A Daisy Garden

Tomato Jam

May 27, 2016 by adaisygarden

I went to the Farmers Market this week and found they had baskets of tomatoes for $1!

I bought three and went home excited about making tomato jam.

I had never tasted tomato jam until just last year, and I thought it was so delicious, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it before, or that it wasn’t everywhere, in every super market, next to strawberry jam or blueberry jelly! I felt deprived…

So when I saw those tomatoes, I immediately thought, “I could make some jam! I mean, how hard could it be?

Five hours later, after peeling five pounds of tomatoes, simmering & stirring the pot, checking the consistency countless times, I wondered if this “soup” was ever going to turn into “jam”.

I decided to go sit down, after all, I’d been standing in the kitchen for hours (I already had met my 10,000 steps quota and it was only 5pm!). While I was checking my emails and Instagram, I fell asleep…

Next thing I know I smelled a hint of something burning… I jumped out of the chair and ran to the kitchen, exclaiming, “no, no, no…!”

I stirred the pot and realized the bottom was starting to stick, but it wasn’t burned! I tasted it quickly, hoping there was no burnt taste…

Oh, I have to tell you, I breathed a sigh and was so thankful that it tasted fine! It was still really, REALLY hot from those red chile flakes, but it was delicious.

I grabbed the jars and filled three of them with about four tablespoons left over. That’s it! Three pints from FIVE pounds of tomatoes! I had to laugh…

I was so proud of myself.

For years, (since I first got married and went to college in a rural area), I’d wanted to try canning and I finally did it.

It only took a couple decades.

Now, the jars sit it on my kitchen shelves and I can’t wait until next week when I can go to the Farmers Market, buy whatever is in season, and try canning again!

I can almost see it…my kitchen shelves stocked with colorful jars, filled with all kinds of good food.

Of course, what will really happen is that I’ll end up giving these jars away in pretty gift baskets…

…But I love to do that, too!

So it’s a win/win situation 😊

Enjoy summer bounty,

Daisy

Posted in Cooking, Garden, Gifts, Photography | Tagged Canning, Cooking, Food, garden, Gifts, photography | 13 Comments »

Baby Quilt Part 2

May 19, 2016 by adaisygarden

Not long ago, I posted about the quilt I was making for one of my granddaughters,
(To read about it, click here and here)

For the backing, I used a pretty pink floral which was very soft.

I made a matching little pillow to go with it…

I added a small lace on the pillow, just to add some softness and a little special touch.

And I hand-quilted both. It was fun, and as I stitched, I prayed for my granddaughter.
She’s a cutie and a joy!!

We weren’t able to be with her on her birthday, but we had a celebration when we did go to visit them. She was so excited to take stuff (gifts) out of bags, and when she pulled the little pillow out of the gift bag, this is what she did:

It was so cute! We all exclaimed, “Awwww!” and she smiled as if she knew she was saying, “Thank you, Abuela! I love it!”
It touched my heart and made it all the more worth the time put into sewing those tiny stitches and seams.
She captures my heart every time I see her.

Happy sewing & quilting!

Daisy

Posted in Crafts, Quilting, Sewing | Tagged Family, Hand quilting, Joy, quilt, Quilting, Sewing | 4 Comments »

Sunday

April 17, 2016 by adaisygarden

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs 16:32

Posted in Photography, Reflection, Sunday | Tagged Beach, inspirational, photography, Psalms, Reflection, Scripture, Sunday | 4 Comments »

A Photo Shoot

April 9, 2016 by adaisygarden

A few weeks ago, I got to visit with my youngest granddaughter, and I had a fun photo shoot with her…

She absolutely loves being outside and is always captivated by the birds singing, the trees, the neighbors’ dogs barking… all those sights & sounds… she’s always turning her pretty little head, looking around at everything.

It was an impromptu photo shoot…

My daughter & I put a nice comfy blanket on the ground, and we just started playing with her. She loves to smile.

She also loves to laugh! She was laughing so hard here, that she was losing her balance and throwing her head back. What a cutie!

We gave her some sunglasses and tried to get her to keep them on,
but she was too curious and just kept taking them off and studying them.

Every time she sits, she usually crosses her ankles.
So cute!

