Look what followed me home...

I love estate sales. Sometimes they are like a treasure hunt because you never know what you're going to find. This particular sale was advertised, so I knew what to be looking for...I went armed with cash!


The quilt I bought was made in the late 1930's by a woman in Western Oklahoma. No, it's not labeled but it will be soon. I am lucky enough to be friends with the previous owner, and she gave me the details of my purchase. It's in wonderful condition and was stored so it has no damage for the age of the quilt. Hard to believe that it's almost 80 years old! AND...it's now hanging in MY living room!

I also purchased the couple's hand-made kitchen table. I'd never seen a table made quite like this and much thanks needs to go to Troy and his buddy JD for helping me get it home.

The top of this table is made from 2x4's turned on their side. The pictures do not do it justice, nor can give you an idea about how heavy the darn thing is. Okay..yes, the boyz called it a few other things. You can also see that it's NOT in my house just yet...it's in the garage. Have yet figured out how I'm going to get the thing into my house. It had to go thru a sliding glass door, and around a fence to even get it out of the previous owner's home. I do have plans for it but you'll have to wait to see what those are.

Probably a good thing that there are only a few estate sales in my area at a time....Dh has already told my boss that I'm not allowed to take off work early again this month!

First Day of School

Yesterday was the beginning of Troy's Sophmore year. Since I leave before he does and he gets home before me, I didn't have the honor of taking the milestone picture. Will get him later.


I did drag this old picture out. Man...were the boyz ever that little?

Troy is the youngest
Trent w/yellow shirt and
Travis holding Troy.

Glad I had them while I was young--what was I thinking? I know other Moms who had children closer in age, but thank goodness God didn't see that in my plan. I never would've survived....they're lucky that THEY survived! They'll probably be in therapy some day 'cause of their Mom! I always told them that thread was bio-degradable. I heard Troy tell one of his friends that he was allergic to white (they were talking about clothes). Heck, it worked...never had to buy white shoes or white t-shirts.

We've been blessed with rain the past week. Now (don't think I'm griping) the mosquitoes are thick! I was out chasing somebody's bottle calves last night because another somebody left the gate open. Grass about 8" tall can hide a lot of mosquitoes. I'm still itchy today.

Been sewing like a mad woman and my house shows it. I gotta stop and get caught up someday....someday will come eventually.

I've saved this picture because I keep thinking that this would make a good landscape/portrait picture in a quilt. Anybody make one? I have a book--but not ready to tackle it yet. ...someday!

A day of Ribbons

One thing I can say is that we're not an overly-competitive family. We like to participate, but being "the best" is not why we go. I try to stress the getting-there is what's the most fun.

We have a local fair that is always fun. It's advertised as one of the oldest free-fairs in the state and it's always been a safe place for cheap entertainment for our boys. My Uncle has always been fair-president (until recently) so family members are always coerced into participating!

First entry of the year: The Sunflower Quilt
I entered it in the Baby-Applique and since I was the only entry, they moved me to the category of Baby-Pieced. You have to remember...small-town country fair. I did ask the judge (i've known her for 28 years) how she picked a Grand-Champion quilt and she said that it comes down to hand-quilting. She said it was a preference for her and if she has two that she's down to, the hand-quilting will win. Well...since there's too many quilts out there that needs to be made, I won't win with my hand-quilting! The blue ribbon is my prize (and a $5 bill to go with it).


Second ribbon of the day:
I don't know who's the bigger Goober....The one I'm married to or my youngest son! Troy won Breed-Champion with his Hampshire pig. Took three pigs to the pig show and it was the day for the black/white one to shine. He won a third and fourth with the other two.
If you've never been to a pig-show, it's an experience in itself. Sometimes it's organized-chaos..well most of the time it is, but they manage to get it done. Like I said, we go to have fun. Yes, it's a lot of work but it's also fun seeing all of the kids work together and learn to help each other.
This picture is also deceiving, because Troy is as tall as his Dad.

One more trip to town this morning to pick up my quilt and my prize. There's another fair next month that I'm thinking about entering two quilts in it. Figure as long as we have pigs that go, I can enter some of my quilts too.

