Do you multi task? Do you several things at the same time? Some would argue that a person isn’t really doing several things at same time, rather individual actions very close together. I have also heard it argued that multi tasking slows the process down; a person would accomplish more if only one chore was undertaken at a time. Others champion women as the ultimate multi-taskers—that genetically men are not able to several things at a time.

Many years ago I read Cokie Roberts’ We Are Our Mothers Daughters after hearing her speak. I don’t remember any thing about her lecture but the following from her book has stayed with me for decades. She observed that women have always performed many tasks at the same time out of necessity, citing her mother’s simultaneous dictation of a speech(her mother was a member of Congress), while making pickles and cradling a baby. “Multitasking is just a made-up guy word to describe what women have done all along,” 

Keeping house and raising a family is a series of tasks done at the same time or at least a series of starting one job while finishing another. When I taught Family and Consumer Classes and especially clothing, I would be frustrated with students who had not learned the fine balancing trick of doing at least two things at the same time—waiting for an iron to heat up and filling your bobbin. Don’t just stand there and watch the iron preheat, set up your machine! Ahh, the difference between a 16 year old and a 50 year old. It is evident I valued using every minute productively…not sure that is good or bad. 

I always have two or more things going on at the same time.  Most of the time this method works for me. But I will admit to over baking brownies because I was focusing on getting all my emails answered or flooding the flower bed while ran in side to unload and load the dryer. But I have many interests and lots on my “to-do” list for a retired person! I love to sew and I have a long list of books I want to explore. Can’t read and sew at the same time, but I can sew and listen to books. Great example of multi-tasking. My husband and I enjoy an hour in the evening of watching Prime, Netflix, or Apple TV streamed series. Many an embroidered tea towel has been completed during these hours. Bluetooth technology allows me to visit with far a way family and cut out hundreds of 2.5″ fabric blocks for the next quilt at the same time. I am always in a hurry to finish one project and move on to the next, often starting one before finishing one.   

This week the Quilters at First received two beautiful quilts, a baby quilt and a wall hanging, that were hand quilted, They are exquisite. While looking and handling these pieces of vintage art, I estimated the hours spent creating them. I marveled at how the makers were willing to devote so much time on one project. Give the age of the projects, I assume there was no blue tooth technology calls while quilting. The quilter may have been listening to the radio while stitching those tiny stitches, but no audio books. These women, and I assume they were women, were willing to focus on one project for a very long time. This took patience and perseverance. Probably their goal wasn’t “how many” but “how well”.

I am guessing the baby quilt was for a very special child and the quilter was not trying to overwhelm the recipient with many gifts but to create one special quilt.

The quilt is probably post WWII —made for a baby boomer. It is 33″ x 46″–made for a crib. 

The wall hanging is made from whole cloth, meaning it isn’t a pieced top. The classic, detailed design is created by the hand quilting. 

Zillons and zillions of tiny stitches created this treasure. The maker had to enjoy the actual sewing more than the finished quilt. Perhaps as she sewed, she envisioned where it would hang in her home and hoped for many compliments on her mastery of needlework. Perhaps she was making it for her daughter’s wedding or for a much loved sister. But no matter what would become of it, she had to have looked forward to her time creating this art with her needle.

These two pieces are lovely reminders that the journey should be enjoyed just as much as the destination. Their creators had no idea where their quilts would be in 2024, but I trust they would have hoped someone would enjoy the finished project as much as they did making it.

******************************************************************************************

Projects completed by Quilters at First this past week

Fall Batik table runner 11.5″ x 35″. $30

Ribbons–table runner. 18.5″ x 42″. $40

$8.00

Good morning from a snowy Kansas. We are on the good side of a blizzard–much worse out west.  The snow is lovely to look at from inside a warm kitchen; the winds are what make it dangerous. I do feel for all those who must be out in this caring for animals, providing essential services, and those without a cozy warm home. The day is perfect for sewing. In the winter my perfect day is 1. No place I must be. 2. A good audio book 3. A cup of hot tea –Cinnamon Apple Spice by Celestial Seasonings 4. Knowing what I am preparing for dinner or better yet, leftovers and 5. Hours at my sewing machine piecing quilt tops. 

Typically in the winter, I have several quilt tops pieced/finished but have not sent them to the long arm quilter for her to do her magic. A quilt top changes at each step of the production. I try not to pass judgment until the end–even an addition of the binding changes the impact of the quilt. Watch the evolution of these “quilts to be”.

