I’ve been thinking a lot, lately, about the focus of my blog and why I’m still doing all of the same activities that I’ve been writing about for the past few decades. I keep expanding my interests, learning, and growing, but it still comes down to creating a wonderful and cozy home, feeding and creating for my family, and then telling the stories about the creations I’ve made.

As my kids have gotten older, I’d say I’ve been leaning into sewing and quilting more. (My oldest is married and in his own home, while my youngest is off at college.) I love making quilts because they bring warmth and heart into my home in a way nothing store-bought ever could. Each stitch helps me slow down, breathe, and create with intention, turning simple fabric into something comforting and beautiful. Quilting makes my space feel cozy and lived-in, layered with color, texture, and memories. More than that, every quilt I finish feels like a piece of my story—something I can one day pass down to my children, wrapping them in love that was sewn by hand.

As I mentioned before, I like to continue learning new aspects to quilting. I’ve learned how to use a longarm machine to make finishing the quilts a little easier. I started by taking classes and renting a longarm from my local quilt shop, pictured below. Recently, I got my own longarm machine. It’s an older machine and it’s not computerized. Everything I do on it still needs to be done with my own two hands, but I’m excited for the new journey.

In addition to quilting, I’ve recently learned to LOVE my embroidery module on my Bernina 770QE. I always enjoy a new learning challenge. This one had quite a learning curve, but I’d say I’m pretty efficient with machine embroidery now. I can make custom towels, pillows, aprons, sweatshirts, and I just finished an adorable “folk art” guitar bag to take to my guitar lessons. We have quite a few dress up days at the school I teach at. I’ve been able to make sweatshirts with our school mascot and even outfits for Christmas Disney Dress Up Day. Can you even imagine how fun it would be to have grand babies to make custom things for?

I tend to do a lot of projects that combine quilting and machine embroidery, just because it’s fun. I’m constantly trying new things like the cathedral window pillow, below, and the star pillow that came from a fairly new Acufactum book. The fabrics and book are made in Germany and the book is translated to English. I love the whimsical designs of the fabrics and they remind me so much of the watercolor paintings I’ve been attempting for the past few year. Again, I love how these pillows bring warmth to the living room. Even better… they are backed with fabrics from my grandparents’ old bedspreads. It’s like a warm hug from my Nanie.

Making my house feel like a home is one of the ways I tend to show my family love. I love to bake my own breads, muffins, and cookies.

I was baking my own bread before baking bread was cool. I’ve used my mom’s recipe for bread and my grandma’s recipe for rolls. In about 2018, I started making sourdough and I love the simplicity of the ingredients.

I’ve been making my own jam for many years. I’ve added applesauce, pesto, pickles, and peaches to the canning “to do” list. The kids always like going shopping in the pantry or freezer.

I can’t forget to mention the garden. I spend most of my summer outside. If the sunshine is out, so am I. Gardening is something I learned from my mom. There is nothing better than picking a few things from the garden and then eating them for dinner. Last summer, being someone who loves learning new things, I started growing different flowers and plants that could be used to dye my own fabrics. I started a pretty good collection of hand dyed fabrics last year and I plan to make more hand dyed fabrics this summer. Soon I’ll have enough beautiful fabric to make another quilt.

So, why do I have all of these hobbies and what is the purpose? I can’t exactly say it’s all about homesteading because we don’t have a lot of property and I live in a suburb on a culdesac. We don’t have enough land to grow enough to feed us all summer long. I just grow enough to snack on, grow beautiful flowers, cut small bouquets all summer, and now grow my own dye materials. I love to do all of the things my mom and grandma taught me. I love the old fashioned, slow living, type of lifestyle.

I love to bake, sew, quilt, and garden because each of these activities connects me to creativity, patience, and the simple joy of making something beautiful and useful with my own hands, and making my house feel like a home for the people I love. Baking fills my home with warmth and sweetness, sewing and quilting allow me to stitch together comfort and memories, and gardening teaches me to nurture life from the soil up. There’s something deeply satisfying about continuing to learn new techniques, trying new patterns, experimenting with recipes, and discovering better ways to help things grow. These skills ground me, challenge me, and remind me that growth—whether in a garden bed or in myself—is always possible. More than anything, I hope to pass these traditions on to the next generation, sharing not just the knowledge of how to make and grow things, but the love, patience, creativity, and resilience woven into every loaf, quilt square, and seed planted.

