Quilting Right Along

The quilt is all put together.  Now I'm working on finishing it.

I have the square layer on top, then the batting, then the backing.

I pinned it together with about 100 pins and then basted it in four directions.

I bought a spool of embroidery floss to use as ties all over the quilt to keep the batting from shifting. My sister said to put one at each corner and in the center of each square.

Hopefully this holds it in place, it seems sparse.

All that's left to do is finish the edge!

Quick And Easy Birdbath

A long time ago, my mother-in-law gave me this great idea of making a birdbath.

All you need is a ceramic saucer that goes under a flower pot, two 72" leather shoe laces, and a garden hook.

I put gravel from an old fish tank in the bottom of it because the birds need to have something non-slippery to stand on. The gravel is blue because that is what I had in the basement. :)

First tie the ends of the shoe laces in a one big knot.

Then lay the laces out so they are criss-crossed.

 Place the saucer right over the spot where the laces are crossed.

Hang it by the knot over the garden hook.

Fill it with water.

And, according to the creative and talented Danni,  put old pennies in the water to keep algae from growing.

Danni is my Sister Blogger and her blog is great. She has a new craft nearly every day. If you get a chance, check her out at Silo Hill Farm.

In the past I have put the birdbath on the rock here between the chairs, but I don't think the birds like it too much since there have been cats roaming through my yard. So, hopefully they will like where it is now and have a great time bathing and drinking the water this summer.

Enjoy your day!

Linking up to:

Rainy Day Antiquing

A few weeks back, Nicole wanted to take a ride out to our local antique center.

It was a Sunday morning and she conned the husbands into taking us to breakfast first and then she somehow got them to go along with us.

Now, my husband hates antiques. I think his mom made them go with her when she went out antiquing and garage sale-ing when he and his sisters and brothers were kids. So for him to go with us was something because he does not see how cool all this vintage stuff is. He sees junk.

I picked up this cute little creamer and sugar.

I love the crazing on it.

I also found a milk bottle from the dairy that was in the town I grew up in. We used to have milk delivered to the house every week in these bottles. They had a paper cap on them. The milkman would leave the milk, and whatever else you ordered, in a milk box outside the back door. 

This bottle brings back so many memories. Like when you heard the milk truck come around the corner and you realized the dog was outside so you ran to grab her because she would chase the milkman and nip at his heels. 

Or the time the engine compartment of my brother Tom's car caught on fire on the driveway. He filled the milk box with water from the hose to put the fire out while my brother Bob filled a cooler with water and ran behind him.

My dad is like my husband and only sees junk. He threw the milk box away after the dairy stopped delivering and ultimately closed. I wish he wouldn't have done that. I could see it filled with red geraniums outside my door. Also, he made a chalkboard for us to keep score by the pool table and he threw that out as well.  A chalkboard! :(

Back to the antique center story. Nic's husband Bob is the funniest person ever. He can find a story in everything. He can make you laugh so hard your stomach hurts.

While we were walking through and looking in the cases at the antiques, he found a chair meant for the workers to sit on. Once he was seated, he started calling out "Folks, everything is 50% off today." People were looking around and looking at him, I laughed so hard I cried. He says things so seriously that people believe him. Then we got the heck out of there before we got in trouble.

Have you laughed today?

Growing Up

We recently celebrated Little V's birthday.

 It was her 14th one.

She also had her 8th grade Hope Ribbon ceremony at school.

This is to symbolize the children's hopes for the future.

They ask a favorite person to pin the ribbon on their shoulder.

She had Big V pin her.

They wear the ribbon every day until graduation.

There was a nice luncheon afterwards which is put on by the 7th grade parents and students.

Just a little more time and it will be off to high school.

Big V made softball this year. At one point they had a streak of 6 games in 6 days.

(Looks like this hit might go foul.)

It was a great season. We heard it was the best JV team they've had at school in a while.

Please keep in your prayers the family of a boy, also 14, who was struck and killed on his bicycle by a drunk driver near our home. It has shaken this community, as nothing like that ever happens here, especially to a child. I am cherishing all the moments I have with my chicklets, as you never know when God will call someone home.

Peace!

Lovely Peonies

The peonies have opened.

Praise the Lord, because that is the best smell I ever smelled. :)

I don't know how old peonies are, but they remind me of vintage times and sitting on the veranda with lemonade in a cut glass pitcher with matching glasses. Maybe around 1920. I should have lived then. Sometimes I feel like that's where I belonged.

Today they were calling for heavy downpours in the weather forecast and heavy rain will put your peony blooms right in the dirt.

So I did a little harvesting...

...and brought them in the house. The fragrance is wonderful, but I'm waiting for the hay fever people to start complaining.

Since the peonies are always covered in ants, I soak them in bucket. It drowns them and makes it safe to bring them in the house. But if you do this, try not to leave them in the bucket for long because too much water can wreck the petals.

Now I just have to wait for the darker pink ones to open.

Have a great day!!