A Visit and Goodies

After Mr. Squash and I said goodbye to Stephanie and Mr. Creations in Bellingham, we headed a bit south to were we used to live.  I got a much needed haircut and color from my former hairdresser while Mr. Squash had a nice visit with the folks at his former office.  We spent the rest of the day shopping and then drove out east of there to have a visit with our dear friend Vicki.  Your might remember Vicki from this post.

Vicki lives on 20 acres about six miles from where we fished for years prior to moving.  Sadly her husband passed away 4 years ago, but with help from her son and his family who live nearby, still manages to keep up the property beautifully.  A few years ago she had this gorgeous pergola built and installed.  It has a fire pit right in the center! We spent most of the afternoon sitting there catching up on all the news.  If you click on the photo you can see just a bit of snow left on Mt. Pilchuck in the background.  It can also be seen in full splendor from all the windows on the back of the house!

This is looking to the right of the pergola.  That's Vicki and Mr. Squash checking out the swimming pool which her granddaughters just love!

A couple of years ago Vicki and her son decided to put some of the pasture to good use and purchased steers which they raise for beef!  They are a special breed called Pinzgauer which produce wonderful meat.  She said they are really friendly and you can walk right up to them.  Seeing as how I only had sandals with me, I decided not to go into the pasture (wink).

This is looking back at the house.  She lives in a truly picturesque setting!

Before driving down to see Vicki, when we first met up with Stephanie and Mr. Creations, she handed me a rather large, ribbon tied bag.  Here is what was inside!  An absolutely gorgeous, vintage, completely hand-sewn quilt!  Stephanie found this in her favorite antique mall back home and knows how much I love 8-pointed stars!  She even washed it for me!  It's perfect in every way except for 2 holes that can easily be repaired.  If you click on the photo you can see one near the front edge and another on top. I was totally blown away!  Thank you so much, Stephanie, for this wonderful, unexpected gift!  I plan to repair the holes and quilt it so it can get the use it deserves!

One of the quilt shops we visited in Lynden is called Tangled Threads.  I saw this sewing caddy as soon as we walked in.  Well, Mr. Squash (with help from Mr. Creations) looked through them all while Stephanie and I were fabric shopping and picked out this one for me!  Check out the gorgeous, burled maple handle!

The caddy is made locally by Joel deWaard.  I already have it filled and sitting right next to my chair where we watch TV!

In one of the antique malls we visited I found another of these wonderful, vintage coffee jars.  I love the art deco design on this one.  And once again, I have Mr. Squash and Mr. Creations to thank for pointing them out while Stephanie and I were, yes, checking out fabric - this time the vintage variety!

We visited another great little quilt shop in Lynden called Folk Tales.  Mr. Squash found the cutest, embellished Christmas panel and asked if I could make it.  Not only did they have the panel, but up front I found the embellishing kit!  I'll surprise you with it once it's made! I think the Squash and Creations fellows make a great team and they are welcome to go shopping with Stephanie and I any time!

A Special Supreme Meeting!

You've probably noticed that I've been absent from Blogland again.  This time I have a very good reason!  Most of you know I'm one of Stephanie's Supreme Pattern Testers.  Well, after months of planning and anticipation, Stephanie and I got to meet in person!

We traveled to Bellingham early Monday where we were to meet Stephanie and her husband Dave at the hotel we all stayed in.  She'll tell you all about why she was there over at Loft Creations.  We had dinner the first night at The Big Fat Fish Company in Fairhaven.  (Sorry for my goofy hair, but I was in desperate need of a haircut which I got a couple days later!)

Here are Mr. Creations and Mr. Squash who got on famously.  The next day we visited several quilt and antique shops in the little town of Lynden just north of Bellingham.  What fun that was!  I must say Mr. Creations and Mr. Squash were wonderfully patient while Stephanie and I had fun shopping! 

That night we had dinner back in Fairhaven at a great Italian restaurant across the street from Big Fat Fish Company.  We had been having so much fun that we didn't get any photos taken until then, which is why you see us all in the same clothes at both restaurants!

