Bringing Sisterhood Into My Home

Sewing has been taking place on my first three blocks in the Farmer's Wife SAL. HALLELUJAH
 I am whipping my whip stitch into shape.  ha ha
This was a question mark for me as I wasn't sure I could really do this; it's been so long since I hand sewed paper pieced fabrics.  And eyes, hands, neck....nothing is quite working as well as it once did!
 I am not worried about how slow I am. It is slow sewing after all but so enjoyable.  As with all my needlework, it is the process that means so much to me.  

The backs of the first two blocks...I'll keep the papers in till the end.  I had to label each piece to be sure I kept them straight.  You know me....

Bonnie

Becky

Not perfect by any means, but when the papers come out and they are pressed I think they will be okay.  You'll have to believe me that they are not as wonky as they look.

This is Belle; don't worry about the edges not being fair.  I have fabric turned under that will be teased into shape to make the sides even.  I am happy about all the points meeting so well.

Springtime On The Farm

 Choosing the fabrics for these first blocks was difficult; like most quilters I do have a stash to choose from.  However, once I settled down, picked 10 favourites, got cutting and put these together, I realized I wanted to have a sort of theme for this quilt. I decided it should be "Springtime on the Farm", just about the most wonderful time of the year for us all especially here in Canada.

 And I've been following the crowd on the Facebook group which has been interesting.  The administration of this venture has published guidelines for the group which now tops the 4000 mark.  I found it interesting that one of the things they wrote was for people to be kind to one another regarding comments about each other's work.  I was surprised that we would need to be told such a thing.  Really who would post a negative comment about another person's efforts.

They also want people to follow their tutorials for the blocks and not send around links to other sites and of course, not use the group to advertise your own company, blog or wares.  I guess it would be tempting with this many sewists as a captive audience to want to share your blogging business with them. After all, there are so many people running serious businesses with wonderful, amazing stitching/sewing offerings and this would be a golden opportunity to spread your word.

You can join this group at any time during the year so here is a link if you think you'd be interested.

The Farmer's Wife SAL

 The American magazine, The Farmer's Wife, in 1922 posed this question to their readers,
"If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you in light of your own experience, have her marry a farmer?"
They received over 7000 letters and were surprised themselves by how overwhelmingly positive the responses were. Laurie Hird compiled 42 of the best letters in her first book, The Farmer's Wife 1920's Sampler Quilt.  These make wonderful reading, personal glimpses into women's lives at the time.  The 1930's book also includes letters from farm wives, these compiled from those written to the editors over the years. They as well offer a snapshot of history and tell the most interesting tales of 'making do', repurposing items, animal care and feeding the family. 

As Laurie states these quilting blocks, chosen and named with those farming women in mind, give you a tangible way to bring that sisterhood into your home. 

Orange Is Not My Favourite Colour But....

The first of the Canada Geese have started their very noiisy trek overhead.
 The tree tops are changing colours and though sunny, the light has a different feel to it.  Kind of like it is a little washed out.  And the night time temperatures are really cooling down fast with threats of frost.
There you have it, fall settling ever so slowly but definitely in.

Yesterday was a splendid day for me in the garden.  I moved all the tomato plants into the greenhouse, separated and transplanted some perennials and cleaned out a couple of flower beds.  The marigolds, cosmos and daisies are starting to looking a little wan but I won't bring the geraniums back into the house till later this month. As I showed, the asters, sneezeweed and sedum are all doing well. We did enjoy lots of green beans.  I waded into the Chinese Lantern bed which has grown out into the field and cut several bunches to give away.  Like Straw flowers, when dried they keep for many months which makes them a great bouquet choice.

The interesting thing about Chinese Lanterns is that the flowers space themselves along the stem and mostly remain hidden till you lift each plant.  In this picture, you'll have to take my word for it that there are hundreds of flowers hiding there.

One of the bunches today.  The leaves will die away and the stems dry to a crispy straw.

This is what is left from a very large bunch I picked three or four years ago.  At this stage they have an interesting sculpture-like look to them.  I love the way the stems have joints and bends. I can see why they are a favourite with artists.
I could only find this one example of these delightful flowers worked in a stitchery and this is in vintage yarn from Etsy.

                                     

The fresh air and work out made me feel better about myself.  I think I needed that pick me up.
 I felt I'd earned the curry dinner I cooked for us last night.

Hudson's Farm Food Stand is winding down; just the corn left and since the kids have gone back to school, it is operating on a honour system.  They have a a change box for you put your money in and help yourself to your corn.  They've done it this way for years so I guess it must work for them.

The pumpkin stand has always been on the honour system.

I realized that though orange is not my favourite colour, these two very orange items, pumpkins and Chinese Lanterns, are favourites of mine.
I just heard on the radio that we will be sending pumpkins down to the states to help shore up the loss of their pumpkins due to heavy rain.  We will be helping their Jack-O-Lantern season which is nice because what would Halloween be without pumpkins.  

