Thanks to my good friend Kedren, who also happens to be my next door neighbor, I was given an application to Eastern Market. I think she may have had a little talk with Fritz, the super nice man who runs the market as well. I worked up my nerve and sent in the application and I will be a standholder on July 7th!
I'm feeling the need to make a few more quilts, maybe a pin cushion or two and even a few animals for the kids. Of course, I only have one week. Here is the beginning of my disappearing nine patch. I'll show you more when I get it finished.
If you need me, I'll be in my sewing room.
The one thing I really wish blogger would change is that I can't send emails to people who comment on my blog. It makes me feel ungrateful or something. Blogger's solution is to respond on the comment page but I don't think people return to the comment page after they comment and so that solution doesn't work for me. Here's my solution for now: A thanks post.
First, thanks to all those great people that I am lucky enough to know personally: Amy, Michele, Heather and Xia. Read their blogs because they have a lot of talent and a lot of great things to say. I wish you could all know them.
Secondly, to the people who have commented that I am not lucky enough to have met in person: Alice, Cici, Matilda, LadybugmommyMaria and Betty. It has been my pleasure to get to check out the other blogs out there. I have to admit I was totally amazed to have had a comment from people who DON'T know me. So, thanks.
Matilda and Cici, thanks for liking the Toile quilt. I have come to like it much more since I've been quilting it. As requested I will post the directions and a full picture in a day or two. I'm hoping to finish the quilt today.
Finally, check out Dawn's Late Spring Field Day post. There are some fabulous pictures and amazing links (I have to find some time to check them ALL out). You'll see some familiar kids (mine) in the post.
Thanks again for reading and have an amazingly blessed day enjoying the every-dayness of it all.

I took a trip with my kids and my two next door neighbor children to Burkholder Fabric to buy the black fabric I need to finish my quilt. Yes, I had to buy a few more pieces as well. This store is about 1/2 hour away from our house if you take the highway. About 3/4 of the way home I got a flat tire. I pulled over, took a look at the sagging tire and took a deep breath. Theoretically, I know how to take off and put on a tire. Practically, I've never done it. I began pulling all of the "summer" goods (fishing rods, chairs, tackle box, bug spray) out of the trunk and looking for the tire and the jack. I prayed, "Father, please help me through this." IMMEDIATELY, a voice beside me said, "Can we help you?" I almost jumped out of my skin. Two very nice gentlemen had pulled over without me knowing to help me. We discovered that, yes, the spare tire was there as was the jack but there was no wrench with which to take off and put on the tire. These men, who still had a long way to return home, went to the next exit to find a wrench. They returned with a mechanic and power tools! In five minutes after their return I was on my way home. Talk about answered prayer. In my journal everyday (ok, everyday that I use it) one of the questions I try to answer is how did I see God in my day? Many days I'm just not sure how to answer that question but today I definitely have an answer.
“For this meme, each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.”
So I had to look up the word meme. According to the Urban Dictionary, one definition is "an idea spread from blog to blog." This may take me awhile.
1. I have always wished my name was Elizabeth, not just Beth. My brothers' names are Brent and Brian and so I guess my parents were on a roll with the B names. Unfortunately, when my mother was getting us all confused I was called Breath because I was the only one without an R.
2. I vowed as a child and as a young adult that I would NEVER name all of my children with the same first letter. I should have known better than to say never. We didn't name Nathan and Nolan purposefully with the same letter but knew the names were right and so I just bit the bullet and did it.
3. I first met my husband when I was about 14. He was (and still is) in a band called the Innocence Mission and some friends of mine introduced us. We didn't give each other the time of day. Later, he came to my high school graduation party (he is 5 years older than I). Still didn't think about each other. Finally when I was 21 he chased me down. Yes, girls, despite the fact that he was a rock and roll star and toured the country and made records (yes, he used to make RECORDS) he chased me and not the other way around. Lucky me.
4. I was in a band called Beatnik Love Affair when I was in college. We made a demo tape and a friend shot a video for us. I still have it if anyone wants a good laugh. No, I will NOT post it on the internet. Private viewing only.
5. I am a terrible housekeeper. At all times there is lots of dust and cat hair covering most of the house. Mike cleans the bathroom. Did I mention how much I love my husband?
6. I thought parenting would be a lot of picnics in the park and laying on the living room floor coloring. I'm still waiting for my kids to open that pack of crayons and the coloring book I bought 11 years ago.
