Count it all JOY!!

trifaulta . . .

2012-01-27T07:00:00.011-06:00

If a trifecta is a run of three wins or grand events, then you can imagine what a trifaulta is, right? Yeah. That was my yesterday.

Well actually I'm not sure when it started. Because for the life of me I cannot remember which project it was that I cut into the black yardage that was set aside for my January UFO -- the Pineapple Quilt. There was a hole cut out from one end, and a huge square cut out from the other. Seriously?! Ugh. I'd purchased that material in 2007 and faithfully preserved it for that project. Ugh again. I hope I have enough! Fault number one.

Sooooo . . . I pulled out the center today to trim it down. I'd chalked the corners, got my ruler out and . . .

Whacked away! Haha . . . no, that was not fault number two. Thank goodness!

Next I chopped up the quilted red for the sashing . . .

And then I pinned all four pieces onto the center . . .

That's when I realized fault number two. I had just spent an hour carefully pinning all these pieces together only to remember that I'm NOT supposed to pin/stitch the pieces together until I've attached the strips that cover the zig zag stitches. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

So . . . I abandoned the pinning for a minute and went in to dutifully cut my strips from what's left of my black fabric. It's been so long since I've completed a QAYG project, I'd forgotten a lot! I had to measure strips I'd already sewn down to know how wide to cut my strips. I got my number, once again grabbed my ruler, cut out my eight strips, and turned on the iron to press them in half.

That's when I hit fault number three. The strips were too narrow. Crumb! I hadn't taken into account the 1/4" (doubled) -- instead of 1-1/8" wide they should have been 1-5/8" wide. And my black fabric is dwindling! What do I do!

I forged ahead. I went ahead and left everything pinned the way it was and zig zag stitched my pieces down.

And then instead of folding my strips in half, I folded each side in a 1/4" to leave me with 5/8" strips. And then I hand stitched both sides of the strips down. On all eight of the seams (four front, four back).

So here's my thinking. Yes, it took a lot of extra time, but I saved precious black fabric ... yeah. All four inches.

BUT . . . I am this much closer to a finish now!

catching up . . .

2012-01-26T07:12:00.002-06:00

Would you believe I spent all morning with Ellie and all evening with Sawyer and I did not take a single picture?! I was having too much fun to stop and get the camera. Gosh, words cannot express how blessed I feel!

The forecasters are calling for a pretty heavy rain system in our area today and expecting 1 to 3 inches of rain. Considering we've had 10 inches of rain over the last two weeks and the ground is completely saturated, that means flash flooding. After Monday's rain, all of the local creeks and rivers were well out of their banks. I'm sure that any rain we get will cause more. We're under flash flood warnings for the next 24 hours. Yikes! Luckily we sit up very high and usually don't even have puddles, but the lower road coming in and out of the camp does flood and it looked like a pretty swiftly moving creek bed itself until yesterday! Also luckily, no severe weather is expected in this system. That allows me to breathe a tad easier.

That being said, today will be a good day to stay put and catch up. (Well, weather plus the fact that Todd will be driving the PT Cruiser and I'm not comfortable working the manual transmission of the truck yet, with my foot.) Anyway, there's laundry, housework, office work, blog reading, a guild newsletter and my January UFO that all are requesting my attention today.

And as they say, there's no time like the present, so . . .

an exercise in binding . . .

2012-01-25T06:55:00.000-06:00

I try to learn something or add a new skill to my quilting with each quilt I make. Ellie's quilt was no different. With Ellie Has My Heart, I decided to play with a new toy ... my binding tool by TQM. I purchased it in Knoxville last summer, at the AQS show, but I haven't used it yet. I've bound a couple of projects, but either they were too small or I forgot about it until it was too late.

Anyway, this time I remembered I had it and how frustrating the two meeting ends of the binding always are to me. From my first quilt, I've just always fit the beginning of my binding into the end and stitched it down that way. But it's so bulky and it irritates me to have to do that. When I saw the binder tool demonstrated at the show, I knew it was perfect for me!

The thing is, you have to remember you're going to use it before you stitch your binding onto your quilt. You have to mark a 12" space on your quilt edge and start and stop your binding on those marks, leaving 10" of extra binding at both ends to work with.

The binding tool has lines on it to indicate where you mark your left and right sides and the diagonal line for cutting. There's even a little notch which helps you match up your two sides for pinning and sewing.

Then stitch up using a 1/4" seam . . .

Press down the seam and fold . . .

And voila, you can't even tell where my binding begins and ends now!

It was very easy to use (once I had it figured out) and did a marvelous job. And I'd give clearer instructions here, except there's really no need. I did a search for a video tutorial -- it had been a tad long since I'd seen the live demo and I couldn't quite figure it out -- and the video demo done by The Missouri Star Quilt Co. is well done and made short work of the explanation.

I was so pleased with how the binding looked.! I won't be forgetting about it the next time I bind a quilt, that's for sure!

My Ellie girl seems to be well-pleased with the binding job too . . .

What a sweetheart!

a picture's worth . . .

2012-01-24T08:22:00.000-06:00

take twenty-five . . .

2012-01-23T06:30:00.003-06:00

Heading towards the design wall today is a special block. Our guild (Heritage Quilters of Huntsville) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and in recognition of that milestone, we are doing a BOM that features 10" blocks with 25 pieces.

Since I do the newsletter, I'm very familiar with not just our logo . . .

But also with the color scheme of our logo that changes monthly . . .

Since the chairman of the 25th Anniversary Committee suggested we go scrappy with our blocks, I thought, "Why not go scrappy in HQH's monthly color scheme?"

And then I thought, "Why not put each block together as a quilt-as-you-go project and then use it for the FMQ challenge?!?" Great idea.

So here is the first block (I'll do the second option) . . .

And here are the colors I'll use for it . . .

I love it when a plan comes together!

I'm headed to Jocelyn's today to play with Ellie . . . y'all head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to check out additional design walls!

Happy Monday!

stash report #4 and grandbabies . . .

2012-01-22T10:25:00.006-06:00

Well, I think I'm going to call this one done and credit the yardage this week. This is all I've got left to do on Ellie's quilt (I imagine you can guess how I'll spend my afternoon)!

That being said, here's my report for the week:

Used this week: 2.75 yards
Used year to date: 3.25 yards
Added this week: 0.0 yards
Added year to date: 4.0 yards
Net used for 2012: -0.75 yards

Head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to see what other folks did with their stash this week!

Now on to fun things, like grandbabies and presents. My darling friend Cathy, from Eagles' Wings Quilts, sent me a little "happy grandbaby" package! She knitted the most darling, darling sweater and cap set with tiny heart buttons! Isn't this just precious?!

The yarn is so soft and the colors are just wonderful. And even though it was a newborn size, Ellie will have to put on a few more pounds before she can wear it without being swallowed up in it! But since she's gaining about 5 ounces every couple of days, we'll have her in it in no time!

Cathy also send a little treat for me! Knowing my penchant for buttons, she sent along this cute little set of Canadian buttons . . .

So (sew) fun! I love the little moose and the hockey stick (I love ice hockey) and the Mounty's hat! Thank you, Cathy -- you know I'm grinning from ear to ear!

And so is Ellie . . .