It was sad to say goodbye to them both the next day as they headed back to Ohio, but you never know when we might meet up again soon!  Stephanie and Mr. Creations are truly the nicest people!  If you ever get the chance to meet personally with any of your blogging friends, I highly recommend it!

Stay tuned tomorrow for some of the great goodies I got along the way!

Morning Coffee and Something for Woolies!

This morning Mr. Squash and I had our coffee (latte in my case, made fresh at home) on our the patio along with.....

...these!  Yes, our 38th annual Balloon Stampede is in town.  Last year the weather wasn't good enough for them to fly so we crossed our fingers is would be good this year, and it is!

We have some friends from our old house in town for the Stampede.  I served brunch here after yesterday's balloon flights.

Today we're having them for dinner.  How nice of Mother Nature to oblige us with such incredible weather!  This coming week the temps are expected to soar into the high 80's!

This poor balloon was having trouble with altitude.  We were hoping they would make an emergency landing at the Squash House, but they finally got airborne!

Last week at the quilt show in Pendleton, I had an opportunity to meet a new exhibitor thanks to a tip from a fellow blogger.  This is Cathy Ware of Wild Hare Fiber in her booth.  Not long ago Cathy was laid off from her regular job.  She knew she had to do something, so she dove right into the wool business!  And I must say she is doing everything right!  Not only is she a delight to talk with, her booth is colorful, well designed and full of the most gorgeous, hand dyed wools along with patterns and other needfuls!  Cathy and her husband hand dye most of their wool.

Cathy designed this wool bag and will soon have a pattern for it!  If you're going to Sisters this summer for the quilt show, be sure to look for Cathy.  She'll have a shop there during the month of July!  You "Woolie's" out there will love the quality of her wool and the absolutely yummy colors!

Spring Fever!!

I guess I have a bad case of Spring Fever.  I can't seem to get my act in gear to post, but I did want you all to know I'm still here!  What have I been up to?  Some sewing - but nothing I can show you, unfortunately.  I'm just beginning a Supreme sewing job for Stephanie which I should be able to show you in the early Fall.  I'm also doing some applique for a dear friend, but can't show you that either. 

What to do....how about show you some of my recent baking? I tried my hand at homemade hamburger rolls and they were a complete success! The recipe is from King Arthur Flour.  They were quite easy and so tasty!  I did have to buy a specialty pan, however.  I couldn't find a pan just for hamburger buns, but this pan for large muffins tops worked just the same, I do believe!  Give them a try - you'll be amazed at the difference between these and store bought!

Mr. Squash and I traveled to Pendleton last Saturday for the Krazy Horse Quilters show.  It was terrific!  Mr. Squash made all the ladies laugh - he said he thought he was going to a gun show when asked how it was I managed to get him to come with me!  The quilts and workmanship were exquisite all around!  Here are just a few of the many wonderful entries!

This was all hand quilted!

Everyone was so taken with this one I couldn't get a photo without a person standing there in awe!

Another completely hand quilted beauty!  This is also done by a man, and from my guild, no less!

The featured quilter was Peggy Gelbrich.  I just loved this house quilt!

I also met a new exhibitor at the show.  I'll tell you all about her in my next post!

Holy Grape!

Mr. Squash and I have spent several days in the garden doing some more spring planting.  I decided to take a closer look at our grapes and see how they were doing.  This is their third summer and I was really hoping to finally get some grapes.

Click on the photo above and you'll see the little grape clusters just beginning to form at the top of the lowest set of leaves!  I am just totally thrilled, to say the least!  This is a white table grape.  On the other side the red table grapes are a bit behind but coming on strong.  In another few days I expect to see little clusters forming there, too.

Saturday we went to a small nursery in town for the first time.  It was a darling spot that also had an Italian deli and a wonderful little gift shop.  Right out front we saw this espaliered pear tree and had to have it!  The owner delivered it for us later in the day.  Each row has a different kind of pear - Bartlett, Red Bartlett and Bosc - and there are already pears on it!  The nursery owner walked around our yard and gave his stamp of approval which made us feel terrific!

