Happy Halloween!

It was a fun day at school today!  I had a new witch hat to wear.  It went nicely with my lovely orange and black striped tights.  Quite the witchy fashion statement for sure!

I had 2 quilt finishes this weekend.  I quilted my brains out.  I hand sewed so many metres of binding that I have little holes in several fingertips.  I just don't like thimbles.  Whine, whine, I know.  Here is one of my finishes.  I like it!  I think it is about 70" by 70"  and I used the design "Coming Home" from the book Simplify.  I just made it bigger than a table topper.  Looks pretty nice finished.  Even Husband had to say it looks better finished than he thought it would.  The burgundy binding finishes it off well.  The burgundy fabric was from my thrifting on the weekend and it was obviously meant to be.  Backed with a 100% cotton vintage sheet, the quilt is super soft and cuddly.  I stippled it loosely in cream.

I am going to link up with Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story tomorrow.  Happy Halloween!!!!

Pillows are faster than quilts...

I forgot my dear friend's birthday.  Husband phoned me and said you forgot her birthday.  I said something like, "Oh, crap!  I'm a dumbo!"  I phoned immediately and she laughed and told me that I would have all year long to celebrate.  I made her a pillow to match the Fresh Flowers quilt I made for her in June.  I made 4" paper pieced string blocks using the itty bitty scraps I had left from her quilt.  I had to go small because I was working with such small scraps.  I think it looks great!  I like the back too.  I used some fabric from the stash and leftovers from when I made my ironing board cover.  I was really tricky when making the back closure.  I used hair ties as the loop to hook over the buttons!  It looks so cute.  You cannot see it though in the picture.  I love it!!!  And pillows are so much faster to make than quilts!!!

Husband made a carrot cake for her too.  He iced it to match the pillow.  Sweet!  I popped over the deliver the whole works on Saturday morning.  I have a plan for next year so I don't forget.

We had some more excitement here this morning.  Nope, not more beavers chewing down trees and taking out the power.  This was a possibility though and it did cross my mind!  Husband and I were having coffee just after 6  AM this morning.  It was still dark and then we heard a noise.  There was a bang outside and the lights flickered.  Husband went outside to see what was up but he could see nothing in the dark.  About an hour later, I was folding laundry and I could see emergency vehicle lights coming down the road.  This time Husband went out to see what was really going on at the end of our property.  A car had left the side road which has a curve and a steep hill coming to a stop sign before joining our road at an angle.  The car had become airborne and smacked into a power pole before coming to a stop at a very interesting angle. Luckily the driver was not hurt but dazed and confused.  The car was an interesting shape!  The power company has now spent the DAY fixing the power pole and luckily we never lost power because I had a whole lot of sewing to do.  I have 2, count them, 2 quilt finishes this weekend! !

I am going to link up with Sew Modern Monday!!!

Flea Market Finds and Halloween is coming!

It was customer appreciation day at my favourite thrift store!  How exciting!  Not only did they have coffee and goodies on the go but everything in the store was 50% off!  Wahoo!  I picked up the pair of appliqued placements for a whole 50 cents.  Today, however, was quilting cotton day!  I found 10.5 metres of lovely quilting cotton.  I love shopping for fabric at quilt shops but when I find such a pile at the thrift store at thrift store prices and then take off 50%, I am a happy camper!  I paid $9 for the pile.

I also snagged a box of note cards.  Each note card has a knitting pattern on it.  How cool is that?

And then for the chickens.  Because Halloween is coming and they do like to be entertained, I found this pumpkin reflector for 12 cents but that was silly so I gave them 25 cents and then Husband hung the reflector in the run for them.  BOO!

I will be linking up with Sophie's Flea Market Finds and with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!
      
Check out all the other finds and dont' forget to check out the Blogger's Quilt Festival as well!

Farmer's Wife Check-in Week 22

Last rose of summer?

Block #66 Periwinkle

 I had seriously avoided this block for a long time because I attempted it and it landed in my "not happy" pile. The first attempt ages ago was seriously messed up and was so bizarre that I just crumpled it in a pile and felt like stomping on it.  I thought, what the heck, I will give it another try.  I did not select very exciting fabric because I thought it would be another disaster.  But alas, it turned out.  So there.  I had to take pictures inside because it was POURING the other day when I was ready to take pictures.