Sawyer wanted to get a closer look. Perhaps a bit *too* close, judging by Kim's face!

He decided to pal it up with Uncle Jason . . . the only person he hadn't seen holding Ellie, if you get what I'm saying! (Plus Uncle Jason had the cool remote...it's a guy thing.)

I caught this one of mama and baby at naptime. So sweet!!

Okay, now I'm off to bind! YAY! And go Ravens!

fnsi results . . .

2012-01-21T20:26:00.001-06:00

Finally! We were out the door just after six (I know, right?!?! Six o'clock on a Saturday morning!) to do a conference; went from there to show our house; headed from the house to take care of next week's grocery shopping, and got home just in time to unload/put away groceries and make dinner. Whew!

My FNSI was dedicated to finishing the hearts! Yay!!

But I couldn't leave well enough alone. I decided it looked funny having Ellie's monogram in one of the big hearts and leaving the others empty, so I'm going to rectify that. I've quilting "Ellie" into one of them and now there's two more to fill. Probably one with her date of birth and an "I ♥ U" in the other. Hopefully, I'll finish those up tonight.

I love how this quilt looks with the little hearts quilted in the sashing! It's so sweet. The dark spots are where I blotted out my quilting marks. Oops . . . it looks like I missed a few!

Okay, enough from me. There's a bowl of ice cream calling my name. And I'm fairly certain there's an early bedtime in my future, too.

And tomorrow I'll bind and toss this darling into the wash. On Monday it's Ellie's!

Ciao!

friday mish mash . . .

2012-01-20T10:21:00.000-06:00

No Ellie pics or quilt pics or Sawyer pics today .... I left my camera at Ellie's house (go figure) along with all the darling pictures I'd taken yesterday! Oh well, if I wasn't going back over there today, it would give me a great excuse to do so!!

I will share that if you're a quilter and you've not seen Stitched the Film, you really should. It was wonderful! It was funny and interesting and gave me a whole new perspective on the trials and tribulations of getting a quilt juried into a major show. Though I just saw it last night at guild, I'll no doubt purchase it for my own movie library (and watch it while sitting in a much more comfortable chair)!

On top of the movie, I won the name tag raffle last night which was our featured Gadget Girls gadget for January ... The Steady Betty! I tried them out last night and was very impressed. I'll definitely put my winnings to good use on my acrylic rulers and templates!

And finally, I am going to quilt my way through hearts for tonight's Friday Night Sew In. It's not too late ... head on over to Crafty Vegas Mom to sign up ... there are over 150 participants so far! Click on the FNSI button to link up.

Happy Friday!!

hip-hop-happenings . . .

2012-01-19T09:39:00.005-06:00

Last night Kim dropped Sawyer off to spend some time with us ... he was needing some Paw-paw time! First thing they did? Head out on the golf cart. Of course!

It was cold enough that they didn't stay gone long (not because Sawyer was cold, but because Todd was). I had so much fun watching Sawyer and Todd interact last night. Sawyer is such a sweet and loving little guy!

And no one can resist his hugs and kisses -- he gives them quite freely, too!

He stayed with us for dinner. I was *so* impressed ... he cleaned his plate not once, but twice!

He's not only a very good eater, but he's got pretty good table manners, too. Seriously. He's so good about keeping his food on his plate and he wants a napkin to wipe his hands on. Dinner was fun.

After dinner we cleaned up and got him into his pj's. And what pj ensemble is complete without our orange hat?!?

He cracked me up ... we put on music after dinner and had some dance time (and he plays a mean air guitar, too). After about the third song, he'd come over and pull me off the couch ... like he wanted to dance with me. But no. He wanted *me* to dance while he kept beat in Paw-paw's lap. So silly! We enjoyed our evening with him immensely. I've missed having him over and spending the night; I'm glad the healing process is to the point we can start scheduling those things again!

I'm not finished with Ellie's quilt, but it's coming along. I had this beautiful pink, variegated thread that I thought would be perfect for quilting in the solid pink.

I quilted her monogram into one of the big hearts ... I'm thinking I may go ahead and fill the other three hearts, too. I used a stencil for the big hearts . . .

But I decided to go free-hand with the smaller hearts. I've got two-thirds of the sashing quilted. I should be able to wrap up the little hearts and get binding on it over the weekend.

That's the plan, anyway. I'm off to Jocelyn's today and tomorrow, and we've got a church conference Saturday morning AND we're showing our house on Saturday afternoon. YAY!!

Tonight I'm headed to our monthly guild meeting. The program tonight is a showing of Stitched the Film. I'm really looking forward to seeing it ... along with driving there and seeing all my stitching buddies!

Okay, so as much as I've got to do, I guess I'd better get off and outta here!

a delightful surprise . . .

2012-01-18T08:56:00.003-06:00

I became fascinated with Civil War fabrics midway through 2011--right around July--when my Stitcher's Group decided to do a block swap using CW fabrics. I've admitted before that up until that time, I really had no interest in CW fabrics, thinking they'd be dull and dark; and I've admitted how wrong I was!

After shopping for fabrics for this swap -- picture HERE -- I totally fell in love with CW reproduction fabrics and decided to to a little investigating into the fabrics and what people did with them. That search resulted some fabulous finds, one of my favorite being Barbara Brackman's blog, Civil War Quilts. On each Saturday of 2011 she posted a block and tied the block's name into the history of the Civil War. Each block was crafted in CW fabrics and included wonderful instructions for recreating the block (it was a quilt along, for those who got in on it early enough).

33 Indiana Puzzle

I found the entries (and the blocks and the fabrics) fascinating and immediately subscribed to the blog. Since I didn't find it until late in August, I new I wouldn't be going back and making all the blocks, but for several weeks I truly enjoyed pulling up the Saturday post and thumbing through my CW fabrics and reproducing the blocks. Then September rolled around with the weekend conference, followed by the Jamboree, followed by my foot surgery and while I continued to read and enjoy the weekly blog posts, I didn't make any more blocks.

35 Star of the West

But I made three ... the two above and this one:

#36 Kentucky Crossroads

And all of them I uploaded to the Flickr group associated with the blog, which generated some nice chatter and led me to some other interesting blogs . . . but I really didn't think anything more about it.

Until I got an e-mail from Barbara Brackman herself. Wow! That was cool enough as it was, but what was even cooler was that she wants to include my rendition of the Kentucky Crossroads block in the book she's creating from the project. See the original from Barbara's blog HERE.

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?

Of course I said yes (of course!) and emailed the completed documentation right back to her. She says it will be about a year before the book is ready to hit the shelves, but when it does, a photo of my handiwork will be in it! Wow!

I promise I won't get a big head or anything. LOL!

what a grand(baby) day . . .

2012-01-17T08:13:00.000-06:00

You've got to figure, given that I was able to drive and did indeed drive my happy self to see *both* of my precious grandchildren yesterday, that today's post would be laden with pics of said visits.

You figured correctly. :)

I started out the gate of the camp and took it as a great sign that our neighbor's cows were out and seemed to watch me roll down the road.

Those cows would come in handy, later.

I spent a lovely afternoon with Jocelyn, Jason and especially Miss Ellie. Thank you Jason for capturing this darling shot of Ellie snuggling with her Neesey! I'm pretty sure she was grinning in her sleep.

