It's a Grand Old Flag!!

Today is Flag Day here in the U.S. and it was also my dad's birthday. He liked that a lot. He was proud to have served in the U.S. Army in the last year of WWII and so patriotism was high on his list. As already noted, my husband, son and son-in-law all have birthdays between now and the day after July 4th so I am always thinking red, white and blue for those birthdays!! I like the U.S. Flag. I think most of us like the flag of our country or our state. When my kids were little they played a match game that was flags of all nations and while it was a game they were also learning about other counties! This photo below of the U.S. flag was taken a couple of years ago.........

and I couldn't believe the double rainbow when I saw it. Fortunately, I had my camera and could take the photo. This flag flies in Henderson (MN) but one similar to this stood at the Care Center where my dad lived until he passed away. But the same summer I took the photo above in Minnesota, strong storms in Iowa blew down the flag pole at the Care Center in Iowa. Last year after my mother had gone through all the Sypathy cards for my dad, she decided she would use the memorial money for a new flag pole for the Care Center. My brother took my mom to a company where she could order the pole and it was delivered to the Care Center. I contacted a local contractor, Jim Arends, in Lehigh to see if he could set the new pole in cement. I asked him to let us know the cost to do the job and he said he would do it for free!! He couldn't get it in before the frost last fall but in early May he saw to it the post was in and ready for Memorial Day. Many of the residents of the Care Center got to watch as his son and crew did the work. And now the flag flies high once again outside the Care Center. The last task with the flag is a small plaque that my sister will order that will say "In memory.....Melvin Linn". I think my dad would be really pleased.

I thought I'd also share these two quilts I made a few years ago. The one above was made in 2000 and the one below was made in 2004. My dad liked both of these a lot and so did some of the other guys at the Care Center (I brought my quilts in a couple times so everyone could look at them).

Interestingly, I never made a quilt specifically for my dad although I made other things for him. He liked buying up the old quilts and for his own warmth, he preferred the fleece blankets that my mother made with the crocheted edges. I want to make a little quilt in memory of my dad and give it to the Care Center. Many a veteran spends his last years at the Care Center where my dad was and so others will enjoy it, too. I'll be back in a couple hours then to tell you about the quilt I am going to make in memory of my dad and will also give you the update on the quilt for Emma.

Time out for supper..........

Sandi

One more visit with Brown Bear!!

Brown Bear and I had a great time offering up gifties for my One Year Blog Anniversary. This guy has been around almost as long as my husband!! My folks got Brown Bear for Collette (our daughter) when she was little and he resides with me now because he reminds me of when my kids were young. Brown Bear always seemed like a boy bear and so I dressed him in one of the sunsuits I made for our son Devlin. Brown Bear is also featured in a children's story that I wrote and if I am lucky, one day I'll get it published. Anyway, he borrowed my birthday tiara because there are still birthdays to celebrate in our house. They all come packed into about two months out of the year and the bulk of them come in June! Today, Flag day was my dad's birthday. I'll be posting a bit about him later on today. Tomorrow is my son-in-law's birthday, then right after that is my husband's birthday, then my son's girlfriend's birthday and then the first part of July is Devlin's (our son) birthday!! Wow! That's a lot of birthday cakes and celebrating! Unfortunately, we don't all manage to get together on all of our birthdays but the one time of the year we do get together is Christmas!!! That was my dad's favorite holiday and he could hardly keep a secret so on more than one occasion, we knew what Santa was bringing. :-) I am planning to get a head start on some Christmas projects in July and you know the stores will be having Christmas in July sales, too!! So, here's what Brown Bear and I have cooked up for you.............

See that pile of fabrics? Well, there are about a hundred different Christmas prints there (from my personal stash) and I am going to be cutting them into piles of 5-inch charm squares. I'll make one pile for me and one pile for you! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post. There is only one rule...........to enter this drawing you must have left a comment at least once during my Eight Days of Prizes for my Blog Anniversary. So, if you left a comment during that time, add your name now to this post and here's a bonus................the drawing will be on Independence Day, July 4th and if you are so inclined, you may leave your name once every day between now and that day (and only at this post) for lots of extra chances to have your name drawn. My husband likes his duty as the number drawing man, so go ahead and give him lots of names to dig into and maybe you can be the lucky name he draws. Any questions, just pop me an e-mail and I'll answer promptly.

Time for lunch......

Sandi

Announcing the lucky winners for my Blog Anniversary Giveaways!!

And they are........drum roll..........strike up the band.......

Winner of Day 1 prize - Redwork*Delight - is Winona
Winner of Day 2 prize - Flannel*Fun - Ida
Winner of Day 3 prize - Katmandu*Fabrics - Janice
Winner of Day 4 prize - Crazy*Quilting*Bag - Janelle
Winner of Day 5 prize - Friends*OldAndNew! - Dayna
Winner of Day 6 prize - Vintage*Fabric*Basket - Annalein
Winner of Day 7 prize - Heart-Felt*Gifts - Happy Cottage Quilter
Winner of Day 8 prize - Tea*And*Cake - Denny

I will be sending off e-mails to you all in just a few minutes. To claim your prize, you must post a response at this post and then e-mail me your snail mail address. You have until Monday, June 15 at Midnight CST to claim your prize! My husband drew 2nd and 3rd numbers for all prizes in the event that any prizes are not claimed.
And just as soon as I send off those e-mails, I will post a new photo of Brown Bear with one last great gift!!
Back soon.
Sandi

Lunch with the Country Mouse!

