Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

Its not quite summer but our Vintage book 

for the end of May and beginning of June

(which is tomorrow) is the 

Folk Art Favorites books one of which is

Each of the books was originally 15.00 so

                                                   we'll sell a bundle of all 3 this week for $22.50 

                                                   which is 1/2 price.  The other two are 

                                                  Home by the Fire and Winter Holidays.

                                                     You can go to the store to pick up the books

                                                     by clicking here

Back to summer (the season, not my granddaughter)

The baby Bantys are hatching

there are 7 little balls of fluff.

Their mother is the speckled hen,

Zoie named her Sherran)

and daddy is probably the black rooster.

I don't know why but if their parents hatch

them they can just eat regular chicken feed

right away.  But if you buy them from a hatchery

or store you have to get "chickstart" feed for them.  

Apparently we will soon have more running

around the yard.

We've had a really busy week because

its been a really busy month.  Both Kelly and Max

were born in May and Jake and Quinn both

graduated this month.  

Max made reservations at a restaurant in Kansas City,

Jake went to the restaurant and left his car and Zoie 

picked him up and brought him to our house so he 

could drive us to the restaurant since neither of us

had been there before and didn't know that part of town.

Jake had another engagement he needed to go to after

the dinner so he needed his car.

We had an awesome dinner.  Quinn got a scholarship

to Penn Valley, has joined the Peace Corps and

will go to Africa to teach English after 2 years of school,

 then come back to finish his degree.  He's one very excited kid

and we're very proud of him.

And of course we're also very proud of Dr. Findley.

I think that's all the babbling for one day.

Have the very best week with the people and 

quilts that you love and I'll see you next week.

 

 

 

 

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

Which comes on Friday this week.

Our Vintage book for May is

 you can get the book and the special 

for the month by clicking here. 

We've had a busy month with 2 birthdays and

two graduations.

Kelly and Max were both born in May and

Kelly's son Jake just graduated from UMKC dental

school 

And Max's son Quinn will graduate from high school

at the end of the month.  We're all having a 

dinner for them Sunday.  Quinn is the one on the right.

He wants to major in political science and Max

says that the way he argues with everything, he'll fit

right in.

Cullen is on the left on the crutches.  If I remember

correctly his leg got broken during a wrestling match.

Anyway, we're ever so proud of all of them.

Dentists seem to run in the family.  Our older son Brian 

is a dentist and his daughter Brooke who is in 7th grade

was admitted to UMKC's summer program for

aspiring dentists.  She had to have a 4.0 grade point and

recommendations from 2 teachers.  Wow Brooke - way to go.

Okay, that's enough bragging about grandchildren but

what grandmother can resist.

Since it Memorial Day we'll have 2 kits on sale for you.

20% off of each of them.

Where Liberty Dwells

and Old Glory.

Old Glory is a Tablestand so I'll show you both sides

Front and back.

Well, that's it for today ladies.

                                     Have the best week with the people and guilts that you love best.

In the best country on the world.

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

 Memorial Day is coming up soon

so I thought we'd have a

neat quilt for you to work on to

get ready for it.

This is "America for Me" and the kit

is on sale this week for 20% off.

It's one of my favorite quilts.  (My dad

was career Army and Pep's father was 

career Navy so we tend to be a bit patriotic

by nature.)

And this is Jake (one of my favorite grandsons,

now by the name of Dr. Jake Findley).

He graduated from UMKC Dental School last week.

It's been a very busy week.

This is Tigger who came to live with us last week.

He just showed up and made himself at home.  

Luckily there weren't any plants in that planter yet

because it's now his bed.  He looks like he could be

Sam's dad but I got Sam at Petsmart so I'm sure he's not.

He's not ferrel and loves being petted and of course being

fed.  The planter is on the potting bench on the deck and

its covered so he was ok when it rained.  I'm not sure what 

we'll do this winter but we'll figure that out then if he's

still around.

Another grandson Quinn is graduating from High School 

this week and I think we're having a dinner for him today so I'd

better get busy.  His Dad and Valerie are bring all the food but 

I need to straighten a bit.

Have the best week with the people and quilts that you love.

See you next week.

 

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

And Happy May!

