Farm Girl

P thinks she is a real farm girl. She hasn't spent much time with the chickens lately as they are full grown now and LAYING EGGS of their own. She still calls them her baby chicks. I know she will enjoy getting new chicks in the spring. We have not clued her in on one of our weekend projects which is the reason we get new chicks each year.... We will start culling the old hens and new roosters and making chicken broth for the freezer. B will do the first steps in the back yard with the drapes closed.

P's new farm "chore" that she enjoys is helping dad with tractor stuff (going on tractor rides). Sometimes there is a lot of waiting until Dad has everything ready.

It is not until now, while looking at this photo, that I see how worn her shoes are. But, they are great shoes. They come with a lot of history. I bought them years ago for D. then M. wore them. Next, they went to Virginia and were used by two of her cousins. Now, they are back where they started, on this old tractor. Having rides again with the same Dad.

,

Children's Literature in Needlework

,

Children's literature has always been a part of my life.  I remember my mother's voice at bed time reading our stories.  To this day I hear Captain Kangaroo's voice in my head when I read Are You My Mother, Caps for Sale, or Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.  One year for Halloween I even dressed as  Pippi Longstocking. We put wire in my braids to make them stick out.

Years ago, while earning an Engineering degree at Virginia Tech, (yeah, what was I thinking?), I also took some child development classes and the ever popular "Kiddy Lit" class. I enjoyed that class even though my sister had to give my oral report because my mouth was wired closed at the time. I still believe that she sabotaged me as she got an A and I received a B!Becoming a mother brought it full circle for me. I started reading aloud and sharing old favorites with my own children.  When D was in first grade we read Charlotte's Web and made this little sewing project together. I love that little Wilbur he cut from felt. There is also the spider web that is connected to nothing.

I have made a few quilts and needlework projects inspired by children's literature. Magic at Midnight inspired by Cinderella Mushroom Fairy Quilt from the Flower Fairies Blueberry Apron from Blueberries for Sal.

In honor of my birthday today, I have started a flickr group for needlwork inspired by Children's Literature Please add photos of your own handiwork inspired by children's stories; I'd love to see it.

Scrap Buster Quilt

This weekend I started a scrap quilt.  I love making scrap quilts and still can't get all my scraps in the one bin and have the lid close, even when everything is neatly stacked by size. I don't understand it. I mostly make quilts from the scraps, yet they still seem to multiply when I am not looking. There is fabric in there that I KNOW I have never seen before. Fabric just follows me home from garage sales, rummage sales and quilting events.  I am sorry I don't have any photos to share of the scrap bin explosion on the sewing room floor.  My sewing space is on the north (darkest) side of the house and a good photo of the ginormous pile of fabrics that ended on the floor just didn't happen. I tried. Really.

I found a lot of rich, deep colored fabric pieces and started a new quilt inspired by the antique quilt pictured on page 13 of Gwen Marston's Liberated String Quilts.

I am using a lot of "string" scraps and even some triangles on the corners of the blocks.

The blocks will be about 6 inches square.  Each one starts with a center strip of red fabric. It is not as RED as I would have liked, but it is a fabric that I already had.

I hope the red stripe grid will show up in the finished quilt and not be lost in all of the other fabrics.P has really had fun helping me with the scraps. I am waiting to see if she is as eager when it is time to put the fabrics back in the bin. At least there will be fewer to put away!

,

Socks to Dye For

,

Did you think we had given up on our sock project? I can't believe it has been almost three months since we finished a pair. Well, that would be me not finishing my half. A has been knitting along and I have a small pile of one socks to match! I guess I have been very busy this fall.

This pair is knit from Nancy Bush's Anniversary Socks pattern in Timeless Designs 25 Favorite Socks. The yarn is Bare by Knit Picks. I really like the feel of this yarn. It is a super soft merino, silk blend. It tended to split a little but the feel is well worth the care taken to knit it.

A. has plans to dye these! I think we will need a photo after they are dyed.

,

Happy Halloween

,

Today was the long awaited day,

the day to wear the fairy wings and go to town and get candy.

When I was growing up we went trick-or-treating AFTER dark. Here, they have special trick-or-treat hours from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. When the weather is nice, like today, everyone sits on their steps or in their yard to give out treats. It is like a big huge block party in town.

,

Page Turners

,

A few years ago, the theme at Beaver Island Quilt Retreat was fabric books. I made a few books then and a couple more when P was born.

The one on the left features Dick and Jane fabric.

The other is a book of color and applique  letters.

And now, I have graduated to ink and paper! My latest project is with Lark Books. Two of my quilts will be included in an upcoming book, Pretty Little Mini Quilts. I have never had my work "in print" before and am honored and thrilled. The book will come out in 2010.  Stay tuned and I'll let you know how you can get your own autographed copy!

Apple Cores and Fairy Wings

I feel like I got a lot done yesterday. I cut up a big pot of apples and made the last batch of applesauce. While the sauce was cooking, P and I worked on her Halloween costume. When you are dressing as a fairy, it is all about pink.

I found a pink hand-me-down dress-up dress that I temporarily shortened at the waist so that she will not trip on the skirt. The wings are made from coat hangers and a 25 year old pair pastel knee hi hose. (Have I mentioned that I have a hard time getting rid of stuff?) We decorated the wings with some "silk" flower parts to cover up the tops of the knee his and the coat hanger ends. Then, it was time for glitter.

While searching for the glitter I came across this pile of apple cores.

I have had these cut for at least 15 years.  My sister cut one from each of her fabrics too, as this was to be a charm quilt.  At one time, I had them counted and knew the size of the quilt I was going to make.

