One Quilt Top Started and Finished

Being the Route 66 fan that I am, I have many Route 66 themed fabrics and ideas for several quilts.  I am working on one quilt that has embroidered blocks - that will take a bit to finish.  I have another idea for one that will feature actual pictures I have taken along the Mother Road.  That one will take a bit to make.  And then there is the special one with the rusty old trucks along Route 66...and that one will take a bit to design. 

So two weekends ago, I got tired of having the "perfect" place on my living room wall for a Route 66 quilt wallhanging and decided to piece one.  I cut it out and started piecing it that weekend and finished piecing it this weekend.  And here it is ....



 

TaDa !!!  Done.  Finished.  Finally.  Oh crap, I still have to quilt it.  OK - almost finished.

~ Kat

My Wonky Modern Bday Cake Quilt

For each of my sisters' certain "significant" birthday, I made the sister a quilt (or two).  Mary was first - she received a small wallhanging of a birthday cake with stitch 'n flip roses (a la Jean Wells) as the cornerstones - and everyone who attended the party signed that quilt.  Then she also received a bigger throw size quilt with a Moon Over Mountain design (also a la Jean Wells - love her, so does Mary).  So, Mary returned the gesture and made me a small wallhanging of a birthday cake with Kaffe Fassett fabrics - it is wonky and modern and Kaffe - ahhhhh!  My family and friends have signed it, or soon will, then it will be quilted.  I love it !!!   Thanks and BBH to Mary !!!

Plan to publish more tomorrow since we are, once AGAIN, having a winter storm come in tonight!  Please, make it stop!!!
~ Kat 

It's My Party! Let's Celebrate!

Yep - this is it!  The big 5-0!  I turned 50 this month.  My family came to town for a family birthday party on Saturday.  They did an amazing job of making it especially "me" - bright colors, flowers.

yes, this is the cake - from Sweet Sisters Bakery in Norman, OK

OK - and a little jab at the age...but not bad.

 

Great day!

~ Kat

It is Snowing - AGAIN !!!

OK - I don't know how many snows we have had this winter in Oklahoma - I usually don't have to count past two!  But, alas, it is snowing...AGAIN.  What is even more incredible is that we have a 100% chance again on Tuesday and 80-90% chance on Thursday, Friday AND Saturday!  The Super Snow Bowl some were hoping for is going to happen, just not in New Jersey - it is going to happen right here in my living room for me.

snow just starting at 8am

this is all we were supposed to get today - a dusting

really coming down now

Today I can enjoy my quilting, inside my warm house with a fire going, watching the beautiful snow fall, enjoying the Super Bowl commercials later!  Lord, I am so grateful for this wonderful day! 

Tomorrow...well, it is back to work, driving on the slick streets, praying to make it back home in decent condition (both me and my car)!  Lord, I am so grateful that I have a good job, a reliable car, money to buy more fabric, and your protective spirit watching over me!

~ Kat

Cold Weather - Soup is On !

With the cold weather moving in once again, I was in the mood for soup tonight.  My sister had made me one quilted soup bowl potholder and sent me the pattern and materials for a second one for Christmas. 

Bowl made for me by my sister

So while the soup was simmering, I was sewing.  When both were ready, we sat down and enjoyed our Fiesta soup in our bowls held comfortably and kept warm by the soup bowl potholders!

Love them !!!!  Thanks Sis!
~ Kat

 

Little House and Rose Wilder

Rose Wilder Lane is the only child of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her husband Almanzo Wilder.  I have been to the house in Mansfield, Missouri where Rose grew up and where Laura wrote the Little House books (though actually it is known now that Rose had a huge part in the writing of those books).  Rose went on to become a pretty famous writer in her own rite. 

Susan Wittig Albert writes the China Bayles herb shop mysteries that I like so much.  She also writes the Darling Dahlia series, which I really like too.  So I was pleasantly surprised to find this on the library shelf.

It is a faction novel, fiction made from mostly facts, about Rose Wilder Lane.  I am loving it too.  If you are a Little House fan, you might want to look this one up.

~ Kat

Another Teapot ... from Hooo ?

I love teapots!  I love tea!  My very cool hubby bought me this teapot after Christmas from Cracker Barrel. 

He is a cutey.  Oh, and so is the teapot owl! :)  Getting a little collection going here - teapots, not hubbys.

~ Kat

Happy 2014 !!!

A New Year has begun. 

Perfect calendar for me - all rusty stuff!  Bought it at Hobby Lobby.

Resolutions:
Last year I worked on being grateful - this year be even more grateful.
Last year I worked on reading the Bible - this year read the Bible more frequently.
Last year I worked on getting off of 2 medicines - this year get off 2 more.
Last year I tried to better understand people - this year keep trying.
Last year I worked on having a better relationship with my hubby - this year do a better job at this.
Last year I did NOT work on my weight - this year I will lose some weight.
Last year I worked on making myself quilt more - this year I want to quilt more.

Recommended book for the New Year:  Everyday Simplicity - A Practical Guide to Spiritual Growth by Robert J. Wicks.
Recommended tea for the New Year:  Tazo Refresh-mint  - peppermint, spearmint with a pinch of tarragon.