That's right! I had lunch with Beth the Country Mouse and she brought along her good friend, Melanie. Beth grew up a "Country Mouse" and is now a "City Mouse" and so is Melanie. :-) They came out from the "Cities" (that's what Minnesotans call the Minneapolis/St. Paul area which is also called "The Twin Cities") to visit me. We met at "Hogwild Eatery" for lunch. I was headed out right on time and was so very excited to meet these gals, and, then, halfway down the hill I remembered ..... "oh, no! I forgot to brush my teeth!" What was I thinking? Obviously, I wasn't thinking so I turned around and back to the house............And when I met them, I confessed why I was a few minutes late. We all laughed and I would show you pictures of our delicious food but we were too busy eating and chatting. Plus we had someplace where we were headed..........................here.....................


to the Sibley County Historical Society. Arlene Busse, SCHS member met us there to give us a private tour. That's Arlene on the left.......then Beth........then Melanie. There was so much to see that Beth's camera was taking photos of all sorts of things! Beth takes the best photos and then she crops them and they look so cool!! She'll be posting about today's adventure on her blog soon.

In the meantime, I took a couple photos............

I love this beautiful black dress. You should see the detailed work on it and then the tiny, tiny waist!! It's the oldest dress in the collection (c. 1850) and is a wedding dress. There are several lovely clothing examples in the museum.

There are also lots of quilts and many examples of beautiful laces and needlework items. If you want to see photos I took during a visit last summer, go here you can take a peek. One of my favorites is this wool tulip quilt. It is lovely!

We spent a good hour with Arlene as she shared stories about the house and different items in each room. Then it was time for a "cookie" break. Yep, those cookies I baked last night were for the Country Mouse. It all came about because ....................I discovered Beths' blog when I was looking for the blog for the city of Henderson. Her blog popped up because she had done a video about Henderson. So, I added her blog to my favorites and linked to the video. I popped in often because she goes to such neat places and those photographs she takes are amazing. Then she added a radio program to her blog!! One day she mentioned that chocolate chip cookies were her favorite. So I e-mailed her that I make great Chocolate chip cookies..............and well, the rest is history as they say. I promised her cookies and there they are.......I put the cookies in this basket. Based on the design of the basket, one might think lemons would be better in the basket which made me think of a slightly different version of an old saying............. "When life gives you lemons, ....... make chocolate chip cookies!" That's what I have always done and it works for me!! :-) So, we sat down at the dining room table and Beth got out her recording set-up and ......... she interviewed me about my projects, volunteer stuff and my blog! I was worried I would be nervous but she is an excellent interviewer and I can hardly wait to hear the program. I'll let you know as soon as it's posted (or visit CountryMouseBlog). I shared some of my quilts and miniature scenes, and such and we had a fine time chatting. And too soon, it was time for them to go. I got one more picture because they seemed to really enjoy the afternoon and if smiles are any proof...................

then this picture says it all. Smiles all around and a basket of cookies, too!

After the Ms. Mouses left, I grabbed my camera and went out to my "quilt-line" to take a couple of photos. One was of that baby quilt I've mentioned. Then I brought it in and folded it up just right and tied it with a pretty ribbon and I didn't even need gift wrap!

The gift is for our new pastor's first child. She had a little boy and tomorrow after church there will be a baby shower for her and her little one. I will post the winners of my Blog Anniversary prizes as soon as I get home from church which should be about noon (CST). See you then!

Sandi

Before and After, and cookies, too.......

I am really working hard at trying to make my sewing room more organized. My books got organized and that makes me "sew" happy. Oh, and they aren't all quilting books..........that's 40 years worth of my hobbies from sewing to miniatures to furniture and decorating and then there are books on decoupage and clay-crafting, books on holiday traditions from Valentines Day to Christmas and then two shelves devoted exclusively to Christmas and three shelves for quilting books. All the magazines are quilting mags. I didn't mention the cross stitch books as they are still in boxes in the basement and are going straight to my daughter (although my friend, Laura, may want to take a peek at some of them). I liked cross stitch but loved quilting and miniatures so something had to go. There's not a knitting or crochet book in the whole lot. I never had any skill for either and thankfully I had family and friends who did!

Across the room from my books is my little portable sewing machine. I don't have a fancy machine at all but this one has been around a while and is very reliable. The photo below is my "before" picture.

I didn't like the smooth surface as everything slid all over the place. So, when I was looking for a rug to choose (go here to see the one I chose) in the CSN*Rugs promotion that I participated in, I saw some small braided ones and thought - aha!!! So I ordered up this nice little rug and the photo below is my "after" view.

