Mary Ellen Hopkins preached this over and over – NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF A SQUARE – as in squares for a quilt. I made this king size quilt many years ago of just squares and I should do more like this because I love it and it’s mindless sewing that I like to do while I watch ballgames. I wonder how many charm packs I have that could become quilts???
Finally it was a mowing day – the grass was so long I had to cut it at 4.5” which means I’ll be mowing again early next week.
And this is what I did after I mowed – I made kettle corn!
Fall must be snake season in our hayfield because Hazel found two of them today – and of course she rolled on both of them!
I warned her that she’d be sorry – rolling on a snake means a bath before bedtime because I’m not sleeping with snake smell.
The game tonight was very exciting – Golden State won so the next game will be Sunday. I know what I’ll be watching. Tonight while I watched I made more of these little blocks.
Remember the theme here is using up every inch of my 30’s fabrics so the quilt will be whatever size – it’s a mystery yet.
I washed up my big Bullseye quilt and put it back on the bed upstairs.
These two patterns are available – $5.00 each and a SASE required for each.
Reader quilts
Marlene Clausen – I sent you an email regarding the question about your order. But I’m waiting for your answer.
Mary, Yes, my daughter is also a quilter, although lately she does more of the wool appliqued wallhangings which are hand buttonholed around the pieces. She is just finishing a large twelve block wallhanging from Buttermilk Basin that is all sewing motifs.
When I moved in with her, she gave me the master bedroom on main floor that has a small bathroom with walkin shower and she took one of the two bedrooms in the basement. The other two bedrooms on main floor were turned into sewing rooms – one for her and one for me. Each has a window that looks out onto the beautiful Rocky Mtns. I have completed a lot of my unfinished projects since I moved, but there are still a lot more that will not be completed before I pass on. That’s what happens when you belong to three different small quilt groups who encourage new projects. Guess who will get to finish them after I’m gone.?!?5
Jeanne in Co.
Jeanne – I’m imagining your home – master bedroom and bath and two sewing rooms with a view! How wonderful!! We know Stacy at Buttermilk Basin – I love her designs! And good for you to finish all those projects! I think you and your daughter have a perfect and positive arrangement! All mothers should be so lucky. Be sure to show us what you finish!
Mary I love your king size quilt made out of squares. That’s my favorite kind of quilt! Such talent you have !
Beverly – it doesn’t take talent to sew squares together – if there’s any talent it’s making a king size quilt. I’ve made 4 or 5 and I will never make another one!!
Love the photos and always love the quilts and animals.
Love the squares quilt and the bulls eye quilt. Also love the reader’s quilt with the stars and 4-patch stripes. Gorgeous!
That popcorn sounds yummy! Pictures are awesome!
The guys started combining soybeans yesterday and are at it again today. Had a little shower with a few drips about 4 o’clock. But it wasn’t enough to stop them! I think they are winding down for the week.
Have a good Sunday.
I was so happy to hear Millie is doing better! I passed the Baby Food idea on to my sister who has an 18 year old cat. He is losing weight so we are hoping he will eat the Baby food.
Nice to have a CLEAN non stinking Hazel😀. We are watching the Iowa vs Ohio State game. Very nice day here and it looks like it is there, too. Love the quikts😻😻
Diane – what a game for ESPN to do Game Day!!! I think Iowa is going to have a tough year. Caitlin was there about 10:45 to “pick” winners. She actually picked Iowa State over WV and they did win!!
Millie has actually gained strength and is walking around – she’s on my lap right now. My biggest problem is feeding here away from Mortie who wants the baby food, too! If I put Millie in the pantry and close the door she won’t eat!!
Aww. Poor Millie must like Mortie’s companionship, but also needs her own food. Bless you for taking such good care of all of your ” critters.” We all love to hear about them. We have two strays in our neighborhood who eat here in the AM and PM and then go to other homes, too. One belongs to our ex-Vet and it does not go in at night as far as I can tell. So sad. I tried to talk to her about it and she just shrugged. One of several reasons why I switched. Love the new one Vet:)
Lynette, I live in Loveland where I live with my daughter. I moved here from Iowa 7 years ago after my husband died. We are both widowed. We are about an hour from Boulder. Jeanne in Co.
I have a love of little houses so really enjoyed seeing the little, red houses quilt.
Enjoyed eating lots of kettle corn and popcorn when I was younger. Now I have to watch my sugar and my dental work.
Thanks for sharing everyone.
Never underestimate the power of a square. So true! When I attend a quilt show I am in awe of the beautiful art quilts that look like real flowers or animals. Then I will see a quilt of nine patches, shoo fly or a one patch design. They are simply lovely.
