Do your children belong to a 4-H Club?  Did you participate in one as a child?  Were you, as a parent, ever a leader in one?
I have fond memories of all the 4-H Club experiences when I was growing up, from 6-years old until I was out of high school.  In our farming area, this was one of the main social activities for youngsters, with our leader, Mrs. Hoag (Aunt Mary) to many keeping us busy and learning new tasks.
Eventually Mrs. Thompson joined her as our cooking leader.  Aunt Mary taught sewing and most everythin else. 
What did we do?

Sewing with preparations …read more

Among the many autumn crafts I created with my daughter when she and her cousins participated in my 4-H Club were leaf placemats.  These were easy for the youngsters to make and resulted in fun gifts to give their moms.
We collected leaves around our home and admired the various colors we found.  I also had the children learn about the different trees.

We would lay colored leaves on craft paper, colored paper or oak tag of the desired size.
They could draw around the leaves and color them.
They might put a dab of glue under each leaf to hold it to the …read more

I had to get my button stash out today to find one for a shirt.  The jar with common buttons held nothing spectacular, but this set me thinking about the buttons my daughter and I’ve collected over the years.
Some we’ve saved and some we’ve sold at our yard sales.  However, buttons often tell a story about the clothing they’re on and occasions when it was worn.  Also, if you’re a collector, buttons are reminiscent of the places where you found them.
I remember collecting buttons when we lived in Denver.  My husband was attending airline pilots’ training, so our 2-year old …read more

As I look at this picture, the red fabric with larger floral design reminds me of the first apron and skirt I made when I was 7-years old.  My 4-H Club leader was teaching me to sew on her treadle sewing machine and chose easy patterns.
The fabric came from feed sacks my aunt had given me.  There was enough to make a drawstring apron as well as a skirt with a casing and drawstring to gather it around my waist.  I was so proud of these and wore the skirt in the Dutchess County 4-H fashion show our club participated in.
In …read more

QuiltingAndPatchwork.com  
As I watched the first and second graders learning to square dance in music class, at the school where I was substitute teaching, I recalled my younger years in a farming community. Our 4-H leader taught my friends and me to square dance, waltz, and polka.
This prepared us for the monthly community square dances organized by the fire department and ladies auxiliary of firemen’s wives. Children and adults, whole families attended these social events in our town.
The ladies also served refreshments consisting of their home baked goodies. These they sold to raise money for the fire department.
 Quilting Bee …read more