Welcome Asparagus!

 

 

Welcome, asparagus - I've been eagerly anticipating your return!!

Antiquing with Friends

I had such fun day antiquing with several friends, old and new.  We spent the day in the Adamstown area where there are scads and scads of antique shops and malls, all in nearby vicinity of each other.

 

We saw tons of Pyrex mixing bowls, casserole dishes, etc. in every color and pattern imaginable.  I was so enamored with them that I didn't even think to take a picture!  Now, my heart is set on acquiring a set of aqua mixing bowls, but who can justify paying $100 for a set??  I've never, ever seen them at the thrift shop, so it may be a looong time until I acquire a set.

 

 

It's always fun to see a vintage yo yo quilt, but I wasn't feeling the need to add it to my collection.

 

However, the lovelies below did come home with me:

 

I've been looking for one of these wash tubs for quite a while.  We used one as kids on the farm - in the fall, we would always gather up leaves in a wash tub (after raking and jumping in them first!), then haul them off to the barn for bedding for the cows.  I've been wanting to use one as the base for my Christmas tree since the current one I have isn't quite big enough.  This one was in great condition and sits level on the ground.  Yea!

 

 

I couldn't pass up an enamel roaster at a good price,

 

or this dear cake stand.

 

I'm such a sucker for vintage Pyrex custard cups - they're great for so many purposes!

And, I was happy to add another vintage refrigerator dish to my collection.

 

:)

 

Thanks, Judy, for introducing me to the Adamstown antique shops!

Poor Birdie

 

 

I thought this was so amusing - a bird built a nest in the wreath on my front door, on top of the fake bird's nest, eggs and bird that were already there ahead of him!  I reluctantly took the wreath down, as it was making a mess on my front stoop.  I even saw the bird coming back with some straw in its beak, looking terribly puzzled as to what had happened to his nest. 

 

Sorry, dear birdie!

Today's Thrift Shop Finds

 

I was thrilled to find these Ironstone dishes at the local thrift shop this evening - they are the exact same dishes we had at home when I was a child!  I need more dishes like a hole in the head, but since it was the  Friday night 50% off sale, who could resist?!  They make me think of the Jetsons... or, Christmas!

 

Below are some pictures of my other finds.  :)

 

Happy vintage thrifting to you!

Liberated Baskets

photo credit: Jolene Klassen

 

I've been in awe of this quilt ever since discovering it on Jolene Klassen's  Blue Elephant Stitches quilt blog several months ago.  I found it so compelling; it almost has a museum-quality look to it.

 

Then, I discovered the book that it came from, Gwen Marsden's Liberated Quiltmaking II, at the AQS quilt show in March.  I ordered it off Amazon, and I began to think, "maybe I could actually make this quilt."

 

But, the more I studied the quilt, the more I realized that so much of the interest of the quilt wasn't just the quirky baskets, but the fabric selection.  How would I pull that off?

 

So, imagine my delight when Jolene said yes to my e-mail request to her, asking if she would consider putting a kit of fabrics together for me so I could make a quilt similar to hers. 

 

The package arrived today...

 

... from Canada!

 

In the envelope was a wonderful assortment of fabrics that I would have never thought to put together,

 

 

with Jolene's little notes taped to each set of fabrics.

 

I am thrilled!

 

Annual 1st Day of Spring Tradition - Belated!

 

 

Since Spring was a little slow in coming this year, I postponed my 1st day of spring rituals - a trip to Rita's and ...

 

... pansy planting - until today, when it actually felt like spring!

Easter Traditions

Making butter (for the fourth year in a row)...

... and coloring eggs, of course!

Happy Easter to Me

Doesn't the title of this post sound totally narcissistic??!  I think you'll understand and give me grace after I explain myself.  So here goes.

I LOVED Easter as a kid.  I loved getting up on Easter morning and racing downstairs to see what might be in our Easter baskets.  Without fail, all four baskets would be neatly lined up on the top of the bookshelf in the living room with little Easter treasures inside.  We did not have any extra money when I was growing up, and there was never anything fancy or expensive in our baskets, but to this day I have such fond memories of those little Easter gifts and candies.  So, in recent years, I decided to recreate that tradition myself using the very same Easter basket I used as a child, and it's been terribly enjoyable and nostalgic.

In addition to those wonderful hollow chocolate Easter bunnies, this year's treasures include...

an Easter-colored ratchet pruner I picked up at the Philadelphia Flower Show earlier this month,

some Clover Wonder Clips that I've been wanting to try;  I picked them up at the AQS quilt show in Lancaster just two weekends ago,

along with these "Quilters Tips".

