Hoping to get back to quilting

Sharing a garden with a friend this summer has been an eye opener to me.  I grew up on a farm in Missouri and my parents and my siblings and I all worked very hard to grow the vegetables that we would eat all winter.  I remember it being hard work...at least I THOUGHT I remembered.  It really is hard work and I haven't done nearly as much as my friend has.  So this week, I've been picking.  This is one's day's worth and today was my 3rd day this week.

Calista (oldest daughter with new baby) came over again and we canned 10 pints of dill pickles (that makes 100 in all!), 10 pints of salsa (that makes 16 in all) and 5 pints of dill relish.  In addition, I've frozen okra and squash and made fresh spaghetti sauce.

And now I'm ready to get back to what I REALLY love to do...sew.
So... A couple of weeks ago at guild meeting we had a program by a lady who heads up our local chapter of "Quilts of Valor".  People all over this country are working to provide quilts to all our servicemen and women who have been injured in the war.  I've known about it for a while, but haven't done anything about it.  So I decided to make this block and pass it on to some friends of mine to add to it and see what we come up with.  I still have to do the machine applique around the leaves and then I'm handing it off the Emma.  I think she's already thinking about what she's going to add.  So stay tuned on that one.

In between gardening and canning, I've been working on these blocks.  I finished them yesterday (80 total) and am ready to put them together.   So fun, so easy.

Then there's my design wall.  So lonely and so loaded up with projects I've started.  I thought if I hung them up there, it would remind me to work on them.  But no!!! Instead, I just start another (my favorite part about quilting--starting a new project)

So let's see, (in no particular order of importance) at the top is a little x-block wall hanging that I made for a class sample (probably a year ago).  It needs to be quilted, as does the wonky little green one that's below that and on top of the stack. Under that is a wallhanging that needs to have the applique finished and borders added.

Peeking out from under that is a block, which may someday become a little quilt and under that are some strips that were going to be a baby quilt, but I changed my mind and made a different one for that baby.  So maybe the strips will be for some other baby.  Those are just a FEW of my "started" projects. 

The gardening has been fun, but I'm getting tired of it now and want to get back to my sewing.  SOON!
Until next time...have fun with whatever you're doing.

More of Summer at the Marlers

I just finished this little quilt for one of Tim's bff's new baby (do men have bff's?--oh well--at least he's a good friend of Tim's and his wife just had the baby a couple of days ago)

And I've been working on these little 6 1/2" blocks.  I joined a new blog http://www.15minutesplay.com/ and committed myself to working on something scrappy for 15 minutes a day.  This is what I've made in seven 15 minute sessions.

Then I made these blocks for my Civil War Reproductions birthday group at the Cotton Patch.  They're
12 1/2 "

MY bff made this beautiful little quilt for our newest grandson, Wesley.  Here she is with Calista and then with her daughter Sarah and Wesley.

And here's Wesley trying out his new quilt.

Speaking of Wesley...  Enough said (for now).

And the canning and pickling haven't stopped either.  I made salsa last weekend.  Calista and I finished our 90th pint of dill pickles yesterday. (Our family REALLY likes dill pickles).  And yes, we've sampled them and they're really good.  Taste JUST like what my mom used to make.  I'm glad because it's her recipe.  Making the pickles makes us feel close to her as we draw near to the first anniversary of her passing.

Summer at the Marlers

I've been trying to keep up with my flower gardens and my "sharecropping" garden that I'm helping with out in the country. 

I haven't had a lot of time to quilt, but I'm working on a few small projects.  I'll have a bunch of pictures later.  I keep adding to my "feeder/ender" scrap blocks.

And this is a table quilt I made a few years ago.  I think it looks good with flowers from my garden.

And oh yeah!  There's the new baby in the family.  What grandmother would pass up an opportunity to show some more pictures of him.  He's so adorable.

And the rest of his family is pretty cute, too.

One more thing....In the midst of all this, Calista and I have managed to can 71 pints of dill pickles using my mom's recipe.  It's been a pickle factory around here.  We pickled the day before Wesley was born and 6 days after he was born.  Kinda reminds you of pioneer days, doesn't it?  LOL  Just so you know, Calista insisted on helping.  I didn't make her do it.  It's just that's she's a dill pickel fiend.  (As is her sister--guess what she's getting for Christmas! haha)

Is there anything more peaceful than this?

Goodbye for now...back to my crazy, busy life.

I've been plenty busy taking care of my 2 grandboys while their mom is recovering from having the third.  I've been forturnate enough to get lots of tiny baby snuggles.  He's so adorable and has stolen the hearts of his entire family.

Speaking of family--about three weeks ago my dad's youngest brother visited me from St. Louis.  He was on his way to New Mexico to deliver a classic car to his cousin (my second cousin) who had visited him earlier and had bought the car while she was there.  She happened to mention that she had a quilt top that his mother(my grandmother) had made for her for a wedding present in 1965.  It had been stored in a cedar chest since then and she wanted to give it to my uncle.  Since he had visited me before, he knew that I was the person who should have it!  I was so excited when he told me and even more excited when I saw it. 

Grandma hand pieced this beautiful double wedding ring top in the early 60's.  She and Grandpa lived with us for a while during that time and many of the fabrics in the quilt top are ones that I recognize.  I had dresses made from some of them and I'm sure my brothers had shirts and pajamas from some of them.  The most recognizable are the red and black hearts in the first 2 pictures.  My mom made she and I matching dresses for the Potosi, Missouri Bi-Centenniel Celebration in 1963.  It was a big deal and the whole family dressed in costume for the 3 or 4 day celebration.  My dad grew out his hair and beard and rode in the parade on a mule.  He got his picture on the front page of the newspaper.

Here's my Uncle Ernest with the car and my grandboys.  He took us all for a ride in the car.  I think he looks like my dad who passed away 32 years ago today.  It was so good to have him here for a couple of days.  He helped me remember what Daddy looked and sounded like.  32 years is a long time.  I miss him.