On My Design Board

I have been doing a little sewing the past week. Here's what is on my design board right now.


That's not the whole board, but it's all I could get! I actually started on this quite some time ago. It is a block of the month using Thangles. I blogged about it two, yes, 2 years ago!!! With all of my sewing machine troubles and Christmas they were put on the back burner. The fabric is civil war reproductions. This photo makes it look yellow.


This is more true to color.


This one is for me. It's hard to tell, but it has purple in it. My favorite color!
It has twelve different blocks, but part way through I decided to make two of each.


My goal is to get this done before school starts! Wish me luck!
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Another kind of Work

I haven't posted much in the way of sewing/quilting this summer. Part of the reason for that was my lack of sewing machine which is a long story. But another part of that was because I have been busy with this:


STUDYING!!!! I have earned 10 Master's credits this summer. That's only two credits short of being a full time student. Or, maybe that is full time for the summer session. Anyway, I took two classes in person and three classes were correspondence. I was thrilled to mail in my last class.

I also realized that these will be the last classes I will ever take for credit. I am at MA + 30, so the next step is a doctorate, and I'm not planning to do that! So far I have gotten an A in every class. I just have one last grade to receive. I try to tell myself that getting the B would be fine, but....

So that's what my summer has been. I now have about 1 1/2 weeks of semi-free time left before it is time to start working in my room again. Hopefully I will fit some sewing time in yet!

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FAIR TIME!!

For many years July has brought us the joys, work, and fun of county fair. All of our four children were in 4-H and two were also in FFA, so we had many years of county fair fun. After a few years off we are now on another generation of fair participants in our family! Payton started off with hogs. He is a junior, and is in his second year of 4-H.


We had Chance spend the fair days with us as he is all farm boy and we knew he would really enjoy it. Here he and Nate discuss the hogs.


Payton joined the Pride of Iowa competition and made a dairy recipe that was really yummy!


He also showed his returning bucket bottle heifer, Trixie.


Our camper was there for Trilby's family to stay in. It was a welcome relief when it was so warm and we needed a break and a snack!


Cael showed his lamb for the first time. He isn't in 4-H yet, but was able to be in this class.


What would the fair be without a snowcone???


We also found a great place to wrangle these little piggies while we waited for the next show!


Payton got also entered the IH curtains that I helped him make, but I forgot to get a picture. He received all blues. And a good time was had by all!
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Fish &Veggies Foil Packets

We've been trying to eat a little healthier lately. I made fish & vegetable packets for the grill, and they were delicious!

FOIL WRAPPED FISH AND JULIENNE
VEGETABLES
1 lb. unbreaded fish fillets, thawed if frozen
2 c. assorted vegetables, cut into strips (zucchini, carrots, green and red peppers)
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Place 1/2 pound fish fillets on heavy duty foil. Arrange 1 cup vegetables around fish. Top fish and vegetables with 1 tablespoon butter, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon each seasoned salt and marjoram and 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder.



Seal foil securely. Repeat process with remaining ingredients. Bake at 375 degrees or grill 4 inches from heat source 25 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Makes 2 servings.


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Titanic Exhibit

We recently made a trip to Texas and New Mexico to visit family and relax. Our first stop was Union Station in Kansas City where we saw a Titanic
Exhibit. It has been a hundred years since the tragedy.


As we entered the exhibit we were each given a boarding pass of someone who was a passenger on the Titanic. It also listed who the person's traveling companions were.


At the end we were able to look over a list to see if we had survived or not. Bud was a first class man traveling with his wife and son. He did not survive, but his family did. My person was a third class 14 year old girl who was traveling with her 12 year old brother. Their father was denied access to the ship because of an eye infection. Miraculously they survived.

The exhibit was very interesting. We did the audio tour which always adds to the exhibit. We saw many artifacts from pieces of the ship to fine china stacked in a row just as they found it at the bottom of the ocean. Some of the stories were just heart wrenching. One thing I wasn't aware of was that many people were diverted to the Titanic from other ships because of a coal strike. How unfortunate for them.

Part of the exhibit was a scene from the boiler room as the ship hit the iceberg and water poured in....complete with red hot furnaces and men yelling! The huge iceberg at the end was also super cool.

I am so sorry that I cannot take my fourth graders through this exhibit. Our second story of the year is about the Titanic, and they LOVE it! At least I now have more knowledge to share with them.

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BLT Salad from Pinterest

I've been trying to actually use some of the things I've pinned on Pinterest, so I tried the BLT salad. I was actually thinking of our SIL, Kyle, since I know he likes BLTs, but they didn't come for supper. Sorry you missed out Kyle because It was fantastic! It is evidently kid friendly too, as even Payton loved it.





You can find a prettier picture at A Bird and a Bean blog.

Here is the original recipe with the changes I made in parenthesis. (I tried to lighten it up a bit.)

BLT PASTA SALAD

Ingredients
12 ounce corkscrew shaped pasta(I used bowtie because that's what I had)
1/2 cup milk
12 ounces lean bacon(I used turkey bacon)
3 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks(I used cherry tomatoes)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme(didn't have any)
1 clove garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup mayo (I used 1/4c light light mayo and 1/4c yogurt)
1/4 cup sour cream(light scour cream)
4 tablespoons chopped chives(didn't have any)
5 heads Bibb lettuce, quartered, or 5 cups chopped romaine hearts(used iceberg)

Directions
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water as the label directs. Drain and toss with the milk in a large bowl; set aside.
Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Discard all but 3 tablespoons drippings from the pan. Add the tomatoes, thyme and garlic to the pan and toss until warmed through; season with salt and pepper. Crumble the bacon into bite-size pieces; set aside 1/4 cup for garnish. Toss the remaining bacon and the tomato mixture with the pasta.
Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream and 3 tablespoons chives with the pasta until evenly combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add the lettuce; toss again to coat. Garnish with the reserved bacon and the remaining 1 tablespoon chives. Serve at room temperature.

So you can see that I changed it up because of lack of exact ingredients and lightened it up some with turkey bacon, light mayo and yogurt, and light sour cream. It was still delicious!

I'm sure this will become a family favorite.


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Pink Camo Quilt

My nephew and his fiancé had a daughter born in March. They wanted pink camouflage in the quilt. So, I began looking for it. I couldn't find any in the quilt stores around here, so I had to find it online. I knew I had to feature the camo fabrics in the quilt, or it wouldn't be apparent that it was camo. But I wanted it to be girly too. So this is what I came up with.



I often struggle with deciding on a pattern. I found a tutorial for the flowers from That Dorky Homemade Look blog, and went with a modified version of a quilt she had posted. The blog has not had a post in several years, but this one was helpful to me. I also backed it with camo.



I used a pink gingham with flowers as a border and the binding. (I had to get in as much girly as I could.). I meandered it all over except the borders. There I used a special stitch.




I hope that she enjoys it for many years to come. Now, my next baby quilt is a boy one again!



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June Birthdays

We celebrated two grandchildren's birthdays in June. Cael turned nine on June 13th.


He was trying hard NOT to smile! We celebrated with supper at their house. This is what we gave him for his birthday.


He had a fun time trying to guess where it would end. (Yes, it was from Pinterest!)


It all went for a Legos set he had been wanting because he is a Legos kind of kid--notice the decorations on the cake!

Clara turned two on June 28th.


She took time out from swimming with cousins to blow out her candle. Right now she is crazy for Dumbo, so Tasha made her a Dumbo cake.


She had help opening her gifts from cousin Chance.

Happy Birthday, Cael and Clara!
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