Farm Girl Vintage, Country Fair quilt

I posted about this "Country Fair" quilt a few weeks ago, when I finished the top.

My wonderful quilter/friend, Cindy Paulson, machine quilted it for me, and I just finished binding it.

These are my favorite blocks from the book "Farm Girl Vintage".

I love making star blocks, the one on the left is called "Autumn Star".

The "Scrappy Maple Leaf" block reminds me of Canada, my home and native land!

"Mama Hen" reminds me of two of my children who have chickens who lay eggs, but they're not golden :) Ha ha! 

"Canning Season" is a great block, I used to love canning when my children lived at home and I had a garden.

"Old Glory", because I became an American citizen seven years ago.

"Milking Day" reminds me of my daughter, because she owns a share in a cow named Patience.

She milks her once a week :)

"Scrappy Strawberry", I love a juicy red California strawberry!

"Penny Pig" is adorable, I made my granddaughter a couple of stuffed pigs for Christmas last year.

"Baking Day", I do a lot of that!

The blue bowl represents a beautiful blue Fire King bowl that my daughter Rebecca gave me for Mother's Day one year.

The green bowl represents Jadeite, my daughter Lindsay has quite a collection.

The "Simple Star" block is not that simple, I sewed a 6" postage stamp block in the middle.

I love the numbers background too :)

"Pie Cherries" is my husband's favorite pie and my favorite fruit.

"Woolly Sheep" was so cute, I just had to include him :)

See the gorgeous flower that Cindy quilted all over the quilt?

She's the best quilter!!!

I've always loved this Alexander Henry print, and it suits the Country Fair quilt perfectly!

I didn't have enough pear fabric for the back, so I added some Heather Bailey stripes which match the colors perfectly.

I really like scrappy backs too, don't you?

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

I'm thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ, for my wonderful family, including my thoughtful husband, my darling children and their spouses, my sweet grandchildren, my health, my talents, my wonderful friends, and so much more.

Farm Girl Vintage, Silo Barn mini quilts

Have I told you how much I love this book?  LOL

I'm making some Christmas gifts for my quilty friends.

I know that this friend loves Hallowe'en!

I made her this Silo Barn with a Patchwork Pumpkin.

The birds on the silo look like crows, very sinister!

The barn window is all about a costume contest and Hallowe'en Carnival :)

I saw this skeleton fabric at a quilt shop recently but only bought a fat quarter, I should have bought more!

Don't you love the color?

It looks like a minty green but not quite, it's very different.

I machine quilted the mini with a straight matchstick design.

I backed the mini silo with the cutest purple (a rich Hallowe'en color) skeleton print, and bound it with a bright orange polka dot.

I hope my friend screeches with delight when she opens her gift!

I made another silo barn for another quilty friend, it's more modern.

I'm not sure what the block on the barn door is called, does anyone know?

I used linen for the background, I really like the look.

I stitched a running embroidery stitch around the barn, and used a wavy machine quilting stitch.

I backed the quilt in a cute bird design.

I think these birds represent happiness, especially when thinking about my friend :)

Cozy Season Mini

I think this is such a cute little mini quilt!

Lori Holt designed it and you can find the tutorial here.

This is the one I made, it's for a special friend for Christmas :)

Shhhhh......don't tell her!

I love this calendar, it's full of beautiful photos of Lori's quilts.

There is also the pattern for the quilt on the cover, and of course the cozy cottage too.

My dear friend sent it to me, she is very thoughtful :)

Three little posies, all in a row...

There is happiness in choosing scrappy :)

All the fabrics in this cozy cottage (except for the background) are Lori's because I know my friend loves Lori's creations as much as I do!

Eight flying geese high up in the sky, in my favorite aqua colors.

When choosing scrappy, I try to vary the colors and choose contrasting prints.

They have a fall theme, but the tree could also represent all the seasons.

Quilting minis is very liberating, they're so easy to work with.

I always love the look of matchstick quilting, straight lines different widths apart.

I backed the mini in "Sew Cherry", one of my favorite fabric lines of all time!

I can hardly wait to see my friend's reaction when she finds out this is for her :)

Don't tell her!!!

Have Yourself a Quilty Little Christmas quilt, finished!

Lori Holt is an awesome designer!

Her first quilt book is called Quilty Fun and it's absolutely fabulous!

I completed Lori's row along, and finished a beautiful quilt that I gave to one of my granddaughters for her bed.

After the row along, Lori surprised her followers (me) with a Christmas sew along called "Have Yourself a Quilty Little Christmas."

Lori hosted the sew along on Instagram!

Most of the blocks were from her book, but she surprised us by throwing some oh so cute! Christmas blocks into the mix.

You can read about my little Christmas quilt journey, here, here, and here.

I said I would get my adorable little quilt quilted in a couple of months, but it's been almost a year later and I finally finished it!!!!

I got busy making heirloom blessing gowns, quilty fun birthday

banners, and the business and joy of everyday life.

