Oh Where, Oh Where

has the summer gone?

September already!
The days are warm, and the nights cool.
Open window weather.
I love it!Fall is definitely on the way.

The reason for my long absence from blog land
is "all Shirley's fault".
My dear friend, from CA, came for a visit.
We went to high school together,
back in the covered wagon days.
Her nine day visit went by so fast.
Most of it was spent rocking on the porch,
sipping sweet tea, reminiscing.

Here she is loving "Sweet Bogey".
Bogey is our grand dog.
He is spending some time at PaPa & Grandma's house
until baby Piper gets older.
We had to make a trip out to the Apple Butter House!
Here junkin pal Kellie and owner Caroline are with Shirley
hamming it up for me.

Shirley is a wonderful-wonderful cook.
She cooked her little heart out in my kitchen.
Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes with creamy gravy,
fresh green beans with bacon.
Steak flambeau, (intentional fire in my kitchen)
twice stuffed potatoes, steamed veggies.
And, of course, farm fresh sweet corn at every meal.
I swear we gained 10 lbs....each!

Here is her tasty Mexican Stuffed Shells.
(I forgot to add 1 pkg of manicotti shells to the recipe copy).
It was so-so good. Give it a try.

Click on the image to enlarge for easier reading.
Love this line of fabric...Flower Sugar by Lecien !
So summery and bright.
We each pieced a Turning Twenty Again quilt this week.
A sweet reminder of her WI visit.


QUILT SHOW TIME!

Love the Fall colors and raw edge applique.


Would you look at this cute table runner!

The cake & presents are adorable!
So fun to quilt.


The latest picture of my grandbabies.
They're growing up so fast.
Our oldest is a teenager. Eeek.
Dustin (#3) is missing from this photo.
(He was home sick).


Hope this finds you healthy & happy!
I won't stay away so long next time, I promise.

Lots to blog about

Is your coffee cup or ice tea glass full?
I've been MIA for 2 weeks and
I have soooo much to tell ya.
It's gonna take a minute....

First, I spend 3 days in Milwaukee taking
longarm quilting
classes and drooling over the spectacular quilt show.
There was so much talent gathered in one spot!
I wish I could have bottled it up to take home.
Now, if I can just remember half of what I learned.
I'll have a few customer quilts later in the week to show you.
I've been busy.

When I get tired quilting on my longarm machine,
I sit and piece for awhile.
A little time here and there really adds up.

Don't ya just love this pink & brown combo?
Each of the squares are 1 inch finished.
I made my border a tad larger for the letters.
Hmmm, they look alittle wonky, don't they?
I'm sure the quilter will be able to fix it.
LOL

This quilt pattern is called "Between Charming Friends".
It is the "mini" version of "Between Friends".
Let me explain......

Darlene, from Quilting Daze designed and shared this
easy & fast pattern on her blog.

You can find the pattern here: Between Friends

Then in June Kelly from Cotton Charm Quilts
did a "mini" version for her Quilt Along.

I was working on the large one and just had to stop

and make the smaller one.

Be sure to visit Darlene and Kelly.

You won't be disappointed.

Their blogs are full of beautiful quilts and inspiration.

Kelly has an online quilt shop with great prices.

You may remember this next fabric combination.
This is going to be twin size with the borders.

The photos didn't turn out so great.
Poor lighting. I waited to long in the day to shoot.
My granddaughters will be sharing a room so I thought both
quilts would be cute in there.

And now for a little chocolate break.

Oh my, doesn't it look moist & yummy?
As my friend Kathie said "to die for".
She found this recipe in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook
and just had to share.

Click on the recipe to enlarge.

Some friends and I are
forming a new quilt guild in town.
It's taken a lot of time and work to get the ball rolling.
Our first meeting is this week.
We're not sure if 10 or 100 ladies will join us.
If you live in the area check us out.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the fresh, not to humid, air.
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Hugs,