Tuesday Update

Connie had fun with Claire and Ben last weekend at a local apple orchard.  Ben’s favorite was the tractor but both kids loved the shelled corn play area – is this just an Iowa “thing” or do other states have shelled corn for kids to play in?


Here are some of the plants that moved into my sewing room which was crowded to start with.


And here’s what I’m working on – a Villa Rosa pattern called Duet using an Amy Butler jelly roll –  Very bright, very modern.


I’m making hundreds of 2″ triangle squares.


I’m quilting this Christmas panel on the longarm machine.


I took the three kittens, Reed, Danielle and Darla to the vet this morning to be spayed/neutered and shots and now I’m taking Gayle to Mason City for a haircut- one of those busy days.

31 thoughts on “Tuesday Update

  1. Becky from IA

    I remember playing in the shelled corn. It didn’t take much to make me happy. Ben looks sooooo good!

  2. Nancy Poole-England

    Claire and Ben certainly were having fun. Ben looks so healthy now. I haven’t seen any corn to roll in but the pumpkin patches around here like to have mazes to walk thru.

  3. Norma Gebhardt

    I am working on the black and orange quilt. It is not as large as it looks in the picture. My blocks are 6 and one half inches. Can you, or Connie, verify that I am correct. Thanks We do have a few spots around central Ohio where kids can play in corn . It is becoming a money maker for some to open up corn mazes and combine slides etc. I would start something like that if I were younger.

  4. Brenda archambault

    I had to re-read your last sentence as I had missed the comma after “the three kittens” and was worried about Reed, Danielle and Darla! That would have been some adventure for them.
    As usual, I don’t know how you fit so much into each day. I’m jealous.

  5. Betty Klosterman

    Since you are a very regular vet client, do you get a discount?
    Aren’t such simple things fun? We used to go to the gravel pits and slide down the piles of gravel. Oats are lots of fun, too. Peel off the hull and eat the “heart.”
    Or maybe things are fun because we had to make our own fun: playing in the haymow, playing with the chickens, sheep, calves….. and the ringworm salve was in the little blue box on the top shelf of the medicine cabinet!

  6. Jane

    I sure wish I had your talent for growing cactus!! Or even succulents!! I try but I never end up with the same results as you do. I’m not giving up though!! I just acquired 2 new kittens from a friend that the mother abandoned them. What cuties they are. They aren’t old enough yet to go to the vet…but that’s on my list of things to do when they are!! Needless to say….Ralph & Jack….my older cats… aren’t too happy about the new “critters” in the barn! Hopefully we can all be one happy family one day soon!!

  7. Diane

    Ben and Claire look like they are enjoying their day with Grandma Connie:) Ben does look great!! It is the simple things kids enjoy. Did anyone else slide down hill on the “cardboard sled’? Fun times. Nice again today in Central Ohio. Our quilt show is this weekend.

    1. Ann Barlament

      Absolutely…cardboard sleds were the best and lightest sled on the hill!! We sometimes brought the pair of skiis with, strapping them together and used as a toboggan..

  8. Diane

    PS Mary, what kind of quilting are you doing on the panel? I never know what to do with one because I hate to go over the picture. Thanks:)

    1. Mary Etherington

      Straight line quilting, of course. I’ll show it to you tomorrow after I bind it tonight.

  9. Martha Engstler

    I look forward to seeing what you will make with all the triangle squares. Your plants are lucky to have you as their gardener. They look super. So glad to see Ben looking so great.

  10. Pat O'Neill

    Always Love reading your emails! In response to the corn play area, I have been to a Pumpkin Patch in Wisconsin. With my Grandsons & they also had corn to play in! Boys loved it!

  11. Karen

    I’ve seen shelled corn boxes for kids to play in at county fairs and agri-tourism sites here in central Wisconsin.

  12. Tanya T.

    Don’t keep us in suspense…what are all the triangle squares for? We KNOW you have a project already in mind for them! Love that cute Ben and Sister, but I can honestly say I have never rolled around in corn! Amazing all the things I have missed not living in Iowa! Thanks for sharing with us! Tanya in Houston

  13. Ann Barlament

    Some of the apple orchards, west of Minneapolis, offer hay rides and corn mazes. The one near Jordan also have rides for little kids. They have 50 gallon barrels, where they trim down one side, add a seat, put it on wheels and linked together become a train.

    I think a few of the places even had apple baked goodies, like pie.

  14. ChristieB

    “Bloom Where You Are Planted” local pumpkin patch (here in SE Nebraska) also has a “corn box” to play in. Our grand kiddos love it!

  15. Donna Sproston

    I too am anxiously awaiting the plan for the two inch triangle squares. In one of Jo Morton’s books, she makes extras so she can audition them. I have a couple hundred waiting for the tryouts.

  16. Lee

    Mary,I watched the Netflix movie with Jane and Bob…loved everything about it especially the music. Did the movie follow the book?

  17. Sandy

    Where is there an orchard near Garner? I am looking for one and don’t have time to visit the ones in Minnesota right now.

  18. Paula

    Mary is it hard for you to go to Modern quilts vs. the ones you always made? I didn’t think I could do modern but I have made a couple and love using the brighter fabrics and scraps are my favorite. Paula in KY

    1. Mary Etherington

      Paula – I have to be in a different mindset if I’m making a modern quilt – it doesn’t just come easily.

  19. Ruth

    There are shelled corn boxes at some Pumpkin Patches here in Maryland. I helped take five kids to one a couple of years ago – an older brother and a set of quadruplets. Loved visiting the food store, baked nuts, candy, pies, yum!

  20. Kathy Schwartz

    For the first time at our county fair (Murray County in Slayton, MN) we had a child’s swimming pool (plastic) filled with shelled corn. One month later, we had corn growing out of the ground where the “pool” was placed. So, we know the kids had fun while the parents could watch and visit. There was also some money in the corn. Even some adults were digging around in the corn!

  21. Carolyn

    I loved to walk in the shelled corn in our pack house! Can just smell the dust in there right now! And see the sunlight filtering in through the cracks! Thanks for the happy memory. We are in N.C. and haven’t seen those play areas but will look for them for our grandson.

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