The Passing of Summer

              Summer suddenly passed away the first of October, at least for me.  It seems I barley got to know her. She was outside my window, warm and shining brightly.  I was inside canning, canning and more canning.
     
              With food put away for the winter, it's time to get down to QUILTING, quilting and more quilting. I plan to jump in with both feet, needles threaded, and a sharp blade on my rotary cutter.

              To start the season I'm making a Christmas pillow. The fabric can be found at Spring Creek Fabrics on HWY 111, Rickman Tennessee.                     The red snowman fabric was cut 16 1/2 

front

by 9  also the white fabric, 16 1/2 by 9. I used a strip of green for the accent, cut 16 1/2 by 1".

I copied some lettering for my embroidery, using two pieces of white, basted together to keep the red floss from showing through. I used red DMC floss no. 321 for the wording.

Fold the green strip wrong sides together and sew it between the red print and white.  You're pillow top is done.

The back is an envelope back made from another of Spring Creek's fabric.  Now all you need is a 16 inch pillow form.   

Now all you need is a 16" pillow form.  

           HAPPY  QUILTING

               

YUMMY BLUEBERRIES

Last Saturday we headed  to Tidwell berry farm near Spring City Tennessee. We've been going for the last two years.  We bought Strawberries last month and Blueberries Saturday,  the peaches will be in next week. If you live close, give them a call. 1-423-365-9300. Their berries are wonderful.

I made the strawberry jam from the recipe inside the box of sure jell, 

The blueberry pie filling recipe is from the Simply Delicious Cooking in Crossville cook book from the cooks of  Mt. Moriah Mennonite Church.  

You can find it at the Muddy Pond General Store. Well Hubby just brought in a bunch of blackberries so I need to get to work.  

Primitive Gatherings Quilt

I finally finished appliqueing a block for the Primitive Garden quilt. This is a class I'm taking at 

Spring Creek Quilts in Rickman Tennessee. The shop is owned by Kathy Dishman.  She offers fabrics, classes, custom quilting and more.  

I told my self that I would keep up this year and finish each block in the month that the class was given, but.  Oh well  so little time and so  many quilts to make.  I'll post the blocks as I finish them. I think this is going to be a pretty quilt. The pattern is Primitive Gatherings by Lisa Bongean.

Looking Good

Finally the warmer weather is starting to show up. We have just gone through an ice storm that left everyone with out electricity, some for more than a week. It left trees broken and  property damaged.

But, time goes on and things change.  I walked around  outside and found the beginnings of spring.

 The Dogwoods are blooming  and the tree men are keeping a watch over the new growth and young seedlings.  So stop and look around. Enjoy one day at a time. Thank the Lord for the gifts He gives.

Time goes by faster than we realize, Christmas is right around the corner.

New Beginnings

MARCH:

the month  I start new seeds for this years garden, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and such.

Dad use to start every thing February 14th but that was 20 years ago, I think this old world has changed since then. March has been a better month for me, weather wise any way. 

Last year I started new herb plants, I use Styrofoam coffee cups (most of the time) with holes punched in the bottom for bottom watering, the plants can be pulled out along with the soil when it comes time to plant in the garden and the cups are reusable.    

I've been revising my canning list for this year, deciding how much more we need of one thing or less of another depending on how much of what ever we have left,   Eating from the vegetables we canned  last year has been rewarding and it saves on the grocery bill, not to mention the delicious meals that can be made up in a matter of minutes.

Not only vegetables, but meat also. last year I canned meatloaf and chicken, boston butt and sausage.

I'll not do the boston butt this year but the other meats were convenient and tasty. 

So here's praying for a successful growing season.

thanks for stopping by.

Goodbye Fred

I've had chickens for pets for the past 17 years.

Every three years or so I would order baby chicks from a mail order company, picking out certain breeds that had the qualities that interested me, such as pretty feathers, a friendly disposition or for their egg color.

I would always order female because I only wanted the eggs.  No roosters please, but low and behold, you always get a rooster or two in each order.

