What kind of message do you want to send when you hit the "sack"?

I made a few tiny pillows from scraps left over from feed sacks. One went to my friend Ronnie Stam for his birthday, and one is going to my old friend and colleague, make up artist Bobbi Brown. My 21 year old daughter, Genevieve, and I just did a photo shoot for her new book and I we had a blast! I got to see some of my "model" friends for the first time in 20 years- I hadn't seen Mary Gorman ( THE brunette) since I met my husband on that fateful "SEVENTEEN" magazine shoot with Bruce Weber almost 30 years ago. I also got to see Ralph Lauren muse, Jane Gill, Dianne deWitt (and her daughter Adrienne) who was one of the first models to cross over from runway to print stardom, and LPGA rising star, Morgan Pressel. More to come.

This cake was a kick!

Thanks to my Wilton Cake mold I was able to creat a magical Dutch soccer ball cake for our friend, Dutch Clown/ Hair Dresser to the stars... (REALLY!!!) Ronnie Stam. His gorgeous Greek Goddess wife, Jan Eleni, did an amazing job cooking and decorating their fab Ft. Greene floor- thru, complete with Alice in Wonderland garden. Maybe our magical manure played a part in that??? You may remember pics of it from an earlier post, "A garden grows in Brooklyn."By the way never under estimate the power of Magic Candles... it was hilariuos!

Another saddle pad for Ms. Butters!

Mary Jane Butters must have an amazing collection of fabrics, blankets, and vintage linens to choose from. This is the latest saddle pad that I made for her, with a vintage camp blanket she had stashed away. I feel so lucky to work with such fine artifacts.

Finally someone appreciates my efforts and my values. MaryJane's Farm Magazine is giving me credit where credit is due. I am a girl who enjoys simple thing life has to offer, and sometimes that is simply the joy of bagging up my aged compost in recycled bags, with colorful fabric remnants and sharing it with friends, neighbors and strangers near and far. So does that make me simple? To quote the title of a song by a famous jazz musician and friend who has passed, Red Mitchell, "Simple isn't easy, it's the hardest thing. When your simple people think your lazy...."

Thank you MaryJane Butters and her publisher, John Pagliaro.

Pillow talk.... The big give away secret is out!

Go to "Go make your bed!" and comment to enter the raffle. Time for the word to get out about my great new bedding blog. Let me know what you think. I need to know! I value all of your opinions.

Born on the 4th of July.

Happy 19th Birthday, Jack. We know you will be successful at all you try. We love you,
Mom and Dad
And Happy 5th Birthday to Cheech!

A garden grows in Brooklyn...and Woodstock, and Wilton......

Dark Horse Farm's "Dutch Treat" has made it big! Not just our tomato plants, but it has reached celebrity status as it spreads it's goodness all over the country! "MaryJane's Farm" magazine is doing a feature for it's Aug/Sept. issue this summer, and it has made it's way from Wilton, CT, to Brooklyn and Manhattan, and further north to Woodstock, VT!
Here we have our dear friends, The Stam's of Brooklyn, and their amazing brownstone garden. That's my bestest friend, Lola- isn't she gorgeous! She and her dad have palnted a lovely backyard garden using our compost. It's especially fitting for them to use our Dutch stuff- Ronnie is from Amsterdam, like my horse, Tys, (who makes all of this compost possible... 40 lbs. of it everyday!)
Sue Beneke sent me pics of her garden in Woodstock, and also a picture of another bag-o- brown she had purchased. She knew I would appreciate the graphics on the bag.
Want some of your own "brown gold"? Just give me the word.
**(no fee for the 15 lb. bags, earth worms included)**
Thanks to husband, Tim, for taking time out of his busy photography career, and help me share this organic ground.

Garden of Ideas

Ahhh, the age old question: "Which came first? The garden or the quilt?" 

Well, I was first commissioned by our neighbors, the Bassocks, to make a king sized quilt, pillow cases, and dog beds. Pammie and I went to The Quilters Alley in Ridgefield and she hand picked a series of Art Gallery fabrics in earthy, grassy tones. We picked a buttery yellow print for the backing, and I had to go back for a few pops of blue and orange. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tim , my husband and Jeff, Pammie's husband, were designing a patch of their own. Jeff asked Tim to help him design a vegetable garden, and Tim came up with this groovy raised bed octagon. We then packed it full of our finest aged compost- Dark Horse Farm's "Dutch Treat". The quilt was coming along nicely- like rows in a garden- with dark greens like squash leaves, pale greens like young butter lettuce, zucchini blossom orange, earthy rich browns and slate blue. They were both finished within days of each other and Jeff did a great job with the gate, fence posts, and faux owl in the center to keep the small birds and rabbits away. He even planted the marigolds I suggested, which are a natural bug repellent! 

Well done guys. As for the quilt, we managed to bring the outdoors in, creating a garden like sanctuary in there bedroom.

Katie likes the bed!

That's the lovely Katie Paganelli exactly as I imagine a college gal to look in her "Dorm on a Drawstring". Don't forget to visit "Go make your bed!" We will be having a give away next week- and it's a BIG ONE!

Rainy Day Project- FLOOR QUILT

It has been raining this month more than ever. In fact we have broken some 80 year old record with over 22 inches since June 1st. I know, all of my Washington and Oregon blog buddies are laughing at me- but we are starting to mold over! Which make me so aware of my most neccsary clothing item- MY WELLIES! I wear them everyday to muck the stalls and paddocks, even in good weather, but on a morning like this I am quite literally up to my ankles in mud! So I decided to make a special spot to house my most precious green rubber iconic wardrobe accessory... Hence the Wellie Mat! Make your own. WARNING- It takes forever for the Mod Podge to dry in 100% humidity! Here I am in my wellies at the ripe old age of 18- and scroll down to the previous post to see I still wear them... YES- that's the same person... sheesh!

This is the book you may need if the following directions I have provided are not clear enough, and some of the tools, plus a plastic sheet to cover your work area, Mod Podge, Clear Satin water based acrylic finish, and paste wax. Use any scraps you have laying around... this has been my mission lately- use them or lose them!