June's DJ Secret Pal "Giftee"

My awesome Dear Jane Secret Pal sent me these 4 beautiful fabrics for my June "giftee". I love browns and this fabric matches perfectly with some Moda fabric I already have :) Now to choose which project to create with these gorgeous fabrics!!!!

June BOMs

I have managed to find the time to get my 2 June Blocks of the Month done :) The Blue & Gold one is the 2005 BOM and it is called Wedding Ring.

The Blue tones & Tan BOM is for the 2009 BOM project and it doesn't have a name! But I really like the pinwheel star effect that the colors give it. Six down six to go. I can't believe the year is already half over...where does the time go?

Garden Update

About the middle of June this is how the garden was coming along :) By the end of June we have had a few tomatoes, green onions, lettuce, and red potatoes to eat from the garden. I will try get a more recent picture posted soon, I hope :)

Soon we will be canning and freezing corn, green beans, peppers, etc. Lots of work now, but it will taste OH SO GOOD this winter :)

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!!!

Graduation - At Last!!!!

After 14 years of Home Schooling, this includes Pre-school & Kindergarten, Graduation Day has finally arrived for my two youngest children. Some days I wasn't sure we would make it through Homeschooling...but we did! So on Saturday, May 23, 2009 we held a small, private, family Graduation Ceremony followed by an open house for all family and friends. I would not trade the experience for anything. That's me, Mom & Teacher in the center; Dad & Principal in the back (and the two of us make up the school board); and Emma-lee and Jesse, our Graduates, on each side. So, we are now All Celebrating!!!!! Oh Yes!!!! WE ALL MADE IT!!!!

Prom Time

My youngest son attended Prom this year, so I thought I would share a couple pictures of this event :) The Prom was at the end of May. (I'm running really behind!!!) The day after the Prom everyone went to King's Island Amusement Park in Ohio for Post-Prom, and of course everyone had a GREAT time!

The Garden

Ahhh, Our garden is going good, after a rough start. Well actually the correct term would be soggy start. I did have to replant a few things after 2 different periods of rain that brought 3-4 inches of rain each time!!! But all is well now :)

My dear husband was also able to get the grape arbors built, (you can see them way in the background of this picture) so we planted Concord and White Niagara grapes there. We also planted some raspberries and blueberries on the other side of the garden. Now, if I could just get him going on building the chicken house!!!!

June Already????

Oh my goodness, I can't believe it is already June....where in the world did May go??? I have so much to catching up to do here on my blog. Gardening, Quilting, Prom, or Graduation... Where to start? Uuummm, let's see... Oh! I know, I have an awesome Secret Pal over on the Dear Jane Secret Pal Group. Every month she has sent some absolutely wonderful gifts and of course there has always been some chocolate included in each package :) Each month she has made me some awesome "quilty" something. All of which matches, she is so so good to me. Anyway here are pictures of May's gift.

I must admit I look very forward to receiving her package each month :) She has really spoiled me.

Baby Rabbit Update :)

It was 1 week ago today that we found the 6 little rabbits in our backyard. They have grown quite a bit in just 1 week and their eyes are opened now. They are also beginning to get a little hopping motion going on :) Doubt they will be around much longer :( But it has certainly been fun watching them this week. My grandkids have loved watching them too. I'm sure this might be one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunies for them, I know it has been for me.

Raindrops

My Bleeding Heart plant after one of our many rains this past week.

Be sure to click on this picture to get the full effect. You can actually

see the raindrops hanging on the stems and blooms.

Birds of a Feather???

Okay, I filled my bird feeders and through out some bread and crackers on the ground for the birds yesterday. I love feeding the birds and other forms of wildlife...squirrels, deer, and raccoons. The bird feeders are in the backyard, the squirrels and deer a little farther back and the raccoons are in the west side yard. But on this day the raccoon came to "steal" from the birds...I believe we will name this one Bandit!!!!!

This little guy is quite use to all us humans. If we have not gone out to feed him by about 6:00pm...he will actually come to the back door. When he starts knocking on the back door... the house is his, I'm moving!!!! LOL

He has also been known to follow us back to the house if we don't leave food out for him. Yes, as soon as he hears anyone go to the garage he comes out to see if it's feeding time.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Today was my laundry day, and since we are finally having warmer weather I can hang my laundry outside :) It was a speed dry day, today. The winds were 25 - 30 mph, with some gusts up to 45mph!!!! It only took the jeans about 45 minutes to dry... the picture shows why :) I must say it was quite a challenge to get those clothes on the line; and the jeans could have easily become lethal weapons, the way they were whipping around in the wind!

