Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Quilting Treasures Patterns




I design patterns and make quilts for Quilting Treasures. My latest project was made with the Sunset Safari fabric I had left over from the the quilt in the picture. I made a tote that features the lower panel on the quilt creating pockets on the outside. As you can see Bill is modeling the new tote. The pattern will soon be available at the Quilting Treasures web site http://www.quiltingtreasures.com Keep looking under projects to see what is new. They have a much nicer picture of the tote, but they don't have the model I have!
The garden is winding down. Bill and I set some "Kosher" dill pickles today. I have never been much of a pickle maker or eater, but we have so many pickles we just hate to see them not be used. I have left over brine, but need to find more hot peppers before making another batch.
Since my last post we have canned pickle relish, spaghetti sauce and froze corn. Notice I said "we". Many of the projects at our house are family projects, so one person doesn't have to work so hard. By sharing the work we can all take pride in what gets done.
We finally had a bit of rain today. So maybe the potatoes will be able to be dug, as the ground where they were growing was like concrete the last time we tried. WOW! I just went to the door and it is pouring rain out there. We won't get into the garden tomorrow, as it will be one big mud hole.
Other home front news. Dad has fallen several times since his stroke. So far he has been lucky to just have bruises and minor cuts. The DR told him to stay out of the garden, because that is where he has fallen the most, but Friday he fell at the edge of the driveway. The part of the drive that "falls off" down a hill. The hill is steep and natural with trees, bushes, tall grasses and most likely some junk. He was fortunate to fall and stay on the drive and not go over the hill. He was lucky that Bill and I had decided to marinade the ribs before we left to check out the holiday happenings in town. We were able to help him get up, wash his wounds and made sure he made it upstairs.
Sometimes I think Dad is doing better, then he decides to do something he should not do like this afternoon picking blackberries. He told me about them yesterday and asked me to keep an eye on them and pick them. It was raining this morning, so Bill and I went to get some dill and vinegar for the pickles. I had planned to check them this evening after dinner hoping it would be cooler. I don't know why he thought they had to be picked immediately, as when Bill and I "caught" him there was less then a cup of berries ready!
Bill also received bad news about his application for disability. He was turned down, but was told he can only do one job. Now tell me with the job situation as it is today and us living in a rather rural area, where is that job? We are now reevaluating and trying to figure out what we need to do so we can keep an eye on Mom and Dad yet one of us work. This involves getting them to DR appointments or to the ER, taking Dad shopping, taking care of the vegetables from a huge garden we did not need, making most of the meals, doing laundry and most of the cleaning, picking Dad up off the ground at least 2 or 3 times a week, finding the things that Mom can't remember where she has it now stored and the most frustrating answering the same question we answered yesterday. I can go on and on, but that only leads to more frustration.
We need to look beyond today and keep our goals and plans for our future in the limelight, not moved to the back burner.