Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Teresa Coleman!!!

Teresa Coleman (kangaroo kate, #1506) has received a certificate of achievement in Stitching & Crafting for earning an Expert Level Quilting Merit Badge!

“I have made a few quilts over past 4 years. I gave 4 of them to friends. I am about to start another soon. My main style is appliqué with pieced blocks. Most have some embroidery on them and some have fabric painting. I did a history quilt that was entered in our state fair and got a ribbon. It had two sides—one was the Statue of Liberty and the other had blocks showing history events in America.

They all turned out good; sometimes, you don’t know how a quilt will look when finished. I put it on a quilt frame and roll it as I go. I work from an idea in my head and go from there. My friends that I surprised and gave a quilt to were speechless.

This one had a poem called “The Rainbow Bridge.” It was for a friend whose special wallaby died. She had raised him from a pinky joey (one with no fur). There were a variety of methods used on this one. You will find that I do a lot of kangaroo-theme quilts.”

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Congratulations Teresa! Your Wallaby quilt is very creative and beautiful and what a touching and lovely gift to give your special friend. It is truly a treasure!

  2. ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. Is it legal to have a pet wallaby in the USA, I had no idea that they could be kept as pets. but a very creative and touching gift for your friend.

  3. Cecile Clausen says:

    My favorite place to nap is in the swing on the back deck.

  4. Deb Larrabee says:

    I’m a quilt lover. Having grown up in the midwest, quilts were always available to be snuggled under or at the foot of the bed to keep your toes warm during those cold winter nights.

    I love to snuggle up under the “love quilt” (my great grandmother made it) with my grandson Owen for a quick snooze in the “kids room” at our place. This room is specifically geared for the grandchildren and a quick nap under the quilt while watching a movie is the perfect retreat! Grandsons and quilts – a perfect blend for this grandma!

  5. Vera-Ellen Turner says:

    During the month of May, my favorite place to nap is in my lounge chair with a ‘just hatched’ chick under my chin, an electric cover set on low over my chest and a ‘peep, peep, peep’ as the chick, only hours old, snuggles near my face. We both nap, off and on. Being born is a tiring job!

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Erin McBride!!!

Erin McBride (Notathreatinsight, #3762) has received a certificate of achievement in Each Other for earning a Beginner Level Know Your Roots Merit Badge!

“I’ve been working on putting together a family tree, so I talked with my grandma a couple years ago about this. She helped me with some information about her grandparents and where they came from originally (Poland and Austria). I also have some pictures of her side of the family that are pretty old, and she helped me with some of the names of relatives in those pictures.

The family tree is an ongoing project that I’m only still in the planning stages of. Some of the pictures I have are hanging in my upstairs hallway. One is of my great-grandmother in her late teens or early 20s. Another is a wedding picture of my great-great-grandparents. The picture here is one that I have on a bookcase in my living room of my grandma, the one that I discussed family history with. I’m not sure where this picture was taken, but probably on a beach in Chicago, since she lived in Chicago all her life.”

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Congratulations Erin on being selected here for your ancestry work! It is fun to trace back the history of our families and meet the people and hear about their lives. We carry some of their DNA and when we wonder how we got certain physical and personality traits, it is powerful to learn we are not that different from someone else who lived many years ago.

  2. Cindi says:

    What a beautiful lady your grandmother is. Congratulations on your badge! You are so fortunate to still have family to share stories and help identify people in pictures. Searching ones family tree is not only interesting but very humbling. It changes the way we look at our family members in a very good way. I hope you create some wonderful photo albums during your research so your journey can be shared.

  3. Erin McBride says:

    Thank you Winnie and Cindi. She passed away in November, so I’m glad that I had a chance to talk with her about family history. I’m also lucky to live close to Fort Wayne. The main library in Fort Wayne is great for genealogy. I’ve heard it’s the next best library after Salt Lake City for genealogy research. I have an 18 x 18 scrapbook for my family tree project, but I haven’t been to the library to research it further yet.

  4. Congratulations, Erin! You are doing such a great job on your family history! The picture you shared of your Grandmother is so poignant! Hugs to our Wildflower Hen House Leader!

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photo-of-the-day

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Not much longer until there will be daffodils popping up at MJF. These flowers are some of my all time favorites.

  2. Bonnie ellis says:

    With all the snow we have it seems like forever when we will have daffodils. They are a special reminder of spring.

  3. Daizy says:

    I have them!!!!

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Young Cultivators Merit Badge: Toys, Beginner Level

The adorable, always humorous MBA Jane is my way of honoring our Sisterhood Merit Badge program, now with 6,825 dues-paying members who have earned an amazing number of merit badges so far—9,626 total! Take it away, MBA Jane!!! ~MaryJane 

Wondering who I am? I’m Merit Badge Awardee Jane (MBA Jane for short). In my former life   

For this week’s Young Cultivator Stitching and Crafting/Toys Beginning Level Merit Badge, I decided to make it easy on myself and hand the reins over to my niece, Piper. In order to earn her very first Young Cultivator badge, Piper needed to interview an adult about the toys they played with when they were young.

