INDEPENDENCE DAY

On Monday, July 4th the United States will celebrate its 235 years of independence.  Americans will have cookouts with family and friends.  In the evening, fireworks will be displayed and patriotic music will be played.  But do we take time to ponder what our Founding Fathers did to form this nation?  The fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of Independence put their lives on the line.  The signing of this document was a solemn act.  It was an act of treason against Great Britain.  Their actions put them in danger of death yet it entitled them to profound reverence.

As an immigrant, I am so thankful for this country.  It has given my family and me many opportunties to a better life.  This country has also given better opportunities for my husband and his family when they left Cuba so many years ago.  There are so many freedoms that

 we take for granted. 

So as we celebrate July 4th, may we not forget the sacrfices that have been made for our benefit.  We are so blessed to live in this country.  We are a nation under God.

 

Links on Declaration of Independence:
http://www.ushistory.org/DECLARATION/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYyttEu_NLU

 

DISAPPEARING NINE PATCH

Well, I finally got to work on a quilt after so many weeks of not being able to sew.  It felt really good hearing the sound of my sewing machine.  The quilt that I made is called a Disappearing Nine Patch.  The fabric I used were squares that were already precut to 5 inches.  I found them in a store in New Hampshire two years ago.  So many times I buy fabric that really catches my attention with no clue as to what design I'm going to do.  So here are the steps to making this block.

I sorted my fabric out from lights and darks. 

 

 After sewing all my pieces, I came out with 15 blocks.

 Square them off.  I also

cut out 15 solid blocks to set

this quilt.

Take your ruler and cute the block into fourths.  

 You can also fold the block into fourths and finger press

the block and you will have lines on the block where you can use

your ruler and rotary cutter and cut along the lines.

You can rearrange the cut block into different designs.

I forgot to take pictures of that but just let your imagination go

in what pattern you would like your new block to be. 

Once you have decided on your design, start sewing.

As you can see, my cat was helping me with my sewing.

For some reason, she likes the sound of my machine.

This is the design that I came up with. 

I squared the block so that it would

measure 12 1/2 inches.

Once I was done squaring the blocks,

I started sewing them onto the solid blocks.

This is the quilt that I made.  I'm going to add

a solid border and then a pieced border.

This is a very simple quilt to make.  You can make it any

size that you want.  All you need is your

imagination to see what designs you can come

up with after you have cut your block into fourths.

FRUGAL AND FANCY QUILTS

Last month I went to the Indiana State Museum to see their exhibit of Indiana quilts.  I was absolutely amazed at the beauty of the work the ladies made.  There modern and antique quilts displayed.  The exhibit's last day is July 17th.  Below are some of the pictures that I took.  Enjoy!

The Indiana Fancy Quilt was made by Clarissa Rohrbaugh Strong of Delaware County.    She made the quilt in 1854.  Her masterpiece is named and signed in bold appliqued letters.

This quilt was made by Marie Webster of Marion, Indiana.  She revived quilting in the early 20th century and wrote the first book about it.  The Dogwood design was published in the Ladies Home Journal in January 1912.  The exhibit also has the original blue print templates, tissue paper sample layouts and brief instructions she provided.

This basket quilt was made by Ruth Ann Trinkle in the 1890's-1900's.  These blocks are tiny!  There are five different blue prints used to form these tiny baskets.  Below is an up close picture of the basket block.

                                
The Pomegranate appliquéd quilt was made by Mary Jane Summers McClellan of DeKalb County in the 1850's.  This four-block or "quadrant" appliqué quilt is an early style favored before the Civil War.  

This QR Code quilt was made by Sherry McConnell of Madison County.  It was quilted by Deb Geyer.  Both of these ladies are friends of mine.  You can use your smartphone and see what this quilt will show.  It's pretty amazing.

So go to the museum and make time to see these quilts.  Take your time to soak up the history of these quilts and imagine what the quilters were like.

PIONEER WOMAN

I can't say that I have lived the life of a pioneer woman.  These ladies never had the modern conveniences that I really like.  Sometimes I wonder whether I could live my life like they did without the conveniences that I have now.  I don't know if I can.

But today I did do something without using our modern tools.  I had a tree that was dying.  I could not use my chainsaw because it was not working.  So I ended up cutting the tree down the old fashion way.  I used a saw.  Boy did I get a work out.  Slowly but surely, I was able to cut down the tree.  That happened several weeks ago.  As time went on, the grass grew and covered the tree.  Well, today I had had enough of that tree.  I went out with my two saws and started cutting the tree branches and removing the grass and weeds at were holding down the tree.  It took me several hours of hard work, but it was completed.  The tree is no longer where it was and now that area looks much better. 

How do I feel right now?  Physically tired.  Cutting down the tree just using the saws was harder than I had expected.  But I really have the satisfaction of knowing that I was a pioneer woman for just a few hours today.

The tree covered up by grass and weeds.

Cut down branches and tree burning.  Too tired
to cut up the tree in smaller parts

My two saws that I used to cut down the tree.

All that is left is the stump.



Area mowed and weedwacker used.  Much better now.



 Would I ever be able to live the life of a pioneer woman?  I may never know but I can have a bit of a taste of it once in a while and appreciate how they lived and appreciate what I have today to make my life easier.