The plants and the quilts in my front room:
This quilt is actually from one of our books but I think I changed the size of the block in this particular quilt.
I’ve seen this made up by many designers so adjust the size to your liking.
And this quilt:
I brought this lefse plant up from the basement when I saw this:
It has new growth coming out the drainage hole!! This is one determined plant!
I got this bound today for Keeper’s chair.
And now a serious discussion about the copy machine and future pattern offerings. I’ve never intended to make loads of money on the $5 patterns but now there will be a new copier that I am leasing. A new one was $6000 plus $50/month service agreement. I leased one for $254/month on a three year contract. (I might not even be alive before the lease is up!). I’m going to have to raise the price of the patterns – just warning you.
And here’s the shirt I’ve been sewing with.
And here’s the quilt top hot off the ironing board!
I read a funny thing on Facebook recently about buying new panties. The lady opened up the package, took out a pair of panties and held them up. She just laughed and said, “ I must have gotten the wrong size – these are huge.” So she tries them on and they fit perfectly. Hmmmm…..Happened to me just this morning. Dang. Those big panties fit me just fine.
Hi Mary- I have loved all the pictures of plants, needlework and quilts! Totally understand about the price of copying patterns increasing. I like adding your “vintage” patterns to my collection of Country Thread ones! Stay warm. Next week will be brutal in Cincinnati. Time to buy more birdseed!
Did I see where someone was looking for the Cou try Threads ‘Cardinals In The Thicket’ pattern? Number 195?
I have it and would be more than happy to return it to you, Mary, should you want to make or provide copies for others. Let me know. My phone is #217-847-3290 and my email info is below. OR, I can send it directly to the person trying to locate it, either way.
Marilyn Miller – thanks but I’ve already received multiple patterns of #195
Mary your fish shirt quilt is stunning. Someone will be happy with it that is for sure. I made you walk don’t run quilt from leftover fabric in a quilt kit my son had bought in Alaska. The only fabric of my own was the white I used to sew down the middle of the squares. It made a small quilt, something that could be used in the car.
The fish quilt is marvelous! It kind of looks like you’re looking through an aquarium window, watching the fish swim by. It’s a beautiful, sunny, single digit day in NE Oregon. There’s still snow on the ground and we’re supposed to get more. However, it’s supposed to be above freezing in a few days. Beautiful full moon the last couple of nights. It’s so bright, lights don’t need to be turned on in the morning! Have really enjoyed all the needlework and quilts for the last several days.
I agree – the fish quilt is fantastic! Great visual of fish swimming all over!
Mary Ellen – just think if I had made the fish quilt with attic windows setting. Then it would really look like the fish were swimming beyond a window!
Mary, your plants are amazing, the lighting on your porch must be just right. You have such an eye for color & your design for quilting patterns is so inspiring. My plants have not done well this winter, can’t figure out why! Thanks Mary for your blog!!
I enjoyed all the yummy eye candy, Mary. Keeper’s quilt is wonderful, just so colorful and cheery. I absolutely loved seeing Keeper and Three napping together—so cute!
Your fish quilt is great!
We have 3-4” of fresh snow and may have more later this afternoon. By then, I will have gotten a haircut.
The panties joke is sadly so true. I think that when I am folding my jeans. 😳
Take Care/Stay Warm 🥰
Hello from NW Iowa! It has been snowing lightly all morning. We are supposedly on the north end of this system.
I love all the needlework. Some of them bring back memories of seeing them in my grandmothers house. I love the new quilt in Keepers chair. He lays there so comfortable! But, I’m sure he has his eye on you just in case!
Tomorrow morning is suppose to be really cold! Stay warm everyone! I’m sure Connie is enjoying the warmth in Florida!
What a beautiful room….your house is so fantastic…..I need to get at my plants this spring–new pots etc….I love everything your have……Thanks for sharing all this….That Keeper is one lucky dog to get such a pretty quilt for his own….
Mary,
Love the blog today!
Your fish quilt is beautiful!! My Brother-in-law is an avid fisherman & would love it!!
Love Keepers chair quilt…so colorful!
