Summer/Fall-ish Creations

These past few months have been a blur, probably due to sleep deprivation!  But we have been busy doing things.  So in no particular order...

I went to a quilt show put on by our local quilt shop.  I took Claire with me in the Ergo and she was a perfect little sleeper. 

There were some antique quilts there.  This one is made of tiny one inch squares.  Incredible.

This was a Halloween crazy quilt.  Do you see the spider?  The lady who made this was an amazing artist.

 A few of the quilts were for sale-this one was going for $895.

We went to Wapato and met up with my in-laws Dean and Joyce and Justin, DeAnne, and their kiddos to buy some beautiful tomatoes.  I felt like I needed to immortalize their beauty before I chopped them up and canned them. 

Corey made applesauce and then it was time for peaches.  I had been looking forward to canning peaches because my mother-in-law gave us some last year.  Those peaches were the best peaches I ever had!  The peaches I canned didn't turn out nearly as good. 

My dad shared some produce from his garden and I couldn't resist having a little fun with them.

Our plums finally ripened about a month later than last year.  The kids have been eating plums non-stop and have been feeling the effects of the "plummy tummy."  Corey is modeling our new plum picker below, a wooden handle with two screws at the top and an aluminum can below.  He went to the hardware store in town to buy a fruit picker but they were sold out and the guy told him how to make one.  Thank you for saving us $20!

A lovely surprise visit from the Baysingers!

Ezra's been obsessed with this "play clay."  His teacher at church shared the recipe with us and now Ezra always wants to make it.  We baked it and the kids had fun painting.

I also snuck a little sewing in.  I found an easy, free pattern and made a few skirts for Audrey. 
http://www.oliverands.com/blog/2008/08/lazy-days-skirt-free-pattern.html  if you're interested.
The fabric store in Ellensburg had a 50% off sale and I bought extra to make skirts for my younger nieces...but it might be awhile before they're finished.

This was my first pincushion, a birthday gift for my stepmom.  That was my first try sewing anything three dimensional, it was fun!  It's from a Heather Bailey pattern I found that was part of the 50% off sale.

Corey built a fence in the front yard and started on the side.  Always a house project.... This is a sort of sad project because we lost our dog Labor Day weekend.  He ate something that poisoned him.  There were some suspicious circumstances and I'll feel better once our fence is up.  I never thought I would say it, but I have really missed him. 

Ezra started preschool last month and loves recess, his friend Keirsten, and his teacher.  I love the social and intelluctual stimulation he gets and Audrey really wants to go to preschool too. 

So, that's what we've been up to.  If you've made it to the end, I salute you!