Ahhh, nostalgia, thy name is toys …

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Photo by Webms via Wikimedia Commons

Take it away, Piper!

*tap, tap, tap*

Piper: Testing, testing, 1 … 2 … 3?

Jane: Isn’t that a plastic karaoke machine, Pipes?

Piper: I’ll do the questioning, ma’am. First question: what was your favorite toy growing up as a youngster in the 1850s?

Jane: Yikes! I’m not that old. My favorite toy only recently, as I am very spry and youthful, was my dolly, Adelaide.

Piper: I see. And what was said Adelaide made of? Wood?

Jane: Wood?

Piper: Yes. It’s my understanding that toys that long ago were likely actual sticks.

Stick doll or penny doll. Photo by Wolfgang Moroder via Wikimedia Commons.

Jane: A stick toy?

Piper: No, a stick used as a toy.

Jane, feeling ornery and deciding to go with it: Yes, Adelaide was a lovely stick. She was cherry mahogany, you know.

Piper: I see. And did you play with your stick for hours at a time?

Jane: Oh, yes. I dressed her up and braided her hair, which of course, was made of moss. Once I misplaced poor Adelaide and had to go looking for her. After I walked to school uphill both ways in the snow, naturally.

Piper: Goodness. Did you find her?

Jane, shaking her head sadly: It was a tragedy. It turns out my father had gone to gather kindling that morning for our stove while I was writing chalk verses on my slate for school.

Piper, gasping: Oh, no! Poor Adelaide!

Jane, chuckling: Just kidding. Adelaide was a real doll, and a posh one, too. She had little leather boots and a bunch of different outfits.

Vintage Bradley brand dolls from Japan, Photo by KeiBi via Wikimedia Commons

Piper, looking relieved, and also disappointed: Oh. Yeah, I have one like that. I don’t really play with her, though. I mostly play my iPad and stuff.

Jane: Really? Have you ever told her your secrets? Or sent her on secret missions for you?

Piper, looking slightly interested: Nooo … that sounds kinda fun, though. What else did you do with your stick? I mean, with Adelaide?

Jane: Well, I also had an old tape recorder. Kind of like the one you’re using now to interview me, except mine was way cooler.

Piper: Hey!

Jane: Just keeping it real, kid. Anyway, I was always transcribing stories into it, or rehearsing play lines, or predicting the future. Sometimes, my friends and I would sing songs or tell ghost stories into it.

Piper: Neato! Do you still have the tapes?

Jane: I think I may have buried a couple.

Piper, frowning: What’d you do that for?

Jane: Like a time capsule. You’ve never done a time capsule? You mean to tell me iPads can’t do time capsules? Huh. Well, anyway, we buried a cigar box full of tapes and Polaroid pictures and nifty stuff. We buried it under that old oak tree out back.

Piper, looking mischievous: Really? Well, that’s enough interviewing for one day … thanks, Auntie Jane.

Jane: Anytime, pipsqueak. What are you doing the rest of the day?

Piper: Oh, you know, the usual. I thought I’d take the iPad out to the yard. Maybe sit under that nice, shady tree there.

Jane: Hmm. Is that so? Well, don’t forget your stick.

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    With two older brothers, we had a different type science kit toy in our basement. I remember it had to do with electricity and when you had it hooked up correctly, you could light up these little red lights on a series of scenes by touching two wires to a source. I was fascinated and finally nagged a brother enough to show me how to use it correctly. I always loved science and learning how and why things worked. Too bad I didn’t have a carpenter kit because I never learned how to really fix and make different things which would be great to know today.

  2. It was my stepbrother’s Erector set, which was already a really old one proabably from tehe 30’s,= , it was super and I played for years with it. Millions of tiny parts to lose and so forth- heaven for a creative scientific kid like me.

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Hear Ye!

Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)

Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)

My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Denise Thompson!!!

Denise Thompson (levisgrammy, #43) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level Backyard Farmer Merit Badge!

“We started our own flock originally by purchasing chicks from a hatchery. We had Black Austrolorps to start and used their eggs to hatch a flock using an incubator given us by my father.

The present flock are Black Sex Link and they were purchased from a hatchery. They enjoy free-ranging as much as possible and are fed organic feed. We enjoy about 6-7 big brown eggs every day this time of year.

We will be enlarging the flock this Spring.”

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  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Yay for Denise!! I love your flock of girls and how fantastic you get so many fresh eggs daily. Please post some photos later this Spring when the baby chicks arrive.

  2. Krista says:

    Congratulations Denise on receiving your Beginner Level Backyard Farmer Merit Badge! Your flock looks fabulous. Enjoy your soon to be enlarged flock and the many eggs they give you!

  3. Denise says:

    Oh my goodness! Thank you so much MaryJane. What a wonderful surprise.

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