Princess Leia also put in several appearances. Evidently she's not as enamored with Ellie as I am.

She's also quite vocal about it. Poor thing. She experienced a lot of trauma as a baby cat, so she's not real trusting of humans. It's taken her a long time just to allow me to pet her. And now they want to bring a *baby* into her home? Oh the indignity. :)

Jason also captured this shot of the lovely flowers my folks sent to Joc as well as this darling card one of Jason's aunt sent. I think everyone's in on the Ellie color scheme!

See the little birdie in the flower arrangement? So cute! The bird, the flowers and the cat would all come in handy again later, too.

So I just spend a quiet afternoon, holding Ellie and marveling over her precious little self.

Such a precious, tiny little foot! Hmmmm. It appears I'm not the only one watching over her . . .

Yikes!

All too soon it was time to head out. But then I got to spend my evening with this precious (bigger) bundle of energy:

When I got there, Sawyer was very excited to answer the door and see me . . . but the first words out of his mouth were, "Paw paw?" as he looked around me to see if Paw paw was coming up the walk too! I can't be jealous -- I love it that he's in love with his Paw paw!

He spent about an hour in my lap, looking at pics on my phone and camera. Oh the fun we had looking at cows, flowers, cats, birds, Ellie, Paw paw and Sawyer! He's so sweet and loving ... and BUSY! During my visit he not only sat and looked at pictures with me, he also colored (very intently) at the table . . .

He put on his hat and watched his favorite show, Caillou . . .

After dinner, he danced and played his guitar to music while watching pictures of himself . . .

After he got his pj's on, he got on his rocket and road it all around the place . . .

He's such a character! I think it's safe to say that *both* he and I slept soundly last night! I got absolutely NO sewing done yesterday and make no apologies for it either! Today I'm back to the hearts on Ellie's quilt.

It's grey and rainy here and with the warmer temps, there's a small threat of dangerous storms, but I know where I'll be when I need a ray of sunshine today . . . looking back through yesterday's pictures!!!

Have a happy Tuesday!

design wall whoops . . .

2012-01-16T07:00:00.008-06:00

Do you really want to know what's on my design wall (or bed, as the case was last week)?? Let's just say nothing's changed except the sheets. I just didn't get to the pineapple quilt, which is really a shame, because guess what I found??

The part of the pineapple quilt that still needs to be cut pieced, quilted and sashed . . .

The BORDER! YiKeS!!!!

The big floral print will actually be stitched to a wider strip of black, and the quilted pineapples will be at each of the four corners. On the display quilt, the corner pineapples were appliqued, like the center, but I found this wonderful Sulky green holoshimmer quilting thread and wanted to use it . . .

It was a bit of a bear to hand quilt with, but I think the final look was well worth it. The photo just doesn't do it justice! Here's a shot of the finished display quilt (done by Patches & Stitches):

I also finished all the stitch-in-the-ditch quilting on Ellie's quilt and have decided to fill the sashing with little hearts (thank you for all the wonderful input!) ... that too will be well worth it! Head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to see what others have up on their design walls today.

Todd thought he was being funny when he took this picture . . .

That's me, with two shoes on (!!!!) getting ready to drive for the first time since before my surgery on September 29th! I drove him a couple miles down the road to the post office and back. He wanted me to go out for a test drive, with him in the passenger seat, to make sure it didn't cause pain or distress and so he'd feel comfortable sending me out on the road.

I passed ... guess where I'm headed today?!? Lunch with one grandbaby and dinner with the other!

How much better could a Monday get?!?

stash report #3 and query . . .

2012-01-15T07:00:00.002-06:00

My stash report final numbers are much the same as last weeks. Nothing in, nothing out, so there you have it.

Used this week: 0.0 yards
Used year to date: 0.5 yards
Added this week:0 .0 yards
Added year to date: 4.0 yards
Net used for 2012: -3.5 yards

Hopefully I'll have a finish this week and there will go a couple of yards! Per usual, linking up with Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times.

I have almost finished the stitch in the ditch quilting on Ellie's quilt. I only have the two half blocks on the sides and the quarter block in the top right quarter to go. Then I'll do the hearts in three of the large blocks and Ellie's initials in the fourth. But I got to looking at it and thinking that little hearts in the sashing would be so cute ... I kind of drew it out ... of course I'd use white thread and not black (hahaha!) so it wouldn't look as heavy and dominant as it does in the pic below.

I dunno. It would add a couple of days, but as long as I have it done by Thursday, I'm okay. Any thoughts?

Kim sent me this photo the other day ... Sawyer wearing his fleece hat! Yay!!!

He's such a precious little fellow. And yes, that's snow on the car. We had enough flurries to give us a little excitement!

Here's another Ellie capture by our friend Mary Ellen, from Lighthouse Photography.

I think definitely this pictures says it all.

why'd the chicken cross the road . . .

2012-01-14T07:00:00.001-06:00

To escape having to machine quilt, of course!

I admit it. I'm a BIG road-crossing chicken. I had Ellie's quilt all prepped and reading for quilting (remind me to share sometime, about the hazard of using basting spray in an RV master bedroom near the carbon monoxide detector). I'd looked at lots of different options for quilting it ...

I'd admired Leah Day's (of The Free Motion Quilting Project fame) Hearts & Spirals design some time ago and thought it would be cute on Ellie's quilt:

Barbara over at Cat Patches suggested this fun free-motion quilting pattern called Bottom's Up Hearts by Nichole Webb:

And Michelle, at Michelle's Romantic Tangle (which is where I got the idea for this quilt to begin with), whipped up her heart quilt just so she could quilt it with this Swirly Heart FMQ design -- another one by Nichole Webb:

I watched them, I practiced each of them on paper, and I *even* got my machine ready. I really thought perhaps this quilt would be the one ... that I'd work up my courage and put a quilt under the machine and do some cute free motion hearts all over this quilt.

But I just COULDN'T do it! I'm hand-quilting it. Hand-quilting is safe to me. I'm stitching-in-the-ditch around the hearts and blocks and all the interior patches. And in three of the four 5" square, I'm going to quilt hearts, and in the fourth 5" square, I'll quilt Ellie's initials. I'm not worried about durability; I hand-quilted Sawyer's baby quilt, too, and it goes in the washer regularly and hasn't a pucker. Plus I'm using a nice, heavy YLI quilting thread. From the durability aspect, hand-quilting will be fine!

I've got all this year to practice FMQ ... I wasn't comfortable practicing it on Ellie's quilt! Ah well. The weather is cold and perfect for snuggling up under a quilt to be quilted. It should be finished and ready for the washer early next week! Oh, and by the way? Ellie is quite happy to be home . . . check out that dimple!

superstitious stitching . . .

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000-06:00

In honor of it being Friday the 13th, I thought I'd share this list of Stitcher's superstitions that was published in our guild's newsletter in August, 2010. I stumbled across the list when the newsletter became my job and thought it would be fun to post here. Originally the list was found on Quilts by the Creek.

These superstitions were gathered from different sources and references regarding quilting superstitions.

