“The Young are at the Gates.”

                                                                        --Lavinia Dock, Pennsylvania Suffragist

Open the gates and join us as we celebrate women’s suffrage!

August 18, 2020 marks the 100^th anniversary of women’s right to vote!

Beth Bacher and Michele McLaughlin are celebrating the anniversary of the 19^th Amendment with a new program, By the Chimney No More, a year full of giveaways on the Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog, and The Suffrage Centennial Quilt Challenge. 

Don't worry if you don't know much about suffrage!  We'll be sharing lots of stories and even showing some examples of quilts we've made!

Details about the challenge are here.

For information about the By the Chimney No More quilt program, email us at allentownquilter@gmail.com

I like Thursdays: July 11, 2019

Good Morning!  It's time for I like Thursdays hosted by our friend LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color, please visit other positive posts at her blog here!

Scout likes her new turtle toy.  It's been pretty hot and she needed a new indoor toy to play with and this has lots of squeakers.

I like some new recipes we've been trying.  Our favorite right now is "canned salad"; I saw the recipe on the Food Network show The Kitchen and it's been a big hit with us.  My mom liked it but doesn't eat beans so she substituted pasta for the beans and loved the results.  It's a nice base recipe that you can alter as you like.  We used Olive Garden light salad dressing instead of the oil and vinegar and my husband (who loves that dressing) went nuts for this.  It's very refreshing these days!

Here's where you can find the recipe:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/canned-salad-5271198

We visited Beth and Bob last weekend and she made a wonderful treat for my husband, who is gluten intolerant.  Triple Berry Crumb Bars was a wonderful recipe for him, he misses pies this time of year and it was a fantastic dessert for him.  Recipe here:

https://iowagirleats.com/2018/05/11/triple-berry-crumb-bars/

Our new climbing roses bloomed this past week and were lovely before the Japanese beetles ate them!

One of my favorite novelty fabrics:

Which brings me to my next question--have you seen a lot of ladybugs in your garden?  I haven't seen any this year which is somewhat bizarre considering past years and how much time I've been working outside.  Perhaps this is why the pests are so bad this year.  Have you seen in a lot--or any--in your garden?  I have seen one preying mantis so that is a good thing.  I'm just wondering how things are in your garden...

Well Scout and I are off to take our morning jaunt before the heat gets worse!  Have a wonderful day!

Sweet July Sewing

Did you have a nice holiday weekend?  We did!  My hubby was actually home and we had nice visits with good friends!

It's July and the heavy gardening has stopped for now.  I can only work so long in the heat and humidity until it makes me feel ill.  That's okay.  I've put in a lot of hours and now it is time to appreciate some of the fruits of my efforts:

And appreciate some small things like the dewdrops on this lemon balm.

July is traditionally when I used to begin my Chrismas sewing.   It's not unlike blizzard months.  Sometimes when it is really hot and I step outside the silence is amazing.  People are hibernating in their homes appreciating the wonderful invention of air conditioning.

My family has enough quilts and Christmas items for a lifetime.  Now I just sew for guild programs and my stash of donation quilts that I like to keep on hand.  I've already bound two quilts for the By the Chimney No More program and am now working on binding this piece:

Years ago, my friend Janette taught me that is always good to keep some extra lap quilts for gifts when needed.  This will go on that stack.  

The only bad thing is that the attic (where I machine sew)  gets too hot to work on by about 1 p.m.  So sewing has--for the most part-- replaced the morning work of weeding.  I hand sew on the main floor of the house in the evening hours when we watch television.

What are you working on right now?

Have a great day!

Suffrage Centennial Quilt Challenge!

Suffrage Centennial Quilt Challenge!

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote by creating a quilt that illustrates something about women's suffrage!

Please join us at the Pennsylvania Piecemaker blog for details and information!

www.Pennsylvaniapiecemaker.blogspot.com

I like Thursdays: July 4, 2019

Happy Fourth of July!

It's time for "I Like Thursdays" happy blog posts we share with our hostess, LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.  Join her to see more postive posts!

I like watching games my dog plays with her old friend Greta.  Greta is almost 14 and doesn't run around much but she knows how to crank Scout up and make her run around the yard.  It's so much fun to watch!

I like some of the new HGTV shows--particularly Big Texas Fix set in Galveston, Texas; Hidden Potential and the return of Good Bones.  It's nice to see some different designers!

My neighbor Denise jokes that my hydrangea flowers are as big as her head.  Yesterday I gave her one and she proved to be right!  That's one blossom and a pretty neighbor!

I have an announcement that I'm excited to share.  Beth and I are celebrating 2020 and the Centennial of the 19th Amendment and women's right to vote in a variety of ways.  We have a new trunk show called By the Chimney No More: Women And Quilting from 1865 to 1920 for quilt gulds and groups.  Special blog posts will begin in August and celebrate the suffragists until the actual centennial on August 18, 2020.  