You are one talented lady
Enjoy your day!
sandy in Indiana
So many pretty pictures today of your home and multitude of quilts! Keeper’s new quilt is gorgeous, as pretty on the back as the front. It’s so sad Martindale publishing went out of business. They published so many great quilting books.
Sharon F – oh, I miss Martingale so much – no new books on the market like what they used to do
Great pictures, as always! I thought I had your Charm School book, but it’s not here. The picture of the red and white quilt forces me to buy it!
Loved that cute little lefsa sprout! And your quilt top with the fish is spectacular..how many shirts did you have? Today I am working on two quilt tops, giving new life to two old blankies that were in need of some help. This project is truly trying my fix-it skills, but I am determined. When I get them done I shall send a photo of them. Of course, I am looking at my to-do list and will have a new project lined up when I have these done. I am not doing things like this anymore. (Stressful). We have been well and so all is well when one can navigate !
Cindy – just one shirt!
That was a well-made shirt! Not many companies would bother to perfectly match the fish on the pocket with the shirt front these days. And it makes a wonderful quilt too!
Love looking at all the different stitching sent in. Mary your fish quilt is fabulous!
As for the increase in pattern price, you need to cover your costs and then some! I think we all would agree you’re doing us a great service by offering these patterns and are willing to pay whatever you decide.
Snow today, Frigid temps to follow for the next week.
Mary, such a fun blog for a cold day! It is in the low 20’s here which is cold for the Seattle area.
Your plants look so healthy. Keeper is lucky to get that new, colorful quilt. That is a great pattern and the fisherman quilt is so fun.
Thanks for ALL your shopping/negotiating efforts to lease a new copier so you can get patterns to US! We blog readers thank you and hope we can help you absorb the cost. You are loved and appreciated!💙
Your indoor plants are beautiful. Love the quilts also. We’re getting lots of snow in east Central Iowa. It will be a great day to sew. I’m testing a new pattern. So far so good. I had some jelly rolls I wanted to use up.
Marie – I have jelly rolls, too – please tell us what you’re making
I cut over 500 2.5 inch squares. I’ll end up with four large pieces that are 12 squares by 12 squares. I plan on putting a skinny border around each piece then place the large pieces two by two into a large square shape and put more borders around. It should make a throw size. I’ve only got the 2.5′ squares sewn in pairs so far
Hopefully today the pairs become a piece that has four squares in a row. As I told my mom. It looks really great in my head but in real life who knows.I’ll send a picture when I’m done. I haven’t bought border fabric yet.
Hi Mary,
Many thanks for all the cross stitch/embroidery pictures. I have not only enjoyed them, but caused me to start looking for completed, but not framed counted cross stitch pieces I’ve made or been given. I found them!! There are some really nice ones – one sampler that my sister gave me many years ago. It’s first in line to get framed! All because of your blog!! YAY!! Have a great day! Jan P
Jan P – I still have quite a few un framed and they’re not a normal frame size so I may give them a backing, flip right side out and hang with pins – just so I can hang them and get them out of the drawer.
Mary,
Hello! We are supposed to get 4-5 inches of snow today and 3-4 inches tomorrow. We’ll see! But in case, I took Scotch for a long walk this morning instead of our usual long afternoon walk. I expect to be shoveling or snowblowing later. Scotch is quite funny, he will pick up a stick while we’re walking and toss it up in the air and then pounce on it in the snow. He’ll do that four or five times in a row until he can’t find the stick anymore. He’s either made it too small or has buried it too deep. He’s getting along fine.
The needlepoint and cross stitch are again lovely! So many fun sayings and pictures. Some of the frames are beautiful too.
Keeper and Three on the bed is a great photo! And his chair quilt is nice. I love the back too. That cabbage fabric is cool. Your fish quilt turned out so nice. I knew when you showed the fabric piles during your planning stage, that they would go together great and they do!! I know a fisherman who would love that so I won’t be showing him. lol.
Have a great day everyone. 🌻
It is snowing here this morning. Very light and fluffy stuff. I scooped a path to the barn, but so easy to scoop. We are supposed to get some wet heavy stuff this weekend. I think it is pretty. It is the first big snow we have had all winter.
I, too, like your fish quilt. Love the colors. Like others have said, you have a knack with putting colors together. Keeper’s quilt is so nice, too. Looks like he is enjoying it.
