My exciting news is about Little Quilts! I’ve been in touch with Mary Ellen and like Country Threads she has lots of “stuff” left from many years in business such as quilt models, patterns, fabric, samples , etc, etc. I’m going to show this business collection of great stuff here on the blog. There will be a picture, a price and Mary Ellen’s email. You will order directly from her. I will only be the facilitator and it won’t all come at once because it will be more than I can handle along with my own blog. See? Won’t this be fun??
I’ll bet many of you have this well known book! I do! I’m going to take a picture of one of my favorite quilts upstairs – a crib quilt by Little Quilts.
It was another full day of yard work. Here’s a sample of the twigs I picked up.
We have several brush piles that we leave for the birds.
This is some of the mowing. About midafternoon I don’t know what happened but hordes of flies arrived eating poor Telly nearly alive. The flies covered her ears, feet and tail. We forced her into the house, put repellent on her and locked the dog door. I hope this fly invasion is shortlived.
Reader photos
These are from Anne who just wanted to “keep it real!” And she’s right – these look like a hard working wife who not only cooks and cleans, she mends and does yard work when she can find the time.
Gail is staying at her family’s cabin and sent me these shots of pictures there because she knew I loved vintage dog pictures. And I do love these!!
Remember I’ve said before, be careful what you wish/pray for? I complained about having too many plants so the squirrels have eaten almost every one of the jade plants. This is not the way I wanted to downsize.
Almost finished with curtains and then I can start something fun. Thunderstorms are predicted for after midnight so that means Hazel will be interfering with my sleep again.
I took the pretend grandkids to Subway last night. We got our sandwiches and brought them and the dogs with us out to the farm to eat on the porch and check the pumpkins. Probably half the hills are up.
Nothing earth shattering today – and tomorrow will likely be the same. I hope so.
Loved all the pictures today. My peonies don’t have any buds yet.
Patti, your America’s Quilt is beautiful.
Mary, is the pattern available to purchase? I also have the Little Quilts book … somewhere. I’ll be watching for the sale.
Jeanne in Colo, sorry to hear about your health issues. Sending healing thoughts your way.
Lynne – I will search for America’s Quilt pattern
I love Little Quilts patterns; I especially enjoyed making their 19th Century Crib Quilts.
Take care friends and be cognizant of the weather; we had an afternoon thunderstorm with dime-size hail.
Thanks, Mary 🥰
Hi Mary and friends! That crocheted rooster is amazing! I can crochet afghans just fine, but my efforts at crocheted animals have been laughable. Kudos to whoever did the rooster. I loved the vintage dog pictures. So sweet. The one pup looked just like Hazel.
Jackie – that’s probably why I loved it so much!
That crocheted rooster is the best. Love the colors. Too bad your reader didn’t make it, as I would love the pattern.
I wonder who is having fun with the jeans? Those patches would be great stitched with boro stitching! I have been wanting to do that on a jean jacket that I have. The rooster – he is really amazing! I can crochet but that is beyond my talent, haha. Your favorite picture of the little boy and the jack russell is my favorite as well. The dog looks just like Hazel! Your yard is gorgeous, Mary! I’m embarrassed that our lawn is almost 10″ tall. Peter has been determined to get the brakes done on his 39 Plymouth finally and I’ve been cleaning the breezeway – it looks so much bigger! I’m taking a friend to a class on sourdough breadmaking tomorrow, really looking forward to that! Maybe he will mow while I am away. Jeanne, I hope you get your strength and health back soon. Patti, I am sorry about your restless legs, that must be so frustrating. I look forward to see what Mary Ellen has to offer! I have that book and love it! Jan in MA
Jan – when the grass gets so tall it’s very hard to cut – it just lays over or makes huge piles of cut grass that just don’t go away. I don’t like making winrows so I try to mow before it gets like that. It’s Anne having fun with jeans – hope she fills us in.
Love the crocheted chicken. He looks real. For everybody that has been sick, etc, take care to get better. You can get a bag with handles and hang it on your walker. A back pack would help, too. It is amazing on all the body parts that help when trying to do something. And, from experience, do you realize how many things you have to use your thumb for? Good things my pants had an elastic waist!!
Mary, God took care of some of your plant problem. Several years ago a tornado completely destroyed the town on Spencer, SD. Tornadoes are the only weather I’m afraid of because you never know when, where and why they destroy so much. I haven’t been back to Iowa since the summer of 2011. I was always so amazed how the farmers kept their yards, so green and always neatly mowed. Maybe Mom had that on her list of things to do with the riding lawn mower?
My aunt in Ft. Dodge would replace zippers, etc for the cleaners. She was good!! But she wanted to take the old zipper out so she knew how it went in.
