Still very cold here but the sun is shining and I let the geese out to a spot that’s out of the wind and in the sun – they’re loving it!
Remember this new Kristen Hannah book?
I said it was so good it came downstairs with me the very first morning. I’m going to have to quit reading, I think. Someone else mentioned the story of the family’s hardships and I have to agree. It’s almost too brutal to read – the sadness and the harsh conditions during the depression and the dust bowl are unbelievable yet the stories are taken right from history making it even worse, I think. When I read it before I go to sleep I have nightmares about hurt animals and starving people! So the jury is still out on this new book- I need to take a break from it.
This is what’s on the quilting machine – I’ll finish it today.
And this is what I’m piecing -Farmers Daughter for Jill. I’ve got all the blocks more than half done and I’m loving the red, white and pink.
It will definitely follow the Country Threads “look” of lots of fabrics in a controlled scrap palette.
From Readers:
Clever use of a Christmas card holder.
My new girls lay the dark brown eggs – I really should do a quilt in these egg colors, shouldn’t I?
It’s Monday and Rick pointed out there are no cookies in the house – when they’re in the freezer I think about them all day – that’s how bad my sweet tooth is! Like mother, like daughter!
Off to bake cookies!
I agree the book is haunting. I liked it a lot. It reminds me of stories my grandmother told of the depression. Although not the same stories, much different conditions it was hard fir most.
Stay warm! Cookies sound wonderful on a cold day.
What a beautiful color pallet your eggs will make for a quilt. Such soft yet deep color.
I have about 200 bullseye quarters ready to be sewn together. Now to decide what design to sew them into! Decisions, decisions.
Happy Stitching.
Hi, I put that book on my hold list. Sounds like I won’t be able to read it before bed from what you are experiencing. Am going to start on my 6 inch bullseye circles soon. Working on another row by row block. Before I retired, I bought a bunch of the kits so I haven’t had to worry about having enough to sew during the pandemic! Everyone stay warm and safe. We are in for snow, anywhere from 5 to 12 inches.
Hi Mary, l just love the navy tea blocks with the green circle around them, very pacific island look! The different coloured eggs look great.cool, wet, windy day in wellington n.z. today, take care everyone, best wishes from sandy
Found my Aunt Amy book and am ready to start!!
It’s cold here and we have 6″ of snow on the ground! Nothing like Iowa but so rare for us. We were without power for over 6 hours (I’m not exactly sure when it went out). It’s back on for now but they’re telling us to be prepared for rolling blackouts. It’s worse for those who need electricity for medical devices.
I’ve been cleaning the sewing room with the blinds open – we do have sunshine! As soon as the power went on we made a huge pot of chili. We may lose power again but we’ll be ok. Funny thing though is we had to put the ice cream outside so it would stay frozen.
The cats are sitting in the window watching birds and soaking up the sunshine.
I really like the quilt on the longarm and the green quilt by Barb P (green is my favorite color).
Thanks for the heads up on the book. I’ll have to remember not to read it late or when I’m upset as I get bad dreams too.
Cookies sound good – perfect for a cold winter’s day.
Mary – Was there a pattern for the quilt you are quilting on your machine. I have a million 2 1/2 squares looking for a home. Mary Swanz
RE: pillow Karen from OR, all those hearts !!!
I spied the PINK HEART applique: does anyone else remember Mary Ellen Hopkins (she taught me so much and will always remember her!) . that pink heart fabric was what she always called a MARY JANE fabric,
that was in many colors, from the 70s, and I still am hoarding some here, after all these years,
so nice to see someone else using it too. Like seeing old friends again
Margie in CA – I will never forget MEH! She was one in a million!
oh gosh Mary, you too !
before MEH I was a dedicated hand piecer only, but as soon as I went to her seminars BOOM
the sewing machine was IT, from then on, and still is ! Her books are still like another Bible for
quilters, her amazing ideas and methods live on and weren’t we the lucky ones !
Margie in CA – I went to three It’s Okay Seminars – 2 in Las Vegas and 1 in Maine. Could you have been at one of them?
Hi Mary,
I can almost smell those baking cookies! I’m with you on the sweet tooth! I only bake for parties or gifts because we just eat whatever I bake!!! I am addicted to sugar!!
What is the name of the quilt you have on your longarm? I like it a lot – it’s my kind of scrappy – everything, but the kitchen sink!! Sorry if I missed the name of it earlier!
Thank you so much for your blog. I look forward to reading it everyday!
The quilts are beautiful. I definitely have a sweet tooth also. I am the Cookie Monster. I rarely bake cookies unless I’m giving them away or someone is coming over. I would eat them all.