She’s already got so many teeth (even though she’s not even one yet!) and two more on their way.

Oh, how I thank God for her!
She’s a joy!!!

Have a blessed weekend, everybody!

Daisy

Posted in Photography | Tagged Family, grandchildren, photography | 16 Comments »

Not Surprised

April 6, 2016 by adaisygarden

I have shingles.

Yeah…

Not fun.

I’m very, VERY thankful that so far it is a mild case.
I don’t have a rash on my back
(although I have itching & soreness),
but I’ve had pain for several days now.
(that’s why I wasn’t surprised when the Dr. said it was shingles).
It has been getting a little worse each day
but it’s still not as bad as other people have had.

If I sit and do nothing (very hard for me to do)
the pain subsides, but as soon as I start doing something
it keeps increasing until it feels like a knife in my back.

It was interesting trying to make dinner last night.
By the time I finished cooking,
I thought I was starting to look like
the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I’m hoping I’ll still get to do some sewing.
I’m working on finishing some projects for my granddaughters.

Last night I tried to work on my new “Happy Planner”.
I reasoned to myself, “I’ll be sitting down. I’ll be writing.”
But after a few minutes, the pain in my back was saying,
“Stop it. Go relax.” I thought I was relaxing…

I’m praying it will not get any worse.
I’m taking these HUGE pills (I hate taking even Tylenol!)…
We have a big conference coming up in two weeks.
I’m not worrying about it.
Seriously. Not at all.
I’ll be there, Lord willing.
And I’ll be done with another chapter of
“Stories to Tell My Grandchildren”.
🙂

Here’s the “Happy Planner” I was working on last night…
It’s really more like a Scrapbook, Planner, Journal rolled into one.
You can customize it to fit what your needs & likes are.
I’ll post some pictures of the inside as I work on it.
It’s a lot of fun adding pictures, stickers, and quotes.

Thanks for reading.
xoxo

Daisy

Posted in Reflection | Tagged Reflection | 23 Comments »

Roses

April 4, 2016 by adaisygarden

My husband brought me roses recently…

There was no special occasion…

He just wanted to brighten my day,
Remind me that he loves me.

I’ve been dealing with some personal things lately,
needing to intentionally focus on the Lord
and not on my frustrations/problems/pain…
It’s not easy, nor a five-minute, “Ok, I’ve got it” type of thing…
It’s a constant, giving-it-over-to-God, type of thing,
an act of the will that says, “I trust in you, Lord”.

I am blessed, more than most people;
I’m always aware of that,
and I try not to take it for granted.
Even right after my mother passed away,
I kept reminding myself that I was blessed to have
such a mother for 23 years…most people don’t even have
that blessing.
You see, there’s always something to be thankful for.
I grieved, but at the same time, I knew that I had been blessed.

I don’t know why I wrote all this… I just let myself type
and stopped deleting entire sentences.
I guess I’ll hit the “publish” button and not worry too much
whether someone will find it boring, objectionable, or read it at all.

I thank the Lord for a fresh new week ahead, “with no mistakes in in”,
as Anne Shirley would say, and I look forward to all the blessings
God has in store. 🙂

Have a blessed week!
xoxo

Daisy

Posted in Garden, Photography, Reflection | Tagged Family, flowers, Gifts, inspirational, photography, Reflection | 12 Comments »

Hand Quilting

March 17, 2016 by adaisygarden

I’ve been working on the baby quilt…

Here’s a little pillow case I made with leftover 2 1/2″ squares:

It’s been so much fun working on this!

I just did a simple pattern, nothing fancy.
Here’s a pic of the quilt before I started the hand quilting.

I’ve been working on that, too and I’ll post pictures when I finish both the pillow and the quilt.

On a side note, a few days ago I was able to get some quilting thread at bargain prices during a sale at both Joann’s and at Hobby Lobby!

I got some pretty colors for future projects I’ve been wanting to get done.

Happy sewing!

Daisy

Posted in Crafts, Gifts, Photography, Quilting, Sewing | Tagged Baby Quilt, photography, Quilting, Sewing | 11 Comments »

Don’t worry…

March 13, 2016 by adaisygarden

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? …You of little faith! Do not worry then… for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:30-33

Posted in Garden, Photography, Reflection, Sunday | Tagged flowers, garden, inspirational, photography, Reflection, Scripture, Sunday | 11 Comments »

Quilt for Baby

March 8, 2016 by adaisygarden

I’m working on a quilt for one of my sweet granddaughters!

