Fresh Produce

I haven't been getting much sewing done this summer, but have been doing some gardening. We have quite a few pickles in our garden so I made three kinds of pickles. The middle jar is my mother-in-law's recipe for refrigerator green tomatoes using pickles. The first jar is the same recipe with green tomatoes, yellow banana peppers and pickles. The third jar is my mom's recipe for refrigerator bread and butter pickles.

 

Blueberries are in season, so we bought five pounds.  I used some

to make a blueberry crisp.

Also made some blueberry muffins.

 

Cat Themed Present

My friend, Amy, likes cats. For her birthday, I made her pincushion using Laurel Burch fabric scraps from my stash.   I based the pincushion on this tutorial

This is a top view.

 

Bottom View

 

Side View

The present also included a pair of hot pads and a  towel decorated to match. 

Wine Tote

Last weekend we went to Milwaukee for our nephew's wedding. Our son-in-law is from Milwaukee.  His mother invited our family to her condo for brunch. I decide to take her a bottle of Michigan wine as a hostess gift. Rather than putting the wine in a gift bag, I made a quilted wine tote.

I found this tutorial on Pinterest.   My tote is a taller and a little wider.  I wanted the handle to be above the top of the wine bottle.

 

The tote is insulated, I used two layers of Insul Bright for batting.  The batting also helped the tote stand up nicely.

Where Are My Tulips?

I've been noticing a lot of my tulips didn't bloom this spring. I think I've found the cause.   The bunny likes to spend his early morning in the flower bed just outside our bay window.  He eats the seeds dropped from the bird feeder.

Not only has he eaten the tips of the tulip leaves, he also has been munching on the leaves on the tree.

 

We've gotten to watch for him each morning, well, the other morning.......we could have a lot of bunnies in our future!

 

 

Thanks to Jenny, I have something new in my sewing room.

 

 

Jenny made me the owl picture for Mother's Day.

 

The picture is all hand sewn beads!

 

Hungry Animal Alphabet Quilt

Last fall, while visiting Jenny in Boulder, we went to Quilt A Fair in Longmont. One of the booths sells odds and ends, perhaps the booth is organized by a group of quilters and they clean out their stashes. Usually Jenny is able to find some vintage fabric at this booth. This fall, I found a set of 4 Hungry Animal Alphabet panels for $2. I used one of the panels to make a baby quilt for charity. I used scraps from my stash and only purchased a yard of fabric for the backing and borders.

I loved the squares in the panel.  Each section had so many things associated with the letter.  For example, S is for sheep, sunflowers, sink, snow, suitcase, shutter, salt and pepper shakers, perhaps that's a scoop or shoe horn near the sunflower?

The panel sections were not the same size but I made the blocks the same size.

Even thought the yard of fabric I purchased was 60 inches wide it wasn't quite enough for borders and backing.  I ended up piecing the back with some of the fabrics used in the blocks on the front.

A Few Small Projects

I made my friend, Pat, a cathedral window pincushion for part of her birthday present.  This tutorial  was very helpful and easy to follow.

 

I tried to line up the seams on the middle of the back but they are a little off.

Finally completed another five pair of hot pads for my nephew's shower prizes. (Shower is Saturday!)  I used some fabric panels from my stash for the centers of the hot pads.

 

The backing also came from the stash.  I think I originally bought the fabrics at the same time because they coordinated well.

Finally, Signs of Spring

Spring has finally arrived. A clump of mini daffodils is blooming in the front garden.

 

Outside our bedroom window a robin has her nest in the birch tree.

 

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day, so I was working in my flower beds and checking out the yard to see what was coming up.  As I came around the back side of the house I noticed there was fresh mulch on the ground in a strip about 6 feet by 2 feet.  I couldn't imagine where it came from.

Coming around to the front of the house I saw that some bird had been building a nest on the brick ledge.  Not a wise place for a nest...I'm sure the wind has been blowing the twigs and grass on to  the ground....our new mulch.

Looking up I also noticed another bird was constructing a nest above the shutter.  I've seen sparrows in and out of the bird house....so I think we have a nest there too.  (You might notice that the shades are down in the window....we are trying to detour a robin who keeps flying at the window...he must be seeing his image and think it's another bird?)