Maple Leaf - Log Cabin Quilt - 007 Mystery Revealed

I have hinted in former posts that I was working on a secret 007 project and I'm happy to report that I did finish it - on time - and gifted it to a special couple, my great nephew Sean and his new wife Aubrey, for their wedding.  They both love the outdoors, hunting, fishing and horseback riding.  They were even married outside and the weather was superb!

This pattern is perfect for them.  A special quilt for a special couple.

Eva Birch from my Streetsboro Quilt Guild did the machine quilting for me and I love what she did to make the leaves pop!

If you are interested in making a similar quilt, the pattern can be found in Cookies and Quilts by Judy Martin.  In the book it is called "Fall Foliage Spectacular."

Now I am working on yet another 007.   !  

2014 Streetsboro Quilt Show

Welcome to the show!!  Before you scroll down to see pictures, I want to take a minute to tell you how excited I am to be part of such a hard-working and awesome group of ladies: The Streetsboro Quilt Guild.  This is my second year in the guild and the ladies never cease to amaze me with their energy and dedication to making this show the best around!  I'm proud to be a small part of their community!!

Are you ready for the quilt show?  If you couldn't make it to the Faith Baptist Church in Streetsboro, Ohio last weekend, you can view some of the lovely quilts below.  It would be impossible to show all the quilts since there were about 180 total entries; however, you can browse through some of the highlights below.  Enjoy!

Words to Live By

Happy Snowmen for Barbie

One of my favorites!

Grandma Fannies Quilt Shop

3-D Quilt Clothes Line - So Cute!

Sweet Quilt Christmas Tree Created by Kim, A Guild Member

Look at the French Knot Snowflakes!

Viewer's Choice

Miss Carol's Rocky Mountain Pines!

All Hand Quilted!!  Beautiful!

Wedding Dress Quilt designed by Tina, A Guild Member  

My Easy Street Quilt

A big thank you to all the members of the Streetsboro Quilt Guild who made this quilt show possible.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Beckwith Apple Orchard

When the days are bright with sunshine, the air is crisp and the leaves begin to turn, we take a trip to the the apple farm. Beckwith Apple Orchard is only a couple of miles away and so much fun to visit.  Check out how much Zoe has grown since 2013.  It looks to be about three or four inches!

2013

2014

The dahlias at the apple farm are all planted by an 80-year-old gentleman, Hal Hall.  Keep in mind that dahlia bulbs have to be dug up in the late fall, stored all winter and re-planted in the spring.  I think this is a labor of love and I thank him and his family for providing all this beauty for us to enjoy.

Fashionable Scarecrow!

We bought our apples, cider, and of course a piece of homemade apple pie.   So happy for our fall season in Kent and blessed to have this wonderful apple farm in our city!

Zoe made a new friend!  

"Don't get fancy. Have you cooked an apple pie? You don't know what you did wrong? Do this: Take two or three apples. Put them on a table. Study them."

Paul Prudhomme

Quilt News - Upcoming Streetsboro Quilt Show 2014

What do you think about most when fall arrives?  Cool weather, mums, planting bulbs, hearty soup, hot cider?  Well, yes, but as quilters, our thoughts mostly turn to upcoming fall quilt shows.  Yea!

About a year ago, to celebrate retirement, I joined the Streetsboro Quilt Guild.  They are sponsoring their yearly quilt show the first weekend in October.  Everyone looks forward to this show with all the fabulous quilts on display and of course the vendors.  Time to get new ideas and shop!

As a newer member of the guild, I volunteered to help with our raffle quilt this year . . . as a result, all the volunteers were featured in the paper along with the Civil War Baskets of Plenty Quilt.

Record Courier Article:  Sept. 11, 2014

Here is information about the show:

32nd Annual Judged Quilt Show

Friday, October 3rd - 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

Saturday, October 4th - 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

First Baptist Church in Streetsboro

Frost Road and St Rt 43

Anyone can enter a quilt or quilted item; the entry fee is $3.00 before Sept. 17 and $6.00 for late entrees.  You have the option to have your quilt judged or not judged. Click on the link below for further information.

Entry Forms are available online:  CLICK HERE FOR THE DIRECT LINK!

Mums on the porch

Autumn in the air

A Corny Day

Thursday morning my son Earl brought over a big bag of sweet corn from Wind Swept Farm in Hiram. What a perfect day for freezing corn; a cool northern breeze and no need to run the air conditioner, just open the windows.

I was thinking about what my younger son Adam suggested; that I should jazz up my blog and write about something more exciting.  In our family corn has always played a central role in our lives.  We used to live on a small farm where we grew corn, froze corn, sold corn, and mostly ate corn.   Hmmm . . . well, I was excited to get a big bag of corn, so, this is as exciting as it gets for me. 

At our dinners, we were connoisseurs of all the different tastes and textures of sweet corn.  We had a running conversations on whether the corn was too young, too old, crunchy, chewy, starchy or just right.  I can still picture my kids' faces with a cob of yellow corn as their smiles and butter dripping down to their elbows.  It's safe to say that we were and still are a "corn oriented" family.

Today, during the process of peeling, cutting, cooking and freezing corn; I am reminiscing and remembering my family and all the times we spent together gathered around a big plate of steaming sweet corn.  It is exciting!     

Husking the corn on the porch is the best idea!

Yellow Gold!

A tall enamel pot is perfect to blanch the corn for 6 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the cob - according to the Ball Canning Book.

The hard part is cutting the corn off the cob. 

The satisfying part is seeing the final result!  

12 pints, three quarts and one sticky kitchen.  It was a lovely day.

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I wanted to add a picture taken on the Freedom Trail in Kent this week.  My neighbor and I took a walk and discovered lots of wild flowers blooming along the Cuyahoga River.  We also saw a big buck run across the path and jump a fence.  That was exciting!  How fortunate we are to have these hiking trails in our city.

Salsa Time Again!

Today, a good part of my day was spent in the kitchen making salsa.  It's a perfect 82 degrees outside and I could have been sitting on the front porch sewing the binding on my Scrappy Enders and Leaders quilt.  However, when the vegetables are ripe, you have to make the salsa.

Keeping it simple, I quilted this scrappy 4-patch by sewing diagonally across the blocks and am pleased with the results.  Just have to finish the binding!  This will be used for a future little girl baby quilt:

I now have "three" quilts that need binding.  I had a dream the other night that I gave a quilt as a gift and at the last minute noticed that the binding was NOT sewn on.  It was terrible and seemed very real!!  I guess that means I am feeling guilty about my UFOs and need to get busy turning binding.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen.  Last night I canned nine quarts of refrigerator dill pickles and today eight pints of salsa.  It's fun to see the jars lined up and hear the ping of the lids as they seal.  The recipes for the dill pickles and salsa are on my blog.  Click on the links directly below "Featured Posts," especially if you are over-run with cucumbers and tomatoes.

Tomorrow, I plan to spend some time on the porch sewing binding unless my son happens to bring over sweet corn, in which case, I'd be back in the kitchen.  

As everyone is fond of saying:  "Keep calm and quilt or can on!"