turkey feathers

Backyard Bounty

 
Little by little, the days are growing cooler and the "frost is on the pumpkin" again.  Time to gather up the remaining spoils from the garden. 

 

Over the weekend, the girls and I had an assembly line going as we canned the last of the Roma's.  The pantry shelves are really bulging now!

 

My kitchen windowsill is a busy place.  A prime location for soaking up some sunshine.

 
There was a beautiful rainbow over this scene late in the day, but by the time I stopped gazing from the backdoor and went for my camera it had faded.  This particular family of deer visit regularly and keep the dandelions (and other weeds) in check.  They are getting their dark brown winter coats now, a sign that cold weather isn't far off . . . 

*SPARKLES*

 
Things I'm smitten with right now....

Deb's personal 'Blanket Statement Copy Cat Challenge' wrap-up.  She made every project in my book (with her own spin), using one thrifted green wool blanket and her new granddaughter Ellie, as her inspiration.  You can see the whole kit and kaboodle here.  Prepare to be amazed!

  Amy's new 'Inspired Ideas' online magazine.  It's all so beautiful--I don't know where to look first!   

 

 

Mimi's Argyle Kitty. . . . . 

Swoon! 

 

Something Old Something New

 
Here's another sweet quilt from the Mennonite Quilt Show.  Sunbonnet Sue and a companion butterfly in various activities.

  

I've finally found time to get back to the pattern restorations.  Bundles of little treasures have been trickling in for months now, and I'm happy to tell you that they are slowly but surely making their way to the website.  This batch (above) was sent in by the women's fellowship of the Maple Grove Church in Ashland, Ohio who make baby quilts for charity.  They were thrilled to get reprints so they could carry on their work and were happy to share these cute designs. 

 
These vintage WorkBasket inserts just arrived from Jennifer.  That squirrel is so adorable!  Some flowers mixed in here too.  These will be fun. 

 
 Here's another batch I just acquired from a thrifting adventure.  I bought the lot sight unseen.  There are cut fragments of some, others are in tact.  Not sure what I will do with these yet.

 
Found these last year at a yard sale.  Some were quite gigantic!  I reduced the great big ones and divided it all into seven distinct sets. They are up on the website now under the category:  Quilts & Crafts; halfway down page 3 as follows, Wildwood, Abundance, Birds & Blossoms, Old English, Blooms & Borders, Shangrila, and Country French (under 'Feathered Friends'). Lots of sweet stuff here for home stitching.   

 
And more flowers!  One can never have too many flowers, now can one?  Also, soon to be added will be more nursery rhyme quilt blocks.  They are on my work table in progress at this very moment...so that's where I'll be for awhile. 

All the newest pattern additions are HERE.

Have a great weekend!

Polyester Poppies

 
I know.  I couldn't believe it either.  Polyester pantsuits never looked so good!  This was just one of the darling quilts that were on display at the 27th annual community festival for World Relief hosted by the Oregon Mennonite community a couple of weeks ago.  This was their first 'quilt challenge' (with proceeds going toward revitalizing a hospital in the Congo).  There were many beautiful entries, most of them utilizing long-arm technology, which I admit is completely liberating, but there were still a few hand-stitched blankets that were lovely to see. 
In case you can't make out the green card, this quilt is called, "Flower Garden", and it drew me over like a moth to a flame with its bright colors.  Upon closer inspection, I realized the materials used were polyester.  That was a bit of a surprise, because polyester is not something I ordinarily think of using to make a quilt.  Actually, this may be the first poly-quilt I've ever seen.  But it works so well and looks amazing.  And, this quilt will probably outlast us all!  Each of the flower petals were turned under and stitched by hand, by the Fairview Mennonite church ladies. 

  

The quilt hanging next to it is appropriately named, "Something Happy", and was machined pieced and quilted by Heidi F. from Kansas.  Seeing both these quilts definitely made me happy.  

 

 

Autumn Inspiration

 
 

Jars of Joy

In the lull between blog posts the canning continues with . . . 
Last week, I put up the last of the pickles.  I'm sure some of you are only too glad to hear this, as I ramble on way too much about pickles!  What can I say?  I love them!  Here they are ready to go into their steam bath.  I hope and pray the pantry shelves hold up under the weight of so many jars.  Having eaten all the pickles from last year's garden it shouldn't be a problem for too long though.  We are already counting the days when these will be ready.  Think: Thanksgiving!  I'm fairly sure our Thanksgiving prayers will include...pickles.  :o)

 
And here's the result of what began as a tiny seed under a gro-lite back in February.  We were standing around in the kitchen marveling over that very fact yesterday.  With my hair up and my apron on, and with both daughters helping, we managed to pack and process six pint jars in under two hours.  If you've ever done this, you know there are many steps in the process, each one important and necessary, and as we worked through each one our appreciation grew for our great-grandmothers who had none of the conveniences and many more challenges.  The one thing we have in common though, is the satisfaction of seeing the end result. 

It is certainly easier with three pairs of hands and I'm always grateful to have such cheerful participation.  If the weather holds another week, we may have one more batch of tomato goodness before it's time to put the garden to bed and pick up where I left off on a few other projects. 

Cute labels from Cath Kidston found here.   

Updated 10/4 to add:  I just got word that Cath Kidston has a new US online store!  That means everything is calculated in dollars and shipping rates are localized.  Check it out over here.