Mountain Musings

Concert by the Oasis Chorale

Recently we were made aware of a Mennonite a cappella singing group called the Oasis Chorale. Last week, I looked them up on the internet and found to my delight that they were currently on their 2010 tour and would be in Virginia performing at a local church. So on Tuesday evening our family was able to attend the concert, Reflections from the Life of Christ. 

Here is their bus in the parking lot of the church, surrounded by cornfields.

The choir's mission is to "call its singers and its audiences to thoughtful worship of the true God through artistic choral music sung skillfully." They sang several pieces that celebrated the life of Christ, from His birth to glory. I especially enjoyed Jesus I Adore Thee and Lift Up Your Heads. The congregation also participated in a few hymns. Thanks to Jonathan for taking the below picture for me through an opening in the crowd.

We enjoyed hearing this group. You can hear samples of their music at their website.

~Hannah

Cucumbers

 

~Hannah

30 Stars for 30 Years ~ Wall Quilt

There's been a lot of talk lately around the ol' homestead concerning the number 30 since Tom and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary next month--hard to believe, actually!

So last week when I was perusing an old issue of Country Living magazine and saw a quilt pattern advertised as 30 Stars for 30 Years, it immediately caught my eye.

(Sorry for the blurry photo to the left taken from the Country Threads website, but it gives you an idea of what the quilt will look like.)

Country Threads, a pattern company and quilt shop, has joined with Country Living magazine in celebration of their 30th anniversary and designed a classic heirloom wall quilt for the special occasion. The finished size of the beautiful quilt is 42" x 42".

I knew I wanted to make this quilt as a remembrance of our 30th wedding anniversary and ordered the pattern right away. It just arrived in my mailbox and is even prettier in my hands than viewed on the screen.

Now I just have to find the right fabric. This will be my fall project, and I'll post progress pictures as they happen.

~Deb

Coming up next: More wonderful packages in my mailbox! I'll show you!

Quilt Odyssey ~ Hershey, PA

Well, yesterday was a very fun, full, and tiring day! It was the day I'd been waiting for with much excitement--attending Quilt Odyssey!

Our two buses, full of chattering women (and a couple of husbands), left from Patchwork Plus, my local quilt shop, and headed to Hershey, PA, for an all-day quilting and shopping extravaganza.

I signed up and paid for the Quilt Odyssey trip weeks before I even knew about my June surgery date and still didn't cancel after I found out...hoping that I'd be well and recuperated enough to travel. Thursday's 6-week checkup with my doctor confirmed that I was ready for an adventure. Well, maybe not raring to go quite yet but willing to give it a shot!

We arrived at the Convention Center around lunchtime with temps nearing 100 degrees. Most ladies went inside to look for eateries, and some of us found tables outside for our bag lunch--amazingly, a breeze made it quite comfortable.

Here's the lobby area with raffle quilts being displayed. We were allowed to take pictures of the quilts being judged in the show (except the antique quilts), but we are not allowed to post any on websites. I so wish I could show you the beautiful quilts I saw!

And guess who I met? Pat Sloan!

When I asked if I could take her picture demonstrating free motion quilting on George, the long-arm APQS quilting machine, she asked if I was one of her Facebook friends. I told her, "No, I'm not on Facebook, but I do read your blog, and I've won one of your giveaways!"  It was fun meeting a famous quilting author, teacher, blogger, and radio host.

Pat's blogging each day of the Quilt Show if you'd like to see more pictures of the Hershey area and Merchants' Mall. You can find Day 1 here, Day 2 here, and Day 3 here.

Here's one of Pat's patterns which she packaged as a quilt kit. She told me the pattern will soon be listed on her website for free. I held the package of beautiful patriotic fabric for the longest time deciding whether or not to buy it. I ended up leaving it there, and now I wish it had come home with me. I know the perfect spot on the wall for it! 

Here's a picture of the booths and shoppers at the Merchants' Mall.

I almost brought this June Bugs pattern home with me but didn't. This booth had patterns for each month of the year for 12x12 quilt blocks. The July pattern was a patriotic scene with a watering can! I loved them all! My family must be very proud of me for the money I didn't spend!

I  had a wonderful time in Hershey! The bus pulled back in to the Patchwork Plus parking lot at 10:00 p.m. It was a very long but very fun day! Wish you could have been there with me.

~Deb

Quilt Talk

I've been busy sewing and catching up on my Jelly Roll Sampler and tackling the more intricate Saturday Sampler class block...only July and August month's blocks to go!

And...Sarah and I have already signed up for next year's Saturday Sampler class which starts in October. I can't figure out if we really like doing these sampler blocks or if it's just a good excuse to eat lunch out together the one Saturday each month that the class is held! Either way...we're in for another year!

First, here is a picture of the Jelly Roll Sampler Block 11 that I just finished.

