March Sunset

Many evenings in March have given us stunning colors in the west sky in the evening.  Finally I grabbed the camera and ran out for photos!  As you know… the photos don’t do it justice!

the 11th ~

 

the 16th ~

And I had a few walks outside…..
The Farmer is working on the planter a bit at a time…. and these wimps think they need a cushion and to keep him company!

He took this photo on his phone another day ~

And while I almost got a photo of the dog & me upclose with P in the background, the dog just doesn’t like selfies!!  So P came to help me…. and we have a family of 3 photo!  This was the best I could get.  Such a goofy dog!

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March Birthday ’16

He requested Dutch Apple Pie which is no surprise as I know it is a favorite.  I pulled out the copy of Grandma Lizzie’s recipe but doubled the crumb topping and probably added more apples.  They cook down, right?  And I didn’t want a few left in the bag!

(I’ve used various recipes for Dutch Apple pie over our married life but none of them are ever as good as Grandma Lizzie’s!  I said that was because she put in grandma love which I can’t do!  He has good memories of her and another cousin has confirmed what a good cook she was!  But usually w/o a recipe so who knows how much she used the recipe I have that is labeled as hers!)

Thankfully I had a pan underneath to catch the drips near the end of cooking.

Yummy!!

We went to Miss K’s to get a good and new dinner out on Sunday.  She suggested a BBQ place where she had been before.  It was cold & rainy from the time we left home until the time we got back home!  So our idea of walking around wasn’t so grand.  She drove to lunch ~

Dino’s BBQ.   Yummy and fun decor!

I really thought a pre-order for Easter dinner cooked by them, picked up & delivered home by Miss K would have been lovely!!  🙂  I’m sure the in-laws wouldn’t have enjoyed as much as the rest of us.  It was a fun idea for me to dream!

Time together needs a photo!  Love these times!!

After lunch, we thought we’d help get her groceries for the week and have extra hands for carrying but the parking lot was full and the rain was strong so we skipped that and headed to a new ice cream shoppe near her house.  Yummy!  This new ice cream habit I’ve developed isn’t a good idea!!

JP sent a 4′ T-square and a new fangled tape measure and he will put them to good use on our flooring project!

Miss K had new shirts for him for spring & summer.  She is great at getting all of us new clothes!

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White Dog or Not?

Is the farm dog white and clean?

Or does she….

go wading/swimming on a 55’F day (real feel was 43′ though)

 

in February?  (whoa!!! Such a heat wave!  When does that happen here??)

 

Or does she mostly go digging and come inside at supper time like this?  (she didn’t stay in the kitchen after photos!)

 

 

 

 

 

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Quilt Show with Friends

I was able to go to a quilt show with the added bonus of seeing some friends that I don’t see very often.

A few quilts from the show …

Song Birds ???

 

I ♥ the miniatures!! (note standard size rosette ribbon)

 

Love the farm scene!

 

Yes, I gravitate to house quilts… by a group, pastels, and vines over the thin sashings. Great work!

 

Modern is another favorite along with all the quilting here.

 

A whole wall with a whole year of quilts and then close-up of the last one. Stunning!

 

Favorites – flowers, pinks, black & white, texture, different fabrics, 3-D, spectacular quilting

 

I took a class and just got this far…

The class was instruction to make the center to either hang on point or straight of the part inside the squiggly yellow line. The instructor had many examples of how she had used this same pattern for a medallion on other quilts. My tiny triangles for the star points are on the table at the end of the class!

It was a paper piecing class but I like to do paper piecing.  I’ve done a lot of methods and will still stick with “mine”.  But we had a good instructor and I enjoyed meeting my table partner.

To a sponsored pajama party….

…and had a blast with cheering and laughing until our sides hurt.

our table princess ~

 

Seeing special friends that came for the show too! ♥

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Baby Gifts

I made gifts for a baby shower recently. The new baby is due to love pink so of course I enjoyed adding pink fabrics to a denim theme.

The bibs are like a favorite pattern I used for our son back in the day. This time I found hot pink bandanas at Farm & Fleet which pleased me! I used a standard bib pattern I found via Pinterest.  Her pattern is turned right side out but I like the frayed edges of the denim so I sewed mine wrong sides together and just stitched along the edge leaving a bit to fray after washing.

(I have no affiliate sponsors.  I’m just adding the links so you can find ideas too.)  I don’t have more pictures as these came out of the washer & dryer just 5 minutes after I should have left for the party!  I don’t do late.

Snap Source, the best way to add snaps!  Even if you sew only a few things for a child, you have to have a snap setter from Snap Source.  Buy size 16 and you should be pretty set for most projects.  It is great — even after all these years for me!

The travel changing pad idea and instructions came from Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew.  I used denim on the outside and a cotton fabric with a light chintz glaze for the inside. I took the denim and a piece of wool batting to my deck and spray-basted them together.  Then it was easier to sew the denim right sides together with the cotton.  After turning right side out, I quilted a few wavy lines since I had added a layer of wool batting inside.

I added a travel pouch of wipes after the photo.

My children didn’t have tag blankets but I’ve heard a lot about them. I sent a quick message to a young mom friend to check on a good size. I say bigger is better and was aiming to about 20″ square as the pattern suggested. However, she said theirs are more 12″ square and big loveies shouldn’t be in cribs anymore.

The cream side is velour and the other side is a pastel yellow flannel feminine print. I added pastel ribbons of various textures.

I also put a layer of wool batting inside before turning. Quilting this on my long arm was a challenge with nothing to load it with so I basted the edges to some straps of fabric. It was the ugliest load ever! (in the form of technique) But totally worth getting a feathered freehand heart!

I made a denim tote for the gift bag and it can be used for toting toys, baby needs, or groceries. I love this size for the grocery. Plus if something spills the totes are easy to wash.  I have this pattern but I really want to rewrite it so I don’t have to rethink it all every time I make one. I’ve made several.  Poorly written directions!

Me with the expectant mom —

I’m friends with the expectant grandmother; here with her other daughter ~

And now we await word on or around May 1st!

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