I have always wanted a Christmas quilt and couldn't be happier with this one :)

My friend Cindy Paulson quilted it, she's so talented.

Do you see the holly berries and leaves she quilted free hand?

I love the back, it's so perfectly vintage :)

Thank you Michael Miller for creating such adorable Christmas fabric!

See my little snowman label?

I really want to make a snowman table topper or table runner someday.

Here he is a closeup before I sewed his buttons on :)

I know you'll want to make a darling Christmas quilt of your own after you catch the excitement of how much fun I had making mine!

You can go to Lori's instagram account and copy the tutorial if you're interested.

Thanks for reading my blog post and looking at all the photos!

Night Circus

I posted about an extravaganza that my daughter Lindsay hosted in her home, last year.

It was called "Into the Woods", and you can see it here.

This year, the theme was "Night Circus".

This was the invitation.

The dinner was held at Lindsay's house, and Brook who is the creator of the Cooking Group, was the co host.

All of the furniture and decor was moved to the garage, while the transformation took place days before the event.

Lindsay can fit 32 women in her family room, seated at the tables.

Everyone is told to come in costume, vintage circus theme, black and white with a touch of red.

Lots of friends stayed late into the night (many nights), creating the decor.

By late into the night, I mean 3:30 - 6:00 am.

These young moms didn't get to sleep in either, they had to wake up before 7:00 am and get their children ready for school!

Jeremy is Lindsay's patient and dear, sweet husband. 

He cut out the wood for the letters that spelled "circus",  painted them, and risked limb and body, hanging them over the balcony.
 He  also put up with his house being in turmoil, for over a week!

This was the backdrop for "selfies".

Jeremy is putting LED lights in the clouds so they glow :)

The night before the gala, Lindsay and her friend Kara, pound and patted the pork preparing it for the dinner.

They lined the pork loins with kale and an exotic mushroom mixture.

They carefully rolled the loin and covered it in prosciutto.

Meanwhile, the women in the next room continued creating the decor.

There is still lots of clean up needed, but the entryway is coming together!

These are the appetizers...

The table at the far left has the gourmet popcorn....

 Homemade salted pretzels

Pork belly corn dogs

I thought the Cherry Garcia flavor was the best!

Miniature funnel cakes, they were so yummy!!!

Brook and Lindsay made gourmet lollipops for everyone to take home.

Look at the place settings!

The name tags are two cookies, and each one was decorated, according to the recipient's personality.

The writing is so fine, I could hardly believe it was done with frosting!!!

See what I mean?  Each one is just slightly different, and they all have a touch of red glitter.

This is the room where Madame Mia read our tarot cards :)

 What beautiful and original costumes!

I never would have thought of the "diving" girl :)

Claire's costume was elegant and her boots!!!

 Karli and Kara are mischievious sisters, lol!

They were frying up the funnel cakes and pork belly corn dogs.

My daughter Rebecca, has the rushed skirt, I just wanted to show it from the back :)

Rebecca dressed as the "bearded lady", I think her beard looks great!

She cut pieces off a wig and glued them to her chin.

I love her eye makeup too!

 Mother and daughter, having a great time!

 Rebecca and Lindsay, they are moms now, but when they were growing up, they were my only children who would eat everything I gave them, including different kinds of vegetables :)
They are only a year apart in age.

Rebecca had her cards read :)

So did I!

This is what the clouds look like when the LED lights are lit.

They glow like the moon is shining on them!

 It's time for dinner, let's enter the dining area.

This is the menu

Lindsay's assembling the salad,

while Brook clears away some of the cocktail glasses.

 Kim and Mindy made lots of cotton candy and filled the cocktail glasses.

Then we poured a light bubbly drink over the cotton candy, it was so good!

The table is so beautiful, especially with all the candles lit!

This is the circus tent effect that Lindsay created on her vaulted ceiling, over the tables.

Brook and Kara, both ringmasters.

Lindsay is a ringmaster too!

Two of my daughters and I, we missed you Vanessa :)

Here is the salad, you can read about it on the red menu board.

Brook and Lindsay bowed to enthusiastic cheers for all of their hard work on our behalf.

 Esmeralda and her genie in a box!

The stuffed pork loin wrapped in prosciutto with roasted apples was delicious!!!

I included these two photos so you can admire the lashes, lol!!!

Brook's hat is so fancy and elegant!

Here's my plate of food, it was so scrumptious!

I think my favorite might have been the stuffed squash :)

Before we get to the dessert, I'll show you some of the costumes.

Dessert was delicious and it was light, not making you feel stuffed.

Chocolate Sable Breton, poached pear in vanilla and spices, sprinkled with pistachios and edible 24K gold flakes.

Lindsay's design and Jeremy's masterpiece, welcomed everyone to their home.

Thank you so much for looking at all the photos!

The evening was memorable, the company was great :)

So many of Lindsay's friends stayed until the wee hours of the morning, washing dishes, pots and pans, and taking down decorations.

Even with all the help, it still took a few days to get the house back in order.

It was well worth it though, memories were created!