Take care. It is pretty nice when everything works like it is supposed to? We have to enjoy all of it.
Betty in Rapid City
Betty – you’ll love this story. Mowing lawn was my job as a teenager and my folks bought the widest walk behind mower they could – it wasn’t self propelled either!!! The spring following the fall I went to college suddenly there was a riding mower in the garage. Just another example of how much was expected of the oldest sibling.
Mary and Betty,
That reminds me of a story too! There were six girls in our family of 10. As soon as my youngest sister went to college, my mom ordered a dishwasher and had it installed in the kitchen! 🌻
I have that Little Quilts Book! Love all those wonderful patterns. Modern doesn’t appeal to me, but I’d give in for my grandchildren. Jeanne in Co, please know that you (and others in this wonderful group) who are struggling with health issues are in my prayers for comfort and healing. I hope everyone will be safe in this scary weather that’s tearing through the country. Love the reader quilts. I love those adorable children and dog prints. They remind me of all the old fashioned puzzles my family had on a card table to work on all winter. Did anyone else do that? Thank you Anne for “keeping it real”. This Ann had knee surgery in February so my spring gardening didn’t happen. We’ve been out planting native trees, shrubs and plants to eliminate part of our lawn, but I really need to do some serious weeding! Love this blog about nothing, Mary. xxoo
My mother and brother loved to put puzzles together on the kitchen table. I wasn’t into puzzles. (But now I like to quilt, which is really like puzzles in a way.) I remember one puzzle that they worked on so diligently one night that we had breakfast cereal for supper as my Mom wasn’t going to break away to make a meal. I still like the occasional breakfast food for a meal other than breakfast.
Vicki – oh, what a sweet memory of your mom!!!
Love the pictures of your farm, everything is so green and fresh looking. (Of course hard work makes it appear so.)
That poor deer looks like it hasn’t had much food, every rib shows!
All the deer in our area look very skinny this time of year, after a hard winter with not much natural food easily available. She should fill out more as it warms up and the plants get bigger. I have to admit most everything in my front yard is deer resistant, so I’m not helping them fatten up, though.
Well I think that ANY thing that takes out “extra” plants is good, because then You aren’t the one who decided to get rid of those extra plants. All you have to do is say, rest in peace, I enjoyed you, goodbye. Take it easy and everyone BE SAFE!
DebMac and Patti I am scared of chickens too but I don’t remember ever being chased by one. Mary hope you get those darn valances made so you can move on to quilts. Your yard is looking good. Linda from Minnesota that quilt is on my bucket list. I saved the pattern from a magazine.
Sometimes “nothing earth-shattering” is just the best kind of day! Have a good one, Mary.
Patti, this message is for you, love your heart quilt. I used to have restless legs but at the suggestion of my daughter, I started taking magnesium an hour before I go to bed. I take the glycinate, but there are other magnesium’s for sleep. It has helped me and may help you as well.
thanks bernadette, i take magnesium just before bed every night and have for years. i also have a cream for those really bad times. sometimes it works, sometimes not. in my research it mentioned tramadol for the bad times (i will sometimes take 25mg of it when i can’t stand it any longer). i also take ropinrole (2 mg) an hour before bed. sometimes i will take 1 mg about 3 hours before bed to try to head it off. sometimes it works sometimes not. thanks for the suggestion. should probably have sent this privately. sorry, mary. patti in florida
Hi Patti- I’ve tried Magnesium, Ropinirole, and Gabapentin, all with some success, but eventually they stop working. The one medicine that worked perfectly was Neupro patches. Unfortunately, I have an adhesive allergy and after a few months the patches started to leave blisters. If you don’t have an adhesive allergy, ask your doctor about Neupro. Good luck.
glad i came back to check here. thanks, jackie, i will mention this to my doc next time i see her. i’ll have to check the adhesive for allergy. but love the suggestion. patti in florida
We had quite the thunderstorm this morning in the Oskaloosa area. Sounded like we may have had some small hail. It was too dark to see what was going on outside. We didn’t lose power, and no tornadoes, but some pretty strong winds for awhile. We had over 2″ of rain in our rain gauge this morning. Our kids and grandkids are here this weekend for our “Christmas in May” this year. We never know for sure what month in the summer will work for everyone. All but two grandchildren will be here. Some are traveling in today, some arrived last night from ND. More from ND and OH today. So, even in the summer, we have storms for our Christmas, just not snow.
We will check out some thrift stores today, and have everyone here by tonight. I too, loved the croqueted chicken. Not all chickens are like bantam chickens. They can be aggressive. We had some chickens that were like pets. I enjoyed seeing all the pictures today and enjoy reading all the comments.
