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.
.
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

April Secret Sister Package

I received a wonderful package from my secret sister exchanged hosted by Char at The Pickled Pepper Patch. We are exchanging a package a month till the end of the year.


I received a quilting magazine which I have of course read from cover to cover already. I love quilting in any form. Picked a couple projects already.

The notepads she sent are so appreciated. I never have enough of those.
There was a small flag for my garden. can't wait to use it.

You should see the tulips she made for me. They are so prim perfect. I love them. Can't wait to get out to the potting shed and find the perfect pot to put them in.



They are so beautiful and creative and I appreciate all the time she put into them.
There's nothing more special than a gift created from the heart by one's own hands. you can feel the love. Thank you secret sister. You are a keeper.
Enjoy your day.

Rhonda

crooked

There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse.
And they all lived together in a little crooked house

I started this post a few days ago with pictures of completed projects. then it turned into a joke about everything being out of sinc and "crooked". You be the judge.
These are punch needle birds on vintage miniature oil cans. I had so much fun with these. The pattern calls for a punch needle front and a cotton fabric back. I wanted a punch needle pattern on both sides. But...........I forgot to reverse the pattern on the cloth before I punched it so I ended up with 2 birds. They really aren't crooked just the photos.

This is a cross stitch freebie from Primitive Betty's blog. I love this little saying and I added a special vintage key to finish it off. The house is not really crooked but I think it is because I stuffed it with little strips of fabric I had left over from other projects.

But by far the funniest and last "crooked" house is the one my 16 year old with her permit caused. Yep she got a little too close with the van mirror. Kinda was my fault but it was a good lesson for her. she was getting a little too over confident. No harm done. It was our mailbox and just got paint on the mirror.

But today was the last straw. The end of the "crookeds" hopefully. Some lady hit our truck and made the whole front end "crooked.

No one got hurt and it's only a vehicle. Things could be much worse. But enough "crooked" for me........

Blessings,
Rhonda