The fabric is so cute!

I’ve had it for years and when I found it this past week, I realized it would be perfect for this quilt!

I love the colors, the fabrics, (they’re so soft!).

I just love how the all look together!

I didn’t want to cut the squares into tiny pieces, so I sewed them onto 2″ strips.

I debated which pattern to use and decided to make it simple and just framed the 5″ squares:

I finished the quilt top and now am getting it ready for quilting by hand. I would do it on my sewing machine but I like the look of hand stitching and I have a hard time quilting something that large on my machine.

I can’t wait to finish it and give it to my granddaughter! 😊

Have a great weekend!

Daisy

Posted in Crafts, Gifts, Quilting, Sewing | Tagged Baby Quilt, Crib Quilt, Fabric, Gifts, Quilting, Sewing | 39 Comments »

Quilt Show!

March 1, 2016 by adaisygarden

Last week was Quilt Week in Daytona Beach, Florida!

I don’t often get to go to Quilt Shows – especially one this large,
so I was pretty excited!

Oh, it was so much fun!

I think I smiled the entire time I was there!

So many beautiful quilts!!

I think I learn new things,
just by looking closely at each quilt!

Did you see the pretty hexies?!!

They are tiny but add so much to the overall look of the quilt!

There was a “Winner’s Circle” where the different categories
were displayed with a beautiful work of art!

Some of my favorite quilts,
believe it or not,
were the ones displayed on the
different vendor booths.

I love this one with the campers!

So much fun to make one like that, right?!

There was a pattern for it, to save you all the time.

This vendor booth had my favorite mini quilts!!

It was Schoolhouse Quilt Shop, from Canton, Ohio.
I talked a little bit to the owner, and she said she made all
these herself, mostly by hand!

I spent a lot of time in her booth, just admiring all the cute little
mini quilts and doll quilts.

Here’s a close-up of one of the squares.
She took the trouble to fussy cut all the little squares!
So cute!!

I bought a bag of these “I spy” style, Aunt Grace,
and I can’t wait to use it for quilts for my granddaughters!

This is my favorite quilt from the larger size quilts:

Oh, I wish you could see the details, and the fabrics here!

All I had was my cell-phone, so I couldn’t capture it like I wanted to.

In this picture, you can see some of the details, the quilting,
the different 3-D materials used.

I just loved it!

Probably because of the scene it depicts, too.

This is the quilt the won Best In Show Award:

When I came up close to it,
I could not believe all the detail!
It was astounding — there were 27,000 svarowski crystals
sewn by hand!!!

Every time you moved, the lights captured the crystals
and the quilt would “twinkle” and sparkle.

Here’s a close-up of just a small section with the crystals.
The camera really doesn’t capture all the sparkle.

img_1706-1

The threads used were a variety of different kinds,
including metallic, which gave the quilt a whole other dimension.

I didn’t buy too much, as you can see.

Oh, it’s not that I didn’t want to buy a bunch of stuff…
I was trying to be frugal,
and I did get some new fabric for Christmas
that I’m planning to use in a quilt very soon.

So I was good, and just bought these cuties:
*A fat quarter to make a pretty little something for my daughter
(maybe a zippered bag)
*A fun, mini hexie ruler to make a doll quilt (can’t wait!!)
*3 primitive-era fat quarters
*A bag of 25 squares of 1930s fabric to make
my own “I spy” quilt for my granddaughters
I had such a good time, walking around, getting inspired
by all the beautiful workmanship and colors and fabrics…!!

As soon as I got home,
I wrote down some ideas of things that
popped into my head as I walked around the Show.

There were tea towels, aprons, bags,
travel zip bags, …so many other things…
not just quilts.

If you like to sew or quilt,
or if you like art in general,
you won’t be disappointed
at a Quilt Show —
especially one that’s as large as this one!

Have fun creating!

Daisy

Posted in Crafts, Quilting, Sewing | Tagged Fabric, Quilt Show, Quilting, Sewing | 24 Comments »

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