I LOVE MY CUSTOMERS.....

for lots of reasons, here is just a couple of them ....... ! My customer came this morning to pick up her quilt, and brought me 2 boxes of homemade caramel rolls ... they were still warm..... well, there is only one box left now. I also can thank her for helping me get my calcium today, as there is nothing better with a warm, fresh, homemade caramel roll than a cold glass of milk ! Oh.... they were SO delicious !

 

Now for a peak at her quilt..... this is just one corner, but I think she had 20 cross-stitched blocks in this quilt. She wanted an all over quilting design, so that means one color of thread and that means a decision ! Well, this one was easy..... white thread, so it "goes away" and doesn't interfere with the cross-stitching, it just gives the backround some nice texture. Usually I like matching my quilting thread with the fabric color, but quilting white thread over the maroon sashing and borders and the dark green stop border all looked great, and really spread the white throughout the quilt and "tied" it all together. Who says you can't quilt over cross-stitching ? !

Let's give a big Hip Hip Hooray for Piecers and their Caramel Rolls !

Junkfest...

Now, just because this is my second post of the day, don't think this will be a habit...

Junkfest ( one of my favorite events ! ) was a couple weeks ago... and 3 of us peeps went.  I reviewed the some of the rules:

1.  No heels  ( there is a need to be comfortable AND swift... ! )

2. Large Vehicle ( you will probably need the space ! )

3. Only 3 peeps per vehicle  ( more peeps - more vehicles - more room)

4. Leave by 7 am ( or 7 am-ish)

so here we are headed north for the 45 minute drive.  Brenda on the left, Linda on the right.  I'll be the backseat driver...

Made the first stop at the Junk 'n Java house by 8 am....  They have a very nice set up there and lots of neat things ! Between the 2 gray sheds ( which are full of great junk for sale...) is a firepit seating area, all fenced in,  very cozy and cute.  I should have taken a pic of that !    This year I bought a 3 gallon redwing crock here.

We are at the front of the line ( almost !) waiting to get in.  Check out the additional vendors, all the quonsets on the left were full, and all the white tents and others out in the open.  The Junk Fest girls are in a quonset to the right of this photo. 

My son and DIL came too, and brought little Rylind.  He seems pretty impressed by the whole affair !   It was chilly out that morning so he was glad to have his hat on, knitted by his auntie Ariel !

Here are some of the crowd waiting to get in.  Glad I was at the front of the line....but with that comes pressure, you want to be quick so you don't get run over by the eager Junk-finders !   note the ratio of men to women ??

The inside happenings in the Junk Fest quonset.  Rule # 1 here is:  If you see something you like, you had probably better buy it, 'cause it won't be here when you come back for it !   Check out the porch post little seating area there.... I have 3 fully restored posts like this and have a plan for 2 of them.   Any suggestions on what to do with the 3rd ?

My Junk Fest Peeps... Linda & Brenda.  Ready to go again next year, girls ?   I AM !   It was a blast !

Here is an old wood box that I would like to make sometime to my specifications.... I like the style, but would like to use it as a recycling center, and fit several kitchen sized trash bins inside for cans, bottles, etc.... below is another one I like...

That's Linda in front....get out of the way so I can see my bin  (  just kidding......☺)  I really like the color of this one.   I was tempted, but better stick to my guns and build one to fit.

and here is what I ended up with.... my crock, a little nightstand/dresser,  what I thought at first glance was a doll crib, but when I found out it really was a magazine rack, I still wanted it.   It will match a black bookcase I bought here a few years ago ( see an earlier Junkfest post )  and...  I am really excited about this.... the green foldable outdoor table.  It folds up like a tv tray, but it is BIG !   well, not huge, but bigger than a tv tray !  I can just see it on a porch......

Ok... that's my documentary on Junk Fest...    check them out   http://www.junk-fest.com/   They are fun gals with great junk and ideas !

It's Almost October.....

and here is a little early Halloween "candy" to look at:  a new thing... this is a fireplace mantle quilt....

 this is the left side of it, with the owls, cat and ghost sitting on a limb, and the bats hanging from it....

 the middle, with a witch flying in front of the full moon,

and the end of the mantle quilt .. "Trick or Treat", Mr. Bones and of course & JACK !

This looks so cute on a fireplace mantle, but, I thought, I need to find more uses for these stitches !  So, I figured out a way to add a rod pocket to the top, and it can be a window valance.  Also, with a little pattern manipulation I can make it into a table runner with scallops and designs on both sides.... I think I really need to make one of those for myself !

