first day of school

Seth's first day of 4th grade. I cropped out a pile of bags for the donation truck--I've been cleaning house and told the kids all clothes had to be culled of extraneous stuff I've been rewashing for no reason. Made for a junkie looking porch this week. Not that it doesn't look junkie the rest of the time. The phlox and black eyed susans are from the garden for the teacher.



Here is a cat quilt I don't think I've ever shown. It was used by one a Paul's friends who slept on our floor for the block party.

And, speaking of block parties, here is the finished (well, almost, the binding needs handwork yet) raffle quilt of purple strings. It raised $544.00 for the local food pantry. A guest at the party won it and gave it to her hostess, so it stays on the block! We sold tickets for $5.00, so either someone shorted us a dollar, or someone slipped in a few extra.



a fun back.

fueling enthusiasm

or, at least, the strength to finish a project.
Last year when I got bogged down with our raffle quilt,

my friend Donna said to bring in over. She looked at it with me, offered to help make the needed blocks for completion, and gave me the strength to finish it.

I had the chance to pass this help on with this year's raffle quilt, as the coordinator, in the two years since she took this project on, fell in love, got married, bought a house, got pregnant, and 4 weeks ago, gave birth! She had it all put together except for the borders, so there was not a lot for me to take on, but I was glad to take it and get it done. I am showing just a tiny piece, waiting to show the whole quilt until the guild unveiling. (She now knows why I tried to discourage using this pattern for a group quilt--the "I don't think so" pile of blocks out of size was bigger than mine with a simple framed nine patch!)
The quilt is fabulous, and I hope to win it! I look forward to what it looks like after quilting.

little quilt

This little quilt (20 1/2" by 25 1/2") was made for a friend's fundraiser--She is the director of a museum. I asked for museum passes to use as prizes for our block party and offered to make a doll quilt for her museum fundraiser.
It is a sweet quilt, and was fun to make.
I have found doll quilts a fairly easy donation to come up with. The size is manageable in a time crunch, and they bring in money.

steppenwolf

Andy and I saw the new production of August: Osage County by Tracy Letts at the Steppenwolf Theater today. If you have a chance to get tickets, this is a first look at a play that will likely become a classic of American work.
Speaking as a woman in my 40s, Mr. Letts got the angst of the three sisters in their 40s right. And, Deanna Dunagan's dialogue done in a barbiturate and opioid state was very realistic to this hospice nurse!
As far as realistically portraying crazy families, I could tell you stories...

lemon bars

Eve and I made lemon bars this morning for some new neighbors.
She was at Starbucks yesterday with a friend and they got a bad lemon bar. They came home and asked me to show how I make them. I adapted the recipe from a Crystal Sugar bag years ago.
It is difficult to bake in such warm weather; butter does not cooperate. But, they turned out pretty well.
I use my KitchenAid Mixer for both steps.

Lemon Bars

Crust:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
Mix to make crumbly. Press into ungreased 9 x 13 glass pan. Bake 350 degrees until light brown, about 10-12 minutes.

Filling:
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
the zest of one or two lemons (I use a microplane grater)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Pour over hot crust. Bake 20-30 minutes until filling is set.
Cool completely, dust with powdered sugar, cut into squares.

I love this recipe, and like to decorate them with some of our multitude of violets when I make them in the spring.