News from the barn – I have used two full pails of rat poison bait blocks, filled every hole I can find, covered every hole so no dog, cat or chicken can get at the bait and now I’m praying. I’m also looking for a small number of guineas who are serious rat killers.
Tomorrow I have a funeral to play for and then I hope the weather will let me plant some flowers. What’s going on at your house this week?
We are predicted to have low 30s temp tonight for second day in a row. Hope my hanging basket survives.
Marj – us, too, and I’m worried about all my cacti and succulents outside but I just can’t haul them all back into the house – it’s going to be the survival of the fittest! I have too many plants anyway.
Great quilts !!! Do you worry that Hazel might pick up a rat that has eaten some poison? You really have been infested with those! Hope there is an end to them at some point. Think you’ve had a rat farm and didn’t know it. Hope your winter has passed. I’m in S.Calif. and the weather has been so beautiful- sunny, blue sky, mild temps. Hate to see the hot summer come but the tomatoes like it. We heard today, the electric grid in CA is in big trouble. All these electric cars drawing on it doesn’t help. May not have much AC on very hot days. Not good. What next?
Maryjane – I watch very carefully and Orkin has assured me many times that there isn’t enough poison to cause Hazel any trouble. She would have to eat a dozen of those rat bait tablets and that won’t happen. It does make me nervous however and I watch her like a hawk!
Those are some really nice quilts enjoyed looking at them . That last hail, thunder storm we had, its been several weeks, damaged all our house shutters on the east sides of the house . Like my husband says “there’s always something”.
What a wonderful, big quilt show, thank you! The weatherman said we are getting Iowa’s cool weather tomorrow. I don’t mind; it’s already been in the high 80’s—ugh. I am hoping your rats will be GONE soon.
We may have been exposed to Covid on Friday night. We are worried because 2 of our grandchildren are graduating on 5/26 and 5/28 and their parties are 5/29 and 5/30. We had one grand child miss out in 2020 and one we actually saw graduate in 2021. We are praying we don’t get it for many reasons including the graduations.
Thank you for a wonderful quilt show. They are all so beautiful.
Beautiful weather here in northern Arizona except for this crazy wind that blows every day.
Oh what lovely quilts!! Kudos to everyone for such a great job. Pumpkin Seeds, the Black Cat, the Sunbonnet Sue, and the country-style quilts are my favorites.
I’m recovering from urgent foot surgery last week so my plan this week is to hand-sew. I am planning on making snowmen out of scrap batting using a crochet thread to sew the front and back together with a bit of fiberfill in the middle. Not sure yet if I’ll leave them faceless or put a face on them with other ornamentation. I hope to make several for a Christmas tree I want to decorate for our county 4-H clubs’ Enchanted Forest – a fundraising event. Our county 4-H bought the old county home and grounds for $1.00!!! They need the funds to add arenas and animal pens for the 4-H animals and the county fair. The forest has many trees that will be donated and people will have a chance to bid on the tree with the highest bidder winning the tree.
Of course, there will be much cuddling of my beloved cat and scratches for my Great Pyrenees both how know something isn’t quite right with mommy right now.
These quilts are amazing. Thank you.
Liking the sun bonnet sue quilt,- the pin wheels in the sashing is unusual for this type of quilt but really bring it all together. Very nice. Also like Jack Frost . Would like to see it in blue. The Alaska quilt certainly my depicts Alaska. Thanks, Mary for this quilt show. Good luck with your rats!
You must be dreaming about rats…I know I would be!
Those are nice quilts, and the black cat reminded me I should start on a Halloween quilt.
Our community orchestra had our spring concert today. It went well, I think. (I play violin). Now we get a break for a few months until the winter concert rehearsals start.
What a wonderful quilt show again! It’s so enjoyable opening my iPad to see a blog post from you and then see all these fantastic quilts from your readers.
Good job everyone.
We did something fun this weekend..a newly windowed lady from our church wanted to show us her large home she is selling as she went to a small place in our village for seniors and she is thrilled with her new home which really was darling and easy for her to relax in. So her old home she is selling was built for them in the 70’s and all energy “things” built in as it was cutting edge to have a home utilizing light domes in the roof in rooms, built into a hill and all glass windows on the opposite side, huge stone fireplace in middle of home. It was all kinda fascinating hearing how they saved on utilities way back then. Gorgeous park like 6 acres filled with tall trees surrounding it way off the road. She enjoyed telling us “her story “ and then we had glass of wine together after touring her new home with her doggie by her side. High Gas prices and food shortages back then too so it seemed like a circle all over again but I don’t think you would find a builder today that would build the home she had so I am glad we got to see it. Who knows when it sells what a new owner will redo in it.
