Scrap Happy Purse

One of the blogs I follow is Crazy Mom Quilts and recently saw her post about making a Scrap Happy Purse. I loved the look of this bag and really wanted to try making it. Given my past lack of success in making any kind of bag I was hesitant but finally decided to go for it. I went though the basket of scraps that I keep for Katie to play with and found more than enough scraps at the right size. It is pretty awesome because I remember all of the quilts and projects that I used these fabrics for, this makes the bag that much more special. I began the bag and thought that I would finish it quickly, however my Grandmother encountered some health issues and passed away quickly which led to family coming to town. Things are beginning to return to normal and one of the first projects I wanted to get back to was this. Tonight I finished sewing on the last handle. Here is the finished purse.

Here is a close up, I quilted lines on every 1/4 inch which took some time but really looks good.

Inside there are two pockets and a snap.

This bag was a lot of fun to make and I am really happy with how it came out!

Easy As Pie

Earlier this year, around April my office mate (we share an office at the library, she is also our teen librarian) came to work then had horrible stomach pain which took her to urgent care then the ER. Long story short she had several cancerous ovarian tumors which were removed in subsequent surgeries. She is now in chemo and doing good so we are all awaiting her return to work this December! What can I do when something happens to someone and I feel helpless...well a quilt is one thing. Here is her Easy As Pie Layer Cake Quilt. I used a layer cake of Strawberry Fields fabric. 

The boarder is a pink floral fabric and the back is a yellow strawberry print.

Very happy with how this quilt came out and cant wait to send it to her!

Peaches for the summer

The peach crop this year has been short so getting good peaches has been a challenge. I was able to get one box from the CSA and put them to good use.

First we made Peach Raspberry Jam from Taste of Home Canning and Preserving 

Next was Blueberry Peach Chutney from The Complete Book of Pickling

Third was Peach BBQ Sauce from The Art of Preserving

Finally was Peach Butter from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Altogether a great way to to save the peaches from this summer. We are using the BBQ sauce on some chickens for dinner tonight!

Corn and Relish

In my box of weekly vegetables I recently added on a dozen, then a few weeks later got another ten ears from the extra they had available. The result was canning corn.

My father was able to get a few zucchini from his plants so we made our favorite zucchini relish! So glad we got to make some this year as it is so delicious. 

Small Garden

Usually by this time of year the garden is in full swing and we are getting ready for the fair. There are piles of tomatoes and zucchini and we are canning like crazy and giving the stuff away. This is not the case this year. This past weekend we finally had a break in the hot weather, Sunday was overcast and cool so it was time to work in the garden. The main goal was to move the irrigation hoses around to only water where there were still plants. We also cleared out the weed and dead plants, this resulted in showing how truly small the garden is this year.

So what do we have left...well there is the kale

...and a tomato plant.

Here is Katie with the kale.

Katie with the peppers, there are three plants.

There is a random volunteer tomatillo that hasn't produced yet but looks healthy.

The corn is doing good and getting quite tall. This is all popcorn so we are in the drying out phase.

The pomegranate tree is doing good but no blooms yet. The near by peach tree did have three peaches but the birds ate them before we could get them. 

And here is the wide view of the garden. There are two watermelon plants and a cantaloupe but so far the melons are really small and I don't hold out much hope for them producing.

I had thought last year the garden was low producing but this year makes last year look like a great year. I have not found anyone who has had a good year. There are a variety of possible factors including the severe drought, usually hot weather, etc... Given the current state of water in California if there isn't rain this winter we may not be doing a garden next year just to conserve water.