Years ago, when I first started my blog, I wrote. “At the end of the day, it’s all about home and family.” I guess that still holds true.

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Years ago, I saw a Christmas pillow that was similar to this one on Pinterest. I made the Christmas version and gave it as a gift. I’ve always wanted to make one for myself. It inspired me to make a homey. winter version. This shoe bench is the spot in my house that I’ve been putting my Kimberbell bench pillows.

Here are a few of the pillows I put on our shoe bench.

This bench pillow is a kit that I purchased from Kimberbell. It’s called Sweet as Pie. The kit comes with the embroidery files for machine embroidery, directions, and all of the fabrics. There were a few pink and purple fabrics in the kit, but I swapped those out for red. The files for the machine embroidery background quilting are a separate purchase, but they are too cute to pass up.

This bench pillow is also a kit from Kimberbell. This one is called Two Scoops. Again, I bought the DVD, instructions, fabric, and the embellishment kit all together. Again, the background machine embroidery files were a separate purchase. This bench pillow is so adorable. The ice cream truck has a little music box and when you push it, it plays music like an ice cream truck would.

This bench pillow was also from Kimberbell, and it was probably the easiest I’ve done.

The next bench pillow was the reason I got into machine embroidery. The block on the far left is a hot cocoa stand. I took a class at Quilting Mayhem to make that block into a kitchen towel. I absolutely fell in love with machine embroidery and had to upgrade my machine to be able to make these beautiful pieces of art. The bench pillow, from Kimberbell, is called Candy Cane Lane. And, yes, those are little battery operated lights.

I can’t remember where I bought this bench pillow kit from. It was the first pillow I made with machine embroidery.

This was the Christmas pillow I made that inspired me to make my current bench pillow. I saw something similar on Pinterest and decided to whip one up!

That brings us back to the bench pillow I finished up this weekend! I made this with 4 mini charm packs. I fell in love with this fabric WAY back when I first discovered fabric stores that carry designer lines of fabric. Precuts were new to me and I bought four of them for later use. Well, “later use” was finally this weekend! The fabric line is called Double Chocolat, from Moda, by 3 Sisters.

I sewed the squares together and then did my embroidery on tan strips.

I needed an easy, sort of mindless, quilting project over the break. This one checked all of the boxes.

Happy quilting.

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So, today, I’m sharing links to my favorite sewing and quilting products that you can also find on Amazon. If you purchase an item using the link I provide, I will get a very small percentage of the sale. This, in turn, will help fund future quilting and sewing adventures! If you are interested in these products, and don’t mind helping me out at the same time, please click on these links as you shop!

https://amzn.to/4epUQrQ

I’ve recently discovered the SewTites cutting mats. I bought the whole system at a sewing expo, but purchased the small rotating SewTites cutting mat from Amazon. The best thing about all of the SewTites mats is that the mats are magnetic and rulers are held in place as you cut. Cutting fabric is really hard on my hands (arthritis) and SewTites products are amazing!

https://amzn.to/44qZX6D

This is the small-ish square ruler that works well on the SewTites rotating board.

https://amzn.to/448fAkr

These are the magnetic boosters that you use to hold the ruler down. I will be sharing the whole SewTites Cutting System in a later post, if you are interested in the whole system.

https://amzn.to/45Nquxf

The 5 slot quilting ruler stand was a Christmas gift and I love it in my new hobby room! My rulers were always getting buried under fabric, but now I can always find them. These ruler stands are very inexpensive and make a great gift for a quilter!

https://amzn.to/45Nquxf

Another Christmas gift, from my daughter, was this Tailor’s Clapper. After you press seams, just place the clapper on top of the hot seam. This really helps flatten blocks out and I love the little sewing machine design on it.

https://amzn.to/3ZUsvnC

I keep a wool pressing mat right next to my sewing machine. It makes it easy to press pieces and quickly turn back and keep sewing.

https://amzn.to/45P2TMQ

The Mini Oliso Project Iron is the iron I use on my wool pressing mat. It’s perfect to use as you are piecing and does not have the auto-off feature. In case you are wondering, most quilters don’t like the auto-off feature on their iron. I usually quilt for several hours at a time and it’s annoying when my iron keeps turning itself off.

https://amzn.to/4lxwxuC

When I was converting my son’s old bedroom into a hobby room, I knew I wanted a design wall. I decided on these quilting design wall panels. They come in packs of 12 and stick to the wall. This is perfect for laying out a quilt design. I used to lay pieces out on the floor but, with 2 large dogs, you can imagine how that went.

https://amzn.to/4esjVSX

I hang these thread holders on the walls of my sewing spaces to store spools of thread.

https://amzn.to/4ltCcBA

Diagonal Seam Tape was made by Allison, at Cluck Cluck Sew. You put a piece of this tape from your presser foot, down to the closest point to you on your sewing machine. This helps when you are piecing things like half-square-triangles, so that you get accurate seam allowances.

