Quilts for West, Texas

When something like the explosion of the fertilizer plant in West, Texas happens, we all want to DO something. We had a neighbor friend who lost his dear wife last week so I cooked and baked. It's what we do. Another friend had surgery a few weeks ago.  The initial abundance of food is dwindling. Time to take something new and drop by for a visit. My FIL is having back surgery tomorrow. I'll be cooking so that when they stop by on their way home, I can send food with them. When we're close, food is a good thing to provide.

When we're not close. We make quilts. Judy has set up a quilt drive to provide quilts for the people of West, Texas. I gathered up two. A red white and blue chevron like this one:

And a fall one:

   and my dear MIL dropped two off yesterday morning when they headed to Texas for FIL's surgery. I love star quilts and this one is pretty in blue and yellow:

I didn't think I needed to begin collection Batiks...until now:

I LOVE the watercolor effect of these pretty fabrics:

My MIL is a hand quilter. I am amazed by her stitches:

And I told her she had to dig out both patterns because I want to make them both. She said she had no idea where they were. I can relate. I have turned the house upside down looking for one of mine. Found all sorts of things I wasn't even looking for, but the pattern has eluded me. After working with the southwestern quilt, I think I can probably figure these out without a pattern.

I made labels for each one and stitched them on before sending them across state lines to Judy. Judy, thank you so much for spearheading this quilt gathering!

It's Giveaway Day!

This Giveaway is now closed

                                                        

 It's time again for Sew Mama Sew's biannual giveaway party. I love participating because it's a great way to meet new bloggers and it's really just so much fun giving things away and when you win, you get to look forward to receiving a treat in the mail and who doesn't like that?

There's lots of places to visit and there will be all sorts of wonderful treasures to win so be sure and check out all the participants.

If this is your first time visiting here, welcome! If you've been here before, welcome back!

 Here's what I have for y'all today. I've divided it up into 4 lots so you have 4 chances to win:

Lot #1  The ABC's of Words on Quilts by Elizabeth Scott
            A Touch of Rosie Quilts (somehow, I ended up with 2 copies of this)
            Turning Twenty Just Got Better by Tricia Cribbs

Lot #2  Fresh Fabric Treats from the Moda Bakeshop Designers
             Easy Quilt Projects (Favorites from the Editors of American Patchwork and Quilting
             Turning Twenty Feelin' Groovy (Book 4)

Lot #3  3 - 1/2 yd cuts of Amy Butler Fabric.

Lot #4  3 1/2 yd cuts: 1 Desert Daydreams by Anthropology
                                 2 Good Fortune by Kate Spain

So starting today you can put your name in the hat by leaving me a comment. Just tell me if you like to bind quilts. I like everything about making a quilt, but I think I like hand stitching the binding down to the back the most.

 I'll let the random number generator choose 4 names and the first name gets first choice and so on. This giveaway will be open until Friday, May 10th, 5 p.m. PST. I will ship internationally so everyone can chime in! Thanks so much for stopping by. Friends and family say I always feed everyone who wanders down the dirt road so I feel as if I ought to at least be handing out cookies or something in honor of y'all. Fajitas are on the menu for tonight just in case you REALLY stop in. :)

Wisdom at the Farm Store

Nope. Still no rain and yes, the wind is still blowing, but DH and I just had a conversation with a lady at the Farm Store this morning and it put a new perspective on my griping.

This lady is our closest neighbor. They live 10 miles from us. We call her Grandma Lillian. She is 89 and still works at the farm store every day. She takes Wednesday's off, but still drives to town to get her hair done. She is always decked out and dressed up in the prettiest outfits. Never a hair out of place, but as down to earth as they come.

And she's been through a lot. Just this past Saturday, she buried her daughter who was 68. On Monday, she was back at work. She said there is no reason to just sit and fuss about things you can't change.

I'm thinking this just about sums it up: Pray without ceasing. Get up. Get dressed. Make yourself useful. Do what you can and leave the rest to the Good Lord.

There is one topic of conversation amongst ranchers and farmers when they walk into the Farm Store and that is the weather.

Too hot - it was 100° 2 days ago.
Too cold  - it froze last night.
Too dry - our annual rainfall last year was 4".
Too wet - NEVER!

Grandma Lillian told DH and I that she remembers when the government came out and paid them $1.00 per head and shot the cattle because the drought was so bad. She said that her Mama and all the lady folk gathered together and stayed up all through the night canning what meat they could so it wouldn't go to waste.

We're so spoiled. I don't think we have a clue as to how good we have it. Ok, I shouldn't lump y'all into that statement. I'm so spoiled. I don't have a clue as to how good I have it. :)

Today the wind is once again blowing like the dickens, but I'm not complaining. We're not hanging wet sheets over the windows to keep out the dirt...yet! :)

I could learn a lot from Grandma Lillian. Wisdom at the Farm Store. You never know what you'll find there.

April Christmas Through the Year and a Care Package

I almost didn't get a gift into my Christmas box this month, but I managed to stitch up a few of these grocery bag holders using this tutorial from Jeni. Kind of seems like a funny thing to give as a Christmas gift, but I like practical and I think this is one of those things you really don't think about because I've always just stuffed the plastic bags into a plastic bag from the feed store and it hangs behind a door. I think one of these along with a set of potholders adds a bit of fun to something ordinary.

And I just now thought that you could stuff it with fun kitchen gadgets to give as a gift and use the grocery bag holder as the wrapping. Just tie it off with some pretty ribbon and you're good to go.

I'm linking up with Kim over at Lily Patch Quilts this month. Each month this year she is hosting this great program so make something for your Christmas box this month and then hop over at the end of the month, link up and see what everyone else is making. There are some great ideas being shared. Thank you Kim, for cheering us on!

I made 3 of these this month, and yes, we have moose antlers in the dining room.

The wind was blowing again and they made the perfect place to hang these for a photo.
2 are for the Christmas box, and one went into a care package for our college girl:

Monkeys because I know they will make her smile.

Finals week has arrived and a care package will hopefully be a bright spot in an otherwise stress filled week. She gets chocolate, because what is Finals week without chocolate:

 And a Snoopy Pillowcase because we love Snoopy:

And a comic book because she and her brother liked these many moons ago:

And her favorite licorice and dried fruit and mixed nuts:

A few new toys for her 2 kitties since she is spending all of her time studying with her nose in a book:

And Scooby Snacks for that additional Scooby power!

Along with a package of gummy bears so she can take out her Organic Chemistry frustrations by biting off their heads:

One should never run out of Gummy Bears when taking Organic Chemistry at this particular school.