Quilter's Jamboree

I went to my first Quilter's Jamboree at the Carmel Mountain Ranch Country Club yesterday with 12 other Prayers and Squares members from my church, Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church of Ramona. 24 San Diego Lutheran churches were represented at the even. Each group was given a table to display their work in photos, quilts and even pajamas. As we entered, we were given a passport with 24 boxes on it. As we visited each table, we stamped our passports at that table. The passports then went into a drawing for gift certificates and goodies. It was a bit crowded but great fun. I loved the Claremont ministry's pajama idea.
Kids rescued from abusive homes are given a fresh new pair of pajamas to wear and keep. Prayers of love and safety go into each set of PJs which the child is able to use and keep.

Another group works on Project Linus - We Blanket San Diego and provide quilts for local hospitalsand county agenciew. Another group of women make patriotic quilts for the military. Still another has a program that focuses on staying connected with their Lutheran youth as they grow. The group provides a Baptism towel when the child is first Baptized. Then they make a shawl for the child when they are confirmed and then another quilt for graduation, constantly reminding the child that they are children of God.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans puts on this event every year. It is a wonderful way to see what the other women's ministries are doing in San Diego. We had a wonderful lunch served to us. And we heard a brief story from each of the churches about their program.







Our guest speaker was Betty Alofs of San Diego. Innovative and versatile, Betty has taught locally and was selected to be an Artist in Residence for the Asilomar Empty Spools 2009 event in Pacific Grove this year. I snapped a photo of Betty with her Hope Lane Mailboxes of Ramona quilt. The photo of the long row of mailboxes was seen for a while on Webshots. Yes, those mailboxes, plus a few more, are still right off Highway 67 in Ramona. Betty also brought along her Betty Boop quilt which always attracts a crowd. We were treated to a wonderful trunk show of Betty's creations.

It was an amazing experience to be around that many generous and like-minded women. God is good.

Kitchen Cat

We moved here a couple of months ago. I had a thriving butterfly garden at my old place. Gulf Fritillary butterflies mostly. Since we are still in the process of selling, I visited my garden. I grabbed some Passion Vine since I cannot find any in the stores at this time of year. I want to get it started so it will come in strong next year and I can start a new butterfly garden. So you can imagine how happy I was to see this guy. It is a Gulf Frit caterpillar munching away on the Passion Vine that I have stuck in soda bottle of water in my kitchen window. It is a chubby cat, too. I imagine in another day or so , he will be looking for high ground to start his chrysalis. This guy is going to start my new butterfly garden.

Cupcakes warm from the oven....

I baked up these Decadent Chocolate Cupcakes today. They are gluten free. I have celiac's so my baked goodies list is pretty short. I have had this food allergy for about 30 years. Yeah, it's a pain but there it is. Lactose-intolerant people have a pill that they can take before eating any dairy. No pill for celiac's.

I do have a wish list, though. If they ever make a pill that would allow me to eat whatever I wanted, I would go for these things.

--Blueberry muffin -warm with butter
--Devils food cake, plain and warm from the oven....check, got that today. Woohoo!
--Jewish rye toast with a cup of tea.

Oh yes, these cupcakes were delish. Yup, I ate 3 within 10 minutes of taking them out of the oven. Oink, Oink.