Giving Thanks

We returned home from Texas yesterday. Tori and I drove down to visit family for the holiday. She was a most excellent co pilot. it is a 22 hour drive from PA.I am so enjoying having a teenager. She shared in the driving and that was a big help.
This is a picture of Tori and my SIL Theresa. Theresa was diagnosed in March of 2009 and she is still with us. We are celebrating just having her still with us.

This is part of my Texas family. My brother Ron, SIL Theresa me and my sister Renee. Yep we are all "Rs". Gets a little confusing at times.


It was a great visit but glad to be home.

Finished a project too. In my "glass half full" attitude I am early for next fall.


Time to clean the house so I can begin decorating.

Blessings,Rhonda

Secret Sister

I wanted to send out a big thank you to my secret sister for a wonderful Halloween doll.



See her big green eyes. Aren't they just the cutest!!

Hope to have lots of pictures when I come home.

Rhonda

Finishes

Don't you just love the look of produce all canned and ready for the canning cupboard.

There's something about the colors that just put a smile on my face.

Here's the hot banana peppers-

that the stink bugs didn't get-

all "put up" and ready for the winter.

I also finished a couple of things for my secret sister.

The cross stitch was done on a coffee dyed piece of Aida.

It turned into a cute pillow tuck.

This pattern is from Jenny at Country Rustic Prims.

Take a peek at her patterns....love them.

I prefer general fall/harvest things to just Halloween because I don't have to move them around too much.

You know put up and take down then put up and take down.

Too much like work for me.

Although I am getting a few Halloween patterns for pillow tucks.

Hope they come soon. If not I guess I'll be making them up for next year.

So then I will be really early NOT too late.

Like how that logic works.

Here's the mug mat I also finished for my SS.

It was a tutorial over at Stash Manicure (one of my favorite quilting blogs) .

I read it in the morning and whipped it out in no time to get in the box .

Not my best photo but I was in a hurry.
Time to go. Happy Harvest.

Rhonda

Quilting retreat

I sure am a lucky girl. I get to attend a quilting retreat in September,October and November this year. The following are pictures from the September one. One of my friends said she was going for a walk "where the sound of music was filmed". It was such an appropriate description of of the hills surrounding the area.

i was wandering the grounds and playing with my camera. Hope you enjoy them.




The pinwheel quilt is from my summer challenge. We do a block a day from May until August. I love the challenge because I get a whole top done in 3 months. But I must admit I don't do one every day I do a bunch a couple days. Of course I do more than the total that the one a day would be too. I love to piece big quilts but HATE to make backs for them. Something I'll have to work on. The story for this one is that I wanted to use up the 30"s feedsack repos I had . There is a pinwheel of every print I have. 101 to be exact. The remaining 2 leftover from the front are pieced in the back. I will write on one of them for the label.

Some finished projects from my friends.



This is this gals first quilt top. made from her grandmas fabrics for her granddaughter. Super duper special!!!!!





And quilting friends ..........helping with pictures.


Blessings,
Rhonda

Magazines and my Secret Sis

I have been remiss in thanking my secret sister. She had a run in with the postal service last month. For some reason they crushed my box and then sent it back to her. Nice guys !!! But it reached me at last... with no interference this time.

It was full of "goodies" just for little o me. She sent me wonderful magazines.I am a magazineaholic.
The candles smell wonderful and will get put to good use now that it's getting towards fall and we're starting to be inside more.

This was my "double dip". She sent both months in one box.
More magazines which I will be with me today as I leave for a weekend quilting retreat. I can pass them around the girls there also. They will enjoy that.
My girls of course scarfed up the frozen slushie bars. I almost didn't get them frozen!


While out antiquing with a friend I came across a few magazines in a prim shop. Can you believe I bought more magazines. Two of them were reduced because they were old issues but I loved them just the same.

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The fall issues of Mercantile gatherings are 2010 and 2011. I enjoyed them as well as the current edition of A Primitive Place and Country Journal

But the find of the day had to be a reduced copy of Primitive Quilts and Projects. I was going to order this on pay day and to my surprise I found one in her reduced basket. It is full of wonderful prim projects I can't wait to try.



I should be going. I need to finish packing for my retreat. My camera is already in my quilting basket so I'll be sure and take pictures. This bunch of ladies is really talented. Can't wait to "Show and Tell" here when I return.

Thanks again SS. I have lots to read and share thanks to you.

Blessings,
Rhonda

Fun in the Sun

Projects and more projects. I'm trying to finish up some things before I start anything new. I'm going to try to post finished items so I have some motivation to finish more.

Here is a table runner I finished for my secret sister. The theme was "fun in the Sun" it isn't very primitive but is is fun.





We are preparing for school to start soon. My girls are getting bored. I hemmed a few pairs of pants for my daughter and my niece. My new plan is to finish one thing I have to do then on to something I want to do. Wish me luck.

blessings,
Rhonda

16 and Pinwheels

Oh to be 16 and just getting my license again. My oldest daughter got her drivers license last week. We had to buy a new car for various reasons so she has been "given" the use of my faithful Caravan. Now I say it is because she isn't allowed to drive the new car which is considerably smaller (by the way). My real reasoning is that it has lots more car around her should-God forbid- anything ever happen to her. Call it what you want I feel safer....

