Primitive Gatherings Summer BOW

Just completed the first Primitive Gatherings Summer Block of the Week. The name of it is "Words to Live By" and the words are actually inked on after you complete your stitching......a little scary. I am pretty satisfied with mine, though I think perhaps I should make it a tad darker. I will live with it for awhile first and see. These blocks will finish at 12", so it should end up as a pretty good sized quilt.

The Summer Freebie is a series called Summer Blooms.....more little 4" finished blocks.  I really like them, too.

Time to finish getting ready for rug camp now.  I am so excited!!!!

GRATITUDES

A very special friends who loves us like parents.

Robert's successful surgery.

Dance recitals and the sweet memories of my daughters that they evoke.

Take care,

Jennie

Sweet Summertime

My intentions are good, but it is almost impossible for me to pass up great BOMs. As I have said before, I believe it is an addiction. Nor, as you will see, can I pass up those cute summer offerings that present as a Block of the Week. And what on earth makes me think I can keep up????

This summer I succumbed to two offerings. One is a great wool on cotton club from Primitive Gatherings which includes a small freebie block with it weekly. I will post both of those together later, but the small block is already stitched and my intent is to stitch the larger one before leaving for rug camp on Sunday.

The other one is a wall hanging with a large central block surrounded by 24 smaller 4" finished blocks. It is from Temecula Quilt Company. Half of the 24 blocks are appliqués and the remaining 12 are the tiniest of Dresden Plates. Too cute for words, this little Sweet Summertime quilt.  Here are the first two blocks.

This is my first post using my new iPad.......thanks, Blake..... and figuring out how to post the photo was a bit of a challenge.  Hopefully it will be easier with experience.

GRATITUDES

An indulgent husband.

An unexpected phone call from a cousin who had been out of touch for awhile.

Anticipation of upcoming rug camp.

                                                                      

Take care,

Jennie

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Ashley celebrated her 39th birthday on June 2nd.  I can't believe that my baby is almost middle-aged!!
We had her family celebration last night here at our home with an old-fashioned Southern meal .....lots of veggies, mac and cheese, roast beef and cornbread.  And we followed it with a seven-layer cake with chocolate frosting and ice cream.  Talk about stuffed.........we were!

GRATITUDES

Family birthday dinners.

Veggies fresh from the garden.

Daughters.

Take care,

Jennie

A Little Quilting Time

Squeezed in a little quilting time last week......trying to get ahead, since I know I will miss a whole week of anything but hooking this month when I am at Caraway.

Here is Block 10 of Garden Baskets.  I am excited to be getting close to the end of this BOM.  Baskets are my favorite, and these little ones are just plain cute.

All of the String X blocks are assembled.  They are a bit more fiddly than making regular string blocks.  They involve lots more trimming, and then you must also add the triangles.  I do like the results, though, and it is nice that every little bit came from scraps and stash.  I am now ready to trim the remaining blocks to size and assemble the top.

I couldn't resisit assembling one set of blocks just to see how they were going to look.

GRATITUDES

The earthy garden smell after a summer rain.

A good haircut.

Hugs from grandchildren.....and children.

Take care,

Jennie

Good Bye Old Friend

Blake and I purchased our first car as a married couple a couple of weeks after our wedding back in 2000.  Our blue Ford Expedition has been a faithful friend to us for the past 13 years, sharing many life experiences over 185,000 miles.  But alas, the time finally came today to say good bye to her.  Maybe it sounds crazy, but it was a bittersweet moment.

We are excited over our new Ford F-150 truck and I know we will enjoy it once we get to know it better.  But that old blue Expedition will always hold a special place in our memories.

GRATITUDES

Memories

"New car smell"

Gracious people.

Take care,

Jennie

Not Easter

Yes, I know it isn't Easter, but Jackson doesn't care.  When he found that big bag of Easter Eggs in the garage, he was ready for the hunt.  Anything to entertain the little guy.

And then it was on to mow the grass with Pop.  He had no problem learning to operate the Zero Turn mower........unlike his Mimi, who just learned with some degree of difficulty a couple of weeks ago.

The nice blue shirt.......well, he chose this one when he finished Vacation Bible School at his church today.  And, as he was careful to point out, it matches his shorts.

GRATITUDES

The expanding vocabulary and surprisingly "grown up" conversation with a four year old grandson.

Pancakes, bacon and fresh eggs for dinner.

Take care,

Jennie

Chicken update

It has been awhile since there has been a chicken update, so I thought it was time I shared a few new photos of some of the flock.

Ronnie the Roo.  So handsome and such a gentleman.

Lacy, one of the crazy twins.

Inquisitive Ginger.

Bobbie, the Head Hen.

It seems as though Ronnie might be having a bit of a sexual identity crisis.  Several times lately I have seen him go into a nest.  Today, when Sara Ashley and I were doing a little chicken house maintenance, we saw him go into the Kitty Litter Dome turned into nesting box, and decided we would see what he was doing.  Listen to his hen-like clucking.

John and Blake planted new potatoes this year......their first venture into potato farming.  Today they harvested the first tub full.......quite a nice haul.

We are looking forward to having some of them roasted on the grill.

GRATITUDES

An experiment that turns out in a positive way.

Chicken antics.

Much needed summer rain.

Take care,

Jennie