1. If you begin a quilt on Friday, you'll never live to finish it.
2. NEVER quilt on Sunday. [It is the day of rest.]
3. Bad luck to break a thread.
4. Stitch a spider web in a quilt and bring good luck.
5. Never make a perfect quilt because only God can make something perfect.
6. While sleeping under a quilt for the first time and you dream, your dream will come true.
7. If you break a needle while quilting, the next baby will be yours. (Oh my good gravy ... I did this not too long ago ... Todd will NOT be happy to hear this one!)
8. Don't put the last stitch in the quilt unless you want to become an old maid.

I got curious and decided to do a little quilt superstition googling. Here's some other superstitions I found . . .

• After a quilt is completed, the quilter should sleep with the quilt one night and then give it to the special person it is made for.
• When a person is ill, it is said if they sleep with a quilt, all the love from the quilt will heal them.
• Never make human figures on a quilt. It is believed the figures will walk and visit you at night.

I found another interesting post on quilting superstitions and lore on Rikstacket.

Any other superstitious quilters out there?? Anything you will or won't do on Friday the 13th?!

Mmwaaahahahahaa!!

:)

book giveaway . . .

2012-01-12T20:45:00.001-06:00

Several folks have expressed interest in the quilt as you go method of quilting. You would be *very* interested, then, to learn that Gene Black of Gene Black an Alabama Artist, is hosting a giveaway for this book:

Finish (almost) Any Quilt: A Simple Guide to Adapting Quilts to Finish As You Go (Volume 1), by Marguerita McManus. And it will be autographed! Hop on over to Gene's blog to check it out!

(And Pat, thank you for the head's up!)

:)

a wee bit behind . . .

2012-01-12T09:30:00.004-06:00

Yes, I'm behind just a bit. My supper menu for the week has been completely disregarded, my blog reading is WAY behind, the sewing room has been ignored, the laundry looks to be piling up, and my picture taking is *woefully* below the norms.

Because I've found (and I remember this conundrum with Sawyer, too), that I can hold this darling, beautiful little girl **or** take pictures of her. But definitely not both. And given the opportunity . . .

I'm sure you can guess which option I choose!

But I *would* be remiss to not include a message to my sister ... the baby of my three younger sisters ...

♪♫ Happy birthday ♪ to YOU! ♫♪

♫♪ Happy ♪ birthday to YOU! ♪♫

♪♫ Happy birthday dear ♪ LAURA!!!! ♫♪

♫♪ Happy ♪ birthday ♪ to ♪ YOU!!! ♪♫

♪♫ And many more . . . !!!!! :)
(Welcome to my decade!)

a tender promise fulfilled . . .

2012-01-11T08:30:00.005-06:00

Note: I started composing this entry on Thursday, June 2, 2011:

This morning I did my quiet time and worked my day's lesson in the Beth Moore Bible study I'm doing -- Stepping UP: A Journey Through the Psalms of Ascent. Today I wrapped up the lesson on Psalm 126; in fact, I posted that psalm, as well as my version of it, today -- June 2, 2011. The two-part part lesson (started yesterday and completed today) was very encouraging and uplifting. Probably my favorite so far!

Psalm 126 talks about the return to Jerusalem, after being in captivity for so long, and how wondrous and jubilant and excited the children of Israel were to be heading home. And it also speaks to the future -- they were looking forward to reaping joy out of their tears; blessings out of their pain. In one of the exercises yesterday, Beth had participants draw out a time line, and label it according to the time line of the psalm. I chose "Good Times," "Where I am Now," and "Future Good Times." Nothing fancy about that. Then later on, she had us go back and fill in underneath the time line, something from our own lives that represented each of the labels. I did that. My time line looked rather like this . . .

You can see that my children figure prominently into my happy memories, my current worries, and the happy promises I'm counting on God to fulfill. On both the current worries front and on the future happies, Joc was top of the list. At the end of yesterday's lesson, Beth had us turn to Jeremiah 29:11:

"For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."

And she told us to "choose with every part of your being to believe it."

And then in today's lesson, she wrapped up our study of Psalm 126 and had us write our own version of the Psalm, which I did. I was so moved by my study and the meaning of this Psalm in my personal life, that I went ahead and blogged both the original and my version.

When I posted the entry and pulled up my blog, I noticed my Jocelyn had a new post on her blog. Can you guess what it was? Simply Psalm 126. I was blown out of the water that we'd both been there . . . and commented to her right away. But it wasn't until tonight, after leaving her home from our fun pool day with Sawyer & Kim, that I found out why she had posted it. As she walked me to my car tonight she finally blurted, "I'm pregnant!" Oh God, You are SO very good!

to be continued . . .

Today, January 11, 2012, it's time to complete this entry:

I've waited a long, long time to be able to say that Eleanor "Ellie" Pearl Merkel was born January 10, 2012, at 4:26 p.m. Weighing in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces and measuring 18 inches long, she's precious and perfect ... mommy, daddy and baby (and Neesey!) are all doing well.

The first four photos taken by our dear friend Mary Ellen of Lighthouse Photography.

Yes, God is so very good!

:)

the flip side . . .

2012-01-10T06:30:00.000-06:00

May I make a confession? I've never pieced the back of quilt I've made. Ever. With the exception of the quilts I've made in the quilt-as-you-go method, all my quilts have had whole-cloth backs.

Until now!!! I wasn't sure what I wanted to do on the back of Ellie's quilt. At first I thought I wanted to do it in flannel or minky, but I didn't have enough of anything in my stash, and I really, strongly wanted this quilt to be made with fabrics I had on hand. So I decided to piece it (yikes!) with the leftover fabrics from the nursery.

Tah-dah!! When I'd first seen the pink and white fabric Joc had selected for the curtain panels, I fell in love with it immediately! It made me think of a fancy, gilded bird cage ... which was the perfect compliment to the exotic birds in the fabric that was part of her nursery bedding. So I pieced the back to give that look of the birds in the cage, bordered by that beautiful solid pink.

Here's a shot from the nursery of the pillows, the lampshade and the curtains. The quilt will be perfect in this room!

I will bind it with this dark purple piece leftover from Joc's wedding quilt.

Can you see the hearts in it?! It's just perfect for this quilt!! I'm so excited ... I can't wait to get quilting on it!

And I can't let this post go without acknowledging my new favorite number . . .

ROLL TIDE!!!

(And happy Tuesday!)

:)

put the design wall to bed . . .

2012-01-09T06:30:00.003-06:00

I'm really excited about my design space this morning. I've made some great progress over the last week and things are moving along.

This project wasn't even in my thoughts last Monday. But when I saw it on Michelle's blog, I fell in love with it and just knew I wanted to make it for my darling Ellie. I finished piecing the top last night:

I love how this turned out!! I also really like the sashing in the pink, too. I was worried the hearts wouldn't stand out nicely, but I think they do. Since I'd used a lot of scraps of fabric with sentimental value, I wanted to use some from Everett's nursery fabrics, even though they didn't really fit the color scheme. But I didn't want to do that with out checking with Joc and making sure it was okay. I was so tickled when she was so pleased with the idea.