Love the top thats on long arm. The color of eggs would b pretty n soft quilt. Sorry so cold there . Here in southwest Ohio having nasty snow storm from the west. This morning 19 degrees and 2 inches snow here . Some got way more! Right now 22 degrees sleet with snow. Su]pose get 7inches to 12 inches. I dont think b reading that book. I heard lots of hardships during depression. I parents grew up then. Oh I seen on Instagram where they did hearts like the bullseye! Interesting! Hope everyone there stay warm
Mary do you have the Farmers Daughter pattern for sale? Freezing here in Texas. I thought I got away from such cold weather.
Liz Schrader – yes, I can send it to you for $12. Please include an address label if you think of it – yes, who would have thought it would get so cold in Texas????? Hang in there!
What is the pattern of the quilt on the frame? Love it!
We had about 18” of snow since Saturday afternoon. Just finished shoveling the back deck and hubby cleared our driveway and the neighbor’s. Then we made a dash to the grocery store. It’s supposed to snow again tomorrow and stay cold for a while. At least we haven’t lost power like they did on the west side of the state due to a huge ice storm. Lots of damage to trees, etc. love the farmer’s daughter block. Can hardly wait to see the finished quilt. Be safe and stay warm everyone!
The Farmer’s Daughter is one of my favorite blocks. The red’s are beautiful. At least 20 years ago I made the Mini Farmer’s Daughter in your book “Use it up, wear it out—” all by hand. Sometimes I get the urge to see just how small can we go! And I really like the one on the long arm.
This morning there was a 20mph south wind and it was really cold by the south kitchen window. I set a thermometer on the window sill and it said 46 degrees. Guess I’ll get groceries tomorrow. This is nothing to fool around with. I really feel for the people in the south as they aren’t prepared to cope with the cold. And they should all stay home when the roads are icy. And I’ll stay inside, too, here in Rapid City.
The quilt on the machine is very nice. I’m impressed with how nice the back looks (The small part I can see.) Today it is only 15 below–an improvement from yesterday. Our milk truck hauler said he is down 3500 pounds of milk because of the cold. Not good for the farmer, the hauler or the creamery. We are down also; the cows can’t get enough water to drink–they don’t want it when it is so cold. The water is there and we have the heaters going.
I wished I was working on a quilt but I am hemming dress pants of mine. I am done with the 3 browns and am moving onto grey/black then blue. Not fun, but necessary. Hope to be done by Wed. Stay warm!!
Kathy, I would love to know where you live. It looks like most of the nation has bad weather.
Janet S – Kathy Schwartz lives in SW Minnesota – I answered in case she didn’t see your question.
Mary, I love the quilt on the quilting frame!!! And, YES to making a quilt in the colors of the eggs. Just look to nature, you can’t go wrong.
Stay warm,
Susy
Mary, I finished the book last night. Even though it was so hard to read, I just had to finish it. I’m glad I did. The women are so resilient. I love your pink, red, and white block. It was -33 this morning at 8. It is now up to 0 here in Minnesota.
I want to tell you a few months ago, I was in a quilt store in Brainerd called Country Fabric. I accidentally wrote the check out to Country Threads. Brenda immediately caught the error, and knew who you were and where you were located. She follows your blog too.
My mother just finished reading the book and said it’s one of the best she’s read in a long time. She’s a big reader, reads every night before bed and said this book made you feel like you were there. She’s 83 years old and remembers her parents talking about the events in the book. She enjoyed it and is saving it for me when I get to visit again. She’s a huge Kristin Hannah fan, that might have something to do with it too.
I grew up in SE Iowa hearing about the depression every single day of my life. Those years were my mother’s coming of age time. Her family lost their farm and had to move to town where my mother went to a local business school to learn secretarial skills. She then worked for $12 a week and helped support her family along while her brother and sister also worked to contribute. My father until the end of life went from grocery to grocery picking up the week’s specials. Their pantry was always full since they had often been hungry. I think I won’t read the book. Hearing about those stressful times was enough for me.
Thanks for your cookie comment in addition to the wonderful quilts! Yes, very hard to stay out of the cookie jar, even when it’s in the freezer!!!
It must be so cold that you can’t receive mail. Tried twice to send my #9 finish today. Will try tomorrow.
I made cut out cookies for Valentines and they are disappearing fast. Love the quilts. Egg colors would be a nice quilt.
Nancy TD – did you remember my new email?
I also have a sweet tooth, been baking a lot of cookies lately because my neighbor kids shovel me out & their mother won’t let me give them money. I put them in the freezer but always have to try at least a couple warm cookies.