And here is an updated picture of the baby bunnies :)

April DJ Secret Pal Gift :)

During this past week I received this awesome gift from my Dear Jane Secret Pal. I have never taken part in a Secret Pal exchange before, and I don't know if all Secret pals are like mine... but My Secret Pal is just the best!!!!!





She made me the wonderful Travel Sewing Kit, and sent me the beautiful spring colored Fat Qusters:) She is really spoiling me, and I love every minute of it!!!






Here is a picture of the inside of the sewing kit.
Complete with ziplock baggies sewn in to keep
all my little projects safe and sound. :)

Baby Bunnies

Last Sunday while we were mowing and gardening my husband came across this group of 6 baby bunnies. They are so cute and so very small. Their little "nest" is right out in our back yard! I will keep a check on them and see how they progress :)

This Year's Flower Bed

Our little flower bed is now all cleaned up, with some plants up and bloomimg. We also planted several packets of wild flower mix seeds. Hopefully these will all come up and attract the butterflies and hummingbirds. If it does, there will be many a picture coming to this little blog :).












My Bleeding Heart bush just keeps increasing and spreading. This is one of my favorite flowers.








This little angel and cherub look over my flower garden.

Sure would be nice if they could shoo away all the plant eating bugs!!!!

Garden Time :)

Last weekend we were finally able to get the garden turned over and everything planted!!!! That was an unbelievable feat for us...the whole garden in one weekend. I had lots of help, though. Two of my daughters, 1 daughter-in-law, 5 grandkids. I told everybody, that if they planned to eat out of this garden, they had to come help plant and take care of it (LOL). It worked for the planting part :)

We have planted corn, green beans, 3 kinds of potatoes, 3 kinds of tomatoes, 3 kinds of peppers, 2 kinds of lettuce , 1 type of spinach, canteloupe, 2 kinds of watermelon, zuchinni, and cucumbers.

The kids had the most fun planting the potatoes. They all thought that was the greatest thing!!!!

Names of Jesus Quilt Top

I have finally started quilting my Names of Jesus Quilt, yes, I am hand-quilting. I don't have have a long arm quilter and I can't afford to send it off to someone, so "it's a hand-quilting we go". As you can see my stitching is being watched carefully by Samson, my infamous "quilting buddy".

I will be following the pieced blocks with quilting, while the alternate blocks will have a shell design quilted in them. The alternate blocks are a white-on-white shell print. I have chosen a medium to dark purple for my backing, which will wrap around to the front and create a border.

I am very anxious to finish this quilt and be able to cover up with a quilt made of blocks representing so many different Names of Jesus. This is also the first quilt that I have done with an on-line group, and there was an awesome Bible study that went along with it :) This quilt will be treasured by me for so many reasons.

Easter Weekend Project

Over Easter weekend I decided to make this table runner for our dining room table. This is the first one I have made, and I must admit I enjoyed making it very much. I chose Spring colors, so this one will be my Spring Table Runner....Oh, that sounds as if there could be more table runners in the making. Summer, Fall, Winter, Valentine's, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and on, and on, and.....Oh No, I'm becoming a table runner addict!!!!! AHHHHH, then I could make matching placemats & napkins, someone stop me, I need HELP!!!

NEW BOM GROUP!!!!!

Okay, okay, I know the last thing I needed to do was join another on-line Quilt group, but this one is going to offer Basket BOMs...Now how cool is that??? I just couldn't resist :) This is a practice basket block from the group. And the group name, you're not going to believe this.....Basket Case Quilters!!!!! (ROTFL) Is that appropiate or what????

April BOMs

This is the 2005 Block of the Month for April. This BOM I can see all 12 blocks ahead of time and plan my fabric selection in advance. Four down eight to go :)

And, this is the 2009 Block of the Month for April. I am really enjoying this BOM stuff. It's almost like a mystery quilt, since you don't know ahead of time what each block will look like. There is also the challenge of choosing fabric too!!!