Obviously, these are not ALL of the items I have in my sewing room. These are just a few of my sewing and quilting FAVORITE products. These are some of those little extras that I have picked up here and there and now couldn’t live without. I hope you’ll check out a few of these sewing and quilting favorites and please be sure to use the links I provided!

Happy sewing!

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I’ve been sewing since I was pretty young. I remember sewing with my mom and grandma, starting around the age of 7. I also remember mending my own clothes with my mom’s sewing machine in middle school. When we had to make duffle bags in Home Ec class, in middle school, the teacher was impressed that I already knew how to do it. Sewing was just part of everyday life. When I went to college I took my aunt’s old sewing machine with me. It was a turquoise Singer that my cousin’s wife has now. I did a few projects here and there and made a few quilts.

Once I got married, I upgraded. We went to Sears and I bought a great little Kenmore machine. We lived in an apartment and I would sew in a cabinet that also housed our computer. I made several quilts during that time. My queen size leaf quilt was one that I was really proud of, at the time. That Kenmore machine lasted quite a few years and then I was ready for something that did a little more.

Next, I upgraded to a Brother with a built in embroidery module. I knew absolutely nothing about embroidery. I didn’t even know that I was supposed to use stabilizer. It was an awesome machine, at the time. I made my kids Disney sweatshirts and I loved putting redwork designs on flour sack towels. This embroidery machine was one that you’d buy a cartridge of embroidery designs and insert that into the machine. It had a few built-in Disney stitches, but it couldn’t do much more than that.

My kids showed an interest in sewing, probably because I was always making something. They both wanted to learn to sew and so did my niece. Part of me wanted to teach them on my machine, but the other part of me wanted to teach them on a machine that was super simple and basic. I ended up buying a second Brother machine that had a few basic stitches and had a slider that would make the machine go from turtle speed to rabbit speed, and everything in between. My kids learned to sew on both of my Brother machines because, of course, they didn’t want to be patient and wait for the other one to finish what they were working on. In the long run, I sold my Brother with machine embroidery because the embroidery portion was outdated, but I kept the the other Brother machine. Just a few months ago, my daughter found some clothes at the thrift store and wanted to make alterations. I walked her through everything, but she did all of the sewing and hemming herself.

About 2 years ago my sewing, quilting, and embroidery life took a big twist. I’d always loved my Brother machines, but my Local Quilt Shop (Quilting Mayhem, in Snohomish) sold Bernina machines. I started doing some research about Bernina and really loved what I was reading about them. A larger machine, with more throat space, and more capabilities was sounding like my next step. I was also thinking that by buying from my Local Quilt Shop (LQS), I would be able to take classes to learn the machine and I wouldn’t be floundering as much as I was with my previous embroidery machine. I decided to do it. I bought the 770qe with embroidery module. It was not the MOST expensive one in the store. At the time, they actually had one with crystals on it. It was a mid-price range machine, but it was still pretty pricey in my opinion. I will say that I’ve used it just about every day since I bought it, with the exception of times when I’m crazy-busy, on vacation, or sick. It brings me so much happiness to sit and sew. It can be relaxing, when I need to just make half square triangles or it can be challenging when I’m ready to take on a new quilt or a new machine embroidery technique. I’ve taken two classes at my LQS and a few classes from Bernina educators. I’m amazed at what this machine can do.

Next up, came an amazing gift from a friend. A friend texted and said that she knew I already had a machine, but her dad had been gifted a Brother Quilt Club machine and she wanted to know if I could use it. Ummmm… I didn’t need to think longer than 5 seconds on that! I knew the Quilt Club machines were true work horses. If you are familiar with the single stitch Juki machines, these are similar. Right now, I have my Bernina living downstairs with all of my fabric and machine embroidery things. and my Brother living upstairs in my son’s old room/my new hobby room. This is the perfect spot to hide away and sew when my husband is working from home, downstairs.

