Thursday, June 30, 2011

Eleven thru Fifteen, Again the Civil War Blocks





London Square
Yeah, here are 5, I repeat, 5 more blocks....we've had tons of rain lately so you can guess what I've been doing!  I really want to get caught up on these blocks and there are 26 posted now, 27 will be posted on Saturday so I have a few more to go.  Above you see London Square, a neat little block..
Louisiana
Here's Louisiana, done in a couple of my favorite colors, lavender and purple..not the best picture in the world but you can see at least part of it.  ;-)  Below is my Little Blue Basket, love it!  I had to have the handle on mine, it's just too hard to carry a basket without a handle, isn't it?  I love basket patterns..
Little Blue Basket

Fox and Geese
Fox and Geese, what can I say? I'm not quite sure what is the Fox and what are the Geese, does anyone know?  And maybe it really doesn't matter. Not one of my favorite blocks, I think it came out rather ho-hum.
Fort Sumter
I like how this block came out although it doesn't show up that great in the picture. It is a rather dark block so it didn't photograph too well.   I'm not real newsy today but I do have something that I want to brag about.  My 10 year old grandson pitched a no-hitter night before last. Any of you baseball mom's and grandma's will know that it is something to brag about..Well, I think I'm headed back to my sewing room today as our heat index is supposed to be 106-110 and that's way too hot for me to work outside..I hope you have a Stitches kind of day...Sew until next time....Stay Cool!!!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Civil War Blocks 6 thru 10

Richmond


I wanted to show you the Civil War blocks that I have been making the past week or so. The first one is Richmond and it was a burger!!! I've read where a few other people have had trouble with this one too!! I think it didn't adapt itself to be an 8 1/2" block very easily. But I struggled with it and here it is:
Log Cabin
The next one is the Log Cabin and it was really an easy one to do. The hardest part of doing these blocks, is picking out the fabrics. I am going to try to not repeat any fabrics, if I can but don't know how successful I'll be with that. Time will tell.  Nothing very spectacular on this one.
Cotton Boll
Now we come to Cotton Boll. What do you think about the poison green? eek!!  I'm not a big fan of it but just thought a Civil War quilt had to have at least one block of it. Now I'll have to work on Cheddar, eeoww!!  I do like the way the stripes look in the center of this block tho.

Birds in the Air

Birds in the Air is next and this was a very quick and easy block to do also. I think it looks better in "person" than it does in this picture.
Last for this time is my block Lincoln's Platform..I really like the fabrics that I used in this block. I kind of worried a little about the busy background but find that I really like it.  I really am becoming fond of stripes too. I think they add another element to the block, what do you think about stripes?

Lincoln's Platform

Well, that about does it for this time but hopefully in a few days I will have a few more to show you. I have a long way to go to get caught up to the current block but at least, I'm gaining....Sew until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of day. Gotta get ready to go to a baseball game now, see ya soon!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Stitchin' Tree Quilts: Congratulations to Jennifer Perkins

Stitchin' Tree Quilts: Congratulations to Jennifer Perkins: "Meet AQS Certified Appraiser Jennifer Perkins, Harlan, has just earned her certification by the American Quilter's Society (AQS) as a Certif..."

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Yesterday was a special day!!

Me and Dad - his 98th birthday
As of yesterday, my Dad has lived in this world for 98 years. It is just hard for me to imagine, living that long and having so many memories.  He said  "it's just another day" but we didn't think so!! My son, and 3 grandsons and myself went to have lunch and birthday cake with Dad. He is still in his own home and lives alone, although family members and friends stop by frequently and check on him. I know my sister brings him dinner most every day. His mind is sharp and he still has his sense of humor, we are just lucky to have him with us after 98 years...I hope he has many more days to share with us..Yesterday was a Stitches kind of day for me!!! 

Saturday, June 11, 2011

it was a week to remember

Beginning on June 4th, it was the beginning on National Clothesline Week 2011. I just wanted to show you that I participated--- with my bedding and nighties...oh, I love the smell of clothes after drying them outside. I usually do try to hang out my bedding but don't go much further than that, the dryer is just too handy.
                       
On Monday, the 6th, I went to my Dad's house and my sister and I interviewed and recorded him and his cousin for a couple of hours about their childhood and basically their lives.  I sure hoped the video recorder worked, as when we got all done, we weren't sure it did it's thing..time will tell.  It was interesting to hear them tell stories about themselves when they were younger and older!  Dad will be 98 on June 13th and his cousin, is younger, he is only 89!!