Finally, some sewing

I haven't been able to post in almost two weeks and now two in a row....miracles.

Anyway....I've been reading JudyL's theory of sewing at least an hour a day. Sounds good...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I still have three that are good at stating "come and help me for a minute"....yea..like it's only a minute!

Since we've been blessed with a drink outside, things have slowed down somewhat. When the fields are dry again, I'll get more peace and quiet because they'll be busy outside.

But...yesterday was one of the days that I got to sew for about THREE hours! Well....there was laundry done, supper cooked and clothes folded inbetween, but I DID get some sewing done.
I bought these 2 1/2 x 6 1/2 strips at our guild's flea-market night. A gallon ziploc bag full for .25cents. I've been looking thru Bonnie's site and found this bricks and stones pattern that I thought would work perfect for these. My collection of homespuns grew(still haven't figured this out) after my bullseye and figure it would be a good way to use some of the smaller pieces. Small is right...the checkerboard (stones) are 1.5" strips! BUT...using Bonnie's techniques of strip piecing, I managed to make about 50 of the 4-patch blocks and sewn to bricks! Yes, this is definitely going to be a fast and easy project. Getting it quilted (like the bullseye) may be the problem, but making the blocks is the fun part, right?

And the Thunder Rolls...

Western Oklahoma has been without rain for many weeks. So, when these dark clouds formed we all got excited. Yes the radar said strong winds and small hail, but rain is the magic word.

When the storms passed we went out and check everybody (this is our animal head-count) to make everybody is alright. Much to our dismay we couldn't find one of Troy's bottle calves (which are now weaned).

The pictures may not show the black streak, but lightening hit this tree that Troy is standing next to. We had never seen bark stripped off of a tree like this. Some of the bark was 5 feet away. Usually when a streak of lightening hits, the tree is split in two but this one was different. Just so happened that one of his calves was laying next to it thinking it would give some shelter from the pounding rain.

This last tree-picture shows where the lightening went clear-thru the tree and exited out. This is where the calf was laying when we found her. No, she didn't make it thru the storm and had a big black mark where she was struck by the lightening bolt. I've preached and preached to everybody that lightening is like fire--you gotta respect it. Stay out of it's way! Also sad that one of God's creatures was taken and also (sad to admit) that the monetary loss is also there...raising bottles calves is Troy's way of gaining an allowance on the farm. He does the work and receives the check when the calves are sold in the spring.

This picture is of Dean and one of our neighbors and also shows just how close this tree is to our house. The lightening could've hit our house just as easy.
Dark clouds rolled in again last night and we received another drink. We'll now have enough moisture to plant this fall's wheat crop. When you farm with the elements and know you can't control them, you just do what you have with what you have.

My Quilting Partner

This is my sewing buddy. She never objects if my points don't match or if the colors aren't just right. She never says that it's crooked or that it's ugly.

Her name is Trudi and yes, if you've known me for awhile...I borrowed her name for some postings. She's a 14 yr old Sheltie. Ten years ago, the vet said that she'd probably live to be 12 and she's proved him wrong with her arthritis, her blindness and her lack of hearing. But she's also had the a/c and a pretty good diet to keep her going.

But....she loves it when I lay a project out and she thinks it a new cushion to test out. She also never complains if there's thread pieces on her fur or if a flower-head pin gets stuck to her. Trudi has never been injured by pins or a fallen rotary cutter, but has been stepped on numberous times because her favorite spot to sleep is right beside my rolling chair.

Laurie Ann showed us her Roogrr and how he helps, so here's my hair-shedder in action! It's an on-going joke at our house as to who sheds worse--her or me.

The project she's laying on is my bullseye and I'll show another picture of it when I get it a little further along. It's almost ready to be quilted and I like how it's turning out.

9-Patch from the Past

These are the 9-patch blocks I ran across while cleaning. They're not reproduction fabrics..they're authentic 1970's. Not for sure exactly the date they were made, but the lady who made them told me she made them "awhile back". Sounds authentic to me!

