Southern Iowa got drowned – we got a quarter inch. They also had 100 mph wind – none here. Oh, we are lucky!
I saw an ad on Marketplace for an old high chair for $20, marked down from $60. It would be perfect as a plant stand so I went to Mason City today to look at it. I did not know this place existed but it’s chuck full of fun stuff – much of it was familiar!
Here’s the high chair – sadly it’s in good shape and someone tried to “antique” it which pretty much ruined it so I’m ok with leaving it outside.
I don’t think my plants have EVER looked so good!
I have gotten the magazine Quiltfolk for several years and in an effort to get rid of at least something, I decided to thumb thru before I put them in a pile for Connie.
Here are a few things I saved:
Then I saw this – I guess I probably saw it when the magazine came out. I know for a fact that it’s our bullseye quilt design and that those fabrics are not vintage. Just think, when I die I’ll never have to get upset about someone stealing our bullseye ever again. And I intend to ask God what he’s going to do about it.
For all of you who have ordered the Good News pattern – please download this picture of the quilt as we made the original quilt reversible. When I made Jenny’s quilt I used the A block and the B block alternately.
Sounds confusing until you make the first block – then it’s so simple!
Anybody going to the Iowa State Fair? Looks so fun!
I’m excited you are doing another Bullseye Sew Along. I started the last one and got sidetracked and didn’t finish. Perfect opportunity to get it done! Thank you!
WOW! That high chair is amazing (except for the “antiquing”). My oldest, who is now 35, had that exact high chair. It was my ex-father-in-law’s. We had some good memories with that thing.
Jessica – sad that somebody painted it, isn’t it?
As I was reading your post I was reminded how much I regret not joining your Bullseye quilt sew along. Now I read you’re doing it again! Wonderful! I’m in!
OHMYGOODNESSS have we had the rain. I measured almost 5 Inches in two days in my rain guage. There has been some flash flooding in the small creeks/streams. I don’t know if it has caused any damage anywhere – I sure hope not. Fortunately, my farm didn’t experience the 100-mile/hour wind but the storm yesterday was ferocious and I do have some small limbs down.
Mary – I have a new black kitten. My best friend’s brother had this baby kitten (vet estimated that she was 5 weeks old 2 weeks ago). She is simply adorable. My seniors have had their life unended since Bernadette arrived! Do you like the name? I’ve name most of cats with names starting with ‘B’ so that’s the name I came up with. Bernadette is so much fun to watch her play. She plays hard and then she’s out like a light. Have a good weekend.
Brenda – I can’t wait to see Bernadette! What are the other B names? Yes, Kittens will do that to older household cats – Mortie is a good example – haha!!
Oh, that’s just too much rain – we haven’t had any, just a gray day with mist and humidity. And that wind! We’ve seen pictures of the damage – horrible!!!
Mary, you couldn’t have posed Mortie and the chickens to make a better picture … it’s perfect! You have a real eye for composition, both in your photos and your quilts. Have a great weekend!
Candy – good pictures are all accidental! Haha! I carry my phone in my pocket all day – if I tried to pose this pictures, it would have been impossible. I do like it very much
Love the picture of Mortie & the pretty chickens. And that picture would make lovely cards, just saying. We’ve had so much rain this week, still so much flooding, especially in SE Indiana. We camped for many years just south of Brookville, IN. We lost 2 camper there due to the Whitewater River flooding & not being able to pull our campers out in time. The last time 52 of us lost our campers & that was the final straw! Many of us moved to other campgrounds. I can’t imagine what the people who have lost their homes & everything in them are going through. Heartbreaking! Quiltfolks didn’t bother to do any research on that Bullseye did they? Love that quilt & someplace I have the directions to that quilt. I need to do some searching & make one! A bit of good news this morning. My daughter won her unemployment case & will be receiving her unemployment! She along with most of the other employees were let go after a huge fire at the company she had worked for. Everyone have a good weekend!
Alice – I’m working on the card suggestion. The flooding looks unbelievable on the tv news! I’m planning on making another Bullseye – maybe I should do it as a sew along over a period of several weeks to give everyone a chance to keep up. Let me know. And congrats to your daughter! I can’t imagine why she wouldn’t quality for unemployment if her business had a fire putting her out of work!!!
I would love a sew along, that sounds like so much fun! Count me in!! I’m not sure I understand the process where she worked, but there was something shady going on with the company. There were some type of reactors that had to be kept cool with water, some of the water valves were broken & not working & there was an explosion. Two people were burnt badly & still recovering. So they laid 90% of the people off, she was one of them. Now the company is up for sale!
I love love love the picture of Mortie and the hens….it would make great cards. Got 3.5 in of rain yesterday, 2.5 last night. It was to see Tim again…to bad you put a mini camera on him to see where he goes. I want to make a Bullseye. My sister in law made one and it turned out beautiful. I’m going to have to live till I’m till 100 or more to get all my project done. I don’t how you do everything you do….you are amazing! LOVE the blog and all your stories, you should write a book. I read a very good book the other day “The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell” by Robert Dugoni.
Becky – I’ve read Sam Hell – very good! Too much rain!! I just asked Alice if she’d like to make a Bullseye if I did a sew along. What do you think?
And I want to do MORE! It’s never enough when the day ends and I think of everything else I want to do. Haha! I’m not easy to live with – just ask Rick!
