Creatin' in the Sticks: June 2012

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Any man can be a father...

Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad. ~Author Unknown

I'm one lucky girl. I have so many great men in my life, but today I'm celebrating my dad.

Rocking my world

Coaching my ball team

(Need to remember to put the picture of my ball team on facebook. That will be funny.)

Giving our dogs baths

Grandpa with Trista

Dad with Trista and Chanda

My wedding day with my brother and sister

Randy's graduation

Dad with Allie and Madeline

Love you dad. Happy Father's Day!

I'm so lucky,

Sunday, June 10, 2012

First off, I've always thought my thumbs are black. I seem to lack the skills of a gardener. This year I've been determined to change that. I'm learning gardening 101 by trial, error, error again, look it up on the Internet, ask questions of green thumbers (why isn't that a word?), try it their way, error again, pull it up, plant something else, watch bugs enjoy, spray the crap out of things, plant again, error again, man it's working, and look on the Internet again. Experience seems to be the best learning tool of all. If failure breeds success, next year I should be off the charts.

We have fence around the garden to keep dogs and deer out. The birds seem to love it. They use the sprinkler as a bird bath and the worms are keeping them fed. We have strawberries in an old horse tank next to the garden. The birds ate my first strawberry, so we now have netting over the strawberries and we have harvested 2. YES 2 whole strawberries. lol

Garden June 3, 2012

I started with spinach, but the bugs really chowed down on it, so I pulled it up. I like spinach but not leaves with bug holes in them... I planted cabbage and broccoli which seem to be doing fine. I've planted tomatoes, cucumbers, yellow and green squash, peppers, dill, watermelon, and pumpkins. I have marigolds on one side, because someone told me rabbits hate marigolds. I thought it was worth trying to keep out the rabbits. OR I could just put the chicken wire I purchased around the bottom of the fence. I don't think there are any rabbits around here that could jump the 6 feet it would take to get over the fence.....

Our first harvest

The first thing we consumed from the garden this year was this itty bitty strawberry. Hubby and I split it. Tasty. That was June 3rd. Success. Oh yeah. This is what $15.00 worth of strawberry plants gets ya..........

Harvesting broccoli June 10, 2012

This morning I was out watering the garden and started wondering about the broccoli. It was starting to look ready. I checked this web site, "Gardening Know How" and learned we definitely needed to harvest it. The hot wind was taking it's toll and turning the broccoli yellow. I hate this wind!

Our second harvest

The second harvest looks a little better. ha YES, That is another strawberry and yes, we will split it.

This gardening thing is starting to be fun. Stay tuned.

Learning and loving it,

Linking up with:

Craftsy BOM - April, May, June

I am finally caught up on the Craftsy Block of the Month and thought I would just show all three months at once. If you aren't taking this class, you should be. There is so much inspiration for everyone to see and Amy Gibson is an awesome teacher. There is so much room for your own creativity in the class.

April was a lesson in English Paper Piecing. The blocks were made by using hexagon paper pieces.

April BOM using English Paper Piecing

The first block of the month was the Hexi Stripe and the second was "Sunny With a Chance of Hex," but Amy encouraged her students to think out of the box and come up with unique designs. I chose to make a tree instead of the sun. I am, after all, creatin' in the sticks... lol

Hexi Stripe Block Pattern

Growing Hex Pattern

May was a month of wonkiness. The lesson was about the wonky log cabin block. I found this to be fun, but with no precision, it was hard for me.

May BOM Wonky Log Cabin

Modern Log Cabin Pattern

Wonky 5-Sided Log Cabin Pattern

June's lesson was about the modern 9 patch. I modified the Octagon after being inspired by another fellow student and love the way it turned out.

June BOM using Modern 9 patch

Greek Cross Pattern

Octagon Pattern

I am all caught up with this class. I am learning so much and am brushing up on old skills. I am also learning a lot about the new sewing machine. Piecing is so much easier now. I had no idea how bad the old Kenmore was. (whispering...don't want it's feelings hurt).

So I am at the half way point with this class. I love the blocks so much, I may start another one....

BOM Blocks so far.

Past BOM posts:

March Blocks

February Blocks

January Blocks

It feels so good to have something caught up. The wind has been crazy here, so I choose to stay inside and sew. You know how I love wind...

Have two rag quilts started, better get busy.

Linking up with:

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Couch to 5k

I am running again, finally. Inspiration- Glow Run. A high school friend invited me to join her and her group of fitness junkies for this fun 5k and I decided to do it.