Kathy in NY – did you take pictures? If you did I would LOVE to see them in my email! I love homes with a different “theme” or location or situation!
Us, too!
Betty in Rapid City
I have Bible study at church tomorrow morning, quilting at church on Tuesday afternoon, and then in between I am working on a HUGE quilt for my granddaughter and her husband. I need it finished by the first of July, as the kids and grandkids will be here for our Christmas in July. We do it in the summer now because we can’t depend on the weather in December, especially for our daughter in North Dakota. This quilt will be their Christmas present. She was here in April and she picked out the fabric and pattern. It wasn’t a hard pattern, but quite time consuming, especially since it is so large. But I am enjoying it.
We are having trouble getting our garden to grow. I think we will replant on Thursday, when it gets a little warmer, and hopefully, we might get some rain before then as we need it here in southern Iowa.
I , too, enjoyed the quilt show. Thanks to the finishers and you, Mary, for showing them to us.
Jeanine,
Where do you live? I live south of Fremont.
Brenda,
I am north of Fremont, about 5 miles southeast of Oskaloosa.
Jeannie,
I bet I drive past your farm a lot. I go to Osky to shop/medical, etc.
If you want to email me – iowatallgirl@gmail.com
Lovely quilts! I haven’t taken very many plants out, and I haven’t planted anything but cool season crops like lettuce, cabbage and broccoli – and I have taken only 6 house plants out so we carried them into the garage yesterday. Our house is chilly today but dang it(!) I don’t want to turn on the furnace again!! I have a quilt loaded on the long arm for tomorrow, and Tuesday we (Al and I) will be working at our primary election as poll workers. It will be a long day – 6am to 9pm! We are also going to Cresco later in the week to do some spring chores for my mom, and hopefully the ground will dry out (we got 2.5 inches of rain) and it will warm up so I can plant the rest of the garden. It’s a good thing that we got some of our spring chores done here last week like power washing the deck and washing windows.
Sherry – the garden is tilled and ready and today I thought maybe I’d plant peas and onions but the wind chill was about 30 so I gave up and watched golf instead!! You’ve gotten lots more done than I have – I’m jealous.
The quilts are beautiful! Great job to each quilter! I feel inspired to get to my UFO’s. Thank you for posting them for us. It really is enjoyable to look at them.
It has been very hot and humid here in Md. We’ve had storms late this afternoon and another this evening. Cooler weather for tomorrow is predicted so I hope to get some flowers planted. Just too hot for me today.
I’m sure you are making progress getting rid of the rats! Praying they will all be gone soon!
I loved the quilt show today. Great job ladies!!
After I had planted a bunch of flowers and a couple tomatoes, we had near freezing weather predicted so I threw some old sheets and some pieces of batting over them. They all survived. (So far!) You might try that on your succulents.
Tina in Oregon – I gave in and covered the succulent desk and others with sheets and lightweight blankets
Heading to Iowa Tuesday for a week. Meeting up with my sis from Michigan at D. M. airport . Then a road trip with her to visit family including my son. 💖 Can’t wait!
Liz – where does you son live?
Love seeing all the quilts!!!
Thank you for a wonderful quilt show it is so inspiring to see such beautiful quilts
I’m working on a scrapbusting quilt and going to several medical appointments. Hope to do some cleaning up/organizing in my quilt room. Need to get some new perennials, too.
What a nice way to end my day. The quilt show was lovely! The weather here in S E CT was sunny and warm.
But rain predicted tonight. Just put my newly finished churn dash quilt on our bed and it makes me happy to look at it. Went to the second of two grandsons college graduation today. I’m one proud “Grammy” for sure.
Love the quilt show! Thanks, Mary for posting them.
Love the quilts.
What a wonderful quilt show today!! Loved all of them. But I have to say that Sunbonnet Sue is absolutely darling. So sweet.
