Image Credit: Omeo When I moved into my current home, it had a new but mediocre kitchen stove. In less than two years, the burners lost their capacity to boil water. The oven worked fine, and rather than replace the entire unit, I began a search for a hotplate or a portable cooktop to become…
Raised Garden Beds for Earlier Planting
Another week remains in March, but it seems like summer outside in my North Mississippi Garden. Tradition tells me that regardless of the temperature, I should postpone planting my garden for at least 3 more weeks, but since I plant in raised beds, common sense tells me that this year I can forego the limitations…
Roses in My Garden 2025
Ballerina Image Credit: Heirloom Roses Date Introduced: 1937 Type: Hybrid Musk Color: Pink/white eye Fragrance: Lightly Fragrant Size: 4′ x 3′ Rebloom: Continual Blooming Disease Resistant Has Thorns “Introduced in 1937, Ballerina is a very profusely blooming rose of restrained habit. Expect hundreds of small, 2”, pink, single blooms with a white eye borne in huge…
Getting Ready to Make Some Crazy Quilts – Examples & A Supply List
Jacki Kellum – Detail of a Crazy Quilt Block Every time I create anything with fabric, my interests quickly shift to my decades- long interest in creating crazy quilts or parts thereof. Making a crazy quilt is like creating a collage or a montage. Almost anything goes, and that appeals to my will-of-the wisp spirit….
How to Sew a Log Cabin Quilt – History of the Log Cabin Quilt Pattern & How It Was Part of the Underground Railroad Slave Code
As part of my celebration of Black History Month, I am researching the Quilt Code that was part of the Underground Railroad’s efforts to help slaves flee bondage. Master Quilter Eleanor Burns has provided the public with several books and videos that are an invaluable resource for both quilters and historians who are interested in…
Let’s Make an Underground Railroad Quilt Together & Let’s Learn about the Secret Underground Railroad Quilt Code
My Underground Railroad Sampler Book Came in the Mail Today, and It is Perfect! I try to do something special during February for Black History Month, and I bumped into this outstanding book while researching the Underground Railroad. The book itself is excellently produced, and the photography is outstanding. The book provides a detailed history…
Cotton Fabrics for Quilting
Rose Prints Boao on Amazon 5 Star Bella Rose on Tan Joann’s Plaids Tatuo on Amazon 4 Stars Solid Sets 8″ Squares Gnognauq on Amazon 4″ Square Gnognauq on Amazon Blacks Cottage Rose Floral Calico Cotton Hobby Lobby 5 Star Beiges and Browns Vines on Cream Joann’s Tiny Mums on Neutral Joann’s Square Clusters on…
The Underground Railroad Sampler – Examining the Quilt Code that Helped Slaves Flee from Slavery
In honor of Black History Month, I am studying the Underground Railroad. During February, I’ll be sharing several books about the Underground Railroad, and I’ll also be examining the theory that the slaves developed a quilt code to help them navigate the route toward freedom. I acknowledge that some scholars reject the thought that there…
Plants that Survived 9° in My Zone 8a Winter Garden & Plants I Added in January
After having lived in New Jersey for several years, I am back in Mississippi, and I am in awe of all my garden plants that were not phased by January’s brutally cold weather. In spite of the fact that the temperature dropped down to 9° this past month, several of my plants are still growing…
The Underground Railroad: Excerpts from Reminiscences by Levi Coffin
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: LEVI COFFIN RECEIVING A COMPANY OF FUGITIVES IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF CINCINNATI, OHIO. (From a painting by C. T. Webber, Cincinnati, Ohio.) – INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. GENEALOGY. ” THE following brief sketch of the Coffin family is gathered from the first number of the American Historical Record, published at Philadelphia, and from private…