Friday, April 28, 2017

Annie

I've been savoring this doll pattern for awhile.
 
 
Billie Anne
She's a raggedy.
 
Here is my dolly all tattered and torn.
Everyone loves her even though she is worn.
Her body is floppy and her hair is a mess,
But I love her dearly, and she loves me best!
 
 
You're never too old to play with dolls.
 
I hope one of the granddaughters will claim her to love.
 
~b

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

this and that

We are having a taste of winter again...
temps in the 30's and snowflakes.
My pansies may need a blanket tonight.
 
 
When it's cold out it's nice to warm up the kitchen
 with something in the the oven.
 
strawberry-apple cobbler*
*(I will never be a food photographer)
 
 
A preview of a quilt I am working on.
Of course it involves lots of scraps.
 
 

~b

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Happy Birthday!
 
 
I thought this lap quilt would make
 the perfect birthday gift for my sister...
it's as busy as she is.
 
Let yourself go. You're bound to bloom - unknown
 
 
Have you been snipping a few tulips to enjoy indoors?
~b
 
 
 
 

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Earth Day...

Our neighbors tree came down recently in an ice storm.
We helped him clean it up and Dakota Man will burn it
 in his work shop this winter to stay warm while he creates.

Thank you Mother Earth!

~b


Friday, April 21, 2017

chicken theme

 
 
 
I scratched out a couple of pot holders today.
 
 
I like my pot holders small...
it  helps keep them out of the food.
 
 
Nothing special, didn't bother with binding them.
I am to hard on pot holders to put a lot of work into them.
 
~b
 


Thursday, April 20, 2017

thrillers

I was thrilled this weekend when Mr. b offered to drive 30 miles
 out of our way to hit the quilt store in Valley City, North Dakota.

And then we took a different route to get back on our road 
and found yet another quilt store in Oakes, ND.


With fabric over $10 a yard in quilt stores
 I am glad most of my projects are small.


~b



Wednesday, April 19, 2017

projects

We are back from our Easter holiday.
Trust me on this...
visiting our daughter's home always involves PROJECTS!
Lots of projects... all very enjoyable.
 
Project #1
 
 
They were lucky enough to be given this playset for their girls.
Their daddy and grandpa (plus a couple more thugs)
moved it...almost intact!
Daddy better get it enclosed because
 their two-year-old is practically living in it.
 
Project #2
 
 
 
Daughter knit and pearl decided her and the girl's should be chicken farmers!
The hen house is up, the chickens moved in...
and they will soon be having farm fresh eggs for breakfast.
 
Project #3
The chicken house and garden needed to be fenced off
 from the family dogs so a quick pallet fence was put up.
Aren't the pallet projects popping up all over clever?
 
Project #4
 
 
Of course we dyed eggs.
Not quite sure why grandma was the only one
 to come away with dye on her shirt?
 
~b
 
 
 
 


Wednesday, April 12, 2017

hatch-able

Easter time calls for some Easter sewing...
 
 
Making Easter eggs...
 
 
that will hatch into
 
 
CHICKS!
 
 
Inside out toys are a lot of fun for kids too.
 
We are taking a trip up north for the holiday...
~b is for be back soon
 


Tuesday, April 11, 2017

rub a dub dub

Yesterday I played the baker and candlestick maker.
 
 
I enjoy doing both...making candles and baking.
They both satisfy my sense of smell.
 
 
Hand poured soy candles
 are also a nice gift item to have on hand.
 
 
I recycle cans and glass containers for my candles.
It makes the gift even more economical.
The labels are a fun touch.
 
(Talking about gifts...Happy birthday today to my sister!
I guess you know what you're getting.)
 
From the baker:
My peach cobbler turned out excellent also.
 
~b is for baker


Monday, April 10, 2017

bibs

My little sewing sweatshop turned out 25 bibs this weekend.
I was flying solo in this assembly line.
 
 
6 yards of fabric...
 
 
25 snap sets!
 
 
Dakota Man contributed the sweet
 little helicopter prop for my pictures.
 
~b is for busy


Friday, April 7, 2017

the fast road to a slow life

When our twin granddaughters were little
and we would bring them to our house
they would always ask if we were going to drive on the "fast road,"
which meant the interstate.
 
 
Dakota Man toys...aren't they adorable.
 
AND LOOK!
 
 
I think they just pulled over twin sisters
for going to fast on the "fast road."
 
~b
 

Thursday, April 6, 2017

fresh air

It is the perfect spring day to hang out at your clothesline.
 
 
Not too cold, not too warm.
The perfect temperature for that stuffy quilt
you've been using all winter
to absorb all the fresh air it can hold.
 
If we all used clotheslines, we could save 30 million tons of coal a year,
 or shut down 15 nuclear power plants.
 Buy 50 feet of clothesline and a $3 bag of clothespins
 and become a solar energy pioneer.
 - Bill McKibben

 
Can you smell the sun? the wind?
The tree buds? new grass?
 
~b is for breathe

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

spying

Making eye spy quilts has been a bit addicting for me.
 
 
I spy with my little eye
Something that’s the color red,
Can you see it, can you touch it,
Can you show it to me.
I’m looking for the color red.
It could be red like a red, red rose
Or red like a clown’s red nose,
I spy with my little eye,
Something that’s the color red.
 

There are 196 blocks in this little quilt...
2 of each pattern...
98 different fabrics.
Enough to keep a child busy for awhile I would say.

  I spy with my little eye
Something that’s the color blue,
Can you see it,
Can you touch it, can you show it to me.
I’m looking for the color blue.
It could be blue like the blue of the sky,
Or blue like a blueberry pie,
I spy with my little eye,
Something that’s the color blue.


    Tell me other colors you see,
Come on now and show them to me.
 
~b

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

fowl

There's a reason daughter knit and pearl
 and I have chickens on the brain...
 
 
and we hope we can share soon!
 
 
There's just something about chickens isn't there?
 
 
I tucked a little chick on the back of this flour sack towel.
A little surprise I call it.
Surprises are nice when you're hand drying your dishes.
 
 
I enjoy embroidering.
 
 
It was the first craft I learned as a girl.
 I learned watching my grandmother.
I taught my children at a young age also.
 
~b is for bok bok
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, April 3, 2017

cultures

It was such a beautiful day yesterday
we decided to take a little country drive.
 

Did you know we have Amish in South Dakota?
They moved here in 2010.
 
 
They are a great reminder
that we could all stand to slow down a pace or two.
 
Today I dug out my Amish cookbook
and made kolaches.
 
 
I know, not very Amish are they?
I used Esther's recipe from this cookbook.
Kolaches were brought here by the descendants of Czech immigrants in the 1800's.
 
‘Show him the spiced plums, mother. Americans don’t have those,’ said one of the older boys. ‘Mother uses them to make kolaches,’ he added. Leo, in a low voice, tossed off some scornful remark in Bohemian. I turned to him. ‘You think I don’t know what kolaches are, eh? You’re mistaken, young man. I’ve eaten your mother’s kolaches long before that Easter Day when you were born.’
– Willa Cather’s novel My Antonia (1918), about Bohemian immigrants in Nebraska in the 1880s

 
I think mine turned out more like a Danish.
 
~b is for bohemian