A good day to be in the house and get something done in my sewing room.
Everything is wonderful! With all those windows letting in light, you have the perfect setting for plants. I have just one bay windowsill with good lighting, where I have several Christmas Cactus and a few other plants. I need to get soil to repot and refresh.
Your furry family is fortunate to have a loving home with somewhere to snuggle on those sweet quilts and comfy chairs. We ‘re caring for our granddog, Pearl, a 10 yr. old German Shorthair Pointer. Her head is resting on an appliqued quilted pillow as she snuggles on the blanket covered sofa. (those short dog hairs are like little needles if you get them on your clothes)
We have snow, sleet and freezing rain here in PA with more to come. It’s been a good old fashioned winter.
Awe!!! Keeper snuggling his new quilt!
It is snowing in southern Iowa. We got 1/2″ in January that was gone in a few days so this is the 1st good snowfall this winter.
Love the fish quilt. Keeper’s quilt is lovely also.
The fish quilt is coming across cheddar and black which is absolutely gorgeous, one of my favorite combinations! One very wonderful quilt! And Mr. Keeper’s chair is adorable, just right for that cutie with the big ears.
I forgot to tell you we had a big birthday here on our farm last Wednesday, Miles, my big old english black lab his 14th birthday! My boys all sent him happy birthday wishes from California, North Carolina and Midland Michigan, my sisters in Louisville wished him happy birthday too. He is the sweetest old boy that worries me because of a few issues and his age, but he is happy as long as he sees his mama, doesn’t see me and he barks! He has just started having some spells where he can’t get his back legs under him so I need to get him to the vet – with hesitation. If I get bad news and come home without him I will fold up for a long, long time. I’ve had him since he was 7 weeks old, he was a Leader Dog puppy who trained so easily and was perfect, we were told he was one of the best trained dogs that Leader Dog got back, but he came home to me because he was too vocal. He’s like his mama, always been a talker and a blind person would not know why he barked.
Your plants are fabulous, I don’t have nearly the plants I used to, another thing I have lost interest in. Oh well,
We are expecting a big snow dump today which is fine with me, I’ll still waddle to and from the barn but other than that stay in and sew!! Love and blessings to all.
Linda – a 14 year old lab is beyond normal – he’s had a great life! Keeper is such a Mama’s boy that I can’t even go to the bathroom while he’s eating – he’ll leave his supper to follow me. Miles is too vocal – haha!!! You should get interested in your plants again – I check on mine many times during the day. They become personalities that need me – ha! I know you, like me, has to visit the barn every day – I love my chickens and Tim showed up last night – we have cold temps and snow so I’m glad he’s here. I chatted with Nancy recently.
Can we call your little lefse start, out the drainage hole, a typical stubborn Scandinavian.My great grandparents immigrated from Norway. The determination to survive in north western Minnesota prairie farm showed the descendants anything is possible and we can do anything. From a soddy to a cabin to a farm house, the homestead was in the family for over a hundred years. With lefse being a family treat, when you shared a picture of your lefse plant a few years ago I had a mission to find one. My first start went to my sister. Ours are thriving and bring us joy.
C – I’m so hoping my little lefse sprout will make it. The vintage pot is actually broken so I’d have to break it apart to get that little start out. I’m not as successful with the lefse plant as some others. I wonder if it’s actually too much sun. Where does yours live? What window?
My lefse plant lives with a grow light in the winter. In the summer its south facing window gives filtered light. I’m not the plant guru, my daughter in law has the greenest thumb in our family. Alas they live almost 1000 miles away but she has gifted me with a few starts that have survived the hotels and other stops on the way home.
Love how your fish quilt looks and it isn’t finished yet. The colors look great together. It will look really great when it is quilted and bound. It looks like the snow is just starting to fall here in Northeast Iowa. We can use the moisture. Have a great day everyone!
I have made the charm school quilt. A nice’ go to’ pattern for sure. Love the fish quilt. The colors are very striking. Nice job.
How is Connie? Ask her to share some of her current projects.
Marcia – I’ll ask Connie but she’s at Sanibel Island and I’m guessing sewing isn’t at the top of her list.
Some fisherman is going to love that quilt one day. You have such a good knack for color coordination.
