Pincushions, chickens and rolls oh my!

Lots of photos to share. I have been in a bit of a funk this past week and just haven't felt very bloggish/talkative. Sorry if anyone worried. I am still here though and plugging away.

Here are the pics of my pincushions for The Pincushion Exchange. I was blessed with 2 partners. They will not know which is their's until they open their boxes! :o) The pink make-do is on a very antique brass door knob. I love the bottom of it. I added a bit of crochet trim I had made, so buttons and a key. Then there is the large strawberry. It is made from pure wool. Used pearl cotton for the "x's". I painted a wooden spool for it's base in robin's egg blue. The back has a lil checkerboard accent. I do hope the girls will be pleased. And I am anxious to see what I receive!

I have also been working on my inventory for 3 shows this fall. One wool show in September, and then a quilt show and a fibre show in October. Lots of sister time!! So two chicken pillows and 11 chickens later....

The pillows are paper pieced. The chickens range in size from 3" blocks to 8" blocks.

I will end on the yummy cinnamon rolls we made. Mark made up the dough and I did the cinnamon and frosting part. The frosting is an easy peasy cream cheese recipe. Start with one large brick (8 oz I think) of cream cheese softened (very soft but not watery). Add 2 cups of sifted powder suger. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla to 1/4 cup of milk. Blend together well til no clumps of the cheese. If it is too thick, add more milk a teaspoon at a time. If it gets too thin, add more powdered sugar. This is my very favorite frosting. You just cannot go wrong with cream cheese! :o)

Again...Pincushion Exchange Swappers...those sending out of the USA be sure to mark your custom's form as "gift" and make the value really low, like $2.00 (Even thought it is worth much more I know!!!). This will help your partner out in not paying an arm and a leg for custom charges! Thankfully we do not have that here in the states yet. Just horribly high postage fees. I wish I had thought to mention this earlier. Sorry.

Pincushion Exchange Swappers...have you heard from your partner? I would encourage you NOT to send out your portion of the exchange until you have made contact with them and made sure they are still participating. By now everyone should have exchanged at least one email. I truly hope that no one backs out of their commitment. If you are left hanging, please let me know!! I have stressed several times how important communication is in these exchanges. We just do not want anyone to have hurt feelings or be disappointed!

Flowers for me today. Mark came home from Farmer's Market with this huge bouquet of flowers. I love them! Even has clover in it. I have been sicky this week with a touch of pneumonia and got crazy and passed out last night. Whacked my head on the corner of the wall and just basically scared sis and him to pieces for a minute. So no Market for me today again. I am so glad he and my sisters enjoy setting it up! Cause I havent been forever!!

Here is a close up of the flowers.

Sis is doing very well as long as she has her pain meds. So much damage is going to be alot of pain for some time I am thinking. We go to the dr again on Monday. I think they will be pleased with the incision area. It looks healthy to us. She washes it everyday and uses VitE gel on it. We keep the sock thing she wears changed too. That is about all we can do right now at 4 weeks into this. I suggested she get out a puzzle the other night just for something to do besides read. so that is on the table now. I found a couple of pieces tonight. We need to get a funner puzzle. This one is a traditional landscape type one and a tad boring. LOL I want a puppy or kitty one. LOL Or Disney even. LOLOL

Happy belated Independence Day! I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend. I know many take extra days and make a full holiday. Mark was off Wednesday through today. Mark, Debbie and David did Farmer's Market yesterday. I got hit with my headache on Friday night and that took care of me til today. At least I got in my celebrating first. We were with family Wednesday and then again on Friday. It is dreadfully hot here. And HUMID! Definitely stay in the house weather for me. I haven't crafted or stitched a stitch in forever. I have to make myself do something this week.

Sis is doing very well. Thank you everyone for asking about her. She got the stitches out on Tuesday. I was shocked they took them all out, because several were very icky looking. She has some steri strips here and there. But the stitches are out. A benefit of having no feeling, is she didn't feel them remove them. (We found a happy thought!) Now she is in the part of therapy where she is massaging all the time. She has oil with Vitamin E and aloe vera and a Vit E cream. Her wrist cannot bend and her hand is in the "cupped" position. With her right hand she can push her left hand fingers down, they just pop back up with she releases them. She leaves the splint on also all the time except when she is massaging her palm.

I had my first of the season, fresh green beans this weekend. They were so yummy with potatoes and onion added. Hope everyone is staying cool.

Finally done! All the Pincushion Exchange partners have been sent out. If you do not receive yours, please contact me. In the email you will also receive the link to the yahoo group I started for us. This is totally optional, but I thought it would be a fun touch to add. All the pairs are listed on the swap page. If you signed up for both and only received one partner, that meant we didnt have enough to do both for you. It was a first-come-first-serve on 2 partners. If you did not receive a second partner and still wish one, please let me know and I will add you to a backup list in case someone decides not to play.

I cannot wait to see what everyone creates! Happy stitching, Angela

The Pincushion Exchange is closed to signups. What a great first time turn out! We have 31 swappers and a total of 36 exchanges (some are swapping both a case and a cushie). I will be working on getting partners paired and the info mailed out to you all early this week. When all info has been mailed out, I will post on here. The partner list will be on the website if you wish to see who got who.