The blocks above are one of the eleven partially finished quilt tops my daughter sent me last year. And since it was red and white, my favorite color combination, I started this puzzle. I could not find any pattern with her things, so up on the design wall it goes. She had included lots of red and white fabric and some of the partial blocks so it will be fun to finish. 

Another gifted top–this one from the other coast. My daughter in law sent this Mary Engelbright chevron quilt top home with me Christmas as a donation to the quilt sale. She included yardage for a border, binding and the backing! Both my daughter and my DIL are very precise, so I never worry about the quality–the points match, the pressing is well done. Now I must decide which fabric would be best for the border–do I add a small black border first, then the yellow print as a larger border? Pretty sure the machine quilting should be a holly leaf design.

Baby quilts are always needed in our sale. Three yards of gender neutral fabric from my daughter was used to make this simple top.

The up close photo of the fabric shows the colors better. Can’t decide on a backing–something soft and fuzzy–Minky or a flannel. The binding color will even change “the look”.

I had an itch to make an Irish Chain. I needed some no-brain sewing. I just kept making the basic nine patch blocks. If I had used them all, it would have been a king size quilt plus! Knowing a smaller quilt is more appealing to most, I limited the size. And there are enough blocks left over to make something else interesting. 

I think I will ask the long arm quilter to use a colored thread to create an all over holiday design. Your thought? Scrappy binding, hmmm?

I wanted to try the “disappearing four patch” block. It was fun and will probably do it again.

Do I need a border to corral all these blocks? What color should it be? White?

The finished quilt we offer for sale on Quilts Etc. Sale has gone through many stages of production and of enthusiasm by the quilter. Much like our human relationships– the initial excitement, the tedious job of making it work, the times of disappointment and joy and hopefully a feeling of satisfaction and pride when it is done.

New photos and info has been added to the Photo Gallery–general and the fall and Christmas ones.

Stay warm!

Last Wednesday we celebrated the end of our quilting year and prepared for a new year in the sewing room! We partied, worked and dreamed. At noon we had lunch with the hand quilters and presented our checks from the 2023 sales to representatives of the two missions we support. 

The Quilters at First were proud to present a check to the TV Ministry for $9,250 and a check to the Religious Nurture Center(RNC) for $9,250. Rev. Amy thanked us and reminded us what an important role our TV Ministry plays not only in the lives of homebound persons, but also on Sundays with 8 inches of snow on the ground and with COVID still making the rounds. Most of our new first time visitors try us out on TV before coming to our Sanctuary in person. 

Delaine H. represented the RNC, reporting that the numbers of attendees was climbing. She listed some of the activities such as visiting the Sedgwick Co. Zoo to see WILD LIGHTS and going to the Forum for ELF that our donation helps provide. It was a feel good moment! 

After lunch, we spent the rest of our afternoon sorting 11 large boxes of fabric. A FUMC TV viewer heard about Quilters at First via our Quilt Sale Announcement in the Fall. When she decided to move to a one bedroom home closer to her family from a four bedroom home, she contacted the church to ask if the quilters could use her fabric! Of course we could! Her family brought 11 large boxes of great fabric to FUMC. It was like Christmas! We sorted by theme–holiday, sports, reproduction, juvenile, novelty, etc. We sorted by color and we sorted by size! 

We dreamed of future projects that could be made using this fabric. Clear tubs were labeled and stacked for easy access. Nothing makes a quilter happier than new fabric with which to dream over! 

Last Fall one of our members who had been seriously ill for several months passed away. Her family gave us her fabric, chiefly batiks, and some of her rulers, templates etc. Anytime we pull some of the beautiful fabric from those big containers, we will remember Lynn’s lovely appliqués using batiks. 

We are grateful to these generous people who shared their fabric. I promise you it will be put to good use!

On a personal note, I was very, very good on my fabric diet in 2023. I purchased very little–some backing and some apron fabric for special orders. And it seems, I really need to continue the diet through out 2024. Remember my daughter sent me 11 quilt tops in various stages of completion plus yardage last fall? Our quilting room at the church is bursting at the seams after generous donations. So, it is another year reminding myself why I am on this self imposed quest to use up the fabric I have before it becomes dated and sent to the landfill. I want to support our local fabric shops and will make an effort to purchase fabric locally for any special needs that arise. So wish me luck and remind me not to torture myself by scrolling though all those online shops having great sales!

I am thinking another Log Cabin quilt, an Irish Chain, a baby quilt for a new family member, a red and white quilt…hmmm. Check in with me in December 2024!

