AMERICAN HOMESTEAD

Me and the author.

 

It is official, my friend, Ellen Murphy, is a published author!

She has published a quilt book with quilts that she has designed.

The theme of her book is the different styles of houses.

She took that idea and designed different quilts based on the houses.

The directions for each of the patterns are easy to follow with color diagrams.

Each pattern has a house that inspired Ellen to design.

 

This past Saturday, March 22, 2014, there was

a Quilt Seminar at the local 4-H Fairgrounds.

Ellen was one of the guest speakers.

She shared how, as a little girl, she always had a love for art.

She showed us an old pamphlet that her mom gave

her when she was little and it was about the different needlepoint stitches.

Ellen shared how she learned to quilt and started designing her own patterns.

Many ladies bought her book and she autographed them - including mine!

 

Congratulations Ellen, may you continue succeeding!

  

Her grandmother's needlepoint.

Ellen's very first quilt that she designed.

She made it for her kids and it has been loved on.

 

Her book hot of the press!

 

Busy signing books for the ladies that bought her book.

 

 Her quilts that are shown in her book.

 



INDIANAPOLIS FLOWER AND PATIO SHOW

Last week I had the opportunity to go to the

Indianapolis Flower and Patio Show.

After the kind of winter we've had,

I needed to see beautiful flowers and ideas for my yard.

It was absolutely heavenly being there.

There was a lot of ideas that were expensive

and others that were not expensive to do.

Now to choose which ones I would like to do here.

 

 I bought seeds from an heirloom seed collector from Ohio.

 

 

 Unique way for using a piano.

 

 Just for my Harley friends.

 

 I would love to do this to my back porch but I can't convince my husband of it.

 

 I fell in love with chicken coop.  It's small enough

for my yard and protected.  Now to just convince

my husband of this.

 

These Greyhounds are rescue dogs.

They were awesome!

 

As I was walking around the displays, I kept seeing

this fluttering butterflies and hummingbirds.

I had finally found the place that was selling them

with the intention of buying a couple.

That is until she told me the price and I changed my mind.

I did find them on Ebay for a whole lot less.

They are solar powered butterflies and I will get a couples now.

 I've always wanted a greenhouse and I saw this one.

It's just the right size and will fit perfectly in my yard.

Now to convince my husband I need it.

 

 After a long hard day working in the garden,

what better way to end it than sitting in front

of an outdoor fireplace.  Oh honey . . .

 

 



NATIONAL CRAFT MONTH 2014

March is the National Craft Month.

What a perfect opportunity to work on something

that we love to do or learn to do something new.

But where do can we go to get ideas?

Here are some links that I found that will

give us ample choices to work on during this month.

 

HGTV
JOANN
POPULAR MECHANICS
LARK CRAFTS
HOBBY LOBBY
THINK CRAFTS

Happy Crafting!





 

PORTLAND FIBER FEST

As some of you may know, I also like to knit and crochet.

I'm not the most proficient or expert by any means,

but I do love the opportunity to learn more and improve my skills.

This weekend in Portland, Indiana the annual fiber fest is held.

There is so much to see and do.  Classes are offered and

opportunities to buy yarn are there.

 

Here are some of the pictures that I took that day.

I wish I had more time to have been able to take classes. 

I'm hoping that I will be able to do that next year.