Bring on the Thunder

Last weekend we added a new member to our household.

Katie and I made a deal that if she stopped having accidents at night (the last step to being totally potty trained) she could finally get a kitty, something she had been asking for. We have spent the last few weeks looking for a kitty that would fit in with our lives. The kitty would have to like dogs and small children. Finally last week we found a cat named Paco. He liked Katie, was very friendly and seemed to say hey I am ready, take me home. After filling out the paperwork we headed home and his name became Thunder.

Thunder has the ability to open cabinet doors.

He is slowly spending more time with us and less under the couch.

Olive and Thunder are still working on their relationship, they keep each other in line.

Thunder has a loud meow which he brings out on occasion.

He really likes laying on the tile floor.

Thunder tolerates Katie very well and she loves her new kitty.

Rag Quilt

Rag quilts are a good way to use up scraps. There are many ways to make them as can be seen by doing a search of the internet. In making the quilts I have made I have a lot of extra batting and fabric which I wanted to use up. I began by cutting up my excess batting into 4 and 5 inch squares.

I used the last of my Moda Sent With Love 5" squares for this quilt along with some red fabric scraps. By using the 4" batting and centering it between two 5" squares a rag quilt square was created. I simply sewed an X in the square stopping about 1/2" from the end.

I did this for all of the squares I had.

Next the squares are sewn into rows then the rows are sewn together. All of the seams are left open and to one side. Here is the smooth side.

And here is the seam side.

Next all of the seams need to be clipped so they will fray. This took more time than putting the quilt together.

Once that is done it just needs to be washed and dried a few times.

It could still be washed a few more times to encourage more fraying but it was a quick project that used up some extra batting and fabric I had sitting around, of course Katie claimed it right away so I am sure it will get a lot of use.

Cartwheels Quilt

My latest quilt was completed using Moda's fabric Charlevoix and the pattern Cartwheels Quilt. The piecing was not too difficult but this is the largest quilt I have made on my own. Here it is ready to be pinned. 

The back of the quilt is a cream color and has a stacked coin band running across it.

The binding is is red, here is a look at the back, binding and front of the completed quilt.

I liked this quilt because it looks like it is moving from a distance but up close  it is an alternating pattern of rectangles.

The quilt also has a border at the top and bottom of little squares which completes the quilt. Overall I am very happy with how it turned out.

Lemon Curd

Lemons have been arriving regularly in my weekly box of vegetables and fruit. With the abundance of lemons we searched for something to do with them and found a recipe for lemon curd. I recently purchased a pressure canner and was eager to try it out.

First the lemons were zested and juiced. The zest is mixed with super fine sugar and sits for awhile.

Next eggs are separated and whisked.

The zest is slowly whisked in to the egg mixture.

It is then placed on a double boiler and butter is added and melted.

The result is bright and smells great.

Into jars and the canner it went.

The result was not quite as I had hoped. The jars leaked and it was a massive failure. Not only did the curd leak into the canner, water went into the jars.

Gone is the pretty yellow and in its place was a dark mysterious substance. It was the first attempt as using the new canner we will see what happens next time.

Recycled Shelving

My library has been undergoing some reorganization and moving of furniture. Part of this process was removal of shelving. The shelving was old solid wood, a perfect opportunity to obtain some good wood for projects.

One of the first projects my brother wanted to build was a planter box. He began cutting up the shelves into the needed sizes and constructing the box.

After the box was built it needed legs, it is quite heavy and was going to need substantial support. Again he cut the shelves into the pieces needed.

The box fits into a space against the back of the house.

We filled the box with compost, mulch and some other things to help create a good soil.

We have put lettuce, carrots and other vegetables in the box and so far they are doing well.