I sincerely appreciate every one of you that read some of my ramblings–I know it can be confusing! Thank you for purchasing something you saw online—We would have nothing to give to the TV ministry or RNC if you had not bought a quilt or placemats or an apron! A huge thank you to all those people behind the scenes that allows the Quilt Sale in October to happen. And most of all to all my family, friends and acquaintances that are so understanding about my passion for quilting, thank you!

I want to wish you a happy holiday; may you find joy in little things and experience a peace that gives you comfort in this war weary world. 

It is all about balance! I envy persons who have a figured out how to balance all their needs, wants, and obligations. I struggle daily with what I think “I should do”—volunteer with groups that delivery food or meals, deliver flowers to homebound persons, visit an ailing member of my extended family and what “I want to do”--sew an interesting quilt top, read a cozy mystery in the middle of the day, bake a dessert for no particular reason. And then there is the “I need to do”–cook dinner, do laundry, iron shirts, vacuum doggy hair. I know each of these items on my “to do” list is a choice. I have the freedom to pick and choose. But I have seventy-five years of “oughts” in my psyche. My values shape much of what I do and that is probably not going to change. So, every morning, I try to cram as much as I can from each list into my day.

The Christmas season is particularly challenging! I always fool myself thinking there is plenty of time to do all the things from each list, often ending up feeling that missed something. Add to this struggle, gift buying! I want each gift to be meaningful (personal), not wasted (never used) and financially responsible ( don’t overspend). Also there is the “balance” or “equal” factor. My mother made sure the gifts to my brother and me were equal to the penny price-wise. Also, if there was a green strip with red bow package for me, there was a green strip with red bow for my brother. Do you know what this did to my mind? I have wasted a lot of thought striving to continue this practice. But now I try–with in reason–to spend the same on each grandchild. It may not be equal this time, but over the year with birthdays and other milestones, it evens out. The VA family and the WA family are more or less the same.

I believe the gift giving solutions I have embrace apply to my life balance also. I may do more from the “I ought to” list today; tomorrow more from the “I need to”. Over the day or month it balances out. And here is a secret I have learned…be grateful for each task. This past weekend I was dreading an “ought to” task and by simply thinking “I get to” I enjoyed the errand. I will admitted I gave a cheer in the car when I was done! Good luck on finding your balance–there is no “one size” fits all–but there is a satisfying one for each of us.

Three beautiful holiday items were completed in last few weeks.

Vicki completed another winter forest wall hanging. It is 49″ x 54″ and $100. It is machine quilted with a cotton batting. This peaceful winter scene would look good in your home all winter long. SOLD

Barbara’s jolly table runner is striking panel extended with have square triangles and framed with peppermint sashing. It is machine quilted. 11″ x 32″ $40. This panel with the winter and holiday item just make me happy looking at it.

This table runner is made with a charm pack. It measures 19″ x 34″ and is machine quilted. The backing is almost silky but a washable cotton. $40.

🎄 Next week we will announce our 2023 Quilt Sale donations at a luncheon. Stay tuned for that post.

Keep your balance folks! A little play, a little service and a little work!

I look forward to cold weather every year, and not just because I live through August in Kansas! One very important reason is meal planning. I have a rotation of soups that have been tested over the years that are perfect for cold weather. All these recipes make a large quantity, especially for two people. After serving an hearty meal with apple slices or carrot sticks and crackers or cornbread, I freeze the remaining soup to be used those days I get home a few minutes before dinner time.

My rotation of soups include red chili, potato soup, pinto bean soup, taco soup and green chili with chicken. I am not a vegetarian but I just don’t care for a lot of meat, especially beef or pork. Thus, I use a great variety of beans, dried and canned. My red chili and taco soup use either ground beef or ground turkey but is diluted with tomatoes and beans. Cornbread, baked in a cast iron skillet, is my preferred “bread” with the soups. I am a quilter, not a cook, so Jiffy mix with an addition of grated cheese or green chilies is my favorite recipe.

What do you need if you serve soup from a steaming pot on the stove or from the micro wave? Protection for your hands!! The microwave and stove are several steps away from our table. In order not to spill the hot soup, I use a potholder made especially for bowls—the “Microwave Bowl”.

We have used many different fabrics–the interior is usually a coordinating solid. College theme–especially KSU and KU fabrics are popular as well as holiday fabrics. One year I used book prints to make gifts for book club members.