I ran my first 5k at Dodge City Days in July 2010. Or I should say, I ran and walked a 5k. I finished with a time 32:33. I was OK with that time, but I really wanted to be under 30 minutes. As luck would have it, my hubby decided he would like to run a 5k after he watched me race and we sought out a training program.

The Couch to 5k Running Program was the perfect fit for my husband and it gave me a brand new start. It is a 9 week program designed to get you from couch potato to running 3 miles. We finished the program and ran a 5k together. The 5k was called the Toto trot and it was held in Liberal, Kansas in October 2010. The race started at

Hubby and I after the TOTO TROT

Personalized Baby Quilt

My first sale!

Flannel Rag Quilt

A friend requested a baby quilt for her niece. I was so excited to have my first order and sale. Maybe this is the start of a profitable hobby. I have to support this habit somehow.....

Applique Flannel Baby Blanket

I hope to make more of these because it was so much fun and I love it so much.

It's so hard to find fabric, let alone flannel, around here. I purchased the fabric at fabric.com and loved the fact I could put the samples on a design wall to see them side by side. The quality was great and the shipping was free and fast!

The best part about finishing this one is the order I received for another one....

Better get busy,

Linked up:

Friday, June 1, 2012

Sewing Room

I've been a little busy lately and have not been on the blog scene. The reason....MY NEW SEWING ROOM!!

My mom made this Raggedy Ann wood plaque for my room when I was little

Here is a little tour of my new project room. I have more to do to make it the room of my dreams, but I have already enjoyed sewing and chillaxin' in my very own diva attic!

We started with wood studded walls above the garage and an old work bench (which is wonderful storage). My husband worked on heating and cooling and sheet rock. He installed a wood floor which was obtained from some very nice people down the road that were installing new...FREE!

Heat and cooling unit. Love climate control.

Sheet rock in progress. This is the north wall before.

More sheet rock in progress. This is the south wall and work bench.

Recycled wood floor installed, but what a mess. Check out the plug ins going in above the bench..oh yeah.

After the floor and sheet rock were finished, a very nice fireman/part-time construction contractor came in and put texture on the walls. Finally, it was my turn to get to work... I decided to paint the room white until I can make up my mind what color I want. Actually, I may just go crazy with accessories and leave it white. Work in progress...always.

Here is a tour of the after:

South wall finished.

This is the only picture I have of the light fixtures. The ceiling isn't high enough for the chandelier I wanted, so flush mount it was. ha The hardware store had two fixtures on clearance. BARGAIN!

Work benches.

I decided to paint the inside of the benches. I may eventually put a curtain up to hide the clutter, but for now it's good.

Lots of storage!!

Curtain. The first sewing project in the diva attic..

I made valences for the windows using fabric by Moda - Half Moon Modern - Aqua Scissors. Perfect fabric for a sewing room :) .

Glass front for fabric storage. Small hanger area for work in progress.

These cabinets are actually closet organizers. I wanted a glass front cabinet and have been searching for something VERY affordable. I found these at Menard's and just love them. The hubby cut the hanging bar down a little to make it fit just right.

My new sewing table.

My new sewing table was the splurge. It is a Horn #5580. It is elevated and has an air lift. (I opted out of electric lift..) I love that it is the perfect height for me and is a great cutting table. I found the drafting chair at Hobby Lobby and was able to use that trusty little 40 percent off coupon. It was a steal of a deal.

Drafting chair and storage in sewing table.

I did get an insert to fit around my machine after I took this picture. My machine now sits flush with the table. I love that feature. Quilting is so much easier.

Sewing table as cutting table. Love it!

My Grandma's sewing cabinet. My old Kenmore on top.

I am lucky to have my Grandma Haskin's sewing machine and cabinet. I've never tried the machine inside the cabinet, but she used it all the time and I'm sure it's a good back up. My poor Kenmore sits on top. I know the Kenmore works and comes in handy for those industrial strength jobs. The thread holder on the wall came from my Grandma Wycoff. There are big spools on the holder that show prices of 18 cents. You sure can't buy thread for that anymore.....

My sewing center.

North wall finished.

Quilts I made for the kids.

My husband's Grandpa made this shelf out of old thread spools.

This shelf is so cool for the sewing room. It holds a little thread right now until I get my spool holders put up. My husband does metal art. Check out Duck Creek Designs to see some of his creations. My name 'cut out' was one of his first practice projects.

Future home of the sink.

I planned to have a sink here by now, but I can't make up my mind what kind of cabinet I want. I want a deep sink and not a vanity sink. The hole in the floor is where the drain goes. My husband is a plumber so that comes with perks... LOL