Pfaff in for Servicing

I have thread wrapped around my take up lever!

Maroon thread, something that I haven't used for a year

and now the poor baby won't sew.

It will be two weeks until I get it back.

What do I do about my block of the month?!

Oh oh.

We purchased this years ago for $500

including the sewing table

and the embroidery attachments.

You can program your own designs but it's 

old school, not the fancy new stuff.

It also has pre-programmed settings.

Someone traded it in and the dealer didn't carry Pfaffs.

They just wanted it out of the showroom

and we arrived at the right time.

I went up to the attic and retrieved my mom's old machine.

Except mom says it wasn't hers ?????

It may be one of my grandmothers, but it looks a lot like Mom's.

It's a Singer 413 zig zag, pretty old but not sure what year.

It might be from the 70s?

I found the manual on line and downloaded it.

I was a little fuzzy on how to thread it.

Now I'm not complaining. . .

Really?  Who do I think I'm kidding-

I'm complaining, although I should not be, 

this is a blessing.

But apparently I've been sewing on a Cadillac.

This is just not the same.

I'm sure it's a matter of getting used to it.

But for my more complicated BOM, I think I'll wait the two weeks.

The Amish quilt uses thicker matial so it may work better.

I am trying to get tensions set and stitch length right.

The knob, which is also reverse, was stuck 

but I have it moving now, which helps.

I will say bobbin threading and insertion is easier on the Singer!

Another plus, my husband dropped my Pfaff off for me 

and spent some time with the repairman.

He showed him how I need to set the machine 

to free motion quilt!

Now I just have wait the two weeks.

Photo credit for Pfaff

Linking to The Country Homemaker Hop

Garden Seeds and Catalogues

It's that time!  Seed catalogs and garden planning, 

rearranging where everything will be placed

and for me- setting up our inherited green house!

Yipee!

My brother and sister-in-law have moved onto a boat.

Yep, a boat.

A really, really big boat down in Florida.

I got the greenhouse because it was just not practical

to have it on the back deck of the boat.

So, now it's a matter of where to put it 

and getting it set up and making growing areas in it.

As you can see, I have some seeds already, 

plus some seeds I saved from last season's blooms.

Now I'm starting to collect the seed catalogs.

I really like paper copies. 

I may order on-line, or buy the same seed locally, or both.

Mainly heirloom, in fact always where an heirloom variety is available.

Sometimes I start with plants if I see something special at the garden center

but again, I try to select heirlooms where an heirloom variety exists.

But I love having the copies to carry around or pick up again and again.

I'm still waiting for Baker's Creek but I have looked on-line.  

We're actually close enough to get there and back in a day

if we start early, get back late and don't dilly-dally.

It's so nice planning the garden when all around you is cold and frozen.

Linking to the Country Homemaker Hop

Likkered Up At Work?

What? 

Drinking at Work?

Well . . . . .almost.

It was a mistake --- really!

OK- two things:

1) I wear distance and computer glasses but not to read up close

2) Sometimes--sometimes--I don't read labels

Over the Christmas break my Mom, who was visiting from Arkansas, and I went shopping at a local grocery store as we always do when she visits.  She likes to pick up some products that she can't get at home.  As we walked up and down the aisles there were special displays featuring value priced items and I thought it might be fun to try some of those iced coffee drinks.

I am a regular (hot with sugar and creamer) coffee drinker.  

I've never had one of those packaged coffee drinks before.

And there was a whole display of them, really cheap.

We'll try them!

But we never got around to it.

So I decided to take mine to work.

I got it nice and chilled in the fridge.

I drove to work and put my lunch away, pulled out the coffee drink,

and began walking to my desk.

Now, I had my distance glasses on since I had been driving.

I can't read close up with those glasses but I did notice something strange.

Why can't pregnant women drink this coffee?

Boy, they sure are getting strict with what pregnant women can have.

I looked a little closer at the warning.

WHAT alcoholic beverages?

Oh . . . .MY!

I am walking to my desk at 6:45 AM with a drink in my hand!

I start laughing and can't stop  

(Fortunately, I had not even opened it )

My co-workers are looking at me and I can barely speak.

When I explain what I just did, they told me 

there's probably just a drop of alcohol in the flavoring.

So one of the girls looks.

5% alcohol.

I'm drinking "a beer"

At 6:45 AM, and I'm not even fishing!

I had NO idea.

I thought it was Kahlua FLAVORED!

The manager (not mine) comes over to see the drink.

He's laughing.

He said- Did I over look Coffee Liqueur on the label?

Or perhaps 5% alcohol content?

No, I just couldn't read it.

I can't read anything close with my distance glasses!

And it was in the COFFEE AISLE, not the liquor aisle.

Right there next to the Maxwell House and Folgers.

Who would have guessed?

I tell him- What if I would have brought this for a food day?

Everyone would have wondered why our department was so Happy!

You know what's worse?

I sent Mom's home with her- 

she was driving.

I hope she reads labels! 

Another Pinky Scrappy Mat

A Scrappy Mat

It even comes with directions- 

Place object HERE --><--

I had fun with this one, placing the lines next to the quarter square triangles.

Then I had this green spotty strip that I thought might look interesting with the other colors.

I'm backing it with a variegated orange,

I'm not sure what to do with the quilting,

at least I can play around with it on my machine since it's small.