I’ve had lots of ads to close on your posts lately so I’m pleased to keep supporting your efforts to keep us together. Patterns are expensive and if you are going through all this effort to find, copy and mail out, we’d better understand the cost involved! Gas back and forth to places isn’t cheap either so lots of factors including your time is involved on your part. Thanks for making this work for ones who desire your dearly beloved oldies but goodies patterns, me included. I’m determined to get going SOON on your tulip pattern before I’m outside and over my head in yard projects.
Mary – Love the keeper chair quilt and the fish quilt. You must have a lot of energy because you get so much done. I’m still working on my hydrangea quilt.
I just need one week and I think I could get it done!
Temps are in the single digits tonight and then snow again on Thursday. 🥶
Love all your plants. I have cats so plants are out of the question, at least with my two cats. I was able to get four blooms out of an Amaryllis bulb that my sister started and gifted me at Christmas. It bloomed into the New Years. The cats didn’t disturb it because it was in the main bathroom with the door closed. It finally got too tall and heavy and fell over. I cut the flower stalks off and put in an old tall glass. The flowers stayed beautiful for another week or two.
I’ll send you a photo.
I assumed your patterns might cost more with the new printer.
Take care everyone.
Sharon G – I have 8 cats here in the house and the only plant one cat bothers is the spider plant – and not enough to cause much damage. I guess I do have quite a bit of energy because I want to be busy at all times. Busy with sewing,not cleaning!
Mary, you’ve got a jungle going there for sure and I love it. I have my own plants, not nearly the number you have but I couldn’t live without them. Now I noticed that you have a couple plants in what looks to me birdcages? What a great idea And they look super. But they must be harder to water. And watering certainly takes time. Plus you have all those plants in your basement too. So that one plant that you brought up from the basement, I have one as well. It looked beautiful at the beginning of last summer, and then I took it outside and the rain hit it and it flattened it out. It’s starting to put out some new growth, but it doesn’t look as pretty as it used to.
Oh my gosh. I love your fish quilt. It’s the colors. They are so good together and I love the pattern. It amazes me how productive you are. Mary and Keeper’s Couch quilt is really nice.
So tonight we had a quilt guild meeting on Zoom. It was originally scheduled to be on Zoom just in case the weather was yucky. And don’t you know we had snow and I doubt very many people would have come to the meeting if they had had to travel as the roads were pretty slick. I had to laugh because the gal that was running the programs scheduled the Zoom meeting a while ago and her husband is a meteorologist. Could he have predicted this event so far ahead of time?
So our program Tuesday night featured a quilt designer that uses mostly scraps in her quilts. And of course, her name escapes me right now. She never uses others patterns, all her designs are created in her mind. I’d say you were like that Mary. But it amazes me because my brain doesn’t work like that at all. I can see a pattern and like the pattern,and like the fabrics that are used, but to come up with an idea on my own, it doesn’t really happen. So jealous of that gift.
The panties story reminds me of the time I visited my son in NH. Forgot all my underwear. I did go to a store to get a pack of some. Trying one of the new ones over the pair I was wearing was a joke. When I returned them I told the sales lady I had delusions of smallness. I washed out the pair I had every night and hung it up by the wood stove to dry. Maybe I had two pairs. Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Happy Wednesday everyone.
Pat in Md
I love your pictures, even the fish one. I made a couple fish quilts for husband’s friends. Nothing exotic but they all seemed to like them. The one fabric made my skin crawl. So when my friend said she needed to make a fish quilt for the nephew, I gladly gave her the fabrics I had. She was thrilled and I got rid of my guilt. I love your porch! Yesterday when I stopped for gas, there was a guy there who had a trailer filled with goats and sheep. I asked if I could pet them and he said sure. So I got in lots of pets.
Dee – where were the goats and sheep heading? I hope not the sales barn or slaughter house. If so, you were probably the last enjoyable moment of their lives. I have another fish shirt that I will work with in the future.
when visiting the dr yesterday, one of the patient form questions was, “have you gained 10 lbs over the last year?” not owning a scale, i skipped it. …then came the scale. …and the nurse for check-in. “no changes”, she says? me, “well, i guess you better check that weight gain box for me. your scale just gave me the bad news!”