FrankenWhiggish Rosebuds, Michele's Log Cabin Stars Quilt, Laundry Room Makeover, Swedish Pancakes + A 21st Birthday Celebration

Good Morning, Quilty Peeps!  As you can see by my way-too-long blog post title, I have lots of ground to cover today.  First things first, I am happy to report that I've finished prepping ALL of the remaining broderie perse rosebuds for my FrankenWhiggish Rose blocks, they are all glue-basted in position on the blocks, and the hand stitching to secure them is in progress.  That's right; I have a portable hand stitching project again FINALLY!

All FrankenWhiggish Rosebuds Are Prepped and Ready for Stitching!

In case anyone is interested in what's in my portable hand stitching "toolbox" for this project:

• YLI 100 wt silk thread in color 256, matched to the rosebud fabric
• Bohin size 12 Appliqué Needles (these are the only ones I've tried that don't bend or break on me)
• Colonial Needle Company Leather Thimble Pad stickers (I use one on my right pointer finger to help grab the needle and pull it through the fabric, or to protect my fingertip when I need to exert a little pressure on the back end of the needle to force it through a spot where the glue dried stiff)
• Thread Heaven (no longer available) or Thread Magic thread conditioner to help prevent snarling and knotting -- I don't need it when I'm using silk thread, but I have it in my hand stitching kit because it's a big help when I'm hand stitching quilt bindings with cotton thread
• My new 2.75 magnification sewing glasses from Warby Parker, so I can thread the eye of my needle and see how many threads of fabric I'm grabbing with each stitch
• That nail file in my kit is actually for my fingernails, because often I'll discover some little scratchy spot at the edge of a fingernail while stitching when the thread gets hung up on it
• Not pictured, I also have a tube of Neutrogena Hand Cream in my hand sewing kit and another one in the drawer next to my sewing machine.  I like this kind because it's not greasy, has no fragrance or dye, and a tiny drop goes a long way to just barely moisten my fingertips so I can get a better grip on what I'm stitching without gooking it up with lotion
• Either my Apliquick 4" Microserrated Scissors (pictured) or my Gingher Spring Action Thread Nippers (preferred if I'm just clipping thread and not trimming needle turn appliqué shapes while stitching).  If I'm planning to take my hand stitching kit on an airplane, I'll swap out for a cheap thread clipper (in case Airport Security confiscates it and throws it away) with a pack of dental floss that I could use as a backup thread trimmer in a pinch

(Those are affiliate links, by the way).   You probably won't see much of FrankenWhiggish for a couple weeks while I'm stitching the rosebuds to the blocks because, if you've seen one of my blocks get rosebuds, you've seen them all!  My Seven Sisters pattern and templates finally arrived from Australia and I'm planning to start on that project in September.

Instead of sharing FrankenWhiggish, I thought I might share some of the backlog of long arm quilting clients' quilts that I haven't posted about before, like Michele's version of Emily Dennis's Log Cabin Stars quilt.  Here's a teaser to whet your appetite; we'll return to this quilt later in today's blog post:

Michele's Log Cabin Stars Quilt, Pattern Available here

DIY Laundry Room Remodeling Project

Meanwhile, the unpacking/moving in/remodeling continues a full six months after we bought this house in Florida.  Although we bought the insulation foam board panels and spray adhesive, and I have a big roll of quilt batting ready to go for my design wall, those materials are waiting in the hallway while the laundry room took priority.  Here's what the laundry room looked like when we purchased the home:

Laundry Room Before

Yes, the walls were purple in the laundry room just like in EVERY. OTHER. ROOM...  More critically, there was lots of wasted space and zero storage.  Okay, not ZERO storage because we do have that wire shelf mounted way up near the ceiling for some bizarre reason and there is a closet behind the door on the left as you enter the room, but it wasn't functional or an efficient use of space by any means.  Here's what it looks like right now:

Laundry Room Today

Those are the existing LG washer and dryer, but I got rid of the pedestal drawer bases and got a stacking kit from LG to mount the dryer safely and securely on top of the washing machine, freeing up more space.  Then Bernie had to move the water line connections to a higher position on the wall (they were right in the way of a standard counter top height originally).  That wine refrigerator was originally in my kitchen and we took it out in order to put in an undercounter Sharp drawer microwave, relocating the wine fridge to the laundry room where its noisy cycling on and off wouldn't bother us.  We found this ready to finish oak cabinetry in stock at Lowe's for a fraction of the cost of any kind of finished cabinets, and it's perfect because the door and drawer styles are nearly identical to all of the other cabinetry in our home.  Once they are painted white, the look will be cohesive as though all of the built in cabinetry was done at the same time.  The cabinet on the right as you walk in is for a deep stainless steel laundry sink, and above it is this drying rack that I got from Amazon, perfect for lingerie, wet swimsuits etc that can drip dry right over the sink.  Now that Bernie got the cabinets leveled and installed in their permanent positions, my next task is choosing a countertop fabricator and having them come out to do a template.  I'm just going to do whatever is the cheapest solid surface countertop material in something like white with black or gray specks/streaks, but I only need 15 SF of it and both Home Depot and Lowes have 25 SF minimums for all of their countertop materials.  Meaning that they would charge me for 25 SF even though I'm only getting 15 SF.  Not happening!  

