The hays been cut, the lawns been cut and the cherry trees are full of cherries.  There was a thunderstorm raging outside our log walls the other night and there is thunder in our hills right now.  It went from almost 90° yesterday to barely 60° this morning and I love it!  It seemed like spring came late this year and now it's here. The meat birds have been processed and are either frozen or canned, and that feels so good to have our pantry and freezer getting full.  I've been quilting a lot and this quilt went to a family member who is battling breast cancer, it's an X's and O's Quilt Block from Missouri Star Quilt Co.

Well that's it in a nutshell for what's happening around here.

I didn't mean to be gone from the blog for so long.  My excuse is that I have been busy :)  I took a bus trip down to Hamilton Missouri, the home of the Missouri Star Quilt Company...and...I was in heaven!!!!  I got to go to her trunk show and it was AWESOME, plus shop in all 11 of her quilt shops for a couple of days.  There also was a meet and greet at the end.  I have to say Jenny and her husband Ron are so very down to earth.  I took so many photos with my phone but thought to just make a collage of just a few of them.  Ron and Jenny were so cute together during the trunk show, you can see Ron goofing around behind Jenny's back during the show.  Seeing how she put the blocks together really is just so simple and easy.  I left there being very inspired.

One of my purchases was a coffee mug and on it it says "Make Something today". 

So I did.

I hope you all are doing great and I hope not to be gone as long as I have from the blog.

Another quilt done and shipped off to our granddaughter in Texas.  I can't recall the pattern name.  I always wash my quilts and love the crinkled look.  I'm still making my Farm Girl Vintage Blocks but set them aside to finish this quilt.

I'm not sure where I got this pattern called Log Cabin Hidden Stars from.  I started this top awhile back and finally picked it up again, and right now it's up on the design wall, half sewed together.  Camping last summer I brought a blanket from home and told Mr one night that I'm going to make us a quilt to take camping.  I bought a Glamping Jelly Roll from the quilt shop in town that went out of business, unfortunately that makes two quilt shops that closed in our small town, not from lack of business, but both from health issues in the family.  When I saw the Glamping Jelly Roll I knew that was what I wanted to use for our camping quilt.  I will be putting on a couple of borders to make it a bit bigger.

Okay, I almost bought white for the stars...white...for camping...nope that just wouldn't have worked.

I hope I get it finished before we go camping again.

I have been busy working on this quilt and some other things lately and now Christmas is next week and I have to get going on getting ready for that.  Mr set this up for me so that I can take photos of my finished quilts, he is such a super guy to always help me when I need help.

It's been a few years when I started this quilt and I finally finished it.   Thanks to Mr for holding it up for me.  Instead of blogging I've been playing with my mid-arm trying to get better at quilting my quilts.

The first snowfall.  We did get snow, but I was not at home when it came.  I took this shot this morning.

Wonderful friends.  I was at a weekend quilt re-treat.  There were just three of us and we had an awesome time.  I totally got to spread out.

This was my space for the weekend.

Comfort food, especially when someone else made it.  We ate well.

My home.  I made this wall hanging.  I still have to add some string/yarn to it, so that it looks like the mittens have those strings on them like the ones I used to put on my kids when they were little so that they wouldn't lose their mittens.

I did get a couple of other projects done, but those are Christmas gifts and I will show them later.

I have been spending some time in the sewing room.  I finished a toddler quilt for one of the grandsons.   I used up some scrap fabric that I had from another project or two to finish this quilt.  It's all washed and already in it's new home.

I've been wanting to make Quilt of Valor quilts, but just never can find the time to make a whole quilt.  I found a Facebook page that you only make star blocks and send them to a woman who puts the blocks together to make the quilt top and then quilts it, and they are just beautiful!  So I've started making star blocks to go into quilts for veterans.  I don't have to make the whole quilt, I just have to make the blocks and right now that seems to be a better fit.

We've been to the apple orchards twice this fall.  We usually get the seconds on the apples and this year the apples were absolutely huge.  I found this recipe on Facebook and so far have made it twice, it's absolutely delicious and easy.  Here is the link for the recipe.

I have been volunteering at the local hospital once a week, sometimes it's more.  It gets me out of the house, talking and meeting people and it feels good.

Hope to catch up with you all soon.

With that comes heating the sauna up more.

Plus doing more knitting and over at Ravelry I joined a knit-a-long and made this cowl.

I also joined a spin-a-thon over here, and day 1 have one spool almost full.  I don't think I'll be spinning very much, I signed up before my mother passed away and now my aunt passed and it's been busy over here.

I have been quilting too, and have started to put a quilt on the frame.

I just love this time of year and I think I always will.

Doing both at the retreat I went on this past weekend.

I finally pulled out a quilt that I started on from a Block of the Month, oh I'd say about 4 years ago.  What was I thinking. I was very new to quilting and to tackle something this complicated was just crazy.  But I've been slowly plugging along on it and I'm getting to the point of putting it together...Yay!!!

Mini quilts made from my stash that I've been wanting to get rid of.

I can't wait to hang this one next summer in celebration of the 4th of July.

I joined a knit-a-long over at Ravelry.  I got a late start but got caught up at the retreat.

It's nice to be gone, but it's nice to be home too.

Knitting and quilting, I just can't decide which one I like better.

Does it really matter tho.  I can love them both equally.