Good luck with your cactus & succulents! I haven’t put any plants out yet, but if there’s ever a frost warning after I do put them out, I put newspaper over them & use the clip clothespins to hold them in place. Works pretty good!! Carry on. . .
So many very wonderful quilts! Wow! I need to get busy sewing again!
And you’ve been busy, Mary, with work in the barn. I hope you have success with these new efforts!
Thanks for sharing readers’ quilts, Mary. Love to see what others have accomplished. Noticed a youngster driving his little car on a piano key border; precious!
Read that rats were sometimes cooked and eaten in POW camps by US prisoners! Sad to think of it!
No new snow today, but it was breezy n cool …46o high @ our altitude. Only one brisk rain shower.
Haven’t sewn in quite a while. Saw a Quilt As You Go small hexi topper of 2 1/2 “ blocks finished by a friend in TN. Very tempting! Need to purchase the template set soon.
Noticed one tiny blue blossom today on a small Violet plant that sits near tv and my son’s EMT scanner. Elk and Deer would devour annuals outside. Have noticed Waterlily leaves sprouting up in our pond!
Back to Golden State Basketball 🏀 game vs Dallas Mavericks!
Thank you for the quilt show. Rain this afternoon and did some weeding this afternoon. Planted squash and cuke seeds last week and they are finally up. We have a small above ground garden with 4 tomato plants and 3 pepper plants plus the 1 hill of squash & cukes. this is enough for the 2 of us plus I usually have some extras I can. Carolyn b Shenandoah Valley VA.
That is a nice setting for the Sunbonnet Sue quilt. I like and thanks for posting the quilt show for us,Mary!
Wow so many beautiful quilts! Thanks everyone for sharing them with us.
I’ve been working on two commission quilts again. One has 96 paper pieced blocks. I finished two baptismal stoles using my wedding dress. My grandsons will be baptized by my son who is a priest. All three sons and us the grandparents will be in the Davenport Iowa area next weekend for the baptisms and my grandson’s second birthday.
We will be taking two days of driving to get to Iowa and two going home so we can stop often and walk around. My back doctors don’t want me riding any longer than 2 hours at a time without a break.
The weather was getting hot hot hot and then the wind shifted. This morning it was cool and it stayed cool all day. No rain though. It’s so dry and the wind just keeps blowing.
I sure hope your rat population is getting to the end. I can’t believe you are still catching them.
Such a long drive! Your poor back and you don’t want anything to happen at this point!! What a touching event – the grandsons being baptized by your son!!! Exceptional!!!! We could use some of your hot
Oooooo..rats!!! Nasty critters! Go get em Mary.
My sister from Arizona is visiting…she was at my house last week and went to watch Soren win at state track..hooray! Right now she is with her daughter in Des Moines and will be coming back here Tuesday or Wednesday. I will fly home with her next Sunday and stay a week with her in Mesa.
We are getting manicures Wednesday and will put flowers at the cemeteries before I leave. I told my hubby he was in charge of picking them up..I am sure I will have to provide a map so he can find the gravesites.
I got my tomato plants and cucumber seeds in the ground today. I have 2 raised beds I use for veggies..we live on a sand hill, so need to supplement the soil. I buy Miracle Gro potting soil in the fall when it goes on clearance and refresh my gardens in the spring. Hoping for a bumper crop.
Have a good week…enjoy some warm weather toward the end of the week…the breeze was really chilly today!
Julie B
Julie – I watched the news about the state meet hoping to see Soren but didn’t. Won’t you have a fun couple of weeks!
Our big event this week is having the exterior of our house painted. They power washed on Friday, tomorrow they scrape, sand and tape. Tuesday, let the spraying, rolling and brushing begin! The weather is finally supposed to warm a little and no rain so perfect for painting. Our dogs will tire themselves out barking at those “intruders” as they work. Hubby will “supervise” from indoors. Doctor, dentist and PT for me this week. Will still get in my evening sewing time.
To digress, last night both of my granddaughters marched with their high school in our Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade. Last two years it has been cancelled so it was a definite celebration to welcome it back. It had rained all day but quit before the parade. Temp was chilly in the low 50s…but no one seemed to care.
Will plant flowers as soon as the painters are gone. They will take off as the weather warms.
Thanks for news from the farm and the quilt show. Enjoy some porch time.
