I’ll bet you’re not familiar with one of Hazel’s favorite games – TOWEL! After her bath she grabs the towel and runs through the house just begging me to chase her…..which I do. As soon as I grab the towel the game is ON!
I even trimmed her hair tonight – just look at this clean little white tornado!
I took some pictures today – here are my two favorite gray hens with their guy digging in the leaf/brush pile for bugs. I love seeing the chickens in my yard.
Here are two of my newest quilts finally quilted and bound – part of my #3 list – I have several more small quilts to put on the longarm before I can say I have finished my Dirty Dozen #3 for August.
Each of these projects is one of a kind – I used orphan blocks for each and just kept combining blocks and pieces til I considered it “done”! My only regret is that I forgot about my hangers outside and both of these quilts are too big for the hanger.
Here’s a close up – can you find the error? I want you to know it was on purpose because I love seeing these small mishaps in vintage quilts. Someday someone will think I’d lost my marbles- haha! It will be a good conversation piece.
I was at Connie’s house last week and I could not believe how big her Sun King plant was! Mine isn’t as tall as my knees and look at hers! What a green thumb she has!
Does my hair look almost pure white? Ha! It should- the last month would give anybody gray hair!
And tomorrow is another day – the birthday party at Concord!
Oh Mary what beautiful pictures! Hazel looks amazing! For how long? LOL! And you are really making progress on finishing your Idol’s..tge quilts are so pretty…even with your humility star point block. It adds character ! And thank you for persevering with the blog…it means so much to all of us. I’ve been your biggest fan forever. In fact years ago when you first started Country Threads I remember you going on vacation and asking your readers if someone would like to watch your animals and I was one who you were considering until a huge print job came in at work and I couldn’t leave. I was so disappointed ! So from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU for all you have done and continue to do. Here’s a big hug for you and Connie
Jan R
She knows who her “mama” is & who plays with her!! Smart dog!!
Such fun!!
How lucky we all are, back on track with the blog..makes me feel all is right with the world even if it isn’tl
I did find the “planned mistake” . love both of the pieces. You are done with 2 #3’s and I am still waiting to get started with my little pillow….#3.
Of course the cute Hazel, I think we all look upon her as part of our families…
The bathing beauty is just too cute! No, never heard of that game. Sounds fun.
Your quilts are great, the flowers behind them are notable too. Mine are sorely sad this year, the ladies at church told me to spray with mint water. So, I’m trying that. Nothing to lose.
Then you went to Connie’s…. oh my word. Green, green, green. I saved the picture from last year of her sitting next to the giant petunia globe. Masterful.
We will take a blog when we can, and totally enjoy it.
Your hair is pretty too!
What fun! Hazel is such a cutie! My pooches roll like crazy after their baths, so we have a special ‘dog towel’ that velcros on and has a hole for their tail. So no games of ‘towel’ here!
Ditto what Jan said. Thank you so much for persevering through a very tough month with the blog. We do all very much appreciate hearing from you and would hate to see the blog end.
Your quilts are wonderful. You have been incredibly busy to get all of these done in one month! I, too, enjoying finding the little ‘oops’ in historical quilts. I once heard the Amish put in a humility block on purpose as a reminder that God is the only perfect one. I’ve adopted that strategy in terms of no longer worrying about perfect points when they just don’t turn out that way for one reason or another!
How lucky we all are, back on track with the blog..makes me feel all is right with the world even if it isn’tl
I did find the “planned mistake” . love both of the pieces. You are done with 2 #3’s and I am still waiting to get started with my little pillow….#3.
Of course, cute Hazel, I think we all look upon her as part of our families…
Thanks for keeping us up to date Mary,
I suspect if you wouldn’t have told us about the mistake, I wouldn’t have noticed it. Ha! Hazel is a doll, so white and soooo clean. I bet she smells good, too. Something about chickens in the yard…
Hazel is so cute! Glad to see pictures are posting correctly–love your quilts, as always.
