I Like Thursday #14

I try to follow the Paleo diet. It's the only way I can lost weight at my age. It works for me so I've kept it up for about 3 years. This is a Paleo Quiche. Ingredients include spinach, mushrooms, bacon and eggs. There is no crust or cheese. I followed a recipe but changed it up a little bit. It was so good! My family loved it and they aren't even Paleo!

I love the look of Ribbon Candy! It's perfect in a narrow border or sashing. It's quick and pretty easy once you get the hang of it!

This is my latest read. I received an Advanced Reader's Copy. I thought it was a bit slow when I started reading it but not anymore! I think the author was laying the ground work for the rest of the book. It's so good! This book is historical fiction that takes place in Barbados during the 1800's. Lots of family secrets!

This is one of my guilty pleasures. I always read the September issue of Vogue. It's thick and full of ads but it's great fun to leaf through. I'm not big into new fashion trends but this issue is full of info on what we can expect to see in clothes, makeup, hair etc. It's a nice diversion!

That's my likes for this week. I went back to work this week and had to work until 3:30 today. I'm posting this so late but I'm glad I got to share a few likes with you.

I'm linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color. You can see a lot more positive and wonderful likes on her blog. Enjoy!

1930's Farmer's Wife Odd Blocks

I finished quilting all the blocks of my  Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler quilt. I had some odd shapes to quilt as I reached the end. This happened to be one of them. There is a reason I buy so many quilt books! I got some great ideas looking through books by Angela Walters, Natalia Bonner and Amanda Murphy. I got out the ruler and made 1/2 inch lines.

I got this idea after quilting the arcs around the squares. It's nothing fancy but it works great in this space. I was very happy with it!

I quilted wishbones in the lighter fabric so the darker orange will puff up. So easy!  I also stitched in the ditch in all seams. I'm getting better at it but still need more practice.

I'm still working on my curved cross hatching. It's not perfect but good enough. Once washed, these stitching lines become softer and harder to find errors. (I hope!)

I think my kitties have found a new game. They have decided to wreck my batting hanging off the longarm! However, I don't leave it hanging anymore. I pull it over the longarm to keep it from getting dusty. Bad kitties! Thankfully, my quilt ends before I would even have needed this part of my batting so it doesn't matter that they made holes in it. 

Although the blocks have been quilted, I now have to quilt between the blocks. I'll probably quilt feathers I'm going back to work tomorrow so I have some time to think about it. Wish I was still on vacation!

I Like Thursday #13

Since I'm on vacation this week, I made the annual pilgrimage to Keepsake Quilting in Center Harbor, NH. I didn't really have anything to buy but that didn't stop me!

I bought this cute little pattern for 50 cents! I told the cashier that the pattern had an incorrect price on it but she told it was the right price.  I couldn't believe it! 

I bought this gadget to help me when I make jelly roll rugs. I was told it can be used for binding also.

I bought this little bundle of fat quarters. Also on sale! We ate at Hart's Turkey Farm after shopping. The weather was gorgeous and the shopping was great.

We went into Boston today. This is the view from the Museum of Science. We decided to go there since it's so close to the highway. You don't really get into as much of the traffic since it's so close to the highway. We used to take our kids there and my parents used to take me and my brother there years ago.

Here's a scene from the electricity area. The exhibits are the same but they have so much more interactive activities associated with each area. The kids were having a blast!

I think this is the same dinosaur when I was little! He didn't look quite as large as I remembered!

The Apollo exhibit was very busy! I think it's become so popular since the 50th anniversary. I did manage one picture without anyone around.

I hope you enjoyed my likes from this week. I'll be back to work on Monday. Vacations sure do fly by!

I'll be linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color where you can see more likes from a wonderful group of bloggers! 

More Long Time Gone and a Doily!

These are 2 of the Pineapple Blocks I'm making for Long Time Gone. I have to make 14 more.

I'm paper piecing them. I love the ease and proficiency of using paper. You just sew on the line and make sure the fabric is large enough to cover that particular area. I work on 2 blocks at the same time. They measure 5 1/2 inches square. Once these blocks are done, my blocks are complete and I can  start putting Long Time Gone together! 

