I think I’m in love

I’ve spent the last few days appliqueing circles–not my favorite thing, but not that bad, just time consuming.  The number 7 stitch on my Elna made it quite easy.  And, it’s paid off.  I love the results!  This is the sample I’m doing for Quilt Market with my new fabric line called Sweet Pea.  Eventually it will be a free pattern.  I posted about the line on the My Quilt Village blog this morning, but I didn’t have all the blocks done then.  At this point, it’s just up on the design wall.  I still have to decide on borders, but first, I’m off to get these blocks sewn together!  

Don’t these look delicious!?!

Last night my sister sent me these photos.  She and my nephew, Cole, were on a cookie baking roll yesterday.  The reason?  Cole plans to have a concession stand at Sally’s upcoming garage sale!  He will offer three kinds of cookies and beverages.  Don’t you love it?  I’m so happy to see that the entrepreneurial spirit lives on in the family.  I’m sure we have my dad to thank for that!  

Here’s the young chef.

The cookies in progress.

They made three double batches of these cookies, called Benny’s Peanut Butter Peaks.  I emailed Sally and asked her if we knew who Benny was.  Here’s her reply:

 I phoned Cole this morning and he tells me he’s planning to bag the cookies–two to a bag–and sell them for fifty cents a bag.  And, he’s planning to make two other kinds of cookies!  I just may have to go to that garage sale myself!

BENNY’S PEANUT BUTTER PEAKS – DOUBLE BATCH

2 cubes (1 cup) softened butter

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 tablespoons more sugar

72 chocolate kisses, unwrapped

Put butter, peanut butter, 1 cup sugar, brown sugar and eggs into mixing bowl.  Beat with electric mixer on medium until smooth and creamy.

Mix in flour, baking soda and baking powder.  Cover and chill for at least one hour or overnight.

Shape the dough into balls.  Shake three balls at a time in a plastic bag with 6T sugar.  Place the balls two inches apart on a cookie sheet. 

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes.  Put a chocolate kiss in the center of each cookie and press down gently.  Continue baking 2-4 minutes or until chocolate has melted down a little.

Remove cookies with pancake turner and cool on cooling rack.

Makes 5-6 dozen.

Have you all been over to Park City Girl to see the virtual quilt show!  It’s amazing.  She’s asking everyone in blog land to post about their favorite quilt–and there are over 500 up on her site already!  A virtual quilt show.  How fun.  

Now asking me to choose my favorite quilt is a bit like asking a mother to choose her favorite child.  I’ve agonized over this since last night.  I considered my Lewis and Clark Redwork Quilt, the Anna Lena Quilt (Dearest Brother) and many others, but, in the end, it has to be Butterflies in My Garden.

It was VERY early in my quilting career that I made this quilt.  I took a class from Constance Rathfon at The Stitchin’ Station in Astoria and learned how to make the butterflies.  I put it together with my own setting and when I got my first Gammill quilting machine, it was the very first quilt I put on and quilted.  I tried a variety of things on it and it really turned out nice.

Thanks to Amy for the virtual quilt show.  You might also want to check out the posts at My Quilt Village.  The group of shop owners/designers who have that site have been posting about their first quilts!  This was my first quilt.  You can read all about it here.

Wild things are blooming!

I don’t want to sound all cliche` about Spring Has Sprung or Enjoy The Wonders Around You, but I do like to see things coming to life this time of year.  I took a little nature walk around my house yesterday, and these pretty things were there to greet me.  Thank you, Mother Earth.

Just across the road from the end of our driveway there are some trillium blooming.  These are clinging to the edge of the ditch.  They must really understand that whole bloom-where-you-are-planted thing.

Cowslips.  These are growing in the wetlands near my cabin.  I love the yellow and the way the sun shines through them, making them glow.  They are mostly known as skunk cabbage around these parts, but I prefer the English name–Cowslips.  

Across the road in the Crowleys’ fields there hundreds of them.

I even found this Oregon Grape blooming.  It’s the Oregon State Flower.  I wonder who let it north of the border!

And even a few domestic flowers are blooming to brighten the landscape.  These little primroses are always a welcome sight.

And by the back door the white camillas are showing their pretty faces.

Happy Earth Day!

Last week our daughter-in-law emailed to say the kids had Friday off, and would we like to meet them at the Oregon Zoo.  You betcha!

A day at the zoo is always fun–that is if you can keep Bob away from the primates long enough to see anything else!  Luckily, there weren’t too many primates visible, so we had Bob with us the whole time.  I liked these monkeys.  I think of them as skunk monkeys, but they’re really Colubus Monkeys.

The big draw right now at the Oregon Zoo is the baby elephant!  His name is Samudra and he was born last August–and weighed a whopping 286 pounds!  Now at 8 months old he weighs 964 pounds!  And he still looks little next to his mom and aunties!  