Would love the pattern for the Farmer’s Daughter Quilt also, and also love the quilt on the machine.
Everything is covered with 2 inches of ice in middle Tn and its going to continue for 2 more days. Most of our businesses are closed, no traffic is the aim. I will apply icy melt to our steps if we get about freezing but seeing icicles hanging is so unusual for us. I think I should join you and make some cookies, it would warm up the house and who doesn’t like cookies. Feeling grateful that our power is staying on. Stay safe and stay warm.
Love the colors in Farmer Daughter quilt. Mary what kinds of cookies do you make? I made sugar cookies yesterday but decided I’m not a sugar cookie fan. I really like cookies with added ingredients to the mix, not necessarily chocolate chips. Cold in Texas but conserving electricity as much as possible. I grew up in NW MO so I know about cold weather!
Margaret in North Texas – my go-to cookie is choc chip but it also has pecans, rice krispies and coconut in them. I think my favorite food in the world is a good cookie! I am just terrible about eating them, two at a time!!!!
i am also reading the four winds and agree…it’s a heartbreaking story. i’m up to the 1935 part so 1/2 way through the book. kristin hannah wrote winter garden, another book with historical facts. it’s about a young mother from leningrad in world war II. it’s also haunting and heartbreaking and i can’t even imagine the things they endured and decisions they made to survive. when i finish the four winds, i’ll be ready for a ridiculous chic lit book with a lighthearted story line.
Sheryl Harrison – I’m not quite to halfway and I hate what those people had to endure – and the animals! But if I actually purchase the book, I read it to the end no matter what!
It has snowed pretty much all day here, along with being windy. Our drive was blown off once but is covered again.
I love hearing all the cookie comments. They are the favorite baked treat in our family. When we packed up my parents’ household, I made sure Mom’s cookie cutters were dispersed to her grandchildren along with her beloved cutout recipe. My favorites are chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin-nuts in both.
I, too, love the scrappy four-patch on your Longarm. Thanks for this fun post, Mary. 🥰
I would like to know what kind of chicken is laying that beautiful dark brown egg? I’m down to 13 hens. They are old and this winter has been hard on them. When spring arrives so will baby chickens. Would like to buy some that lay those eggs. Love seeing all your pictures!
Tammy Guerrero – the brown eggs are being laid by the two gold hens igotfrom Scott. Have you ever studied a Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog? Many breeds who lay dark brown eggs and some even lay a dark green olive color egg – my favorites are still the blue-green ones.
I decided I couldn’t read the book as images and scenes stay in my mind that I can’t shake them so no sense to be thinking of more. We are suppose to get some snow here tonight ( 9-16”) so ran to our village store for some more ingredients to make a vege soup tomorrow to simmer. Peanut butter is my husbands favorite cookie and mine is chocolate chip but now after all this cookie talk I think cookies need to be made while it snows. Love all your pictures of happy quilts.
Barb P in Idaho – I would love to know the name of that pattern. And I’m hoping that Mary’s quilt on the frame is a preview of a new pattern or renewed pattern-would love to make one like it.
Carol,
The quilt pattern is Posh Petals from Sew Kind of Wonderful. I enjoyed making it but it is not a quick quilt…all curved piecing. It is not so terribly difficult but you can’t sew pedal to the max.
Hi Mary,
I understand your feelings about the book you are reading. I recently finished reading “Where The Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. I loved this book, but there were times when I had to stop reading it for a day or so. On the book cover, it is described as painfully beautiful. At once a murder mystery, a coming-of-age narrative, and a celebration of nature. I did learn some very interesting things about the marsh and all of it’s inhabitants. Fascinating. However, the painful parts of the story were, in some cases, almost too painful to read through, especially near the end. It was a very intense book to read. When I finished it , I felt the effects from the story for several days.
Dianne in Ohio – I am also reading her latest book, One For the Black Bird, One For the Crow – it is also a struggle of humanity versus the elements. Boy, am I in a rut with painful books right now!!! Delia Owens is a powerful author!
After reading reviews of this book I have decided to pass. I normally love her books. Several reviews seemed to say she was promoting Communism in this book. I would hope this is not true. Hopefully her next book is more upbeat.
Both of my parents went through the Depression and WW II. What an amazing generation. I will have to read it. After I read a book like Crawdads or Four Winds, I read something by Fannie Flagg or Wally Lamb! Funny and thoughtful books.
Your egg carton looks like mine. I just love my dark brown eggs too. Thanks for this blog, I always look forward to reading it.