The bowls make great stocking stuffers or hostess gifts. The bowls can be filled with candy or cookies to make them extra special. Each one is $8.

This time of the year, we spend a lot of time thinking about tables–what we will put on them for the holiday meals, how we will decorate them for guests, or how many people can be comfortably seated?

The Quilters at First have two new options for decorating your table in-between meals. Sorry, we can’t help you with your meal plans or magically enlarging your table for extra place settings. But we do have two very different holiday table runners.

The second table runner is more subdued.

“Adoring” a line of Moda fabrics by Sandy Gervais was used. The backing is yardage of one of the prints.

Speaking of tables–Open Door Community Food Ministry is holding it’s annual Turkey Drive on the 20th, 21th, and 22nd of November to help low income families have food on their tables this holiday. Last year 2,300 families were helped. It is my belief that helping with this community effort results in your table, gathering, or meal (even soup) more special than usual!

Enjoy these cooler evenings with a bowl of hot soup on a table decorated for the holidays. Happy Thanksgiving.

Fall and especially the month of November is magical. I walked the dog this morning in fog , not so dense that I couldn’t enjoy the trees that are showing off their colors, but it added to the ambiance. The autumn smells seem more intense with the dampness fog brings. Kansas will never compete with New England for the fall foliage tours but we have our own beautiful colors in November.

Neighborhood fall foliage tour.

Dog and I especially like walking under this canopy of crab apple “fruit”.

In my home, I can use the pumpkins I put out in late September all through Thanksgiving–just removing any that are specially Halloweenish.

Once, my son complained the holiday Thanksgiving got short changed. Everyone is in a hurry to rush into the Christmas season after Halloween. But November can be a lovely breathing spell–a time for a bit of relaxation and anticipation.

Quilters at First have some autumn theme quilts and table decor available for your home.

This is a Lorrie quilt–can you tell by the colors? She used her Christmas fat quarters from the quilters holiday party to create this stunner. The quilt certainly would add a autumn coziness to your sofa or bed. 58″ x 72″. $225

Look at the machine quilting pattern–leaves and vines on this patchwork of fall colors. It is approximately 60″ x 72″–will have the exact size tomorrow, and is only $200. The back is so pretty it could be used in the summer as a coverlet.

Canadian gooses (yes, that is the correct usage)make Wichita their home. They love the harvested sorghum fields and the sand pit mini lakes. The sky always has a flight in motion. Vicki’s Flying Geese could be a representative of our skies.

Kim Diehl fabrics paired with a cream background were used to create this twin size quilt–60″ x 76″. This photo is before the binding was hand sewn.

Table toppers add a splash of color to your home without dominating. This “prairie point” design measures approximately 20″ x 20″. $40

On November 19, FUMC will be celebrating with an All Church Thanksgiving Mission Dinner. The proceeds will go to support the school partnership program. It is a lovely time to enjoy a delicious meal with your church family. At the meal, the Quilters at First will have a table with small projects for purchase that could potentially be Christmas gifts or Thanksgiving Hostess gifts.

I plan to enjoy November with it’s short lived colors, smells and mild temperatures. I hope you are able to experience November’s magic.

The start of a new year is different for different groups of people. We start a new calendar on January 1 and for a period of time, try to remember to write the new year’s date.

But for Quilters at First, it is the week after the Quilts Etc.Sale in October!

( I have had this Kit since 2017–is this the year?)

But there are loose ends to tie up! We don’t have the final totals of our sales for the year. We will present our checks to our ministers for the TV ministry and to the Religious Nurture Center Director in December. We still have items to deliver and a few more sales to make to folks that saw something in person and want to buy it now, —“if it is still available”. We will have a booth with small gift items at the All Church Thanksgiving Dinner on November 20. So, watch for our totals in the Church’s newsletter ,THE LIGHT, and on the blog.

But the most important thing I must do is to express my appreciation to so many people! First of all to you–All of you who share my Facebook posts and readers of quiltersatfirst.com, Thank you!! To those of you who attended the Sale, Thank you!! If you purchased a potholder or quilt–Thank you!! If you gave us a “pat on the back”–Thank you!! To those of you who contributed items to the sale–quilt racks, vintage items, one handmade project–Thank you!! To those friends and family of quilters that supported our obsessions–by listening, admiring, doing PR work–Thank you!!

