Ricrac Flowers

I love my New Friends Night Group!
Last night we got together in one of member's lovely backyard for a pot luck and a bit of hand sewing. JA's yard is so nicely landscaped and it was a pleasure to sit and enjoy our meeting.
Our hand project was taught by versatile member T who always has interesting projects to show as she not only is a quilter but teaches at a Pfaff dealer and attends yearly a huge sewing conference with all the newest stuff.
We learned how to do these darling ric-rac flowers...Zinnias...and even though mine is a bit wonky...I still think it is so cute. Very easy to do and they just are so cute for the right project that needs some embellishment.
Thanks T!
Other than that not much to show but I hope to get another block embroidered for my Christmas project soon as it is about 1/2 done right now.

Sunday at Our House

Love it when baby "A" brings his Momma and Daddy to visit us on Sunday after church!
Time to update some photos as he is growing so fast!
DH Howard enjoyed some "papa" time with Alex and had him laughing and laughing as Howard had baby "A" ride a horse-y on his foot. Somethings never change and babies love to "ride a little horse-y"

Today I made dinner from the garden...well almost all from the garden. Still more zucchini but I added a few tomatillos this time so we could see how they taste but unfortunately there wasn't much to taste as they cooked down with the zucchini, onion, peppers and garlic in the tomato based dish.
But the cucumbers and tomatoes are right off the vines and oh so yummy and the beans were a bit "old so I decided to cook them southern style without the pork belly LOL

Started for Christmas updated 8-28

This is my current handwork project or at least for now! LOL
I bought this about 3-4 years ago and made a halfhearted beginning on the project but have decided it would make a great take with me project that can be done this year?
I have traced about half of the embroideries and am about half way done with the first using pearl cotton but....I am not sure I want to continue using the pearl cotton or at least not without using some embroidery thread with it for the details. Since I am just starting the project this is a good time to decide to switch LOL
I will finish what I am doing and then decide I think.

Update 1 First two blocks are finished and as you can see the pearl cotton just isn't right for this project so I guess I will be redoing that block...sigh!

Olympic Quilting

With only one more weekend left for the Olympics in Bejing I thought I would show some of my progress with my quilt projects.
Funny how things can sit for months and then in about 2 weeks or so I get through those binding and stitchery projects. LOL
First project is another BOM from the Jody Warner Flower Blocks of the Month book...August that I showed in progress a bit ago.
I may add some buttons to the middle of the sunflower if I can find the right ones in my stash.

Second you see another thing that just needed binding. This is a pre cut Fusible appliqe by Dilys Fronks . Somehow I didn't fuse it right so I had to do all the topstitching with invisible thread and it tooke me a lot longer than planned. I was unsure how to finish it so I just went by the seat of my pants and I like the overall effect but need to trim for the binding rather than eyeballing it so that the outside edge of the "glass" fabric is an even width but it is done...
Now only 3 more to do! LOL

I finally have DH's Cruise quilt done and bound! I love how it turned out and the quilter did such an incredible job!
It was a custom job and she took all my "wants" and quilted them into the quilt..Each of the four corners have featured one of our stops from Key West to Belize. there are waves and cruise ships around the border and a wonderful sun motif in the center! Whoo hoo!
Glad I was able to get it done and gifted to DH for this year's b-day

Close up of Belize and Key West corners and quilt center

32 Years of Marriage

So here we are, on our 32nd Anniversary...gosh who would have thought? LOL
We didn't do much today as far as a celebration but dinner out and a present or two.
It's been a wonderful 32 years together...of course not without some ups and downs but I think one thing we would agree on is that we would do it all again!

Swatting Bugs!

DS Aaron has fixed the buggy computer.
He found a way to get rid of that darn bug from a website he uses a lot to find out what might be the problem. Then he updated my Windows program so all is well...or at least we hope so! LOL
Today is Howard and my 32 Anniversary...wow! Who could imagine? LOL
Nothing big planned since our Cruise was the big thing last year. We are going to a scrapbook store "Super Mega Sale" in Draper and then out to dinner.
I will have someone take a picture to post soon!

Either love em....

Or hate them...computers I mean!
Right now I can't decide which! LOL
Some sort of "bug" has infected our computer and I need to take it next door and let my neighbor try and fix it!
Sigh...so no blogging for me right now and it is very annoying!
Loved the weekend at the Olympics and Hurrah for all the "winners"...I thought some of the gymnastics scoring was really NOT right. Ah but that is what happens in judged competitions so we accept it.
Not quite finished with my flower project but hopefully soon as we get back to normal here after doing a room makeover for youngest ds...still waiting on the bedding for the room so that we can take the final "after" picture! It will make a great scrapbook layout LOL
Hope to be back online really soon!