Here's the delima. Do I put them together as-is, or do I split them and maybe add a little dimension to the blocks? I was told these blocks were mine to keep and to do with them what I wanted...so I need some help. A traditional 9-patch quilt isn't something that interests me, but what exactly do I do? HELP?! The blocks are 9" blocks, so there's plenty of size to work with.

In the last Quick Quilts magazine I picked up, there is an article on doing just what I'm thinking. Splitting each 9-patch and adding a black strip down the center to make a strip thru each 9-patch block. It called "Stack a New Deck" by Karla Alexander. Looks interesting, but will it work on these "older" fabrics?

Still pondering....

Barbed Wire and boo-boos

Straight from Dictionary.com
barbed wire
n : strong wire with barbs at regular intervals used to prevent passage

Yesterday's "come and go with me" took about 4 hours. I had a day planned of re-organizing some boxes of quilty-stuff so I could get back to sewing, but OH NO...!

We happen to own property about 20 miles from our house. It's also not a place that you want to be stranded or break down. Nobody drives by on a regular basis--Boonies is a good term. It also happens to be the farm where this Okie was born. The farm raises decent bermudagrass and we bale it into big round bales to feed to cattle during the winter months. With the drought Oklahoma is experiencing, we're fortunate enough to have 200+ bales on this farm. The problem is they're 20 miles from our house. We don't have the equipment (yet) to move them home.

Dean (dh) got the bright idea to built a 2-wire barbed wire fence around the bales to detour someone from driving by and picking up one at a time. It would take some time to get the fence tore down perhaps before somebody would drive by and notice bales missing. We do have good neighbors who watch this hay pile, but there's always gotta be somebody who will think of trying to steal.

Yep....I am a walking scratch-ouch today. If there's a barb, it's gonna reach-out-and-grab me. Yes, my tetnus shot is up-to-date and yes, they're covered in Neosporin. Thank goodness for leather gloves or my fingers would be poked to death.

Back to sorting quilty stuff..I did find a pile of 23 (why an odd number) of 9-patch blocks made by my neighbor (I inherited her sewing room)that she made back in the early 1970's. Real "funky" colors if you ask me, but it'll make a cute quilt to give to the daughter that takes care of her.

If you have an extra minute, go over and visit http://nopuppydogtails.blogspot.com/ Cindy won a viewers choice award for her latest quilt. I tell ya..the girl has talent.

Perenially Crazy

I have a love for the things that are outtawack. Maybe for things that are eclectic....or things that are just different from the rest of the world. I can blame it on my Mom since she's not here to say different. I use to tell her that she dropped me too many times...

I recently fell in love with this quilt:


It's called Folk Art Flowers and is in the book Perenially Crazy from Buggy Barn Quilts. It just LOOKS like me.

Much to my surprise, this book was delivered to my home a couple days ago. A surprise b'day gift from my dear friend in Arkansas. I now know for sure what will be my next to-do quilt. The instructions look easy and I think I can even find fabrics from my stash to use.

With all the weird-ness going on here in cyber-land, it's nice to know that we do have friends who understand. Thanks Cindy....I REALLY needed this!


Thoughts from a recent (work) meeting:

• Remember that I can only control MY response.
• Try to balance the good/bad.
• Don't skip recess--take a break and enjoy your friends.
• Be a good listener.
• Some people just don't want to change--and will never believe.

Nothing but Hot

It's Hot..it's past hot...

In Lawton, Oklahoma it was 120º on the bank sign. We do believe it don't we? We have to make payments to them and believe every other number they give us, so their temperature sign must be correct also.

I heard on the national news that every one of the lower states saw above 90º temperatures this week, so I know we're not alone. Dh says there's a 70% chance it's NOT going to rain this weekend.....typical farmer. All of his hay is baled and stacked, so he's now ready for a good soaking rain. Somebody tell whoever's in charge, ok?

I'm still plugging away on the bullseye blocks. We have one gone to camp, so I'm the official "come and help me for a second" person in the evenings. Leaves very little sewing time, but I'll get there.....eventually.