B-r-o-w-n! I'm down to the very last strips in the jelly roll...colors I'm not too fond of but ones I needed to use for this block.  

Block 12 will be our final block to be sewn in the next two weeks, and then the quilt top can be put together. It's been a fun Quilt-Along! All the blocks are now posted in my Flickr album.

And here are the two latest blocks of the Saturday Sampler class for The Queen and Her Court pattern.

The photo album for The Queen & Her Court on the right sidebar has now been updated with all the blocks shown.

Can you tell with all this quilt talk that I'm gearing up to attend a quilt show soon? If anyone else will be in Hershey let me know, and we'll meet up!

~Deb

Garden Fresh Produce for Lunch

Today's lunch menu consisted of (clockwise from foreground): sliced garden tomatoes paired with cucumbers and seasoned with oregano, dill, and citrus-flavored olive oil; just picked and shelled black-eyed peas seasoned with rosemary; zucchini squares (recipe on continuation page); and a bowl of tasty oranges, grapefruit, and garden raspberries.

Here's Hannah pouring tea for our guests.

What a lovely visit we had with our friends! It's good to be able to entertain again after such a long break. 

~ Deb

Celebrate the Joys of Homemaking Event

Starting today, Beth over at Happily Domestic is hosting a month or longer event called Celebrate the Joys of Homemaking. She has a wonderful line-up of sponsors and will be posting reviews, giveaways, and more! First up, she's giving away a 9 DVD set of Homestead Blessings from Franklin Springs Family Media. Go over and check out her blog if you're interested!

~Sarah

Cupcakes!

Today I had a hankering to make some cupcakes for supper, so I grabbed one of my newer cookbooks - Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans. There are some really delicious sounding recipes in there, and I settled on the Vanilla Cheesecake Crunch-Top Cupcakes. They were under the filled cupcakes section, with yellow cake batter topped with a cheesecake mixture and crumb topping. Yum!

I pulled out my jumbo muffin tin and liners, and after a short delay waiting for sugar to come from the grocery shoppers, mixed up everything and popped them in the oven.

Almost everyone agreed that this was a keeper! You can find the recipe in the Cupcakes! cookbook from Amazon.com or check your local library. :)

And coincidentally, this afternoon another one of my blog winnings arrived - four organic onesie cupcakes from The Baby Bunch. I just had to take a picture of these cute inedible cupcakes. :)

~Sarah

An Audio Series Taking a Stand for Life

While we did not travel to Texas to attend the Baby Conference, this newly-released audio series from the weekend looks intriguing, and we would love to listen to these Biblical principles communicated. And the introductory price lasts only through this week. Hear audio samples of some of the messages here.

A few of the topics include:

• The Reward of the Fruitful Womb: Real Families Discuss the Rewards of Raising a Large Family for the Glory of God
• How to End Abortion in America: A Look at the Spiritual, Practical, and Constitutional Realities
• How the Local Church Builds a Thriving Culture of Life
• What the Bible Says About Birth Control
• Ladies' Tea with Michelle Duggar
• Naming Babies
• The Indispensible Role of Grandparents in the Life of Children
• Ladies' Symposium on Managing the Logistics of a Large Family
• Symposium on the Future of Healthcare in America: How Must the Church and Parents Respond to Socialized Medicine, Medical Ethical Chaos and the Widespread Abdication of the Professing Church
• Child Training: A Biblical Template
• The Hopeful Theology of Miscarriage
• The Myth of Overpopulation and the Coming Demographic Bomb
• Symposium on Biblical Biomedical Ethics for the Infirm and Aging in the 21st Century: Brain Death, Organ Transplants, Euthanasia, and Care for the Elderly

~Hannah

Sewing a Colonial Costume

For the 4th of July, our young friend Madeline had been dreaming of a colonial dress just her size. She and her mom selected Simplicity pattern 3725, and Sarah and I had the privilege of helping them complete this project recently. I was thankful for the opportunity to refine my sewing abilities and assist them with this homemaking skill. We spent the day with our sewing machines and tables set up in the living room.

Excitement increased as the dress quickly took shape. Above, we are marking the pattern with a chalk wheel onto the colorful fabric she chose and pinning together the bodice of the dress.

Madeline was eager to take part in every step she could. Here she and Sarah see to some inevitable seam-ripping.

Jenny, Madeline's mother, tried her hand at sewing some seams on our Bernina machine, which she agreed was very smooth to operate!

It's coming together!

By the end of the afternoon, we were ready to begin putting in the many gathers of the skirt.

Sarah finished up attaching the sleeves to the bodice as Madeline took note. The remaining tasks such as adding a zipper, lace, and a hem were completed just in time for Madeline to wear her new dress at the 4th of July celebration festivities. She looked like she stepped out of history!

See other entries to In Stitches blog's Finished Friday parade.

~Hannah