Thursday, December 21, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

Probably on Thursday this week :)

I'm a little late because there is so much

going on around Christmas.

To begin with we're doing the 

12 Days of Christmas (or rather granddaughter

Zoie is doing most of the work sending out the

emails.)

The kit on sale this week is

Be Joyful
 


and as well as the kit we're
having a cyber sale.

This is one of my favorite Christmas
Quilts and I'm not the only one that
likes it.


Muffin thinks it's just great for
taking a cat nap.
The cat is not included in the sale,
just the kit for the quilt.

You can go to the store see what 

else is on sale and to get the 

kit by clicking here.

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

and I'll see you next week with another quilt and probably

more chicken & cat pictures - The critters are my babies.

They're a lot easier to take care of than the human ones. 

To begin with Muffin doesn't wake me up in the middle

of the night to be fed, he just snuggles closer to stay warm :)

I am, however working on a quilt for a couple of Jake's friends,

Alex and Tori and their new son, Adley.  I'll try to have pictures

next week.  

Have a good one.

Jan
 

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

On Thursday this week - I lost a day.

Its that time of year again - Winter -

So our quilt special this week and also 

the winter quilt in the hall,

 is another one of my favorites

 Suzanne's Snowmen, BOM.

 

I just love the snowman riding the chicken, 

although I'm pretty sure my babies would

prefer not to be ridden by a snowman.

You can go to the store to download the 

pattern by clicking here


This is Muffin.  
For years Muffin lived in the barn.
Every day about 4:00 he would come down to
the house and wait for me to come outside.
Then we would walk to the barn and I would feed him.
Earlier this winter one day he came to the deck 
instead of waiting out front and when I opened 
the door he came in and I fed him in the kitchen.
Now he either sleeps in the blue chair in my room 
of sometimes in the bed with me.
He's a good cuddler and he doesn't mind sharing
the bed with Elizabeth.
Pep sleeps in the other room with his Cpap and his
Kitty Midnight so we're all settled down for a 
long winter's nap.

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

and I'll see you next week with another quilt and probably

some chicken pictures - They're my babies,

especially the little white ones. 

And maybe more Muffin pictures since he's

become an inside cat.  :)

 


Wednesday, December 6, 2023

happy Girl Gang Wednesday

 Its that time of year again soooo

                                                              our special this week is the kit for the


                                                         Angel Tablerunner

because the season should be

about Jesus.

I love the commercial by the gentleman that

plays Jesus in The Chosen and I signed up

for the prayers and meditations on Halo.

This little quilt reminds me of the song "Angels

we have heard on high" that I sang when I was a 

child in the Lutheran parochial school I attended.

You can go to our store to get your kit

by clicking here.

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

and I'll see you next week with another quilt and probably

some chicken pictures - They're my babies,

especially the little white ones. 

 

....

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

On Thanksgiving this week.

And our special this week is


                                                             Acorn Lane ( a tablestand kit).

Hope you and yours have the best day ever,

filled with family and food

(and of course, quilting.)

You can go to our store to get your kit 

by clicking here.

Saturday, November 11, 2023

Happy Extra Girl Gang Wednesday on Veteran's Day

And a big Thank You to all our veterans.

My father was career Army (Major Glover Wilson Laird)

and Pep's father was career Navy (Lt. Commander Byron H. Patek) 

and he got the Bronze Star for sweeping mines in the South

China Sea during a monsoon.

So Veterans Day is pretty important to us.

This year to celebrate I'm putting the pattern for

"America for Me" on sale today and all week.


Enjoy!
And be sure to thank a veteran if you see one.


Friday, November 10, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

On late Friday this week.

And we'll start with the special today.


                                                   It's almost Turkey Day but there's still time to 

make this little wallhanging from our kit.

And of course, there's always next year because 

we have Thanksgiving every year.

And especially this year we need to be very thankful

that we live where we do.

Prayers for the people of Israel and Palestine that

Hamas is eliminated and they are able to live in

peace and security in the future.

I'm late this week for 2 reasons.