Lars's Norwegian Pancakes

My 23-year-old son Lars's baking adventures continue!  He's been doing thin Scandinavian-style pancakes for breakfast, alternating between this recipe that gets topped with a homemade Gjetost cheese sauce, strawberry compote, fresh strawberries and a drizzle of Swedish Light syrup:

Pancakes With Gjetost Cheese + Strawberry Compote

Ski Queen Gjetost Cheese

...and this recipe that has bits of freshly cooked bacon in the batter, topped with a fresh blueberry compote and Light syrup:

Bacon Pancakes With Blueberry Compote

Both of these recipes are from the Norwegian Baking Through the Seasons cookbook by Nevada Berg, available on Amazon here.

Available on Amazon here

I have no idea how he found this cookbook; these are not family recipes that we've made before.  He just ordered the book from Amazon and started cooking as soon as it showed up.  I've given the book a quick flip-through and I'm hoping he'll make the the Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches with Troll Creme filling next (hint hint, nudge nudge...). Lars is the kid who once famously complained that there was "no food in this house, only ingredients," so it's particularly gratifying to see him teach himself how to cook and bake from scratch.

Samwise the Snuggle-Uppagus

One of my regular readers recently requested to see more of Sam in my blog posts, so here you go!  He is laying on top of my feet with his two front legs (arms?) wrapped around my right ankle, like I'm his pillow.  He is asleep, and he is peacefully snoring, so of course I have to sit still until His Highness has finished his nap.  

Rottweilers Are For Snuggling

Sam is such a good dog.  He lost his back yard and we moved him to a place that is swelteringly hot and humid all summer long, but he just goes with the flow and is grateful to be with his family.  We try to take him on a long walk early each morning and right around sunset every night, because during the day he can only handle 5-10 minute potty break walks without overheating in his black fur coat.  They tell me the heat and humidity will start to let up next month and that should mean more outdoor adventure time for little Samwise.

My Baby Turned 21 Yesterday!

My younger son Anders turned 21 yesterday!  We went out to an Italian restaurant to celebrate with my father-in-law and sister-in-law.  This is the first time either have them have been able to celebrate any of Anders' birthdays with us in person.  We had a great time, although Anders was mildly disappointed when he ordered his beer and did NOT get carded.

FIL Fred, Bernie, Me, Birthday Boy Anders, Lars, SIL Angela

Anders' Fall Term starts next Monday at University of North Carolina, Charlotte and we're moving him into a new apartment over the weekend.  I am NOT looking forward to the 2-day drive back to Charlotte, but it will be nice to see my mom when we get there!

Michele's Log Cabin Stars Quilt

Michele's 53 x 64 Log Cabin Stars Quilt

I know everyone comes here mostly to see the pretty quilts, so I thought I'd wrap up today's post with photos of Michele's Log Cabin Stars quilt that I quilted for her back in 2023.  Isn't her sun-drenched color palette perfect for these last hot weeks of summer?  Michele used the Log Cabin Stars pattern by Emily Dennis of Quilty Love, available here on Etsy.  

Flower Swirl E2E in Aurifil Forty3 Cotton Long Arm Quilting Thread

I quilted this for Michele using my Flower Swirl E2E quilting design and delicious Aurifil Forty3 Cotton Long Arm Quilting thread in color 3920 Golden Glow.  The batting was Quilters Dream Cotton Natural Select and Michele used cozy flannel for her backing fabric.  I just love how this one turned out.  Here's what Michele's Log Cabin Stars quilt top looked like before I quilted it:

Michele's Quilt Top Prior to Quilting

I never get tired of the magic that happens when a crisp, smoothly pieced quilt top gets layered with batting and backing and then quilting stitches transform it into something that is not only beautiful but also soft, warm, and snuggly -- like a Rottweiler curled up to nap on your footsies!

I think you've all had quite enough of me for one day.  I'm linking up with my favorite linky parties listed below, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week and what's left of your summer!

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs  

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at Quilt Schmilt  

WEDNESDAY

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

THURSDAY

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation  

FRIDAY

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie Sayre

Beauty Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty

 TGIFF Thank Goodness It’s Finished Friday, rotates, schedule found here: TGIF Friday

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

 

Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy's Quilts