Sneak Peek

So many baby boys are being born, so little time to quilt for them all. . .

Here is a sneak peek at the start of my next quilt for a precious baby boy due in September.

My inspiration came from A Little Bit Biased.  I just love her scrappy quilts.  This particular quilt is called Scrap Jar Stars.  I am once again using scraps from several of my bins of fabric.  My oldest daughter, Anne is so proud when I use my scraps instead of buying new fabric.  But really, what quilter can resist buying new fabric. 

Happy Sewing!

Garden: July

 

Barn #9 completed. . . Only three more blocks to go.  Be sure to check out Lori's other Quilty Barn blocks.

 

It has been about a month since I updated pictures of the garden.  It has been so unusually dry here.  WATER, WATER and more WATER is what the garden is calling for.   We have harvested so many wonderful vegetables like arugula, romaine lettuce, cilantro, snap peas, bush beans and cherry tomatoes.  This year my goal is to keep track of all that we harvest to see if it's saving us money on our grocery bill.  Even if it were not, I would still do all of this just because it fits into my goal to be more self-sustaining and to provide the family with the most nutritious food possible.

 

We are anxiously awaiting more of the late summer vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, onions, carrots, and squash.

 

 

 

 

 

 
I have been diligently saving our plants from the cucumber beetle and cabbage moth.  It's been a lot of smooshing and sprinkles of wood ash around the base of the plants.  My companion planting plans has not worked out as well as I hoped, but the marigolds look amazing.  Our greenhouse has earned it's keep as many of my plants are bearing fruit already. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look who I found wandering into the garden today while I was trying to take pictures.  He's my strawberry eating boy - one of the many reasons we have only harvested one small quart bag of strawberries to save for the winter.



 

 

 

  
And his partner in crime - she loves snap peas and carrots  - so watch out for her in your garden.  Some of our boxes look rather empty, but that is because I've already replanted arugula, carrots, lettuce.  I started seeds this weekend  - more broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage for fall plantings. Our raspberries are done - I laugh thinking about the 20 or so berries that we harvested for our second year.  I suppose that is not too bad for only two really good canes.  We added 6 more this year.  Next year, I'm going to add another bed.  The General Manager has his heart set on raspberry jam so I need more raspberry canes and better eyes to catch those sneaky fingers stealing my berries.

 

 

Happy Gardening!  This blog post is linked up to New Life On A Homestead's Barn Hop.

Tractor Boy's Quilt

 

Days here on the homestead are busy, but I managed to get Tractor Boy's quilt pieced together over the weekend.  The quilt began out of a need for him to have his own quilt on his bed, rather than a used hand-me-down.  While hand-me-downs are clothed in love, I wanted him to have his own memory that momma made for him.

 

 

Where to begin when looking through the myriad of fabrics online?  He loves all things trucks, cars, tractors and being four, I wanted something that he wouldn't outgrow too quickly. So, when I found this fabric I knew it was perfect for him.  It is by Moda, and it's called Ten Little Things.   The owl print was my personal favorite.  Especially after we made these owls from Gingercake and George began to take his new owl pillow "Tiggie" everywhere.

 

 

Now it's time to find the fabric to back and bind the quilt with.  I am thinking a navy blue backing and lime green binding fabric.  What do you think?  . . . . then off to the quilter it goes.  He's going to be so excited to have it on his bed soon.

 

 
I shared my 12 Days of Christmas quilt awhile back, my first blog giveaway winnings!  It's back from the quilter, binding on and awaiting it's entry into our county fair in August. 

 

I think the quilting turned out fabulous!  Thanks to Kathy at Stitch by Stitch.  I have to admit it was little unnerving sending my work to a complete stranger in Montana, but she is a sweet woman and so very easy to work with.   Plus, just take a moment to look at her quilts and I guarantee you'll be hooked.   I would not hesitate using her again.



 

 

Happy Quilting!

From this to that. . . Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Who would have thought that four years ago when I was gifted the roots of this rhubarb plant, that by planting it I would be able to one day take this plant. . .  and

the strawberries that we planted around the same time in our ever expanding garden . .  and turn it into this yummy, fire red, sweet jam.