Reason #1 is the war over there and our Open Border.

In my humble opinion, an open border is a stupid idea.

I don't leave my front or back door open so that anyone that

wants to come in can do so without us knowing who they are.

Pep was in Hospital Security for 30 years and is a very good

shot but still - it a bad idea.  And with all of that going on 

it stresses me out and slows everything down.

The 2nd reason is much nicer.  Our friend Alex and his

wife just had a baby boy so I had to make him a quilt.

Here's the drawing and now I get to make it.


I designed it using Deb Strain's "Willow Farm"

fabric line along with some scraps from her older lines.

I'll tell you it's name next week after I hear from Alex

and let you know later when you can order a kit.

Besides being a baby quilt I think its a pretty good

wallhanging/throw. 

You can go to the store to get your kit for 
Dresden Turkeys by clicking here.

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

and I'll see you next week with another Fall quilt and probably

more chicken pictures - They're my babies.

 


Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

And its Halloween!


When our daughter Kelly moved back in
she brought a friend with her.  Most of
the time she lives downstairs but at this
time of year she wants to be up with the
rest of us.  So today she's staying in the
room next door.  She's pretty quiet 
and doesn't eat much.  And we found out 
that she has a sister living at Brian's house.

And speaking of Brian I finally gave his 
daughter Summer her quilt.  Here she is with
Summer's Bunnies. And we just happen to


have the kit on special today.


You can go to the store to get your kit by clicking here.

Hope you had a happy Halloween and didn't eat too much candy.

Now we all need to pray for Israel and the Palestinians.

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

and I'll see you next week with another Fall quilt and probably

more chicken pictures - I just love watching them.

 






 

Thursday, October 26, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday on Thursday this week.

 And the quilt kit on sale for today 

is

the "Shoo Crow" pillow.

You can go to the store to get your kit

by clicking here

The pillow is at this moment sitting on

my couch next to my new kitty Trigger and both the pillow

and the kitty are among my favorites.

Trigger came to visit a few weeks ago and since

he seemed to really like it here, we took him to the

vet so he could be an inside cat.  Kitties that mark

their territory don't get to live in the house until they've

visited the vet.

And I just love the colors in the pillow - they simply say "Fall" to me.

And speaking of Fall, I need to go sweep the leaves off the front porch.

When I get finished sweeping off the porch, I get to go back

to designing a quilt using Deb Strain's next fabric line "Willow's Farm" and

it's really yummy.

We all need to pray for Israel and for the Palestinians.

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week with another Fall quilt and probably

more chicken pictures - I just love watching them - 

they're so cute.  


Unfortunately a red tailed hawk got my other Millefluer -(that's the tan one

with the dots or flowers) and I can't order more until next spring).  The hawk 

went right through the plastic netting covering the yard so now it's covered 

with metal netting.  Stupid hawk will have to get mice instead of my babies.

Have a good one, ladies.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

 And Happy 54th Anniversary to us:)


                                                                  Here we are now!


                                                               And here we were then :)

And since this is our anniversary, this

will be short.

 

Except of course for our specials.

The BOM patterns for 

Jan & Pep's Marvelous Adventures. 

You can get them for half price by 

clicking here.

And you can also get the Tablestand kit for 

Wendy the Witch


by clicking the same place.

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week with another Fall quilt 

(I'm currently working on a "Fall at the Farm" quilt) and probably

more chicken pictures.  And maybe another cat picture or two.

We've also got a baby possum living on the deck at night.

He (or she) seems to like cat food.

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

And since it's almost Halloween

Our quilt kit on special this week is


                                                                    Starry Eyed Jack.

I stopped and got pumpkins yesterday and

need some grandkids to turn them into Jack-O Lanterns.

Cullen and Quinn used to come up every other weekend


when Max and Valerie both had to work on Saturday,
but here's what they look like now.


They're definitely old enough not
to need babysitters.  (Cullen hurt his
ankle during a wrestling match - I
can't remember if he won it or not but
I hope so.)  
I think I'll see if they can
come up sometime in the next couple
of weeks and carve pumpkins for us.


