Block #5 of my Folk Art quilt done.....this one took awhile

This was a "killer" block and I was glad when I finished it....I have a new camera but I had problems with getting pictures uploaded to the blog but got that figured out finally so that's why I didn't blog for a few days.  On to block #6 of 12  not counting borders, I think.

A REAL old cotton gin...really!

This cotton gin is about 6 miles from my house and I have wanted to get pictures of it but you have to do it in the winter otherwise there is too much overgrowth and you can't see it plus it is hard to "pull over" on many Arkansas roads. 

When my son was visiting I  mentioned it and he grabbed the camera and didn't just take a picture...he went inside and took pictures which I would have never gotten had it not been for his "gutziness" (is that a word?)...I have wanted these pictures for years.  He took them last March I think but then I couldn't find them but the other day I ran across them so I can finally share them!  I can't tell if this year is 1888, 1882, or 1880 but regardless it is older than me which means it's an "antique"!  Actually...things my age are also considered "antiques"...hmmm...what does that say about me?  Don't answer that!

This says Franklin, Arkansas Cotton Gin and something else I can't read...when the leaves fall I'll have to go back and see what that says...I'm thinking "built by"? 

It isn't "restored" but it looks like someone took the time to paint the outside and put the dates on it.  There are several historic places around here that are still in the hands of the original family that owned it.

This is the inside and I have no idea what these pieces of equipment are but there are still pieces of cotton stuck in them.

There is an Historic Society around here and I should contact them  and see if I can learn any more.  There are things down here that should be restored and maintained before they are lost but it all takes money I guess and Arkansas has never been a wealthy state but it has to start with someone caring and maybe that's me except I don't have any money either!  I hate to see any of this history fall apart and be lost and I'm not even from here.  There is still cotton raised in Arkansas but not as much as years ago and maybe they still have gins like this in use.  I have no idea.  If anyone knows anymore about this please email me.  I'll have to do some research so I can identify those items and learn how they took the raw cotton and made material out of it.

My best "before and after" yet? You be the judge!

This is my fireplace in my family room....but there's something missing...there's no mantel!  I wanted a mantel but couldn't afford to hire a carpenter and didn't really want to try myself and mess up the brick trying to drill holes etc.  So, I spent my Saturday night building a mantel without any nails!   See the results below.....

Fall is REALLY here this time....and it only gets better from here!

Now that the wood is in it was time to bake up some Fall flavors!  How about some Pumpkin Pecan Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting????  Yeah....that's what I'm talkin' about!

Ready to go in the oven....can't wait!

It's done....but I have to wait until it cools before I can frost it so use your imagination in case I don't get a picture of it after it's frosted....I may just "dig in" and forget the blogging!

This is a phenominal cookbook!  The recipes are not only healthier but they taste the same!  You would NEVER know they weren't made with the high calorie, fat and sugar ingredients and trust me...I'm picky!  I have made several meals from this cookbook and they have all been scrumptious!  Check out her website  www.marlenekoch.com 

This is her second cookbook and highly rated just like her first which I am going to have to get!

Let it snow!!!

The wood was delivered yesterday.  I need another tarp but I am ready for winter!  I still need to replenish my emergency supplies of food, water, dog and cat food and various other things.  After the ice storm here 2 years ago and having to go 8 days without electricity I have gotten even more savvy....I hope!

Fall cleaning.....ok, so it's year long around here just to keep up.

I REALLY should have taken a "before" picture here....I cannot believe I got it clean.....but I must admit I spent a lot of time on this little section!  Who would put white carpeting right up to the front door?????  Who would have white carpeting????   Who would have carpeting?

After all that cleaning I had to put my feet up and do a little stitching on my #5 block of 12 not counting the border.

A few things from the thrift store.....

I think this is a photo but either way...I love it!  It's so ME!   My cabin...ahhhh.

This was practically free and I have a few of these in different colors now....does that make me a collector?

This is a signed bulb pot for bulbs that I will plant this Fall and they will bloom in the middle of the winter!

I think this was a bell but it has lost it's "clapper"...not unlike many of us but there is still something to love!  A wee little bird perches on the very top of it....sorry for the blurrs....new camera is on the way!

Perfect colors of Fall...not sure what they smell like...I haven't lit them yet.

Where does the time go?

I can't believe I haven't blogged, emailed, facebooked or been on the phone!  I have been cleaning....I clean best when I am upset and I am upset because I thought Fall was coming and it was here for 2 days and then BAM!   It is hot again....in the 90's!  I went to Fit and Sew last week and there was a table of "FREE" stuff and of course I couldn't resist!

 

Fall is HERE!!!! Ya! That's what I'm talkin' about!

I spent the day outside yesterday cleaning the windows, the garage and the front porch.  Here's my little "Fallscape".

I did some dyeing last night.....

I needed some new colors for my wool applique but didn't feel like getting out my chemical dyes so I used the "Kool-aid" method and did some over-dyeing too.  These are the blues I got that I needed.

I put some water in my crockpot, set it to high and throw in some different wools and Kool-aid.  Last night I was looking for some blues so I put in some dark blue wool, a couple drops of liquid detergent that helps "wet" things and then 3 or 4 packages of blueberry Kool-aid .  Depending on the time in the crockpot and the original color of what you're dyeing, you get different results which is what is so cool!

