Barnquilting

          Have you ever heard of a  barn quilt?  They’re usually   8 ft by 8 foot with a  geometric design.  You can  find them throughout the Midwest.  I’d read about barn quilts  and wanted to make one for our barn. I had a design in mind,  instead of the  geometric style  so I called a  quilting store to see if  my idea could technically [...]

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Grandma’s Rye Bread

 
      Oma is German for Grandma.   Oma came to Ellis Island from  Germany at 19.  One of my strongest memories of her is her  rye bread.  Before she died she showed me how to make it.  The recipe was in her head,  I still remember the two of us  calculating  the ratios of flour,  potato water, honey, yeast.  
     Making [...]

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Grandma’s Sampler

      I spotted the  cross stitch in the basement of an antique store.  It depicted two Victorian ladies having tea, with a verse on friendship, with a price-tag of  just $10.00  The frame was coming apart, but since  I  also frame pictures , I brought it home, intending to nurse my find back to health.  Discovered that it was a picture and not an actual cross [...]

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Tuition At The School Of Hard Knocks

   For days, the price  hovered  around $300.00.  I had stumbled across a watercolor picture on e-bay  painted by ”Wood” dated 1928.  How many artists by the name of “Wood” could paint something that realistic  in 1928?  It must be a Grant Wood original!  So I placed a bid.
     Flash forward to the last minute of the auction……
      45 Seconds…$1600/  40 seconds [...]

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