Table Runners

A few day ago I wrote about spending a lot of time sewing. I have finished a couple of table runners and thought I'd post some photos.

Remember my post about using a  die cutter to cut up some of my stash and how I ended up with this pile of 5" squares?

Here's a table runner I've made from just a small part of that pile: (I made this one for my sister.)

I made just a little label for the back. 

I like how using the same fabric as the backing blends in so well.

I bought a charm pack called Breeze from my one (so far) visit to The Missouri Star Quilt Company. I just love the colors. This is the table runner I made from that: (I made this one for my daughter.)

For both of these table runners I sewed the binding on the back and brought it around to the front and sewed it with a running zig-zag top-stitch. I like the added texture and it's a bit more durable.

It feels good to finish some projects. And yes, I already have the next one laid out and ready to go. :)

The Bounty of a Golf Game

Last Saturday Hubby and I went golfing. But remember I don't golf? I drive the cart and make snarky comments. Saturday was a blustery day for sure. It was barely 60 degrees and quite windy. I was very chilly by the end of the game. Maybe I should have worn shoes and socks rather than these:

I like these shoes (I like them so much, I have two pairs in two different colors) and they are very comfy, but don't work so great on a blustery day.

But overall, it was a beautiful day and I love spending the time with my hubby.

Hubby's score wasn't what he wished it could be, but he did find four golf balls along the way! I think he came out about even between the balls found and the balls that went off to be lost in the water or the weeds.

Since we live smack in the middle of rural America, the golf course is surrounded by corn fields and soybean fields. A few times while hubby was putting on the green, I wandered into the cornfields and found some fall decorations:

(I have a feeling that those smaller and deformed ears of corn are a result of the drought around here.)

In other news, the farmer that works the field next to our house harvested his field this week.

So before he plowed everything under, I wandered around a small corner of the field nearest to our house and picked up these:

I spent a little time this afternoon taking all those kernels off the cobs. Now I have two pie plates full of corn.

Still not exactly sure what I am going to do with all this. Do my readers have any ideas?

A couple more pictures to add. I was amused to watch the farmer plowing the field yesterday. Well, I was mostly amused to see the huge flock of seagulls following him around the field.

I believe the birds were enjoying a feast in the ground that the farmer was turning up. (If you are wondering why there are seagulls smack in the middle of rural America... this town has several good sized lakes and the nearest in probably a half a mile from this field.)

Just a peak into my life.

Blogging or Sewing...?

I seem to be able to spend my extra time either sewing or blogging. If I emphasize one, the other is neglected. Based on the fact that it's been a week since I blogged, it's safe to say I've been busy with sewing.

But never fear, I have a few post subjects in mind, so I will get back to this.

To make this post a little more interesting, I thought I'd throw in a couple of pictures that were on my phone:::

My sweet hubby brought me some roses a few days ago.  One red one and two yellow ones. This yellow one was particularly pretty, so I snapped a photo. 

 Hubby knows what a sucker I am for yellow roses. I carried them in our wedding.

 Oh gosh, who are those younguns? (and no, this photo wasn't on my phone, it's a bonus)

 

I saw this sign at a store a couple of weeks ago. Made me laugh. Maybe I should get one for my house. I think it's a good sentiment. What do you think???

Sketti Sauce Anyone?

Yesterday I set out to make a little spaghetti sauce from few the tomatoes we got from my parents' garden and our garden. I like to have some in the freezer for a quick meal of spaghetti with some browned italian sausage or use for some pizza sauce for homemade pizza.

I made a whole lot more than I thought I would.

Maybe I shouldn't have added those two cans of tomatoes I bought at the store. Oh well.

Like my label?

I think I'll fix spaghetti for supper tonight.

Fourteen Points on the 14th

I've been thinking about this blog all week, trying to figure out a specific subject to bore my readers with write about. Now it's Friday night and I haven't come up with anything. So I think that means a random-thought post is the solution:::

1. I've meant to write about our weekends for the last three or four weekends. Let's just do a little photo recap.

2. Mmmmm.... my favorite pizza was consumed last weekend. Love that thick wheat crust. They even have honey in the restaurant to squeeze into the crust. Mmmmm....

3. Several weekends ago we went to visit our parents. On Sunday we got to worship with my parents at the church where Hubby and I were married. We hadn't been there for a long time. It was good to be back and good to see a friend from high school days. I sneaked this photo during a prayer. Shhh... don't tell.

4. The skies on the drive back home were fantastic. There were several storm cells around us.

5. Labor Day weekend we had honest-to-goodness-real-live-company! Our daughter and son-in-law came for the weekend. (And Charley!)

6. We had fun at a picnic:

7. Someone had fun chasing a ball and a frisbee:::

8. And that puppy had even more fun hanging his head out the window. 

Seriously, doesn't he look so happy?  

 9. That puppy LOVED his Pup Cup at our local ice cream shop.

10. I can't even begin to say how much we enjoyed having Megan, Zach and Charley here for the weekend. We rarely get company so it was such a treat to plan and fix meals for them and just to have more voices in the house.

11. Have you ever started a project with a great goal in mind only when it was almost done you realized it's not going to turn out quite like you envisioned? I've been working on finishing up a quilt top I started while I was watching the Olympics. I think it is mostly the fabric I chose that is bugging me. I like the fabric, but just not for the pattern I am using. Hubby convinced me it will be a great take-outside quilt. So today I finished the borders. I guess I learned not everything turns out like I pictured in my head and what type of fabric works better for that specific pattern.

