It Always Snows in September!

In preparation of the storm that we were (are) going to be getting today, I worked in the garden yesterday.  I knew that pumpkins start to shrivel when cold comes and we are suppose to have low temps into next week, so I picked all of them to put in the garage.  A few had turned orange but many were still green, as you can see.  A friend told me that they will still turn yellow.  We will see.

I had lots of red tomatoes but oh so many more green tomatoes.  Again, I had to pick them so they wouldn't freeze.  I have them in sacks now and in dark closets to try to ripen them just like my friend told me to do.  I hope they will turn red.  Such a shame to have bag after bag of green tomatoes!  I'm just not sure I can eat green spaghetti sauce!

It took all day to clean out the garden.  After picking a plant, I would pull it up and get it ready to put into the garbage.  I'm not sure what other gardeners do.  Do you wait until Spring to clean it up or do you clean it up now, like I tried to do?  Remember this is all a first for me.

And the weathermen were right about the cold and the storm that would be moving in today!  Can you see the snow?  It has been spittin' and rainin' all day today.

It was the best kind of day to finish these up!  This is for the D9PS with Jane.  Yea for me!  I had electricians here all day so I tried to stay in my sewing room to keep out of their way.  Perfect time to get these done and mailed.

Here's some different ways to put the blocks back together.  I really enjoy these blocks since they are so versatile.  Reminds me of a log cabin block.

And here is my finished pile!  All cut and ready to be mailed tomorrow!  I can hardly wait to get this swap back.  Will be fun to see what other aqua and red fabric other ladies found to use!

Now to go check on my potato soup for the evening.  I love soup on cold days like today!

Quilt for Lil' Prince

Red Rooster quilted this one.  It's my Disappearing 9 Patch for the next grandson that is due in November.

And see that fire pit?  I am hoping to have Dutch Oven Potatoes cooking in there in just a few hours.  Our area is suppose to get hit with a cold snap this week so we plan on doing some outdoor cooking tonight as a last hurrah before winter sets in.

A Lovely Saturday

Saturday means football at our house.  We have season tickets to go to the Cougar's games in Provo.  Yesterday the Honey decided we should leave early and drive over to Mirror Lake and then on to Kamas before heading to Provo.  It was a beautiful drive with all the leaves turning colors.  Here's some of the pics I took on the drive.  I hope we do this trip again next year!  There are several glacier lakes at the top of the summit that I would like to explore.

When we arrived in Kamas, it was lunch time.  I was happy we didn't stop at the first little burger joint we found.  This cute restaurant was on Main Street.  It is called Yolk on Main.  Their special on Saturday afternoons is their French Dip sandwich with real prime rib.  Oh it was yummy!  I would definitely stop there again!

After the WIN in Provo, we decided to travel on up to the cabin.  The Honey was dying to see the Cougar Y on the wall and the paved driveway that was recently poured.  Here's what our trees look like this a.m.

And looky who dropped by!  Mama and her baby!

And just have to say that I now get to change my profile...I am the proud gramma of a beautiful baby girl!  Born Friday at 3:52 a.m.  Junior Miss looks beautiful on the webcam.  Hopefully we will see her soon in person!  I can hardly wait to hold her.

Aqua and Red Disappearing 9-Patch

Have you joined Jane's newest swap? I enjoyed her Halloween swap that just finished so decided to do another one with her. The color scheme is to use only aqua's and red's. I thought I had more of each but as you know I love looking for new fabric so having to shop for some new stuff with just the right colors was fine by me!

 

Nothing to do with quilting but have to share....this lil' guy has my heart. I heard my cell phone ringing today and ran to answer it. No one on the other end. I could tell by the number that it was lil' guy's mom's phone so I said her name a few times. Then I wondered if a lil' cutie could be playing with his mom's phone so I said his name a few times. No answer so I hung up and redialed. Here comes this little voice..."Hi Gramma! I call you!" I heard his mom asking to see the phone and who he was talking to. She told me that he kept telling her that he wanted to call me so I talked to him for a few minutes.....something about trucks.....haven't quite learned how to decipher all the words he says yet. I could hear his dad walk in the house for lunch and the lil' guy says to his dad, "I talk to gramma!" My son took the phone and told me that the lil' guy was now running around the house all excited that he could call me. LOVE that lil boy of ours! I'm so glad it was my number he called when he punched numbers! Makes me smile.

Now back to sewing up some 9-patches for the swap!

Convoy

While at the cabin, this is what I worked on. A lil' quilt for the lil' guy. It's a Buggy Barn pattern from the book, Those Crazy Kids. I have mentioned before that I enjoy Buggy Barn quilts. You don't have to match seams and everything still comes out great. They are fun to sew after you let go of your mind set that everything has to match!

 

I had a beautiful view to look at all day long.

 

My makeshift sewing area.

 

The truck blocks are done...now to put on the wheels and finish the tractors.

 

I followed my "fortune"......

I was here for several days.....

 

...to watch this be painted....

 

...then back home for a day....

 

...before driving here.

 

It's been a very busy week!

Fortune Cookie says......

