I think I need a intervention

I went to an auction today and this is what I came home with. I need another sewing machine like I need another appendix, but no one was bidding and I felt sorry for it. I thought it really needed a good home, so I bid and got it for $2.00 and it works. I now have 7 old sewing machines in cabinets, and one that is not in a cabinet.

Then I also got these fantastic quilts. They were more than I wanted to pay, but I still didn't think $50.00 for the two of them was two bad.


This one is hand quilted. and looks to me like it could be from the late 50's or 60's. Not that I would remember or anything, I'm just guessing.


This is the one that I really fell in love with, and don't know what era it's from.

Friends, Fun and Dorset Buttons

Last night I hosted our monthly crazy quilt group and I did a little demo on dorset buttons. There are some great tutorials out there but my favorite is this one.

Sorry about the bad pictures. Things weren't really this intense and I think they had much more fun than is seems in the pictures.


This is what they accomplished.


After they left I finished a couple of others that I had started.

At the request of Kathy here are the recipes from the salad and dessert I served. I was going to just post the link the the recipes since they are both from all recipes, but I changed them both so decided to just post them both here. Recipes are like the speed limit, only to be used as guideline, not to be followed closely.
Rice A Roni Salad
1 package chicken flavored rice mix (I used low sodium)
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast meat.
2 apples chopped (I dipped them in Fruit Fresh so they wouldn't turn brown)
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I used low fat)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons curry
salt and pepper to taste
Prepare Rice A Roni as directed on package and chill.
To the Rice A Roni add rest of ingredients, mix well and chill.

Sour Cream-Rhubarb Squares
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and four 9 x 13 pan.
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix these together and set aside.
In a separate bowl, cream together:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
Mix well and add:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
Lastly stir in 2 1/2 - 3 cups rhubarb.
Pour mixture into pan and sprinkle with reserved topping.
Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes. Serve warm or cool.

Another teapot pincushion

Writing up a pattern for these little teapots has been my latest project. I gave a couple of these little pin cushions away at Christmas time and have had a few people tell me I should make a pattern for them. So I finished the little teapot that I had sitting around, then I made another one, documenting the steps. I had to restrain myself from embellishing too much with beads and such, since I want them to be functional, I thought I better not go too crazy.

Birthday Postcards

Our 30's group has been doing a birthday fabric postcard swap for the past 11 months. Finally it was my turn to be the recipient. These are the wonderful cards I received.

Round Robin Block

I joined another round robin, where you make a block and it gets sent to four others to stitch on and add their personal touches, then gets sent back to the owner. The theme is Autumn, my favorite time of year, so I just couldn't resist. This is Rita's block and I forgot to take a before picture, but this is what it looks like after I worked on it.
The tree is made with brown pearl cotton, then I stitched over it with a variegated thread to give it some dimension. For the leaves I used this great Kimono Ribbon. When I bought it at a quilt show I had no idea what I would do with it, but I just knew I had to have it. I soon discovered that it makes great leaves for autumn blocks.

Puzzle Pieces

Here are more pieces to the puzzle. The puzzle piece swap that I'm participating in can be found here.

Dozens of Doll Dresses

75 doll dress blocks to be exact

The small 30's group that I belong to did a doll dress swap. These are the dresses that I swapped out this weekend.

This first green and pink dress was made by Deb, the rest were made by Susan.

Made by Jeanette

Made by Bonnie

Made by Mary

The small red one dress was made by Deb, the rest made by Anna.

Made by Teresa

Made by Sue

Made by Carmen

Made by Mona



The green dress was made by Deb the rest were made by Cindy.

The reason a few of them have a block of Deb's tossed in there is because she turned hers in early and asked if I could swap hers out early so she could put them in a quilt for the quilt show. I swapped hers out with others that also turned theirs in early. It didn't occur to me to take a picture of hers before I swapped them.

Last of the quilt show pictures

The above photos are from my favorite vendor's booth. Shades of the Past is a wonderful local quilt shop, of course I may be just a tad bit bias since the owner, Darci, and I have been friends for 17 years.

More fabric postcards. Just can't get enough of those, some fun wool projects and fabulous crazy quilt projects.


Here are a couple of pictures from the crazy quilt booth.

More quilt show pictures

I fell in love with this block.

My friend Mona (crazy quilter extraordinaire) did a little truck show with some amazing crazy quilt projects. The above quilt is from the late 1800's.





Some of this amazing blocks will be put into wall hangings to be auctioned off for the Crazy Quilt Retreat in Omaha.

Country Quilters Quilt Show

These are pictures from our local quilt show.




This was our challenge this year. Quilt on a stick. How cute are these? We got to vote on our favorite. The competition was tough and I couldn't even vote for my own (the crazy quilt fan) 'cause it wasn't my favorite. We won't find out the winner until our local guild meeting on the 12th.


This is a favorite booth. It's a mother/daughter team and their work is unbelievable. Deb is just kickin' back after a long day of setting up.




My friend Bonnie asked if I would help her set up the 30's booth and I was honored to be asked. Her mom Anna helped too.

Bonnie and her mom Anna.



Our small group sends fabric postcards when someone has a birthday.