Remember what Memorial Day is all about. Remember those who have given their lives for our freedom.
Jeanine- Thanks for the reminder of what Memorial Day is all about. It’s not a furniture or mattress sale. We owe so much to our servicemen and women. Let’s honor those that are fallen.
I have that book, too, and it has been a favorite over the years! I’ve made many of the quilts inside!
The crocheted chicken is awesome!! So colorful!!!
The dog picture that you identified as your favorite looks just like Hazel! Love it!
I’m hoping your weather improves this weekend as I’m driving straight into it. I will have alternate stops if more weather develops, but usually drive straight through now that I don’t have kiddos in the car to entertain.
Diane – hope your trip is uneventful! How long will you be in Rochester?
Assuming all goes as planned, I’ll drive home again on June 8.
Whoever crocheted the rooster was amazing. Such talent.
Are you in the cicadas area? In Baltimore area we are to be missed hopefully none have been lost and come here. Bug infestation is horrible because they are in control.
The storms this year seem even more destructive than before but I am told I say this every year but I think Mother Nature is really ticked off.
Stay safe
Angie – we are not in the cicada area – so far – hopefully they don’t descend on us!
Good Morning, more storms coming through to Dubuque county in the next 30 minutes. Lots of praying this week. Jeanne in Colorado wishes for good healing and getting your strength back. That’s tough. Great pictures today. Lots of work getting done, I’m going to get sewing as soon as these storms past and sewing through the weekend. Enjoy your day everyone.
Mary, your new fenced area looks really nice for the dogs to romp around safely in. What a relief it must be keeping them all contained in an area. I sat outside yesterday looking at my white fenced in area and all the apple trees and weeds that surround it and thought I’m so glad not having to worry about my dogs in our backyard.
I have 2 copies of Little Quilts as I pick them up if I see them at thrift stores just so I can give an extra away if needed. I love their patterns.
It was nice to see Patti’s quilt and all the other pictures that bring us all together in our yards and home with what we like to admire.
Just FYI – this is the existing fence. South of the barn is a 2 acre alfalfa field which is what I want to fence in. Think of the fun! I have spent a small fortune on fencing but it’s for my peace of mind and it’s worth it. I don’t regret spending the money – it’s a fraction of the amount for a kid’s college education! Haha!
Absolutely peace of mind is worth every dollar bill spent on fencing. College costs and debt sometimes I wonder if it’s worth that same peace of mind down the road. Gee your fence looked so new to me in the picture so has weathered well. I can imagine the laughs out in your new area Hank and Keeper will have trying to share a ball.
I have the Little Quilts book as well. It has been a “go-to” book over the years when I wanted a quick and small project.
I can’t imagine the amount of time it took to make that chicken, with all its detail. Got to love it.
Jeanne in Co. Sorry to hear of your recent health problems and will pray for your healing and strength.
Wonderful pictures today. Thanks Mary!!
I have that book!!! Don’t ask me where it is right now, but it’s here somewhere! LOL.
Everyone – please be safe with all these storms. Seems spring brings these. Not looking forward to hurricane season….. ugh I’ll be doing a lot of sewing this weekend — temps in the high 90’s – too hot to be outdoors.
Mary good for you for sticking with finishing up those valances. I can appreciate how hard it is to get something like that done and not work on your quilting! But you will be glad that they are all done and will enjoy looking at them.
What a BUNCH of twigs and brush! I love the freshly mown lawn and the vintage dog pictures. Tornado siren just went off. Need to close and head to the basement.
Just got home from hospital this afternoon after a four day stay and being on a liquid diet. Had an internal bleed that caused hemoglobin, oxygen and blood pressures to drop into dangerous levels. Two internal procedures determined one stomache ulcer that I wasn’t aware of, and the medications I take to thin my blood to prevent another stroke, all tended to cause the problem. Your blog was one thing that helped me to pass the time as I lay in bed. I’ve enjoyed the yard and quilt pictures from everyone, especially those yellow peonies, and the children with their adorable pets like Canoli. You have been busy, Mary with more yard work than you need. Glad your adopted grandkids have been such a big help. What great kids they are. Mom and Dad should be so proud of them.
Having to adjust to using a walker for a while til I get my strength back. It is a simple basic one, with no place to carry anything on it. It may prove to be more problem than it is worth, but I’ll try to grin and bear it for a while..
Thanks to everyone for all their pictures and blogs. I’m anxious to get back to quilting. Baby shower coming on June first. The quilt has been pieced for a while, but daughter hasn’t had a chance to quilt it yet because of yard and garden work. I will do the binding, One week to go so I think we can still get it finished in time. Have a blessed week everyone.
Jeanne in Co.