It's time to play Catch Up ! or is it Ketchup ?

ok... I've been awol long enough, and probably like you, can't believe how fast this summer has been flying by. I've been busy with the usual.... family ( a new grandson was added ! ☺ ) and the old one ( 6 ! ) was here for over a month ...having fun with Grandma and Grandpa...taking swimming lessons, sailing with Grandpa..... quilting..... the band..... So now, I intend to get back to blogging, and will share some pics about our adventures.

You may have heard in the news... we have still been having flooding in North Dakota... seems every year now there is a problem, and not only has it been affecting Fargo, ( not so much Grand Forks anymore, because after the 1997 flood, they fixed that ! ) but now Minot and Bismarck, Valley City, not to mention many smaller towns, and Devils Lake, which just keeps rising and when it gets much higher, will find it's own outlet and be disasterous for much of the state. Anyway... this leads into a little event that we put on, our Not so annual USFEST. We have had a couple in the past, up at our other Money Pit ( at my old hometown) where we are fixing up an old 1917 home ( more blogging material......) . Well, in June, we have our annual Missoui River Bluegrass Festival on, where else..... Cross Ranch State Park on the Missouri River. You know, the one Lewis and Clark and .......was it Sea Bisquit ? the dog..... anyway, we are a big Lewis and Clark state... I digress. Well, the Missouri River, being one of the new areas of the state to flood now, was just reaching it's crest when the fesitval was to take place, so therefore, the festival had to be canceled. Well... what to do ? So many of us had taken time off of work to attend, so we still wanted to get together, and started looking around for a centrally located campsite that had openings and would let us jam all nite long. Well, there wasn't too many campgrounds around that weren't flooded, and of course all of them have a noise curfew, so I offered up our little place to have it. We just happen to have put up some full service campsites up there a couple years ago to accommodate all the wind generator workers ( we are now in the middle of a wind farm..... more blogging material for later....) so we had the perfect set up. About the noise ordinance ? Well there isn't one. There are only about 24 people in town and 26 when I and the DH are up there, well, that is an estimate... but we did double the population and made some pretty darn good music ! It was a great time and I hope we can do it again sometime ! !

This is Mel from Canada. He plays some awesome mando, guitar and banjo ! And he has the nicest wife Sheila.

Here are some of my friends from around town. I think we made Bluegrass lovers out of them ! They're asking when the next USFEST will be......One of our small town sunsets...

kind of a dark picture, but here we are jammin' all night long ( gotta love a small town). We put up a canopy to keep the sprinkles out, and of course have to put up the icicle lights for ambiance !

John and Joe.... father and son banjo pickers ! Gotta have a bass player ! we were lucky and had 4 in attendance !

Here we are in the middle of a bluegrass song. I'm the one on the far left - kinda in the backround....to my left are Linda and Terry, members of our band, Spiritwood Creek. You can see the back of another member, Carrie, she's the blonde with the teal dress on... check out the next picture....

Carrie modeling an old dress we found in the house ( it was my parent's home ).. I think it may be my Grandma Johnson's... and is probably from the '40's or 50's. Let me tell you, it is in awesome condition and the style is really cute.. it could be worn to any formal function today and still look in style. I only wish it fit me ! Picture taken inside the house. I am not too attached to the paint color, so it won't be there much longer. The stairway will, however !

ok... that is enough for now... if you have time, do an internet search on the Minot flood, it is just devastating. Minot hometown boy Josh Duhamel ( Vegas, the Transformer movies ) is hosting a benefit there in Sept. It is a Black-eyed Peas concert- he is married to Fergie . Hope it raises LOTS of money for the flood victims !

well... I am off to a Bluegrass festival in Minnesota ( more blogging material ) this weekend.... don't you think that this is all I did this summer.... I had already quilted more quilts by May of this year than I did all of last year ...... and of course, that is more blogging material, yet to come !

have a great weekend everyone !

AMY BARICKMAN GIVEAWAY !

Check out this great giveaway from Amy Barickman..... Don't you just love redwork? Check out her post here. LOVE LOVE LOVE these colors !

Rustic Log Quilt Ladder

Fresh from the Mystical forests of Lake Country, Minnesota.........
Don't you just love my new quilt ladder ? My brother custom made it for me from wood on his own property. He has been busy building custom chairs, benches, swings, tables, kitchen island/buffet for people, and they are just beautiful !

As you can see, mine can hold alot of quilts/runners and has 4 rungs. He will build them to suit whatever size you need. so, in case anyone is interested.... contact me for more information !

Don't you just love brothers ! Soon I will post some special pictures of my other brother's creations !