Talking to Home

Just got off the phone from my weekly call to my mother.  Hubby has timed me and says I am always at least an hour talking to her.  I would divide up these minutes but my parent's schedule, appointments and outings, and my schedule, appointments for Hubby and outings, make it difficult to coordinate.

Our talks go like this...

First it is health matters.  There is always news on this front these days.  Last week it was my father has a cane now.  I took that a bit hard and find the image of Dad with a cane a rather poignant one.  My father, ex military, always took his fitness seriously.  He wore out many stationary bikes and rowing machines and usually walked back and forth to work all his life.  He is the reason I still do jumping jacks just about every day.  He would lament at times that he was missing out on the great shape  he'd be in if he'd stayed in the army.  But anyway, so be it.  He needs a cane mostly because of medications making him unsteady.  If only there was a way to avoid needing those darn things in the first place.

Then Mom and I start to go through the family. She is one of six children, all alive still and in their eighties, but most suffering various ailments. I fill her in on her great-grandsons' activities here; she loves hearing every little story.

She fills me in on home news, accidents, politics, and all the local. Like her mother before her, she takes a keen interest in the politics of the island, the cabinet shuffles and how tax dollars are being spent. ( I don't share that interest particularly.) Winners is building a new stand-alone store there.  Everyone can't figure out why they didn't go into the space vacated by Target when they left last year, that sort of thing.

Lastly we talk about t.v. news, the weather and finish up with what we are cooking for supper.  She loves trying out various recipes she finds on Pinterest and hearing what I or the daughters are cooking.  Dad jokes that he is still her guinea pig.  Grocery shopping has always been enjoyable for her and more so now it seems.

We make our good-byes quick ones.  She is soft and I keep it light, despite the wrench it always is for me to hang up. 

                       Mom's raisin buns, she had ready for us when we arrived last summer. 

Let the English Paper Piecing Begin

 
                       See I'm not the only one using their dining room as a sewing room.

Oh my goodness.
I've given all my spare time to my Farmer's Wife SAL in the last couple of days.  I am using the English Paper Piecing Method mostly because it is what I am familiar with but also some of the blocks have very small pieces that warrant hand sewing. I really don't know how you'd manage these itty bitty pieces on a sewing machine.
The SAL administration has decided on Becky, Bonnie and Aunt for the first three blocks.  They are a little easier with fewer pieces.  In the book The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sampler Quilt, all the blocks are named after women by the way.
  I decided to set up a little assembly line to prep those first three blocks.  That way, my materials, on the dining room table, would be all there together, ready for use and I could start just where I left off.

First Hubby downloaded the patterns.  I traced the pieces onto Freezer paper, cut those out, and ironed them onto my fabric.  Trimmed those and then came the gluing.  Yes, gluing.  I decided not to put in basting stitches.  I have read that it can be a problem removing the thread from the paper and some of these pieces are so small, a little glue would work better instead.  A couple of episodes each of Longmire, Suits, and The Hour saw me through the gluing process.  This was not hard, just a little fiddly. 
Upshot is...I've put in all this time and not made a single stitch...yet.  I can see why this method is called slow sewing.  But then that is what makes some people love it.  They find it relaxing and soothing to handle the small pieces totally by hand.  I guess now I will be honing my whip stitch which is what I'll be using to join my pieces.  Haven't used that stitch in awhile so this should be interesting.
Already envisioning some unsewing in my future. Sigh

On a sadder note, my orchid is finally giving up the ghost.

The petals from one of the branches.  And the other is about ready to drop too.  February, these blossoms would have been 2 years old.  Oh well, it had a good run.  I just hope it was nothing I did. 

Here it is in what was its' pinky glory...

Cherry Bundt Cake

Hubby loves Cherry Cake and where I hail from, it is a regular feature on many tables at dessert time or served with a cup of tea anytime.
And it seems everyone has a favourite recipe, all them a little different.  Some specify Carnation milk, cake flour or real butter or custard icing.
  I have several recipes and being me, I tend to use the ingredients I have on hand.  If I have bottled cherries I'll use those; if all I can find in the cupboard is glazed then I'll use them.  I don't usually have cake flour so I use the regular.  Lately I haven't been keeping regular milk in the house, only almond milk.  So for this recipe I used the almond milk half diluted with water.  I was afraid it would change the ultimate colour of the batter because almond milk has a kind of muddy colour.  But I needn't have worried; the batter still turned out the same white/golden colour as usual.

Here is the recipe I used, one that has been in my recipe file for a long, long time.  I haven't used it in awhile because it calls for 5 eggs which is a lot, but son-in-law just gave me another one of those flats of pee wee eggs so I had extras.

