After the encounter with the raccoon, life has been quiet here on the farm. Both dogs are fine – up to date on their shots and Hazel only got a scratch above her eyebrow and I put antibiotic cream on it. This could have been so tragic – so scary I’m going to have the pond filled in. Just the thought of a raccoon drowning Hazel is enough to make me almost throw up. And you all know Hazel – she would never back down. Thank God Keeper was there to help – in time.
I was at Larson’s in Clear Lake yesterday and I took pictures of their embroidery department – just in case you are looking for these types of patterns and supplies. wow!
And here’s a sweet little piece of embroidery –
I don’t embroider but I appreciate this lovely work.
Since we just talked about Improv Quilts I decided to take pictures of a few small ones I’ve made.
And this simple quilt made of triangle squares is one of my favorites – I’d make it again.
This weekend is the end of March Madness and I will show you the blocks I’m working on – I wish I had more done.
The Asian beetles have arrived so I’ve been vacuuming – ugh. There’s a lot of good things about winter.
So glad the dogs are ok after their encounter with the raccoon. I didn’t know raccoons would try to drown dogs. I used to think raccoons were so cute, but many years ago one of our dogs got into a fight with a raccoon, thankfully he was scratched up, but OK. We have a lot of problems with raccoons where we live, they get into our barn & eat all the cat food & make a big mess! We have had severe thunderstorms for the past several days, but thankfully the tornadoes missed us. Still more storms & heavy rains for the next 2 or 3 days.
Mary, when reading about all the horrible storms people are having, I think about that horrible ice storm that hit Iowa in 1993, the date may be wrong. The ice was so thick on the power poles, especially the big metal poles that just crumbled into a pile when they dropped to the ground. Power was out for weeks in places. The price we pay to live here.
Betty in Rapid City
I love that HST quilt. Very spring like & cheerful. Filing in the pond will give you some peace of mind until Hazel & Keepers next adventure. Life is never boring at your home.
Mary, what a great quilt display. I really like the half triangle quilt. Could you tell us how big the squares are.
The sashing gives your eye a break from all the triangles. Very pretty.
Wow the display of embroidery patterns is quite impressive. I do embroidery and cross stitch. I have finished several of the Crabapple Hill quilt designs.
I’ll send a picture.
Pat – I’ll bet you’re the one who sent the 29 pics because there was a Crabapple Hill quilt in the mix. Please identify yourself when sending pictures – I have no idea whose phone number it is. The triangle squares finish at 2” – using any method you choose to make triangle squares.
Good afternoon all!
Amazing! I love to do embroidery as well as counted cross stitch in addition to quilting! There just is not enough time!!
I want to mention to those of you who have not listened in….
You are missing a huge opportunity…. Mary plays piano for her church as she has mentioned in her blog many, many times! Mary is so very talented!!! You can listen in to the church service which includes all the music from beginning to end by going to Facebook and searching for Zion Evangelical Church in Garner, IA. It is truly amazing and a wonderful service!!! Mary and the church organist, I think her name is Margaret, never, ever miss a note!!! They are simply amazing playing their instruments together!!!
In addition, Pastor Brian is really enjoyable to listen and presents God’s word straight from the Bible! I don’t truly care what some famous theologian has to same but what does GOD have to say and Pastor Brian will tell you that!!! Service is about 1 hour and can be listened to at any time or live streamed while the service is going on!!!
If you have not done so, I would strongly encourage you!!!
God is so good!!
Hugs!
Oh my goodness, Jayne! That is high praise indeed – thank you so much! I have been a church pianist for 67 years – my mom was very determined – ha! We are a lucky congregation to have Pastor Brian Lund! As well as many young families with kids as you can see during the childrens sermon. And you don’t need talent to be a church pianist – like I said my mom was very determined and that’s all it takes – lots of practice. I was required to practice 30 min a day – Mom set a timer and put it on the piano! Thank you, Jayne!
Mary,
Wow, that is a lot of embroidery patterns! I have used many many Aunt Martha patterns for baby quilts. In my family with each new baby, we pass out a total of 12 quilt squares to be embroidered and then one person puts together the quilt for the new baby. My grama and aunts, my mom and all five of my sisters can embroider and cross stitch. I would love to go to that store and study those patterns!
