Pumpkin Patch

Isn't this a cute family portrait? I got it with a few others a couple days ago from My great niece Briana in Castle Rock, Co. They went to one of the ranches to get pumpkins.

This is such an amazing family. The baby is just about 2 mo. old and is name Samile. Isn't that different.

The amazing thing is Briana is home schooling the children. The oldest girl, Soquel, is about 9 and she started her out quite young. Plays the violin and so does the oldest boy
Squire, started learning I think as soon as he could talk. He is about 6 now. Then the younger boy , Sequoia, is 2. So she has her hands full. Her Husband is a music teacher in elementary charter school. Also teaches privately.

She's the one I quilted a quilt for this spring. She had taken about 5 years to put it together. I'll see if I can get a picture of it on her bed that she sent me. Seems I lost it last week when I got an upgrade and lost my photos.

I will have a picture to show tomorrow of the little mini that I just quilted the last couple days. Need to get the binding finished.

Then I received the flannel backing that I ordered to put on my DS family throw. So that has to be cut and pieced , pinned and have to check if I have batting big enough. I have the TB club on Wed. so will be at the quilt shop and get a discount on club day.

Now back to the binding.

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Latest Project

Here's one of my UFO tops from my basket. All machine quilted and bound.

I've been thinking and thinking when I made this. I need Marcie's memory sponge.
Then it just dawned on me that it was probably a round robin I did in a small group about 4 years ago and that was as far as I got




Here's a closeup of one corner. I don't know if you can see the quilting or not. Lots of free motion following a template of course. Except in the border where I outlined the flowers. that's what took time.

More about the hotel in Boonsboro. I noticed a Walking tour guide at the town hall which is next to the library and it has lots of information in it.
The hotel was #1 on the list and was called Eagle Hotel erected about 1796. Says the first stone building in Boonsboro.

Yes, It was named for the Boones but not Daniel. Probably a relative, They are buried in a cemetery behind the first church.

Now the other building across the street was the U.S.Hotel built in 1811. It was Dr.s offices for many years.

That's all of the history lesson for today.

Fall has really arrived. I had to turn on the heat. It was down to 40 last night and got clear up to 60 but windy. But no rain. Lets do a rain dance. !!!

Nora Roberts New Project.

Yesterday I had to go down to the Library so took my camera to get some pictures of a restoration work going on in the center of town.

Boonsboro is a very small town. Maybe 8,000 but growing. Very historic sitting right along the old National highway. The little flags they have on the light posts say 1792. So this is about the first hotel in the center of town. There is also a large Stone House on the top of South Mountain that was a days journey from one to the other,in wagons of course.

This hotel has never been in operation as long as I've been here. That's 50 years. There was an antique shop in it I think years ago. But then it really started going to pot. The pigeons took over the top floor. There was even a tree growing out one of the windows.

Well then came Nora Roberts to the rescue, I'm sure you have all heard of her, maybe read her books. She lives outside of town but her husband has a Book store in town.

I came the back way as I wanted a view of the back of it as they are working.

For two or three weeks they had dumpsters in there cleaning out. Took some added on stuff out of this back. Here's a closer picture. One brick layer up there patching.

What a wonderful court yard this would make.

She is planning on restoring it and having the rooms set up with antiques. The worker said a Bed and Breakfast. But she has book signings about every couple months and brings in other authors as well and I imagine she would like a nice place for them to stay.

Then I walked up toward the square. Took this picture of the house diagonally across the street which she also bought at auction. It was apartments last but originally a large mansion. Her son is going to have a Pizza Parlor in it . They are almost finished with fixing it up. They painted it those colors.

The stone wall here on the right is the first section of the hotel. I imagine the back part was added later.

I went across the street and took this next picture of the front of the hotel

Boonsboro has one block of downtown. This next one was from in front of the Pizza house

You

You can get a view of the front and side here. Pretty hard not to get come cars going though.

I walked down past the post office and got this view of the back . It is quite a large building. Don't know if he'll rent out the top or not.

Now back down main street a bit and got this shot from across the street of the Bookstore

They really have three different houses here. The one in the center with the blue porch was the first one. Then they bought the little one on the left. Then expanding they got the one on the right which when we first came here was a hardware store.

When they have book signings the people are lined up clear up the street and no place to park. Nice for this little town.

I hope to get pictures as she gets more done.

So maybe you need to go buy her latest book so she has enough money to finish this. LOL

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Latest Project

Here's a flannel quilt top I've been working on. Started out with a package of charms and a bunch of leftover strips from the same collection. Bet I've had them well over 5 years.