Now I've got to piece a back (which will probably be all from the fabrics we used for her curtains and one more of Everett's owls) and decide how I'm going to quilt it. It won't be ready by the time Ellie is born, but it will be well on its way. All of a sudden I had the urgent need to make sure there was an Ellie quilt in the works before she was born. I can't explain why I couldn't do it any earlier, except to say that I just couldn't. This will be called Ellie Has My Heart. :)

The other thing on my ... mattress top ... this morning is The Pineapple Quilt's center (January's UFO project). These are the two pieces I've got to work with next.

I'll have to trim the center piece and then sash it in the red (both pieces are already quilted).

I love the center. I'm pretty certain that it's my all-time favorite piece of work.

I hand appliqued and quilted it (unlike the blocks and the sashing, which I machine quilted). I used a very colorful variegated thread for the quilting in the black, so it really pops!! Looking at it makes me *smile*!

It's appropriate that I've got it all laid out on my bed . . . I'll need to keep it up here (like this) to figure out how much needs to be trimmed off the center block. As much as I love the center, you can understand why I'll be anxious about cutting on it. One wrong snip . . . LOL!

I'll have my hands full for the rest of the month, so I really hope I have some time to work on this and get it finished! It's just so gorgeous, I can't wait to have it on my bed instead of that yucky old brown thing that came with the RV!

Be sure to stop by and check out what others have up on their design spaces this happy Monday morning over at Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times!

stash report #2 and nursery tour . . .

2012-01-08T14:50:00.001-06:00

I made good progress on the Ellie's Got My Heart quilt yesterday, though I didn't finish piecing the top. I'd planned to, but I got a visit from this little fellow . . .

(And his mommy and daddy, too!) I had the opportunity to spend the evening with them at their house, so I gratefully took 'em up on it! I got to give Sawyer his little fleece hat. He doesn't like new hats (he has to see them on his head first and get used to them), but I could put it on his baseball cap. Which was pretty cute, too.

He's such a charmer! I imagine my grandchildren will be able to get me to do just about anything for them. LOL!

It was so funny ... Kim pulled out this chair (for herself) and also Sawyer's little brown chair (for him). He climbed into her chair so she went to sit in his. "No, no, no, mommy!" He said as he pulled her away from his chair and sat in it. As she went to sit back in the bigger chair, he dove for it. It was quite amusing (to me, anyway)!

Jocelyn texted yesterday afternoon and said she'd finished all the final touches on the nursery and there's a nursery tour on her blog! It's *so* cute! If you want to check out a complete scope of Ellie's darling digs, you may do so HERE. I really loved the little pillows and the deco lampshade. What a bright, fun, and happy room. :)

Stash report!! I'm linking up with Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times for stash reports in 2012. We'll see how I do. For this week, it's not so bad. My intake was all fabric given to me, by Jocelyn, for specific usage -- so it will also be outtake, shortly.

Used this week: 0.5 yards
Used year to date: 0.5 yards
Added this week: 4.0 yards
Added year to date: 4.0 yards
Net used for 2012: -3.5 yards

This afternoon I'm headed back to the quilting bunk room to finish up the heart flimsy. Time to get a movin'!

:)

how'd that happen . . .

2012-01-07T08:07:00.003-06:00

What a great trip we had! We actually left late Thursday afternoon, because the radio show starts at 7:00 a.m. and it's a two and a half hour drive to Birmingham ... we decided we'd rather drive the night before and not get up until 5:30 a.m., instead of having to *leave* the house at 4:00 a.m. Yikes!

Not long after we started our trek, it was dark, so I pulled out my hands-free beam 'n read so I could continue to stitch. It's plenty bright enough for me to see what I'm working on (and in this pic it's only on 3 LED). Todd assured me several times that the light didn't bother him at all.

Before we'd left, I had decided to go ahead and take all the panels that needed handwork, just in case. We had the drive down, down time in the hotel (Todd had brought his XBox, so it was hand work or read), time I waited while he conducted the interview, and then the drive back. I was so glad I had done that, because on the way down there, I finished one of the full panels and one side of the shorter panels.

By the time we pulled into Birmingham and near our hotel, it was going on 8 p.m., and we were both hungry. We spotted this sign . . .

A Milo's! Neither of us had ever eaten at a Milo's, but their sweet tea is good, so we decided we'd get a couple of burgers and give something new a try. I got a double cheeseburger, fries, diet coke and an apple pie. I was very glad I got that apple pie, because . . . well, let's just say it was my main course. We definitely won't ever do Milo's again. LOL!

Our next stop was our last stop for the night . . .

The Best Western! We had a terrific room -- very comfortable and very roomy! Todd hooked up his XBox and I curled up on the bed to start stitching some more. Do you want to know what I found?!?

I was done stitching.

I had no recollection of doing any of the hand stitching on this piece, but evidently I'd done quite a bit. How funny it is that the pieces I chose to work on were the only pieces that needed stitching. Even the back side of the short panel I'd worked was already stitched down. Huh. I'm sure glad my Kindle was charged and ready to go! Anyway, since the bed was king-sized, I figured I'd lay out the panels and take a couple of photos.

This will be a pretty decent sized quilt once it's all put together. There's a 6" border that will be attached, after I've gotten the center piece figured out and attached. What you're seeing above is actually four different panels.

In this photo I've separated the panels so you can see what I'm working with.

The two long panels are the top and bottom rows. Once I've got my center piece sashed, I'll attach it to the two short panels, and then attach the top and bottom rows to it. I still can't believe it was as far along as it was. The only thing I can figure is that I stopped working on it because I knew that once I'd finished the hand work, the only thing left for me to work on would be that dreaded sashing the center. Haha!

Anyway, the next morning we were up and enjoyed a nice shower (that's what this fulltime RVing girl enjoys most about an overnight hotel stay) and a *great* buffet breakfast, and then we headed over to the studio.

The show was lots of fun and it's rather like you're sitting there listening in on a three-hour long conversation between a bunch of guys who are very good friends. Lots of hilarity. And they all made their way over and chatted with us between segments.

And of course we had our pictures taken with them after the show. It was good fun and I'm glad we went.

From there we high-tailed it North to Gardendale, Alabama, where Todd was interview the pastor of Gardendale First Baptist Church. The interview usually takes between sixty and ninety minutes, and I'd told Todd that I'd be happy just sitting in the car, reading and checking e-mail and playing games on my phone. So he went in and I stayed put in the parking lot. How were we to know that the pastor of FBC Gardendale was a very chatty fellow and that Todd would be gone for two and a half hours?!? LOL! It was okay -- I enjoyed all my Kindle time and played a couple of great games of Cribbage on my phone. But I was very, *very* hungry after all that waiting . . . and since Todd had gotten such a great interview we decided a trip to our favorite interstate restaurant was in order . . .

Yay for Cracker Barrel restaurants!!

Today will be a quiet day; Todd's working and I'll be playing with Ellie's heart quilt -- the perfect activity for a cold, rainy day. In the meantime, I'm going to share a darling clip that's totally captured my heart . . .

Click here if video doesn't load.

How good is that, right?! Oh how it makes me smile!

:)

travel = handwork . . .

2012-01-06T06:30:00.003-06:00

Todd and I are in Birmingham today to sit in the "golden ticket seats" at the Rick & Bubba Show. I'm so excited . . . I cannot wait!