Here are the two Brother machines, side by side, so you can see the size difference between a typical starter machine and something like the Brother Quilt Club machine.

Next on the wish list is a mid-arm or long arm machine, but I know it’s going to be a while before that happens. We have a wedding, college, and (at some point) a car or two to buy. Until then, I’ll just be sewing very patiently on one of my current machines.

Happy sewing!

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When I discovered that Willow Cottage Quilt Co does an Acufactum fabric of the month club, I couldn’t wait to sign up. These were some of the December fabrics. There were little houses, wreaths, and little birds. I loved the tiny pieces of holly. I’m not sure if the art for the fabric was made with watercolor, but I feel like it must have been. The birds, leaves, and flowers are some of my favorite things to paint.

The first thing I decided to make was the cathedral window quilt. This is something I’ve never done before. When you sign up for the Acufactum club, there are videos with project ideas that you have access to. The cathedral window project was one of those ideas. I loved the step by step instructions.

I have several different sewing machines, but this project was done on my Bernina, 770qe.

Here’s the finished top.

One of the 2024 projects was a Dresden Plate quilt. Again, this was a new project for me. I’ve never done a Dresden Plate. I haven’t put the circle in the middle yet because I can’t decide which fabric I want to use.

I also bought one of the Acufactum books and there are so many cute little star pillows, so I had to make one of those.

For the backing, I used my grandma’s old bedspread that had a few holes in it. I absolutely LOVE the way all of my Acufactum projects are turning out. If these fabrics grab your attention, check out Willow Cottage Quilt Co and join the club. I’d love to see what you make! I need more ideas since the fabrics are coming every month!

These are the fabrics for January. I made my Dresden Plate. I’m making one each month, so I’ll have a whole quilt by the end of the year.

Love, love, love these fabrics. I just got my monthly shipment and it’s sitting on my counter, waiting for me to open it! I can’t wait to see what’s inside!

Happy sewing!

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Well, I started thinking about it and found that it’s hard to pin down EXACTLY what I’m all about. I guess I could say that I’m all about home, family, and educating others. It comes back to how I was raised, my bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and Family and Consumer Science (formerly known as Home Economics), and my master’s in reading and literacy. My second blog is all about reading and literacy in early childhood education.

Over the years, I’d say I’ve been leaning into sewing and quilting more. There are more frequent blog posts about my latest projects, quilts I’m working on, and machine embroidery projects that I’m attempting.

I post a lot of works in progress on my Instagram account, as well as finished quilts. Other people’s pictures on Instagram are usually my inspiration for trying a new pattern. As I scroll, something will catch my eye and I know I need to make something similar in the near future.

Recently, I’ve been learning how to longarm my own quilts. I took a class at Quilting Mayhem. They have longarm machines that you can rent, once you’ve taken their class, for $15 an hour..

My husband just got the Grace Little Cutie quilting frame for me for Christmas. It works with my regular sewing machine. It does not have quite the same abilities as a longarm, but it does some pretty cool things that I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

In addition to quilting, I’d say I’m also all about machine embroidery. I discovered Kimberbell and then it was all over. I got sucked into a new quilting/embroidery machine.

I tend to do a lot of projects that combine quilting and machine embroidery, just because it’s fun.

Making my house feel like a home is one of the ways I tend to show my family love. I love to bake my own breads, muffins, and cookies.

I was baking my own bread before baking bread was cool.

I’ve been making my own jam for many years. This year I added applesauce and peaches to the canning “to do” list.

I can’t forget to mention the garden. I spend most of my summer outside. If the sunshine is out, so am I. Gardening is something I learned from my mom. There is nothing better than picking a few things from the garden and then eating them for dinner.

I guess, it’s hard to sum up what I’m really all about. I can’t exactly say I’m all about homesteading because we don’t have a lot of property. But, I do enjoy a lot of things I find on homesteading accounts. I love to do all of the things my mom and grandma taught me. I love the old fashioned, slow living, type of lifestyle. I love to cook, bake, sew, quilt, garden, can, and spend time making my house feel like a home for the people I love.

Years ago, when I first started my blog, I wrote. “At the end of the day, it’s all about home and family.” I guess that still holds true.

