this link!

I wrapped the table runner in yellow paper (we finally found some at Staples Office Supplies) and placed it in another gift I'd found for her on our anniversary trip to Pennsylvania back in August--an antique metal yellow egg basket:

When we placed the gift(s) in front of her, she couldn't believe this basket was all hers! It was so much fun watching her open everything yellow!

Other gifts in the basket included an antique yellow sugar and creamer similar to the ones she pinned here (along with two yellow bowls), antique yellow salt and pepper shakers, yellow notepad, yellow (lemon) kitchen hand soap from Bath & Body Works, and an antique yellow dipper/ladle.

 Here's the table runner below all completed. You can tell the design is a bit off on the left side...but that's what makes it vintage and whimsical!

Here's the label I attached. Hannah smudged it for me to make it look vintage:

And here's an upclose look at the flower design:

I know it's better to give than to receive (and, yes, it was so much fun giving!)...but now I wish this table runner lived at my house! And I'm trying not to even think about that antique egg basket! I've fallen in love with the uniqueness of them both!

~Deb

Photo Year in Review

Our God, our help in ages past,

Our hope for years to come,

Our shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne

Thy saints have dwelt secure;

Sufficient is Thine arm alone,

And our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,

Or earth received her frame,

From everlasting Thou art God,

To endless years the same.

Words by Isaac Watts

~Hannah

And a New Year Begins...

January begins another year of blogging for us...in fact, this month we're beginning our 9th year of writing Mountain Musings. There have been over 1,800 posts and just over 10,000 comments!

We are grateful to you, our readers, for making it all worthwhile! Thank you! We pray that your New Year will be one of health, happiness, and many other blessings.

Up next: a vintage quilted table runner I gifted for Christmas...stay tuned! 

~ Deb