Not Enough Fabric

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Actually, it depends on who you ask as to whether or not I have enough fabric.

Elly will tell you that I have the perfect amount of fabric.

It is just the right amount to snuggle in with 2 baby dolls.

It is not the right amount to back the Dresden quilt with. When I bought the fabric, I based it off the fact that the squares to which the Dresden plates would be appliqued to were to be 25″. Yet, I bought extra fabric to cut the squares out of. There was enough to make 26.5″ squares. Since bigger is better, I cut the maximum square allowed out. It never occurred to me that the backing fabric would not be enough to cover the backside of the enlarged quilt.

But, all is not lost. Plan B was concocted last night. It involves piecing the back together out of the backing fabric, the sashing fabric and some grey fabric I had in my stash. It might even look better than Plan A when finished.

Here’s hoping.

Sunday Snapshots (of dandelions)

Marie Haigh2 Comments

I hate dandelions.

Every year, I pull out close to a hundred. Of course, the only way to pull them out properly is to dig down and get the entire root. If you miss even just a little bit of the root, it will grown back. Grrr.

If they would just stay in the lawn, I wouldn’t care. But no, they get into my garden beds and even my raised vegetable beds. They are pure evil.

Elly, on the other hand, loves dandelions.

She likes to pick them and then give them as little gifts.

It’s adorable.

It almost makes me want to forgive the dandelion for all its evil traits. Almost, but not quite.

Spring Shuffle of Clothes

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Our house was built in the 1950s.

Like most homes built back then, there is only 1 closet per room and the closets are super small. No walk-in closets here.

Dan’s side of the closet in our bedroom.

My side of the closet in our bedroom.

It is a mystery to me as to why the closets were built so small back then. Did people not have as many clothes? Did they use armoires? Perhaps, they did what I do.

Every Spring and every Fall, I swap a season’s worth of clothes. Today I packed up all the winter clothes from wool sweaters to fleece jackets to scarves. Then, I unpacked all our summer wear from shorts to bathing suits. It made me so happy to see those clothes. I can’t wait to go swimming again and head down to the Jersey shore.

Since I have been doing this for as long as Dan and I have lived here (8 years), I am used to it and can accomplish it in about an hour. The plus side of doing the swap is that I have a chance to weed out the clothes that didn’t get worn all season. Clothes that don’t get worn for one reason or another get donated. The trash bags in the picture below hold all the donated clothing.

The bins are stored in our cedar closet in the basement. It is another clue that makes me think the original owners did the same clothes shuffle each season.

Since Elly does not have to share her closet with any siblings, I can keep her winter dresses tucked in the back. I still packed up her winter jacket and snowsuit, mainly because I am SO done with winter.

Sunday Snapshots (of playing by the river)

Marie HaighLeave a comment

The yellow flowers were all in bloom when Elly and I visited the Riverfront Park last week.

While I took pictures, Elly threw rocks in the Schuylkill river.

Then, she watched an older boy dig in the mud. Elly wanted to join in on the fun, but my dainty girl does not like getting her hands dirty anymore. (Thankfully, dry garden dirt is still OK). So, she grabbed a stick.


Getting her to leave was the tricky part.

Baking Station

Marie HaighLeave a comment

We have lived in this house for almost 8 years. For all of those years, my baking ingredients, such as flour and sugar, were scattered across the kitchen. For a time, the sugars were kept on the shelf behind the stove. Never was it convenient to reach over a hot stove to grab a cup of sugar. Yet, I tolerated the annoyance because the sugar canisters looked so pretty sitting on that shelf.

Finally, I could take it no longer. Pretty be damned. I needed orderliness to reign supreme.

It took some shuffling and some paring down, but the baking ingredients are all housed on the open shelves in between my collection of cookbooks.

It has cut down on prep time. It has even increased my baking output. It is all just a little easier now, which is good since more often than not I have a little helper in the kitchen with me.

Quilt Blocks on the Floor

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Typically, I would stack my quilt blocks on a table, but these quilt blocks are gigantic. They measure 26.5 inches square. It is far easier to piece them together on the floor.

Dan is not a fan. He has been sick and has graciously relegated himself to the guest bed so as not to get the rest of us sick. Thus, he has had to weave his way around the blocks to get in and out of bed.

Hopefully, I can finish pinning the sashing to the quilt blocks in the next day or so. Then at least they will be off the floor.

The plus side of the gigantic quilt blocks is that it will be quicker to piece the quilt top together, since there are fewer pieces to sew. Which in turns means that I can hurry up and get to the part I love: hand quilting.

How My Garden Grows

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary
How Does Your Garden Grow? 

Perhaps I’ve been reading too many Mother Goose rhymes.

My garden looks like it isn’t growing at all.

It always looks horrible in the Spring. The few seeds that have been planted are still buried under the earth and the warm weather plants, like tomatoes and watermelon, won’t be planted until Mother’s Day.

This year, the garden is actually looking better than normal for at least the garlic is growing.

Like every previous year except the year Elly was born, the vegetable garden has been expanded. A new grow bed was added in front. (We use this model and this model). It will house asparagus, eventually, since asparagus takes a year or two before it produces a good crop.

 

If all seeds and plants take in my vegetable garden, I will be able to harvest the following: spinach, swiss chard, corn, tomatoes, parsley, basil, peas, zucchini, garlic, two types of mint, blueberries, strawberries, pumpkins, watermelon and a few other herbs.

Elly has asked for broccoli. I might squeeze in one plant just for her.

And to think that I hated gardening 8 years ago. Ha!

Sunday Snapshots (of a new haircut)

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Cutting hair is not one of my talents. After my last attempt to cut Elly’s bangs, I knew it was time to call in the professionals.

Elly spent the entire drive to the salon telling me that she did not need a haircut. At the salon, Elly cried when I tried to get her sit in the chair. So, she sat on my lap. Very little hair was actually cut off. Elly really just needed her hair to be shaped.

After the haircut was over, Elly spent the next few minutes telling me she didn’t like her hair.

All that changed when we got home and Daddy told her how beautiful she looked. Now she loves her new hairdo.

A Cat Rug

Marie HaighLeave a comment

The bedroom rug is now large enough for a cat to sleep on it.

A small cat that is.

Of course, a cat would never survive in our home. Jake is certain that cats belong in the same category as all small furry creatures: retrievable animals. Jake is a Golden Retriever after all.

As much as Elly loves cats, she has never asked to have one as a pet. The answer would be no not only because of Jake but also because of Dan as he is allergic to cats.

Elly has her sights set a bit higher. She wants a horse and had told me matter-of-factly that she is going to have a horse as a pet.

The Case of the 4-inch Window

Marie HaighLeave a comment

One window in our living room has had a 4-inch window.

It was designed around the AC unit that came with the house. As everything that came with the house, the AC unit was at least 30 years old. Naturally, the old AC unit died.

The new AC unit was not as large as the old unit. For at least 2 years, we have had a piece of wood jammed in between the new AC unit and the 4-inch window.

My neighbor who designed the 4-inch window is terribly proud of his invention.

The local window company agreed with our assessment: a 4-inch window is stupid to have.

On Friday, the old window was removed and a new window was installed.

I can’t wait for warm Spring weather to arrive. For the first time in 8 years, I will be able to open this window.

Elly loved the whole process. She loved chatting with Chad, the gent who installed our new window. She even loved helping me clean up the mess afterwards.