Sandy – having your house painted is a really big deal! What color and trim? I’m just interested. Yes, the dogs will be busy guarding the house! Haha!
Sherwin Williams “Studio blue green” with cream trim and a burgundy front door. Also bought new garage lights. Current color is tan with a tera cotta undertone and rust trim and door color. So many gray and beige houses in our neighborhood, lots with vinyl siding. We have Hardee plank siding so the paint is actually still in good condition, but we needed to change the color.
Choosing a new paint color is not for the faint of heart. It took several trips to the paint store for brochures, the little color cards, some press on samples, 3 quarts of possible colors, a board to paint samples on so we could move it to sunlight and shade, and a bag of foam brushes.
I hope it looks good on the house.
Sandy – oh, that sounds beautiful! Send us a picture when it’s finished – love the burgundy front door! I would think that deciding such a huge project that is so visible would be next to impossible. Here on the farm Rick has three rules – the house is white, the barn is red and we sleep upstairs! Haha!!
Hi Mary,
I feel your frustration with the rats!
I live in a town called Bloemfontein, South Africa. I have a big population of bats living in my ceiling…we are not allowed to kill them ( which I don’t want to do either) as they are on the endangered specie list. They are messy and stink..I just want to get rid of them, but there seem to be no solution for me!
I love everything you do..you are a very hardworking woman..where do you find time for everything?
We are in the begining of winter and even we do not get snow in my area..the temperatures drop to -12/15 in mid winter.
Thank you for being an inspiration to all of us!
Regards
Rina
Rina – this is what my exterminator explained to me – they sealed up every vent and any opening around flashing, skylights, etc. They installed a tube that allows the bats to leave when the weather warmed up – they would leave to feed and the tube doesn’t let them get back in. They are protected here, too, but I have no idea why.
I am impressed that my blog has reached South Africa – thank you for telling me. I don’t always get everything done like I want to but I do hate to waste time. When that time is gone, it’s gone forever. Thanks for being a blog reader!
Mary, Thank you for taking the time to post the pictures of reader quilts. And fellow readers, thank you for sharing them. The photos that are shared on this blog are of some of the most wonderful quilts I’ve seen! I truly appreciate being able to see them.
Absolutely love the quilt show. Everyone has put many worthwhile hours into each quilt so it’s wonderful to see they turned out so nice.
My husband planted too early so we had to go out last night(again) to cover things up. He is the one who says we have to cut down. So far, I have counted 14 tomato plants and I only want two. I guess I will be freezing tomatoes. Oh well.
Have a great week ahead everyone.
Jane – wow! 14 tomato plants! I only bought two and that will be enough for us. I covered plants up last night – almost freezing here this morning.
We have a beautiful cool day today after yesterday’s high of 94! We had some strong thunderstorms come through last night and woke up to temps in the upper 50s. It’s only going to 74 today. Yay! The last 2 days were hot and humid. Just awful.
Will get some flowers planted and some zucchini seeds in today. We’ve already got lettuce, potatoes, onions, squash and peppers planted. I need to get some tomato plants and get some basil seeds planted.
I cut a small bouquet of roses yesterday morning. They are lovely — five different roses in one vase with some tickseed and perennial purple verbena – makes me so happy!
Loved all the quilts. I need to get going on some of mine. I’m refusing to buy any more fabric. I’m in a “use what I have” mode. Let’s see how long that lasts!
ENJOYED SEEING ALL THE BEAUTIFUL QUILTS TODAY!! NICELY DONE LADIES!!
The quilt show was fabulous; thanks to everyone who contributed their work. I live in northern Iowa and it is unseasonably cold here this year. I have my furnace on every day. This is the first year in a long time that I haven’t had all of my annual flowers planted. My lilac bushes, however, have been beautiful and all of the flowering crabapple trees were lovely about a week or two ago. I am having a “walk-in” shower installed in my bathroom. It still needs to have the doors put on (when they come in!) and then it will be finished. Bailey loves this weather. We are working on “not barking” at everyone that walks by our house. It is almost like training a toddler: repetition, love, discipline!
Lois Ann – we have our furnace on, too – it’s pretty chilly outside and I have my flowers purchased – waiting for a warmer day! We were near freezing this morning.
You are right about today’s quilts—all beautiful! I so appreciate people including the pattern name.
