Tuesday, August 29, 2006

New blocks and Ebay find

I have six blocks toward the blue and cream quilt now. You see all six here. I made my 'pound loss' four blocks up last night after dinner. I had planned to make them a little earlier but did some chores instead. I really like the way they look together, and can't wait to make some more. I hope the anticipation of new blocks will give me extra motivation to stick to the points!

A parcel arrived on my doorstep yesterday while I was out at lunch. It's a little ebay find that I'm totally thrilled with. This summer we anticipate our reasonably young fruit trees will start bearing fruit. In past years we have been given fruit by a friend who's family owns a fruit block, and I have lots of fun preserving and making jam. Ohh, that would be 'canning' for my US friends :-)

Well, in the past I've used a 60 year old Fowlers Vacola unit, which is great, but it's a stovetop unit, and you have to bring it up to temperature, hold it at temperature, and when you're done, you have to clean, dry and oil the unit as it's made from steel. A bit of a pain, but still worth it.


While cruising ebay, I found this electric unit that was sitting at a reasonable price. I decided to watch it, and on the final day bid for it. These units (the newest kind) retail for about $150, so I didn't want to rush out and get one. I also checked how much they'd been selling for on ebay, and the previous two (the same as this one) had gone for $102, and $80. I didn't get my hopes up that I'd get a bargain, and I told hubby I'd only bid up to about $50. Well, I got lucky, I won it for $31.55! With $20 postage, I'm totally thrilled, and for an extra bonus, it was packed with 8 x 1 litre jars! We gave it a test run last night, and it works perfectly! Today I'll give it a little clean up, and then ... rock on fruit season!

17 comments:

Susan said...

What a great eBay buy! I've never done it any but the old fashioned way. I love lining up the jars and listening for the pops. =)

Your blocks are great. This is going to be the neatest quilt, and you will b skinny by the time it's finished!

Darlene said...

Tazzie I'm loving your blue and cream quilt. Blue is my favorite color so is it for me??? LOL

quiltpixie said...

hope this week goes well point wise as the blocks look great and I can see why you'd want more NOW not later....

ForestJane said...

Cool find. :)

I sometimes get great fabric deals on E-bay too, but haven't in a while!

Patti said...

Catching up on my reading after being away all weekend.

Congratulations on your Ebay score - well done! And on your weight loss - looks like quilting is a good motivator! I love how your blue blocks are looking.

Love Much Ado About Nothing more every time I see it. Great acting in that movie.

Congrats too on the UFO finish - you are accomplishing a lot!

Hedgehog said...

I haven't worked with blue for a long time - these look beautiful!

Hanne said...

Lovely blocks :-)
I will enjoy my 4 DJ blocks today. For the next week I will have 4 NI blocks as my prize. We will make it !

Melanie said...

I love the blue blocks. Keep it up.

Melanie

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

Congrats on your e-bay bargain! I have yet to figure out how to bid on e-bay, so that might be a good thing...

Your blocks are looking great - I love how the individual blocks form a 2nd pattern.

Cheers!

Evelyn

Unknown said...

The blue quilt looks great. I'm debating starting a Major Quilt in blue. Have to start working through the stash.

Anonymous said...

Isn't ebay just wonderful! What did we do before it? Loving the 'motivation' blocks btw. You'll have a great momento of your weight loss when it's finished.

Doodlebug Gail said...

Good work on your blue block weight loss program and well done on your Ebay find! Don't forget to share photo's of your fruit season labors when they happen.

The Calico Cat said...

neat! I never realized that people still make preserves "the old fashioned" way. In my family, our "canned" goods are freezer jam and Minnesota Pickles - which is a refigerator preserving method.

Quilts And Pieces said...

WOW! Now that is cool! I never saw one of those. Heck I always canned on the stove too! I'll have to look into these! Very great idea! But sad to say if I'm making jam I even go the easy route out now and do freezer jam!

KC Quilter said...

Mmmm...yummy blue and cream blocks. What a great idea to reward yourself for weight loss with quilting!!! Great eBay find!

Shelina said...

I don't can, but am happy that you found what you needed for a great price. Good shopping. I really like the blue and cream blocks. That color scheme would be something I could spend a lot of time with.

Anonymous said...

Hi - quick question for you. Does your fowlers unit hold the temperature automatically, or do you need to use a thermometer?

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