Our vintage book for May is

and our special this week is 

the table stand kit for 

"April Please"

You can go to our store to get

either or both by clicking here.

I designed this little table stand in

February when I was longing for

April (hence the name) but life has

been so busy that I lost track of it.

I got it back from my awesome

quilter Becky today and am enjoying

binding it at the moment.  I'll have

a picture next week on the table

stand with a header.  I'm trying to

decide whether to have a "stars" header

or a garden gate header.  What do you think?

This is Kelly's lemon tree that she moved

from her room to out on the deck.

She really started it from some seeds

from a lemon.  It smells awesome.

And this is the view from my kitchen 

window.  I love it.

The bowl on my birdbath broke this spring -

- too many freezes and too much snow I guess.

Anyway, it broke.  I got the birdbath years ago

in Jamesport and really didn't have the energy

to drive back up there to get another bowl 

but I loved my birdbath.

Then I remembered that I had made a "pond"

or puddle in one of the raised beds in the

garden.  It was too heavy for me to carry.  It

doesn't look it but it's really pretty heavy so

I enlisted Jeff's help.  He sat it on the base,  

 we put my stone star in the middle and voila - 

I love my new birdbath.  Elizabeth came 

along to give her approval.  

We have a dishwasher  but I always have to wash

a few things in the sink and now I like the view

out the window again.

Now I just have to remember to take the bowl off

and store it when things freeze again.

That's it for this week ladies.

Hope you have the best week with the

people and quilts that you love.

 

 

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

And we're going to start with the sale item for this week.  

This is my"Down on the Farm" BOM 

and you can order the pattern (we may even

have a few kits left) by clicking  here.

And this is the gorgeous crabapple tree in

our front yard.  It's finally starting to lose

some of the blossoms now.  When I got up 

this morning there were white dots all over

the front porch.  In the quilt, it's the tree with

the red dots but it's still spring so the dots are white.

 

Here's what I see when I go out the front door.

I love my japonica too.

And of course, wherever I go, Elizabeth goes.

I'm not sure where Dobby is, but he's 

around somewhere, I'm sure.  You can

usually find me by following the barking.

Pep says I don't need people with trumpets

and flags to "herald" me, I have Dobby.

The bleeding hearts and golden poppies are

blooming and the iris are starting to bud.

And we're finding morels - our favorite mushrooms.

Pep will make us scrambled eggs and mushroom

tonight for dinner and I will

 get to stitch on the Spring Quilt of the Quarter.

Sounds like a great day to me and a great

division of labor.  Whenever I go to a bridal

shower and they have us write a piece of advice

for the bride, I always write "Be sure to marry a

man who can cook." 

Have a great week ladies with the people and 

the quilts that you love the most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

The tulips are blooming

 everything is growing,

everything is growing

and the garden beds still need weeding,

 

But I got the newest Club offering figured out.

We have a new club - a "Quilt of the Quarter " Club

and this is our Spring Quilt of the Quarter.

Its called "Spring, Wonderful Spring"and

is 32" x 36".  I'm much better at designing quilts

than at coming up with names for them  :).

The kit includes the pattern, all fabrics for the

top and the binding.  You can go to our store

to get your kit by clicking here.

There will be 4 Quilts of the Quarter 

each year and if you

belong to the club you get 15% off.

To join the club email Tammy at 

janpatekquiltsinc@gmail.com or

call her at 816-632-7632.

Now, I still haven't gotten the garden bed weeded

but I'd better go feed Muffin.  Quilts and pets come first.

Have a great week with the people, pets and 

quilts that you love.

 

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

The day started out bright and early -

or rather dark and early.

Elizabeth always sleeps with me

but when I woke up around 3:00 she

wasn't there.  

I got out of bed, - looked under the bed

but no Elizabeth.

I went to the living room and checked 

the door to the deck - but no Elizabeth.

When I woke up at 8:00, I put on my

robe and walked to the barn.

She had gone into the office to eat Nova's 

food (Tammy's dog that comes with her)

and apparently the door had swung shut.

At least on my walk back to the house

I got to see what was going on in the garden.

And I could see all the work I needed

to do there.

I let the orpingtons out with their rooster 

and then the banty's too.  