After seeing the TB Christmas Street Flannel with the snow and pines, I just had to make this up for my son and family. Since they live in the pines in Co. So have ordered the fabric for the backing. Will be nice for them to cozy up with in the living room. They use my GS's twin size quilt now. He had a big double bed instead of the bunk beds that I made the quilts for.

This is not finished here. The borders are only stuck on the board. I have since changed it a bit and have all but the outside narrow border on now

Soon I'll be able to add it to my HUGE basket full of UFOs:

This was Kim's addition. It will not go into this basket. Since I want to get it quilted for Christmas

Kim was the one that suggested I roll up the completed tops and put them in a basket. Little did she know I had a Longaberger clothes basket that I had no place to use in this house so it fits nicely on the hearth and is overflowing with tops. Notice there is also one sticking out of a large vase behind it.

All the quilts on the rack are quilted. . The one is an antique appliqued. Have another quilt rack behind the TV on the other end of the hearth that is full of quilted ones also.

Think I'll live long enough to get these quilted? Maybe if I give up the Internet and just sit and quilt in between doing for Hubby.

Kim's comment:

Good thing I bought myself a Juki so I don't have to hand quilt all those!

Some pictures today

I wanted to show you what I found out in the yard the other day. Last year we had about four huge Oaks cut down that were dieing. My new neighbor was afraid they were going to fall on their new home. These were all trees that were well over 100 years old. They cut up all the logs and will burn them in their fireplace.

This is one of the stumps and look at the fungus that grew out of the bottom of it this fall.
I said I had finally finished handquilting this BOM that my husbands Home care nurse wanted. She is paying a little for it. Wanted to give her something as she has been so good and helpful for us.

I just spread it out on the couch. There is a picture of it on the bed before It was quilted in an old blog

And here's a close-up of the center

You can see how I quilted some of it. The outside border strip has the same chain quilting.

My Husband has name it STAR GAZER.

Tomorrow I will show you what I'm working on for my son and family for Christmas.

And that's all folks! this is Kim's ending when putting in the pictures. So glad she's home but nice she and DH got away for a couple days.

This and That

I need someone to talk to since Kim is gone so figured I'd write a little. Sure wish I could figure how to upload a picture into the text myself. I am going to try

I finished quilting the BOM I've been doing for my husbands Home Care Nurse. She is paying me for it but not what I usually get. I had wanted to make her something little as she seemed so interested in my quilting.

Now I still need to get a good picture and will have to wait till Kim gets back to post. I think I had posted a bit of it in one of my former blogs. called my ongoing project.

Then I have also been playing with some flannel charms and strips and have a design on the board. Have it about half sewn together. I wanted to make a throw for my Son and family for Christmas. They are coming in for the holiday and wanted. something to give them. They live at about 10,000 ft south of Denver on top of one of the mountains. Wonderful view. Can see Pike's Peak in the distance. But oh what a road. They think nothing of the several feet of snow that they get. The plows are always out working, grading. The school bus comes around. This is where my purple hair grandson lives.

We are in the midst of a very bad draught. It's been 3 weeks since we had about a half inch of rain. We get the news from DC and some parts of Virginia are being restricted on water use. The reservoir's are so low. We have a deep well with wonderful mountain water but who knows how long that might hold out. They are saying maybe a shower next Wed. but up in the 90's this weekend. Did someone say it's October?

Fall is coming

The leaves are starting to turn and the oak leaves are falling.

It's been to dry this summer so we probably won't have much good color from the Oaks. The brown ones are falling every day.

This is a picture of the old dogwood just outside my porch. Only taken from the ground so can't see quite as much color yet. Don't you like my picnic table? Just one too many picnics on it over the years. It probably was made by the contractor that built this house in 1964. It hadn't fallen apart until this past winter. I sort of like the rustic look.

Then this picture is taken closer to my neighbors. That bright orange tree is a dogwood, and the real dark maroon leaves are from a small maple, I think on our property.

Since the sun hits the dogwood most of the day it gets the brillant color.

Kim's mention yesterday of Placerville, California reminded me of something else about my grandfather.

My great grandfather went to California overland but sent his wife on boat via the horn,, I think they called it. Anyway when she landed in San Fransisco they went to Redwood City and my grandfather was the first WHITE baby born there. Can't give you the date. But in later years then his Mother had a rooming house in Placerville for the miners.

From there as a young man he started to drive 20 mule team down to the Arizona territory. Always said that the valley would be great farming land if they could get some water.

He settled then for a while in Arizonia with another fellow and they needed a housekeeper. The other man had a sister up in Salt Lake City with 3 young children and her husband had left her. So they brought her down to Arizona to cook for them while they farmed. She ended up marrying my grandfather.
They then had 6 children, 3 that survived the influenza
He got arthritis bad in later years and I only remember when he died when I was 5 years old. My grandmother lived to 82 years old.