I use tongs to pull out the HOT wool and let it drip into the upside down lid while I take it and drape it over my faucet so it can drip in the sink until it cools off.  Once it cools, I rinse it in a bowl of white vinegar to SET the color and keep it from bleeding and then I wring it dry and throw it in my dryer.

And this is what I do with the dyed wool after it's dry!  This part takes the longest but knowing that I used old wool that I get at thrift stores and then dye it the colors I need makes me feel like a true "re-purposer" and very GREEN!  If anyone has any wool clothes or old material they want to get rid of you can send it my way!  Wool is very expensive nowadays and actually hard to find since most materials today in clothing are synthetic.  It needs to be 100% wool in order to keep it from fraying.  You "felt" the wool by washing it and drying it  (without fabric softner) and it shrinks so it doesn't fray when you applique it.

Happy Labor Day....I took it seriously...I've been working all weekend!

Well...first I mowed the lawn and helped my neighbor with his too.  Then I washed the mower....a season's worth of grass and dirt on that tractor and on me too since it was so dry it was like taking a dust bath to mow!

Then I went to town and bought some mums and then back to cleaning the garage and yada, yada, yada....inspired or just tired?  I took a nice long bath and fell into bed!

Guess what I've been doing.....

Yep!  You guessed it.....I've been cleaning my closet.  I removed all of the out of season clothes and look how much room I have!  I dusted the walls and corners and washed the shelves and rods.

I dusted the molding and brushed the edges of the carpet where the vacuum never seems to reach and then I shampooed the carpeting.  I have 2 laundry baskets in there for dirty clothes...one for lights and one for darks but I'd like to find a better solution since they take up quite a bit of floor space.  Any ideas anyone?  I have some baskets..tall, reed baskets that I might make some liners for and there's a McCalls sewing pattern #2784 that has hanger covers.  Am I getting carried away?  After all...it's just a closet plus there are other areas of my house that need attention....maybe a back burner project.  I can get SO anal sometimes!

OK....I went to the Dollar store and got containers for my shoes as they WERE all over the floor in the closet and get dusty and again take up precious floor space.  So, I am going to polish/clean them and put them into the smaller containers and the bigger ones are for boots.

While I was at the Dollar store I saw these cute kitchen towels and washrags in "harvest" colors!  These are the colors I want my kitchen to be eventually but right now I need towels badly so I grabbed them up!

Not a pretty picture.....literally!

Here's one of my tomato plants that I found when I went out to water this afternoon....sad but true!

And here's the culprit!!!!  He or she is HUGE....and inch in diameter and over 3 inches long!!!!  GROSS!  Does anyone know what this monster is?  I love nature but I didn't really want to touch this guy/gal...it's like something out of one of those old horror movies!  I hope I can sleep tonight!  How big do they get?

Busy, busy , busy!!!!!

This is the center block of the folk art quilt I am making.  It will be used as a wall hanging.  It is wool applique hand stitched with the blanket stitch and a lot of the wools I dyed myself.  It is brighter colors than what is appearing here...don't know what the problem was.

Whoa Nellie....I am not even the same person that blogged here last time!  I am amazing even myself!  The weather cooled so I have been walking 3 miles a day with the dogs AND this morning I started the Nutrisystem program....lets all say a prayer!  I cant use apostrophes in this blog or it takes me to quick link...anyone else having that problem?  Anyway, things are great here and I am getting cleaning done and organizing and working on my folk art quilt.....here is what I have done so far.

This is the next block I am working on.  There are 12 blocks in all not counting the center house block and then there's a border to do also that goes all the way around the quilt.  This will take months if not years! LOL!  But I have a friend who has one finished and hanging in her quilt shop and it is GORGEOUS!  Right up my alley anyway.

The cupboards are full!

I have not even weighed myself yet!  I have to read the instructions but looks like minimal cooking so not only will I hopefully lose weight but I will not have to spend time prepping for meals!  What a perk.  I hope I like the food or it will be a long month.  I told the UPS guy when he delivered it that he probably will not recognize me the next time he stops by because I will have dyed my hair black and I will be looking similar to Marie Osmond!

Finally finished the bathroom......Whew!!!!

Look at all that "free space" in there!

That photographer sure didn't dress very professionally!

This cupboard is on my list to paint/refinish but I decided to use it anyway but I have PLANS for it!

My reward for a job well done plus my Nutrisystem hasn't arrived yet so "a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do"!

Can you believe it took me this long?  But I did everything!  I purged, I went through every little thing in there and what was kept got cleaned with Invisible Glass towelettes and organized into containers and the cupboards cleaned inside and out and vacuumed the floor and scrubbed it good and put down clean rugs.  For those of you who are not aware, I live in a house I inherited from my folks who both passed and I also had their stuff in this house when I moved in plus my stuff....thank goodness it is a big house with a full basement and garage.  It has been a journey to say the least.  So, when I clean things I am finally dealing with not only my own things but theirs which I had a hard time doing at first but now I am "in the zone" and de-cluttering like a mad woman!