There are even fabrics that are in this quilt in that pile, along with some great newer prints left from pajamas for D and M when they were little. Of course, I have accumulated much more fabric since I put this stack away. I started laying it out on the floor and decided that would be a very tedious and time consuming project. I think I will sew them together in groups of four and then try laying them out. That will be much more manageable.

I will take my cue from this quilt and try not to over think it.

Yes, we did finally find the glitter and finish the fairy wings.

I also made banana bread and canned that last batch of sauce.

But, I guess I am not quite finished with apple cores.

,

Popcorn

,

When I was growing up we had an electric popcorn popper, you know, the kind with the big plastic dome so you could watch the corn pop.  We loved that thing. I don't remember how we made popcorn before we got that fancy popper.  Never mind that the outer layer of popcorn got soggy because there was no way for the steam to escape. It just built up in there and dripped down the sides of the dome.  We would pop popcorn and take it to the family room and watch The Waltons, The Rockford Files, or the Disney movie of the week on television.

I also have wonderful memories of the neighbor mom who lived across the street.  She was the mother of five boys(!) and seemed to know everything.  The first time my mother left us home alone, my sister stepped on a bee.  Our neighbor knew just what to do. She got something from her kitchen cupboard and put it on my sister's foot.  Meat tenderizer.  Who knew?

Another time I heard an unusual sound coming from her house. I ran over and peeked through her kitchen door. Her table was covered with fancy glasses all with different amounts of water in them. She was making music. I had never seen anything like it.

She was the mom in the neighborhood who always had fun packed birthday parties for her kids. We played games like pin the tail on the donkey and drop a clothespin from your nose into a Mason jar.

One time I visited and she asked if I wanted popcorn. Yes, of course. I love popcorn. We went to her kitchen and she got out a regular pot, put a little oil in the bottom and then the corn. Then she put a wire mesh screen over the top and slid the pan around over the burner. It was like magic. So old fashioned. She didn't need a fancy appliance to pop her popcorn.

I think the saying "It takes a village..." is very true. All of our experiences go together to form the people we become. Every time I pop corn in my big pot on the stove I think of Mrs Baker, my childhood neighbor, and smile.

,

Apple Harvest

,

I have mentioned that we grow our own apples and make applesauce. We planted some fruit trees a few years ago but none of those give fruit yet. The apples we use come from old orchard trees.

They are quite old and we have never pruned or sprayed them. They do make good apples. Some years are better than others. This is a good year for the Northern Spys.

The best apples are WAY up in the top of the trees. Our picking method involves spreading a tarp under the tree, climbing up into the tree, and shaking the branches until the apples fall.

Then, we bring them into the kitchen and mix them with apples from the neighboring farm. We are using Jonathans and Ida reds with our Norther Spys.

Peel, slice, cook, and can. Easy, but time consuming.

, ,

Happy

, ,

Things that make me happy today:
1. We live on this road.

2. I drove down the above road to get to M's last cross country meet of the season where he made his season goal of finishing the 5 K race in under 20 minutes. (19:56)
3. P is up and feeling better after a day of and naps and fever on the couch.
4. P. talking with a woman in a reproduction 1860's dress last Sunday. Why does hers STAY out?

Each year we work at "Pioneer Days" at Waterloo Farm Museum I demonstrate tatting and how to make handkerchief dolls. When P was a baby she napped in the museum field cradle while I worked my shift. B works the horse drawn wagon ride area, and for the last three years M has played music there with a few friends. It looks like P will be getting a special dress for next year's event. I will try to make one with a deep hem to let out as she grows.
5. P saying in her sleep, "Where is my embroidery?" (she calls these her embroidery)
6. We are having another beautiful sunny fall day today!

Heirloom Corn

We planted back in the spring and watched it grow all summer.  We worried about it when it didn't rain but there was nothing we could do but wait.

This weekend we harvested. It is slow work. Plant by plant, row by row, we pull the ears off the plant and knock the stalk to the ground. We pile the corn in the back of the pick up and sit on the back porch and pull off the shucks. Then, we are left with all the beautiful ears of corn.

We sort through them and save the biggest and best ears for next years seed. We try to save some of each color.

We sort the pile again and save good looking ears for making corn meal. Will let the ears dry and then shell them and store the kernels until we are ready to make bread. We grind the corn just before we make our Little Red Hen Bread. The rest of the corn is fed to the chickens.

I love looking at all of the different colors on the corn. P has saved two pink ears that she will plant next year. I like the kernels that are striped. The striping only appears in white and red.  The burgundy kernels only are in ears with other burgundy or very dark purple. I find it fascinating.

Corn harvest also means the winding down of the fall food frenzy. Now, we wait for the corn to dry.

Still, we are making apple sauce but we see an end to the food preservation.

Instagram Photos

I finished the Dala Sweater and couldn’t be happier with it! The pattern is #dalasweater by @elenormortensen. More details on my ravelry page. #knitter #strandedknitting #operationsweaterchest #handknitsweater #makersvillage #makersgonnamake
I started this sweater on our car trip last week. I had chosen a different yarn for the horses but it was thinner and didn’t work well with the blue. I frogged the few rows I had knit and subbed in some yarn from my stash when I got home. The y
Narrow hand appliquéd bias strips. 1/16” quilting lines not going over the appliqué. I’m about a month in on the quilting and ALMOST finished. Whoop! Quilted with Invisalign on top and Decobob in the bobbin. Threads by @wo
This summer we watched my two oldest grand kids one day a week. Towards the end of the summer they started making projects on their own in the sewing room. They made lots of little projects from my scrap basket including pillow cases and tiny quilts