Children Are Smarter Than We Give Them Credit For

Last Sunday my son overheard two young boys outside the bishop's office.  (Minister, chaplain, etc.)  One of them said to the other, "If you call me 'stupid' and then say you are sorry he will give you a piece of candy."  ......Priceless....

APPLIQUE QUILTS

My new goal is to blog more consistently.  I have tried to figure out where to start, as I haven't blogged for SIX MONTHS!!!  Where did the time go?  Anyway, can't figure out a starting point so I will just jump right in.

Thought I would share ONE of the things that I have been up to for the past couple of months. I am taking an applique class.  Haven't done much of it before, but I have definitely enjoyed it.  I don't usually take classes to learn new things, but I have learned some great little techniques that have made a big difference in my technique.

MY FIRST APPLIQUE QUILT

I chose to do this pattern that I have had for awhile.  It is Flowers From My Garden by Lori Smith.  I saw it done up in a quilt shop and loved it.  I don't decorate with pastels either, so I decided to go a different route.

THE BORDER PRINT 

This piece determined all the colors I used in my quilt.  First I chose a border print that I absolutely loved.  I had picked this piece up a while back and fortunately I had exactly what I needed for this quilt.

 

PULLING FROM MY STASH

Obviously, a computer screen doesn't do it justice, but the colors are rich greens, reds, and golds with a bit of purple and blue in there.  Then I pulled from my stash everything I thought would go with this fabric and ended up with these.  I added more pieces as I have gone along, but this was a great start.  Just love the colors.

 

 MY PROGRESS SO FAR

There are 16 blocks, and I have been working on this for two months.  Here is a photo of what I have done so far.  As you can see, it is very different from the original.  The colors almost look like they are Pennsylvania Dutch, but again, they are actually darker and richer than they look in the photos.

My problem, as with everything I do, I want to design some of my own now.  So little time.....

HELP!!!!

Would all of you just stop blogging??!!!?!?!?!.....


just for a few days so that I can get something else done!!!!

WHAT HAVE I BEEN UP TO?

This is why I haven't had much stitching time!!!!  

Been busy the last two weeks bottling.  

Such a great feeling to see my shelves full again, 

and I love my home bottled food.

First I started out with pinto beans.  

I know they look ugly, but they are super easy to do and have a wonderful smooth texture, 

AND I can make chili in 10 minutes now. 

(I do different sized bottles depending on their purpose, salads, tacos, etc.)

Ran out of pears this year, the same year I became addicted to pears and cottage cheese.  

Well, I wasn't going to run out again, so after bottling what was on my tree I

purchased a few more what I thought were SMALL boxes.  

What was I thinking?  I ended up doing 100 pints! I had better not run out again! 

After that I did tomatoes and salsa!

My mom used to make pickled beets when I was little, and then made some last year.  

How it brought back memories of my childhood, so of course, 

when a neighbor offered me her beets I had to bottle them as well.

Then for good measure, just because the green beans came on really late,

and I like to throw zucchini into my soups I did a few dozen green beans and zucchini.

I'm tired now.  

Going to take a little vacation next week.

When I get back and the chicken comes on sale 

I will bottle chicken and ham & bean soup.  

Maybe I'll be done for a year, OR TWO????

Didn't do any last year because of lack of time 

and I thoroughly enjoyed myself this year...

well....except for maybe those 100 pints of pears!

When I am tired at night I get on the computer 

and drool over everyone's stitching progress....

My time will come again in a week or two...or ten!  

Thanks for sharing.  

I love to see what all of you are doing!

ARE YOU SUFFERING THROUGH A DIFFICULT TIME OR TRIAL?

If you are struggling or particularly suffering through a difficult time, a talk by Elder David B. Haight this morning has got to touch your heart and give you some amount of peace.  This particularly touched my heart this morning as I listened.  His talk will be added to this list probably some time today and will be available in many languages. http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions?lang=eng.

HOW I TAKE MY HEXAGONS ALONG

This is pretty complicated I know, but sometimes others like to see how we do things.  Considering the fact that you can be working on these for a long time, it helps to have a way to take them along whereever you go.

In the bottom of the box below I have a stash of paper templates and precut pieces of fabric (not pictured). The box is not very large and is easy to carry with me in the car, etc. 

As I stitch up a batch for one flower I put each in a baggie and then can take them with me so I have something on hand to work on all the time.  In one little baggie I can take my thimble, pair of scissors, spool of thread, and a few flowers, and I am set.

HEXAGON GIVEAWAY!

Congratulations to Stray Stitches for winning the hexagons!  Please contact me with the size of hexies you want.  They are measured by the sides, not across.  1/2 to 1" is a good size.  2" would be a huge hexagon.

For those who didn't win I am happy to take orders for hexies:  $3.50 per 100.  (That includes shipping as well. Extra shipping for outside of U.S.) I use a parchment type paper for mine as it is stiff enough to hold its shape, but flexible enough to be easily removed. 

For an excellent tutorial on how to make your hexies go to: http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2010/04/hexie-paper-piecing-tutorial.html

Thank you for your interest and I would love to see what others have done with your hexies!

Peggy