Friday Fun in Franklin

Allen and I took a day trip to Franklin, Tennessee today. We took Highway 31 North instead of I65, and that took us through a number of sleepy southern towns and some beautiful Tennessee land. This is the Giles County Courthouse in Pulaski. Pulaski is best known as the birthplace of the KKK, but the city has disowned the Klan. We took a walk around the square and took in an antique store too. Rock on, Allen.I got a kick out of the street art Uncle Sam.Turkey art?
We ate at an Irish pub in Franklin. The bath shop next door was blowing bubbles, a whole different take on street art, I guess.Uh oh. More batik for my stash. Allen (happy in the rocker in the lobby) couldn't believe I didn't buy even more and sent me back in more than once. When I was a kid, Mom did a majority of her fabric shopping at Famous Barr, a department store. I don't really remember her going to a real fabric store, much less a quilt shop. Surely she wouldn't have bought fabric with an idea that someday she might use it in something. That would have been way beyond her budget (mine too in years with little kids at home). Actually, quilting has sort of had a revival since the 1970's, and I guess I was out of the house by then. The Stitcher's Garden where we went has been in business in Franklin for seventeen years, the owner told me, and she is planning a move closer to the highway by the end of the year. Anyway, since Mom couldn't or wouldn't learn to drive (probably couldn't knowing how miserable Dad would have made her trying to teach her), she either had to walk a mile or so to the bus and go alone or have Dad take her in the evening while he would "patiently" wait. It is fun having Allen support my addictive hobby (not that he has any addictive or expensive hobbies).
We went to The Factory before heading home. What a neat old building. They made Magic Chef products there at one time. We just walked through and got a feel for the place, drooled over some Amish furniture at one shop, and had fun at an antique store there. Louie is glad we're home though.

What's missing?

Chinese Checkers and a turtle all in one! Shannon found this last weekend in Daphne. I'm glad she didn't miss it on the shelf. He's very cool. He is taking up residence in my sewing room with the other Chinese checker boards. I have this idea that one day I will quilt a Chinese checkerboard as a wall hanging. I even bought some black and red dragon fabric to use. Maybe this guy will serve as inspiration for that little project. All I'm really missing is time. So many quilt ideas, so little time. When Shannon and Nathan came by last night, I tried out a new recipe on them. Butter bean salad. It was probably better today than last night, a little pepperier. Maybe Nathan thought that jalapeño peppers were missing yesterday, but he added his Texas Pete's. I love simple, healthy recipes like this one that I saw as an ad in my current issue of Southern Living magazine.
And we had an old standby, "fork sticks" as Meghan called them when she was little. To me, this is what barbecue pork is, but most people here think of pulled pork. St. Louis style pork steaks mean summer. Although the Jack Daniels barbecue sauce was good, I wish I had a bottle of original Mauls from Dierbergs grocery. I miss a few things from St. Louis: family and friends, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, baseball Cardinals, variety from bigger grocery stores, Mauls... but I don't miss the bigger city traffic, winter snow and icy weather, searing summer heat. Yes, it really does get hotter there than here. Louie hopes I won't miss the strip of fabric he has stolen. Sure, he looks cute here, but chasing him to get things back is a big pain. If Allen and I have him between us, he will meekly sit and spit. What I mean is, he spits out whatever he has in his slimy dog-breath mouth. He knows what he has done, and he knows he has to forfeit his treasure. Then he's embarrassed and wants to make up. See, he's not really missing a conscience, he just wants to play.Dinner tonight? If you aren't here, you're missing a treat. When Allen is finished with his marathon of telecons, we'll have shrimp from Cajun Cafe that he steamed earlier this afternoon.