Now my machine stays in place, so does my light and the tin bucket holds all my sewing table stuff. It works well as I gave it a good test when I made that baby quilt this week. Love it!!

Now to the cookies............here they are, fresh from the oven and tomorrow they will be going to someone that I will be meeting for lunch. It will be an interesting day and I will tell you all about it Saturday evening!

Wish I could offer you a glass of milk and a cookie because I had some and they were really good. I like chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven and after that they are not quite as good.

See you later this evening.

Sandi

A Wooly Welcome!

I finished up a baby quilt this afternoon and I would love to show you but can't right now. I took pictures but can't post them until the gift is given on Sunday. Then I'll post pictures and some how-to instructions, too. :-)
With my bookshelves organized, I wanted to hang this penny rug above the shelves. I cut a piece of foam core board in a half circle, added a hanger to the back, pinned the rug carefully to the foam core, and I love looking up and seeing this piece.

I made it a few years ago (all wool and used wool floss, too) and it was a shop sample for Eagle Creek Quilt Shop. The pattern appeared in Better Homes and Gardens Century of Quilts publication and is based on a vintage penny rug pattern from 1929. The words "Welcome" were not in the original penny rug nor were they there when I first made the piece. I added the "Welcome" a couple of weeks ago. It always bothered me that I had placed the floral design just a bit too high. No one else seemed to notice but I knew it was not placed right. In addition to being a shop sample, I also entered the penny rug in the local Scott County Fair. That was before they had a penny rug category so it was placed in a class with actual floor rugs. It managed to win a red ribbon and after that year, a penny rug category was added.

On the cover of the Century of Quilts pulication there is a copy of a vintage BH & G magazine. The other day while looking through some things my mother had given me, I found the one in the photo and it is dated 1928! I loved looking through the magazine! I also found a couple other magazines and catalogs and will share those another time.

That's about all for now. I really enjoyed making this baby quilt that I finished today. Good thing as I didn't enjoy learning how to mow the lawn with the riding mower. I am just not mechanically inclined and yet we've been here a year and my husband has been meaning to teach me how to run the thing, so today was the day. Give me a sewing machine and I can make it hum and I am so comfortable with it. The riding lawnmower, not so fine, but at least the lesson is done and I can cross that off my "to do" list!

The winners have been drawn for my One Year Blog Anniversary gifties and the names will be announced on Sunday, the 14th. I'll also be posting about the quilt for Emma's Hope.

Busy day ahead with errands to run and a quick trip to the grocery store. Then I must get to baking a big batch of chocolate chip cookies for something really special that is happening on Saturday. My lips are zipped now, but I'll tell you all about it on Saturday. I love to build suspense and create surprises. :-)

Sandi

The Days of the Week

When I was a kid, I remember wearing cute little undies with the days of the week. No, I won't be showing any vintage undies. Although my mother gave me a number of vintage lace-edged nightgowns and things when I visited her at the end of April. She also gave me a couple sets of embroidered dishtowels that she had purchased at auction. I remember lots of church bazaars with hand made items and embroidered dishtowels with a variety of "Days of the Week" designs. The dishtowels in the following photos are some of the most beautifully embroidered dishtowels that I've ever seen. I say this because they look as good on the front as they do on the back! And they are in excellent condition and I am sure they have never been used!! The toweling fabric was also very fine.

First, we have Sunday and MiLady is off to church............

and look at the back........neat as a pin!! I have never seen embroider done this well on the backside of anything. I try not to have too many stray threads but I think this is just amazing!
Mildady's work begins on Monday with the wash,

and it's a pressing Tuesday to get the wrinkles out of these shirts........

and so Wednesday must be spent knitting and darning socks.........

and it's off to market on Thursday because.......

she must spend Friday cleaning

and Saturday is for baking so that Papa can have a fine dinner after church on Sunday.

And then the work starts all over again on Monday!!

This is the second set of dishtowels....

They are simply cross stitched in the Days of the Week and the back of these towels are not nearly so neatly stitched. This set also looks like it has never been used but the years and storage have not been kind to this set. There are darks spots on the towels and discoloration along the folded edges.

They are still very attractive and I am going to try washing one towel carefully and see if some of the marks wash away. I don't plan to actually use either set and am considering some type of rack or display for them so I could rotate them and have a set on display for awhile and then let them rest and put out the other set. You know, kind of like I had my own mini-museum display. LOL! My desire to keep and display some of this stuff just drives my husband nuts sometimes but he watches NASCAR endlessly so we all have our hobbies that keep us entertained!

It occurred to me as I was taking these photos, that even as a new bride in 1968 no one gave me embroidered dishtowels. Instead, blue and green and orange and brown were all the rage and the same colors you see in the stores now and those big flower prints, were what I preferred in my kitchen back then. Is that funny or what?!!!

On that note.......

Time to turn out the lights and say goodnight......or is that good morning?

Sandi