Block # 83 Spider Web

 Cute little block but my centre is not perfect.  Such is life.  I am going with it.  I would make this one again though.  FUN!  Maybe I will make one of these for each season and throw it in the pile.  I think I have said that there are some blocks that I kind of think are lame so I don't want to make them.

Block #18 Century of Progress

I also avoided this block for ever because it was complicated or what.  I did not do this one perfectly because  I have some of the colours in the wrong spots according to the picture in the book but I think that the way the book has it is, a little off anyway.  I am just going to think about this one and decide later if I want to redo it or not.  I made it scrappy and I used all my little pink butterfly scraps right down to nothing.

So that is my farmer's wife week.  On the school front my super dooper basketball team won both of their games today.  We are at 3 wins, 1 loss so far.  I cannot take credit for their play however because I have a fabulous parent coaching and I just facilitate.  So exciting!

On Wednesday

I have 3 quilts on the go as we speak.  Actually, I lied.  I have 4 quilts on the go if you also include the Farmer's Wife quilt.  I am trying to use stash as much as possible in finishing the quilts.  I found a lovely 100% cotton sheet with a suitable pattern for the quilt back and a solid for the binding. Husband does not approve but he does not like the colours of this quilt anyway.  He only likes the actual quilt pattern but he is not a fan, shall we say, of this fabric line.  I reminded him that the quilt is not for him.  I do appreciate his feedback!  And he does have excellent colour sense!

I have 2 quilts ready to quilt.  I am waffling on how to quilt the bento box quilt.  I am going to have to search bento boxes in blogland (quilts that is!) and see what other people have done.  I need some inspiration.

On the knitting front, Daughter has asked for text messaging mittens.  I bought her a pair of home knit ones at a craft fair but she lost one or both of them.  I could not find a pattern and my knitting skills are not up to just winging it.  Husband ordered the book "Knit Grrl" for me the other day at my request because it has a pattern in it for text messaging mittens.  I cannot wait to see how they turn out!!!!  So exciting.

So that is my story.  Excitement is building at school as Halloween approaches and today is Diwali!  Happy Diwali everyone!!!!

Good cookies!

PUMPKIN SNICKERDOODLES

Husband has been baking.  At one point there were ten containers of cookies on the counters or in the deep freeze.  He likes to bake and cannot seem to stop.  I, however, can only eat so many cookies and he does not eat cookies at all.  This is a problem.  I took cookies to school this week.  The staff loves that.  They know how to eat cookies!

I found this recipe for pumpkin snickerdoodles on Judy's bog this past week and I emailed it to Husband.  They just sounded so good!  And I was right!  You have to try them.  So yummy!  The hit all the right taste notes for fall.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Recipe (only slightly adapted from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen)

• 2 3/4 Cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 Teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 Teaspoon salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 Cups sugar plus another 1/4 cup
• 2 Sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 1 Large egg
• 3/4 Cup pumpkin puree
• 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, cream together the softened butter and 1 1/2 cups of sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add the pumpkin puree and mix everything thoroughly. Slowly add the dry ingredient mixture a little at a time until everything is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

In a small, shallow bowl, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. Take a heaping teaspoon full of dough* and roll it into a ball. Roll the ball in the sugar/cinnamon mixture, and the place the ball on the cookie sheet. Flatten the ball so it’s about 1/4-1/2 inch thick (if you want thicker cookies,  flatten the ball a little bit less). Make sure you space the cookies about 2 inches apart from each other.

Bake cookies for 9-12 minutes or until the edges and bottom start turning golden brown. The flatter you make the cookies, the shorter the bake time.

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies

*If the dough seems too sticky just let it sit for about 5 or 10 minutes. It should be easier to work with once it sits for a little bit.

Enjoy!  Totally yummy!  

Design Wall Monday!

