3/11/16

Weekend Mapped

There was lots of slow stitching yesterday. For one thing, I hand-stitched the binding for My Vintage Kitchen.


And then I hung it on the wall above my breakfast bar. It looks so cheery there.


I wanted to show you my new method for hanging small quilts. This one is only 13-1/2 inches wide. First, I run a bamboo skewer through the top of the binding. If your stitches are at least a quarter inch apart, it will fit easily. This quilt is a little wider than a skewer is long, and so I ran a skewer on each side. They overlap a little in the middle, but it's not a problem. The purpose of the skewer is to prevent the corners from collapsing after it's hung.


Here's one method for hanging a small quilt...just sew a ring tab to the top. I've done many small quilts this way.


Recently, however, I got this bright new idea for using a safety pin in place of the ring tab. For one thing...no sewing. For another, it's easy to move it or REmove it altogether if you need to for some reason. Then, use a small nail and hang it using the loop of the safety pin that I've circled just there.


Easy, huh? I did the same thing for Maggie's Pawtrait, which has taken its place in the Cat Mewseum now right there next to Samson and Feed the Cat. That wall is starting to fill up now.


Finishing up My Vintage Kitchen put me in the mood for baking, and so I baked these Pumpkin Muffins with Oats and Orange Marmalade. Mike is all about anything orange and I still have pumpkin puree left from last year's CSA share.


They needed to cool five minutes in the muffin tin and then I had one with my afternoon cup of espresso. Very tasty and not too sweet. The topping gives them a nice little crunch.

The rain let up for a minute then, and so I went outside to fill the birdfeeders. While I was out, I snapped a picture of the daphne. You might remember I've worried about the daphne because it's been in the ground about five years, but never gets more than a blossom or two. This year it's loaded with the most fragrant blossoms, despite getting knocked back by an ice storm in November. I think it's finally established itself.


It turned out to be a pretty nice afternoon with sunshine from about 3:00 on. Both Smitty and Maggie were able to get outside. I actually lost track of Maggie for a while, and thinking she was inside, I closed the door. Shortly after that, I heard a scuffle and the sound of many running feet, and she and Smitty appeared at the door. I was able to let her in immediately, and so I don't think she was traumatized by the momentary lock-out. The two of them are hard to figure out these days. One minute he's chasing her, and the next she's chasing him. It's hard to tell whether they're playing or being aggressive, but we're letting them work it out.

By evening, the thunderheads were moving in again, and the rain returned. We're expecting rain every day between now and next Thursday. And since it's been raining all week, we're growing weary of the weather.


This morning, we had a view of the mountain, which we haven't seen for quite some time. Nice to know it's still there for viewing.


It was a nice to see it while I sat and did more hand-stitching on Hocuspocusville. It's getting near a finish now.


I've moved the hoop and it's ready to go again. A few more sittings and this one will be done.


It's going to be a busy weekend, and since weekends are ordinarily when I work on the Live, Love, Teach quilt blocks, I'll probably work on one of those today...this one created by Buzz.


I'll do it in fusible applique. I think all of the top-stitching can be done by machine, and then I'll hand-stitch Buzz's name. It shouldn't take very long.

Saturday, my daughter-in-law Mae and I are attending an all-day "Spring Into Gardening" event put on by the county's Master Gardeners Association. There are four seminars. Mae and I are attending the ones on using native plants in home landscaping, restoring established landscapes, growing vegetables in small spaces, and one about bees called "Your Landscape: Pollinator Desert or Dessert?" The day includes lunch, and so I'm looking forward to learning some gardening techniques. Moreover, I'm looking forward to spending the day with Mae.

Sunday, we're going to the Portland RV show. For RVers they're loads of fun, and we're still investigating those new larger truck campers. We're hoping to buy a used one at some point, and the RV show gives us a chance to see future used ones. We'll let somebody else make the initial outlay of cash for the new ones.

And there you go. A life mapped out for a few days at least. 

14 comments:

Wilma Lee said...

That wall hanging is so cheery!! I use the safety pin method for hanging my small stuff. Works so well.

Lesley said...

I just planted a Daphne. Sure hope I don't have to wait 5 years for flowers!

Dana Gaffney said...

Beautiful mountain pictures, I'm glad the weather cleared up and cleaned the sky too.

Gina Loomis said...

I love the Vintage Kitchen wall hanging! Thanks for sharing how you hang small quilts. Congrats on the Daphne having blooms, they're gorgeous! I'm in awe of your view of the mountain!

quiltzyx said...

My small quilts that are hanging up are attached to the glass doors on a drawer/cupboard unit with binder clips. I do like your idea too, but don't have much wall space in my mobile home. At the Road to California quilt show, I saw a vendor with a unique quilt hanging system. He attached strong magnets to some of those 3M Command removable hooks, then just slid a flat metal piece into the sleeve (you know, those metal "straps" you can get at the hardware store). Bigger quilt, use more hooks & magnets. Looked like a cool way to hang them & it wouldn't show at all.
More lovely photos and those muffins have made me hungry!! Looking forward to seeing Hocuspocusville all together one day in the not-toooo-distant future!

Kate said...

Sounds like a busy, but fun weekend. Congrats on getting Vintage Kitchen all finished. It looks great.

Lyndsey said...

The vintage kitchen quilt is lovely and very cheery and the muffins look yummy. Your weekend sounds busy but fun which is the best sort. I'm looking forward to any gardening tips you share. We have a very small garden which used to be a fabulous space with lots of colour and fragrance. With the busy work schedule it's not been so good the last couple of years but that has to change.

Celtic Thistle said...

Smart idea with the safety pin. Your vintage kitchen quilt looks lovely on your wall, and I can see why you would miss that mountain view :)

Jenny - the lilac cat said...

What a brilliant idea for hanging minis. I've used 'the batten held by two corner pieces sewn across the top' method but it always led to droopy tops and corners. So in a trice grabbed a couple of indoor plant stakes, the type to hold up orchid stems, and hey presto straight top, not a drop in sight and just went back on the hook on the wall. The best thing is I've got 2 or 3 mini quilts waiting to have hanging sleeves in an attempt to improve on the two corner piece method so I save time not bothering with that and they can go back up as well. Just got to find some more stakes.
And what a fantastic view. I'm afraid mine is suburbia.....

Jeanne said...

Great finish on your Vintage Kitchen quilt!

Ivani said...

Thank you for the tips about hanging small quilts! Your vintage Kitchen mini is so cute. You sure have a great view of the mountains. Have a great week.

Monica said...

"Worms Alfredo," lol! You must chuckle every time you work on that one.

Now, that reminds me of Mount Shasta, but are you further north? Our 7 day forecast had rain every single day, so, I guess it's the season! Good for stitching, I tell myself. :D

CathieJ said...

Funny, I was going to ask you how you hung your quilts and you answered me before I could ask. Thanks for the info. I love the fabric panels that you used in your Vintage Kitchen quilt. Just perfect. Hocuspocusville is looking wonderful.

Brown Family said...

Nice idea for hanging small quilts. I have expandable curtain rods on the walls and use rings with clips.

I always enjoy seeing the mountains!