BUBBLE....BUBBLE....TOIL and TROUBLE

Today, Fri. Oct. 2nd, I surprised Judy at The Cinnamon Stick

for Witch"s Nite Out. I didn't tell her I was coming and she was surprised. I dressed in a hastily put together witch's outfit and drove the 91 miles. OMG----her shop is so awesome........all decked out in fall and halloween goodies. I picked out some neat ornaments and old fashioned orange tinsel. There were so many witches roaming around and a lot of cackling going on. What fun!!!! Judy....you are so clever and creative....I enjoyed myself immensely! Definitely a destination shop....and the shop next door, Homespun, lovely wools and all my favorite pattern designers. It was hard to pick just a few. Can't wait for the Christmas Open House.

POST HERITAGE FESTIVAL PICS

Here are a few pics of my stand when I participated in the Heritage Festival of our little town of Benton, PA.














I used my collection of traditional quilts that I have made over the years and covered all the tables. These are baskets of fat quarters all in small calico-like prints. I only brought things that looked like they were from that time period. I also had some enamelware buckets filled with rolled up wool, but I didn't get a picture of those.



The top shelf here is redwork patterns and supplies and the lower shelves are enamelware pans filled with an assortment of tea.




























I travelled the back roads around our farm and gathered about 24 fresh herb bunches and displayed them in old blue mason jars lined up on the tables. This seemed a fitting sign.
























Here are the herbs that were used during the Civil War in our area. I used wooden clothespins and attached tags with the herb name and what they were used for. Everybody thought it was pretty neat.



























I also clipped lavender, chamomile, bee balm and mints from
my garden. My stand was very colorful and smelled heavenly.

COMPUTER CRASH

Well........not really a crash but the next thing to it. I downloaded an ezine in April and really enjoyed the magazine and wanted to get the next issue. So I clicked on the website and when it came up something about hackers was on the screen. So.......dummy me thinks the computer forgot where it was going and I went for a second try on the website and same thing.....hackers. Needless to say........I got a virus....well, not 1 but 9 viruses. I was trying to get on Blogger and it (Blogger) would not let me in because the viruses were sending messages trying to infect more computers. Blogger sent me a note that said there was some unauthorized action going on and to protect the other users of the site I would not be allowed in. WOW! That is how I found out about the viruses because my computer was still working but everything was loading very slowly and getting slower everyday. So.......I installed an antivirus program (90 day free trial) and everything is good again. You can be sure after the 90 days I will subscribe.

HERITAGE FESTIVAL

On Sat. July 25 from 9am-10pm and Sun. July 26 from 9am-4pm the Fishing Creek Confederacy Heritage Festival will be going on in the town of Benton. There will be civil war reenactments, a theatrical production, 1860's activities, professional musicians playing civil war music and period crafts and demonstrations. I will be there to showcase herbs used during the civil war. I will gather fresh herb bouquets and display them with a card with the then and now of herbal lore. I am also bringing some books on civil war quilts with fat quarters to sell and traditional rughooking and wool for pennyrugs. Everyone will be in period costumes and I am making a working day dress for one of the leaders of the group and my costume will be a little more fancy (because I am a merchant whose husband has died in the war and I took over his business as the village druggist) with a hoop skirt and zoave jacket with undersleeves and a reticule (which is a small purse hung from the waistband) and bonnets, of course. So........my shop will be closed on Sat. the 25 of July. Come visit at the festival.

UNCLE SAM & LADY LIB

My friends and I would like to wish everyone a very happy and safe 4th of July. In our small town we have a bluegrass festival going on July 2-5 and it is very busy at all the restaurants and shops. I will have my shop open and won't be going to town until the evening. There is also a big fireworks show at midnight Sat. night (I think). I never find things out until the last minute. Anyways..........Happy July 4th........Long may she wave!

RHUBARB PUNCH RECIPE

Here is a clever use for an old spindle bobbin. I have a lot of them all with different colors of thread wound on. I put a simple bouquet (to match the thread) in the hole in the top and wound some rusty wire around the top with a loop for hanging. For a splash of color, a strip of homespun would look cool. Isn't she sweet? I like to make my dolls versatile. I will sew the hands together and then I have a place for a seasonal ornament such as now with the bouquet of daisies or a flag or both. In the fall she will look great with a small pumpkin tucked in her arms. At Christmas, I make stick trees and she can hold one of those.