Lastly, we are going to sponsor a quilt challenge!  We've made the guidelines as liberal as possible and we are giving quilters a year before the deadline of July 4, 2020 when photographs must be submitted .  There will be four prizes of $50 gift cards (we are going with visa or m/c gift cards because of the variety of locations we might get submission).  Plus we are going to have a number of giveaways through the year (the first is on August 1).  

If you are not from the U.S. you are welcome to use your quilt to celebrate suffragists from your country!

Challenge guidelines will be posted tomorrow!

Have a safe and happy holiday!

I like Thursdays: May 27, 2019

Good Morning!  How are you doing this week?  It's Thursday and that means "I like Thursday" hosted by LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color and a posts full of happy are invading the internet!

This week our puppy has been cracking us up.  She got a haircut on Saturday and is not cooperating about getting her photograph taken.  Everytime I would raise my camera, she would literally look the other way.  My neighbor couldn't top laughing at her.  But finally go this photo: 

"I'm stuck."

No you're not.  You can pull your head out anytime.

 "No see, I'm stuck"

She wasn't.  All it took was for her to hear a dog barking and she was magically released.  Ahh, the power of the bark.

When you were a kid, did you ever play with buttons?  I could be kept occupied for hours playing with my Nana's or my mother's buttons from their can.  Maybe that is why I can't resist early 20th century button bags.

This bag features the button family. 

Yes they are weird looking but I love them!

You can find more images of button family bags on Pinterest!

It's too warm to garden much this week but that's fortunate.  Next week Beth Bacher and I are announcing a quilt challenge and we are busily working on that event.  Stay tuned for more information!

Have a great day!

Hazy Days of Summer

We've had so much rain that the garden is growing as if on steroids.

one oak leaf hydrangea leaf!

Hydrangeas that could easily BE a one flower bouquet!

I tackled this bed yesterday, it might look pretty but it actually has a path under all that sedum.  Got the path cleared out:

For the last month and a half, I've been weeding at least two hours every morning but now I'm taking a break.  The humidity crept in yesterday and this morning--already at 6 a.m.--it felt like a sauna outside.  For the rest of the week, I'm taking a break to catch up on writing and sewing.  But here are some pretty photos from our garden (if you like flowers)!

I Like Thursday: June 20, 2019

Good morning!  It's been raining all week.  A few days ago I was headed out to a program in the Poconos while there was a lull in storms.  There was an adorable little girl wearing wellies and playing in every puddle she could find. This graphic reminded me of her.  It's been a busy week despite the rain and the highlight was visiting the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild in Canadensis.  They are small but fun group of women and I had a great visit!

In the garden:

I was ready for a break from my daily weeding and the humidity and unstable weather started Sunday.   The garden is colorful and soggy.

I walk the puppy between storms.  

The humidity bothers her and she always takes a nap after a little walk.  Of course, during those lulls in storms, she always sees her friends out too...

There's a lot going on here so I'll keep this brief.  You can find more positive posts at LeeAnna's at Not Afraid of Color.  Have a wonderful week!

I Like Thursday: June 13, 2019

June is always a busy month for me and this year is no different.  I'm traveling to groups and giving lectures.  Monday I'll be in the Pocono Mountains to visit the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild and present my program on Ruby Short McKim. 

It's always so much fun to visit with guilds and chat with the members!  

Today is raining and I'm happy for a much needed break from weeding.  The weekend weather looks good.  My hubby is on his way home and tomorrow is his birthday; I'm looking forward to hanging out with him!

Earlier this week we had a visitor in our neighborhood.  This heron landed on the tree above my neighbor's house!  

Scout is tired this morning.  She had a playdate with Harlow and Rascal yesterday.  Scout hadn't visited them since she was a baby.  She had so much fun with them!  They are labradoodles and were best of friends with Seamus when he was alive.

On Tuesday, I had posted some photos of quilt patterns I found for my friend Beth.  I found two more in the bag that I hadn't posted.  They are outfits for the Betsy McCall doll!  I loved when my Mom got that magazine every month so I could get paper dolls.  I just read that the paper dolls were published in the magazine for 44 years!  Why can't magazines do something fun like that anymore?  

 Beth will definately appreciate this one.  It has a 4-H outfit for the dolls!  

Beth has taught 4-H kids to sew.

Lastly, I purchased a new old quilt last month and thought I would share photos with you.  The pattern was designed by Anne Orr.  I rarely buy crib quilts anymore (I already have a ton) but I had wanted one of these for a while.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

For more "I like Thursdays" posts, visit LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color!