AMERICAN charm

Table toppers for summer flowers 

Men's shirts.

2 1/2 inch squares stacked. 

Countryside

All star team.

I pledge Allegiance to the flag. 

Everyone should have a dog once in their life.

Missing my doggies that we said goodbye to yesterday. 

Summer sewing

Summer sweetness 

Treasure hunts. 

 

Little people love makes the world go round.

 50 star Salute 

Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

Freedom to worship.

Together time at the county fair.

Champion.

Little boy + big cow = BRAVE BOY 

Star Spangled Banner.

Something old.....

Into something new. 

The power of White paint.

It's all the American Dream .

Summer is passing quickly. Enjoy the moments.

Janita

Life is a whirlwind.

SWEET SUMMERTIME!

It is here! 

Much of the last few weeks has been filled with activity. 

We have had dance recitals and piano recitals.

Each day complimented with fresh flowers.  

First tulips then

Peonies front and center.  Just can't get enough.

I am a happy girl when the flowers start to bloom. 

We have had ball games and more ball games.

It is small town America in all of it's glory.

Ice Cream if you win.... sad if you don't.

The garden is mostly planted.  

 We just have to put in a few pumpkin seeds.

We have Potatoes, Tomatoes,  a variety of Peppers , Zucchini, Cucumbers,

Green Beens,  Sugar peas,  Red cabbage, onions,  sweet potatoes, kale.

More than enough to keep me busy.

I love the food that summertime brings.

I tried planting my own cilantro several years ago. 

It has been a bit of a learning experience. 

The first year it basically went to seed.

It doesn't seem to be as hardy and bushy as the bunches

 you buy in the store but tastes just as amazing.

I cut as much as I can until it gets hot and then I let it go to seed.

It is in my flower bed so when it starts to look kind of dried out and sad 

I cut everything off.  Harvest the seeds. 

 Then in the fall chop the soil 

with a rake a little bit, sprinkle the seeds on the soil, 

 you  don't have to worry about covering 

the seeds, I just tap it down with the rake,

  then wait and dream until next spring....  

 when you will have YUM YUM Cilantro all over again. 

It will reseed itself if you just let it go as well, I just don't like looking at the dried stalks and

want to make sure the seeds get to the ground before the snow flies.  

After I cut the fresh cilantro , I rinse it  shake off as much water as you can,

and put it in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel.

It will stay fresh for a couple of weeks. 

If you want a yummy recipe for Black Bean Salsa just let me know.

It is Deliciousness in a bowl !!

It could be my lunch everyday in summertime. 

It is my favorite way to use Cilantro. 

I am trying a few new herbs this year,

lemon basil and marjoram.  

With all the garden activity ... planting and keeping the weeds and bugs under control

and Grand children activities, I have not had much time for sewing.

I did make up this little 16'' quilt from scrappy blue and white squares 

and hope to have fresh flowers on my table as much as possible this summer.

The wooden bowl was a gift for Mother's day.  

The sewing for my Splendid Sampler blocks is on hold.

On a sad note one of our little dogs was given a sad diagnosis of cancer.

We thought he was going to die last week but he has amazingly bounced back 

to his perky self...

We will see what happens in the next few weeks.

The vet thought he could live any where from 2-3 weeks to 2-3 months.

He is a sweet little dog and there has been a few tears shed mostly by me.

I feel so bad for him.   The kids do love him. 

We took some memory pictures just in case he goes to doggy heaven.

Harley is my daughter's dog who has taken up residence with us because she lives in an apartment. 

I never thought I would be attached to a dog... but he is part of our family. 

Happy JUNE, JULY and AUG...

Summertime always flies by !!!

Janita

Splendid Sampler... Hearts a Flutter

February....  Zip- boom- bang!  How did you go so fast???   With a little week expedition to Florida by my daughter and husband leaving Grandma to hold down the fort with a one year old....... Yes the extra snuggles were wonderful but left me a little tired from it all.
I don't have a lot to share but will close out the month with a heart for good measure.  I was able to finish up a couple more blocks for My Splendid SNOWMAN Sampler.

 My journey began here the-splendid-sampler-love-unites.html

                           

BLOCK # 1 

"Hearts a Flutter"

The plaids and the stripes are thrifted shirts. 

BLOCK # 10

"Iowa" 

Again the plaid is a little thrifted shirt YUM !

Really!! The designer named this block IOWA as she was

remembering lots of visits to Iowa to see her grandparents.

This block was the clincher as to whether I would participate in this sew along.

How could I not sew a block named after the state I have lived in for all but 2 years of my life?

I have decided to try to add 

something old to every quilt I make.

Can you spot the thrifted shirts? 

BLOCK # 57

"Starting Point"

BLOCK # 8

"Friends Around the Square"

Another glimpse of my Snowman string blocks. 

They are going to be lovely together!

http://www.thesplendidsampler.com/blocks-and-bonus-projects/

For the remainder of the year, 

the goal is to add a little love to each day. 

Though I wish we had had a little more snow this winter... 

Spring is on the way !  

My tulips are peaking out of the ground!

I'm afraid it is too early but I'm excited.

Janita

XO

/the-splendid-sampler-love-unites.html

The Splendid Sampler... Love unites quilters!

It all began one year ago today.... The Splendid Sampler quilt along.  So began the making of 100 / 6 Inch quilt blocks.   There was so much excitement as quilters all over the world united.  It was to be a 6 inch quilt sampler for our generation!  You can find all of the information and the blocks here.   http://www.thesplendidsampler.com/blocks-and-bonus-projects/

Everything will remain available for free until March 1, 2017.  After that you will need to buy the book to access the patterns.

