Lovely little buttons...

I have had such fun creating my Etsy store and deciding what to make and what to sell...I really enjoy sewing  my little church bags...I have used these for my personal use and decided others might like them too!! The one I use most often is my hand bells bag that holds my notebook and gloves.

Most recently I have been selling buttons, some that I have cherished through the years and some newer. It just does not seem right to keep them all for myself...here are the latest cuties....

They were made in the 80's and are plastic not glass BUT they look like glass...with lovely hand painted pink  roses with green leaves and a white dotted border. They have metal shanks and there are four of them.

I also have some other hand painted ones that I will post later...

WELL, surprise of all surprises !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Guild did NOT select the easier Scrappy Heart for our "Block of the Quarter" but the lovely
North Carolina Lily!!! Isn't that great and what a lovely quilt top one of our members will receive.
So, I am off to the Thistlebee Quilt Shoppe in Goldsboro to select background fabric. Those interested members will receive color instructions and background fabric and select reds and greens from their own stashes to complete.

Here is the background fabric that I purchased...


If you are interested in the updated and modified instructions that I am giving them, let me know and I will send them to you...OR just

Fall is arriving a bit early...???

Well today is a wonderful day here in eastern NC...temp around 70!!!!!!!

Just cleaning up the garden, cutting back some flowers and potted plants and purchased our first yellow mum. Here is that cute little pumpkin from an earlier post and it is still in fine shape so I will put it on the front steps with the mums...may also need a BIG one too!!! Cliff really loves going to pick out the larger pumpkins.

What am I sewing?  Well here are two "block of the quarter" blocks that our guild is going to look and select which one they would like to make....

The scrappy heart...

OR

The North Carolina Lily...



I LoVe the lily and make some up just for me IF the guild decides not to make it...

It was featured in the  American Patchwork Magazine  and is also offered on line...


Have a good week and thanks for dropping by!!

Blessisngs,
Kathy

The end of my Guild Presidency...

For the past two years, I have served as president of the Neuse Quilters Guild in Kinston, North Carolina and have learned so much about how our guild functions. We are a small group with 36 members with 21 active members.  We meet weekly unlike most and so we get to know one another well. We still have 3-4 of our original members who take their memberships very seriously and serve as our guild "authoritarians!

I look forward to being a "regular" member again and sitting with my favs and doing some hand quilting...as my sunflower quilt still needs work...

On my last day as president, my sweet husband came and brought me these lovely flowers

and I was just thrilled and sooooo surprised. But he knows what a challenge this was for me serving ladies who are older than me, for the most part, and my first real challenge since retirement too.

The members make quilt blocks for the outgoing president and I choose this little 6" basket with rick rack handles so I can make it into a wall hanging to place on my sewing room wall...

Here are most of them with a few members who will bring them in a few weeks...

and here are a few close ups too...

Aren't they just beautiful!!!
I can hardly wait to get all of them and begin on the quilt.

Thank you Neuse Quilters

Blessings all,
Kathy

The Best $2.50 I Spend....

is paying for six ears of fresh corn in the early summer and at then end of summer.

This year I did not "put up" any frozen corn but I sure did cut a lot off the cob for stewed corn.It is just the two of us and you know it is a lot of work to cut it off and freeze, so I just make it when we want some.  It seems to be in the store all the year round now too, but NOT as good as local sweet corn in the summer. But to be perfectly honest with you, I do miss fixing it with my mama and her sisters and everybody taking some home to freeze and save for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That seems to be the two special occasions when we all expect and really want it, isn't it!!

Well, here in eastern North Carolina this is the way I leaned to make it...or watched it being made for many years by my mama and grand mamas...I kinda figured it out on my own about 5-6 years ago.

Stewed or Creamed Corn

Shuck and remove the silks from 6 ears of corn

Cut the corn off  of each cob but NOT too close

Next, go back and scrap each cob, on all sides,  with the edge of a smaller knife

and here is where the "cream" comes from.

My Aunt Bobbi would say "Kathy, you are cutting it too close"

EVERY time I cut, I can hear her telling me this as a reminder!!

A puddle of pure gold!!

Mix this all together and put in a frying pan and 1/2 cup water,

add salt and LOTS of black pepper

and the good stuff, bacon grease!!

YES, bacon grease.

I save the grease from frying bacon in the mornings and even blot it on paper towels...

isn't that funny...then I add it back!!!

Make a roux by adding about 1/8 cup of flour and putting about 1 T of grease

on top...it will melt in as it begins to cook.

I have found these three to be the key ingredients

and do not skimp on any one of them...

taste and add more salt & pepper as it cooks.

I think a lot of black pepper makes it perfect.

Stir and it will melt in as it cooks.

Here it is after cooking for about 30-40 minutes.

And here it is as we begin to eat our Sunday lunch.

One of our family favorites...

Blessings all,

Kathy

More progress...

I finished the kitchen windows treatments and put them up today and I like them. You know you never really know til they are up and then it is too late!!!

EWwwww..... ugly door....really must paint it when I do the two accent walls...agree????

Final canning for the season...not too many cukes this year for pickles but we did enjoy eating them fresh with onions, tomatoes in "sweet" vinegar...you know we live in the south!!  Only the second time I made squash pickles and they are not easy but good. And pear preserves in front...

Blessings,
Kathy

New space...Old Dining Room

I decided to make our traditional dinning room into a sitting area but still use it as a dinning room when needed...kind of like an "old timey" porch/sun room area.  My daddy is putting his house on the market and we are trying to think of creative ways to incorporate some of his furniture in our house.

Huuuummmmm......
That is exactly what I said. Then my neighbor and antique hunting friend said, "why don't you just get rid of some of your furniture". Novel idea, but which pieces. We have never bought much furniture and used hand me downs , which we have loved. So, you would think it would be easy, huh!!

Here is the plan.
1-We have had a thread bear wing chair in the dinning room for a while because I did not want to put it outside in the garden house. I have been deciding to make a slip cover or wait to get the money to recover it...you see it was my first piece of furniture that I bought and I really like it.

2- We area getting daddy's wing chair when he moves and I thought they would look great together in this room...with slip covers that I would make , of course...

3- An ottoman that really goes with another one of daddy's chairs...cover to match the wings

4- Daddy found a really cool small foot stool and bought it for $1 at his church yard sale...it will go nicely with his wing chair..

So, two wing chairs and two stools...keep the dinning room table....and I forgot to mention that we are also getting his Hancock chairs to use at the table... keep the existing side board ....put the china cabinet in the kitchen with the Blue Willow (my paternal grandmother's dinning room set that I grew up seeing in her house with her Blew Willow)....I think that is it!!!!!!

Here it is so far....

Finished the window panels, laying on the chair, and the one stool this week end....hope to have them up once we decide on curtain rods.....

I think this chair needs more than a slip cover, due to the damage, so I may try to cover the seat cushion my self and then let someone finish it up for me....I can do the ottoman thought...hopefully next.

Pretty little legs that I did not want to cover up...

I think we will really like in once it is all completed and we can sit in the chairs, on a rainy day like today,

and read and  listen to the rain coming down.  View of both back and front yards...
Blessings all,
Kathy

Sewing for others...

Well I have been busy sewing and quilting but have just not had the time to sit down and show you what!! So, here are a few of the items I have completed ...all for others....paid jobs!!!!

First here are the cutest quilts that I finished for two friends a daughter and granddaughter.

Showed these in an earlier post...

Second, a new baby's nursery items...

Didn't it all turn out so cute...and the new mom was very pleased too.

The money was timely as we had a rather large car repair...

God is good!!

Blessings,

Kathy