I can finally share my exciting news.......I received this little box as a gift on July 4th......
I screamed and cried.....I was so thrilled. I am going to be a grandma!!!! They didn't want to make it public until she was in her second trimester. In the picture, our baby was only about six and a half weeks but now he/she is going on 14 weeks. There are no words to convey my feelings for this child! I am thinking about a few new baby quilts......any suggestions?
I love canning. Sorry, I know I've said that before, but I do. Here is the status for this year
39 pints of sweet pickles, 22 quarts of green beans, 2 freezer quarts of green beans, 17 half pints of salsa, 9 servings of freezer corn, about 15 jars of freezer strawberry jam, 2 containers of dried basil. Isn't God good? I feel so blessed to be able to preserve his bounty and enjoy doing it.
I took some more of the Belle fabric scraps and made another throw pillow.
Today was a lazy day. The weather has been unseasonable cool for August. After church we ate on the screened porch and it was very nice. We talked about how it felt more like late September than August. Then we napped......me on the swing, him in the boat.....
So thankful for all my blessings.
Here is what three dozen ears of corn looks like.....
Four bags with 2-3 ears each and five bags of creamed, seasoned, and cooked corn. Yummy! It didn't take as long to process as I feared -- a little over two hours. Jim helped a bit by shucking about half of it. I plan to get more next Saturday at our local farmers market.
I also did this early this morning...
I read an interesting article this week about how most of the honey we buy in stores really isn't considered true honey because it has been ultra filtered and the pollen has been removed. My bread recipe uses 2/3 cup of honey and I normally make it every 3-4 weeks, so I use a lot. The filtration seems to be for the purpose of preventing tracking the origin of the honey. It said much of America's honey comes from China where it has been known to contain harmful substances like antibiotics and heavy metals. Ok, so I am not sure that I believe all of this, but we did purchase some local honey this week and I do know it tasted so much better than what I had been using. The man at the local restaurant who sold us the honey says he takes a teaspoon a day and has been able to quit taking the Claritin he was on for allergies. I had read where local honey does help with allergens by building up your immunities, although I haven't found any scientific evidence to support this theory. I suppose if you suffered enough from allergies you would be willing to try it, after all it tastes great. I do know I'll be buying local honey for now on.
Now, another topic...
I am a "night" person. Always have been. It is normal for me to be up cleaning the house or sewing at midnight. It comes natural, but I've often wondered if I could train myself to be a "morning" person. I needed to get up early today to pour the alum water off my pickles and go to the farmers market to get corn. I got up at six. The sun wasn't up yet.
I get up very early Monday through Thursday for work, 4:45 am. It doesn't come natural though I can do it. I've trained myself to do that, even still, I have a hard time getting in the bed before 10 pm. I ran four miles last night around 7:30, and it was great, so I was tired last night. I turned the light off at 10. Jim fished a tournament and didn't get home until 3 am, so I woke up then, again at 5 to let the cat out, and then up for good at 6. I got so much done this morning. I think maybe I'm trainable....I'd love to be asleep by 10 and up by 6 every morning.
......but now, I am ready for a nap.....
I used Amy Butler's Belle line for this quilt.
I had enough leftovers to make a pillow. That was interesting. I didn't really measure anything except at the end to make it fit a 20" pillow. So I had to add a little here and a little there.
I quilted it with the Plummage pantograph in a light beige thread.
And I finally got to use a nice bias print plaid from my stash for the binding.
In other news.....got one run of pickles sealed up.
Great weekend. Hope yours was equally great!
Before I get to my normal Saturday sewing, I am doing a bit more canning.
I used Mrs. Wages salsa mix on the left, homemade on the right. I hate to admit it but Mrs. Wages beat my homemade hands down. Mine was too bland. The mix was nice and hot. I suppose if I made the homemade often enough I'd figure out the right blend of spices. The salsa made from the seasoning mix just looks prettier too.
I've organized my canning jars in preparation for the two batches of sweet pickles I am making. One batch is already to the last stage of soaking in the sugar and spices.
The crock looks pretty rough, and it is an antique, but I assure you it will do the job.
One of my favourite fabric and quilt designers is Heather Mulder Peterson. She had a giveaway for a set of fat quarters from her new line, "Here Fishy Fishy" and I won it! Isn't it adorable? She used the colors and theme in her own little boy's bedroom. Check out her blog and store.
I saw this on the Missouri Quilt Company web site, but I am not sure if it is still available. This is a very simple method to make a custom ironing board for your quilt studio. I have a small 30x30 table I use for ironing and have used a little 12x18 ironing board for years.
It is really too small, and I can't easily wash it when needed. My friend gave me a piece of 1/4 inch board, about 18x27. I think it came off of an old stereo/radio.
Take an old towel. Measure and cut so after sewing the sides up, the board will slide into it.
Sew the side seams together. I had to use my walking foot.
Slide the board inside. I also slid in some insulated batting I had on hand, but I don't think that is really necessary.
Fold the extra under the side away from you. You want to leave it so you can slide it off and wash it as needed.
Simple. Frugal. Functional. Since I used batting inside, I could also make a cover from some really pretty fabric. I love having more space to iron.
Started my next project. I am making a new lap quilt for our living room. The idea is to bring in some new colors with a quilt and some pillows. I purchased a couple of layer cakes in Amy Butler's new Belle fabric line. Big prints, lots of different colors. To me it looks like a modern take on flour sack fabrics. It is different than my norm but I think I'll like it. I decided to use a simple brick pattern to highlight the varied fabrics.
Pretty good progress for only a few hours work.
After all the canning yesterday......
There was still something I wanted to get done this weekend....
Another Round and Round wall hanging (pattern by Camille Roskelley).
The one on the left will go in my office at work, at least for now...
The tiny stippling on the Christmas one took a while, so I did a wider stippling on the left. To be honest, I like the smaller stippling better. I'll try to remember that for the future.......
Our little town postponed the Fourth of July fireworks to tonight. Below is the view I had walking down our hill to where Jim parked his truck, where we sit and watch them. Beautiful.
Have had a very productive day. Ran four miles, then we changed and picked wild blackberries for an hour and a half. Three ticks later, I have enough for three cobblers. Then picked beans. I'm thinking I've got enough for about 16 quarts.
Ahhh.....summertime.
