What's new with you?

Our lives seem to have rolled into fall here?

The weather has been cool with some rain mixed in.

It is unheard of to have rain in South Dakota in July.

But...we are still manicuring (as friend Lannette calls it) our lawns.

You know your life is good when you're enjoying...

- garden tomatoes and peppers

- fresh peaches for breakfast

- coffee on the dock

- the discovery of yet another great fabric shop...

with these fantastic new prints on my drawing board!

~b

5 days

Our five days...

on the lake...

with the whole family...

including their pets...

was PERFECT!

~b

Lake Woebegone

We are headed to the lake for a long weekend...

and you know what that means?

BUGS! Lots of them.

Butterflies...

grasshoppers...

ants...

bees...

ladybugs...

worms...

dragonflies...

mosquitoes...

but NO spiders!

I made pillowcases for the grands...

aren't they adorable?

Our whole family will be there

in a rented cabin with a large deck overlooking the lake.

A quick trip to the dollar store will keep the girls 

entertained for hours I hope.

Until next week...~b

needles

I decided it was time to switch needles...

to avoid callous' on my fingers.

It's nice to switch gears once in awhile,

I tend to bore quickly.

The amount of unfinished projects I have

is testimony to that.

I love hand-embroidered flour sack towels.

~b

You devil

So...

How is your summer going?

Fast like mine?

Are you having as much fun as these two?

I love hanging around in parks watching the grans play.

They will start kindergarten in less than a month.

Our little babes...

starting school already, gulp.

I had a deviled egg craving this weekend...

The best...

just like mom made

and just like I taught the daughter to make.

What's better than three generations of the same simple recipe?

And so easy...

Mash those egg yolks with a fork,

add a little mustard, Miracle Whip, finely chopped onions,

a tad sugar, salt and pepper.

Don't forget to sprinkle them with paprika.

Aren't they purdy? ~b

Happy Friday

Fridays just can't come around soon enough for me.

Aah, don't fight the feeling.
Shake shake, shake shake, shake your booty!

I can't help it...

I love weekends. ~b

It's that time again...

See that bit of red in my garden

 that the garden gnome and I are all excited about?

Yup, it's my first tomato for the season.

I know it's still a little green but I am not taking any chances

that I may have to share it with some greedy little worm.

Do you see this warty shell towards the bottom of this photo?

It looks like a crocodile.

I threw an old squash in my garden last season as

my lone attempt at composting, ha...

where it sat all winter freezing and rotting away.

I am excited to see the seeds from it have sprouted 

and I may be picking squash this fall.

I also have assorted pepper plants and brussel sprouts

growing in my little raised garden. ~b

to do list

This fabric pile was on my Wednesday to-do list...

Three romantic pillowcases with crocheted edging.

While I have been making pillowcases and

 crocheting around edges for years,

this pattern was new to me.

So... what I thought might be a half day project

turned into almost a full day of interpreting a new pattern.

I picked the vintage piece with the tiny roses on it 

for my experiment.

The pattern called for a light #3 yarn as opposed

to the cotton crochet thread I am used to using.

The most challenging part was sewing a blanket stitch

around the edge using almost 15 yards of yarn on a needle.

When I was finished I discovered I could have used 5 yards less

of the yarn but it's always best to follow the pattern for the first time.

Once I finished with the blanket stitch

the crocheted edge went on quickly.

The pattern also involved sewing a sleeve on the inside 

to hide the pillow. Totally unnecessary in my opinion.

But the case turned out very pretty...

don't you think?

The perfect pillowcase for a Jane Austen novel.

~b

catch a bug

I think I caught a bug...

I can't seem to get enough of these bibs.

They make the purr-fect patchwork project

 when I just want to dabble a little.

I am spending way to much time picking out the fabrics for them...

but it is so fun digging through my boxes.

I say, "Yee Haw!" for a quick and easy project.

And I am getting a lot of practice machine quilting.

~b

This weekend...

we hung out with our son's family.

"Hanging out" with the granddaughters

 always means a fun time.

There was golfing, 

crafts,

shopping at the garden center,

wings at Buffalo Wild Wings,

fighting off jungle animals in the back yard,

swimming

and time at the park. ~b

old fashioned flowers

Do you stalk flowers like I do?

I love "old fashioned" flowers...

and holly hocks are very old fashioned in my book.

These grow in the garden of a 100-year-old home.

One has to wonder how old these flowers really are?

Have a good one. ~b

Bagging it

More of my weekend bags...

For the lining I was feeling playful.

I wanted to put a comic book in it for a fun picture but

did you know that comic books are $4! EACH!

I couldn't believe it.

I remember when they were a dime each

and dad would buy us four kids a dollars worth on a trip.

To keep us quiet I'm sure.

Wow! did we have a lot of them.

I think this next purse turned out so feminine...

with it's dotted lining.

This pattern is a new one for our

Dakota Maid shop,

and was a lot of fun making. ~b

patchwork

I have been feeling patchwork itchy here lately...

like I would like to begin making a quilt.

I know how expensive quilt making can be.

Today's quilt makers aren't using the bags 

their flour came in are they?

Remember the last quilt I made took me two years to complete!

I think these toddler bibs just may satisfy my itch for the time being.

I used one charm square pak to make all three...

and three fat quarters for the backs.

In only a few hours,

they are ready for our Dakota Maid label...

 and made in the USA 

~b

anatomy of a monster

Hot weather doesn't deter my knitting and crocheting.

I just tend to go with smaller projects.

Small...as in monster parts.

Watch those teeth!

Not to worry,

I only make friendly monsters.

Not the kind you find under your bed...

Just look for a ribbon...

only friendly monsters wear bows you know.

Best friends forever!

~ b