Did ya' miss me?

Hey there everyone!
I know it's been a TERRIBLY long time. 
Summer seemed to fly right on by.

Here we are again... the start of a new school year for my kids and a time for me to get back into a routine of some sort. It will be good again to have some time to myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT one of those moms that "can't wait for them to get back to school". I think that it's horrible to wish your children out of your house. They'll be gone all too soon. Nevertheless, I should have some alone time... time to talk to God, get into His Word, do my chores without interruption and maybe DEFINITELY do some fun stuff, too!

So, this summer I spent some time driving back and forth to French Creek Bible Conference where all three of my children spent their respective weeks at camp. In addition to their own weeks, Wyatt spent an extra week working in the kitchen and another week as counselor at Cass' conference. Our family spent Labor Day weekend there, as well.

We actually began the summer with a trip to Seeley's Bay, Ontario with a stopover in upstate NY on the way home. It was nice to get away together. And the dog, too,  is now an international traveler!

Another big highlight was the Farmer's Fair where my daughter was in the Princess competition once again this year. She came in 2nd Runner-up last year with her performance of 'God Bless the USA'. A little stiff on stage, wasn't quite her best. This year she gave it her all with a rousing performance of 'BoogieWoogie Bugle Boy' in the style of the Andrews sisters. With her stuffy head and runny nose she still pulled in 1st Runner-up!

Here she is in her homemade 'military' uniform complete with hand-crafted garrison cap. I found the pattern on Ehow.com. The skirt used to be a pair of hunting pants. I had taken in and old blouse and shortened a store-bought tie. I love how easy it was to pull off her authentic hairdo - hairnet and bobby-pins! 

she actually started facing backwards then turned around like this while marching

the music picked up and so did Cass and her 'jazz hands'

now, if you manage to flip through these fast enough, it's almost like being there!

tu, tu, tu, toot, diddle-ee-ada

'he's the boogie woogie bugle boy  of Company B

'they made 'im  blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam'

'it really brought 'im down because he couldn't jam'

instrumental 

'he puts the boys to sleep with boogie every night'

dah, dahh, da-da, da-dahh

Look at that smile - she had a GREAT time!

Okay, sorry for all the pics, but I'm a proud mama, what can I say?!

Well, now that my two September babies have both celebrated their birthdays and we have a couple weeks of school under our belts, I'll get at that routine like I mentioned earlier. Back to some sewing and baking and cards with the girls! AND of course finding some time to share with you all    ;) [wink]

no pic of Sawyer's cake but here's  Cass' cake

Gardening

Finally, I made some time for a little gardening! And oh, how happy I am to know that one of my beds is up to par.  Now if only I could keep the neighbor's stinkin' cats out!!! Mulched or not, they still come and dig in the soil and leave the nastiest little presents  {euwwwww yuk}

Here in another bed is a Siberian Iris. This was started I think two years ago from splitting one that had been given to me by my mother's friend, Margaret. I can't remember NOT knowing Margaret. She's no longer with us as she passed away several years ago now due to Cancer. I used  to stop in and see her from time to time or she would come over here.  We'd chat about gardening or our families. I'm fortunate to have reminders of her around my house. There are plants in the flowerbeds that came from her and the valance I have around my front porch was originally her idea. Her house in the neighboiring town and mine were the only ones around with a valance on the porch. People have told me how much they like mine and asked me if I had ever seen the one in S'ville. "Oh, yes", I'd say. She was my inspiration. {sigh} Sometimes I really miss Margaret.

You'll have to excuse the weeds. Isn't it pretty? I like them so much better than traditional Iris. The blades are so soft and delicate and grow in this compact "bush" which looks nice even after the blooms are gone. See the little gnome my mom gave me? She surprised me with it several years ago when she drove up. We were eating at a Cracker Barrel in Florida and I spotted this in the store, but couldn't take it on the plane. I really like her even though she is now faded and this year I found that the top of her hat has a hole in it!

Back to the cats... my husband bought Critter Ridder (Havahart) made mostly of black pepper oil. I spread it around the bed and alas, they still dug in the soil. SO, if you have any solutions perhaps maybe homemade repellants or the like, PLEASE leave me a comment. Happy gardening to you all!

A Little Getaway

Welcome to a new week. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. I did!

Friday evening I dropped Wyatt (16) off at Trinity OPC in Hatboro, PA for 'preview weekend' for our church camp. He is a counselor for the
4-5-6 camp (that's grades 4,5,6) at French Creek Bible Conference.

After dropping him, I headed back over the river to south Jersey for a visit with my godparents. They graciously put me up for the night. I then spent all of Saturday with them. Aunt Linda and I visited a couple quilt shops near their house and had lunch at the most adorable restauant. The menu was not your typical fare... much more "gourmet" than most. I had a yummy  veggie burger (called Garden Burger), served with a beautiful side salad. Of course, I had ordered fries, too not that I needed them!

This is the entryway into the room where we ate...

and this is the room where we ate. It's actually an enclosed porch.