Loved all “the nonsense” today. I agree about the great picture of Mortie with the chickens. The quilts are great inspiration. I have binding to do, but too hot and humid today for a quilt in my lap. I do mine the “old” way with hand stitching the binding on the back. To me it is very therapeutic. If you look closely at the bullseye quilt you can see that the fabrics are not vintage.
Mortie with the hens is the cutest!! And your antique high chair brought back memories. Years ago a friend and I would go “antiquing” as we called it and we always looked for high chairs. We didn’t like the antiquing faze, either, where people painted, stained, and rubbed stuff on beautiful old oak things to make them look old. It didn’t work and only made things look sad.
I am so glad I made a Bulls-Eye quilt. I love, love, love it. I quit all quilt mags a few years ago. I kept lots of my old ones and still enjoy going thru them now and then. I have never come across a Bulls-Eye though.
Thank you for always reading my nonsense. LOL
Here in central western Iowa we spent yesterday cleaning up after strong winds and 2″ rain. Power was restored late morning. I lost half a tree, neighbor to west lost a tree, kids across the street lost a car windshield and large limbs. My dear brother came with pickup and chainsaw and we set to work. I barely lasted till 8:30 when I took 2 Aleve and went to bed! I thought of all you do Mary! I agree the picture of cat with chickens on note cards! Love your “nonsense “….it goes well with coffee!
Loved the blog this morning! Great pictures and advice. Makes me feel normal.
I have a hearing problem even with hearing aides. So I need to thank my friends for putting up with me regarding it. It’s often difficult. I know it’s not easy and I can tell when they get irritated with me. Thank you Mary for hints and advice even if inadvertently.
I totally agree about the hearing problem and hearing aids that don’t work for me. It is definitely a problem having to say “I am so sorry, but I can’t hear you”!
Good morning Mary! I love your daily e-mail! Reading it is the best way to start my day! I’m always amazed at all you do in a day and I love that you share all of the “nonsense”and pictures of your life! Thank you for taking the time to share with your friends!
My first thought when I saw the photo of Morty and the chickens was “This would make a great puzzle!”
I am so glad I didn’t know about being critical when I started quilting. I started sewing garments when I was 9 when my grandmother taught my sister and me to make aprons. I loved sewing garments and home decorating items but didn’t start quilting until the 90’s. I didn’t know anything about quilting but decided to make a quilt and I loved it!. One of my 1st quilts was a denim sampler I designed for my son. Each block represented a milestone…his birth, his college fraternity letters, the church we attended when he was a child, his school… I’m still amazed I did applique, embroidery, designed blocks and had no idea I should have started simple with a nine patch.
Sheryl, you bring up a very good point. I too am glad I didn’t know there were quilt police checking my points. I too was self taught till I took a class for the bicentennial 1976 and then still did pretty much my own thing as I wasn’t interested in judging and critiquing at shows. I too am much happier with my Bulleyes quilt knowing I had the freedom to make that without any judgement of colors and sizes I cut the circle. It still will be one of the most fun quilts I have ever sewn and admired everyone’s when we made them here on Mary’s blog.
Mary, this was a wonderful post to read this morning. I especially loved the chickens with Mortie. You captured one of your best photos yet!
It’s a good thing we didn’t know better. We might not be where we are today in our quilting journey.
One thing about my older quilts that I don’t like is I used either white or ecru backing. I remember the 1st time I saw pretty fabric used for backing. I was hooked! Also I used polyester batting and lightly quilted so the quilts were really fluffy. If other batting options were available 30 years ago, I didn’t know about it.
Yes, that is your Bulls Eye Quilt and No those are not vintage fabrics. They should have done their research. UGH. I do not get that magazine or they would have definitely heard from me.
I still love Jenny’s quilt. They will love it for a long time and pass it down to the new baby:)
Our little Thursday sewing group (or Thursday Therapy as some call it) has shrunk from 13 to 4. Yesterday we met in a beautiful independent living facility nearby. Two of them live there. It worked so well, we think we will meet there always. They have artwork displayed in a long hallway. My friend and I were featured once so I checked it out. I am not familiar with this quilter/artist, but his quilts are so interesting and bright. I tried to take a photo of his info, but it did not come out very well. I will send you some pics and the bio.
Also, I will check out my antique high chair’; I think it is the same as yours.
We have lots of flooding in Central Ohio and the storm winds were so strong on I-71 near Columbus that a car was flipped over. Whew.
It’s not nonsense when we all LOVE it!! And, I think the photo of the chickens & cat by the fence should be your next set of cards. I bet many of us would buy them! Cheers to you!
Chris – working in that card suggestion now – many have told me the same thing.
Hi Mary, having a sewing day tomorrow with a couple of friends, will make a bacon and egg pie for lunch. April has been to Japan, so eager to see her new fabrics! The days are getting longer,so spring is coming! Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Thank u for sharing your high chair fine, maybe a plant that’s hangs down would be fun, it may even wrap around the legs..
I gave been getting Quilt folks magazine , received #39 very recent, I am sorry they posted information about bullseye, without doing research , and not replying about misreporting 🧐
It’s time for me to share some of mine, running out of space in my ole bookcase, a summer fine ,I painted and brought back to being a great place to hold my QUILT BOOKS..📚
Katie – I enjoy looking thru Quiltfolk but rarely see anything that inspires me
“vintage bullseye”
When I saw this issue I wrote Quiltfolk to point out the pattern was yours. No response, but felt it was important to update them about misreporting.
Li – thank you so much!!!