It was my Dad that inspired the whole long journey to this jam because of his love for rhubarb.  When I was a child he used to make a rhubarb syrup that we would use for pancakes, waffles and always on ice cream.  While I don't remember whether I liked it or whether I turned my nose up at it, which my children do on many of my dishes today, my memory is more of my Dad in the kitchen making it and how much he enjoyed rhubarb.  It brings my heart joy to think that this jam, and every successive jar that I can each year afterwards will bear the same story.  It is my greatest hope that my children will fondly recall these stories as they get older. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam Recipe 

Ingredients

• 3 cups strawberries
• 3 cups rhubarb
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 3/4 ounces powdered pectin
• 5 1/2 cups sugar

Directions

1. In a large sauce pan, combine the strawberries and rhubarb. Crush the mixture together (I use my potato masher), and then add in the lemon juice. Bring to a boil and then let simmer, stirring frequently, until the rhubarb breaks apart.
2. Prepare your canning supplies. Bring the temperature of the glass jars up by processing them in hot water for several minutes, and heat a few cups of water in a small saucepan for the lids.
3. Stir in the pectin until dissolved. Bring back to a boil, and then add in the sugar all at once. Boil hard for a minute longer.
4. Skim off any foam and ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.
5. Place the lids and bands on top, screwing on the bands just until fingertip-tight. Place the full jars back into the boiling water and process 10 minutes.
6. Remove from the water and place the jars on a towel. Let the jars cool. The seals should suck down (you’ll hear a popping noise as they do). Makes 7-8 eight-ounce jars.

Source: Food Fanatic

Garden in June

 

 

May and June have been  beautiful months here on the coast in the Pacific Northwest.  I am actually in awe of this amazing weather we've had.  I was able to plant our garden a whole month early, which is why it looks the way it does as of today when I took these pictures.  Normally, I would have just put the seeds in the ground and you would have been looking at a bunch of empty boxes.

 

May brought us to the end of our school year.  I feel like we accomplished much; Anne completed her first year of high school, Hannah made it through multiplication tables, Lindsay's reading is improving, Abby made it through her Kindergarten workbooks and George mastered his computer game, Jumpstart, that Grandpa got him for Christmas.

 

Once I finish working up their "report cards". . . which is really nothing more than a recap of what we learned throughout the year. . .  I can start perusing the curriculum catalogs for next year's adventure.  I am working out a modified, "homestead" agrarian schedule for us for next year, based on Quinn's suggestion.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it works for our family.

 

June brought us year-end picnics, sunshine, a fun vacation to see friends from Florida, and a dance recital. 

 

 



 

 - So, let's walk through the pretty things blooming all over the homestead.  I just love this sage that I planted last summer. 

 

 

 - Anise Hyssop planted this year.  It has it's first blossom.

 

 

- The lemon balm has gone wild.

 

- Garlic

- The greenhouse addition to our garden is proving to be very productive.  Look at the tomato plants!  The peppers are in front and they seem to be doing well also!  I can see some salsa in the near future.

 

- Everyday, this is the scene I watch outside our side door.  Notice the chicken wire around some of the plants?  If I didn't put this wire up their dirt baths would destroy what little remaining plants I have left.  I am getting tired of sweeping up the dirt on the sidewalk, but I haven't come up with another solution for them.

 

And last but not least, Barn #8 for our Quilty Barn-Along with Lori Holt.    I am not sure I'm in love with this barn.  I have never, need I repeat, NEVER done a "Water Turn" block so many of my points have disappeared.  I met with my trusty seam ripper many a times during the assembly of this block.

 

Michelle

 

 

A Little Behind the Times

Barn # 7 is finally finished and up on the wall.  Being quite the critic, I noticed one of my pin wheels did not line up. . .  you can probably even see it in the picture.  After piecing together these tiny 2 1/2 inch pin wheel squares, I decided that it wasn't worth tearing out and re-doing it.  Here's hoping when I have it quilted the stitching will hide my error.

We are packing for a trip out to Yosemite National Park this week.  We are meeting up with friends from Florida who are on a month long cross country journey this summer.  Hannah is about bouncing out of her skin with excitement to see her best friend Carolyn.  If I had a nickel for everytime one of the kids has asked if we are leaving, I'd be a millionaire!  I love having happy children anxious for family time.

Our first stop tomorrow will be Pier 39 in San Francisco so that the General Manager can get a bowl of clam chowder and fish and chips for lunch.  We will not forget to get our National Park Passport stamped on our journey.

I almost have barn #8 complete, but I had to stop sewing to prepare for the trip.  If I could take my sewing machine along, I probably would. .  . alas, I must wait until we return.