I'd like to do something that would keep the direction going in the pattern

but I don't have a machine that will allow me to completely 

free motion quilt.  And I'm not experienced at all in the quilting part.

Suggestions are welcomed!!

Linking to Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Corner Blocks- Stretching Problem

I am still working on my original Block of the Month,

this one is Tonga Back to Nature

with fabrics from Timeless Treasures.

I am struggling with the smaller blocks stretching,

even though I am Best Pressing

the heck out of them.

Any suggestions?

This is one of the corner blocks.

(there will be 1/4 inch seams around the edge to eliminate

the hanging green parts)

The entire quilt is pictured below.

This is the center block,  I have since added the border to it.

I've completed all the other blocks 

so after I finish the other three corners

I'll be ready to work on the log cabin pieces next to them

which scares me even more.

They recommend some sort of fabric tape so it won't stretch.

Then there are the hundreds of flying geese.

Wing and A Prayer Design

Linking to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday

and My Simple Country Living Country Homemaker Hop

Turkeys In the Garden

We had visitors today in our little side garden.

They are huge!

This is where we grow the lettuce and radishes.

My husband quickly took this photo out our window.

Turkeys have exceptional hearing and vision so

it's very difficult to get a good shot when you have to open the door.

Some of you may have read about them visiting our chickens.

This photo was from the other day and posted at this blog

  

I ran upstairs to the top porch, hoping to sneak up on them, but no luck. 

 As soon as I unlatched and pushed open the screen door,

they heard the "pop" and saw me, even on the second floor.

Then they scattered:

Into the woods and over the brush pile.

They will be back,

every day the make the same journey,

scavenging in the garden areas and visiting chicks

who just may have kicked some grain outside of their fencing.

Linking to Country Garden Showcase

The Girl Makes the Soup

A little chicken soup is a good thing,

made by an 8 yr old is even better!

Especially if it's full of dumplings in the end.

She hates regular canned chicken soup,

and hates onions

and peas.

But loves them in the chicken and dumplings

because it's homemade

and tastes like real food.

Pops is the cook around here

and Taylor had her first lesson:

 proper knife handling,

onion peeling and slicing

chopping the celery

and putting them in the pot properly

so they don't splash hot water all over the place.

In the pot they went with the chicken, 

cooking for hours until it was time to

strain everything out.

It was a family affair

I picked the meat off the chicken bones,

and Pops added fresh vegetables

and made the dumplings.

For a girl that doesn't like canned chicken soup, she had two helpings!

By summer he'll be teaching her the art of Bar-b-Que.

It's a good thing, I never learned to cook when I was young

and while I might be able to cook basic things now, 

I'm terrible at meal planning (so it all is done at the same time)

In fact, you'd better like to eat in courses with me at the helm.

How old were you when you were taught to cook?

Keeping the Fire Burning

The fire has been burning since Christmas Eve

keeping the first floor about 70 degrees.

Upstairs is considerably cooler

but only the bedrooms and Girl Cave are upstairs.

It's OK to be a little cold upstairs,

it is better sleeping temperatures 

and you get to have lots and lots of covers!

Today it reached all the way up to 39 degrees,

a veritable heat wave, 

people were walking around without coats!

We may have some rain tomorrow

and I hope it washes away the ice on the road

rather than give it another frozen layer!

Keep Warm!

I'm A Chicken On the Road

I'm a chicken when it comes to driving on snow and ice.

I've taken back my Jeep these past two days  because,

 while in town the roadways are beautiful and clear, 

they sure aren't here!

My husband can get my Focus up and down the hill.

But not me.

I'm a chicken.

Any plowing is done by the people who live here

and we only salt the steep hill which leads to the county road.

But the salt didn't do so well this year and the hill was icy.

After a couple of days, it's now pretty clear going down

until you get to the end where there are icy patches.

Up here it's still snow/ice packed.

And  my driveway is on a  pretty good slope-

we're at the top of the ridge.

I back down our long drive- over culverts and around trees,

 because there's nowhere to turn around in the morning, 

in the dark.

 I know I'll slide and end up tumbling down the back side of the drive,

down the slope and crashing into trees.

No doubt about it.

So, being the chicken that I am, I have taken the Jeep to work

because I don't want to go up and down in my car.

The husband says, " Don't worry, you'll only slide at the very bottom of the hill."

(Right, don't worry)

"The county road is clear, you'll come to a stop when you slide onto it."

(Great, how comforting)

Maybe tomorrow I'll take the car.

Maybe not.

I love my Jeep.

BOM Progress

Block of the Month- Amish with a Twist

using fabric from Marcus Brothers 

designed by Judie Rothermel.

This week it will be block 9 and maybe 10

depending on how my quilt shop structures it.

( quilt photo credit on Sew Susie Q site link.)

You pay for the pattern up front

then each month you get the fabric for that block free

and whichever installment of the pattern you are on

This one is broken down into several installments.

It's a basic quilt but I've never done a black quilt before.

Once we have completed the 12 main blocks 

you can choose to purchase the finishing kit

plus she is having an applique class for the border.

There will be an optional border if you don't like applique.

I'll see if I want to complete it or not when the time comes.

But for now, I'm just practicing blocks and meeting up with 

the quilters each month to see what everyone has made.

I see optional background fabrics on the Marcus Brothers BOM site 

that might be interesting plus an Amish with a Twist II

that is much more intricate.