And… Hazel is a hoot! Love her.
Suzy – I’m with you – the art quilts don’t interest me at all.
Mary, just a quick question. Do I make a check out to you or Country Threads? Is on stamp enough on the SASE? Thanks for answering. Love all the pictures today!
Sarah – make check out to Mary Etherington – what pattern are you ordering? Most require just one stamp unless there’s many appliqué shapes which means more paper.
I am watching ESPN game day which is in Iowa City today. They just did a wonderful story on Children’s Hospital and the “WAVE”. Such a gift to so many.
Looking forward to seeing Caitlin Clark who will be a guest.
I might get more mindless sewing in today as I try to watch parts of the Iowa, Iowa State Homecoming and University of Washington games today! What an exciting finish to the Iowa game last week!❤️💛🏈
Vicki – hope you got to see Caitlin do the “picks”. It’s hard to believe that ordinary looking young woman is so famous and so rich beyond words with all her endorsements. And it always seems like she knows everybody – yesterday for instance, she acted like she knew all those men at the desk.
Yes, the Wave is a proud tradition at Iowa. I don’t know who started it. Iowa is not in OSU’s league – it was a boring game – last week’s ending was quite unbelievable!!
Mary, yes I did get to see Caitlin do the picks! I loved how she plopped her foot up on the counter to show off her new Nike shoe!!
Ohio is in a different league of their own. So glad Iowa State won the Homecoming game.
Vicki – I’d sure like a pair of her shoes!
Mary, you are correct about making a quilt out of 5” squares. This week, in my quest to use up scraps, I made an eye-spy out of squares. It was a perfect project while watching playoff baseball games. I have enough squares to make several more.
All of the pictures are great today. Your little blocks are so sweet and will make a lovely quilt. What a treasure your bullseye is.
Hope you have a nice sunny day there for all the outdoor activities!
Yummy, kettle corn! I also love just plain popcorn! Many Sunday nights Ron & I share a bowl of popcorn while watching TV. That picture of Hazel is such a good one! I sure don’t blame you for giving her a bath after the snakes encounter! I’m almost up to date on cutting out my Bullseye. I cut all my 8″ circles like you asked, freehand. Will cut out my 6″ squares today. It’s been a busy week. Yesterday I made a trip to OSU dental to have a filling replaced. My student was such a delight! I love getting to know these young people. Her dad & grampa are/were dentist & what a lovely personality she has! She corrected a previous bad job of another dentist. Yesterday was a nasty, rainy day for that 1.5 hr trip. I’m always concerned about the traffic in Columbus. Fortunately only saw one accident, a semi roll over. My outside flowers are loving this cooler weather & my roses are blooming like it was spring! I’ve managed to block the deer from getting to the flowers on my porch & they’re just beautiful! I’m hoping we’re done with 90* temps! Love all the quilts shown, especially your large Bullseye.
Hazel said “say what?!” Bath? What a sweet little face! She is totally innocent.
Quilts and more quilts! And I have not been able to get to my sewing room since retreat. Maybe today but I have outdoor work to do. No sure how much I can get done. I love the weather in low 70s!
Thankfully I am not familiar with snake scent! 🙂 Love all the quilts today, your bullseye and the quilt on the other bed are both fabulous, as are all the reader quilts. It looks like another nice day in northern Iowa, maybe a bit windy. Hubby is “practice fishing” today, for the walleye tournament on Clear Lake tomorrow. So I am home with the dog and should get in some sewing time. I am also hoping to make a banana cream pie. I’ll have to let you know how it turns out. I have been working ahead on my bullseye quilt, it’s so fun!
I saw Mary Ellen lecture once may moons ago. She has so funny and made so much sense. I still have several books of hers.
5 inch squares is a great quilt. Need to remember that with my scraps.
Going to a neighbor’s baby shower this morning, then canning tomato sauce this afternoon. I’ll be home all day during the Iowa game as my husband is superstitious, I have sat with him for the previous 4 wins, now I’m the good luck charm. Some years it’s the opposite and I can’t be anywhere near the house!
give Hazel a hug for us. That face!!
Diana – I will never get rid of my Mary Ellen books – she was a genius way ahead of her time. I traveled to LasVegas as well as Portland, Maine to attend seminars with her. I learned a lot!
Ok – I’m going to leave the game in your hands. Caitlyn is going to be on ESPN at Iowa Game Day between 10-11. I’ll be watching.