Love all the quilts today. The triangle one is beautiful!
Finally a nice day here in SE Michigan. I emptied a load of wood chips into the garden at my son’s house. I’m sure it is the first of many to come this spring!
My husband bought a new small fishing boat to have on the lake. So now he is redesigning the dock, putting In different dock sections and making it longer. One thing leads to another!
Is your pond a spring fed pond? If so, it will be near impossible to fill it in. My son would love to fill in his pond but it has two springs under it and thus can’t be filled in. It never freezes 100% in winter either. But I hope you can do it. 🌻
You can find all of the Aunt Martha embroidery designs online – you can order them at very little cost. Not many of them are the cross stitch type though.
Sunflower – no, our pond is just a hole in the ground and in the hot summer with no rain it will be easy. I’m already feeling bad for the geese however.
If there’s any pattern you need from that store, let me know. With the wedding prep in the yard, you won’t have time to embroider for awhile! Ha!
You’re so right! I’ll be outside as long as there is daylight from now til July. Thanks for the info on the patterns…maybe in the winter! Take care. 🌻
That wall of embroidery is glorious.
Thank goodness Hazel is ok. She has too much spunk to let a raccoon get her down.
I think I have a solution to my woodpecker issue. There is a murder of crows that hang around the neighborhood. When they are at my house, the woodpeckers leave. So…I went to the store and got some crow food, raisin, nuts, pepperoni, sausage, bread. I’m told they are territorial, so hopefully they will visit once or twice a day and the woodpeckers will be too scared to stop. Cross your fingers this natural scarecrows works.
Jo – excellent idea! I can’t wait to have you tell us it’s working!! Are you wanting embroidery patterns? Can I shop for you?
Just glad your dogs are safe. I never heard of dogs drowning a raccoon or vis-a-versa. Scary for sure!
Lovely discussion about the embroidery. It was such a relaxing thing for me to do. I have to laugh, we had an old rocking chair on our porch when we lived In married student housing 1972-1975. I was old then doing embroidery and knitting and needlepoint. And I loved my rocking chair. Got married when I was twenty. Thought I wanted a quilt store but after working in a fabric store i got over that dream. Customers can be pretty difficult. Ha That was true in libraries, too. Funny what you think of.
Oh my goodness!!! I’m glad Hazel is ok. And Keeper too!
That embroidery is beautiful and the smocking too.
Love your quilts!
Mary, another great post. Your improv quilts give me lots of ideas. Love that embroidery. I have a hard time passing them up at the thrift store. Seeing all of the embroidery squares brings back lots of great memories. When ever my husband and I would visit his grandmother we would bring several packages of the preprinted squares to her. She really enjoyed stitching them. Don’t get me started on raccoons
They are horrible. They are number one on my most hated animal list, next is opossum. If you have cows or horses they are both dangerous to have around.
So glad Hazel & Keeper survived the raccoon! They’re are nasty creatures! They might be cute, but they do carry rabies! One of my uncles lost a very nice dog by being drowned by a raccoon, so filling in that pond is a really good idea, Mary! My new pup, Boots went to the groomer last Saturday & I got back half a dog! I didn’t realize he had so much fluffy fur. Unfortunately he was matted & this might have been the first real grooming he’d ever had! He does enjoy being brushed, so I won’t allow him to get matted. I’ve forgotten how active pups can be & they get into everything! Candy dishes have to be put up high!! He loves his daily walks & is learning to walk on a leash. All in all he sure is a lot of fun! Ron & I sure are enjoying him! We’ve had some really bad weather here in SW Ohio the past few days. A tornado touched down very close to us & another very close last night. The spring storms is the only thing I don’t like about Spring. Very scary when the sirens go off!
Alice – you are in a bad weather area – we see on the news! The tornadoes last night were deadly! Hug to Boots!
I love your HST quilt! I’m thinking I’m going to start making a bunch of simpler, more “pioneer style” quilts to use up and showcase some of the fabric I have in my stash, and let me sew while I sit at my machine and watch baseball or whatever and take my mind off my worries. Then maybe I will have enough quilts to give to the people I love on my ever-growing list. Depending on the fabric choices, I could make a quilt to suit anyone. Thanks for sharing–and inspiring.