This is Tigger, our new kitty.  I went to
the vets yesterday and picked him up
after his surgery.  Kitties that mark their
territory don't get to live in the house 
but now he can come in this winter.  
Somebody dumped him and he was 
someones pet.  You can tell because he
would just as soon get petted as eat when I
got out on the deck to feed him.  I mean, if
you can't afford to get him neutered, take him
to a shelter.

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week with another Fall quilt and probably

more chicken pictures - I just love watching them - 

they're so cute.  



Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

It's October

and the Vintage book is



 Homespun Hearth,

one of my favorite books.

It's got all of my favorite things

houses, stars, flowers, angels, beeskeps,

baskets, 2" squares & triangle squares.

What more could you want in a quilt???

And since it's the month of Halloween, our

kit on sale is 

"Pile 'O Pumpkins" made with

Deb Strain's "Ghostly Gatherings " fabric line.

The weather in Missouri is beautiful so I think

I'll walk up and take pictures of my babies

(they won't be babies for long and I need some

pictures)

You can order the Vintage Book for half price 

or the Halloween kit by clicking here

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week with another Fall quilt and probably

more chicken pictures - I just love watching them - 

they're so cute.  




Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

A funny thing happened on my way to the blog this week.
Our item on sale this week is the kit for the 
Dark and Stormy Tablestand.
You can go to the store to get your kit 
by clicking here.


Dark and Stormy Tablestand front
and


Dark and Stormy Tablestand back.

Of course, I needed pictures of the Tablestand
so I went to the top of my computer screen and
did a search for 
"Dark and Stormy"

This is what came up

The Dark ’n Stormy is a delicious, easy-to-make cocktail that features a refreshing trio of dark rum, ginger beer and lime. It also goes down a lot easier than the name might imply. It’s a close cousin to the Moscow Mule Moscow Mule (vodka, ginger beer, lime) and should be an easy transition for vodka drinkers wanting to try something new.

The popular cocktail can be found all over the world, from craft cocktail bars and chain restaurants to island hideaways. Its origin, like many drinks, is a bit hazy, though it’s likely that rum and ginger beer were first combined by sailors who enjoyed the obvious benefits of rum and the stomach-settling qualities of ginger. But its lineage can be traced squarely to an island in the Atlantic Ocean.

Gosling’s Black Seal rum is a rich, flavorful rum from Bermuda, dating back to 1806. It features notes of caramel, vanilla and spice, and technically, it’s the only rum that can be used in a Dark ’n Stormy. The brand lays claim to the drink; in 1991, it successfully registered a trademark dictating that any drink titled Dark ’n Stormy must be made with Gosling's rum. The company has even sued other beverage brands that have attempted to peddle the drink with other rums as its star. So, if you really want the full Dark ’n Stormy experience, make it with Gosling’s.

Note that ginger ale is not a substitute for ginger beer.   ginger beer Ginger ale is just carbonated water that’s flavored with ginger, like a soda. Ginger beer, on the other hand, is brewed and fermented (though the “beer” label can be misleading, as most versions are nonalcoholic). If you try making your Dark ’n Stormy with ginger ale, you’ll still produce a solid drink. But the rich rum benefits from the stronger flavors and spicier bite of real ginger beer.

Many recipes, including this one, call for a modest measure of lime juice to be added to the rum and ginger beer, which lends a pleasant kick of citrus. But the lime juice is optional. If you’re drinking in Bermuda, the cocktail will most likely be served with just rum and ginger beer, plus a lime wedge, so the drinker can squeeze the lime at their discretion. But any way it’s served, the Dark ’n Stormy is tasty and refreshing, so it’s hard to go wrong.

Wow.  

Mary Etherington of Country Threads calls her blog "A blog about nothing."

I think I'll call my blog, "A blog about just about anything"

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week with another Fall quilt and God  

only knows what else.  :). And if anyone tries a "Dark and Stormy", 

please let me know what it's like.