Love the quilts that you showed today! I was especially taken with the one that had the stars and nine patches. One of my nieces is having her first baby in March so I am trying to come up with an idea for a baby quilt that won’t be too involved so maybe stars in nine patches would be a good idea? Fabrics today are so beautiful that you don’t need a lot of fancy piecing and a quilt. I always love seeing your chickens and of course all the other animals. My daughter has chickens in her backyard. They built a coop that is on wheels so they move it around every so many days to keep the grass from dying.
My two broken femur have never healed so now I saw a new surgeon who will be able to try and fix them. Actually, I’m not too laid up. I can walk around in the house without even a cane, but otherwise I use a walker or cane, as I cannot take a chance at falling. I do have some pain but not too bad. I go to the pool twice a week and exercise. Trying to keep my muscles strong enough to walk.
Laurie – I am apologizing for not remembering what happened to you!!! Two broken femurs! Will the moveable coop be warm enough this winter?
You’re right about the fabrics! And I always choose a simple pieced quilt when I’ve got gorgeous fabric
Mary Ellen Hopkins spoke to a group in my city one time that I remember. It was this time of year because she had seen a Halloween decoration on a house and wanted one. It was the witch on a broomstick that flew into a house and it was only her back and the back half of the broom sticking to the side of the house. She also had forgotten to pack shoes. She was hilarious.
Christina – yes, she was very entertaining!!!
I love seeing all the quilts! That never gets old to me. Hands down that is a fantastic picture of Hazel. Love, love love. Such a sweet face. I’m still on my cross stitch kick. Just finished a snowman for January. Have 1 more Christmas one to do and then maybe I’ll dive into that sewing room…… I love the idea of the squares. My son really loves all things Star Wars and I’ve made him 2 quilts in that theme…… a while ago I pulled out all the leftovers and had the same thought about cutting them all into 5″ squares and whatever size it is that’s what it is.
What a lovely show in tell. Thank you.
I’m back from a very busy quilt retreat. It’s very different this year, as I was one of the organizers. Saying that I did complete a lot of my 3” squares I’ve been working on. I will pull them out and take a picture and send it to you Mary. The quilt is my October DD. Let’s see if I can at least finish the top. I’m going to another retreat on the 19th, I’m hoping to have it ready to sew into a top when I go there. We shall see. I will also send a picture of the views from the sewing room. We looked out over the lake. It’s absolutely beautiful there.
Mary, I Forgot to tell you that I love your bullseye quilt on the bed. It I dare not attempt to start a new project at my age. The light background really makes the quilt outstanding.
Jeanne in Co.
Jeanne – does your daughter sew? You could do a small Bullseye which is what I’m doing – just 20 blocks. Not so overwhelming for you.
Hi Mary, Seeing the photo of your popcorn popper brought back memories of my high school days. I worked at the theater in the town in Iowa where I grew up. My job was popping corn (in a popper very much like the one pictured) and selling the candy bars,etc. We always got to take home any popcorn that wasn’t sold that evening, and even though I ate lots of it back then, I still love popcorn. It used to be our Sunday evening “supper”.
On a different note – I did locate a used power board for my 730 Bernina, from the dealer in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where I originally bought my machine. They tested the board that was on a trade-in and said it is working right now, no guarantees as to how long it will last, but at least it was worth buying. Surely not everyone has seen on their machine as many hours a day as I have these past few years. The young man in their shop was so very thoughtful and said he would do all he could to keep my machine working. Can’t ask for more than that, can I? When I called the Bernina serviceman here and told him my good news, he said he would come to my house and pick up the machine and board when it arrives. How nice is that? He has been wonderful to me also. He even refunded the money I had paid him to clean and oil my machine. I voided his check though because he worked hard doing the oiling and cleaning. It wasn’t his fault that the board quit working a few days after I got my machine back home. After horror stories about some salesmen and repairmen, I thought I should let your readers know that there are also some really caring ones who try to do the right thing for their clients. I am grateful I know two of them.
Jeanne in Co.
Jeanne – I’d say he went above and beyond for you! Came to your house to get the machine! Wow! We popped lots of popcorn and kettle corn when Country Threads had an event – we even took bushels of it to market for our customers.
Jeanne — I have several Bernina’s and I have to say have never been disappointed. Been blessed with great service as well. It is really good to read that there are still some great people out there who do the right thing! Where are you in Colorado? My son lives outside Boulder.
Lynette – did you see Jeanne’s answer?
The ‘squares quilt’ is wonderful! Mary Ellen was correct. I love it.
Hazel looks all squeaky clean. 😊