Here is a pic of my red bathtub in our backyard. I love it! I took this pic on the 18th and the flowers around it (beebalm and tiger lilies are now blooming). Need to take another.

Thank you everyone for asking about Heather. We go back to the dr tomorrow. She was put into a step down split last week so her stitches could get air. Her hand is still being kept immobile. They started her on passive therapy for her fingers. With her right hand she pushes her left hand fingers down. And that is it. She is experiencing a lot of pain even with the high strength pain medicine. I know this is to be expecting with the amount of surgery, but I know she didnt realize it would be so much. Alot of the reality of the long months ahead is just now settling in for her. One of the first things she asked the doctor was if she would ever be able to sew. She does embroidery and wanted to know if she would be able to hold a needle. :o( This surprised me because I thought she loved to draw more and would be thinking a pencil. But she told me she really loved to hand sew. Our embroidery looks the very same. One can lay down the needle and the other pick it up and you cannot tell the difference.

I was the lucky winner on Morning Ramble of a goody collection of her homemade soaps and candles. What a wonderful mail day that was. And on a needed "pick me up" day. Thank you again Patty!

Thank you for all the emails about Heather. The prayers have been greatly appreciated. We go to the doctor today. Will let you know what they say.

Did you notice the Pincushion Exchange list? I am tickled with so many signing up. Deadline to join us is July 1st. So if you are setting on the fence about playing, hop on off! LOL

This is a pic of pink yarrow from one of our flower gardens. the poor thing had practically gotten snuffed out by black eyed susans. It has been given space now and should thrive better. It is such an airy plant. The foliage reminds me of asparagus fern it is so delicate. Mark is trying to get the flower gardens in order as time allows. They have been sorely neglected this year! He is off the week of the 4th and working on them is on the top of his "man plan". I have been adding to it as I think of little jobs. Have to keep him busy or he will drive me bonkers you know. :o)

Hope everyone has a lovely day.

God is so good. My daughter Heather(19) severed her wrist cleaning a fish bowl late Tuesday night. They call it a partial amputation. The only thing that wasnt severed was the bone and the radius nerve. All other nerves, ligiments and arteries were cut. It was her dominant left hand. And here is the "God is so good" part. They explained that if she had been 5 minutes later getting to the ER and she would have bled to death. It was horrible simply HORRIBLE to see her on that cot with that huge hole. I watched them tie off an artery and it was something. She had emergency surgery in Indianapolis Wednesday morning. We are praying for a full recovery. They are saying additional surgeries and intensive therapy to gain most of the use. We are believing in full not most!

And about the Pincushion Exchange. I have several names to add to the list! We have had a great turn out for this and I cannot wait to make the partners and let you all start visiting amongst yourselves. I had thought about starting a yahoo group for us. What do you think? It would be totally a voluntary thing. But a great tool to keep things going and stay in touch. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

I wanted to touch base and let you all know what is happening here at my house.

Our Daddy is the best daddy in the whole world.

And that is the truth! This picture was taken yesterday at my house. He was feeling a tad sassy! LOL This is such a good picture of him. We had dinner of lasagna, breadsticks, broc/cauliflower in ranch dressing, green beans/potatoes and Jello cake. It was all quite yummy. Wish the green beans had been garden fresh! Mom said my uncle had snap beans about an 1inch long. So they are coming along. And thankfully he shares with her and she shares with us. We will also get some from the Farmer's Market. Speaking of which, we did that on Saturday and did sooooo much better! It is not a craft or fibre show and that is my mentality when it comes to setting up. I am looking for the money and more people. So have had to settle down about that! But we did so much better $$$ wise. I was very well pleased. Dolls and stitchery pillows were the popular items. We also took our baked goodies. My mom even made cookies for us. So we ended up with fudge (butterscotch and tropical), choc no bakes, choc cake mix cookies, brownies in cupcake papers, apple oat muffins and mini loaves, coconut macaroons and not much left at all! What there was, was shared amongst us. And Penny sold some of her gorgeous hand dyed wool yarn. So all in all, we did good. The only drawback to me doing this is that I am done in for the day when it is over. After we get home, put everything away, I have to go to bed for the rest of the day. The family time is good fun. We always laugh alot and that is healthy living right? LOL That and the yummy cinnamon bagel Mark bought me with raspberry cream cheese in the middle. :o)

I am tickled to pieces about the great turn out for the Pincushion Exchange. There is still plenty of time to join us. The swapper's list is in the sidebar of the blog. Where are all you USA gals?? LOL If you have any questions, do not hesitate to send me an email and ask.

And yay we are getting rain today!! The gardens and hayfields are so dry. It has been crazy hot and humid also. So that is my happy thought for the day! :o)

The Country Cellar is hosting it's first ever swap! A Pincushion Exchange.

I have hosted swaps for over 7 years at Backporch Friends my yahoo quilting forum. But this is the first one through TCC.

All the info is posted on my website. Go HERE for the nitty gritty and sign up form. Please tell your friends on your blog and groups if you would be so kind. The more swappers, the merrier it will be! Feel free to take the Exchange image and post it also.