We've listened to the guys for years. Their show is syndicated and heard all over the place, including Alaska! The guys are hilarious ... and we're kind of hoping, since it's a Friday and the BCS bowl game is on Monday, that maybe, just maybe Lou Holtz will make an appearance. Haha!

I've been trying to get tickets for ages ... they're free, but they go FAST!

After the show, we are heading down the road to Gardendale First Baptist Church.

Todd is going to interview the pastor there for his 100 Pastor Project. While Todd conducts his interview, I plan on working on stitching down the connecting strips on one of the rows of The Pineapple Quilt. This is my UFO project that needs to be finished for January.

Each block is 18" square, so the row is about 6' wide. If you're not familiar with the quilt as you go (QAYG) method, it's very simple and finishes quickly.

In the above picture, you can see that I've machine attached the cover strip much like the first side of a binding is attached. That's done on both sides (see below photo) ... with the strips sewn on the opposing blocks. (I.e., the strip above is machine stitched to the red block on the front and will fold over and be hand stitched onto the front of turquoise block. The second strip is machine stitched to the back of the turquoise block--which is the dark blue--and then folded over and hand stitched to the back of the red block--which is the purple.) Then once the strips are attached, the two blocks are butted up against each other and zig-zag stitched together.

Once the strip is hand stitched down (like applique or binding, with tiny, hidden stitches), it will cover the zig-zag stitches that connect the block and look like sashing.

So today may be a long day, but I'll have plenty to keep me occupied while I wait. Tomorrow I'll be back in the quilt room, ready to continue working on Ellie's Got My Heart quilt!

:)

rulers and grandkids . . .

2012-01-05T06:30:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was a day of rulers and projects for my grandbabies (two of my favorite things). First I pulled out my June Tailor Fancy Fleece ruler . . .

And I finished up Sawyer's fleece hat!

This was so much fun to make ... and so easy! I used the ruler to cut the triangles and the wavy strips for the pom-pom up top.

Less than 45 minutes! Gosh I hope it fits his little head. LOL!

And then I pulled out my June Tailor Shape Cut ruler . . .

Because -- YIKES -- I haven't yet made a quilt for Ellie. Partly because this time Joc didn't have me make all of the crib bedding and what she got included a quilt, so there wasn't the need for me to make her a quilt that matched everything. But then I saw this baby quilt that Michelle at Michelle's Romantic Tangle had done, and I fell in love with it. So after a couple of quick e-mail exchanges with Michelle, I pulled a couple dozen different pink, purples, and blues and started cutting 3" squares.

Michelle used a solid white as her border fabric, but I had this Kona Medium Pink that I want to use. It's the fabric we used--along with this darling pink and white--for the nursery curtains.

Isn't it sweet?! We also used the combo to make a cute little accent pillow, too.

So, here's as far as I got. Well, not really ... I've got about half of it pieced.

The hearts will show up better (I hope) when the solid pink is bordering all the piecing. There are some really nostalgic pieces of fabric; I used three different purples from Joc's wedding quilt, some blue and violet fabric and a dark pink fabric I'd used for a sister's craft day, before Todd and I got married (sixteen years ago). I also included some of the print from the nursery curtains, and some from the blocks I made for my mom's Grand Hands quilt.

Now I have to decide if I'm going to do like Michelle and use the halved and quartered 9-patches or the solid Kona Pink around the edges. I'm leaning to the solid ... just for time's sake! This baby will need a quilt from her Neesey next week!!!

Linking up with Katherine's Corner and her Favorite Things blog hop! :)

:)

and speaking of . . .

2012-01-04T07:50:00.002-06:00

Joc and I had a marvelous day yesterday ... we were quite a pair; both hobbling around (although for very, VASTLY different reasons). But we made TREMENDOUS progress on the projects we set out to accomplish. With the exception of a few very minor touches, the nursery is fairly complete and looks completely adorable. Joc heads to the doctor today and they will set a date for Ellie's arrival sometime next week. I will be on pins and needles, waiting to hear from her this morning!

And speaking of family, I got some fun quilty things for Christmas. My mom sent me this darling, darling fishy fabric, along with a fishing stitchery pattern and some cute, cute embellishments!

My Todd is an avid fisherman ... seriously, the man loves to fish like I love to quilt ... and I've been meaning to make a pillow cover for his back pillow for ages -- this is the perfect fit!

And speaking of embellishments, I also got this dear little book from Kim & James:

One of my fellow guild quilters had brought this book in (along with her crazy quilt) to show me earlier in the year. I knew this was a book I'd like to have in my quilting library. (A crazy quilt is *definitely* on my quilting bucket list.)

And speaking of crazy, Still Crazy After All These Years (a Paul Simon hit) happens to be the theme of our guild's challenge this year, in honor of the guild's 25th anniversary. While I'd been ~~tormenting myself~~ pondering and reflecting over what I could submit, nothing really had jumped out at me.

It wasn't until I was thumbing through the embellishment book and thinking about how the guild's 25th anniversary and my 50th birthday years coincided, that an idea began to take shape . . . but that's all I'll divulge on that for the moment!

And speaking of guilds, a friend of mine from the guild, Barbara B., has just started blogging about her joy of quilting. Barbara's an avid and incredibly talented quilter. In fact, I've taken several of her classes at the LQS. She also was the chair of our guild's 2009 Quilt Show, *and* she's had a quilt juried into the 2010 AQS show in Paducah, and has one she collaborated on entered in the upcoming Road to California show! Please check out my friend's blog (and maybe say hello and that I sent you) HERE.

And speaking of friends, my darling friend, Edit, from Hungary, is having a one year blogiversary celebration! She's got a lovely giveaway going on and you'll want to be sure to check it out -- HERE. You'll want to turn the Google translate on for her blog, but it's well worth it. Edit does some amazing quilting and I've truly enjoyed getting to know her and seeing her gorgeous work!

And speaking of work . . . I have some I need to attend to. I'd better get off of here and get busy!

Happy Wednesday!

:)

giving the boot the boot . . .

2012-01-03T06:30:00.019-06:00

Well . . . booting it for night time wear, anyway. Which is enough!! I was rather counting on be able to sleep without any restraint when I went back to the doctor's office two weeks ago, but that was not to be. I don't think I spoke much about that appointment. I was rather disappointed with how it ended up, and I didn't really want to talk about it. But yesterday, finally, I was able to go back to limited weight-bearing (in the boot) and to TAKE IT OFF to sleep! Best night's sleep EVER. (In the last fourteen weeks, at least!) I go back for xrays and a check at the end of the month and during that time I'm to work toward becoming fully weight bearing in the boot. Pain is the indicator -- if I have it, stop doing whatever I'm doing that's causing it. And when I've able to get in a shoe and press on the accelerator and the brake without pain, I may drive. Whew.

Sawyer, James and Kim came over for a visit yesterday. Sawyer had not seen his Paw-paw since Christmas Eve and he really wanted to see him! When his Paw-paw asked him if he wanted to go for a ride, Sawyer didn't need to be asked twice -- he was at the door!

In fact, he wasn't just ready to go, he was ready to DRIVE! I wish I'd captured him holding onto the steering wheel. He's not even two and he's ALL boy!

James had to physically move him so Todd could get into the driver's seat! And it was a very cold day, so they bundled in coats, hats, and blankets.