Put a mark on the wall as your posting came thru fine. Didn’t you know that computers would make everything so easy — until they don’t work right? My computer was so old and I needed Microsoft 10, so I just got a new computer. They moved all my information to the new one and set it up so it looks almost like my old screen.
This has been a very strange year for garden and other green stuff. EVERYTHING out here is still green as can be. Stuff is growing all over the place. Weeds are way out of hand. Gardens are weird. My neighbor has 1 cuke plant doing fine. The one next to it isn’t. My big flower pots of petunias are drowning because of too much rain. And we haven’t had so much rain like lots of other places. Some fertilizer helped, but I don’t know. Yard are like forests and the yellow clover is choking everything out. This is bad because the cattle can’t eat it.
The Sturgis Rally is over and things have quieted down for another year. In the meantime, take care and don’t let the computer get you down.
Our great grandson, Jaxon, 4 months 14# is visiting us with his mom n auntie all the way from CA. What fun we are having! So fun having a baby here. The flight to Missoula didn’t phase him at all. Plenty of smiles all around. No sewing for me this week.
So enjoyed seeing your quilts n newly groomed, Hazel.
Am loving these Thursday pre season football games.
Closed one ad! Blog is working well! Thanks Mary!
Launa – have a great time with Jaxon! I remember when he was born.
You are an inspiration to all of us!
God bless you for blessing us with your daily happenings.
You truly brighten many Lives.
Gave my Molly a bath today too….I lay the towel on the floor and she bites at it and rubs on it.
We all have so much to be thankful for.
💞🙃🐶
Ethel D – it’s just a little different version of the Towel Game – sweet! Hug to Molly!
Had to look hard & for quite a while before I found humility block.
Hazel & the towel game.. love it. Had a Rottweiler that would take towel and lay on it and growl if tried to take it.. then if didn’t take would carry to you just out of reach & lay on it.. inch closer &closer… finally walk away & as soon as you picked it up come and grab it… she was so funny.. would also take her long & throw at you when she wanted to play.
Connie’s garden is amazing.
My favorite # 3 is the church & house. I know you said were orphan blocks but have you considered a pattern?
Nikki m – the church block was the first draft of one of our patterns and the house was also a first draft but the pieces are huge and take up way too much space on a pattern sheet so we changed it completely. We did so many hundreds of patterns and some were good and some not so good. At least we knew the difference – ha!
I love the Rottie’s towel game – I can see it played out in my mind!
Nikki M – don’t know if my previous reply posted but I can just “See” the Rottie playing the Towel Game. Hugs to Ms. Maci!
I love seeing pics of Hazel. What an active dog she is. Quilts hanging on fence all great.
Hate auto correct….not long but kong ball
And hey white hair is a sign of advanced wisdom…that is my story & I am sticking to it.
We love Towel game! My little dog Louie loves to play that when he comes in from walking in the morning in the wet grass! So fun. I wish I could give him baths but his hair gets matted if it’s not brushed out and he’s not a fan of that. So, he goes to the groomer about once a month to be pampered – I don’t even get that treatment! Love the quilts but really liked seeing your favorite hens and rooster. He’s so attentive watching for danger! Miss my rooster and hens. I’ve never seen a Sun King plant – it’s huge! Glad to see the blog behaving for the time being. Jan in MA
Jan In MA – you might find this interesting – the Sun King plant dies completely down to the ground like a hosta making it that much more spectacular when it’s that large in August. What kind of dog is Louie?
Jan In MA – what kind of dog is Louie? Maybe I should take Hazel to get a proper hair cut.
Love that beautiful Hazel, she is so darling! I’m sure you love playing that game with her!! I love your quilts, wish I was getting my #3 done but hopefully soon – we have some travel coming up so I am working hard to get it done before we leave. So nice to see your pictures and the rest of your blog again, what a terrible time for you but we all are glad to see that it is working out now! Thank you so much for hanging in there, I know that I am thankful as I know that the rest are too! Thank you!!