Secondly, thank you to First United Methodist Church. The entire staff played a role in making this event a success. Erin, director of Communications, created the striking graphics that were used on-line in the Church paper, the Light, and the postcards. Noah, Director of Facilities, and his team moved lots of tables and equipment. Tara and Zack in the office of Church Operations help set up “The Square” and trained folks to work it. Our Ministers, Rev. Amy and Rev. Rebecca, gave a shout out at the end of several Sunday worship services–on TV–Thank You!! Matt, the director of the Religious Nurture Center, welcomed the transformation of his classroom to a coffee shop. Kathy, Delaine and Nonie, super supporters of the RNC, for organizing and running the Coffee Shop–Thank You!! We are not doing this Quilt Sale alone and the support is appreciated.

Thirdly, Thank you to the Forum Theater. Immediately after the first production of the season was over, they disassembled the theater so we could set up. They gave us permission to hammer nails in their sets –which we did. We appreciated the post on their Facebook page encouraging folks to attend the Sale. Here is a plug for them.

These are personal–Thank you to my Texan brother and sister in law who came to KS for the sale and helped with baking, counting and buying! My daughter in law and granddaughter surprised me –almost heart attack surprise–by flying in from Washington to attend the Sale. I will never, ever forget that! Thank you to my husband for supporting all my crazy quilt ideas, my stressing and his helping at the Sale. And to my fellow quilters–I love each and everyone of them. They work so hard, put up with my bossiness and are true friends.

I have had lots of company in my home and missed last Wednesday’s quilting time; no new projects to share! But wild horses can’t keep me away this Wednesday and knowing our group I will have items to share next week. Stay tuned!!

Tomorrow is the big day! The quilts are hung for view, the lights have been strung and the “Square”- credit card reader- has been tested! We are ready to go! Here is a quick preview of Wilke Family Life Center after Quilters at First spend two days hammering, pinning and re-arranging.

A few lap size quilts

Bed size quilts on the wall; vintage items on the table in the foreground.

Lots of Christmas items–

Larger quilts—with a peek at the awesome oak quilt hanger Marty made.

Fourth of July, St. Pat’s day, Halloween and Thanksgiving are well represented.

The doors open at 10 am on both Friday and Saturday. The coffee shop will have fresh coffee brewed. The weather should be great. And contrary to some folks perceptions, we haven’t sold everything on-line. The room is full of lovely items for you to purchase!

The wind has been howling across Kansas for the past two days and the local meteorologists tell us it will last two more days. This a yearly occurrence on the high plains, and every time I wonder how those early pioneer women living in a sod dugout or basic log cabin kept their sanity. What was it like to keep a cooking fire going with wind whistling through the cracks in the wall? Did they just give up on washing and cleaning? Keeping children busy in a tiny cold cabin with a freezing wind chill out side must have been “stressful”.

The present world is not easy either; videos of horrific carnage by terrorists here and abroad, pandemics, climate disasters but I have much for which to be grateful.

Here is my partial list–

1. Abundance of sewing needles–Every time I misplace the needles I am using, I remember the story I read ages ago about an early settler breaking her only needle! When everything was hand sewn, needles were a precious commodity. Waiting for weeks for a replacement–I can’t imagine!
2. Vaccines–I just had my flu and covid vaccines this week so this is on my mind. Go to an old cemetery and look at the ages on the grave markers. Many deaths occurred from illnesses and conditions that we prevent with vaccines. In the past few years I have had vaccines for the flu, pneumonia, shingles, tetanus, covid and diphtheria; any of those could have changed my life.
3. Medical advances–I am recovering from a common surgery. I feel great now, issue resolved. But what happened when my great-great grandparents was experiencing these issues?
4. Communication technology–My children live on the east and west coast. Before FaceTime, texting and “no-long distance charges” phone calls, written letters would have been my only option. True, I treasure letters written my parents and grandparents, but frankly if I had to depend on letters from some of my family, I would have no idea what was going on in their lives.
5. Fabric Options–Beautiful colors, striking prints, lovely texture, plush synthetics–my grandmothers would have been in awe of the choices I have. I can visit local shops or shop on line. It is expensive and perhaps that is a good thing. Perhaps it slows down the over buying and production that is filling the land fills. I have gone almost a year with buying any–I had that much in my stash! Our ancestors would not believe how fabric wealthy we are.

Any thing on the list above would have been a miracle for the women listening to the wind in a sod dugout years ago.

I have many, many things for which to be grateful, but I will end this list with this–I am so grateful for my fellow Quilters at First and for everyone at First United Methodist that supports us in our Quilts Etc Sale!