~ Kat

Christmas Eve goodies

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  Although we are still encased in ice, the roads are clear for travelers.  My old-fashioned, just-like-Mom-used-to-make-them sugar cookies are baked and iced (no pun intended). 

Our Christmas Bison cookies

And the animals are frolicking in the nippy weather.  A baby deer (well, not that much of a baby anymore) - running around in the back yard chasing the birds.

 

Have a Happy Day
~ Kat

Where is the global warming they keep promising?

Winter Solstice - first official day of winter!  Well, we have had 2 snows and now an ice storm last night.  If this is any sign of what we are in for this winter, all I can say is brrrrrrr !!!!!!

But it is beautiful, in an evil icy sort of way.
~ Kat

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Being from south Texas, snow is still a wondrous event to me.  It quiets my little world and puts a peaceful blanket on everything!

Arrgg, then I have to drive in it!  The price I am willing to pay for that blissful time when I watch and listen to it fall. 

~ Kat

I am back! Is it that simple?

Hi to all 4 of my followers and any others that wonder into my cyberspace.  I am going to try this again.  Even though it was work, I seemed happy blogging. So stay tuned for new content truly focused on the simple things in life.
~ Kat

Lazy Days

Today is a lazy day - sitting here quilting or reading or watching the birds out my window (too hot right now outside for me - and no breeze).  Poor birds - it has been so hot they all are sitting around in the shade too, just panting and drinking water from the birdbath.  At least we are getting back down to seasonable temperatures after today - maybe it will hold out for the rest of the summer - and then the birds, and the humans, won't be struggling so much.

Hummingbird at feeder right outside my window.

American goldfinch sitting on a dead coneflower pod.

Make sure to take time out to have a lazy day every once in a while - otherwise, look what you miss.
-Kat

Early Taste of Fall

What a wonderful treat!  Just got my Autumn edition of The Cottage Journal magazine last week and, I was thinking, it sure doesn't feel like Fall when temperatures have been in the 100s with lows in the high 70s or 80s.  It has been another brutally hot and dry summer for us here in Oklahoma (as in many places).  Anyway, Thursday we had a front come through and it is 65 degrees this morning.  The owls put on a symphony for me while I was sitting out on the patio.  And now as the sun comes up, the birds are flying giddily around enjoy the coolness. 

So, even though it is supposed to be close to 100 again today, we were given a wonderful taste of Fall and a reminder to have faith -  comes to this hot weather too shall come to pass. 
- Kat

Flashback - Retro Candy at Pops

We decided to go to the TLC nursery in Edmond, OK, in search of desert willows - we had seen them in Utah and fell in love with them.  We were in luck - they have them and they will grow in Oklahoma.  So now we just need to decide where to put them.  As we left TLC, we were driving on Route 66 wondering (and wandering) where we could stop and eat - Pops!!!!  So we headed east to Arcadia and pulled in at Pops - home of hundreds of sodas!!!  

Food was good as always and we brought home some different sodas to try as always.  But one new offering caught my eye...retro candy!!!  How cool is this...

Lots more blast from the past candy - love this place! - Kat

a Field of Dreams...Dreams of Sunflowers

A friend called me about this field of sunflowers in Harrah, OK.  Then at lunch yesterday, work friends and I were at the Red Raspberry Tea Room in Nicoma Park, OK - lovely place, sweet ladies running it, and the owner also was telling us about the flowers.  So last night, I drove to the field and was not disappointed (nor were all the other cars pulling over to see this unexpected site).  Supposedly the fields have raised cotton before, but this year the fields' owners have decided to try their hand at sunflower oil.  We are all grateful to them...

 

And here is the Red Raspberry Tea Room - stop by if you are in the neighborhood.

Happy Friday - Kat

By Oil Lamp

I love sitting out on my patio and reading or stitching.  But the winters here are brutal - not just the cold, but the fact that by the time I get home from work, it is dark!!  Sadness!  And I guess I didn't really want artificial lighting (though twinkly lights around the patio would be nice - need to do that for this winter).  So, one night last winter, I decided I was going to do it the old fashioned way - buy an oil lamp.  Do you know how hard it is to find those things (or to find a young person working at a hardware store that actually knew what I was talking about - LOL)?  I finally found one (though it is a little undersized for what I need - can't do any stitching with it - but I can journal and read the Large Print books from the library).  

Give me an owl hooting on a night like this, and it is heaven! - Kat

Another Tough Year for Gardens

Last year was bad for vegetable gardening (hottest summer on record here in OK).  This year, while not as bad, has not been great.  Especially since I was stubborn and am still trying to raise only heirloom vegetables.  From seed no less.  There is just something extremely satisfying about seeing your own vegetables growing.

my first ever eggplant

tigger melon still green

tigger melon almost ripe

Needless to say, heirloom gardening is always a good learning experience (no built-in disease and weather resistance - all natural).  And I am saving seeds too.  However, with the small output of my garden this year, I have now resorted to buying my veggies from the farmer's market.  I did get some veggies though, before the heat and animals (deer, raccoon, rabbits) took over.  Here are some of my various pickings:

Moon and Stars watermelon, Tigger melon, Cantaloupe

I am keeping my gardening chin up and planning a fall garden (with a few more modifications to the beds to help with the pests).  

Something simple - Kat