Beautiful place, huh?

If ever in Mount Holly, NJ you just have to visit

Robin's Nest Restaurant . You won't regret it!

Before lunch Aunt Linda showed me the local shop in beautiful Historic Burlington, NJ where Uncle Lee quilts when he's not quilting at home. He's a terrific quilter! He even runs one of the shop's many longarm machines that are available for use.

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't remember to take any pictures inside. There was much, too much to see and it slipped my mind. Here's one shot from inside the car...

To see better pics and much more, click this link for

Olde City Quilts' website.

Now this little shop in Mount Holly (around the corner from Robin's Nest) has a wonderful display of fabrics.

The Village Quilter has many quilts on display as you can see here and kits made on site to make your own. 

"Hi" Aunt Linda! Thanks again for everything - I had a really nice time visiting with you and Uncle Lee. We'll have to do it again sometime soon!



New recipe time!

It was a very dreary day here in NJ.  It rained most of the day.

On the upside... while running a few errands this morning, I stopped at the thrift store and found one of those cool umbrellas that have a duck head for a handle.

Isn't it cute?

and only 3 dollars!

When I got home, I remembered that I had rhubarb in the fridge SO,

with the weather the way it was, I thought...

what a perfect day to bake a pie!

Yummy! Rhubarb Custard Pie!

It looks a little like an omelet in this picture!

Although this was a new recipe,

I still baked two and oh boy, were they good!

Here's the recipe:



The custard is made up of 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Mix all that together and pour over a pound of rhubard cut into 1/4 inch chunks mixed with 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt (place this mixture in an unbaked pie shell).

Bake the pie for 45 to 50 minutes @ 350 degrees F.

Go ahead and give it a try. Leave me a comment - I'd love to hear what you think of it!



Hello again!

Remember me? It's been a looonnnggg time, hasn't it?
Well, I can't even give a good excuse - just that time has been flying by and that it's been chock full of busy!
I actually did finish all of the blocks for Cass' quilt. I finished them within a day ot two of my last post.
There's a total of 45 blocks. I have some strips cut out of muslin for the sashing, but that's all the further I got.

So, the other day I pulled out the featherweight and put together three more blocks from the shop hop.

It's a little difficult to see the prints on the lighter fabrics.

And looking at them just now... there's a BIG mistake on the one block (lower).

Apparently, when making my flying geese, I neglected to pay atttention to which fabric to put on which corner. It doesn't become obvious until you put it together with the rest!

Here, let me show you a better picture...

See how the upper left and lower right blue squares are surrounded by paisley print triangles...

Oh, oops! there's the problem!

The flying geese on the left and right sides should have the light corners reversed.

Maybe some day when I feel like ripping all of that apart it will be fixed.

But until then, this is the way it will be!

Hopefully heading off to Aunt Linda's Saturday for a visit and a little sewing,

maybe a visit to her local quilt shop.

I'll try to remember my camera for future posting.

Bye for now!

Cass' Quilt

Well, I've been making some progress on Cass' quilt. I had a dozen blocks done yesterday.

After just a little while THIS afternoon,

I managed to complete a total of 26.

These go together so quickly. No more cutting just now.

Just two work stations:

SEWING  and  PRESSING

Here's my girl looking so cute!

She really likes this material and is looking forward to her finished quilt.

I will be getting back to some Granny Square soon... I just want to get these completed first. Mostly because I have a definite goal in mind, but also because it's such a quick quilt to make.

Some simple sashing and before I know it I'll have the top done!

The Granny Squares don't have a definite purpose, yet. But, they're certainly fun to make!

So,  I promise... I haven't abandoned them!

Naming the machine was brought up in the last post. My daughter had a suggestion which oddly enough was then suggested by Chris. That name would be "Lola".

Chris didn't explain why, but Cass' explanation was that Lola was close to Lilo which reminded her of the Disney film "Lilo & Stitch". Get it? Stitch?!

Chris also thought "Alice" from the "Brady Bunch". Now, I don't recall Alice ever sitting in front of a sewing machine, but I kinda' like it.

Well, time for me to go to bed... Nice chatting with you! Goodnight!

Domestic Bliss

Today I thought I would get a little bit worked on Cass' quilt. A month or two ago, I ordered a Jelly Roll of "Domestic Bliss"

(by Liz Scott for Moda) from Green Fairy Quilts 

Just look at it. It screams "tweenager" !

For those of you unsure of this term... it pretty much means "pre-teen".

Never really liked the term myself, but HEY, it fits here!

SO, after talking to Cass a little, I paired up the strips.

Here's about half of them...

I sewed all the pairs together down the fabric width.

It was "sew" nice to use the NewHome.

It's such a great running machine - perfect little stitches!

Maybe she deserves a name.

I'll have to think on that one for a bit.

Anyway,

this is what I now have completed.



the strips on the machine are not yet sewn

There are nine of each pairing cut 4 1/2 square.

I'll probably arrange them something like this...



I'll be talkin' to ya'!