Much goes into this sale, but every part is a joint effort and frankly fun! I love seeing our shelves and cupboards fill with completed projects. I love seeing the variety of projects–each quilter has a special talent. Some do intricate appliqué, some hand quilt, others make three dimensional art while others use scraps and a few try patterns no one else would touch. Deciding on the best way to display our quilts and hand crafts is a creative challenge. Trying to improve on our marketing and sales is a challenge; this year we have the “Square” to make credit card use much more simple. I hope you make it to our celebration of our years work.

Quilters never stop sewing –see what showed up this week.

Halloween is just around the corner– and Susan finished her jack o’ lantern table runner

If you look closely, the machine quilting is also jack o’ lanterns. 18″ x 67″. $60

Vicki made three holiday table runners–each very different from the others! The poinsettia one is 16″ x 41″, the tree in a field of snow is 16″ x 47″ and the Merry Christmas on is 17″ x 42″. Each one is $40

These snow people are for the entire winter, not just Christmas. The embroidered scene is framed with an explosion of forrest green and glittery gold. 16″ x 40″. $60

This view out of window into a snowy woods would be perfect hanging in a stair well or on the back of the sofa. $100. SOLD

Lots of little items showed up also–Christmas tree coasters, Chief potholders, microwave bowls, and tea towels. I can’t wait for you to see everything!

A week from today! We would love to see you!

I bought my first pumpkins of the fall today. Even though they were picked from the pile in front of Dillons, I still enjoy selecting the best ones!

I do miss the trips to the pumpkin patch with the kids and grandkids. And my pumpkins will never become jack o’ lanterns; it is much more fun watching grandchildren carve than actually doing work!

My pumpkins and chrysanthemums’ sole purpose is to decorate the steps to my front door and to add an autumn vibe to Wilke Family Life Center for the Quilt Sale. In December they will be deer food on the banks of a local creek.

As I loaded the pumpkins into my car, I wondered how pumpkins became the symbol of fall and what would people in a third world country think of me putting a perfectly good squash out to decorate and not to use it as food. And when did we start craving pumpkins for Halloween?

Pumpkins are old fruit/berry, over 10,000 years old. Pumpkin seeds were found in ancient tombs in Mexico. The Spanish took seeds to the old world and the Pilgrims brought seeds back to the new world. They were harvested in the fall and would last long into the extremely cold winters. Pumpkins pies were very different from the ones we enjoy at Thanksgiving–no crust and the custard was cooked inside a seeded pumpkin on the edge of the hearth. It was the Irish who started carving scary faces into pumpkins. Turnips had been used in Ireland to create “jack o’ lanterns”. When the Irish came to America, the abundant pumpkin became a substitute for the turnip to scare away the spooky spirits. During the middle of the 1800’s, pumpkins and the food made from them were a symbol of the abolitionists movement, because it was a crop grown in the northern states by non-slave labor.

And by one source on the internet, if you dream of a whole pumpkins it is a symbol of “openness to new possibilities and an encouragement to try new things! I dream very detailed, complex and colorful dreams, but never have I dreamed of a whole pumpkin. But I will be watching!

We have several pumpkins of all sorts for sale on our blog and at the Sale.

The decorated pumpkins would march up and down your table all fall. 16″ x 52″. $45

This rustic felt appliquéd wallhanging/table runner is 18″x 37″ and $60.SOLD

Happy pumpkins? Dancing pumpkins? Make you smile pumpkins? 17.5″ x 52″. $75

This pre-printed panel is cross-hatched machine quilted. The plaid fabric cut on a bias is a prefect frame for this harvest theme wall hanging. 18.5″ x 22.5″. $50. SOLD

Bright orange pumpkins are a favorite to embroidery on tea towels. All our tea towels are a strong cotton muslin. Most are in the range of $7 to $10.

Just like at the pumpkin patch, it is difficult to decide which one will be yours! But at least you didn’t have to walk through mud or carry a 15 pound pumpkin a mile back to the checkout stand. (and yes I did!)

Posted several new items on all three photo galleries this week. We also have received two vintage quilts–one a Grandma’s Flower garden and one that is registered with the KS Historical society. Both will be displayed for sale at the Quilts Etc. Sale on October 20-21.

We are very proud the workmanship and the creativity seen at the Quilt Etc Sale. Even if you are not in the market for a quilt, you are welcome to come and admire this art form and who knows you may see the perfect little gift for that special someone who so difficult to buy for at Christmas