Happy Easter, Everyone!





It's That Time of Year Again!

 

 

My neighbor up the street was kind enough to aerate my yard today, along with his lawn.  The timing of the year was perfect - the soil was soft enough to get plenty of plugs.  And, it was a steal of a deal - I simply needed to cover the cost of the aerator rental.  I usually aerate in the fall, but am happy to do both spring and fall whenever I get a chance.

 

Thanks Dave!!

Gardening Procrastination

I had a terrible time getting my butt in gear to start my spring vegetable planting this year.  I had put it on the "to-do" list for three weekends in a row, but was terribly unmotivated and didn't do squat  So much so, that it made me wonder if I should take a break from the vegetable gardening thing.  (GASP - seriously??!!).  Yes, seriously.  (After all, isn't that what the Year of Jubilee is all about??)  Seriously....  (Although, I have to admit, I did wonder, What will my neighbors think - they've watched me faithfully tend my vegetable beds for over 15 years now - they probably will think I need some sort of intervention, like when I don't get my Christmas decorations taken down on time....) 

Vegetable gardening is so stressful for me.  (Stressful??  That's not what gardeners admit, do they?!)  But for me it is.  Bottom line, it feels like it runs/orders/dictates my life from the day those seedlings get started indoors to the final cleanup in the fall.  (Maybe that's what mothers feel like 24/7??)  And while I thoroughly believe in sustainable living and healthful eating, my heart sometimes isn't in it.  Like today.  I've been on a major quilting streak since before Christmas, and I just DO NOT feel like abandoning my quilting for the gardening season.  I haven't even cooked or washed my dishes all week; in fact, I bought macaroni & cheese from the deli last week so I didn't have to cook - double gasp!!  Today is damp and cold, even though the sun is out, and I'd much rather be indoors reading some amazing quilting blogs (such as this one or this one), quilting, reorganizing my fabric stash or going fabric shopping.  It's a dilemma.... 

So, what did I do?

I was a good girl, dragged myself out to the garden (after contemplating it all morning and typing the above paragraphs first!) and got my spring things in, even though my winter-weight gain meant I could barely zip up or bend my knees in my way-too-tight garden jeans from last season.  My reward for getting my planting chores done today will be some fabric shopping tomorrow - I need to get the backing and binding for my Scrappy Trip quilt.  Yea!!  :)

This is what I would have missed if I hadn't made it outside:

 

 

 

And, I got my onions, fingerling potatoes and peas in the ground:

 

 

 

 

 

 

:)

La Traviata

 

 

I took my dad to see La Traviata at the Forum in Harrisburg this afternoon.  It was my Christmas present to him, and an enjoyable way to spend the day together.  And, the highlight was knowing one of the members of the Susquehanna Chorale personally.

 

Alan, Dad said to be sure to tell you that you did a good job!

 

:)

30's Pink

 

I was having a terrible time finding the right shade of pink to go with the yo yo's I'd been stitching out of 30's fabrics for a yo-yo block quilt I've been working on.  I would see a shade of fabric that would look fine in the store, but after I'd have a bunch of yo yo's made, I'd realize something wasn't quite right.

 

It wasn't until I compared the pink fabric yardage to some vintage yo yo blocks that I had picked up at the antique shop three years ago...

 

 

... that I realized how off the pink was.  I was needing more of a salmon pink instead of the candy pink that I had started with,

 

but where in the world was I supposed to find it??!!  I had searched every fabric store in Lancaster County and looked on line, but nothing was quite right.  And, I had bought 5 yards of the wrong shade of pink and/or salmon for the 3rd time now!  (Anyone need some pink fabric??!)

 

But, I finally discovered a bolt of older fabric tucked in behind the current fabrics at a quilt shop in Intercourse that was the perfect shade - yea!!  The price was dirt cheap; in fact, the clerk asked me, "Where did you find this bolt of fabric?".  It was almost if the bolt was hiding out, waiting for me to discover it for this specific project!

 

 

There was barely enough fabric on the bolt; in fact, I had to piece some of it,  

 

just to be able to cut out all 324 circles of the pink fabric for my project. 

 

 

Luckily the seam isn't too obvious, so I think I'm finally on my way!

 

My Favorite Store at This Time of Year

Nothing beats a trip to Rohrer Seeds in Smoketown at this time of year!

"Have patience with everything unresolved in your heart

and try to love the questions themselves.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps then, someday in  the future,

you will gradually, without even noticing it,

live your way into the answer."

- Rainer Maria Rilke,

quoted in Wide Open Spaces, by Jim Palmer