Have a blessed weekend.
Michelle

My favorite barn . . so far. . and a little teen social

 

This has to be my favorite barn fabric combination yet!  I just love how my sunflower block turned out.  Really, my photo does not do the colors justice, so you might have to wait until the quilt is done to get a better peek at this design.  As we move into summer gardening, finding time to sew is becoming challenging, but I'm very thankful that Lori gives us two weeks to complete the barns.

 

Last weekend another home school mom and I planned a Teen Social for the Jr./Sr. High students in our home school group.  The teens went to dinner at a local restaurant, onto bowling, and then to a very fun and yummy place called Ultimate Yogurt.  It was fun to watch them all get acquainted and interact.  Next year, we'll do this again, only the kids will be wearing more formal attire.  We just didn't have the time this year for everyone to go shopping.  Anne picked out and assembled her whole outfit with online shopping.  In my mind, that takes a lot talent to match colors.  She looked beautiful!

 

 

 

 

Our greenhouse

FINALLY!  The greenhouse is up and loaded full of plants.   Here in Northern California it is almost next to impossible to grow tomatoes, peppers, and basil because it just never gets warm enough.  The fog constantly keeps the temperatures in the 60's through the entire summer.   I am truly hoping that this greenhouse will give us the heat to grow these.  It is a lot smaller than I expected, but it will be a great edition to our gardening endeavors.  I think I may have gone overboard on the number of pepper and tomato plants.  I am thinking that 16 plants will look like a jungle in a few months.

 

Some of my tomato varieties are Sweet Baby Girl, Koralik, Brandywine, and  Juliet.  I ordered several of these from Territorial Seed Company as starters, rather than from seeds.  I have four Bell pepper plants, and one Anaheim and Jalapeño pepper plant.

 

 

 

Don't you just love the water jug on the protruding bar that we couldn't figure out how to disguise so that no one would hit their head on it!  Now, I just need to get the kids to shut the door to keep the ladies out of there - they would just love to scratch and eat all of my plants.

Happy Gardening!

What a great start to spring. . . .

I love this time of year.  When we drive anywhere the first thing my kids say is, "Look Momma, it's marshmallow season again."  I love to see the fields lined with all of the marshmallow bales of hay.  I almost want to gather them all up and jump from bale to bale.

 

 

We have officially been here in Northern California for three years now and I have never seen weather in May like we had last week. NEVER!  It was in the upper 60's for over a week and several days reached the 70's during the hottest parts of the day.  All I can say is it was amazing! 

So, if you are a kid and it's hot outside, what kind of experiment do you automatically want to attempt to try - yep, you guessed it - fry an egg on the sidewalk, but in our case it's more like fry and egg on the gravel driveway.  And, no, it did not fry, but the chickens and ducks really enjoyed the meal after the kids got bored waiting for the egg to cook.

 

Our Anne, turned 15 this last week with a wonderfully hand decorated (by her sister) cookie cake.  She was showered with many presents.  Thank heavens the clothes I picked out for her passed the can-I-say-incredibly- picky- teenager standard.  She looked rather cute in her new mint green polka-dotted baby doll shirt and leggings.

We spent the entire weekend putting in the garden.  The General Manager helped out by roto-tilling the entire right side of the garden which does not have any raised beds.  He finally was so exhausted with the hand-push roto-tiller that he just asked where the rows were going to be and only tilled those areas.  We have all of the same favorites from last year, in addition to some new varieties we are trying.  A friend of mine bought me the most beautiful tomato and pepper plants so just as soon as the greenhouse gets assembled I will have to post some more garden pictures. 

No, that is not the General Manager standing out in the middle there, but rather our scarecrow.  He actually worked last year to keep the birds out of the garden - I didn't think it could be done, but he was worth his weight in gold.

We have three new additions to our flock - meet Sarah (the red one on the left), Grant and Xavier.   They are a Red Production, Black Sex Link and Araucauna breed.   These three just happen to share the names of our second oldest daughter, her new husband and their little one which is due to be born next month.  I'm not sure how our family feels having our flock of chickens named after them, but sometimes I think it rather strange?

 

And for my fifth barn in the Quilty Barn Along - here it is.  The next set of barns will have brown roofs and windows.  Since Lori just put up the instructions for barn #6, I guess I better start pulling fabric.

 

Have a wonderful week!