Orpingtons and banty's live in separate yards 

- banty roosters don't realize they're not as

big as orpingtons - they think they're "big stuff"

I gathered a few eggs and headed to the 

house for coffee trying to figure when I would 

have time to clean out the garden.

I'd rather work on quilts than weed the garden but. . . .

Speaking of which, this is my granddaughter Summer

and the quilt I made for her.  I'm trying to remember if

the blocks came from Blockheads 2 or 3

Summer has some stuffed bunnies that go 

everywhere with her.  Here are some of the

blocks for a little quilt I'm making for

"Summer's Bunnies"  using Deb Strain's 

Honey and Lavender line that will be out

soon.  I'm thinking of doing a QAL using the

line.

Meanwhile, the kit we have on sale today is

our Bird and Urn Tablestand.  You can go to the

store to get yours by clicking here.

And while you're at it you can pick up

your vintage book Garden Spirit for 50% off.

Now, I've got to go to the loft to pick out the

fabric for our Spring Quilt of the Quarter.

The weeding will have to wait.

Have a great week with the people and

quilts that you love the most.

 

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

                                                              Usually I start my blog off with

                                                        a picture of what I'm working on now.

This is our new refrigerator.  The last Thursday in

                     March, Pep said that either one of us wasn't getting
                     the freezer door closed or there was something wrong
                     with the fridge.  It was the fridge.    Since we got it 

                     Sears, we called them on Friday.  They said they'd have
                     a repairman come out on Monday.  We transferred the 
                     frozen stuff to our small freezer in the barn and brought
                     down 2 coolers to fill with ice for the rest of the stuff.   
                     After surviving the weekend living out of the coolers 
                     the repairman got here Monday and informed us that it
                     couldn't be fixed, it was too old and they don't make parts 

                      for it anymore.  

                      So Pep measured the space -- we bought

                      a new one and Jeff and Pep got it into the kitchen.

We couldn't open the pantry door.

We tried turning the door around and it would fit but

        the angle was wrong.  Pep and I couldn't fit through very well.

 Also there had been a button on the door frame that

turned the light off when the door closed.

Jeff (our handyman who lives in a trailer on

the farm) had a switch in his "inventory" so now

we can turn the light on and off.

The door space was unusual so we did a search

for "accordion doors".  We ordered one.  The order

was cancelled the next day due to "issues with the

seller".    We ordered another.  The same thing happened.

The 3rd time was a charm.  The door came and Jeff installed it.

We have light in the pantry, ice in the freezer and

food in the fridge instead of in a cooler on the deck.

But instead of working on quilts last week, I

got my kitchen back in working order.

Now for the fun part.

The Vintage book for April is Garden Spirit.

and our special for last week was 

the Birdhouse table runner for 20% off the kit.

 You can get your copy of the book for half price

and the kit for 20% off by clicking here.

And now that my house is back in order, I've

had time to start designing a little.

We're not doing a Mystery Quilt this year but 

instead are doing 4 smaller "Quilt of the Quarters

Here's the one for Spring.  I'll do the fabric next week.

The special this week is the pattern for the 

Birds and Bunnies BOM

 

It will probably be on special next week too since

this is so late.

Now I've got to go take care of the chickens and the

barn cat Muffin.

Have the best week with the People and quilts that you love most.

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

And since yesterday was the  

1st day of Spring.

Our special this week is the

Spring Break BOM for 30 %off.

  Obviously the fabric for this quilt

is long gone but I've been working with

Deb Strains line "Honey and Lavender" that will

be out in May and you might watch for it.

The yellows are softer and so are the greens

but it would make an awesome quilt.

And you can always search the Bella Solids if you 

want to start now and don't have fabrics

in your stash that will work.

Meanwhile, you can always be

working on our spring minis and tablestands.

"April Please" Tablestand front and back

 and

"Spring, Full Speed Ahead"

I don't know why the picture is so small,

the little table runner is 39" x 16" - just

about right for my Easter table.

Oh well, I've always said I was much better at 

designing quilts than working with a computer.

 It's raining "full speed"right now.  I know its not April yet

but if the saying "April Showers bring May Flowers",

we should have some awesome flowers coming.

And I'd better leave the computer and go up the hill

to take care of the barn cat and the chickens.

Have a great week filled with the people and quilts

that you love.