Yesterday we planted some more veggies.  Here are Mr. Squash's tomatoes - under cloches for protection from the cool evenings for now.  In the foreground is our newest little dwarf Ginger Gold apple tree.  It went from a bare-root tree with nubs for branches to this in under a month!

Doesn't the Saxifrage looks so pretty right now?

The large perennial bed is coming along, too.  I can't believe how fast things are growing.

Here is what I did most of yesterday morning.  I am crouched down planting teeny, tiny carrot seeds.  Oh, my aching back!

But the beauty of an aching back is seeing Mr. Squash come along behind me and sweep the edges of the beds and make everything nice and neat!  Gotta love him even more for this! Check out the incredible lilac next door! The smell at that end of the yard is out of this world!

I'll leave you today with a photo of one of our four, 60 year old white Dogwood trees.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  The Spirea hedge in front will soon be awash in little white blooms, too.

Drumroll, Please...

Thanks to everyone for their nice comments on my 400th post and all those wonderful guesses!  Only one person came close to the correct number of beans - Lynn of Sew 'N Wild Oaks!  There were 1,100 beans in the jar and Lynn guessed 1,023, plus one rock that was there, but just wouldn't fit in the jar so I left it out!  Congratulations, Lynn!  The Bunny Run kit will be sent to you shortly!  Lynn designs the most incredible quilts!  If you haven't visited her, be sure to do so! 

I've been a bit scattered  multi-tasking these days.  The weather is beginning to warm up - yesterday it was in the mid-80's so we're gearing up for vegetable planting.  On the sewing front I got Block 6 of my Rosewood Farm BOM done.  I've kept up with each month of this BOM and it feels good!

Yesterday and the day before Mr. Squash got out his trusty tiller and tilled up the vegetable gardens.  Here he is in the raised beds in his cute, tilling outfit!  Check out those great legs, uh, I mean wonderful dirt!  We added a few bags of compost and let the planting begin!

Here he is in the vegetable area on the other side of the yard!  In between our two dwarf apple trees we'll be planting the tomatoes this year.  I just love this Western Redbud tree in the spring.  That is the bark that blooms!  Cool, huh!

I'm still working on my stars blocks, so not much else to show on the sewing front just yet.  I may put a small finished quilt on Vinnie soon, too.  I'll be sure to post my progress!

400th Post Giveaway!

When I started this blog I had no idea where it would take me or how long I would continue to blog.  While my posts aren't as prolific as in the beginning, I've managed to get to 400 and have no intention of stopping any time soon!  It's been a wonderful journey where I've made new and close friends and learned new quilting techniques as well as improved on many of the old!  Most of this is in no small part due to all of you who read my blog and have blogs of your own!

In celebration of this little milestone and a huge thank you to all that have stuck with me thus far, I thought why not have a guessing game for my giveaway?  Yup - guess the number of beans in the jar!  The person who comes the closest to the correct number will win a quilt kit!  Yes!  To help you out somewhat I'll tell you that the total height of the jar is 7.25 inches and it is filled to the very top with red kidney beans.

At it's widest circumference the jar measures 10.5 inches.

Here is the kit I'm giving away.  It is for the Bunny Run Kit from Bunny Hill Designs.  The pattern is in this copy of the Australian Homespun magazine which is also included.

The kit has everything you need including the backing - how great is that?  The finished quilt measures 36 x 40 inches.  You can start now and have it finished for Easter next year!

There are only a few rules for this giveaway:

1)  You must have a Google account to leave your guess on the bean count.  This will not be open to Anonymous commenters.  If you don't have a Google account you can go here and sign up for free.

2)  Please do not blog about this or post any photos from this on your blog.

3)  One comment/guess per person, please.

I'll leave this open through Monday, April 23rd.  The winner will be announced on Tuesday, April 24th.

Good Luck!!