A raccoon almost killed the neighbor’s dog recently. They will definitely try to drown a dog. Scary. The Asian beetles have moved on from us now. I bought a concentrated spray solution from the feed store but I’ve heard they hate a lemon fragrance. A friend uses the Raid Lemon Scent Ant & Roach spray.
The quilts are lovely! I haven’t seen such a large rack of embroidery patterns in a long time. If only our youngsters would spend their time with a needle in hand instead of an electronic device. All of our local department stores are gone, replaced by those “dollar” stores, which are everywhere. Some wonderful old fashioned stores still exist in Lancaster & Lebanon Counties where the Mennonite and Amish populations are concentrated. Oh my, Hazel! What a scare. Raccoons can be quite fierce. Years ago, a farmer friend captured one to train his Coon Hounds. We saw it in a cage in the barn when visiting and it certainly wasn’t acting like a cute little pet. I don’t blame you for wanting to fill in the pond. Thank goodness for Keeper. So much for your blog about “nothing”. xxoo
I remember when ladies embroidered feed sack dish towels with the days of the week embroidery. I still have a couple.
Our electricity finally was restored last night at 9 after 4 days without power. It went out twice more during the early morning and came back at 6:30. Fingers crossed it stays on. Lots of ice damage and power outages still in the area. Have a great appreciation for the hard working power company workers who were out clearing tree damage in the middle of the night.
Thank God you have power again! I take things that need power so for granted! Larson’s also sells the flour sack dish towels by the dozens. Here’s hoping your life returns to normal and stays there.
Mary, We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the power stays on. My Mom and I went to a grocery store in a nearby town this morning. While I was in the entry way, the power went off. My Mom had already entered the store with automatic doors. For some reason, there was no emergency lights in the store and it was really dark inside. I pryed the automatic door open and , a couple store employees said they were closing and I had to leave. I told them I’m looking for my Mom. They didn’t even realize she was still in the store until she called out that she was right there. Too dark to find her way out. Cell phone flashlight came in handy. We decided to shop another day when power outages are over.
The ice storm was so severe and widespread in far Northern Wisconsin. Certainly nothing all these small rural towns have seen before. Then I hear of the tornado damages and, realize several days without power and water isn’t so bad in comparison.
I love improv quilts. I have 2 just finished this week that will go for donation to our church.
My friend Becky loves the Aunt Martha’s embroidery patterns. Her favorite pattern was found on a hunting expedition to Brass Armadillo. Sant’s reindeer, only she shrunk them! so Cute!
Hazel is such a pickle! She might be ornery, but she keeps you on her toes and life is never boring with her around.
Finally – a quiet day here today. Just my granddaughter and us. No errands, no appointments, just making cookies with her. Saturday is the pancake breakfast at our local fire station. So yummy and always better because I don’t have to cook them!
Relief that your dogs will be safer by filling in the pond. Not worth the worry having it. And thinking of mosquito season ahead, we even dump our birdbath when we go up to camp. Our county has several free rabies vaccine clinics for pets coming up so hopefully many will take advantage of that service to keep their pets safe from outbreaks and heartbreaks like this one you experienced doesn’t happen to them.
I love embroidery so thanks for sharing your piece. I have not seen such a wall of kits like that one. I did pick up some iron on patterns a few weeks ago when I was in Walmart but they did not have as many as this display. Thanks for taking the time to show your improv quilts. I found yesterday a box of pieces that might work to begin one. I like that I can make it whatever size I want. Some days I feel like Linda Carpenter and say to myself I don’t want to make another quilt as my shoulders hurt and I don’t want to sew large strips together. That’s when charity quilts help me to realize I like pulling fabrics to make something.
I like to embroider, I’d sure love to see all those patterns. At 75 I’m trying to figure out what I can and want to do now. I’ve made tons of quilts. I don’t want to give it up, but the thought of creating “another” quilt is not appealing anymore. Do any of you feel this way? I love using my sewing machine, I’ve made lots and lots of quilt blocks just for fun. In fact I have a pretty decorated box that I filled with quilt blocks, I labeled it “Box of Blocks”, ha someone can inherit it some day. Mary so glad your dogs are safe. Cold here in Colorado.