Thank you for sharing your quilts. Love the one with the house and church. this week is our county fair. I demonstrated rug hooking one day and this evening was the antique tractor pull. My husband took first in his class. He has 1953 Farmall super C. He came home with a blue ribbon and I received 2 blue ribbons on my rug hooking and second on my wool applique wall hanging. So glad the pictures are coming through as I look forward to your blog each day. Hazel is funny with the towel. I did find the humility block. Fair projects done now on to quilting.
Carolyn b Shenandoah Valley Virginia.
Carolyn Boutilier – I should probably pass all my rug hooking projects on to you! I’m sure I won’t live long enough to finish them all!
The white hair may run in your genes! Wear it proudly! Looks good on you!
That little Hazel is just so dang cute! How long does she stay clean after her bath? Hahaha! Mine little dog lasts about 2 days. I couldn’t find your mistake…..maybe that’s good.
Mary, that’s a great pix of you!
Hi Mary,
You hair isn’t as white as Hazels! But you both look terrific! Love the quilts, especially the giant church and house and your subtle ‘mistake’ in the star: I agree it adds character and whimsy to a quilt.
Have a great weekend.
Fiona at Ice Bear – thanks for all your kind words and support the last month – I’m hoping we can limp along like this with a new security program we have installed.
What joy to read your blog like it used to be before that awful hacker came along. I sometimes wonder what God has in store for hackers!
It looks like Hazel is laughing in the first picture! She’s very photogenic. As my Nana used to say, “she’s full of the dickens”. The quilts you make always look wonderful. Have a good weekend.
Patti W. – Hazel is definitely full of the dickens! I grew up with that phrase as well.
Conrad can take you through Iowa Falls. We have a really great quilt shop on the main street. Highway 65 is under construction but follow the signs to downtown. Iowa Falls Sewing Machine Co.
If not this time maybe another time. j
Love the quilts, found the mistake. Cute puppy.
U r too cute. Love those pants.
Hello sweet, clean Hazel. I would love to play TOWEL with you. So good to see you again.
So glad to see you back. I’ll keep my fingers crossed you have no more problems. Such a nice picture of you
Oh Mary, chasing Hazel reminds me of bathing our black lab. Rocky would jump out of the tub and I would try to wipe him down with the towel and 2 seconds later everyone was soaked from his shaking in the hallway through the living room and into the kitchen was a mess, but some good laughs. As Greg Gutfeld says on the FIVE, animals are great!! Love your quilts, they are gorgeous. I like the mistake block adds some interest and its great to use up everything. I am still finishing bindings on my #8’s, 2 table runners and 1 mini quilt. In between everything else I’m purging my sewing room and donating fabric. Should have cleaned it out ages ago. Good to see you back, pictures are great. Take care.
MarleneT – I know that “shake” game, too, but Hazel’s shake doesn’t throw off near the amount of water a black lab would!
You look wonderful Mary keeping so fit and trim with all your work inside and out. Love your orphan block remakes. You do inspire us with making do and using up what we already have.
Kathy in Western NY – I just replied to another reader that I think an orphan block class might be in order.
Blog is looking great again. Yay!! Hazel is so, so cute and happy looking. I really like the orphan block quilt with the church and building. So unique and beautiful. It would make a great pattern. Fingers crossed the blog doesn’t give you any more problems. It’s so nice to see all the pictures from the farm and Connie’s. Thanks Mary.
We had a chocolate lab, Chipper, that would play towel by taking the dish towel off of the oven handle and make you chase him to get it back. Even in his last few months when he could hardly walk, he would still take it off, sure do miss him! But now our daughter got 2 lab puppies so we get our dog fix every weekend. Last weekend we had all 5 grand dogs here, what a zoo! Two French bulldogs, 2 labs and one mixed. The lab puppies were scared of the noises the frenchies made, was their first time all together. I have never seen a king plant before, is it just a green one or do the leaves change? Love your blog!