Assumption: the a/c works better if you clean the screens.

Sprinkles and a Present in the Mail!

This Saturday is a relaxed day. Other than it being hotter than hot, it's another saturday of getting things caught up. Do we really wear THAT many pairs of jeans in a week?

Trying to think of something to put a spark into a plain saturday, I made a special dessert. Oreo pudding made with regular milk and a tub of french vanilla yogurt added. Layered with cool whip/cream cheese mixture. Makes for a cool dessert on a 100+ degree lunch break. A few sprinkles added on top (yes, my donut shop days are sneaking out) and they wanted to know who was coming for company?! Gee.....try to be nice...and you almost get accused of something.

Then the rural carrier came about 2pm and delivered a package all the way from Canada! She couldn' believe that I'd know someone that far away. Yes, she knows I don't get out much. Troy thought I had ordered more fabric, so he opened it up to see my prize. After he held the pink fabric up, I told him it was a a Gail-bag. He knows better than to ask. I then explained it caught threads and he nodded his head as if it made sense to him. As he installed it next to my serger, he muttered a comment about "hitting the bag so the vacuum cleaner wouldn't get stopped up",

but he wouldn't repeat what he said.

No this machine doesn't usually set on my kitchen table, but it's working better here while I'm making curtains. Gail I LOVE the bag. It'll usually set next to my Bernina and yes, I'll try to hit the bag just for Troy's sake!

Another Friday

It's hot, but I keep reminding myself that it is July. It's always hot in July and will be hot in August and September. But, I'll probably gripe about the cold too. In February will you remind me that I like July better?

I get to meet the nicest people. Yesterday I had the honor of meeting a little boy and his mother. The Mom is Harriett and it was so nice to meet somebody that has the same crafty-attitude that I do. I enjoyed learning about her family and her background. And Cullen...he reminds me so much of my middle child... He's such a doll...one that won't set still... but I couldn't get him to go home with me. A JohnDeere tractor ride wouldn't even persuade him. I'm hoping that Harriett will come to quilt guild and get to meet other quilty people in Western Oklahoma. She has lots of talent and a great smile!

I get to meet the nicest people...

July 12, 1961

About 11:45pm, 45 years ago this old gal made her way into a cold delivery room in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Born the second child to a poor share-croper farm couple, they never knew what they were in for but they knew it would be their last child born.They even stayed to see the first 39 of those years.

There's been a lot of water under the bridge during these past 45 years. A lot of roads traveled, lots of red dirt still under the fingernails and I'm sure the next 45 years will have just as many hills and valleys.

I can say that I have a lot of friends and aquaintances. Some come and go but the best always stay around. The very best has been around for 28 of the most recent birthdays and he hasn't found out how to get rid of me yet!

We'll see what he fixes for supper...... I better get the cake in the oven.

Start of a Bullseye

I started this bullseye several months ago. Not enough homespuns collected and not enough different colors. Now I have too much--typical for me. But, will probably make a keyboard border or something special to go around the edges.

Just need to take the time to sew the quarter pieces back together.

There are 56-9" squares, and with a pieced border it will make a nice wrap-up-in quilt.

It's not been a difficult project, and I seem to be doing a lot of those here lately. I saw somebody else's bullseye (sorry can't remember who) and thought I'd better get busy on mine too.

When I get back to a project where the points have to match, I may be lost!

Going to be a soft homey-style quilt and already have somebody laying claim to it.

Blogger does some weird things, sometimes doesn't it?

Sunday Afternoon Fun

I like to fish. If somebody even thinks about going, my poles are on the back of the pickup. Don't like to go alone, but if the wind is just right...we go. Sunday was a good day to go fishing. One of those last-minute thoughts, but we went and it was productive and fun.

Fish are now filets in my 'fridge waiting to be supper. Yes, it's me, Trent, Troy and Andy. We can't go fishing without Andy. He guards the tacklebox and loves to cool off in the pond.