7. I didn't realize parenting would involve so many bugs and creepy things (we have encountered so many snakes lately that a trip to the library was necessary for some understanding of our belly slithering friends). I also didn't realize how much I would love this.
8. Finally, I love homeschooling. I love being with my boys every second of the day and sharing in all of their learning. I did not expect this. I love being the person they talk to about bugs and Egyptians and being asked (for at least the 100th time) which is my favorite wild cat. I love that we can be on a wonderful faith journey together each day, that my husband works from home so that we all interact throughout the day and that Mike and I are the primary people forming the characters of these fabulous boys. I will say it again, I love homeschooling.
Well, that was easier than I thought once I got started. Now I have to tag 8 people. I don't know that many bloggers so some of these people may be really surprised (and I hope not annoyed)! I tag Alice, Rebecca, Dawn, Ladybug Momma, MaryAlice, Nissa and Xia, Bill and Stephanie.
Because I just CAN'T post without a picture, here is a mini quilt I made the other day.
I don't know about you but I just can't get enough strawberries when they are in season. My friend Amy at Fresh Vintage posted another strawberry recipe, check it out. On Sunday I made Amy's recipe for strawberry muffins and they were so good I made a double batch yesterday for the freezer. On Sunday I also baked a shortcake. I just googled for a recipe. It is tasty but not as good as my mom's. Note to self: Call mom for the recipe.
Here's a question for you. How many people prefer milk on their strawberry shortcake? I have always hated things that are soggy and so could never add milk. Whipped cream, yes. Nathan begged me to buy the whipped cream in a can. I don't like that kind (I swear I can taste the chemicals) but bought it for him as a treat. When we got it out I told them both to open their mouths and I squirted a mouthful into each of them! They were shocked! My philosophy on this is, if you do it rarely, the treat is wonderful. If you do it all the time it begins to turn into gluttony. Of course, Nathan then informed me he doesn't like the whipped cream!
Of course, when you are a child, the best part of baking is licking the left over batter. 
For some time now I have been interested in making "religious quilts" or maybe I could call them "quilts of faith"? I really don't know. One of the things that I just absolutely adore about Catholicism is how we use all of our senses to worship. I love to know the WHY of everything. In fact, when my husband (then boyfriend) first took me to his church (he was Catholic, I was Evangelical) I began with all the why questions: Why do you kneel before you go into the pew? Why is there water at the entrance to the church? Why does the priest wear a dress? Who is that person in the statue? etc. etc. I can't even believe he wanted to continue to date me. You must understand that I came from a church that was very plain and I disdained ornamentation in a church believing the money would be better spent going to the poor. And don't even get me started on what I thought about Mary and the Saints (I'll save that for yet another post).
Well, as He is wont to do, God has worked on my heart, and my attitude. I have come to understand how a church can be built to the glory of God. After all, if we believe Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, shouldn't we house him in splendor? Of course we must be on our guard to not put the church building above Christ and the mission he calls us to. We must not put all of our resources into a building. After all, that building is of this world and Christ calls us to "love one another as I have loved you."
Now I'm getting off my initial topic. What I wanted to tell you is that I love religious symbols. I don't have a great understanding of them and wanted more. Imagine my in-laws surprise when they asked what I wanted for Christmas and I said a book about the symbols of Catholicism.
Not something you can just pick up at the mall. Well, leave it to my dear father-in-law to find a book! It was very interesting. Actually they got me another book as well that was equally as interesting. I just love to know the "hows" and "whys" of this stuff. It helps me in my journey to Christ.
Ok, so I have been pondering my "purpose" in sewing. Is this worth while? Since I've been thinking on religious symbolism in fabric I thought that perhaps it was God giving me a nudge so yesterday I took some left over squares from this quilt, looked through the book and decided to try the Chi-Rho. The Chi-Rho is a symbol taken from the first two letters in the Greek word for Christ (XPICTOC, pronounced "Christos"). It has been used for centuries to represent Christianity. The symbol is often used to designate the priest (or on priestly garments or chairs, etc.) because the Rho (P) often is styled to look like a shepherd's crook and the priest is a shepherd to his flock and serves under Christ, the great shepherd.
I promised you a cute cat picture, and here it is. The kids were disappointed that the farm cats were too wild to pet and we didn't have enough time for them to work on making friends.
