Garden Tour

Here's another video (second one today!) of my garden; this video is more comprehensive than the last, but still only a few minutes long.

July Garden

I have finally figured out how to upload a video - much harder than it should be!!

Here's my garden.

First Garden Harvest

Michelle and I went to the community garden this morning to harvest a couple of rows of garlic with the garden director; he demonstrated how to get the plants out of the ground and worked along with us.

Rows are about 25-30 feet long, so we gathered quite a few plants! It rained very hard last night for about 10 minutes, so the ground was pretty wet this morning. Because there was so much mud on the garlic, we put the plants into low-sided crates (about 2' x 3') with lattice bottoms and rinsed them well, then put them out in the shade to dry.

These rows are in the Common Grounds part of the community garden, so they will go to the local food banks.

After that wonderful harvest, I weeded my row of white onions in the Common Grounds, which I had forgotten about. There were quite a lot of weeds to pull! I also care for a row of Chinese Cabbage, but about half of it has already been harvested, and there were no weeds (thankfully!)

Then it was time to check out my little plot (8' x 16'). I am a novice, so I planted waaaay too many plants, waaaaay too close together. But at least I'll have bountiful harvests throughout the summer! And plenty to share with my neighbors!

I did eat one medium-size string bean (the biggest one I saw) while I was harvesting other plants, and it was DELISH!!

Look what came out of my garden today! I was able to share some of this with Darlene, my kind next door neighbor, and with Michelle, who does so much for me.



sunflowers


beets and baby carrots
(Denny and I sampled a couple of carrots as soon as I got home! YUM!)


yellow squash (5!)

oak leaf lettuce - so tender and sweet!

Women's Voices Quilt - Blocks 5 and 7

Today I'm sharing blocks 5 and 7 from my Women's Voices Quilt. Block 6 is in progress. Above each block is the description from the package - interesting history behind the names and origins of these blocks!



Block 5 - Crowned Cross

Quilts frequently echoed the religions of the Civil War era. The Crowned Cross was a popular block often used by church groups in quilts sent to the battlefield. Over 250,000 were stitched for the soldiers. They covered the wounded in army hospitals. If a soldier died, he was buried in his quilt.









Block #7 - Sherman's March / Lincoln's Platform / Monkey Wrench

This block was labeled "Lincoln's Platform" during his presidential campaign. It was also named after Sherman's March through the South during the Civil War. One could conclude it was a "union" block. This block was also known as "Monkey Wrench." It is interesting that one rarely comes across a reference to Sherman's March or Lincoln's Platform. Lavender or purple was first introduced in 1850 and became popular in Civil War quilts. It usually faded to shades of pink or brown. In 1825 manganese bronze was first used as a chemical dye. From this dye, khaki was introduced and became well used. The arrival of magenta was seen during this same era.

Wedding Gift

I'm pretty sure I never posted this, so...

Here's what I made for my nephew and new neice for their wedding last year: a set of towels, etc. for their kitchen.


white scrubby pad, red-white dish cloth, 2 pot holders (my original tea pot design), and 2 linen towels


the 2 towels with red fabric accent

I love linen! It's so wonderful to handle and so absorbant!

10 things

Ten things I'm grateful for...

1) my patient husband, who's put up with boxes in the living room for 2 weeks now while I re-arrange my studio to be a work room for school

2) being accepted into a distance-learning program at the University of Northern Colorado to get a degree in Educational Interpreting

3) dear friends who live across the street and call me just to chat

4) summer thunder storms

5) freshly mowed grass

6) pomegranite-blueberry iced tea

7) yoga-pilates workout

8) my bike!

9) the community garden where I have 2 plots

10) my mom, who has always been my biggest cheerleader!

Monday Tea Party with Mia

Today Mia came for a tea party. We ate lots of sweet goodies with our tea (Russian Caravan, 2 sugar cubes for the chick-a-dee), and then we played some games. She brought her Bible Bingo game (I was concentrating so hard I forgot to take picutures; she won). Then we played checkers (she won again); and lastly, we played Dominoes till they were gone (are ever there winners in Dominoes? Guess I don't really know how to play this game correctly but at least I didn't lose.)

Waiting for Mia to arrive at 2:00

Michelle and Tabby walked Mia over from their home across the street, so I asked Michelle to take a picture of us before we began our repast.

Mia winning at checkers.


"WHY can't I slurp my tea with the spoon? That's the way I always do it. And besides, I remembered to put my napkin on my lap."

Candid shot encompassing the whole tea experience. :)

Aren't children fun??? We truly had a WONDERFUL few hours together!!

Here's the recipe I used for delicious scones (no eggs).

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Welsh Scones

(makes 12 small triangles)

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Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

6 Tbsp softened shortening (I used butter)

5 Tbsp granulated sugar (recipe calls for 3 Tbsp, but, oops, I added it to the flour, so had to add more to the butter!)

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Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl. (The recipe was not organized like I have it here; that's why I added the sugar to the dry ingredients. Hope my list here helps you!)

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Gradually beat in:

1/3 cup milk

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1-1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp salt

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Mix these ingredients in a medium bowl, then gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix together.

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Divide dough in half and place on floured surface. Gently pat into 2 circles, about 3/4-inch high, shaping outside of circle with hands. Using a chef's knife, cut each circle into 6 triangles, sprinkle tops of circles with a little more sugar, and transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet, placing each piece 1 inch apart. (I use a large spatula under 3 triangles at a time.)

