Friday, June 6, 2014

A Perfect Picnic Blog Hop

Well, today is the day, and I am as ready as I'm ever gonna be!

Thank you to two very special ladies, without which this hop just would not have been the hop that it is....Mdm Samm and Mary...y'all are awesome for putting this this together!

And of course to our very generous sponsors....Riley Blake Designs and Peterboro Baskets.

Requirements:
#1 create a picnic quilt

#2 obtain some kind of picnic basket 

#3 plan a detailed menu and share your basket contents.

#4 take photos of your outing and share how your day went....

#5 what books or games did you bring along

Today's line up of creatively perfect picnics include:

Friday June 6

Let's begin =)
We usually tend to do drive thru picnics, or stop at the grocery store before going to the park for submarine buns, sliced deli meats, cheese, and pop. Since we love to go for drives we can do this quite often throughout the summer, but, thanks to the encouragement of Samm and Mary, I now have a picnic blanket.

#1. 

I know, I know, my quilt is white. I love the green and white gingham I have or rather had in my stash (I even have a dress in this same fabric LOL), and it just called for white fabric to go with it, also from my stash.

This is one of my favourite verses. I really do try to live this. The leaf wreath was designed and drawn by my son. I then used fabric paint (setacolor) and a paint brush to paint it in. All were done freehand.
This is the backing fabric. It was fabric that originally came from my mom. I was going to use it as pillowcases in her room, but as she passed away in February, I've decided to use it for my own purposes, and a little bit of her can picnic with us when we go =)

#2.


This picnic basket was given to me several years ago from my sister. It may not hold a lot, but it keeps our dishes and napkins all together!

#3.  Our menu was very simple. Being about 11 p.m. we just had a before bed snack, nothing fancy.

Organic, coconut milk, raw almonds, and raw honey.

As once recommended by Mdm Samm, we enjoyed almonds and honey. Yum, yum. We washed it down with coconut milk.

#4. While we had planned a real picnic. It was supposed to be this past Sunday, at the request of our granddaughter, but I became ill, you really don't want any details!, and since then each one of us has taken our turn at being ill, also, the weather did not cooperate. Not to mention we live in mosquitoville for now. Give it a couple weeks, and we will try again.

#5. What games and books?


No, these are not after dinner mints, LOL. This is my homemade game of checkers.



Chicken scratch embroidery. Green for the green squares, and white DMC for the  white squares. The game pieces are "slices" of a wooden dowel. Thank you dh for cutting them for me. Especially when you found out I wanted at least 60 pieces.

You see, this game board is 12 x 12, and requires 30 pieces each player. I remember playing checkers for the first time at my parents summer cabin. Flash ahead several years when I played at a friends, and there seemed to be so many fewer pieces than I remembered.

When I decided to make my own board for this hop, I had to look up the board an lo and behold found out that there really are different boards. There is an association of checker players here in Quebec...see here...this is where I learned that as a child I must have first played on a Canadian board (played mainly here in Quebec). Pardon the blunder, someone must have caught this...pieces for both opponents should be placed on the dark (ie green squares); forgive me, I must be more tired than I realized LOL.


Also, on a real picnic I would bring a puzzle book, and my well-traveled, worn, and stained Bible. I don't often go far without it!

Well that is it for us here. Looking forward to making this our summer habit of 2014! Thanks for visiting. I am last in today's linky lineup, but be sure to visit the other's if you haven't already (links at top of post).

Have an awesome weekend and see you again on Monday to finish up a perfect hop!

37 comments:

  1. You made a very nice picnic quilt, and it seems like you guys had a great time!

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  2. What a lovely picnic quilt and I think you did have fun even if you didn't have a "real" picnic. Thank you so much for being here today with us. I have loved seeing your pretty quilt.

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  3. Your picnic quilt is lovely and even though it was a late night event, it was still a picnic. Thanks for sharing your quilt with us.

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  4. Hi Shari..what joy you brought to your post...your picnic and quilt was a nice ending to your week..a late picnic is ideal....and checkers just love that ...

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  5. That's one of my favorite verses too! I love the green and white combination and the fact that you're taking your mom along with the use of her fabric - such a sweet touch to your quilt. blessings, marlene

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  6. A very good verse to live by and how special the backing fabric is. I love it when a quilt has a story or meaning.

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  7. Beautiful Verse! I Love your White Quilt with a Meaningful Back, I do those kind of things too. Thanks for sharing with us!!
    Huggs, Nancy

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  8. Picnic doesn't always mean to be outside, it can also be done inside and still be funny and cosy, as you did it:-)
    Great ideal with the game!