I finished all the blocks today for this quilt. "Coming Home" from Camille Rosekelly's book Simplify.  She made it as a table topper but I went large lap quilt.  I used a bunch of fabric samples from my fabulous local quilt shop's "by the pound sale."  I am not even sure what the line is but it is pretty!  I did a little tweaking with the blocks and was able to get the top completely put together yesterday afternoon.  Yippee!  I really like this pattern.  Nice and quick but looks more complex.

I will link up with Judy's Design Wall Monday too!  It is always fun to see what other people are up to.  I have so many quilts on the go right now that I feel like I am my own factory.

Sunday Stash

I picked up some fabric on sale at my fabulous local quilt shop.  Ruby charm packs times 2!  It always takes some time before new lines find their way up to the Great White North so I was tickled to find some Ruby and it is really lovely.  I have a project in mind for these.  Yummy!

Some Michael Miller bicycles and jigsaw camo.  Nice to have around.

And some stripes and florals of Prospect Park by Kitty Yoshida for Benartex.  Very pretty and versatile, I thought.

A little downy woodpecker was trying to figure out the bird feeder with little success.  And the roses are still blooming and a honey bee was working hard at getting whatever she could find in.  Husband and I dug up the dahlias tuber today.  It is such a huge job but the tubers are all on racks downstairs drying. Once they are dry, they will get a dusting of copper sulphate and a bed of hamster shavings before they are stored away in the cold room until next spring. Totally worth the effort when the flowers are so beautiful.

Rainy Flea Market Finds!

It rained today.  I mean really rained.  So much rain that I had to take pictures inside.  I have not had to do that for a long time!  Hit a couple of thrift stores today.  First up are all the little toys and the basket.  I needed to replenish my little boy prize/encouragement supply for my office.  I found all these little cars and then picked through all the bags of small toys to find a good assortment that would appeal to busy little boys.  The whole shebang with the basket cost me about $3.  Less than at the dollar store!  And all these little treasures are just waiting to be re-loved.

Just a few vintage sheets including a plain white one in excellent shape and of course, the pretty pink floral!

Christmas stationary anyone?

Mum says I have a knack for picking up Johnson Brothers china.  I have Johnson Brothers radar I think.  2 luncheon plates in excellent shape for 50 cents each.  That's cheap!

And a lovely platter, old, no chips and big!  This one is for Daughter who loves to cook a turkey dinner and needs to have a platter!

So that is what I found this week.  Nothing mind blowing but fun all the same.  I will be linking up with Sophie's Flea Market Finds and Apron Thrift  Girl's Thrift Share Monday.  Have a lovely weekend and check out all the other finds.  I am spending the weekend at the sewing machine.. .the perfect way to spend a rainy weekend!

 

Hello! Farmer's Wife Check-in Week 21

Block # 58 Mother's Dream

Block # 97 Waste Not

Hello everyone!  I have had a REALLY busy week at school with many, many evening obligations so much so that I have not had time to think let alone blog. I was even coaching basketball.  Something I know very little about.  Last evening it was a Halloween Spooktacular for little children at school so it was all about pumpkin bowling and fun stuff like that.   Even daughter was complaining that I was boring because I had not blogged for a few days!  Well.  Here I am!  And it is the weekend and it is rainy.  That means tons of sewing for this cowboy!

First up, my farmer's wife blocks for this week.  Lots of fun.  The top block, Mother's Dream was easy and basic and I threw in some red and blue because I needed a bit more of those colours.  The Waste Not block is just plain cool!  I really like it!  It came out well with no need for paper piecing.  Husband was impressed because it is so different.  It looks modern and yet was from 1922.  I say that the designer of this block was way ahead of her time!

This week, my fabulous local quilt shop had their anniversary sale.  They had an evening open house.  I was so seriously whiny because I had a MEETING!!!!!  I could not go!  Oh my goodness.  After work today I had to zip over to the next town and just managed to convince Husband that they might still have a bit of sale on.  Wahoo!!!!  The sale was still on.  I told the ladies that I was whinging and whining about missing the sale evening and they assured me I pretty much only missed the donuts.  Total relief!  I still got my name in the draw and I still found a lot of lovely things on sale.  I will show and tell soon.

Happy weekend!!!!

How cute are these????

