Thursday, August 26, 2010

New little bags


When I saw these little bags I knew I had to make one...or two. They measure 7 1/2" x 9", outside pocket big enough for a cell phone or i-pod, and two inside pockets. I found the buttons in my button box and finished it off with little zipper pulls with some beads I had. The size will be perfect for our upcoming quilt fest....no heavy purse to carry while visiting all the wonderful vendors that will be there!
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Surprise in the Mail

The mail brought a package last week with these wonderful fabrics and patterns.
I had to dive right in and start with the top kit.  Check out the ric-rac!  Orange is so not my color, but this combination just shouted "happy, happy!  Me first"!  Keep reading and scrolling to see the finished top.  It just makes me smile because it is so bright and cheerful.

 The second kit is a Christmas table topper called Figgy Pudding.  Yes, Christmas is not that far away, especially for quilters and crafters!  This one uses 10" squares cut into four different sized pieces and put back together with strips of sashing.  This kit came with fat quarters so if there is a cutting error...oop-p-p-p-s....there is plenty left to cut another piece.  I love the new Christmas colors, especially the blues and stripes.


Here are the finished tops.



 Sorry the picture isn't quite in focus.  There is a strip of wide lime green ric-rac across the middle of the top piece and the bottom piece.





 Popp'n Posies by Izzy & Ivy
Kit from Thimbles & Threads



Happy, dancing flowers.








Finally, here's Figgy Pudding from Mary's Cottage Quilts.
Kit is from Thimbles & Threads.

Can you believe that I found some Christmas decorations in August?  The little bags are filled with balsam needles from our niece who lives in Maine.  They make and sell wreaths and always send us one along with these cute little bags.  I save them every year and put them in a red basket! 

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Plum Jam

Yesterday we made nine jars of plum jam. (One is already missing!) Our big old plum tree didn't produce much this year but we did get enough for one batch. Last year the tree was loaded with plums, and our dog, Sam, loved to eat the ones on the ground and the birds really enjoyed pecking bits out of the ones still on the tree. Not so this year. Maybe it's an every other year thing.
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Thursday, August 5, 2010

Mushrooms Anyone?


I found these beauties growing in odd spots around the yard.  These were sprouting under our spruce tree.  Really strange looking.  The middle one looks like a glass of beer with the foam overflowing...really dark beer.  Not quite sure about the small one, but I'll watch them.


These little guys were growing next to a piece
 of wood.  The peaked tops were quite shiny and if you zoom in there are wonderful striations of color that almost looks like wood grain.
 This one was all by itself between two pieces of wood.  Much darker brown cap.


I guess they like the dampness of the wood because here is another group on the other side of the log. 

Last year I found a giant puffball in our yard.  Of course I had no clue what it was when I took the picture, but after much research, not only did I find out what it was, but that it is edible and has a texture sort of like a marshmallow.

Nature provides us with many, many interesting and unusual things to see and wonder about if we take the time to really look at our surroundings.