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I married my high school sweetheart. (Awwww.) We have wonderful support from our family and friends. We moved into a neighborhood that my sister and my husband’s sister live in. The kids have all grown up together, even going to the same school.

I love animals.  I’d have more, if I could convince my better half half that it was a good idea.  I’d have two dogs, a handful of chickens, and two bunnies. Russell is our Sheepadoodle and he has brought so much joy to our lives during thepandemic. He’s a total goofball.

Willow is our Goldendoodle. She can to us, suddenly, when a good friend passed away unexpectedly. She loves to cuddle and is happiest when she’s sitting on my lap.

Of course, we can’t forget Steve the stickbug or Peanut the turtle. They live in my classroom, most of the time, but they live at home during long weekends and breaks from school.

I’m in love with bunnies. Our most recent bunny is named Gus Gus. He loves to sit on my shoulder, nibble bits of banana, and doesn’t mind slobbery kisses from the dogs.

Our kids are our whole lives, as I’m sure is the case with most parents.

My oldest Graduated from Glacier Peak a few years ago and now works in construction. His end goal is to become a general contractor and run his own company. He is learning from a friend of our family who treats him like one of his own kids. We feel so fortunate that he has a mentor like this. He loves sports, country music, and going to concerts.

My youngest is full of spunk.  She has been that way since the day she was born.  She spent her first 2 weeks of her life, at Children’s Hospital, fighting for every breath.  She suffered from seizures and we were told that she had probably had a stroke.  The hospital staff prepared us to “care for her” since they expected she would be developmentally delayed from the lack of oxygen and her stroke.  Day by day, year by year, we realized that all of that “worst case scenario stuff” was a scenario we would not know as our reality.  We’re glad she’s a fighter and wouldn’t change her spunk or personality for anything.  She’s a perfectly healthy (except for the cyst in her brain), normally developing, sixteen year old girl.  She is headed to Western Washington University and wants to be a speech therapist.

I should probably mention something that has had a HUGE impact on my life. I had a stroke not too long ago. It was what they call an “injury related” stroke. Basically, I tipped my head in the wrong direction and snapped something in my neck, causing a stroke. In the emergency room they told me that only 1% of all strokes are this type. It’s like I won the stroke lottery. It has affected me in many ways but the most impactful things have been dizzy spells, days where Vertigo is relentless, memory issues, and speech aphasia. My physical therapist always said that they were things that I noticed, but other people couldn’t really point out. So, I guess that’s good. I share this with people because sometimes I have dizzy spells and need to catch my balance. It’s good that people are aware and not just wondering why Mrs. Ross keeps tipping over in the classroom.

I learned a love of gardening from my mom.  She always had a vegetable garden, tons of raspberries, and apple trees in our yard. I have good memories of weeding and working in the yard together, picking veggies from the garden, the smell of freshly canned fruit when I came home from school, and blowing bugs off the berries as I picked them.  My mom would always end up with a huge pan of berries, at the end of berry picking, and I would only have a handful.  I preferred to eat as I picked, and still do.

My home and garden are my happy places.  I love sitting on the deck, on a warm summer day. First and foremost, my yard is kid and dog friendly.  If I end up with a few flowers at the end of a football game, I consider it a bonus.  My kids, hubby, and I gardened together when the kids were younger. Now, it’s pretty much a two person job. I’ll bet you can guess which two do most of the work.

It came as no surprise to my family, when I went off to college, that I majored in Family and Consumer Science (formerly known as Home Ec.), and earned my teaching certificate.  I have endorsements in Family and Consumer Science, Early Childhood, Reading, and K-8 Education. Family and Consumer Science is a true passion of mine.  I love to cook, bake, sew, and basically do anything that seems to be a “traditional” female role.

FCS isn’t just about cooking, baking, and being a homemaker. Family and Consumer Science provides individuals and families with knowledge that helps people make informed decisions about their well being, relationships, and resources to achieve a high quality of life. The field represents many areas, including human development, family finance, housing and interior design, food science, nutrition, wellness, textiles, apparel, family relations and dynamics, and consumer issues.  I’m a member of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS), as well as a member of the Washington chapter (WAFCS). I find the early childhood/human development aspect of FCS to be the most interesting, but all of the areas have components I’m drawn to. 
Family and Consumer Science is all about improving the quality of your life. In my opinion, we can improve the quality of our lives through home arts. Creating a healthy, happy, and comfortable home gives us a soft place to land at the end of the day. I want my kids to have good memories of their time at home. I want them to remember the smell of warm cookies coming out of the oven, the taste of homemade bread with butter and jam, and remember all of the projects and experiences we had as a family. My love of home life leads right into my love of learning!