And more blankets . . .

But they came back happy and red-cheeked and ready for naps. LOL!

Today Joc is picking me up and we're headed to her home to work on curtains for the nursery, as well as a couple of pillow covers and another minky changing pad cover. It should be a fun day. The nursery is looking awesome! She and Jason put a lot of work into it over the last week/weekend, and it's darling!

Cute grouping of photos, frames, and art work over the changing table.

The adorable bedding she got (via Kim's win) from Coochicoos.

And I love this vinyl wall art and the cherry blossom mobile over the crib -- Joc made the mobile. It's so precious!

We'll have fun today, putting on the finishing touches!!

when old is new again . . .

2012-01-02T06:30:00.008-06:00

So. On my design wall this first Monday morning of the new year is an old project. In fact, this is the oldest project I have. I decided to take up Judy Laquidara's "12 in 2012" UFO (UnFinished Object) challenge and yesterday she announced that #5 on our lists would be the UFO we should finish for January. Ummm... according to my UFO 2012 page, my #5 quilt is this one . . .

Rut roh. The Pineapple Quilt.

Actually I guess it's not really as bad as it seems in my head. This was a BOM project from Patches & Stitches in 2007. I love the wild color play in this quilt! In fact, it was seeing this quilt and wanting to participate in the BOM that got me to finish my 2006 BOM from Patches & Stitches -- which also happened to be my very first quilt.

The Pineapple Quilt was a queen-sized quilt-as-you-go project. And it's not all that far from being completed. All the blocks have been pieced and quilted and they've been lined up into rows and sewn together. I think I need to hand-stitch the edging strips down between blocks, but that's really a simple matter of a couple of evening's work. Good work to have on hand while I'm waiting for a baby to be born!

My center is finished, too ...

The center was optional to the project, but since it was one of my favorite parts of the quilt, I had to do it! It looks better in person -- I think this photo may be pre-quilting.

What's tough is the next step . . . adding the red sashing to the center, and making it square up to fit inside my rows.

I think this photo was taken from the sampler quilt in the shop.

My red sashing is quilted and ready ... I've just never worked up the nerve/courage to fit it around my center and cut it to size. Once this is done, I'll stitch my rows together and sew on the borders (which are ready). Then it will be a simple matter of binding, because the quilting part is done.

All right January, one less UFO will be in my coffers, come February 1!

Check out who else might have a UFO re-visiting their design wall by visiting Judy's Patchwork Times.

Yesterday was quite lovely. The rain from the early morning gave way to sunshine and every glistened and sparkled just like the first day in a new year should. I got things out and together for today's wall and post. I did a little reading . . . a very interesting book called The Minimalists Woman's Guide to Having it All. I don't know that I agree with everything she says in the book, but she makes some great points and suggestions and I'll probably end up sharing more about it later in the week/month.

My split pea soup came out nicely -- it's a nice crock pot recipe -- and was good for lunch and dinner. I also had a few of my new favorites . . . the graham cracker toffee cookies (or candies -- I'm not sure which is more appropriate). I sent the rest of with Todd to the fire station. No need in keeping the whole tin here. That's just trouble waiting to happen!

I did some housekeeping, made some notes in my planner, planned our menu for the coming week and made a grocery list, and wrote out my thank you notes and some other cards, all while I watched a couple of movies. I watched Steel Magnolias (I was struck by the fact that no one stands when the bride walks the aisle in Shelby's wedding -- I'd never realized that in the hundred times I'd watched it before), The Devil Wears Prada, Little Shop Around the Corner (the original You've Got Mail), and Beauty and the Beast. Yup. It was a marvelous day. :)

And guess what? It's MONDAY -- my *favorite*!! Have a terrific day!!

:)

stash report #1 . . .

2012-01-01T21:12:00.000-06:00

I decided to track my fabric intake and use for 2012. Since all the reading I've been doing about minimalism and my resolve to finish up a number of projects I already have in the works, perhaps I'll actually end the year in negative yardage!

Anyway, here goes my first report of the year:

Used this Week: 0 yards
Used year to Date: 0 yards
Added this Week: 0 yards
Added Year to Date: 0 yards
Net Used for 2012: 0 yards

Linking up with the Stash Report post at Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times!

happy 2012 . . .

2012-01-01T08:30:00.002-06:00

Today will be a quiet day ... I'm putting my traditional split pea soup in the crock pot and I'll probably spend the day doing a little of this and a little of that ... some reading, some stitching, some reflecting, and maybe a good movie.

The morning is grey and rainy, but it's not dampening my enthusiasm for this year - for ushering in the new! As the Lord said through His prophet Isaiah:

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Isaiah 43:18-19

Happy New Year! :)

auld lang syne . . .

2011-12-31T11:22:00.002-06:00

I completely cannot believe that today is the last day of 2011. Not that I mind ... I'm rather ready to be done with this year and start 2012, new and fresh, with its new promises, new goals, new experiences. :)

To that end, I've been thinking about my goals for the coming year. I always hesitate to make resolutions. I like goals instead. Why? Look at the definitions . . .

resolution: 1. A firm decision to do or not to do something.

goal: 2. The end toward which the effort is directed.

With the first, one wrong move and your so-called 'firm' decision is gone completely awry. But with the second, there's leeway. There's opportunity for gain and the ability to correct a misstep. The first is so harsh and unforgiving, while the second applauds my efforts toward the end, not just the achievement. Yep, I'm a goals girl all the way.

One of my goals is to become more organized. In all aspects of my life . . . family, ministry, quilting . . . I function so much better when order is prevalent. One of my Christmas gifts is going to be a big boost to this goal. A new, incredible 2012 Planner!

Isn't it pretty?! And it's personalized!! My Jocey got it for me for Christmas. It's from erin condren and I just love it! Joc had gotten herself one earlier in the year and fell in love with it so much that she got one for me and one for Kim, too.

It's set up very nicely with plenty of pages for notes and lists and whatnot. At the beginning of each month, there's a spot for monthly goals and to do's (which fits perfectly into my idea of setting goals for the year).

There's also a month-at-a-glance page at the beginning of each month. I really like this for birthdays and anniversaries ... dates I need to be prepared for (with cards or a gift), not just reminded of.

And then each week is spread over two pages, giving lots of room for appointments, daily notations, etc. And, each week has its own spot for weekly goals and to do's. I swear this book was created just for me!

At the back of the planner is the requisite 'important numbers' list (which I do fill out because --*gasp*--what would I do if I didn't have my phone with me, or worse yet, lost all the numbers in my phone?!?!? (Just a side note here . . . in the spot for the Babysitter's number, I wrote in, "I am the babysitter!")

There's also pages of stickers for marking special days. There are pre-printed stickers for birthdays, doctor appointments, parties, games, hair appointments, etc., and lots of blank, create-your-own stickers. Fun stuff.

There's also a folder page, to tuck in important documents or receipts, as well as a zipper pocket.