Mary, thank you for yesterday’s quilts, 22nd. They were so neat. Wow, the rats will not win!! They are so
nasty. Have the furnace on also in SE South Dakota. Done with track meets but now baseball is starting. We are doing basketball in the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, SD. At least that is inside. Still working on the 2nd border of an off set LeMoyne Star quilt. I am making that row scrappy. Need to work on my cross stitch kit
that I am doing with Jo (Country Junction). Is rather fun to pick up on cross stitch again, but couldn’t do it full time. Love your emails.
Glenda – I love the look of cross stitch but my tired and swollen hands just can’t do it – I won’t even try because I know it would hurt.
Welcome Rina to the post. We have one reader from Australia. We love to hear how life is other countries.
The show today is lovely…we’d love to have more names on them!!
I’ve seen the rat catching on YouTube. Possibly that could be an additional trap surrounded with chicken wire to speed things up.
I returned from our spring retreat yesterday…. I was pooped.
Today will be filled with laundry, putting stuff away, and longarm jobs. I think the shingles are healed enough to return to exercise group. Im going to try on Tuesday.
It’s snowing today. Im glad I don’t have flowers to worry about yet.
Jo…. Mary’s blog has at least two readers from New Zealand also! One is my granddaughter and another named Sandy. It’s really is special to know that quilting has brought all of us together as friends. Thank you, Mary!
Jo in WY – SNOWING!!!!! Ick! I will go to YouTube right now – there was only one hole disturbed this morning – cardboard pulled out so I know they were in that spot. Wish Orkin would come sooner to check the bait boxes!
I love the quilt show. Linda H has certainly been busy! Good for her. I just started cutting fabric for a throw size quilt that I will give to a child. I have so much stash fabric that for 2 years I have just gone to my stash to sew. And I have also used the Country Threads book concept of “use it up” with the smaller pieces, thus sewing pillows and table runners with my remnants. I swear, I never saw a piece of fabric in the store that I couldn’t figure out what I would do with it! My stash is still immense after years of buying for projects that remained UFO’s. The DD is good for me.
I hope your plants survived.
What a great quilt show! That’s a lot of poison gone. Hopefully the rats are gone too!
Hi Mary, thank you Diane in Maryland remembering me in New Zealand! One day l might meet your grand daughter in Christchurch ! I have just sold our house to a developer who will build 8 one bedroom townhouses, so now we start to look for house with granny flat forme , my son and his family! The sunbonnet sue was my favourite quilt today, great work 👍 everyone! Take care, best wishes from sandy
Hi Sandy – If I am ever lucky enough to come to New Zealand, I will let you know so we can all meet! Ashley has sent many pictures of N.Z. and you live in a beautiful country. She works in the office for a plumbing company that does work on new construction homes and businesses. It’s so wonderful that Mary has readers all over the world! Best wishes to you too!
Hello Mary! The quilt show today was lovely, I especially ally loved the quilt that had the rake on it, do you know the name of the quilt, I thought maybe it is one of your designs. We went to North Dakota to visit family for the day yesterday, then back home today. They are just getting started in the fields to plant their crop. It is like this along the I29 and Hwy 2 corridor due to rain, snow and rain, and it is still not warming up enough to get the ground to dry out. We are picking rock and hope to get done this week. I have to work on my flower gardens and get the cucumbers planted, but it has been. So cold. I am monitoring BlueBird nest houses this year and have one BlueBird that has a nest of 5 eggs. I am hoping for success of course.
Cynthia – the quilt with the rake is our Garden Club quilt which was a BOM and then Leisure Arts bought the rights – you might look online for a copy if you’re interested.
What a gorgeous show of quilts today! I would love to know the name of the pattern that Chris from Alaska used on her panel quilt, anyone know?? It sounds like the rat problem is being aggressively handled, look out rats!!
I’m in NC attending the John Campbell Folk School with our daughter. We are taking an Italian Cooking class and staying close by in a rental home. We came last year and had so much fun, we are doing it again.
Love the quilts especially the primitive one. Do you happen to know anything about it? I would love to get the pattern. Love your blog!
JoAnna – you asked about a quilt posted on 5-22 and this is already 5-28. I have received many many photos and comments since then and have posted several times. I can’t possibly keep up with quilts posted 6 days ago. If you want me to research further you’ll have to send me a picture.