Saturday, February 10, 2007

Surfacing for air!

I've had some loving reminders that I need to post! :P Thanks for caring ladies. :)

I've been "hiding" the last 2 days because I was moody, grumpy, clingy, dealing with heartburn and an upset stomach. All from eating out! My husband took me out for dinner on Wednesday night, which was very nice. Thursday I wasn't feeling so good. Just blah. So hungry hubby orders pizza out. Of course I eat it and feel worse.

Friday afternoon, it hit me that all the eating out was basically making me sick. I haven't eaten out in 2 or more weeks before Wednesday. So all the fat, oils, salt and preservatives was whacking me out. I never want to eat out again! :P I told my husband that if he wants to take me out, he can take me straight to the grocery store. :)

Now the fun part, pictures! ;)

I turned in two quilts for Project Linus last week. My name is now entered in twice to win the sewing machine Janome is offering. I am a very hopeful gal! :D

The pinwheels were made from "bonus" HSTs from doing my sister's quilt. If you look at Bonnie's directions you should see what I mean by bonus HSTs.

The other quilt I gave to Project Linus is this one. (Scroll towards the end of the posting, it's the yellow quilt).

Remember this star? I made 8 more, put it into a top, and tada!

This is going to a friend. I'll put it in the mail on Monday.

She also has a 6 month old boy, so I used bright kiddie blocks for the back. Now both mom and son can enjoy the quilt! :)

On top of it all, I'm making a quilt for a customer. She has a 3 year old, pink Disney loving niece. :)

Here's one block, but I'm done with all 16 now. I need to put them together, get a backing and label done, then quilt it! :)

Last Wednesday was also the quilt guild meeting. Every 3 months they do a Blotto - block lotto. They give you a fabric and a block pattern to do. I had three months to make my block... and I did it the morning it was due. :P

The fabric handed out was the dark purple. Last time I did the blotto, my block was picked last! I was saaaaaaaaaaad. So this time I tried very hard to make the most appealing block. My quilt guild's name is "Hummingbird Stitcher's Quilt Guild", so the hummingbird was the perfect way to make my block #1. :D Names are randomly drawn from a baggie... and my name was picked! And so was another lady's, but she wasn't there, so I got first pick for half of the blocks. You better believe that I picked up mine first! :) So now I have 7 blocks and some leftover fabric to make more if I wish.

I joined the local Freecycle. I wasn't taking an active part in it. Seemed like every time I saw something that might be useful, it was taken. Then on Wednesday night, a lady posted that she had "4 tubs of grain". I emailed her asking to clarify - baking grains, for animals, or what? She said that they were baking grains. Apparently a friend of hers had given it to her when the friend moved. Sounds like the lady doesn't have a grinder, so might as well get rid of the buckets. The grains are about 1 years old. With proper storage, whole grains can last up to 30 years!

And wow! 4 buckets of grains. I weighed them and it's about 95 pounds in all. Toss in my 12 pounds from Sprouts, and that's over 100 pounds!

I was able to identify the wheats with the help of the ladies from Prairie Homemaker.

Black bucket: Hard white spring wheat
Yellow bucket: White hard wheat
Blue bucket: Rye
Red Bucket: Hard red winter wheat (same stuff that I have from Sprouts)

Wheeeeeeee! :D I'm doubly thrilled that I got the grinder from my mom. And after that eating out fiasco, you better believe that I'll be baking more. :)

Somebody also pointed out that they have Gamma lids, which sell for about $8 each. Wow! Another lady said that her son used one of those lids on a bucket when he went canoing and his stuff didn't get wet at all.

Now if I win the Project Linus' Janome sewing machine... I'll be on cloud 9 with my blessings! :)

Leah

9 comments:

Shelina said...

Leah, I am so glad you are back, and what a great of a post. You have been really busy with incredibly beautiful quilts. I'd have to get a thesaraus to come up with words to describe each one. The hummingbird fabric was definitely a winner choice, and so is the disney,
When you are done with the grains, (in 30 years, if you are anything like me), you will have some nice buckets to reuse as well.

Sweet P said...

You have been a busy quilter. I can't pick a favorite from everything you show. What a great find on the grains. You will be eating yummy for quite a while.

Quilts And Pieces said...

Oh your quilts are wonderful! I love the blue and green star one especially! And the tubs of grain are fun - actually just the tubs themselves are fun!

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

Wow - what a post filled with all kinds of goodies!!! Got to say that I love the unexpectedness of the backing on the star quilt - truly reversible!!! Fingers crossed for you on winning a new machine. And - way to go on your buckets of grains.

Cheers!

Evelyn

Helen in the UK said...

Lovely to see you posting again and delighting us with all your wonderful quilts. Great find with the grain bins - hope you enjoy cooking up some tasty treats :)

QuiltingFitzy said...

GREAT to see you back Leah, was afraid I scared you into hiding, heehee!

Dh makes at least a loaf of sour dough bread a week, I'll be asking more about this grain-grinder machine "after the move"!

Amazing amount of work you've completed, that Disney one is looking precious!

Amber said...

Hi Leah, Its me Amber.
You're the only online Leah that I know, so thanks for leaving a comment today (if it was you), it made me smile.
See ya around,
Amber

Cher said...

fantastic quilts...love the kid prints on the back of the star quilt-a win, win one for sure.

bingo~bonnie said...

Leah - you amaze me at how much you get accomplished!!! I think you may be our next Bonnie Hunter ;c)

I love your two "signature" purple and green quilts. You select the best patterns to use up your scraps.

Also I love that Disney princess star block you showed us! Those points are PERFECT!!! Some little girl will feel like a pretty princess wrapped up in this quilt one day! :c) ~Bonnie in SE Texas