These 60 degree triangle pieces are also part of Long Time Gone. Each triangle unit measures 2 1/2 inches square. So close to finishing! So exciting!!

I miss having hand work to do while watching television. I decided to knit a doily. I thought it would make a nice Christmas gift. It's very similar to knitting lace. My grandmother used to crochet doilies but I like to knit them. To each, his own!

I Like Thursday #12

Here's my mother's trunk after she restored it. She used sandpaper to get rid of  most of the old paint. It also ended up smoothing down the exterior. She painted it dark green which was the original color when she received it from her aunt. She replaced most of the brass screws. It looks so much better! Like new!

She used wall paper for the interior. The old paper was in poor shape. She just wet it and removed it before adding this pretty wall paper. She's thinking of adding another coat of green paint but it's pretty much done! She loved working on it and I think she did a great job!

We had a few old trees removed from our property this week. The guys in my neighborhood all came out to watch! I came home from work and was wondering what was going on. I didn't think it would be so popular.  We ended up having 4 trees removed. They were getting old. We were afraid they would damage our house if we got some strong winds. Better safe than sorry!

My daughter's friend brought over these beautiful sunflowers. They're so cheerful!

I finally bought these grapes. Everyone at work was talking about them. They really taste like cotton candy! They're a little pricey but well worth it.

I can't believe it's already August! The summer always seems to fly by. I hope you're all enjoying the warm weather. I still quilt in the summer. My house is air conditioned so the heat doesn't really bother me. 

I'll be linking up with LeeAnna of Not Afraid of Color. Hope you check out her blog for more inspiration! Until next week!

Machine Quilting 1930's Farmer's Wife

I made this quilt a few years ago. A friend asked me if I was interested in making a 1930's Farmer's Wife. It would be fun to work on our quilts together. So I bought the book and some 1930's fabrics. I got mine done but my friend stopped making hers after a few blocks. It's not my favorite quilt but I'm using this quilt to improve my stitching in the ditch on the longarm using rulers. I'm using rulers as well as a little free motion quilting.

The fabric is very busy and it's a little difficult to see the quilting. 

I'm also working on the outer border as I make my way down the quilt.

Once the blocks are done being quilted, I'm going to make feathers running in between the blocks.

I still have to figure out how to quilt the half triangles next to the outer borders.

I think I have plenty of time to figure that out!

I'm looking forward to vacation so I can really make some progress on this quilt. I have a friend coming over soon with an antique quilt top she wants me to quilt for her. 

I Like Thursday #11

I work in a hospital that has this beautiful garden outside the chapel. It's outside of the chapel but still inside the hospital! I love to walk over there and look at all the plants. There are lots of windows as well as a sky light over head.  It's a nice little escape from the demands of working in a fast paced hospital.

My grandmother died a few months ago. She was just shy of her 101 birthday by about 2 weeks. My mother got this trunk from my grandmother's house. My mother's aunt bought her this trunk to be used as a hope chest. I always thought hope chests were made of wood. I think the wood hope chests were too expensive for my mother's family. Italy was quite poor after World War II. When my mother was moving to the United States, she sent this trunk ahead of her flight. She had all sorts of linens inside. Many of them were embroidered by my mother while still in school. My father picked it up and had it waiting for her when she came to Massachusetts. It looks so worn and torn! My mother is repainting it. She bought wall paper to line the inside of the trunk. It's a nice little project for her to work on. She even bought little brass tacks  to replace the many missing ones. I'm hoping to show you an "after" photo when she's done renovating it!

I love this! My beauty salon has some very positive wall hangings. It always makes me feel good to read this while getting my hair done! I think we could all use some positive messages.

If you get the chance, read this book! It's made up of such lush and descriptive language. I can't put it down. It's been a best seller for awhile. I'm sort of late to the party but just wanted to let you know how good it is!

That's my happy stuff for the week! Go visit LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color for more happy posts. It's so nice to look on the bright side. It's so good for you!