Prairie happenings...

Not much going on, just the usual pace of things. It's blanket weather here on the prairie and the children seem to be enjoying a good snuggle under the minkie. This is my neice, Rosemary. Isn't she a sight? Their baby is due any day now and we are all trying to be patient and wait on His good time. Isaac already loves his great aunt Nines- he will kick and squirm whenever we have a good conversation. Paul is annoyed at me for taking a picture of him, sick. But he's so cute... Asthma is a bummer in the Fall. The cooler weather is stirring in me the need to crochet more. So I have made quite a few new doilies. This is my new favorite. And the quilt block is a round robin started by Sandy and I. She made the middle block and I put on the rest. Tomorrow we switch off and I'll make a row around hers and she'll do the same for mine. All in all, a lovely life.

Corncob babies...

Julie asked how school was going and we are having a blast. This is the "little ones" with their corncob babies wrapped in a hankie- just like Laura. We read today about Laura getting a rag doll for Christmas and the girls got a little panicky that they were going to have to give up their corncob dolls. They made babies out of my Dad's precious pawpaws one year... you know how boys will make a gun out of any unsuspecting stick? Well, my girls will make a baby out of just about anything! They had a teaparty with them, yesterday.

Links...

that's the name of this quilt. Quilts link us together. Figured Darcie would like that. She has a thing for word play. My friend Tanya pieced this quilt after I picked out her colors. She could have done it, but it was something she assigned to me and I had a blast. Playing with colors is one of my very favorite things. Surprised there's no orange in it, aren't you? Hey, I like other colors, too! I quilted it using a variegated pastel thread and Darcie's freehand feathers...er, rather, Nines' interpretation of Darcie's freehand feathers. No two people meander alike and no two people feather alike. But I tried. We also put Dream Green batting in it- kept 16 water bottles from the landfill! Quilts up very nice. Tanya spent over 50 hours on this little baby and I think she did a great job- especially after being up close and personal with it for the past couple days. But now I am tired and think I need to crochet for a bit. Have a great weekend everyone!

Nothing quilty...

well, there is this quilt that I have about halfway assembled. But I have set it aside and will nibble away on it's borders as time allows.

School starts tomorrow. Actually, it started tonight with a fire arm safety "class" from Dad. We are using the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a basis for a unit study(The Prairie Primer, by Margie Gray.) Pa went ahuntin' and so we get gun safety- which is always a good idea for children to respect fire arms.

I have breakfast planned- a rare treat, as I usually rely on bagels or cereal. But I'm thinking oatmeal and biscuits might be appreciated for waking them up earlier than usual. The weather has turned chilly and the mornings especially so. I have a fresh box of pencils- never have enough, it seems, and we are all excited. OK, the older boys are less so, but I'll give them a pep talk about their influence on the younger ones and I am sure we can wring some enthusiam out of them, too! I mean, they are out on the back forty target practicing- what could they possibly have to gripe about? It's the ideal boys' school. We'll be learning about Grizzly bears and eating pork rinds all in the first week!

Fabric bowls...

So I have been fascinated by those fabric bowls for a while now. Saw someone make one and thought, "Yeah, I could so do that!" So I did. I bought the cheap clothes line from the dollar store and tore some old scraps of fabric into 1" pieces and twisted around the rope- made a coil and stitched together with a fat zigzag. How easy is that? They turn out neater if you cut the strips instead of tear, and use a little heavier rope, but I kinda like the ratty look. And you have to go clockwise if ya want a big bowl. Where's the trust? OK, if ya go counterclockwise you end up in the neck of the sewing machine and it's harder to tip the bowl once you get to a bigger size. Trust me. Oh go ahead and try it, you'll see what I'm talking about. They're a lot of fun!

One Happy Tyke...

Abe is very happy with his newly finished quilt. I put an extra high loft batt in it, so it's nice and comfy.

I have been busy fighting a summer cold and doing some cleaning. Figure that if I'm sniffing from a cold I might as well be sniffing from allergies, too. Made sense at the time. So my room is clean to the roots(thanks to Sandy for her help- the girl can seriously clean- and she even rearranged furniture- it looks great!) and now I am concentrating on laundry. I have finally gotten a bit smart about it. Stopping before I am completely tuckered and am tempted to leave that last load in the dryer overnight. No more! So I've been stopping while I'm ahead of the game and getting everything folded and put away before bed time. So much more pleasant than waking to wrinkled laundry.

Our second son is getting ready to leave home. Tuesday will be his last day with us. He is anxious to get started on his new life. He is moving to Morgantown, West Virginia to begin another preacher training program. Sunday will be his last day with the church here. I am hoping that this will be easier than when our first son left. We've had more notice, that's for sure. That wasn't something I considered when I had them so close together(16 months)- that they'd be leaving home close together, too. Ah well, I'll be a pro at it before long.

New Frames...

I realize it isn't exactly quilty, but blue and brown are coming up in a whole lot of quilts these days. Pardon the shiny nosy and the scraggly brows- I really need a powder and a wax. Sounds like I'm some kind of fancy automobile. I just wanted to share my new frames with you guys. They are bifocals- those gradual types and I am struggling to adjust to them, but I look pretty cute in these as I squint my way around, holding my head at all kinds of odd angles. Mostly still wearing the contacts with the reading glasses, as needed.

Not getting much done on the quilting front. I won't gripe about the heat 'cause I know there are a whole lot hotter places out there than Indiana. I'm just not feeling inspired. I'm sure the urge to cut apart perfectly good fabric and then sew it back together will befall me once again. For now... I'm waiting and getting a minimum of anything else done! How 'bout you?