First Quilt of 2013

I'm back............sort of.

I will not be blogging about our family, or our homestead, or animals, or baking or homeschool, or anything else that I used to- with the exception of quilts. I'm taking this blog back to where it started....the love of quilting. I'll be sharing, as time allows, about completed quilts.

And that's pretty much it. So if you love quilting, or quilts and you don't mind hanging around as I sporadically share quilts as they are finished, then I welcome you. I'm sure this will take on it's usual seasonal character, while I quilt more in the winter while it's cold outside and we are inside. As spring time arrives with planting and spring turns to summer with most days spent outside, quilting will take a back seat and the posts will be few and far between, if any.

Without further ado, here is the first quilt of 2013........

"Cowboy Stars" - 2013

 

I made this quilt for our youngest boy who, I'm embarrassed to say, only had 1 quilt to his name, that was his baby quilt. He is 3 now and has outgrown that quilt's size....about a year ago. He was borrowing his big brother's quilt until his was done. Now he has this on his toddler bed and is warm under his very own big boy quilt.

I used the Happy Trails Collection from Benartex fabrics, with the exception of the white stars on red print that was from the Rosie the Quilter line from Bayside Quilting. I wanted to add a little more red into the quilt and also wanted a fabric that kept the theme.

Here is the backing fabric and a good chance to see the quilting on it. Unless you're able to see the quilt in person, the quilting disappears in the front of the quilt. The backing fabric is a flannel. Flannel is a must as far as I'm concerned for toddler bed quilts. Usually my kids don't have a sheet at this point, until they move to a twin size bed, and the flannel keeps them warmer than a cotton would.

I'm working on a few more quilts right now so hopefully you'll see me back here soon!

The End and The Why

As if you haven't noticed, this blog has been neglected. I really am not spending the time posting. Not because I don't think about it. Actually, it's quite the opposite. I see something or do something that where I think, "This would be a good blog post." Like the other day, I made distilled rose water. I used my canning pot and made a distillery to create this wonderfully aromatic water from our organic rose petals growing out by the garden. I thought about snapping all the photos and making up the post but then I wondered, "When would I do that? Do I even have the time to do that?"

So, in short, this blog will be ceasing and I'm going to spend my time doing things like:

Spending time in the Word.
Digging the rest of the potatoes and onions.
Schooling my children.
Keeping a house that my husband is glad to come home to.
Sewing.
Canning.
Praying.
Reading.
Learning.
Tending animals.
Butchering turkeys and hogs.
Writing letters of encouragement to friends.
Taking hikes.
Going fishing.
Taking walks and bike rides with my children.
Volunteering where needed.
Baking our daily bread.
Keeping up on the business bookwork.
Being the example that I want my children to grow up to be.

And not wasting my time being idle on the computer. It will be for the benefit of my children, the benefit of my husband and the benefit of my relationship with the Lord.

Thank you to everyone who has followed along all these years. Those of you who have made kind comments and those of you whom I'd count among friends now. It has been a blessing to me and I pray that it has been one to you as well. You ladies that manage your homes, and raise children, and farms and still have the time to blog everyday or even a couple times a week amaze me! It's just not where I am right now though. And so I'll say farewell to you wonderful readers. Blessing to you abundantly!

In Christ,
Heather

Some Summer Sewing

Summer is not usually the time I get too much sewing in. The sun is out, the garden needs tended as do the animals. It's the time to head to the river and the farmer's market. A time to pick berries and make jam.

But I have managed to get a little time in with my machine over the past few months. Too bad the time wasn't spent on a quilt. But that's what winter is for anyway, right?

 Here's an apron I made. (Pattern from here.) My dearest girl friend and I both decided to make this apron together. I think that we started them last winter?? I don't remember. All I know is that we finally brought our aprons back out a few weeks ago and I finished mine. Just in time too because this Gathering Apron is a winner for harvesting in the garden! 



Here is the apron down. You could absolutely wear this as a regular house apron. Apparently, Ms. Thanksgiving turkey felt as though she should be included in the shot.


Here is the apron gathered up and ready to be used in the garden!

The apron is absolutely wonderful and I know that I am going to get so many great years of use out of it. Probably until it's thread barren. Then I'll make another!

My second sewing project that I accomplished last week was a jumper for Timber. Sewn without a purchased pattern.