 Photograph: Philip Sowels/Mollie Makes as in the UK Guardian Oct. 18/11

Apparently it is apple day in the UK on Oct. 21 and the Guardian posted this picture and the accompanying pattern for crocheted apple cosies!!!  Cute, cute, cute.  Makes me want to learn to crochet!  Here is the link to the pattern.

Have you looked at the Mollie Makes site before?  Oh my goodness!  There are some hilarious and wonderful tutorials.  I like the book review a pattern book for knitting your own cat!!!  That may be worth buying the book!

Check it out!

Design Wall Monday!

I haven't put up all my Farmer's Wife Blocks in a long time to see if they are working nicely together.  I surprised myself with the number of blocks I have made.  We just finished week 20 and I knew that I was a little bit ahead because I did that on purpose in case I got busy.  But I did not remember how many blocks I actually have made!  48 blocks!!!!!  Wow!  Only 62 to go!

I do love how they look on the barn wall but it takes me forever to do this!  I pin them up with straight pins and it was breezy so I had to triple pin most of the blocks.  Crazy quilter that I am!  I love how it is all looking.  Lovely and scrappy.

And here is our lovely Webster showing off his guava scented designer shampooed locks.  Fluffy and soft, he is.  Just a big overgrown puppy!

I will be linking up with Judy's design wall Monday!  Check it out!

Work in progress on an autumn Sunday...

Oh, have I ever waffled about what to do with this fabric!  But I made a decision and  I am pleased with the results so far.  This is all going to be a much larger version of Camille's quilt Coming Home from her book Simplify.  This pattern works perfectly with the pile of fabric because it is essentially charm pack friendly.  Since I am using a pile of sample fabrics from the "by the pound sale", I have a range of the line.  The pieces I have were easy to cut into 5" squares with very little waste.  I had lots of Moda Snow for the solid and I fell in love with my Hera Marker again when marking the little tiny squares on the diagonal.  Seriously, if you do not have one of these little life savers, get one!  See it in the top left of the picture above?!!!!  Magic!

Today was the day that we took care of 2 major things.  Husband and I logged the dahlias in the garden.  After 2 nights of frost, the time had come.  The tubers are still in the ground and will have the next week to develop the shoots needed for next year's flowers.  Husband and I will have to dig the giant tubers up next weekend. And that is a lot of work.

The other thing that has been on our to do list, was giving Webster a bath.  Webster is a very large and hairy Golden Retriever who does not like to swim.  We stuffed him quite successfully into the bathtub and lathered him up with some luscious guava scented, designer doggy shampoo.  He is looking quite the thing now, let me tell you!  Serious fluff ball action and seemingly, no loss of doggy dignity.

And it was  lovely day, with leaves spiralling in the breeze.

Busy Saturday Flea Market FInds

First frost this morning.  Fall is really here. It was a packed day today.  Starting off this morning with a school bottle drive then dentist, groceries, fish and chips with Husband and oh, a couple of thrift stores!!!!

I will start off with a couple of vintage sheets that my lovely Aunty brought me when they came for Thanksgiving dinner last weekend.  How is that for a hostess gift?  Perfect gift for me, that's for sure!  And they are both lovely and new to my collection.

What about this lovely depression glass creamer?  I am a sucker for depression glass and have a nice little collection in pink.  I was very excited to pay only $3 for it even thought the cashier at the thrift store thought it was way too high a price for a little old creamer.

I found this some time ago but have it out now because it is fall.  The squirrels are everywhere in the nut trees and I just love this little trinket box.  The only labelling it has is "hand painted" on the bottom but it is quite lovely and vintage!  I think I paid about 50 cents for it. Total find!

Many, many years ago, I bought my mum a glass hen dish but it has since broken.  I had picked it up in an antique shop but look what I found today at the thrift store!!!!  So exciting!

A pickle dish for Husband who does love pickles!

And 2 yards of lilac striped quilting cotton for me for only $1.99!!!!

So there you have it.  This weeks flea market finds!  I will be linking up with Sophie's Flea Market Finds and Apron Thrift Girl's thrift share Monday.  Check out all the goodies!