Tammy In WI – I think it’s just green. That’s quite a combo of dogs – would sure be fun for Hazel to have a playmate dog sibling – Telly won’t play.
Am laughing about the towel game! Our pets do love to have fun with us! One of our feral – now inside – cats likes to scare me that she is going to scratch me. She doesn’t… she just likes to keep me on guard. I can almost see her laughing when she does this! She’s lived inside with us for 7 years, sleeps with us and wouldn’t go outside if I left every door open in the house. Been there, done that is her motto! We love her!
Before I read the caption, I looked at your picture and thought “what a great hair cut for Mary” ! You look good and I love the pants you have on. They are very pretty. Your quilts are lovely. You have the right fabrics in your stash! If I just made blocks and put them together people really would think I had lost my mind! Yours always look planned! Our friend Leslie showed me a lap quilt she had made of red, white and blue fabrics with all nine patches. Even tho all the fabrics were different it turned out beautiful. She made this lap quilt to be given to a local hospice center for a veteran. Lovely quilt, lovely thought made by a lovely person!
Diane In MD – did Les use charms to make her 9 patch quilt? She should send me a picture. And go ahead and make blocks and put them together – if you like them you’ve probably already used fabrics you like and they will be great! AND – how are your daughter’s goats? I always meant to write you a note after YOUR nice note and failed. Lucky cat that lives with you!
Diane In MD – did you get my previous comment? Having some trouble replying.
Diane In MD – trying again. Lucky “feral” kitty! Did Les use charms for her 9 patch? Tell her to send me a picture. And how are the goats? Ever since you wrote I’ve been meaning to ask!
Our fifteen year old dachshund doesn’t play with the same vim and vigor that he used to; I miss those days when he would jump and jump (those short legs!!) to pull a dishtowel off the kitchen counter and take off running. I had to be careful that not even a corner of the towel protruded over the edge of the counter top or it would be grabbed and gone! Hazel is just precious. That Sun King plant– holy cow!! Your combined orphan blocks are wonderful– couldn’t find any mistakes in the one, unless it’s where two nine patches touched each other with dark corner to dark corner; to me it’s not a mistake but a design element. I need to scrounge around in my box of orphans and see what goes together; it’s been a while since I have looked at what’s in there. I am making good progress on #3 in the meantime. And, all things considered– I would definitely say that you’ve got what it takes to hang in there with your blog after all of this nonsense!
Mrs. Goodneedle- I just replied to another dachshund owner! All dog families must know the Towel Game! Ha! Did you and Diane ever connect about the Debbie Mum book? Glad you found the mistake.
Yes! YES!! Diane and I have made contact and I now have a copy of the pattern~ I am SEW excited and many thanks to you, Mary, for acting as our “matchmaker” so that this could happen. Yippee!!
Ooops, never mind– I found the “mistake”– yes, for certain; a clever, planned, design element!
So happy to see your blog up and running. I missed reading your posts and catching up with your day. Love, love, love your two quilts made from orphan blocks. You are just so darn creative! I am jealous because I always think I have to use and pattern and follow it to a tea. Maybe after seeing your successful projects I will get out of my box. BTW, you look fabulous! I think you rock the grey hair!!
Carol – just try a couple orphan blocks and fill in with squares or just pieces to make them fit together – just in case they aren’t the same size. Trim off what you need to – I see a “class” here, don’t you?
So nice to see all the photos today. Hazel is adorable—how long does the clean last? My 15 year old dachshund doesn’t run as fast as he used to, (neither do I!!), but he still gets a pretty good case of the zoomies after a bath. Your #3 quilts are great-it took me quite a while to find the “mistake”. Your hair is cute!
Caryn Goulden – my niece, Jenny, loves dachshunds and I can just imagine the “zombies” at your house! Haha!
