Beginner's Quilt-Along

I decded to join in the Beginner's Quilt-Along hosted by Pat Sloan.  I have been learning to quilt this past year or so and always learn something new by participating in events like this.

The fabrics below are what I chose to use for this quilt.  I purchased these from Melanie at Fabric Chicks without a project in mind.  Visit the Fabric Chicks website to see the great deals on beautiful fabric.  The fabric line is Lily and Will by Bunny Hill.  I think I may add another pink to the stack, we'll see.

Block 1

Block 2

The blocks are 12 inches square, quick and fun to do.  I learn a trick or two with each block.  It's not too late to join in.  Visit Pat Sloan's Learning Center and get started.  Block 3 is ready to go, maybe I will get the chance to work on it today.  Oh, I almost forgot, I won an iron for posting about this Quilt Along on my sidebar.  I will share it with you when it arrives.

Another BOM Rehab Block

I was able to complete my Aurifil Designer block for April.  I have not been near my sewing machine in a couple of weeks.  I spent one of those weeks at the hospital with my husband who had very unexpected heart bypass surgery.  It has been a rough week for our family, but the love and support has been amazing.  I am thankful for the word of God and prayer and how it can bring peace to your heart in times of trial.  The verse that seems to be going through my head whenever I experience trials is Isaiah 26:3 but I have now added verse 4 to my memory. 

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:  because he trusteth in thee. 
Trust thee in the LORD for ever:  for the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.

I will share a little more about this event in our lives a little later.  Patrick is doing well and I have set up my sewing machine in the dining room to be close by.

Aurifil Designer block of the month - May

Linking with BOM Rehab at Pink Pincushion.

Fabulous Needlework Design Finds

I don't get the chance to stop at a Goodwill store too often but I did find some fun things last week.   I have always loved Crabapple Hill embroidery patterns and have purchased several over the past few years.  I was looking in the fabric, yarn, patterns and notions section at a local Goodwill and found these patterns.  They have not been used but I intend to make good use of them.

They each had a sticker on them that said $1.99, I took the patterns out of the plastic to get a somewhat better picture.

I also found the cross stitch design below for 99 cents

I love this Bird Brain Designs  embroidery pattern, which was also $1.99

The eyelet trim below was 99 cents .

It is fun when you find such treasures when you have 15 minutes for thrift store shopping.

I will be linking with Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove.

Beautiful Blooms

Yesterday was one of those busy days.  It was Monday and it followed a very busy weekend.  At work I was scheduled to drive the bookmobile on our route that takes us to the town of Index, then Goldbar and then to a rural grocery store.  It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining and the first view we had as we started out was of Mount Rainier.  The scenery was beautiful the whole day which is not unusual when you live here in the Pacific Northwest.   I can't say that the behavior of the other drivers on the road was so beautiful.  People seem to associate the word SLOW with the bookmobile because it is a large vehicle and they must not let you merge in front of them.  That does distract a little from the enjoyment of the drive.  I will tell you that if you see the bookmobile we can get up to and do go the speed limit so we won't slow you down too much.

After work I had went to the hospital with my husband to see the newest baby girl born to a family in our church.  She is beautiful and everyone is doing well. 

So many blessing in one day.

It was about 8pm and time to return to our nest for a time of rest.

As we pulled into the driveway I looked to the left and saw that my favorite peonies were blooming!

When I saw this I knew that I must cut some right away because when the rain came back they would be on the ground.  I suddenly had a burst of energy and cut the peonies and toured the yard taking pictures of many of the plants that were blooming. 

My verse for the day from my little box of verse on my desk was

He careth for you.  1Peter 5:7

The beauty of God's creation is just another way that he cares for us and makes us feel renewed and inspired.

So much beauty, I am so glad I didn't miss it.

I will be linking with
 Bloomin Tuesday at Green Thumb Jean's
Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon CottageHome and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

One More Block of the Month Complete

It has been a busy week but I did manage to complete one more block for my "Tis The Season" quilt by Natalie Bird.  I think that this is my favorite block.  Now I have to decide what fabrics I want to use to complete the quilt because all twelve of the blocks are stitched.  Thank you to Tonya of Hillbilly Handiworks, she sent me the pattern book for this quilt.

I am happy to participate in Block of The Month REHAB this week at Pink Pincushion.

Bunnies in the Garden

I started this post at Easter, left it as a draft and I didn't get around to posting it. 

Where does the time go?

While visiting blogs just before Easter I found this fun idea at a blog called Sense and Simplicity.   I decided that it would be fun to give it a try and this is my Carrots in the garden carrot cake.  Thank you Grace for sharing this fun idea and great recipe.

I did spend some time working in our flower beds this weekend and we do not have any bunnies hopping around but we did find some mole hills.  They seem to like living here and our dogs loud barking doesn't seem to intimidate them.  I thought I would share some before and after pictures of one of the overgrown and full of weeds spots in our back yard that I spent some time sprucing up. 

 I was slightly overwhelmed at first by this mess.

The bed is under our beautiful maple trees that make a thick carpet of leaves in the fall, not so fun to clean up.

I will have to keep a close watch on this throughout the summer as I am sure that some of the weeds have planted their seeds and intend to return.  I didn't stop there and was able to do some weeding around my lavender plants.  It was good to work in the dirt for a while.