Golden Day

Today is one of the most beautiful days that comes along in the fall. Cool in the morning and warm during the day with lots of sunshine.
This is what my sewing room looks like after I finished up the Farm Girl Vintage blocks. While I was working on them, I leave the fabric out so I don't lose them and keep my color scheme intact. Now I need to put them all away, not a favorite task.

These blocks that I finished last winter have marinated enough and now it is time to bite the bullet and get the sashing made. Not a favorite task either.

I guess when all else fails, move onto something new, drafting a new block. I am itching to start something new but will wait.

I have been working slowly on some other swap blocks that I really want to finish up. It is on my design wall and I am not taking it down until it is complete.

While working without a pattern can be fun it is a lot of work too. It is getting there.

How cute is this? I am not a cat person but this will be used for a special person who is.

I wanted to share a super easy recipe that you will love. First take some romaine and cut it in half, wash it and dry it off. Be sure to take off any leaves that are bad.

Brush both sides with olive oil. I don't have measurements just make sure all sides have a nice amount on them.

Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, the amount is up to you.

Next sprinkle garlic powder, again both sides.

Put them on a real hot grill. We cooked steak, took it off to rest and turned up the burners. Put them on for about 2 minutes, keep checking so they aren't totally burnt. Flip them over and do the other side. They should have a nice char.
Sprinkle on  blue cheese or parmesan cheese and enjoy. This is now one of my husband's favorite dishes and a lot easier to make than a salad.
Now that summer is over what are you working on?


Kelly

Happy Monday!

I had grand plans to sew all weekend long but it didn't really happen. I came across this pincushion pattern on a blog called Fresh Lemon Quilts it was just the project to fit into the time I had to sew. If you want to make one there is a paper piece pattern you can print out.

I am displaying them on a cake plate in my front hallway. It makes me happy to see it as I come and go during the day.

Griffin and Elliot

My grandsons spent the night Saturday and were happy to be my models to show you my finished Farm Girl Vintage blocks. I really enjoyed making these simple blocks and am looking forward to turning them into a quilt. You can find the patterns in the book called Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt.

I was pretty focused with my color choices and am happy with the way they play together.

I love that strawberry. It took a lot of trial and error to get the pinks just right.

The only block I did not include was the sheep, I just wasn't feeling it. I opted for a bee (in another book) and still have to embroider the antennas.

I changed the sunflower block from yellows and browns to pink. There is no brown in my quilt. I used gray for stems and such where you would usually use brown. Notice my bee is pink too!
This was a QAL and very doable to make 2 blocks a week. I now will figure out how to set it.
If you are a new quilter this is a great book to learn quick techniques that you will use over and over again.

Kelly

Kaffe Mini Swap

Today when I got home from my workout there was a big box on the front porch!
Yesterday I showed my quilt that I was sending out. Today I can show you the quilt I received! How gorgeous is this? A quilter from California named Jeremy made it and this was his first swap.

His box had "Happy Mail" to alert me something good was inside.

Also inside was a nice big Starbucks mug and this adorable mug rug that must have taken forever to make, it is so intricate.

Here is a better shot of the mug rug and some other little fun things that he included.

Everything in the box was stitched into Kraft paper. What a great idea, I think I have to steal that one. Thank you so much Jeremy, you made my day!

Kelly

A Lovely Rainy Wednesday

I signed up for a Kaffe Fassett Mini Quilt swap over the summer. I have a lot of those fabrics and wanted to use them up, this was the perfect excuse. I included a magazine and some extras for my partner who lives in Austria.

I found this cute little needle keeper and now wish I had bought one for myself.

This year in my Penn Oaks quilt guild we are having a 4 patch swap. As you can see this month's color is pink. If all goes well at the end of the year I will have 90 assorted 4 patches.

My sister in law and her husband left for Texas yesterday and it took everything I had to stay awake the rest of the day. A fun week of partying, an out of town wedding and no exercise has taken it's toll. I will admit it up front, I took a nap! After dinner I just had to go up into my sewing room, even if it was just to pick up and look at my fabric. Well one thing led to another and before you know it the 4 patches were made. I still wanted to sew but knew that I also needed to get to bed. I grabbed some scraps that were laying around and this sweet pincushion was born, It gave me a good feeling of satisfaction. It was just enough.
I especially like the "sewing box" label that was on a selvedge. I think it adds a nice touch. It feels so nice to be back in the saddle even if I am only on a pony!

Kelly

Family Wedding

Jim and Jordan

We had a lovely family wedding this weekend in Pittsburgh. My niece Jordan got married in a gorgeous outdoor setting.

I love this shot of the parents, Jim and Denise on the sides with Jordan and Tim in the middle.

The bridesmaids.....

and the groom with his groomsmen.

It was cool and overcast, perfect for enjoying the ceremony and great for taking pictures!

The infamous cookie table did not disappoint! There were tons left for the after party the next day.

AJ and Bob

Good family time!

Kelly

Avalon NJ

For the past 4 days my husband and I have been relaxing down the shore, in Avalon NJ. It was a perfect time to go. The crowds are gone and the streets are empty!
The town is beautiful and I couldn't help but show you some of the gorgeous houses.
The one above is for sale in case you are looking.....!

The weather was cooperating and every day we biked for at least 2 hours. We would go to breakfast and then tour the town. Check out the mermaid weathervane on top.

Bob on the bike.

The gardens were equally impressive, especially in the hot beach weather. I am pretty sure all those pretty flower boxes had a watering system.
This was one of my favorites, I loved the symmetry and the flowers for sure! To the right is their pretty garage and a pool too. Don't you just want to walk through that arch, covered with a mandevilla vine?

Every single home made sure you had a great view of the Atlantic and decks to take advantage of the cool ocean breeze. Again how pretty are the flowers!

It has inspired me for next year's garden. The flower boxes had either petunias or ivy geraniums.

This one had a lovely deep side porch that overlooked the ocean. I am pretty sure there are lots of parties held there!
While these houses are over the top, the ones in Stone Harbor are even more over the top. Next time I will share some of those with you. In the meantime I can only dream about what they look like on the inside!

Kelly

I Am Hurrying!

Before I announce the winners I wanted to tell you why I was so late getting around to pulling the names. It has been a full week of obligations, ones I truly love and wouldn't trade for anything. One of them was book club and I was hosting. Our book was 11/22/63 by Stephen King. This is a first...... EVERYONE like the book! I highly recommend it if you are looking for a good read, we had a great discussion. I did a bit of a theme to make it fun. One of the characters smoked Lucky Strikes and I couldn't make myself go out and buy the real thing so I improvised.

So on the heels of reading a great SK book I went out and got this at the library and I am really enjoying it. In the beginning he talks about how his career in writing started (he tells you all about the inspiration of Carrie) and some wonderful tips about writing your own novel. Not that it is on the list yet.....

Finn

Some babies needed to gets squished, hugged and kissed all over. Finn is pulling himself up at 5 months old!

Cameron 1 month

Jaxon 1 month

Two needed to be fed, burped and changed.............repeat many, many times.

So the winners are--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Juliann--- of Lining Up My stitches

                             &

Judy Newby

Congratulations ladies!

Next week is another crazy filled week, but all of it is good. We have out of town family coming in and we are going to a family wedding next weekend. My goal is to get back to my regularly scheduled blogging, really I promise. I have missed it!

Kelly