hello

"Never lose an opportunity

to see anything

that is beautiful."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

i'm still here. just enjoying the last few blossoms in my yard, the last few rays of sun, oh yeah, and i've been up to my knees in 'ruffle fluff...' more later!

a little over halfway

today is day 44 of the quilt along and i have 44 squares. whew! it's seriously impossible to choose a favorite. however the square i made for today feels so like sep. 1. it's the first day of school and the first day of the rainy season (according to the news, but hopefully not true). and i can't help but want to go pick apples in an orchard, drink apple cider mixed with sprite, and trade my flip-flops for my favorite socks... that's just what fall is to me...

free sewing machine!

do you want a free sewing machine? you can get this cute little red one for free with any purchase from Brylane Home. it can even be just one little item from their clearance section. i heard about this offer from this blog, so i thought i would try it to see if it really works and it did! i ordered one item for $4.99 from the clearance section, added the sewing machine to my cart, and entered the code BHWSEWING, and the machine was free! in looking further i found that this code will only work until aug. 30 so hurry if you want one too!

new favorite

pettiskirt!i am loving how this one turned out! definitely going to make one for my girl... now i wonder how much fabric it would take to make one for me???

the rest of the peaches

now that i can breathe again, and my hands aren't too sticky to type (or sew)... here's how it all went down...

i wasn't alone in canning the peaches. i had two friends who did more than me! one of them gets half of the 48 jars. it took about 8 hours to can all of them. the whole time i was telling myself that canning is more work than it's worth. when my kitchen started to cool down i opened one of my freshly sealed jars to feed to my baby. i had to taste as well.... and oh my goodness- suddenly canning was worth it. my husband has since eaten a jar and a half by himself when he normally doesn't like fruit. yep- canning is definitely worth it.

i also learned a lot. like if you screw the bands on too tight- the lids don't seal correctly when they are in the water bath. and the jars really do break of you put them into the hot water bath while cold. and your peaches will look prettier if you cut them before pitting them and if you don't take the band off to dry after sealing the jars, they get rusty. maybe that's why people decorate them with fabric inbetween? i think it's just cute. and the most important thing i learned: canning is easy. anyone can do it. it just requires work. plus it made me feel good to put my little plan into action finally.

millions of peaches...

my house is hot.

my kitchen is a mess.

my kitchen floor is stickier than a movie theater.

i smell like peaches.

everything smells like peaches.

but that's okay.

because today we canned 100 lbs. of these.

and they really are a little taste of heaven.

goodnight.

all caught up

random scraps

i'm way behind on posting my daily blocks... this is my current favorite one though. a japanese dot in mustard yellow with some of a chloe's closet floral. this quilt really will be anything goes. in making each square i feel like i am finding more and more scraps everyday. would anyone out there want a bag of scraps? it's mostly amy butler now that i am looking at it... but i have decided that i just can't keep up with my scrap baskets (i currently have 4) plus i just got some more fabric in the mail today.... where is it all coming from??? (ok- i really know... one of my favorite etsy shops for fabric is sew love fabrics. her packages are so cute when they arrive!)
p.s. all you who emailed about pettiskirts... i'm ordering on tuesday so email again if we haven't confirmed and you want one...

halloween already?

i know it's only august, but i am doing an order for pretty pettiskirts next week and it will probably be my last before halloween! so email me if you think you might want one. (sarafcollett@yahoo.com) i'm trying to decide how i want to use one in a costume for macy. a punk rocker? rainbow brite? a black cat? minnie mouse? tinkerbell? any of the princesses? there are so many cute ways to use them... plus i decided every birthday girl should wear one to her own party... don't you think?

still going...

this week feels like it's going by too fast! probably because i'm trying to do more than i have time for. but i am still making these quilt blocks. they're easier to make than they are to take a picture of and post online. so they may not be coming everyday... but i'm still making them...