CELEBRATE!

WISHING EVERYONE A SAFE

AND HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

CELEBRATION!

“Let every nation know,

whether it wishes us well or ill,

we shall pay any price,

bear any burden, meet any hardship,

support any friend,

oppose any foe,

to assure the survival

and success of liberty.”

'John F. Kennedy'

*****

On this 4th of July let us celebrate and remember all

those who serve to protect our freedom and

those who have given the ultimate

sacrafice so that we can celebrate

that freedom.

TIME FOR SALADS!

*****

With temperatures rising ....

it's time for salads!

Today we made a huge

bowl of pasta salad!

Here's how we make it!

Start with a large bowl and add

chopped carrots, zucchini, sweet pea's,

yellow squash, and a bit of celery!

Actually you can use whatever vegetables

appeal to your family!

Then....

We precook our pasta for about 6-7 minutes.

Then we add broccoli and cauliflower and

blanch for 2-3 minutes.

Drain well.

We use 1 package of Cheese Tortellini and 2 boxes

of Tri-Colored Pasta.

Next we add chopped green onions and those

little bitty tomatoes cut in half.

We also add 1 can of diced black olives to the mix.

Lastly, the whole bowl is mixed well with

a bottle of 'Kraft' Free Zesty Italian!

And, there you have it!

Four large containers of YUMMY

Pasta Salad!

******

A versatile and easy summer

recipe! You can really add what

you want ...it's always delicious!

Ready to grab for a quick

lunch or dinner!

SUPER CUTE TOTE!

I adore these kitchen towels from

Anne Marie Horner!

http://store.annamariahorner.com/piboguto.html

I was visiting in 'blogland' today and found these adorable towels

which can be turned into a beautiful tote!

And....I adore totes!

Another delightful kitchen towel

design from Anna Marie is here

http://store.annamariahorner.com/pitoco.html

****

You can find a tutorial for these totes at

http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/2009/06/two-girls-4-dishtowels-lots-of-trips-to.html

(photo uploaded from AnnaMarie's Blog)

*****

If you have not visited Anna Marie's Blog before

I highly suggest that you run on over for a peak!

I adore her creativity!

I'm off to purchase my kitchen towels!

Geezzzzz ...I better get busy with so many

projects on my to do list!

PRETTY PILLOW PROJECT!

I was out visiting friends in blogland this morning and found this little project over at

Pam Kitty Morning

I am totally feeling the love with this pretty pillow! It's a new project from

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/06/sweet-n-shabby-woven-pillow-cover.html

This is a different version. It uses Chenille Bias Tape! Yep, that's right! Am I the only one who has not seen this?

You can find it here at Erica's or just do a Google search for 'Chenille It'. If I get any free time this week, you can bet I'll be sitting at my sewing machine sewing on this little project! I love both pillow tops ...but I'm really feeling the love with the Chenille.

So how about you? What's your favorite project this week?

SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT!

I can't believe I haven't posted in eight days!

Soooooo much has been going on...

FIRST TO TALK ABOUT....

Dear Sweet Daughter came to visit for the

summer! I'm so excited to have her home for so long.

We are having tons of fun and even more laughter!

Lucky me to have her back home again!

*****

SECOND TOPIC OF DISCUSSION....

Remember this ....The Urban Farmer

Well, The Urban Farmer's garden looks like this now!

The garden is actually fuller now with all

the rain we've been getting!

The Urban Farmer is quite happy!

*****

THIRD TOPIC OF DISCUSSION!

Is the RedBarnCo. sew along!

I'm all caught up and we are in week 5!

This week we are putting the quilt

together and quilting it.

I have opted to send my quilt to

Russ at "The Back Porch Quilters".

Should be mailing it off the first of

the week! I'm so excited!

Russ will quilt the top using

a long-arm machine and he

will do the binding as well!

Can't beat that! And...

all for a reasonable charge!

Well worth all that he does!

This Sew-Along has been loads of fun!

Here's my finished quilt top!

Not a great picture! But enough

to get the gest of it!

The quilt top turned out

to be 55" x 75".

I'm lik'in the colors! I wanted

bright and cheery! The backing that

I got for it is a small stripe with most of

the colors from the quilt top!

Think it's going to look cute!

I'll post more pic's once I get it back

from the quilters!

****

SEE YOU ALL SOON!

HAVE A FANTASTIC

WEEKEND AND

A HAPPY 'FATHER'S DAY'!

LOOK WHO'S KNITTING!

Sweet Darling Granddaughter!

****

I was babysitting yesterday and remembered I

had purchased this on my recent trip to California....

I was saving this for a special time

when it was just the two of us.

This is such a wonderful kit.

For ages 5+. It has everything

in it to begin learning how

to 'spool' knit. Just the

right thing for a little one.

So, we spent a good portion of the

day learning to 'spool' knit.

She's so excited! She ran around

the house chanting ...

I'm knitting, I'm knitting!

****

Makes a 'Grandma' proud!

****

Then we made these....

YUMMO - Chocolate Chip Cookies!

What a way to end a good knit day!

Warm cookies and a glass of cold milk!

OH PLEASE TELL ME .

...IT'S JUST NOT SEW!

Oh, but it is!

****

I'm afraid that I'm starting a new project!

Yep, like I need to start a new project!

I have so many UFO's right now,

I'd be really C R A Z Y to start a new sewing project;

let alone starting a quilt!

But, it's true! Call me crazy!

Really, I was just minding my own

business visiting friends in blogland

and then I found this

http://calamitykim.typepad.com/calamity_kim/2009/06/what-to-do-this-summer.html

ClamityKim introducted me to this

http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/2009/06/quilt-along-week-3-giveaway-too.html

The Old Red Barn Co. is having a

SewAlong! It just sounded like too much

fun. It's six weeks long, each week we work

on a different part of the quilt. The Sew Along

is already in week 3, but I just know I'll

catch up by tomorrow.

I went out and bought my fabric today

and cut them in the required strips.

Tomorrow I'll sew the strips and

cut the blocks and just like

that I'll be all caught

up and ready for week 4.

Here is a sampling of the fabric I purchased.

You need half yard pieces of 12 different

prints. Most of the pieces come from

'Bubblegum Basics' by Barbara Jones of

Quiltsoup for Henry Glass & Co.

I was looking for fun and whimsical. Not sure if I achieved that, but I like the overall look of the prints and colors.

And ....here are my strips!

All cut nice and neat in 2 1/2" widths.

Tomorrow I'll sew and will share the

completed blocks.

This is going to be so fun!

Like going to a sewing class, without

leaving home!

Call me C R A Z Y! But, I think I'm

going to like this SewAlong!