As much as I love my home life, I have another passion. I teach. I teach little people to love learning and especially love literacy. I became a member of NAEYC (National Association of Education of Young Children) a few years ago and I have continued to grow in my learning about early childhood with each passing month. I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I was when I was asked to present at a NAEYC conference in 2014. Dream. Come. True.

I absolutely love children’s books, and teaching reading and writing, using children’s literature. I earned my Master’s degree in reading and literacy, in 2000. It was a game changer for me. I had always been very interested in math and science, as a teacher. I didn’t feel as well equipped to teach reading and writing. I didn’t like to read as a child and I was FAR from being a writer, as an adult. I was trying to teach my kids to become life long readers and writers, but hated doing those things myself. After spending two years, doing intense research and writing papers on reading and writing, I had a much better understanding of the way young children learned. I had a clear picture of where I wanted to go with my teaching. I became very interested in Guided Reading, teaching with a balanced reading model, and especially Writer’s Workshop.

In 2004, just after my daughter was born, my school district started our Collaborative Literacy Project. It started as a group of teachers, dedicated to literacy, involved in extensive training, who would become literacy leaders in our school district.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be involved in the program.  I’ve been able to observe amazing teachers, discuss best practices, receive training and resources, and eventually become a demonstration classroom, hosting teachers from within my school district as well as neighboring school districts.  I don’t claim to be an expert in literacy, but it’s truly a passion of mine, and I’m thrilled to share my beliefs about literacy with others.

I have thousands of books in my collection and can’t seem to stop adding to it. I’m always finding new mentor texts to use with my young readers and writers.  I love to teach units of study, where we can dive into a specific author or genre.  I’m always shocked at the amazing conversations we have, even in kindergarten, around the books we are using in our units of study.  Kids can be such brilliant thinkers!

As I continued to learn about early childhood education, I became very interested in Reggio Emilia.  I love the inquiry, transparency, and reflective nature of  Reggio Inspired work.  Through my work on my blogs, I’m hoping to research and continue to grow in my understanding and implementation of these practices in my own classroom. I joined the NAREA (North American Reggio Emilia Alliance) a few years ago and have received some fabulous resources from this professional organization. Someday a study tour in Reggio Emilia, Italy, will DEFINITELY happen.

We all have our passions in life.  My passions are home, family, family and consumer science, early childhood, and literacy.  My blogs try to encompass all of these areas.  The mission of the AAFCS is to help people improve the quality of their lives.  My blogs are about helping people make literacy and home life priorities, thus improving the quality of life.  Isn’t that what it’s all about?  At the end of the day, it’s all about home and family.

Thanks for joining me on this journey.  I write from my heart and hopefully you’ll find a few pretty pictures too.

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The Pacific Northwest garden can be a challenge sometimes. We tend to get a lot of rain in the spring and early summer. Hello… we are known for that in the Seattle area! But, this summer has been a garden dream come true for Pacific Northwest gardeners! It hasn’t been too hot, but we’ve had a lot of sun!

When we first moved into our house, almost 20 years ago, There were two big maple trees and this brick “roundy-round” as I call it. There was nothing in it, but it was the sunniest part of the yard. I decided that half of this area would be perennials that were well known to be good in Pacific Northwest gardens. The other half would be our veggies and herbs. As the trees have gotten taller, over the years, this area has gotten a bit shady. I’ve had to get creative with planters, placed around the yard.

I’ve recently added two raised bins, just for strawberries. I was searching for 2 different varieties of berries that grow well in the Pacific Northwest garden and discovered Ozark and typical Juneberring. They are both amazing. There is nothing like a berry that is red all the way through, as they are meant to be. I don’t grow enough to make jam. I still have to buy flats from the local farmer’s markets, but I get enough to snack on.

Basil is my absolute favorite herb, but it does not like our wet Pacific Northwest gardens. I ALWAYS plant it too soon. Then, it rots and withers away, forcing me to replant. Once the warm and dry weather sets in, my basil always does great. I devote another raised bin just to basil. I make my own pesto and we use basil in a lot of dinner recipes.