You do not have to have a blog to participate. However, if you DO have a blog, I will link your name to it.

I will post pics as I receive them on the website to share what has been created.

This will not be a secret exchange, but rather an opportunity to make a new friend and chat a bit along the way.

Please pray for Brianna. Go HERE to read her story. This could be our child or little sister. She needs all our prayers. What started out as huge as transcended even that!

UPDATE 6/15---Precious Brianna has been declared brain dead and will be removed from life support . Please remember the family in the coming days.

I have been stitching up a new pattern this week. One of my doodles. Doing it in variegated redwork. Have one more section to finish and then I will show you the before quilted pic. It is Christmas too! And here we are in our hottest week. When I get it completed I will be asking you to help me name it. If your idea is chosen, I will send you a free pattern! Thought this might be fun. And a give-a-way to boot perhaps.

Mark has been working in our shambles of flower beds this week. We always purchasee "homegrown mulch". It has wood chippings and horse manure. And our flowers LOVE it.Well last year the batch we got had sooooo many weed seeds in it. Weeds we have never even seen before! And grass out the waaazzzzzzooooo. And of course it got away from us. Mark started out the season helping his sister with a new house purchase and all that entails. And me, well I was just being my usual sicky self. I went crazy with my spray bottle of salt and bleach water and killed a bunch of it. Cheaper and faster than weed killers you can buy. If you want a slow kill, just use super strong salt water. I went for instant gratification and added the bleach. Hopefully by next weekend, this will be much better. And then you will get pics. :o)

And I just read where Ruth Graham passed away. What an amazing couple!

To market we go....

Here is a pic of our first ever Farmer's Market booth. That is my bro-inlaw's head peeking out from amongst the raggedies. Wanna play a game of Where is Waldo? :o) We are in the trial and error stage for sure. Had major canopy issues. The FM Assoc loaned us the one we ended up using. When we opened the new one we just bought yesterday, it was broke. This is after we set it up last night to make sure it wasnt broke! And we were so gentle with it. So back it went after we got home today. You get what you pay for is the matra of the day. sigh We are going to give it a go again next week. Changing the tables up a bit. Everything was packed and set up in my vintage suitcases. Easypeasy. That will be the same. And we are going to have a baked goods table next week. Fudge, cookies, mini loafs of tea breads and jumbo muffins. So new pics next week. Isnt Penny's hand dyed wool yarn so pretty and colorful? It was Mark, Debbie, David and myself today. The time went really quickly 8-noon. We were the local entainment I am thinking. LOL For the folks set up around us anyways. I asked the lady set up on the other side of the sidewalk as we were leaving, well was it better than just looking at the sign (which was beside us)? She laughed and said yes, we did seem to get along well together. In other words, yep you were a bunch of crazy laughing freaks! :o))

This is the new free redwork pattern I just added to my site. I am all about easypeasy right now. This would stitch up quickly. Go HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page to click on the printable Posey Wreath picture. Small buttons could also be used for the flower centers. Making it even MORE easypeasy. Would love to see pics of any of my patterns folks work up.

Here is a made-up of our Raggedy Ann BOM. This is January. Why cold weather when it is so hot you might ask? LOL Cause we wanted to use the yummy pearl cotton I had! Michelle almost completed it while she was here and I finished it up tonight. Will make it into a pillow as a sample of the pattern. It is stitched on the Springmaid version of "Sandcastle" fabric. I love this fabric because it is prequilted and a heavier texture. You can carry your threads on the back without them showing through. Moda always carries their version. It isnt free, a bit pricey, but so worth it to me. I dyed the fabric with RIT tan dye before stitching. We used Valdani pearl cotton thread size #12 in a wonderful blue variegated #M5. This thread is so soft. and not as tightly woven it seems to me as the DMC. I love this color for blue work.

Our temps have gone back up. The wind is blowsy like we are in Kansas or something! Mark has been working in the flower beds/yard a bit each night. I just sat tonight and watched him. How crazy is that. I have pulled weeds a few minutes each night, but my head gets completely wonky. I actually love working and pulling weeds. Makes me feel close to God. But right now, well I have to feel close to Him sitting on the grass. Or as Penny so sweetly put it, I will be kissing slugs! UGH!

How Anne are you? :o)

I love this site. I am thinking an Anne video marathon is needed. I just read through all the books lately.

Did you happen to notice the new header? I worked it up tonight. The mini block is 3 1/2" and made by Michelle while she was here. We are using it in another project, but I wanted to enjoy it now. I did it all on my scanner.

Felt better today and cleaned the house a bit. Chased the dust bunnies anyways from one corner to the other. Had been awhile and they were so comfortable they were having parties and obviously inviting their friends over.

We posted another block swap over at Backporch Friends. This one is a Pantry Swap with food in jar blocks. Feel free to join the yahoo group and come play with us. The ladies are the sweetest of sweet there. And the quality of our swaps is excellent! If I do say so myself. Another big :o)))

The weather has been wonderful yesterday and today. Springlike. Turned the ac off and loving having the windows up. The temps are to be back up by weekend, but that is then!