"Get away from home awhile to restore your energies"

 

I really need lots of energy this week...hope my fortune comes true!

Almost done and Saturday Sampler

I need to still sew my buttons on my witches' hats but the quilt is done! I'm very pleased with the quilting on this one. Lots of scaredy cats, bats, ghosts, new moons and witches.

 

Even though I live in a small town, we are lucky to have a very nice quilt shop in our midst. One of the ladies who works at the shop is also a pattern designer. These are a couple of her new patterns. Months before I moved here, I came over to attend a benefit auction for someone in the town. A quilt was auctioned off with a darling scarecrow in the center. It has been on my mind ever since I first saw it! It had been a previous BOM from the fabric store. There were no patterns left by the time I moved over so I have been asking Geralyn for another scarecrow pattern all these months. I have even searched online for something similar to what I saw to no avail. Nothing was quite like it. I was so happy to see this scarcrow on Saturday when I went to pick up my free BOM from the shop. Both patterns are made to be doorhangings and they are darling, let me tell you! Geralyn said she hopes to get more designs made like ones for Christmas and Valentine's Day. You can actually buy over the door quilt hangers that go with the quilts! If you look at her website, check out the Moose & Company pattern. It was last year's appliqued BOM! You paid $6 the first month and then the rest of the months were free if you brought back your finished block each month to the store. The shop also does a pieced BOM the same way.

 

Fruits of our labors

Well my lil' garden is still coming along. I am hoping we won't get a cold snap so my tomatoes can keep turning red. Pumpkins are looking good and a few are beginning to turn orange. Zucchini is still producing and I have actually been able to pick a few beans.

Here's a pic of what I picked Wednesday a.m. My plate says "Mama always said eat your veggies". To some seasoned gardeners, this probably looks silly but keep in mind that I have never had a real garden before. Even though they are few in numbers I love seeing even my little beans! I am even getting potatoes! Corn is next to be picked and then I think I will have had success with everything I planted this year.

 

Remember how I was gone all last week? I didn't pick these big guys because I didn't want to deal with them right before we left. Lookie how huge they grew! The little one is about the right size of what you would buy in the store. I love these lil' monsters!

 

Oh! Who am I kidding????

My name is Jana. I am a fabric addict.

Did you think that while on my travels last week that I wouldn't stop at a quilt shop every chance I got?!

I was excited when I searched online and found a shop right in the Amana Colonies. It had even been featured in the 2009 Spring edition of the magazine Quilt Sampler. This is Heritage Designs in Amana, Iowa. A nice, large shop filled with lots of batiks and Japanese fabrics.

 

Since the shop was filled with Lecien fabrics, I had to buy a few fat quarters. Also had to buy fat quarters of Metro Market. Love the retro feel and bright colors of the fabric.

Next stop was also in the Amana Colonies. Fern Hill. Oh my! What a shop! The bottom floor is filled with architectural antiques and flowers. Upstairs is where you find the fabric. Fern Hill is also home to artist, Stephanie Brandenburg. You can see her studio where she paints upstairs. While I was there, she was busy standing on a ladder trying to make sure some antique columns didn't come crashing down. They had a photo shoot the day before in the gardens outside and used some of the antiques in the pictures. From what I understood, their gardens have been featured in many magazines. Of course I had to buy some of her fabric after meeting her.

 

Stephanie's fabric is the grouping in the center of the picture.


By the time we finished exploring the Colonies, we were too late to go to Winterset and see the Fons and Porter shop again. We were there a few years ago and fell in love with the darling town square. Next time. So we headed onwards to Nebraska.

After a night's rest in Lincoln, headed west again. Let me tell you, I-80 is one long highway! I made sure we took a break in Cozad, NE because of a cute quilt shop I found last year on the same trip. Prairie Point Junction is a shop that was also featured in the 2005 Quilt Sampler.

 

On this stop, I found a couple of kits to buy and some sale fabric.

While at a truck stop filling up the truck with diesel, I found a map of Nebraska quilt shops. I was sneaky enough to "need" another break to get out of the truck when we reached Ogallala. Silver Thimble was crammed packed full of machines, threads and fabric. When I first walked in I was a bit disappointed since I didn't see alot of fabric but as I walked back to the end of the store, I found it hiding behind a book wall. It isn't a cutsy store, but if you are a quilter and live in the area, it would certainly serve you well.

I didn't get a picture of the store but here are my goodies. The owner was sweet enough to even let me be a frequent buyer for the day and let me pick out a fat quarter. See the sewing machine fabric in the middle? It was my gift for being such a good customer! As you can see, I bought a couple of patterns and fabric to go with them. I also found some backing for a quilt I am making for #1 grandson. And have you seen the fabric towards the back yet? I LOVE IT! So retro and funny! It's called Housework Whenever. The other piece of fabric has recipes on it. I might have to try them to see if they are any good. It is from Timeless Treasures.


So. Can you tell I have a problem? I love fabric! Always have. Even when I was a little girl I loved going to the fabric stores with my mom while she bought fabric. I just hope that some of this fabric from this trip actually ends up in projects and quilts! If not, it is still fun to touch and look at.