Linda, don’t you worry about all the quilt blocks you have had so much fun making. Make any blocks you want. I don’t know if you have a quilt guild where you live, or just ladies who like to sew quilts, but somebody will have a ball making stuff out of your beloved quilt blocks.
Here in Rapid City, when old ladies die, our Project Warmth group – part of our guild – get their stash of fabric. Our quilters jump right in and I just hope those who have passed on can see the beautiful things made out of their stash. We give away over 300 quilts every year to all sort of charities who can really use them. It is a pleasure to be part of our group and to see everything they make. It really makes for the warm fuzzies.
So, you just make any block that you want and go for it.
Betty in Rapid City
Betty, thank you so much for your encouragement. I know it is fun finishing up someone else’s project. I’ve gotten “rescue” quilts at a thrift store and finished them up. Very satisfying. Thank you again. It made my day! Blessings! Linda
Hi Mary, l didn’t think about rabies! We don’t have the problem in New Zealand, thank goodness! You see photos of raccoons as pets on Facebook, l guess they are vaccinated. Rain for the next few days, getting things back in order after carpet cleaning, going through sewing boxes to sort out things as l go,hopefully reduce a few items. Love the triangle blocks! Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
I am glad that Hazel is okay — she seems to be a remarkable dog and a real treasure! I did not know that Gwen Marston made a second book of “liberated Quilting” until I read about it on your blog. You joke that you are writing a blog about nothing — and I almost always learn something new when I read it! I now have my eye out for a copy of the second Liberated Quilting book. Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran wrote 2 books together about collaborative quilting, which involve a lot of improv blocks and working together on quilts from their two locations. The titles are Collaborative Quilting: Talking It Over, and Freddy & Gwen Collaborate Again: Freewheeling Twists on Traditional Quilt Designs. I have read both of them a number of times, and they are among my favorite quilt books of the hundreds I have read since 1970. I think you might get a kick out of them!
Thank you again for your wonderful blog! It is such a gift to your many readers.
I love those books! It’s so interesting when they highlight their different strengths and then you see the collaborations. Both women contributed so much to the quilting world. Every time I feel in need of a jolt of inspiration–when my quilting is feeling “rote”–I pull out one of those, or one of Gwen’s “Liberated” books and get started again.
Your improv quilts are great! Love the little embroidery piece, too. It reminds me of my childhood, when my grandma and her sisters decorated with them.
So glad Hazel and Keeper were unharmed. I hope tonight will be a quiet, calm evening. Thanks, Mary 🥰
Hello Mary! I am quite impressed with the embroidery selection! It’s amazing! My wonderful Aunt Florence McHugh loved to embroider and she made a towel for all her nieces with a saying on it. I will send you a photo. She made all her nieces and maybe grands and perhaps a nephew one when she was 103 years of age. And when she knew she would not live to her 104th, she prepared birthday cards for the year and instructed her daughter to send them to us. She died in 2021. I have mine yet and I put it out on top of my fridge as a remembrance. She was a very giving and thoughtful person all of her life. Even after her death. We had rain and more rain today followed by snow which caused the schools to close today.
Catching up on your blog about nothing. You’re going to have to change it to the blog where it’s always something! So thankful the dogs are ok.
Improv is so fun, isn’t it? Love the one with old blocks. Gwen Marston called that a random sampler.
The wider sashing is a nice touch to the triangles quilt. Maybe a sew along when you’re ready to start another? Wink-wink
Hazel is a dog like no other I’ve seen—so driven and focused. Just watching her determination to chase things people throw told me how determined she is. Even little tuffs of grass she wants thrown! I’m just so glad neither she nor Keeper were hurt in that encounter. I’ve never made an improv quilt but seeing the ones here made me want to try.
Oh, that Hazel. I am so happy she is okay. That had to be so scary for you. It seems that wild animals are not predictable, even if cute, so best to steer clear, if possible. Lovely embroidery! And I love the improv idea. I do it with small things sometimes and it is a lot of fun.
I love all the iron on embroidery patterns! Your improve quilts look great, I have never made one. I love the triangle quilt, such a classic. Good idea to fill in the pond and so happy the dogs are good!
So glad the dogs are ok. Yes, could have been worse!
Love the little improv quilts, very colorful!
I’m going to try something like that, adding lace and other antique elements.
Amazing assortment of embroidery! Love your impro quilts too!🥰