What a magical time she is having with this new found freedom. Last evening she wanted a burger so off she went. She wanted to go to the mall so off she went... Get the picture. It really is a lot of fun watching her grow through this latest stage. She's even cleaning out the car right now. Washing the outside as well as the inside and vacuuming. Can you beat that!!


Here is a picture of her on her mission trip this summer. Not sure how much paint was on the building.





She's a good girl and really fun to have around.


Haven't finished too much in the line of projects lately. I belong to a summer quilting group designed to get you to sew one block a day. We started as an off shoot of Crazy Mom Quilts blog except we do a different block every year. This year we did a pinwheel block. I had 102 blocks completed in the allotted time. It was not sewn into a top however. Now it is in strips and ready to go to my Sept quilt retreat to be completed.

It's made from my collection of reproduction feedsacks. There's not one repeat block in the quilt. I thought I would be using up so much fabric and I didn't even make a dent in it. So I will be pulling out more patterns to use it up.

i will close with some pictures of other quilts in various stages theta were brought to our show and tell picnic at the end of the summer. Enjoy.
All of us ....preparing for show and tell.


My favorite. 2" 4" and 8" blocks.





Can't have an event without a Pittsburgh Black 'n Gold quilt. This one is a Penguins quilt to be raffled of at this quilters church.




We are a Yahoo group so anyone can participate. Think about it for next year.

Blessings,
Rhonda

I am a Lucky Girl

Saying a big huge thank you to my Secret Sister.

I have been participating in a monthly swap over at Char's The Pickled Pepper Patch.

My SS is the best. She knows just what I like.

My magazine has already been read cover to cover. I love the dish towel. It is so bright and colorful.

But definitely the piece de la resistance is my crow in a watermelon slice.

I love handmade.

Thanks again SS.

I made some pinwheels to use for centerpieces at a friends shower.

She is going with a Mexican Fiesta theme (so NOT me). They turned out nice though.

But I couldn't stop there. I made some for my SS and some for myself.

Ours were red white and blue for the holiday though.

I put them in a blue jar with a very old lid that has a hole already in the lid.

I received some special gifts for making the pinwheels and banner for the shower.

The bride's mom -my friend Patti- gave me a old jug that fits perfectly in my home.

Isn't it wonderful!!!

My good friend Beth actually got me drafted into the job of the pinwheels so she gave me a token of her appreciation...........

Can you believe it??

I can't.

It's so perfect.

Can you believe she bought it at a yard sale??

When she showed it to me she was so excited to have gotten a good deal then days later turned around and gave it to me.

What a special feeling that is.

Friends are the best!!!!

What a lucky girl I am. First my SS then my friends. They all picked such perfect fitting gifts for me.

Oh and like my new header picture?? It's A flower from my garden . I want to eventually raise bees so it when I saw all the bees on my flowers I couldn't grab my camera fast enogh to capture them.

Have a good Wednesday. It's hump day.
Rhonda

Beachcomber bags

I found this wonderful tutorial for beach bags on 2 little hooligans blog. She has some of the best tutorials. She gives me so much inspiration.
My daughter was leaving for the beach with 3 other teenage girls so I made 4 bags( of course). I did modify her pattern to be a pocket along the sides instead of elastic but they turned out really great. You can find her tutorial here for The Beach Comber Bag.

Emily's Bag





They Really went pretty fast after I got the pattern down. Nice summer patterns and colors Emily picked out.

I received my Secret sister package and need to take pictures tomorrow. Thanks SS you always know what to send to brighten my day. Pictures coming!!!

Have a great day.
Rhonda

Garage Sale Finds

I love to spend Saturday mornings going to local garage sales. This past Saturday was no exception. It was a productive morning.

I have always LOVED cake stands. I couldn't believe my luck finding this one. It was a pleasure to rescue this and add it to my collection. Although not typical of my prim decor I do use them with desserts. They add so much to anything that is served on them.




I also collect Fiesta Ware. This bowl has some rim chips but I couldn't pass it up just because of those. For $3.00 I don't mind using it and enjoying it. Everything looks better in Fiesta Ware.


I must give recognition to my daughter Emily for taking the pictures of my "finds". She surprised me at her "eye" when capturing these pictures.
Thanks Em.

Have a restful Sunday.
Rhonda

Thank You Secret Sister

Thank you Secret Sister!!!!!!!!!!
Look at all the goodies I received last week. Yes sorry I didn't get this posted faster but I was sick the end of the week. So now I'm back to work today but wanted to be sure and let everyone know how wonderful my SS is.



I love the prim flag pillow that she made and grungied..is that a word?? ...for me
Every package she sends me a quilting magazine and I can't get enough of them. First I love magazines,but each has so many projects that I can't begin to get them all made. This one was no exception. There's the watermelon tablerunner on the cover
I'm dying to try
It's really hard to post anything I've been working on lately because most of it has gone to my SS. Last month the theme was "picnic" boy I had to think outside the box for that one!!! One of the prior magazines my SS sent me had a casserole carrier in it and I took that idea and adapted it. I can't show you hers ( You can go here to see it on her blog) since I have no picture of it. I made myself one too.
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They fit a 13x9 dish and they are insulated for either hot or cold. I just googled casserole carrier and combined a few things from what I read on there with some things from the magazine and viola!!

These will be my SIL gifts fro Christmas this year too. The pattern is basic so I can make each one different.

Leaving you with a picture of our faithful companion. He is loving this weather.



Blessings,
Rhonda