April Card-Making

The Kitty Cat card was made for my granddaughter for her Birthday this month. Finally got the Cuttlebug out and played with it for a bit. I really need to use my Cuttlebug and Cricket more :)

This card is the one I made for my Son-in-Law's birthday.

These are the cards I made for two swaps this month. Instead of making several cards I am trying to make less cards, and putting more thought into them :)

WOW, It's Already April!!!!!

I can't believe it has been over a month since I blogged! Where has the time gone???? I have been trying to organize and re-organize my sewing and craft areas...this is a never ending job (LOL)

I have also began the task of painting the bathroom and trying to declutter and organize it....Oh My, What a task!!!

This picture is of some of the Finches that have returned to my backyard this Spring.

These pictures are of the Flowering Crabtree in my front yard. When the wind blows just right, the wonderful sweet smell of these blossoms comes right in my sewing area window, LOVE IT!!!!

And look how green the grass is right now. Spring is such a beautiful time of the year, everything is wonderfully fresh and new, and the air just smells so clean.

Spring????

Though Spring doesn't officially arrive until this Friday, today felt like and looked like Spring.
Our temperatures made it into the lower 70's, the sun was shining, birds were singing, and there are patches of green appearing in the winter-browned grass. I also noticed that my Bleeding Heart plant has tiny new sprouts poking through the ground.

The robins, bluebirds, and a few finches have returned. And all the male birds are doing their cute little "look at me" dances for the females! I do believe I heard one bird couple arguing over the construction of their nest...such back & forth chattering they were doing... I had to laugh out loud at them.

I was able to hang my laundry out on the clothes line!!! There just isn't anything like the smell of clothes that have hung out on the line, and the whites just look so much whiter after a good dose of sunshine. The grandkids rode bikes, and played pitch & catch; and are now fast asleep, completely worn out from all that outdoor play and fresh air.

I have now begun to plan my vegetable garden. Hopefully the potatoes will be out on April 10th, with many more veggies following soon after. I am looking forward to eating fresh from the garden this year, and of course I will do some canning and freezing for the winter.

I truly love our change of seasons, but I was really growing tired of Winter this year, it seems to have drug on and on. I am ready for Spring!!!

GIVE AWAY PRIZE

The prize for Rhonda's Give Away, that did I mention I won (hehehe), arrived today!!! Six absolutely wonderfully beautiful Fat Quarters :) Thank you so much Rhonda. The fabric is beautiful and I very much appreciate you doing the Give Away...lots of fun. I never knew how much fun could be had on the Internet, until I joined all the quilting & scrapbooking groups. Both have such wonderful, caring, sharing people in them. I feel so blessed to be a part of these groups.

GIVE AWAY WINNER!!!!!

Remember the fat quarter "Give Away" I mentioned last month, over at Rhonda's blog, Patches and Pieces. Well the winner was announced.......
and, "IT'S ME... ME, ME, ME"!!!!!! "YES, ME" Talk about doing the "happy dance"- that's what I'm doing for sure :) Now, that's how I like to start out a new month. When I receive my prize, I will be posting a picture :) Thank You so much Rhonda & "Mr Random".

March Card Swap Cards

These are the cards I made for the upcoming March card swaps. I love making cards and scrap booking. Another creative outlet.

The first set are a "Sketch" card, "Birds of a Feather", "Anything You Want", and "Friends Forever" themes.


The second set is obviously for Easter.

March 2009 BOM

Here is the March 2009 BOM, that I finished last night. I'm actually running on schedule so far *grin*. And since I was working on it late last night, and not paying attention, I cut enough pieces to make 2 complete blocks instead of one...but my Dear Sister-in-Law said she really, really liked it, so she will be receiving the extra pieces :)

Sharing My Birthday

February was my Birthday month, and I wanted to share some pictures of a few things I received from people on a couple groups I belong to :)


This is the wonderful Sewing Caddy & yummy Chocolate Truffles that I received from my Dear Jane Secret Pal. I love it!!! She made the Sewing Caddy for me, isn't she an Awesome Secret Pal????
Next, from my Dear Sweet Rosa, I received these oh sooo cute "Stick Girls" siggys! *grin*

And last, but definately not least....Over at the Quilting in Indiana Group, I belong to the Birthday FQ Club. And these are the GREAT FQs I received from there.

I "Thank You" all so much for making this such special Birthday :)