Bird Watch

I love to see what is going on out in the yard with the birds. Today I had a new variety of feathered friends out there. Some Flickers showed up to take a bath in the small sprinkler I set out to green up a couple of places in the yard.
Here's some info from Wikipedia They were sitting on the group just taking a shower in the sprinkler. I took the pictures from my kitchen window through the screen so they aren't very clear but it was a fun show as the birds bathed in the water.

More Olympic excitement last night late as the two Americans won Gold and Silver in the women's gymnastics all around finals! What an exciting meet to watch but it sure bugged me that these two young women seem to have been cheated out of points on almost every event! Being the Momma of a former competitive gymnast it is just heart breaking when they aren't given the credit they deserve but bravo to Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson for their excellent work!
And how about Michael Phelps...what more can you say about how he is doing what he dreamed about and now tied with the poster boy of the '72 Olympics Mark Spitz...who is still looking mighty good to me! LOL
I remember one of my best friends in HS having Mark's famous poster on her wall after the Olympics our senior year 1973! We thought he was..."all that and a bag of chips" as my DD says! LOL

I did manage to get that Sunflower BOM top finished and now just need to do some machine quilting and then one more to bind! It would be nice to have it done before Aug is over! LOL
I will hopefully be able to take a picture on Sunday of the finished product.

Found a fun Blog

All my quilting friends should take a look at http://polkadotsandrickrack.blogspot.com/
love her blog and she is giving a way a surprize if you say "hi" and make a comment!
Nice to meet a new friend online!

Making "boob blockers"

Did I get your attention?
LOL DD and I had a fun afternoon today. We have tried to set aside Wednesday as a day we spend together mostly to scrapbook. With only a few weeks left until B&B move to TX this has been a fun day for DD and I to have some time together.
She called this morning and asked if we couldn't do some sewing instead of scrapbooking and of course I said "yes!"
She has been wanting to try and make what are called nursing shawls or cover up, since they sell for quite a few $$ for some cotton fabric a few notions and a bit of time. So....using her bought-en one as an example we hit the local Hancock Fabric and found everything we needed to make one. Some nice cotton fabric, boning, and "d" rings. So by the time we finished our prototype we spent about $5.00 and have a nice version of the cover up. We took a few pics as we constructed but didn't take one of the final product since little baby "A" was done for the day of being away from home LOL
I will take pics soon and let you see what we created.
Before she came I did a few things I had been putting off...
Hemmed my DGD C's jeans...she needs her legs too keep on growing while the rest of her just stays the way she is now! LOL and also finally put a binding on one of my "quilts in que". Tonight I spent a bunch of the time hand stitching the binding and will probably finish tomorrow while watching more Olympics coverage.
I am really excited to see such wonderful results of team USA in many events and am so sad when the athletes just miss a medal or don't perform the way they had hoped. So sad for the men's and women's gymnastics teams who had to overcome so many injuries and other competitors who had to drop out at the last minute!
Also hurray for our swimmers who are just doing phenomenal at their events!
Go Team USA!

So what have I been doing?

Funny thing is that even though with the exception of gymnastics for Beth and some running for Donny we are not a sports inclined family however...
When the Olympics come around we are all over it! LOL
Since Friday night we have tried to watch as much of the different sports as possible and that means there isn't much time for other stuff!
I was so excited Sunday night as I cheered very loudly at the men's swimming relay team as they captured the gold with their incredible swimming and of course the others most especially Michael Phelps and his incredible ability in the pool!
Congrats to all who have even made it to the Olympics but most especially to those who win medals and excel in their sports!
I have been doing this and that and had a sick day on Monday where I did very little. LOL

Eating yummy veggies from the garden and fresh corn from the local growers and way too much chocolate lately to offset the goodness of the veggies LOL

An ongoing project is the BOM-Technique of the Month for my quilt group. Working from A Year of Flower Blocks by Jodi Warner we try out a different applique and piecing technique monthly and those who want can create the block for the month from Jodi's book.
Jodi has some wonderful designs but they aren't for the beginner, that's for sure! LOL
Today I was trying to complete the August block and after over 4 hours of intense cutting and sewing I didn't finish and still have two borders to add...sigh...but I think they will be pretty quick compared to the rest of the design. Jodi loves small small pieces and not the average settings for the flowers which in truth made us want to try to make them but I have to admit I am regretting it! LOL Not really but it is a good challenge to my skills.
Here I am showing the partly complete block with the strips from my stash ready to cut and add as the borders. Just need to straighten out the sides and add them.
Oh yea and quilt the whole thing LOL
Have you seen and tried these plastic keeper boxes...just love them to keep projects in so that I can keep it all together plus you can see through them and they fit on my fabric shelves too.