Is there anything that goes better with basil than tomatoes? I think not! Honestly, I only have three tomato plants each year, so I grow enough tomatoes to eat while I’m out watering. Once in a while, I might share with my family, but I don’t think any of them love tomatoes as much as I do anyway.

There are lots of other areas around my yard that come to life in the summer. This area used to be shaded by the neighbors trees, but they recently had them removed, making for a great flower cutting garden!

I’m not sure why the hydrangeas in my backyard are slow to bloom this year, but they are finally starting. I just counted and I have 15 hydrangea plants in my front and backyards. I guess I’m pretty fond of them!

Happy Pacific Northwest gardening!

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I’ve been working on a new quilt, using LOTS of half square triangles, for the past few weekends. If you aren’t familiar with half square triangles, they are used in a ton of different quilt patterns but aren’t always as easy as they seem. Personally, I have a love/hate relationship with half square triangles. I absolutely love the way they look in quilts. I love the contrast between lights and darks. There are no curves involved in half square triangles. (I will avoid curves at all cost.) The only problem is that they can sometimes turn out wonky. You need to be sure you use a perfect 1/4″ seem, make your cuts carefully, and then be sure to press carefully. If you iron, it can pull the fabric in different directions. I’ve actually been using a tailor’s clapper, lately, after pressing. That’s a tool that really seems to help. More on that in another post.

I’m not going to lie, there is a lot of trimming when it comes to half square triangles. Every single square needs to be trimmed to be sure it’s squared up. There are little dog ears that also need to be cut off. So, anything that makes this job easier, is awesome.

I bought the Clearly Perfect Slotted Trimmers. So far, I’m loving that each little triangle is perfect.

This is the work in progress on my half square triangle quilt. It also shows my portable design wall. I don’t really know what my portable design wall is, but I bought it at Lowe’s and it’s basically a piece of styrofoam with a shiny silver topping. I pinned a piece of batting to it and then I can stick my half square triangles on it to see if I like the layout. Truth be told… on rainy days, my husband plays ball with the dog, up and down this hallway. If I want the half square triangles to stick, I have to pin them or just pick up the whole board and move it onto the dining room table. That’s the beauty of having a styrofoam design wall… it’s very light weight.

By the way, this super cute fabric is called Meander. It’s from Moda Fabrics. Look at those perfect half square triangles! The points even match up! Guys, this might be a first for me.

Happy quilting!

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I find myself struggling to pick just one look that I love. There are so many designers that I love. I love the look of Lori Holt’s quilts, but I wouldn’t say that I could do my whole house in that look. I’ve always loved Camille Roskelly’s fabrics, but she uses a lot more blue, navy, and aqua than I do. I also love the muted colors that Joanna Figueroa uses in her fabrics, but there’s no way I could exclude my other favorites and just use these colors. I’d say that the closest I’ve come to finding a designer that is truly “me” is French General. Reds and tans are my fabric love language. I make a lot of quilts with those fabrics, but I regularly intersperse with my other favorite designers. I’m always a little excited when I’m making a quilt as a gift because it’s so much fun to shop for fabrics that are not my norm.

I found the Farm Girl Vintage book on Instagram, after I saw the adorable Baking Day block.  I fell in love and HAD to have the pattern.  This was the first block I completed in this awesome sampler.

The Canning Season block was just too cute to pass up.  I finished this one second.

The blocks were very simple to make.  I wouldn’t call it a beginning quilt, but it’s a good project for an intermediate quilter.

There are so many blocks to choose from.  The barn block is another favorite and it’s been on my “to do” list for quite a long time. A word of caution… when you are looking for a block, double and triple check which size you are making and be sure it fits with your quilt. I made a couple of errors that could have easily been prevented if I had just checked my measurements before starting to cut my pieces. Let’s just say that the book is correct. This happens to be a user error. Ugh.

I’ve been using a variety of vintage-ish fabrics and I finally ordered some Bee Lori fabrics too. I’m so excited to use those. I think it’s time to start cutting into the vintage fabrics and get sewing on this project again! (I currently have 3 baby quilts and a lap size quilt in the works that are all gifts which need to be finished!) Like I said, I need more hours in the day.

I’m promising myself some quality time with my sewing machine this coming weekend! Lately, I’ve been piecing more than I’ve been embroidering. I’m hoping to get my gifts finished up soon so I can keep going with my Farm Girl Vintage.

Happy sewing!

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