Cherry Bundt Cake

1 1/2 cups of butter (I used half real and half margarine)
2 2/3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 tsp. almond flavouring
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 cups quartered cherries

Beat butter, sugar, eggs one at a time, and almond flavouring till fluffy and well blended.  You'll need a large bowl.  I always misjudge this and start out with a too small bowl, duh.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.

Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, a little at a time and mixing well.

Fold in cherries.

Pour into prepared pan.  I actually used a tube pan, well greased.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 75 - 80 minutes.  I usually have to cover it with tin foil to prevent over browning.  I also begin checking for doneness after an hour or so.


Here's where I went wrong.  Leave it to me.

I thought this time I would not quarter the cherries. I had this image of lovely large cherries floating throughout the cake and showing so well in the final slices so I left the bottled cherries whole.  I did use a little of the flour to dust them, theoretically to keep them from sinking in the baking batter.  Well, mine sank anyway.  Gravity won out, I suppose. LOL

So instead, I have a row of lovely cherries marching across the bottom of each slice.  Don't get  bright ideas like me!  However, happily this doesn't affect the taste and the cake tasted very good anyway. 

I used my usual butter icing recipe which is just a basic butter frosting.  In this case, 1/2 cup real butter, 1 1/4 cups icing sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla.

Hope there is something good marching across your plate this week.

Getting Used To It

 "I think I've found the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it."

                                                                                     Charles M. Schulz

In this house the only preeminent architecture is in the living room.  It has a vaulted ceiling and a brick fireplace that reaches all the way to that ceiling. A large bow window is another feature in this room which btw, is really my room.  Hubby only appears there at 6:30 pm to be served his supper on a tray and begin the evening t.v. viewing.  Yes, I admit most nights we eat supper on trays.  I read once that Nancy and Ronald Reagan did the same thing so apparently we're in good company, LOL.

 This window allows a lot of the garden in.  That includes sections of the birch tree, bird feeder and bushes.  There is a cast of light and greenness in the spring and summer just as in winter the reflection will echo the white of snow. Below is my perch at a small table I keep by that window.  The light is usually perfect for stitching and of course, I can see the whole of the front garden and keep an eye out for the birds and chipmunks. 

 Elsewhere in the house there are lots of pocket doors, one set French.  There are also lots of large windows and when I first arrived, all of them were uncurtained.  This was perhaps one of the hardest things for me to get accustomed to.  Where I come from curtains/drapes/window treatments, whatever you name them, were a given, sometimes even fortified with a blind of one sort or another.  Come a certain time of evening and all windows could be cloaked providing privacy and added warmth.
Hubby kept telling me we didn't need anything covering the windows sitting as we are in the middle of the woods.  I tried to explain that the bareness and blankness of those night windows was too unnerving for me and made me feel self-conscious.  I said  even the trees at night pose a watchfulness I didn't like, and yes, even as I was saying it I knew it sounded silly and melodramatic. But in the end I did get curtains for two of the rooms...the living room and our bedroom.  Now though, I have become so used to the dark filling those windows I sometimes forget to close them. I guess it just goes to show you can get yourself used to just about anything.    

A Couple of Really Neat Gifts

This is my new very cheery book bag.  It is hand made by a local quilter and I bought it at a craft shop with a birthday gift certificate.  I just love it.  It is a soft corduroy and the design on the front panel reminded me of the patchwork block, square in a square, a pattern I have every intention of working some day.
Besides which I am a bit of a bag nut.  A condition that started with my love for a Black Watch tartan book bag I had for school when I was in Grade 4.  Yes, I am a nerd too.

A while back I wrote a post called  5 Really Really Neat Gifts and one of the gifts was a Diamond Candle.  It was a candle with a ring hidden in it and you have to burn it down to find your ring which could be worth up to $5000.  I imagined at the time that the anticipation would be kind of exciting till you found out what kind of ring you had.
 Well, younger Daughter decided to surprise me for my birthday with one of these candles.  In fact she bought three, one for me, her sister and herself.  We all three are burning our candles to find out what kind of ring we have.  She has a paper with a code for each ring that will tell us how much our ring is worth when we eventually reveal it.  It's a little like buried treasure.

Here is mine and I just enjoyed the smell for the first few days...Sweet Pea.  I'll let you know the ring status later on but wish me luck.

 Here is my new seam ripper.  It is hand made and available at The Pickle Dish in Carleton Place.  In fact it is the owner's son who makes them and they come in all colours and are really a pretty item.
It is handy to be able to wear it around your neck especially for someone like me who does so much unsewing.   But I think any sewist would appreciate such a beautifully made ripper.

A few snaps of my Block 5

Block 6 is well underway so soon I have a few decisions to make.
 How to put these blocks together??
Jenny from the Missouri Star Quilt Company may play a role in that.