All the pictures came through just wonderful, your quilts are beautiful & Hazel is so cute. You get so much done, I am still working on #8. Been quite busy this summer, plus my sewing room is in my basement & when the sun is shining it’s hard to go down there, also i’m pretty slow. Love your blog❤️
Joyce from NY – you remember the old folk tale, don’t you? Slow and steady won the race!
I love ALL of your pictures. Those gray hens are absolutely beautiful! And, Hazel looks so innocent!
I Love Hazel!!! So by dragging the towel thru the house she’s cleaning your floors for you! How nice! Great trick to teach her. LOL!!
This post came thru beautifully. Love the pics, closed 5 ads. Just like old times!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend free of any computer or weather or any other issues!
BTW, there’s nothing wrong with white or gray hair! It just lovely & better than dying your hair & less trouble too! Can you tell my hair has turned mostly gray???????? 😉
MN from TN – gray haired old ladies have to stick together, right?
Hi Mary-Happy your blog is back working for you and all the appreciative readers. I like-like the “orphan block” quilts. I was first drawn to you and Connie’s designs when your shop appeared in a Top 10 quilt shop issue (maybe the first). Anyway I like your ideas and use of color. The sun king plant is new to me, I have my doubts that beautiful green plant would survive here. Always enjoy the farm pictures and what happens there. Today we drove to the peach 🍑 orchard (1/2 bushel was $25) and worth it for the taste. This is the closing of the season. We ate homemade peach ice cream too. Fixed in over sized wooden freezers like early times. Anyway Thanks Mary and Connie from Texas…
Sorry for the delay in replying! Leslie just used fabrics she had or had been given. I wish I had taken a picture of it! She has a good eye for color and such a big heart for helping people and animals! I am so lucky to have her as my friend.
Mike and I have 2 feral cats. I started feeding them but he is the one who tamed both of them and got them to come into the house. One is all black with a tail and the youngest. The other is black and white tuxedo and a Manx..no tail. Neither has no desire to go outside again! They do not trust other people and hide if any visitors come. We have friends who have never seen them and some who have no idea we have them!
Cindy’s goats are well and spoiled! Funny thing, she says the exact thing you did about liking to see her chickens in the yard. We enjoy the fresh eggs!
Saw the mistake and I love the grey chickens. I think I told you I have my rug off the loom and now 1/2 finished crocheting one. Paula in KY
The gray chickens remind me of Mourning Doves; their color is so unique and pretty. I found the humility block, too, and love seeing “ clean as a whistle” Hazel. Squeak plays a meaner game. After I pet,pet,pet…. her, she grabs me around the calf and bites. Such a sweetheart🙀🙀. I love all of your neat “ show and tell” quilts. That is fun for us😃
Great pictures, Mary. The one of you in the cute capris is adorable.
Wonderful pictures as always. Hazel looks like she is laughing at the camera. What a cutie! Your quilts are making me think I don’t get enough done. I really like the straight line quilting on them. I did find the planned mistake. I think an orphan quilt block class would be great. I just found a bunch of mine and wondered what I could do with them. Your hair looks great on you. Mine is getting grayer every day. I have never worried about it.
Wow, Mary! Hazel is sooo white and those dark eyes and button nose, she is so cute! My Zena doesn’t know how to play, spent her younger years in a puppy mill having babies, the other day after giving her a bath she surprised me by going around in circles.
Don’t worri about your King plant it will surprise you sometime. You are a pretty lady no matter what the color of your hair is. Your new quilts are pretty, didn’t find the mistake.
Love this post. All of it is special. From the towel chase to the quilts. Your way of enjoying life is so contagious.
Love this blog Mary. Your number 3 quilts are wonderful. I have orphaned blocks but am not sure how to incorporate them in a larger quilt. I am not finished with #3 yet. My dashhound Dixie also doesn’t know how to play. Her first 2 1/2 years were spent in a puppy mill ☹😠. My grandpuppies are here alot but she won’t play with them.
Liz Schroeder – give your Dixie an extra hug today from me – I hate puppy mills more than anything in the world!