Jan


Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

And its getting to be that time of year again.

It's time for Pumpkins, Turkeys and Geese.

So, of course that's our special on sale this week
You can go to our store to get your copy of
the BOM pattern by clicking here.

I know Thanksgiving isn't until November 23rd
but this will give you lots of time to get
stitching on this rather complex quilt.
It's one of my favorite quilts in what is my
favorite season of the year.

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week with another Fall quilt.

Jan


 

Monday, September 11, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

On Monday this week.

And because it is the 22nd anniversary of the 

attack on 911 our special this week is the


American Pride kit for 20% off

Our hearts and prayers go out to all who lost

loved ones in that attack.

We would also ask you to join us in donating to

Tunnel to Towers at T-to-T. org. 

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation is a charitable organization founded in tribute to New York Fire Department firefighter Stephen Siller, who died on September 11, 2001, during the September 11 attacks. The foundation operates as a tax-exempt 501 non-profit organization. Wikipedia
Type of business: Nonprofit 501(C)(3) Corporation
Established: December 2001
Purpose: Honoring the sacrifice of FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller, who laid down his life to save others on September 11, 2001

It not only honors the military and civilians who died or were catastrophically wounded
in service to our country but gives mortgage free homes to the ones they left behind.
God bless them and God bless our country.

The vintage book for September is


You can go to our store to get your pattern

or kit by clicking here.

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week.

Jan

Wednesday, September 6, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

And somehow I lost a post.

This is September and the last post up is for August 30th.

I'm not sure what happened but I believe that I have

mentioned that working on the computer is left brain

work and I am definitely a right brain person.

Anyway, the Vintage book for September

is Tabletop Turnabouts



You can go to the store during September to

purchase the book for 1/2 price by

clicking here.

And while you're there you can also pick

up the Tablestand kit for 

Punkins for 20 % off.

The fun part of Tablestands is that you

get two little quilts for the price of one,


The front and

the back.

This should help you get a start on

your Fall decorating.

I know it's technically not Fall until the

23rd but it's my favorite time of the

year so I like to start early. 

Prayers for our First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden

as she weathers a mild case of covid.

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week.

Jan

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

And aren't we all glad we're not in Florida right now.

Prayers for all of the people there.

Back at home things have been dryer but 

somewhat harried.  The pole in our closet (which 

was 10 feet long) broke and the shelf above 

it came loose so  all of our clothes, shoes, purses, etc

ended up on the floor.  Jeff went in town and got a new

pole and longer screws and we have a closet again.

The first thing I hung up was my Girl Gang Jacket.

Then I sorted through my clothes, decided what to

keep, hung them up and packaged the 

rest to take to shelters, etc.  Brian came over

yesterday and took armfuls of clothes in to Pep 

in the living room so he could decide what to keep, 

and then hung them up and filled the shelves with

shoes and hats.  Pep's cowboy hats from Waylon Jennings

and Willie Nelson concerts in Las Vegas take up a bit

of room.  Whew! - What an ordeal.

And today, Jeff is power washing the front porch

so he can stain it.


Needless to say, I haven't gotten much stitching done
but did manage to embroider all of the 10 bee skeps for 
Glad to Bee at Home.

I have the embroidery done and the doors

appliquéd.  Now to sew them to their backgrounds .

The kit on sale this week is

Linda's Lilacs

one of my all-time favorite quilts.


                                                    At the moment the original is hanging 

on the wall of the guest room downstairs.   I

may have to finds a place to hang it up here

for September - November.  I know just

where to hang it in the back hall.

You can go to our store to get your pattern

or kit by clicking here.

Now, have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week.

Jan

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

Our special this week is
Country Blessings BOM


                                                          You can go to our store to get

your copy by clicking here.

This has been a busy week and I want to

watch the debates tonight so this will

probably be short.


                                                  One thing we've been doing is staining

things on the front porch.  I found this the other day 

in town to replace the red cabinet that had seen

its best days.  (You can see the red streak on the bricks

where it had rubbed against the wall).   