On Wednesday, the roofing company called at 7:00 a.m. and said they would be here in about 30 minutes to start re-roofing my house. Do you remember the hail storm that I blogged about back on March 29th? I have really hesitated about doing the roof until Fall but decided to go ahead, after talking to them several times about protecting my plantings so they wouldn't get damaged. I knew if they would be damaged that the plants would stay that way all summer and didn't want that to happen.  Well, you can imagine what happened!! They started tearing off the roof and throwing it down without putting plywood up against the house to protect my plantings..I was livid and when I got them stopped and they put the wood up, it was too late for a lot of things. It was like closing the barn door after the horse got out. There were 17 boys/men working here for the day and it was like a beehive. The above picture is what the hosta's and ferns looked like and below is what this area looked like after having shingles thrown on them and then stepped on for hours.
This is what is left of a Butterfly bush after the day was over.Then after the day was over and I got over my Madness, I had to hit myself along side of the head and tell myself, that it wasn't life-threatening or fatal..Right now in western Iowa and eastern Nebraska, we are dealing with the worst flooding that we have ever had. Many, many people have had to evacuate their homes and possibly will never be able to go back to them as they will be destroyed. "They" say the water will be here for not just a few weeks but could be here for months..It is really devastating for so many people, their farms and many businesses. The interstate is already closed between here and Omaha and makes getting to work very hard for so many people, including my family. The whole situation is mind-boggling as it is a deliberate flood because the damns north of us, in South Dakota and Montana,  have so much water in them, that they are releasing the water to keep the damns from failing. Some places have had a much rain in May that they have for a whole year and the snow melt is still happening in the northern states, filling the dams to dangerous capacity..it's just a really, really sad situation for so many families. So to put things in perspective, I will live with my damaged plantings and probably do some transplanting and make the best of it, I feel guilty even complaining about it!! My son came by the day after and said "they don't look as bad as I thought they would!! I gulped, and then he said, "you can't kill a hosta".  Whatever!!! He is not a hosta lover, this I know!!
Now on a lighter note,  doe ra me!!  Granddaughter Abby called a few minutes ago and told me today was "PIE DAY".  She is making a Rhubarb/Strawberry Pie and a Key Lime Pie, (it's not really key lime as we don't get them here) and invited me up for a BBQ and Pie around 4:00...I will be there, with bells on, she didn't have to ask me twice. In the meantime, I think I will go outside and plant a couple of strawberry jars and get busy...I hope to have a 'Stitches" kind of day after all  and I hope you do too!!! Sew until next time.....take care and keep our flood victims in your thoughts and prayers...Stitches

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Are You a No-Reply Blogger??

 When people leave me a comment, I like to email them and thank them for visiting my blog but if you don't have an email listed in your profile, I can't do it. You may not even know that you are a no-reply blogger, I didn't until someone brought it to my attention so I could change my setting under my profile. If you click on the button on my side-bar, the information should come up for you and tell you how to check to see if you are a no-reply blogger and you can change your settings, if you desire. Thanks to Pleasant Home blog for giving us this information..

Friday, June 3, 2011

National Donut Day, is Today!!


When I read today was National Donut Day, it made my mouth water!  I can't even remember the last time I had a fresh, warm glazed donut or a firm, make-my-mouth water cake donut. But I have always been partial to the glazed donut though and if I didn't have to get in my car and drive several miles, I would go to "somewhere" and get a Krispy Kreme or whatever donut, right now! When I was a little (younger) girl, (I don't know if I was ever "little"), a very nice lady, actually she was my step-grandmother, made theeee most wonderful glazed donuts. Can you imagine being right there in the kitchen when she made those wonderful, delicious, circles with a hole in them, heavenly things we call donuts and get to eat one of them while they were still WARM and dripping with the glaze??? OMG, what a wonderful memory!  I don't know whether to cry or salivate! The original Krispy Kreme glazed donut only has 200 calories, I don't really think that is too bad, do you? And when you are craving something so bad, I believe it cuts the calories in half. (that's my belief and I am sticking to it) ..dang, I wish I could have a glazed donut today. :-(   Next time I have the teeniest chance, I am not going to pass up a glazed donut, so if you go by a donut shop today, have one for me, PLEASE!!  Life is just too short when you crave something, you should just eat it until that craving is satisfied, even if it takes a Baker's Dozen!! (I hope I didn't go too far on that one!) Oh, well, thanks for listening to my rant about glazed donuts, I guess I'll go have a piece of toast with jelly, how sad is that?? Sew until next time, I hope you have a "Stitches" kind of day..