BTW--Troy caught the biggest fish--(on the right). It's a 3lb. bass. Trent's was 2.5 and mine was almost 2.

I did get to sew this weekend, but will post that later. We had a very busy weekend!

Some People Don't Miss a Thing...

Have you ever had a friend whom you knew you were long lost sisters, but just weren't raised together? Well..there's a commenter on my blog who is like that. Cindy and I have known each other a long time..and she never misses a beat.

She saw this DWR on my table and she knew I hadn't shown it to her before. So here--


This is actually a cheater-cloth that my Mom made. I inherited 99.99% of her sewing things back in 1998 and this was in with them. It had to be before 1986 that this was made. Even though it has some age to it, it's just like brand new. I'm sure Mom meant for it to be a quilt, but I dug it out and used it to cover the table. She isn't here in person for our celebrations, but my house is still full of her memories. I haven't decided to just hem the edges or put a backing on it and do some quilting to hold them together. The strips seams are ironed opened and really need to be covered or they are going to fray eventually. It's a really bright tablecovering and really adds color to the room. ..just one of those things that is too pretty to hide in the cabinet. Thanks Mom!

Supper was a Success

Supper Menu:
Smoked Ribs
Brauts w/sauerkraut
Italian Brisket
potatoe/sausage casserole
Asian Salad
Cantelope

Desserts:
Kahlua Chocolate Cake
Cherry Dessert

There were 20 invited, and 18 showed up. There might be enough leftovers for us lunch today. I think everybody showed up starved and hadn't eaten for days!

This was a belated celebration for Trent graduating from college. When you go to a school 4 hours away from home, it's hard for everybody to go to graduation. I promised him a get together after harvest and when things slowed down...which they never will, but it turned out good.

It's FRIDAY!

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

OK...I admit it. I should be doing other stuff, but I'm playing catch-up. I have a big weekend planned, but saw this on Mary's site and couldn't resist. A another gal here read it and said it was very true to me!

There are 20 invited to the house for supper tonight. Will let you know tomorrow how it goes....wish me luck! AND...I even vacuumed.

My Two Favorite Cookie Recipes

Bonnie asked me what my favorite cookie recipe was. I(my family) have two.

This is a Betty Crocker recipe I cut off of the back of a flour sack maybe 15 years ago and still have it taped to the inside of my kitchen cabinet.

The Good Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups butter softened (three sticks)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 large eggs
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or use milk chocolate to your
taste)

Heat oven to 350°

1. Mix butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl.
2. Mix together, and stir in, flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Drop dough by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. (I use the airbake cookie sheets--and use TWO of them..one baking and one cooling.)
5. Bake 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned. (take them out when they're still very light--they'll cook for 2-3 more minutes when you remove them from the oven.)
6. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet.
7. Cool on a wire rack.

I have made these for bake sales, to take to stock shows, for office get-to-gethers and even sold them in my bakery shop. They are always good and stay soft. I finally got smart and bought a cookie dough scoop and it makes the job so much easier.

My second favorite cookie recipe is from CindyB. I'm hoping she'll post a lot of her recipes, but this one is wonderful and it'll be just fine if she re-does it! I have the print out from where she posted this in AlexAnderson's Message board on December 15, 2002. Cindy...it's a treasure to me!

Big Soft Bakery Ginger Cookies

• 2 1/4 Cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened (not vegetable spread)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 Tablespoons white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinamon, cloves and salt. Set aside.
3. In large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in egg, then stir in molasses and water.
5. Gradually add the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture.
6. Shape dough into walnut sized balls and roll in remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar.
7. Place cookies 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
8. Bake for 12 minutes in preheated oven.
9. Cool on baking sheet for five minutes then move to wire rack.
10. Store in airtight container.

Thanks for the Welcome!

I've been reading the blogs in the Stashbuster's Ring for awhile now and hope I can eliminate some of my projects like the rest of you have been doing.

Have actually know JudyL and Vicky for quite awhile and they're both very talented ladies.

You're an ambitious bunch of quilters...keep it up because you're great encouragement!

And again, Thanks for the Welcome.