Happy Easter Everyone!

I thought I would share some of my favorite Easter decorations. It was especially fun putting them out this year because I had my 2 year old granddaughter Rowan helping me decorate. I love to watch her face as she unwraps each decoration. I can't wait to give her the chocolate Easter Bunny and see if she will eat the ears first or feet first. According to a survey, 76% of people prefer to eat the ears of a chocolate Easter bunny first before any other part.


My Mom gave me this bunny artist. Rowan just stares at this, she is so fascinated with everything on his work table.


I ordered this bunny band out of a catalog years ago. It is one of my favorites!


I made this family of bunnies when my kids were young. They all live in the carrot. I so wish I still had the pattern for this. This family of bunnies have seen a lot of love.


My husband John is a veterinarian and I have a lot of fun decorating our clinic for each holiday. This is the Easter tree that I put up every year. I was so excited when I found the stuffed dog with the bunny ears. The quilt I did about 15 years ago. I don't just decorate the lobby...I decorate the exam rooms too. Our staff and clients love the changing of the decorations.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter full of good food, family and beautiful weather!!!!!

Inspirational

I was in New York doing a workshop for KC Custom Framing & Fabrics www.kcframingandfabrics.com. Tamaris Dolton was one of the ladies that attended my workshop. She brought this quilt top for her granddaughter Fiona to the workshop for show and tell. We all just fell in love with it! Her daughter Tisha took drawings that Fiona has made from when she could hold a crayon until now, age nine, and beautifully embroidered each one. Tamaris won a block swap and asked for 12" star blocks in the same bright colors as Fiona's drawings. A quilt was born...and I just love the whole thing. I hope this inspires all of you to do something similar, because it sure inspires me.

Cowabunga!

A friends daughter was at a thrift shop and came across this find. She just had to share a photo with her mother who in turn shared the photo with me. The price tag was $30.00 and she did not buy it. It would be great in a little boys room with a cowboy theme. I love how they take old furniture and make it new again with paint. I love paint ... it is cheap and can change anything!

Exercising With A Mission!

Every spring when it warms up I take my exercising outside. Exercising is no fun in my book but I definitely hit that age where it is a must!! I have other four letter names for it too! The sun, birds chirping, and flowers coming up make it just a little bit better...until I see the litter. Aaugh!!! Why would a person ever throw trash out their car window is beyond me. Every spring I take my big black trash bags and my gloves and clean up my 1 mile stretch of road. This is the photos of my spoils (literally). You wouldn't believe what I pick up. Once I found $16.00 because I think somebody threw their change into their fast food sack and forgot about it. The road looks pristine for almost a whole 24 hours before a cup or a can is once again in the ditch. Sigh. I just figure all this bending over has to help the old mid-section.


Just recently in this last week we also noticed that someone stole our solar panels out of their frame. They brought water up from a well for the cattle. Our dog Gladdy is sniffing for any clues.



They apparently needed to cut our fence to do this. The good thing is that we didn't have any cattle in this pasture. I knew they were after copper wiring but .....solar panels.

St. Joseph, Missouri Piece Corp Guild

I was the speaker last night for a WONDERFUL guild in St. Joseph, Missouri www.piececorpquiltersguild.com. This is one happening group. When it came time for the show and tell for the block of the month usually 4 - 5 quilters get up to show their block. Half of the guild is doing this block of the month and they were there front and center to show them off. I was AMAZED! Carl Hentsch the only man in the guild designed this years block of the month. He is coming out with his own book and does beautiful quilts. Then if this wasn't enough to get my attention....Hazel Meade shows me her own creation using my Quilt Dive fabric. I designed this fabric a few years back for Moda. I love how she designed the quilt for the diva panels to be in rooms in a house. SO CREATIVE! Hazel is also this years president of the Heartland Quilt Guild. It was a fun evening!

I now want to go back with my husband for a day trip. St. Joseph is where the Pony Express began and Jesse James ended. It was recently named the #1 Top Western Town by True West Magazine. I also heard they have numerous antique shops. My kind of town! www.stjomo.com

One of My Most Requested Recipes

This recipe won a grand prize ribbon for a 4-H student at our county fair. I was there helping that day and got to sample the recipe and I thought it was delicious!!! I often have one of these in the freezer because it is so easy to make and freezes great. The more ripe the bananas the better. Great to have on hand for last minute guests.

Banana Sour Cream Coffeecake (Amy Bradley)

½ c butter

2 c sugar

2 eggs

1c mashed ripe bananas

½ tsp. vanilla

½ c sour cream

2 c flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

Topping and filling

½ c nuts

¼ c sugar

½ tsp. cinnamon

Beat butter and sugar until light. Add vanilla, eggs, bananas and sour cream. Mix. Combine dry ingredients and add to mixture. Use Pam to spray the bundt pan well. Sprinkle half the topping in the bottom of the pan. Spoon in half the batter. Sprinkle the rest of the topping followed by the rest of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes clean. Cool for 10 minutes and pop out of pan. Freezes well.