I just took a jumper from her closet and some Swedish tracing paper, a pencil and some scissors, and of course, some fabric and went at it. I traced the bodice and then took the measurements of her skirt. I did cut out a half bodice on the Swedish tracing paper to use as a guide for cutting. The skirt was 2 rectangles sewn together so that didn't need any special cutting.

I was really happy with the way it tuned out. I purposely made the bodice a little larger than what was on her current jumper but later regretted that decision. There is a little too much room in the front and back and it could be taken in right down the center about an inch. All in all though, for the $6 I paid for the fabric (that Timber picked out at Wal-Mart), the maybe $.50 or so for the tracing paper and my time one afternoon. It was worth it.

Maybe next time Timber will crack a smile for the camera. But I won't get my hopes up.

The Garlic Harvest

This year has been a different kind of year in the garden. I haven't weeded or mulched as much as I normally do so in between the rows some of the grass has gotten a little out of hand. We're just starting to harvest our produce. Things like green beans, strawberries, broccoli, carrots and peas are coming on now. Normally we have already harvested our peas, back in July, but this year with the later rains and the not so sunny/warm summer they came on very late.

Another thing that has been a little peculiar has been our garlic. I planted seed garlic that I purchased from Azure Standard. This is my 3rd year planting garlic seed from them. I have always been very pleased with how it grows and the size of the yield. I'm sure that it was the strange weather we've had this summer that takes the credit for the garlic being so different.

Our largest bulb measured 3" across and our smallest measured only 1.25"across. Our largest, along with a couple others it's size, was almost 3 times bigger than the little ones! They were all from the same seed and all planted in the same bed so I'm not too sure why some did so well and others did not. Last year, it seemed that all of the garlic was large and did exceptionally well.

We harvested 22 bulbs and that will last us until next August when I harvest again. Now I'll tie all of the garlic up and hang it in the garage for storage and use.

Do you grow garlic? How was your harvest this year?

This post is linked to the Barn Hop.

The County Fair & Camping & Everything Else

Wow. Over a month since a post. You know it's summer!

Here's what we've been up to........

 Layton and his ribbons from fair.

 Miss Timber Ann and hers.

 Our county fair was the first weekend in August and we entered a number of things. Our most exciting entries though were our chickens! Both Layton and I entered hens this year in the fair and Layton also entered our drake Magpie. We had a great time. As with every fair, there were things that we entered that we were sure would be first place winners.......which got nothing! and then things that we didn't even expect to be noticed that won first! Each year is a surprise!

We've also been camping.

 Picking blackberries from a small patch in the field.

 Cooking hot dogs for our second nights meal. The first night we were treated to....

TROUT! Caught by the world's best 5 year old fisherman! (And yes, the barefoot 2 year old is flailing a hatchet. Thankfully it's rather dull.)

Watching Daddy gut the fish and then cooking it. After it was cooked and we divied it up, I asked Layton if he wanted any. He looked at me and said, "No Mom, I caught that for my family to eat." His heart just melted mine. What a sweetheart.

We spent 4 wonderful days in the back woods and loved every minute of it. Well, except nap time in the tent when it was 90 degrees outside. Thankfully our tent was mostly shaded. And the creek was less than a 1 minute walk from camp.

I took a survey of all the trees there and found that most of them were very straight. I mentioned that to my husband and told him that we could probably easily build a cabin with what was available there. While he liked the idea, the hour and a half drive to work everyday turned him off slightly.

The garden is finally producing. We're eating peas and green beans and broccoli along with some strawberries and spinach. The hoop house is like a jungle and we've been getting lots of cherry tomatoes and a few plum size ones too. I have a huge Brandywine in there that I am waiting on so very patiently. I can't wait till it's red! The Delicata squash is also looking great. I can already taste the buttery nuttiness of it paired with some wild rice this fall.

And speaking of fall........are we already almost there?! Hunting season starts this month. Archery begins this weekend and rifle starts next month. Here's hoping we'll have some venison to butcher too!

 Last but certainly not least, Wyatt and his BMX bike. He's 14. Have you had a teenager? O.k., then you know what it's like. He specifically asked me if I could post these pictures on my blog. He also wanted to know if I could upload videos. I think he may be thinking of hijacking it and turning it into a blog all about BMX.

 Ya gotta love that kid!

I hope that your summer has been wonderful!