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Bake on middle rack for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

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(I baked mine together in a circle - touching - so the insides were not quite done; I left them on the cookie sheet to finish cooking after 15 minutes, and they were PERFECTLY DELISH!)

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Here's the web site where I found the recipe. (My modifications are in parentheses above.)

www.grandpappy.info/rcookies.htm

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Women's Voices Quilt - Blocks 3 and 4

Block 3 - Coxey's Camp
After the depression in 1983, Jacob Coxey led a group of unemployed men to Washington, D.C. to draw attention to the need for legislation to increase employment. In commemoration of the efforts of "Coxey's Army," this block was stitched.

Block 4 - Brown Goose

Women "raised their own feathers" for bedding; thus, this block was named. This was an easy block and was done in browns. This block is also known today as "Double Z" and is done in a variety of colors.

Women's Voices Quilt - Blocks 1 and 2

This is the block-of-the-month (BOM) kit I purchased in 2005; I've been stitching it completely by hand, using templates (not rotary cutting the pieces), and I will hand quilt it when the top is finally put together. I'm close - only 3 months (5 blocks) to go! (Then, of course, I'll have to stitch the blocks to the sashing to complete the top.)

Each month, for 13 months, I received one pattern and enough fabric to make two blocks. Sometimes I varied the fabrics within from block to block to make them look a bit different. Fabric placement can do a lot to change the look of a block!

There are a total of 25 blocks in this 1870s reproduction quilt. Each block finishes at 15 inches square.

Below are the first two blocks in the series - with their explanation / history. I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures!

Block #1 - Patriotic Flags
Every time a territory acquired statehood, ladies made flag quilts commemorating the occasion. There are many varieties of flag quilts and blocks... everything from large single appliqued or pieced flags, to this one - flags waving around the block.




Block #2 - Underground Railroad
This block was made in support of the Underground Railroad during the slavery issue. Often quilts were made to raise money for "the cause." This same block is known as Trail of the Covered Wagon in Mississippi and the prairie states. If you reverse the light and dark fabrics and omit the third tone, it is "Jacob's Ladder."
Can you see the different fabric placement in these two blocks?

Time for a Change

I decided with the lovely spring weather we're having to clean up my blog, too. I'm using a new template, which I hope is interesting. We'll see... I may change it again.

DIY Dish

There's a new show out there you need to know about. It's called DIY Dish, and it's about creating things. This week's episode is the first, and it's a really good one! Kim and Kris made the cutest pin cushions (which look like little cakes).

You know I collect pin cushions, and I love cake (especially cake this easy to make with no calories), so these are just right in so many ways! I gotta have one or maybe several.

Tune in here: http://thediydish.com/blog and let me know what you think!

Coming soon: pictures of my civil war reproduction quilt blocks!

ciao!

Needle'nThread.com

Here's another of my absolute *FAVORITE* blogs to visit. Mary Corbett is extremely generous with her embroidery expertise, and her projects are very inspiring. How does she do it - find time to stitch and blog about it every day? If you haven't been there, and you love to embroider, you gotta go visit Mary!

Needle'nThread.com

TAST 2 begins next week!!!

WHOO-HOOOO!!!

HOW EXCITING!!

Sharron Boggins, one of the world's best crazy quilters, is hosting Take A Stitch Tuesday #2. (Do I dare hope it's going to be an annual occurrance?) She began this wonderful exercise last year, and I joined, though I wasn't able to keep up. However, I did follow some of the stitchers as well as Sharron herself as she took a different stitch each week and pushed, pulled, and/or stretched it to do amazing things. This weekly, year-long exercise is truly an embroiderer's dream!

Bet you didn't know there were so many different stitches that you could use a different one every week for a year and then do it again with EVEN MORE stitches the next year!

I'll be posting my stitching here.

Want to sign up yourself? or just check it out? Here's Sharron's blog:

www.pintangle.com/journal2010/2/23/it-is-tuesday-so-i-am-introducing-the-tast-2-challengers.html

I couldn't copy the link (so I typed it, and am hoping I typed it correctly). If the link doesn't work, just go to www.pintangle.com. If you go there on a Tuesday, you'll find the current stitch.

BTW, Sharron's previous blog is here: www.inaminuteago.com and you will find the most gorgeous, amazing cq there. Warning: get comfortable before you visit, and plan to spend hours and hours; there's so much to see!!

Happy stitching!

david john was here

David John moved from Southern California back to Everett, Washington, in January, and he came here for a visit between homes.

Isn't he cute?

2009 MT State Fair Ribbons (a brag post)

Here's a very late update on my entries in the 2009 Montana State Fair (August).

All my ribbons and my "prize" - a 5 lb bag of sugar!
:-D


My favorite tea pot with cozy. I thought long and hard about parting with this one for 2 weeks! What if it got broken - or stolen?! 2nd place ribbon.



A pewter tea pot with cozy. I found this cute tea pot at a thrift store in WA and bought it for $4 to display my cozies in a shop where I was selling them.

My messenger bag. Simple. Functional. Lots o' pockets inside.

5th place ribbon.

Crocheted coasters. 3th place ribbon.

The Friendship quilt Amber King coordinated with many of my friends after my surgery. 5th place ribbon.

Pot holders and dish cloth (don't call it a dish RAG!)

1st place ribbon.

Red polka-dot apron with ric rack trims. I love this apron; I want to add a bib.

3rd place ribbon.

5 pin cushions displayed at the fair. I don't see my favorite one here, but it came back, so all's well. 1st place ribbon.

I hope to update more often, now that I have a laptop and Denny and I can be online at the same time!