Spring at our house

This is the little "surprise" white bleeding heart that came up volunteer by our front walk.

 



Here are the Hosta pips peeking up through the ground.

 



Here is the traditional Bleeding Heart plant.  This plant always reminds me of the little lady that lived across the street when I was growing up.  She would sit on her shaded front porch and crochet in the summer.  She was always welcoming and friendly.

 



 

Our two apple trees are in bloom. 

The Jonathan picture is on the top and the Yellow Delicious is beneath it.

 

The peaches are in bloom.

 



As is the cherry tree.

 



 

My husband planted bulbs all over the yard last fall.

He has chosen some pretty unique varieties.

This above and below is a peony tulip.

 

We have three Wisteria plants, one lavender, one white, and one pink.  This is the pink one. 

 The white one is actually purple and the purple one isn't blooming so who know what color it will turn out to be.

 



The air is delightfully perfumed by our 3 lilac bushes. 

 I don't think you can ever have too many lilacs!

 



Look closely and you can see an apricot.    I had a hard time taking this picture because there was an off again/on again breeze and the leaves were dancing~

 



 

The lettuce and Swiss Chard and doing well.

 

This will be all the vegetables we will be growing this summer.

 

Off to bigger and better things for a while.

 

R

Off Season Post

 This picture is for Janet of Rogue Quilter.

It is the Pine Tree VT. quilt.  It is my interpretation of a quilt I saw on the cover of American Patchwork & Quilting a number of years ago.

We were able to meet up yesterday at the HMQS show in Sandy.  Bloggers are the greatest.

R

 

I just think my husband is so amazing.

He definitely has a green thumb or two.

These are the carrots that were planted last spring.  He dug up some in the fall and has been digging them up all winter for our use.

These are the last ones and they are amazingly fresh and tasty.

 

I bought this book recently.  It has tantalizing pictures of both the savory and the sweet pies.

I used a recipe that called for butter AND lard in the crust.

 



It was a meat pie made from the leftover beef roast and "Man!" was it yummy.

 

I cooked the roast in the crockpot with Hidden Valley powdered salad dressing mix and 2 pkgs. of brown gravy mix.  I also added about 1 cup of water.

 

After we ate the roast for two meals, I cooked some potatoes and some of those lovely carrots and put it into the already thick gravy and meat.

 



 

The crust was a little tricky and I had to add much more than the 3 TBS. of ice water it called for.  In fact, I probably used more like 1/2 cup.  I think it was my compacted flour and the dry day.  It turned out nice and flakey. 

 

The crust recipe has you cut out little decorations and then paint everything with an egg wash.

I love how the egg wash browned up and it makes the crust have this crispy coating that is nice on the tongue.

 

Not a very "quilty" post but my tummy isn't complaining.

R

Kathie at Inspired by Antique Quilts asked that we show the basket quilts we have made.  So I decided to post a few here.

 

This was a BOM at Thimbles and Threads in Draper,Utah.  I completed it in 2004.  I used the Gingham Rose line by 3 Sisters.  Do you remember that one? 

This is just a top and it is from a pattern by Fig Tree.

 

This was also a BOM.  It was the Mystery BOM from Fat Quarter Shop one year.  I loved making this quilt.  It had big blocks of color in the finishing instructions but I decided to make more churn dashes and flags.  I really like how it tuned out.

I don't normally dress in my son's Hawaiian shirts - it was Halloween and I was supposed to be a tourist.  Where's my camera?

The center of this quilt is from the Women of Grace and Charm book by Blackbird Designs.

 

And this is my latest basket quilt top.  One would think I've had enough of making baskets but I'd still like to make a cake stand quilt with reproductions.

 

Off to deep clean my kitchen.

 

I know, I know, you're jealous!

R

All Righty then. . .

 

It took me all day but I finished the 2nd

Grandmother's Choice/ Civil War

quilt top today.

 

It doesn't go so well with the purple carpeting but I wanted to get an idea of how it fits on a bed.

 

It's a shame that I can't  show off the border fabric better.  Maybe I'll have to post just a picture of it alone.

 

I need to replace the arrow block in the other version I made. 

That will have to happen another day, I already spent too much time unpicking for one day.

 

I don't know why but I kept putting things in the wrong place or

twisting them upside down. 

 

My seam-ripper and I have become BFF.

 

R

 

 

 



Don't you love peripheral vision?

I finally got all the sashing sewn on the scrappy version of my GC/CW quilt tops.  I figured it out and with this setting it's like sewing on the sashing three times instead of one.

I think the blue really brings it all together.  If I had it to do over I would probably sew that arrow in some other fabric but it's done and I'm not going to unpick anything.

As I was sewing the rows together I noticed that my scissors (which I keep in front of my machine at all times) were slowing slipping of the table.  Without a thought I unpinned the butted seam I was sewing over, put the pin in my magnetic holder, and caught the scissors without taking my eyes off the needle or letting up on the foot pedal.

I didn't really think about it till it was over but I must depend on my peripheral vision a lot.  Our body is a magical thing don't you think?

R

Which way to go. . .

 

I'm auditioning sashing fabric. 
I want to use something I already have on hand.

 

I'm leaning toward the blue fabric.  It seems to calm everything down and that is the preferred effect.

 

R