So last year I ordered a rooster the same breed as my Favorite hens ( the kind that lay the green eggs) thinking that I would raise some new birds instead ordering.

 

  Well my rooster was beautiful. He was white and black with a red comb and waddle.
He was big and strong and I named him Fred. He also pecked the feathers out of my hens  backs so bad that I felt sorry for the ladies. So last night we had Fred and dumplings for supper.    
GOODBYE FRED

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

While going through my pictures, I came across this one of a wall hanging I had made many years ago. The rose buds are folded triangles which gives the piece some dimension. 

I never really cared for wall hangings, mainly because I never had a place to put them but they look so nice in other people's homes.  I put this one up as a display in my shop and it finally sold.

So happy Valentines day to everyone, may your heart be filled with love and your soup pot be filled with fresh veggies. 
                       Happy Quilting and Healthy Eating

Where Does Your Inspiration Come From

     After a light show, and after the sun burned through the clouds, I took a walk to our pond.
The quietness and stillness allows me to "ponder" ( pun intended ) about my next quilt or what I am going to plant in the garden, or about any thing else.
      I get inspired from the colors of nature and the sounds or lack of them. I'm reminded of Psm.46:10  Be still and know that I am God.

On the banks of the pond we have black berries, raspberries, huckleberries and a large mulberry tree, I always remember the song we sang in grade school.  "Here we go round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush." Wait, this is a tree not a bush. Mulberries make the best jam, you just have to make sure you get there before the birds do. I use a box of store brand sure gel and follow the directions on the insert.  So where do you get inspired to make your next masterpiece or cook up a yummy something from what nature provides.  Happy Quilting and Healthy Eating.

Mulberry Tree 

HELLO EVERY ONE AND HAPPY 2015

In  March of 2014 I closed my business and went home to quilt.  For the first week all was good, I slept later, stayed up later and enjoyed full retirement.  

Well that quickly changed. I began thinking about what my purpose was, now that I had no where to go, no one to teach, no one to quilt with.  Thankfully my customers followed and I am still quilting their beautiful quilt tops. But I am also starting to make quilts again. Last week I started a wedding quilt for my cousin. Like a true quilter, I picked a pattern that I have never done before and I only have seven weeks to finish it and get it in the mail. 

Her wedding colors are peacock teals,purples,blues,greens and a little brown. 
 I chose fabrics from my own stash and several fabric shops around town. This is the first run of a french braid. Now I only have three more to go and get them trimmed and sewn and quilted.   I know she will be a beautiful bride. I will keep you up to date on my progress.  Say a little prayer for me please.   
Happy Quilting.

Home Made Soup

The best thing about having your own land to farm is eating what you have grown..   After canning every thing I could get my hands on its time to open those jars and start to enjoy the fruits of your labor.              
    Today I made soup from my                          garden.
I chose potatoes, corn, peas, tomato juice, mixed green beans with carrots and ground beef with onions.
last year is the first time I have tried canning meats. The ground beef in a pint jar is just right for soup. Add a little seasoned salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash and a large pinch of cumin.

See the wooden board behind the jars.  My daughters Christmas present to me.  She used a wood burner and put my name on it, It has a small shelf on the bottom to hold a recipe card upright and a stand on the back so it won't fall over. We did a home made Christmas, I canned my daughter in laws favorite cake, pumpkin. Yes I canned a cake.

Cherished Treasures

      Oh the memories that old cherished treasures bring to mind. 
This old glider, or at least what is left of it, was given to me by my cousin Billie. It use to sit on my grandmothers front porch when I was a young teenager.  I would sit in it anxiously awaiting  the sight of my boyfriend coming down the gravel road to visit with me. 
We would sit in that glider and "court". But as you can tell by the looks of it , that was a long time ago, fifty years actually.  Now the glider is back in our lives and its time to fix it up.  
A new coat of paint and new home made cushions will do the trick. I think it will make a great place to sit and break beans this summer.