My favorite zoo animals are giraffes and polar bears.  I did get to see one giraffe, but he was behind glass and I couldn’t get a good photo.  The polar bears, on the other hand, were putting on quite a show!  They are brother and sister, named Conrad and Tasul.  Even though they’re twins, Conrad is a lot bigger, and like siblings do, they were squabbling!   

Of course some of the cutest things at the zoo are our grandkids!

It’s wonderful to have talented friends!

For more than ten years now I have belonged to a Redwork Club.  It started when I had the shop, and we continue to meet each month.  It’s really become more than a Redwork Club.  We do all kinds of embroidery and while we often have a projects, we love to share show-and-tell of anything needlework that we’re doing.  This is some of what was shared at our meeting.

Linda W. has taken the Through My Window panel and added her own special touches to it!  Not only is she embroidering the whole design, for each month she is adding a little something extra–black eyes on the snowmen, satin stitched hearts for February, a green shamrock for St Paddy’s Day and a purple Easter egg.  Don’t you just love them!

Ethel K. has completed our last years project–Playmates.  She made it for her great-granddaughter, Ellie.  

I’ll share more next month!

Peninsula Quilt Guild Show

As always, the Peninsula Quilt Guild Quilt Show was a huge success again this year.  The ladies of this guild put on a terrific show–and the members include some very talented quilters.  I was delighted to be asked to post photos of the winning quilts.  This is a non-juried show, but the public votes for their favorite quilts in three categories–Small Quilts, Medium Quilts and Large Quilts.  Here are this years winners.

Small Quilts

1st – Becky Olson – Hawaiian Vacation on a Budget

2nd – Carol Osterholm – Life Is Good

3rd – Beverly Wakeman – Kitchen Quilt

Medium Quilts

1st – Insanity – Lynda Newell

2nd – Pink Texas Star – Lynda Newell

3rd – Kismet – Lynda Newell

Large Quilts

High Desert Poppies – Lynda Newell

Surprisingly Red – Lynda Newell

Chuppah – Dale Owen

Congratulations to all!

A couple of years ago three women who came to one of my retreats kept talking about their quilt guild, The Blockheads.  At some point the question came up of how many members the guild had.  The answer?  Three!  We had more laughs over that, and it got me to thinking.  While I love being a member of the Peninsula Quilt Guild, it might be fun to be a part of a mini guild, too.  So, the MG’s were born!  We’ve one-upped the Blockheads–we have four members!  In fact, we’ve gotten together with the Blockheads for a couple of rumbles.

Last year the MG’s launched their first world tour.  I’m not sure what happened to the photos from that trip, but it was a smashing success–right down to our custom made shirts.

Connie, one of the MG’s, had deserted us for a warmed clime, and headed to Arizona in November–just to spend a few months basking in the sun.  but, lo and behold, she and Davey bought a house!  Now the rest of us really needed to see this house–and the sun.  Those of you in the Northwest will understand.  So, the second world tour was launched–The Psychedelic Sunshine Tour!  First we ordered new shirts.

Unfortunately, you can’t see the “bling” on these shirts, but they each have a crystal peace sign on them!

Monica, Robin and I winged our way to sunny Phoenix.  Connie was a fabulous hostess, driving us all over creation to visit great quilt shops and great restaurants.  What more could you want?  Perhaps a visit to the Mariner’s spring training facility?

We loved the German restaurant in downtown Glendale, and I don’t think our shirts attracted attention to us.

But, health enthusiasts and nature lovers that we all are, we went on a nature hike to enjoy some of the local flora.

Okay, so it WAS in a parking lot, but we did get out of the car and take pictures!

The sun set too soon on our fun weekend.  Thank you Connie, Thank you MG’s

Yep, THAT Julianne!

I told you about my mom’s birthday tea, but I didn’t tell you that later that night we went to see budding Country Music Star (and Dancing with the Stars Pro) Julianne Hough.  My mom LOVES Dancing with the Stars and she LOVES Julianne.  So, when I heard on the radio a few weeks ago that Julianne was going to be appearing at the Liberty Theater in Astoria, I just knew I had to get us tickets.  And I did!

So, last Friday night, eight of us went to Astoria to see Julianne.  She is absolutely adorable.  I never thought she was a very big thing, but in person she is tinier than ever!  

While we were waiting in line for the doors to open, representatives of the American Red Cross were selling raffle tickets.  First prize was two seats on stage with Julianne.  Second prize was a couple of tickets to other upcoming performances at the theater and third prize was a guitar signed by Julianne.  There may have been more prizes, but my eyes were blurring over by then, so I forked over $10.00 and got ten tickets.  

Well, sad to say, I didn’t get to sit on the stage with Julianne.  However, I DID win a guitar!  Can you believe that.  I’m not usually lucky in raffles, but I came home with a GUITAR.  Now, what, may you ask, am I going to do with a guitar signed by Julianne Hough?  Why, what any red blooded American would do.  I’m going to put it on Ebay!  

Here I am with my guitar (pronounced gee-tar).  And here’s Julianne saying, “Oh, you’re the one who won the guitar!”