Christmas Wishes Block of the Month

The Night group I belong to has started our new year this month and we began with a new BOMChristmas Wishes by Debbie Mumm.
In this group the way we plan our year is to all meet together with ideas for the next year. I brought this idea for a BOM and that means when it was chosen I had to teach it! LOL
We decided to do two blocks each time and not do them each month but an ocassional month thru the next year. Here is my version using mostly mid to late 19th century fabrics not at all Debbie's style LOL but I think they will be beautiful in my LR.\
Don't look too close as I messed up on the seams...though not sure how but that's the way it goes.

Happy Birthday Aaron

AWWW...my baby is 19 today!
He was such a cute baby and now all grown up into a handsome young man.
Here he shows off his b-day present from his Dad a WWII Soviet gun from 1940's. He was hopeing for a new game for his X-box but decided he didn't want to wait until it came out so settled for the gun!
He and friends go shooting at a range nearby sometimes and even though his Dad says it would make a nice wall display he plans on using it for targets

Couldn't help myself

I just had to share a couple more pictures!
The first is done with crayon and coloring book pages! So wonderful and this would be a great project to share with children! I took a close up of the lovely coloring ...just such a fun quilt!


The next is a lovely quilt that just is so striking and had some wonderful quilting...nothing that I would ever make LOL
But I can appreciate good quiltmaking!

Just a few more from the show

Who doesn't love chocolate? LOL
some one did a great quilt about Chocolate every day of the week..sounds good to me!
I had to share this wonderful patriotic quilt made by one of my machine quilters Rebecca...she said she used it as a lesson in precision piecing as it only has a few spots of foundation piecing on it!
The last two photos are of a quilt designed by Lori Holt of Utah...she has done a whole series of these clever novelty quilts of those special things in out lives. This is one of her newer designs of a quilters life and sayings too! Such a darling quilt and I think it might be one I am going to add to my "one of these days" file.
I have her Grandma's Kitchen pattern partly finished and it is moving up in the Quits in Que cause I love it and really want to get it done and on the wall near my kitchen...sigh one more on the pile!

At the Springvill Utah Quilt show

For those of you who aren't from Utah then you probably have never heard of the Springville Art Museum Quilt Show but in Utah it is one of the "premier" shows! The best quilters submit their quilts and it always has the highest quality quilts!
This year was definitely no exception and I just chose a few of the incredible quilts to add to my blog.
Best of show was done by Sharon Wright...it is the first quilt I show on the blog...she combines, wool, batiks and prints with lame for the story of Christmas. She has over the past few years created small quilts that she calls Banishing Santa which scenes of the Nativity and the story of Christmas. While I don't think you have to "Banish" Santa I really love her quilts and each one has been more and more impressive. This one is absolutely incredible in person!

The next quilt I chose to share was a wonderful family tree quilt that show scenes from the family's past...incredible in detail and just so beautifully done. I took a close up of one of the scene blocks and then a closer close up of the details of the people in front of the school...just wonderful!

More to come...just love the quilts I saw and as my friend MA said...I just want to make all these quilts!

Civil War Love Letters Blocks 1-6

Well here they are the beginning of my version of
The Civil War Love Letter Quilt by Rosemary Young
I bought the book maybe 6 months or more ago and have wanted to try to create a quilt in the way Dear Jane has gone but without all the intimidating blocks that are in that quilt. These are all pieced and not nearly as difficult but allows me to use up my nice stash of reproduction fat quarters. I am starting a group with my friends locally doing 6 blocks a month and it will take us nearly 2 years but it seemed to be the only way to do it and not have to drop everything else LOL
I decided to play in my fabrics and not worry about how the "book" chose fabric but do my own thing. Some blocks I will like better than others but I keep reminding myself they will be in one very large busy quilt and the individual block will not be noticeable in the long run so not to worry if the fabrics I choose is not exactly right with the others! LOL

I show two versions of the same block...one I did and just didn't think it worked and so I remade it and I do like it better but in the end I don't think the first version wouldn't have been OK with all the others in the quilt.
I did learn that these fabrics are often very busy and clash with each other so you almost can't avoid it unless you pick and choose them and that isn't the point to me!

Even more from Camp Nana!

Just a few more pics!
First is Grson I with Papa's Cups and Marbles game and he did love the cups LOL
Next. Grson I during the train ride...just exhausted!
DH Howard on the train
Last DDIL P and me waving the train riders off...before our pedicure!
OK probably all I will share until I do the pages for the Camp Nana Album