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  9. I love your picnic colors. Green and white with the red gingham check basket ... perfect picnic colors. Your quilt and stitching is wonderful! I also love your checkerboard. More pieces makes for a more interesting and challenging game. I am going to be borrowing this idea soon. Thanks for sharing your picnic ... :) Pat

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  10. Oh you precious person ! I love your quilts, They give testimony about God, I love to see worn out bibles.....that tells so much about the person who carries it. Your son is an excellent artist....which I already knew and I know you've been working on that beautiful chicken scratch for a while now....I love it ! Have a blessed weekend !

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  11. SO many wonderful things shared. Your son really is talented and your quilt has so many lovely touches. Your chicken scratch checker board is so precious. I had no idea there was more than one checkerboard design. I love that your whole family was involved with your projects. Thank you for a wonderful post.

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  12. Now your painted picnic cloth is very impressive. What a wonderful treasure front and back! We need 60 pieces for checkers huh? I have a plan in my head for moose checkers...that's a lot of checkers! LOL!!

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  13. Ahh, I did the white picnic quilt thing too :) Love your quilt and your picnic sounds like fun!!

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  14. Shari, your quilt is delightful. Love your checkerboard too. 60 checkers, wow! Thank you so much for being part of our "Plan a Perfect Picnic" hop. It has been so much fun and inspiring.

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  15. Hi Shari! Your hand painting is lovely, your son is very talented, but I think we know where he got it from ;) The checkerboard is an exercise in details. The handwork in that checkerboard only shows up on my iPad when I magnify...wow! I don't know if you are a vegetarian like me but your picnic sounded delish....and you know how I like those evening picnics!

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  16. Very nice picnic!!! I love the chicken scratch checkerboard.

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  17. Hope you are better now! I had problems with the weather but luckily all the rain has stopped the mosquitos attacking us yet! Your quilt is so pretty!

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  18. Oh my, what a beautiful picnic quilt! Thank you for sharing.

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  19. What a pretty picnic quilt. I, too, did the white on a picnic quilt. It amazingly washed with no problems. Love your verse on the front and the leaves were lovely. Thanks for sharing your picnic with us.

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  20. ANY time is a good time for a picnic. Your quilt is sweet and I just admire your cheered board you made.

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  21. Great checkerboard - so creative. Looks like you enjoyed your picnic.

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  22. What a great idea! A "bedtime snack" picnic! (Right up my alley!) I love your quilt and your checkerboard. I had no idea both sets of pieces should be on the dark squares. I have forgotten how to play checkers!

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  23. The chicken scratch embroidery for a checker board is over the top. Great idea. Your hand painting is lovely and that made up to be a lovely quilt.

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  24. What an enjoyable visit to your stop on the hop! Gorgeous quilt but that chicken scratch checker board was quite a treat as are the lovely flowers in your blog header. THX for the smile, Shari!

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  25. Lovely verse. I haven't seen chicken scratch in a long time-what a great idea for your checkerboard.

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  26. Chicken scratch embroidery for a checkerboard....fun idea! Brave soul for using white for a picnic quilt. :) Lovely painting on it.

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  27. Sorry you were sick! Love the idea of the checkerboard. :)

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  28. So fun! Love the chicken scratch stitchery... it's perfect for the game board and I hardly ever see that kind of hand stitching anymore...great job!

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  29. Love the quilt and great idea with the checkerboard, must try this out. Thanks for sharing. Susie x

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  30. I learned something new about checkers - I sure didn't know there were other configurations when it came to the board. I did laugh because, at first, I thought you'd used marshmellows for the game pieces! lol I was so looking forward to hearing how you'd dyed the green ones!! Picnics and mosquitos don't combine well so you indoor picnic was wonderful.

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  31. Shari, looks like you are totally prepared for a picnic now. Sorry you were sick. Thanks for sharing everything with us!

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  32. I like your chicken scratch, it looks great! I hope all your sickness has vacated the building and you can enjoy some picnicking soon. :)
    ~Brandy

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  33. Love your chicken scratch checker board and your picnic quilt.

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  34. I can't believe I missed this post. I just came to visit and see all your fun posts and then I saw this one. What the heck! I missed your picnic post? This can't be so! I love the artwork by your son and your beautiful quilt. The addition of the checkerboard is very cool! I'm so sorry I'm late to this party. I need to pay better attention so I don't miss anyone next time. Geez!

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  35. I absolutely love your checker board...what a great idea in making one with the gingham fabric....

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