I wanted to jump in with both feet.   I wanted to say I was part of this beautiful group of ladies creating simple beauty bit by bit.  It sounded so doable, 2 six inch blocks a month.  I love little blocks and I wanted to belong to the group.   35,000 women have made at least one block.   WOW... feel the love.

Well here we are one year later.  This sew along  was never meant to be a race to see who could sew the fastest.  It was meant to be a fellowship of quilters creating joy and challenging us to grow as quilters.  Try new things in small measures.  Now days and months have passed,  I  have marveled at others making blocks,  I  downloaded patterns for the future,  I tried to decide on fabric I wanted to use, along the way life happened.  I lost hope that I would ever make this quilt.  Love was growing cold, I just couldn't get started. Though each block was beautiful, some blocks I loved more than others.  I wondered if I could keep on with all 100 realistically if I was not in love with it all.   I know thyself.  I didn't want or need another project stuck in a bag.

And so you wonder have I made any blocks..... YES!
Am I going to make all 100... NO.  For me it is the right choice.

One day in January my heart skipped a beat and I had a revelation.   I was trying to clear out some clutter in my sewing room, along with that process I saw another idea on another blog.  I hopped over the pile of potential fabric for the splendid sampler blocks lying on the floor, opened the blue string drawer and I started making some string blocks.

 Little 6" snowman string blocks.  

I didn't have enough snowmen to make a big quilt so I needed to add another type of block.

HELLO SPLENDID SAMPLER 6 " blocks !!

I loved this idea of making a FEW of the splendid sampler blocks

 and adding them to the snowman string blocks.

So it will still be a Splendid Sampler... just a smaller version. 

Quite a bit smaller.   I am only going to make 18-20 blocks.

 That's my story of Love Renewed......

Hello Splendid Snowman Sampler.

I started with Block # 57  " Starting Point" 

Seemed like the perfect place to jump in. 

I'm just using scraps.  My favorite kind of sewing. 

 I made Snowman string blocks as leader/enders as I was sewing the sampler blocks. 

The second block I made ....

Block #8  " Friends around the square"

I love my sewing friends. 

These little blocks are sweet... I'm sure I would love them all if I made them all because that is usually how I feel about things I make but it is just not going to happen. 

I think they are going to be perfect together. 

I haven't decided on the final layout.  

I'm thinking about turning each block into stars but time will tell. 

And so the sewing LOVE continues

 fast or slow....

It really doesn't matter....

I am reminded to 

Just let it flow !

I'll be spending the week with my favorite little one year old lovey- dovey.

So there is probably not going to be much sewing done this week.

Happy Valentine's Day !!! 

Janita

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Quilts are a funny thing.

What makes you love them or leave them??

People of all kinds choose to live accordingly......
We are either people who can't live with them  : (
because they seem old fashioned

Or we don't want to live without them!!!!
The more the merrier.  : ) : ) : )

I am placing myself in the later category : ) : ) : )

This is an Old fashioned quilt love story rewritten.
One that speaks to the hearts of women crazy about home.

I am a maker...
I am a quilter...
I make quilts...
I make quilts because ?????

Really I don't know why I feel such a need to make quilts.
I just need to do it.
I can't stop making.
I can't stop looking at fabric,
I can't stop buying fabric for the next quilt.

Maybe it has something to do with L.O.V. E .

For Love isn't L.O.V. E.  until you give it away.

I've made quilts and I've given away quilts.  I've bought quilts that have found themselves Lost on their Luck.... for the love of the original owner has faded and they have kissed them good-bye for the last time.   I have a hard time with quilts that have no one to love them.  People are the same... I just feel bad if their life is empty of love.   We've got to have L.O.V. E.  to survive.

Such is the story of Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

the quilt pictured here.

She was Lost on her Luck.... kissed goodbye for the last time.

 We found her at a flea market .... she said, " Hello" and then "How do you do ?"  and then started singing Happy Birthday to Me : )

Well how could I not buy a singing quilt! Actually my daughter insisted to buy it for my birthday.  She stole our heart.   We knew we could love her.  We understand Contrary women.

We didn't tell her she would need a hot bath when we got her home.

She is scrappy!   Very Scrappy!

So scrappy I can hardly tell how she was put together.

That's why her name is now  Mary Mary Quite Contrary.

She has a love that sort of catches you unexpectedly. 

She is Pure Scrappy love

  I think a grandma probably made her.

I get grandmas : ) 

In the spare minutes of her day 

she couldn't help herself

she had to sew

squares together.

I have no idea how long it took her

but it seams to have been a process.

The squares are different sizes

It looks like she made blocks...

Then sewed them into rows according to block size.

Then again maybe not :) 

 You see it is so hard to figure her out!

Sounds like women in general.... hard to figure out ; ) 

Why do we need to do what we need to do?

For sure this grandma was just stitching herself happy. 

 Each square,  each shirt, each skirt.... 

Maybe this is a history of all the quilts she made

maybe the clothes they wore

L.O.V. E .

A quilt to keep somebody warm

L.O.V. E .

I have been sleeping under her for the last month

L.O.V. E .

I think I get too hung up on quilt design.

trying to make it perfect....

And forget about L.O.V. E.

She is not quilted

She is tied. 

Simply tied : ) 

Unexpected Beautiful Love. 

Let the L.O.V. E. Begin.

Janita

Linking up to Amy's Creative Side Blogger's Quilt Festival/ Scrappy quilts