I had fresh from the patch strawberries for breakfast this morning after discovering a wonderful blog called By Sun and Candlelight. I was inspired by her nature journaling and also how she incorporates feast days in the children's education.This is something that I strive to do with my boys but don't always accomplish, especially in the summer when school is "out" and our day is less structured. I love to add hands on learning whenever possible and the boys retain the lesson so much easier when this happens. I highly recommend you check out her blog.
This is my cousin, Bob. It was his farm we visited yesterday. Bob (or Bobby as I still call him) was my most favorite cousin as a child. He is about 8 years older than I am and must have always been super nice to me as a little girl because I had the hugest crush on him when I was three or four. I insisted that I wanted a Bobby doll. Since my mom is the baby of five kids and I was the baby of my family I was very spoiled by my grandmother. Thus, the search for a Bobby doll to please me.I still have it. It doesn't look anything like Bobby but is in fact a Howdy Doody ventriloquist doll. I think they must have picked it for the outfit, sort of farmer-like. This is one of my most fond memories of growing up. We went to visit my grandmother every Sunday afternoon on her little farm and I just loved having all of that space and freedom to roam, barns to explore, kittens to discover and fresh water from the spring to drink (from a pan no less!).
Here is my mom (on the left) and her sister, my Aunt Mary. Mary is Bob's mom. Not only did we get to pick berries, but I got a lesson in tobacco growing. I won't bore you with the details but since it was such a huge part of both my parents' childhood I found it interesting.
I think I'm rambling now. It is nice once in a while to walk down memory lane. By the way, today is Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday in Ordinary time. We have a little paper doll priest on our wall and the kids like to change his vestment to the correct color depending on the Church season. In case you don't know, Ordinary time (which means the days are ordered, NOT ordinary) is green - just like the world outside right now. Have a great day.
Well, remember those cute buttons I made yesterday? They were certainly fun to create but the more I thought about it and looked at the final project, realized they didn't work for several reasons. The first reason is that they didn't give me the look I was hoping for. The second reason is that I believe a quilt should be used.
I mean cuddled, thrown, used for picnics and trips to the park, even thrown up on if you're feeling sick. My quilts are meant for real life and are made to last. Wash, dry, wash, dry, wash, dry.....you get the picture. I realized that Sculpey clay buttons just weren't going to work in that philosophy.
I remembered that we have a fabric store going out of business, so I trekked on out to Hancock fabric where everything is 70-80 percent off. Buttons were 5 packs for $1. Wow. I picked up about $60 worth of buttons for $7. I also found three quilting books with some great ideas for 80% off. You can see the finished quilt with the white buttons. I hope you also enjoy the quilt picture with the cat. This cat thinks he owns the neighborhood. He sits on our railing and eyes up all the dogs that walk by. Crazy cat.
Tonight my parents took us to my cousins farm to pick strawberries with my Aunt Mary. My mom always gives us homegrown strawberries in June and I thought it was time that the kids understood how they grew and how back breaking it can be to pick them.
We also took a little tour of the farm to see the cows, pigs, dog and cats. I have more pictures and will post the funny cat picture tomorrow. I now have LOTS of strawberries and have major plans to cook. I want to make these strawberry muffins from my friend Amy, bake up some of my mom's terrific shortcake. (I eat it with whipped cream, not milk. I hate things to be soggy.) Strawberry pie is also on the menu. I think I could live off strawberries for a month without any problem. Since June is the only month of the year that I eat strawberries, I figure why not go all out?
Yum.
Last night I finished another quilt top. I didn't have quite enough fabric for the backing so I pulled out the other quilt tops I had never made into quilts to see if I could start finishing any of them without a trip to the fabric store. I was able to match up one of them. It is a quilt top I made with this really groovy-vintage looking flowered fabric you can sort of see in these pictures. I didn't (and still don't) love the finished top. I put the whole thing together and then started thinking about how I would quilt it.
When I finally went to bed last night I was feeling somewhat low about my creative abilities. Should I bother doing any of this or am I wasting my time (and more importantly, money)? I mulled over it in bed, prayed for some guidance, thought about a few other things and then the idea to make buttons popped into my head. I have never done this before but we had Sculpey clay and a how-to book so after devotions this morning, I took my coffee out on the patio and began rolling clay.
My plan is to get a lot of the quilting finished this weekend and attach the buttons in the center of the pinwheels on the quilt. First we have a trip to the local public library. It's the kick off of the summer reading program. I can't wait.