12. This weekend is a quite one at home. Hopefully I can finish the backing for my take-outside-quilt and get it ready to put in the mail to The Missouri Star Quilt Company on Monday. I've had two quilts quilted there and just love the work they do.

13. The city has put a ban on lawn watering due to the lack of rain. Right after Hubby (& Megan and
Zach) worked hard to re-seed part of the lawn that was dead due to the lack of rain. Ugh. All week long I have noticed county highway trucks filling up tanks from the fire hydrant on the corner of our property. Hmmmm... Should I let the city know where all their water is going? :)

14. I'm going for fourteen random comments, but can't really think of anything else, so this non-comment will have to suffice as a fill-in. :)

The Story

A little more than thirty years ago there was a couple of college students who were friends. They met through their involvement in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He was a driven engineering student with a passion for the college varsity marching band.

 She was studying about preschool aged children and still trying to figure out how exactly to be a good college student.

They knew each other beginning their freshman year in college. Over the next three years, they would talk some and go out for ice cream with the gang. (Well, when he felt like he could spare a few hours away from studying all that engineering.) (And she always had time to be out with the gang. Studying? ha.) Their third year in college led to a deeper friendship. He let her cry on his shoulder about another guy she liked. By spring, she called him her best friend. He said he would write her letters that summer. He did. Every single week. That summer they traveled across the state to attend the weddings of some friends. They held hands in the car. He came to see her one weekend in the summer. She realized she was in love with him. She was afraid to tell him, afraid he would not like something more than their friendship. She wrote him a letter. Back at college in the fall of their fourth year, he told her he didn't want anything more than a friendship. She was confused. She asked if they could go for a walk one night after the IVCF meeting. He agreed. Then wandered onto central campus and ended up sitting on a concrete bench underneath the campanile. They talked. And talked. And talked. Then, to her surprise (and delight) he kissed her. Right there on that concrete bench under the campanile.

She could barely sleep that night because of the smile on her face. But she was quite nervous the next day that he would tell her it was a mistake. He came to her dorm room and she asked if he was sorry he kissed her. His answer was to kiss her again. They decided to date. Like, officially boyfriend and girlfriend date.

She called her parents to tell them that her relationship with him had changed. Her dad asked her what had made it changed. She said the boy had kissed her. Her dad said, "Oh you mean you sucked face?" (Her dad was referring to the movie On Golden Pond. You can see the scene in this clip. It starts at 35 seconds in.)


The day of that kiss under the campanile was thirty years ago today. The boy and the girl got married, had two children, have moved six times, raised and launched and married off those two children, and have just been through a lot of life together. Side by side. Him and her. She and he. Kissing.

&

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. In your opinion what's the most important job in the world? Oh, and parenting is a given so besides parenting, what's the most important job in the world?

I would have to say Farmers. If not for them, where would we get our food? If you haven't yet read my post about some friends of ours from college days who are farmers, click here and make sure you watch the video. You'll be glad you did.

2. Share a favorite or not so favorite memory from a childhood birthday.

I loved that my mom made cut-up shape cakes for our birthdays. We got to pick out from a book what we wanted and she would make it for us. It was so exciting to come into the kitchen the morning of my birthday and see the magical cake!

3rd Birthday (A Rocking Horse Cake)

4th Birthday (A Dog Cake)

5th Birthday (A Giraffe Cake)

3. Peanut butter-crunchy or smooth? 

Crunchy for sure! I want to try to make my own peanut butter. I doubt putting some peanuts in my food processor and hitting the button will be very hard. I think that's all I'll need to do, besides possibly adding a little oil and a little salt. Some recipes I've seen have called for honey, but I don't care for peanut butter that is too sweet.

4. William Butler Yeats is credited as saying, "Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing." Your thoughts?
Personally, I think growing or learning to be a better person, is painful. When I look back after I've been through one of those growth periods, I'm thankful and (sometimes) understand the purpose of the growing season.  But more often I don't always understand the purpose. But I trust God. I am happy when my eyes are on God. If you want to read more, I expounded on this in this post.

5. What's something that makes you cringe?

Watching Funniest Home Videos. Especially when it shows people doing not-very-smart-stunts.

6. Name a song that always puts you in a good mood? 

Mandisa's song Good Morning (I posted the video yesterday) or Mary Mary's Shackles. (I guess that was two songs...)

7. The answer is yes. What's the question?
Am I looking forward to cooler weather?

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I have a texting buddy that I am so thankful for. She and I were friends eons ago when Hubby and I first got married. She and I sat next to each other in the alto section of the church choir. Then we moved, and they moved, and we moved, and they... well,. somewhere in there we lost touch for several years. About 4 years ago, I got and email from her. We live 370 miles apart and we've only seen each other a couple of times, but we text often. I just love it! Sort of a modern day pen-pal.

His Mercy Flows In The Morning

Good Morning!!

This music video seems very appropriate for this Monday morning.

What? It's not Monday? Sure feels like it!

Anyway, crank up your speakers and feel free to dance around the room!

(Sorry if that's too many exclamation points for so early in the morning.)