Sewing room tools

What is so satisfying about being in my sewing room? How do I get from fabric store purchases to finished quilt? A key ingredient is having such a wonderful space where I can make my own mess and then leave it there untouched until I come back to it. Allen never complained about me having my things in the dining room, the laundry room, and then all over the extra bedroom spread out on the bed, but having my own space is heaven. I never understood my mom's delight in heading to the basement to sew, but I guess I do now. She surely didn't have such wonderful tools and resources that I do, but she managed to make everything from church curtains to all of my clothes. I'll stick with my quilts, and I'll turn on the new flat screen before I start.These are long strips sewn together in threes, all ironed and ready to be cut into smaller pieces.One and a half inch segments and three and a half inch segments...
go together with three and a half inch squares...to make one block. In the king size version I am making, there are forty-nine of this kind of block.
The second kind of block has a total of forty-nine pieces in it. I haven't even gotten all of the longs strips sewn together, and I'm not sure I have enough even cut because the pattern I'm using only gives directions for the twin size. Then too, in the past, I've cut the entire quilt before I have sewn a stitch. That's scary. What if the pattern isn't correct, or I've misunderstood, and the pieces are cut wrong and just won't fit together. Another consideration is whether or not what I think in my head is going to work color and print-wise is really going to look good in reality. It is recommended that you make one block of each that you will have to make sure that everything is right before cutting a whole quilt. Think about it. Do you really plan your entire anything before you proceed? Every minute of your day before you set foot out of bed? Every part of your life before you get to it? What if you change your mind or something unexpected comes up? Even though I haven't cut everything, I have lots and lots and lots of similar little pieces. How to plan a block and then move it to the sewing machine? If I figure out the placement of the pieces and then try to move them, I can easily get confused when they are in piles and not laid out. Solution: a mini-design board.I saw a similar idea on www.thequiltshow.com. The guest used foam core board for the base. I found this self-stick board. Perfect! I ironed some left over low-loft batting, smoothed it out on my cutting board, pulled off the adhesive, and placed the board sticky side down on the batting. I used my rotary cutter to trim the excess batting.Now I can lay out my pieces and then pick up the board to move to the sewing table. No more confusion! It's like a felt board back in elementary school. The pieces self-stick to the board without falling off. No pieces on the floor for Louie. Ha! From forty-nine pieces, I am down to nine...then three pieces...and finally, another completed block. I will need thirty-six complete blocks like this one, and twenty-four half blocks for the king size version. I think my new design board tool will be really helpful. Too bad the new TV wasn't as simple or inexpensive. I know "real quilters" have whole design walls. Don't think that's going to work for my space, but I can always use the guest room bed for that.

Memorial Day Weekend at Home

What now, Louie? How many times have you been caught doing this in the last few days? Louie discovered the basket with the papers waiting to be shredded. He thinks he can shred them just as well as the electric one, and he can have a lot more fun too. He does look pretty guilty, doesn't he?
What else have we been up to? Allen is enjoying the new grill. This was Saturday night chicken dinner for the two of us.
I re-potted several plants from the green plastic to these metal frames with cocoa mats. The idea is that the new pots will hold water a bit better. It was 90 , breezy and sunny the last few days. I tried not to make too much work for myself on the deck with too much watering. The front porch is full now, and it might be the day to clean out the herb garden. We've called our young landscaper guy to get him to replace a few plants and do some general cleanup for us, but he's seemingly been too busy. You know, I hate to wait for him, but I hope that means business is good for him. It isn't easy being at the front end of your career. Then again, it isn't easy at the other end either. Allen is plenty stressed about his go-live date, and that stress filters down to all of us. Well, maybe not all of us. Exactly how stressed does Louie look?

Sunday's projects around the house included putting up some new bamboo blinds in the office. They are different from what we thought we bought, but they are a big improvement over cheapest of cheap plastic ones. These you can close but still get filtered light in the room. The warm up the room decoratively, but I imagine they will keep some of the summer heat out.

Sunday afternoon and evening, I sewed strips and strips and strips and strips for the new quilt. Today, I'll need to iron them and do some cutting to divide the strips into littler chunck. I am not finished sewing strips, but I really want to get far enough to put one block together so I can feel like I am making progress. The pattern is called Kentucky Blues, but my fabrics are reds and yellows. I am thinking Alabama Sunset, but we'll see.

Monday morning for Louie. He looks so sweet and innocent here. Fifteen minutes later, he was running through the house with a remote control in his mouth. Sweet, my eye!