So, a couple of months ago I promised a recipe for Rhubarb Punch. Well, I made some and am offering samples in the shop this weekend. It is delicious. My significant other keeps asking for some, so I made him a batch too! I have a cupful here next to the computer as I'm working right now.

RHUBARB PUNCH RECIPE

Simmer 1 to 1 1/4 cups sugar in 2 cups cold fresh water just til sugar dissolves (5 min.). Let cool and put into a large pouring container.

Simmer 2 lbs. (about 6 cups) fresh or frozen rhubarb* diced in 1/2" pieces in 4 cups cold fresh water about 10 min. covered.

Turn off the heat and let steep covered til lukewarm then strain into the large container with the sugar syrup you made earlier.

Add 5 - 6 more cups cold fresh water, refrigerate til cold---stir and ENJOY ! ! !

I garnished with fresh lemon balm and mint would be nice too! Let me know what you think!

*I have fresh rhubarb that I froze already diced in 2 lb. packs in the shop.

SCRAPPY BUCKEYE BEAUTY QUILT BLOCK

This is the buckeye beauty block, but if you look close it is the jacob's ladder block x4. In most of the block patterns that I have looked at the the dark triangle is on the outside of the block---well---I liked it better on the inside of the block next to the dark 4-patch. So--what I am doing is packing the 3 colors together for each block and each pack will make two 6 1/2" jacob's ladder blocks. Each pack is also numbered so you can purchase them in order and not get any duplicates. There is also enough fabric for a scrappy border and binding. The pattern is free with your first pack purchase. And just make as many as you want, start and stop anytime. When I have enough blocks (12) made I will arrange them (3x4) into a top with the borders and binding. If I have enough people interested, I will offer a 2-3 hr. workshop on speed piecing--I can make 8 jacob's ladder blocks in about an hour.

SUSQUAHANNAH STASH DASH

A selection of Christmas fat quarters.

A sampling of everyday fat quarters.

More fat quarters........hundreds to choose from.

The quilt shops in northern Columbia County in NE PA are having their first annual spring shop hop. It's called the Susquahannah Stash Dash. There are 7 shops involved and it runs from June 5-14. I am NOT involved in the shop hop so you don't need to come here with your passport, but during this time I will be having a fabric sale........fat quarters will be only $1 each, but you have to buy a minimum of 10 for that price..........Americana coordinated fabric packs will be half price.........Bolts and flat-fold fabrics will be 25% off the marked price..........20% off all quilt and doll books and patterns..........Please call if you need directions to the store 570-458-6968. There are written directions from different areas in the Apr. 03, 09 blog titled "A Nice Drive in the Country".

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD QUILT

In Sept. of '08 an awesome group of four quilters formed the Northern Columbia Quilt Guild. Over the course of the last 10 months a wonderful woman, Lorraine, did a presentation and told stories about the underground railroad during the meetings. The blocks were drafted in 4 sizes by another wonderful woman named Carolyn. This is my version of the quilt. It looks a lot better in real time. I got to admire my handiwork for 1 week only because someone already bought the quilt. That would have been one I would have liked to keep, it was really beautiful and graphic because of the dark background. I made another one in pinks and browns in a different setting and size. It is on the quilt rack right now. After its done I'll get a picture and tell you THAT story.

MAMA SOW and PIGLETS

My pictures are out of order. This is a pic of the garden after the brave little piglets (shown below) came for a visit. They rooted around in the mulch and disturbed the newspaper weed blocker. What a messs......thanks little guys! This spring our pig sow had a litter of piglets and they are the cutest little guys. Look at how tiny they are compared to the mama!

I think Mama is trying to hide or maybe she's just keeping her nose warm. Look how each little piglet is a different color. At about three weeks old the piglets were getting brave and coming out of the pen. They would go exploring in the barnyard and run at every noise.

Getting ready for summer! HIP HIP HOORAY!