Now I've got to decide if I'm going to 

paint my jingle bells.


The bench needed a new coat of stain but 

stayed the same color.


Inside I got a new Betta bowl.   I have 2 Bettas

now and since they don't share very well, there's a

divider to keep them apart.  I think their technical

name is Siamese Fighting Fish.

I have lots of handwork to stitch tonight during the

debate.  

There are 10 beeskeps in the quilt I'm working

on and each one has 6 lines of embroidery.

That should keep me busy through the debate.



I'm glad Fox is streaming it as I'll need to freeze

it when it gets dark to go shut up my babies.  

Or I might ask Jeff if he'll shut them up as he's not

very interested.  He said he already knows who he's

going to vote for.

So have the best week with the people and quilts that you love

and I'll see you next week.

Jan

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday - Part 2

Heavens - That will teach me to go up to the loft.

It seems we have some kits for Midnight Garden 

so we'll put them on sale too.


This was really a fun quilt to make and 

I hope you enjoy it too.  You can go to the

store to get either your pattern or your kit

by clicking here.

And there was a quilt I saw on the Country Threads

blog that I follow that I wanted to show you.

Mary took a picture of it at a quilt show she went to.

                                            
I'm sure she posted the name of the quilt

and quilter but I've forgotten them.  

I think it's really neat -my kind of quilt.

I did finish Honey and Lavender and it's off

to Becky soon for quilting.  Here's the drawing

jpg and I'll show you the quilted one when it gets back.

The patterns should be in the store soon 

and maybe the kits too.


In the meantime have the best week with

the people and the quilts that you love.


Happy Girl Gang Wednesday on Wednesday

 Mostly


After I got the coffee brewing, I hung the 

wash on the line and opened the little door

on the  new chicken house.


You could almost hear him (or her) thinking

"Should I?" or "Shouldn't I"


"I should"



Now, the next question is "how to get back in?"

I hate to interrupt this gripping drama with a commercial
break but the item on sale this week is the BOM
pattern for Midnight Garden.
You can go to the store to get your pattern 
for 20% off by clicking here.

And when I get back after my appointment at
the beauty salon, I'll tell you how I got them 
back in (if I do).


Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Happy Girl Gang Wednesday

"Walk in the Woods" is our kit on sale today.

Designed by Jan Patek

Fabric is the Holly Berry Line by Deb Strain 

                                             That's Deb and her husband Scott going for the walk.

   We just had a horrendous thunderstorm and right now I need

                                        to take a walk around the farm and check on all of my critters. I

just wanted to get the sale item up for my early birds.  Be back with

pictures soon.

Well, that "soon" took a long time but here are my "critters",


 This is the bird feeder out front but as you can see, it attracts more

than birds.  Originally, we had 1 doe who came every morning and

evening and this year she brought a fawn with her.  Since  I took the picture

through the front windows its a little blurry and I think the blur is a

second doe that was a fawn last year.


Here's the feeder when I first fill it in the morning.  The sunflower 
seeds are for the birds so I just put the scratch grain out at night
for the deer.


This used to be the potting bench on the deck but

now is the feeding bench for the outdoor cats.  I'm not sure

what I will do for the cats this winter.  The over hang on the deck roof is

fine in the spring and summer but it will  be too cold later.


Those 2 pictures are Tigger who just showed up one day
and has decided to stay.  He's not feral which means someone
probably dumped him -shame on them.  He looks a lot like
Sam but I got Sam at Petsmart so he's probably not related.  He's
a very nice cat and wants to be petted almost as much as he
wants to eat.  I will have to get Tigger neutered 
before fall because kitties who want to mark their
territory don't get to live in the house


Here's Sam asleep in my favorite chair.  


And here's what I'm working on when I get a chance to
sit in my chair and appliqué.

One more corner block and Honey and Lavender will be ready to
go the quilter.


Meanwhile the barn chicks weathered the storms quite well
in their new house.

Can't wait to see Honey and Lavender quilted.

For now, have the best week with the people and quilts

that you love.

Jan