Rainy summer afternoon

Beautiful, really. Look how saturated those colors are. The rain was still coming down when I took this.

Birthday bean bags

Yesterday there was a pool party birthday for my cousin Sara's little girl. She'll be two later this week. I wanted to make her something active and colorful, and so the idea for these bean bags was born.
My husband had to go to the store for me to get enough dried navy beans to fill all the bags, but I think they turned out really cute. The birthday girl seemed to enjoy pulling them out of the bag one by one.
And here's the bag to put them away when playtime is finished.

Another girly baby quilt

So. This quilt is for a friend who's a little more girly than the one for whom I made the first "girl" baby quilt. Pinwheels instead of hourglasses, and all pinks and grays. This one was kind of hard to give away, it turned out so well. But I could make another if I really wanted to; all the fabrics are still in the stash. The quilt is still smaller than the "standard" baby quilt size, but I like them that way-- they can be used as a play mat or drag-along as well as for the wrapping-up in the first few weeks and months. BQ (before quilting) it was 36" by 41", and I forgot to measure after. I was rushing to get it completed for my friend's baby shower today, where it was received very warmly.

A few cobwebs have been forming around the blog here lately. I think summer is getting in the way. Back soon, hopefully!

Jane-a-palooza

So yesterday I had some time to get caught up on some Jane-ing. These were all foundation pieced patterns that I already had printed up and tucked into my book. I thought they were all from the Jane-along, but it looks like only two of them were. I'll have to pay more attention in the future!I always seem to start these multi-block entries with my favorite of the bunch, and this time is no exception. This is F-2: Kaleidoscope, one of the ones that I needed to catch up on. This came together really easily, and I love the way it looks with the red and cream and green and the sprouting sprigs in the center.
E-3: Paddlewheels somehow took waaaay longer than it should have during a recent crafting night with a friend. Also, some of the toner from the paper-printed pattern ended up on one of the light colored triangles in the middle. I know that someone in the Dear Jane group posted (recently?) about a good way to clean blocks-- was it Murphy's oil soap, or is that just crazy? Any ideas out there?
This is E-4: Buffalo Tree Hopper, also not a current block with the group. The inset seams didn't turn out so perfectly here, but I also forgot to do any clipping before I sewed them. I'll remember that next time. I love this fabric, and the opportunity to use some gray in this quilt. I don't know what it is, but I'm still really into gray at the moment.
And BR-1: Rosemary's Rainbow (finally!) one for really catching up. Fissiett commented over on flickr that this looked like Jane was making mushroom soup, and I guess it does! If I had paid attention and remembered that this triangle would be on the bottom of the quilt, it's possible that I would have turned the mushrooms up the other way. Maybe.

I hope everyone's having a great Tuesday! I'm pretty happy today because I'm getting a new stoop out front, and the days of our house being the mailman's least favorite may soon be over.

The fifth of July

Today was a quiet day at the farm, no explosions in the sky (even though the stands in town yelled, "HALF OFF TODAY!"). Today the beauty was in the details. On land:
And "at sea":

I would show you a photo of the 82 mosquito bites on my left calf, which bites were also a detail of my day, but I don't think they're a particularly beautiful detail! I hope everyone enjoyed a great fourth.

K-11, H-1

K-11, Columbine, and
H-1, Peek-a-boo.

Two new Dear Jane blocks completed over the weekend. Both of these were foundation-piece-and-go! I'm not quite sure about the Joel Dewberry print in the second block, but I think it'll all blend in.

Up in the tree

Friday the thirteenth is probably not the best day to be climbing a ladder, but it's time to pick the sour cherries so up the ladder I went. The cherries are another beautiful thing about summer on the farm. The sour cherry tree seems tiny when you look at it from the ground, and indeed much of it was cut away last fall because it was rotting. But once you climb up between the limbs, there are cherries upon cherries. Too many to pick, and most of the reddest and juiciest ones too high for anyone but the birds to reach.

In fact, the birds squawked and fought while I picked, eager for me to go inside to the pitting machine so they could continue their feast. This pitcher represents about 25 minutes of picking, enough for two sour cherry pies. My grandmother thinks that this might be one of the last years for this tree, as cherry trees only live so long before they give out. I told her she'd better plant another tree right quick! The pies she makes from these cherries have been a part of my summer equation for almost as long as I can remember. Her recipe is simple (and probably originally came from the back of some long-ago box of tapioca), but oh-so-delicious with fruit you've picked yourself.

Granna's Sour Cherry Pie

• 4 cups sour cherries
• 2 2/3 Tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 Tablespoons kirsch
• Double pie crust
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons cold butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

• Mix cherries, tapioca, sugar and kirsch together in a large bowl. Let stand 15 minutes.
• Pierce bottom pie crust and brush with beaten egg white. Bake for five minutes to set.
• Pour cherry mixture into pie crust and dot with butter.
• Affix top crust; vent.

Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees and then turn heat back to 350; bake 40 minutes more. This is a very juicy pie. It bakes best on a jelly roll pan covered in foil. For best results, let stand until almost room temperature before serving with vanilla ice cream. Yum!