Hi Jeanne, hope you are on the mend! Could you tie a bag to your walker, even a plastic shopping bag might help
I have the Little Quilts book and made the log cabin quilt on the cover many years ago-it’s hanging in my sewing room. How many hours does it take you to mow? Years ago I had a riding lawn mower with a 36″ deck-took me about 5 hours to mow. We finally upgraded to a mower with a 60″ deck and then it took 3.5 hours. Now we have a new shop on some of the property I used to mow so I’m down to 2.5 hours of mowing. Then have to clean the mower deck and run the leaf blower over the sidewalks and deck-another 45 minutes. It looks like you have more to mow than I do. Lucky you to have a workhorse-I use a wheel barrel and hauled a total of 5 wheel barrels full of debris out of my flower beds and bushes. It’s a lot of work. Your peonies are really pretty. And darn those pesky squirrels!
Hi Mary, poor old Telly and the flies! Did they not like Hazel or Keeper!..That’s a lot of mowing Mary,but it makes the property look good. I decided to make a new winter dressing gown today and give my other one to a friend who doesn’t have one, makes me feel good and uses another piece of fabric that has been in my stash for 20 plus years!The crochet chicken is cute!l have started to quilt the antique blocks,not a big quilt,but will have to finish it after the cruise, one week to go! Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Very windy afternoon. I did get a few trees planted but got tired of fighting the wind (the brim of my hat kept flopping down over my eyes). By the afternoon tomorrow it is supposed to let up. I hope so. I want the trees done with. I have my flower gardens that need attention next. I want to plant some planters but holding off because of the cold nights and this disgusting wind. That chicken is very colorful. Great quilts and flowers. You do have a lot to mowed and clean up to do after your storm. The fly thing is really strange.
I also have that same Little Quilts book ! When we knew we were moving to Alaska after I retired from teaching, I went through all my books and gave many to my teacher partner/ quilter extraordinaire/ best friend . I kept all my Country Threads books and patterns and a few others too , and that was one .
Have you heard about support chickens ? Seriously, there are knitting and crocheting patterns for support chickens !! Who knew ?
I wondered why the geese were not in the pond. I miss them.
You have mowed and mowed. We had wind today, overcast but no rain. Cold again tonight. Possible frost.
That crochet chicken is the greatest.
The flowers are pretty as usual.
It sounds like you’re having a grand time with the pretend grandkids. Good for all of you.
Jo, are you still watching nascar races? My husband and 23 yr old grandson made a bucket list trip to Charlotte NC to see the race this weekend and check out all the workshops of drivers. It’s hard not worrying about him keeping up since his stroke but I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them so a memory they are making together. Grandson is a teacher and a joy to be around and drove them down last night. They’ll have the luxury of watching it from a friends condo on the track so no rain ponchos needed or carrying ice chest up a bleacher.
great pictures today. sorry telly had to fight the flies. how horrid! i love the penquin quilt from linda in MN, it’s so cute. the geese made me laugh. that is a whole lot of mowing you have to do. oh my. better that hazel interferes with your sleep than ‘restless leg syndome’ RLS. it is the pits and i have not been sleeping for the last week. sometimes i wonder if i remember my name. it’s always something, isn’t it? stuff happens to all of us and we each understand. how crazy is that? happy for jo kramer. she deserves every bit of happiness she finds. i’m off to try to sleep. patti in florida – oh yeah, the ‘america’s quilt’ was to show mary that i had made one of her patterns – even hand quilted with big stitch.
Still no rain here but hoping for tomorrow. I have plants to put in but the ground is so dry I wanted to wait until we had some rain.
Too bad about the jade plants. Hubby transplanted a dozen sunflower plants about 6″ high and the squirrels ate them all off the first night. He mumbled something about building a chicken wire cage for his sunflowers next year.
I liked Anne’s “keeping it real”. Mine flower beds are in worse shape but waiting for a new digger tool to arrive before I tackle them. Groundcloth is mostly gone so will be a clear and salvage year with new plantings next year.
The crocheted chicken is the kind of chicken I like (besides fried). My great aunt gave us Bantam chickens one year when I was a kid and they terrorized us by chasing us and trying to peck us. Fun times on the farm.
DebMac, thoses bantam chickens are why i don’t like chickens. sorry, mary. my grandma had lots of those kinds of chickens and they always gave me a hard time. even had nightmares of saving my baby sister from the chickens. oh my. go to bed, patti. yes i am. patti in florida
Instead of pretend grandchildren we have HONOURY grandchildren. 2 girls and 2 boys and well as my daughter has given us 6 grandchildren and my eldest granddaughter has given us 3 great grandchildren.
Elissa from Australia