Louie probably took a nap while we were gone

What to do on my first day of vacation?? Sleep late, take our time getting up and moving, and then head across the river to Cajun Cafe for a Saturday lunch. What could be more relaxing? I had the fried catfish, but nothing beats their boiled shrimp, red beans and rice, and vinegar slaw. We promised the owner, Kathy, that we would get her all the food pictures from Shannon and Nathan's wedding. We saw the annual sign on the door today: "Closed the week of the 4th." We are still glad that they catered for us during their vacation last year.Plastic gators stapled to the ceiling, boiled peanuts, and zydeco music complete the experience. Before we moved here fifteen years ago, I don't think we would have expected to call this restaurant a favorite. However, it is a treat to have met the owners, and it's always a good meal.
We took a drive down Hobbs Island Road and found D & D Greenhouse and Hardware. We've passed by before, but they've never been open. This is a much bigger operation than we had expected, and their plants were wonderful. The owners' horse was enjoying the day too.Check out the huge sun fern we brought home for the porch.And this Swedish Ivy. It is actually blooming. I am more than ready to sit on the porch and enjoy some summertime reading.We thought about driving to Guntersville and then Boaz or heading up to Tennessee, but we decided to stick around Huntsville, and I'm glad we did. A quick stop at the farmer's market netted us the promise of a good meal. My new favorite way to prepare potatoes is to cut up red potatoes into about 1" size cubes, stir them with a bit of olive oil, and bake them at 400 for about 20 minutes. Allen has some chicken marinating in a curry sauce that will go well with the potatoes. Oh boy! No school until...July 31 when I have to go back.

Another weekend

Another weekend come and gone. We decided we would update the bedspread this weekend, and I think it looks pretty good. At least it looks good without pug hair, pug toys, pug licks, and pug whatever. Lucky for us he can jump off the bed, but he can only get up with people help.
Weekend quilt cutting...
I like the way the batik quilts look from up here. The box is from Allen's new radio for his desk in the living room. He can't play it during the oodles of hours of conference calls, but in between, he'll enjoy NPR.
There he is, hard at work.
There he is, hard at work.

Louie, the thief, spends some time in jail. Actually, he just loves sitting on the steps, but seriously, he can't resist his people's things. This morning he started off by stealing my sewing out of the sewing basket by the couch in the family room. He steals the TV remotes when Allen showers, and he totes around Allen's big old tennis shoes if he gets a chance. He brought Allen's back-scratcher up the steps to me, but it didn't fit between the door and the cabinet so he had to drop it to come in the room.
It's not like he doesn't have his own toys. By the end of the afternoon, these are the toys that he had accumulated by Allen's desk.Louie didn't get to even have one little nibble of last night's chicken that Allen roasted. I only have seven days of school left until summer vacation, but if he wants to continue as the head chef, it's alright by me. I could get used to being served dinner without even having to think about it. However, we might have to hire a maid to clean up after dinner. Want to know what happened while I was writing this blog? Bridger called to talk to me on the phone! He told me about helping give Taplin a bath. I can't wait to see my little guys in person. Meghan has posted some new pictures on her Kodak gallery.

Saturday Fun

What to do on a free Saturday...Hmmm...Allen and I decided to take a drive to Decatur to see a quilt shop I haven't been to yet. We took a side trip to Swan Creek so I could see where he goes to target shoot. It's a pretty area in the Wildlife Management Area. We waited for this train at a crossing, so I took the picture through the car window. Then as we drove back into Decatur, we saw the crossing the Norfolk Southern Tennessee River Bridge. A barge was waiting for the train to cross so the bridge could open. It was a busy day on the river for lots of private boaters and fishermen.
We quickly found the Quilter's Refuge, a nicely organized shop where I had no trouble finding some treasure. I have no doubt that I will visit again. I have started cutting out Shannon and Nathan's quilt, and I discovered that a few more reds wouldn't hurt. Besides, I can always add to my stash. Allen is very understanding about the addictive nature of a hobby.
Back in Huntsville, we stopped at the Farmer's Market. We bought veggies for the week and plants for the deck. The trick for me is to buy enough but not too much. I planted a few planters and hung up three ferns. Louie hasn't ever spent any time on the deck (yes, we have to wash the deck floor) but he is going to enjoy it outside this summer. He can't be left alone with the plants, though, because he wants to eat the dirt. Silly boy.

Oooh! New grill! Dinner will be ready soon. The first meal will be hamburgers. Simple but wonderful. Did I say how silly Louie was? He followed Allen outside and then ran to come in. Unfortunately for Louie, the back house door was open but the storm door wasn't. He ran headlong into the glass. He'll have to learn the ins and outs of the deck, won't he!