And Joc got me some really cute return address labels that match, too! (That's what is in the big pink envelope.) I think this planner will be an important tool to helping me stay organized and on track. But, like any other tool, it's only useful if it's used, right? :)

That's a pretty nice goal for now. I want to think about where I want to be at the end of 2012 and make some more goals. I'll share them as I make them. :)

Todd and I went gallivanting about town yesterday. We both needed some cards, and we needed to exchange a gift (for a smaller size -- yay!), and we had Princess Buttercup (my pretty yellow PT Cruiser) washed, and we had a nice lunch out together, and we needed a new skillet. Badly. So we headed over to Bed, Bath & Beyond and picked up this beautiful thing . . .

It's 12" wide and 5 quarts deep. If you'll look closely, you'll see that it doesn't even fit all the way on the stove, with another pot back there! For it's maiden cook, I made homemade spaghetti sauce in it last night. Yum. And to go with the spaghetti, fast and easy garlic bread knots.

Tonight we're headed to Lighthouse Baptist Church to enjoy fellowship with some dear friends. Todd works tomorrow, so we won't stay until midnight -- just long enough to visit and wish folks a happy new year. We'll probably ring the new year in, in our dreams . . . which is fine with me!

Happy New Year; here's to 2012!

:)

totally tea-lightful . . .

2011-12-30T07:00:00.003-06:00

I do believe my family knows me to a "tea"! I was thoroughly spoiled in the tea department over Christmas; I really did score big! Todd, among (lots of) other things, got me two tins of Harney & Sons teas that I'd wanted ... the Chocolate Mint and the Holiday teas. Yes!

I fell in love with Harney & Sons teas after trying their Royal Wedding tea, which is marvelous.

My sister, Julia, included a box of mulling spices for tea in her gifts.

I can't wait to brew a pot of black tea and give this a try -- I bet it smells heavenly!

My sister, Cynthia, gifted me with these *darling* tea spoons (which I've shared before, but they're so cute they're worth a second mention) . . .

Aren't they pretty and feminine?

And I love the messages inscribed on them: Hi Tea, <3, and Good Morning Sister. So sweet -- I love stirring my tea (and coffee) with them!

And my sister, Laura, gifted me with this pretty little box from Williams & Sonoma:

And what do you think was in it but the sweetest little Christmas petite fours!

Chocolate, vanilla and jam filled little cakes -- yum -- I need to get the girls over here pronto for a tea party!!

My Sawyer-boo knows his Neesey, too. He gave me this darling wreath of teas!

His mommy made it. Isn't it nifty? And full of some of my favorite Twining's teas -- I'd had a hankering for a good cup of English Breakfast tea, too!

Kim and James also got me the Hot Cinnamon Spice tea I wanted from Harney & Sons.

Mary, from Quilt Hollow, turned me on to this particular blend and got me hooked!

Kim and James also got me a new book . . .

I've had this on my wish list forever. I already love Emilie Barnes' books, but to have one illustrated by Sandy Clough is a real bonus! I've followed her Sandy's Tea Society site for quite some time ... I even did Secret Sippers back in the day when they did that! Such fun and very sweet.

In addition to all that, my Secret Santa (who I found out just last night was Kris, from Lavender Quilts) gifted me with some lovely tea and tea cookies (which I blogged about here) and then I gifted *myself* with a renewal of my Tea Time Magazine subscription.

I just read today on facebook that they are making their magazine available for the Nook reader. *sigh* But not the Kindle ... not yet. Oh well. This tea enthusiast has been collecting Tea Time Magazine since its premier issue in the Fall of 2003 ... and I've kept every issue since! They're small and don't take up *too* much room in the RV.

Okay, so there you have it ... my tea immersion therapy! It should be enough to last me through to Mother's Day, at least! *giggle*

happy and bright . . .

2011-12-29T16:40:00.001-06:00

So another hodge-podge post from me today. Since that's rather like my life, I guess I shouldn't be surprised! First I wanted to do a little housekeeping (so to speak). I had a number of lovely comments on my Holly Jolly Topper tutorial post and quite a few requests for the pdf of the template, which pleased me *greatly*! But several of the folks who left a comment requesting the template were the dreaded "noreply" bloggers. I can't tell you how badly I feel when this happens! So just in case any of you are reading, I wanted you to know that I didn't ignore you, I just had no way of contacting you! If you are: astitch, rwallis6, or whistlebet57 (Elizabeth), please e-mail me at denisepanter (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll send that template off to you right away!

Next, I wanted to share this little gem:

This is the 'happy light' I referred to in yesterday's post. My sister got this for me for Christmas. It's AWESOME! I tend to struggle with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) in the winter months, particularly in January/February. I know how much I need LIGHT in order to feel ... effective. That's tough enough during the winter months with it's short days and gloomy skies, but even tougher in the RV with its tinted windows. My happy light is just the thing I need to boost my spirits and give me that sense of 'bright' I need!! I'm really loving having it!

You know what else brightens my spirits? Freshly painted toes!! Joc and Jason gave me some lovely peppermint foot scrub and cream for Christmas and I put it to use last night. I scrubbed to my heart's content and then lathered up with the cream and put my socks (and boot) on before tucking in for the night.

This morning my feet were so smooth and nice, they definitely deserved a fresh painting in my favorite hot pink! You'll just have to trust me that the toes on my right foot are as pretty in pink as those on my left foot. LOL! And the hot pink Tweetie Bird pj pants are a gift from Todd -- the perfect thing to wear on a quiet, stay-at-home, chilly day!

Guess what? ANOTHER bright spot! When Todd brought in the mail the other day, there was a sweet little package ... for ME!

C. Joy, from Joy & Comfort, had won a giveaway from Cat Patches' Occupy Your Sewing Room giveaway. When she won, she e-mailed me to say that since she'd learned of the giveaway from reading my blog, she wanted to share her prize with me!

It was charm squares in this darling Little Apples print by Moda! Is that not the sweetest thing? So very generous and kind! I'd found a cute little pillow on another blog ...

Little Bluebell. Isn't this darling? I think the Little Apple charms will work quite nicely in this cute little pillow top!

You know what else brightens my day? The thought of starting a new quilting project. Or projects!! Barbara, over at Cat Patches, had the brilliant idea of a creating a challenge where you started new projects ... dipped into your quilting bucket list, so to speak!

I've been thinking about some things I want to try and here's the list I've come up with so far:

1) A tee-shirt quilt (for my niece).
2) A rag quilt.
3) A faux applique quilt.
4) I want to do something with photos on fabric.
5) I'd like to do a piece that's artsy.
6) I have a darling pattern for a quilted football I'd love to make in my favorite team colors! And I'd really like to make several of them to giveaway!
7-12+) I want to design a table topper (preferably in EQ) like my Candy Corn and Holly Jolly Toppers, so I have a different one for every month. This would be about nine different quilted toppers I'd need to create!

I know there are other processes out there I'd love to try, but this will do for a good start! I'm going to link up with Barbara on her What's on your 2012 NewFO To Do List?. Be sure to stop by and check it out ... you may even want to play along! I understand there are some fun prizes for participants!! (And that's a day-brightener for sure!)

:)

traveling treats . . .

2011-12-28T11:14:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Todd and I had lots of errands to run, among which was drop off cookie plates to our neighbors. We'd planned to do that on Christmas Eve, on our way to Joc's house, but the day got away from us and there just wasn't time. So yesterday we went a calling!

This year I tried some new treats in addition to some old favorites. I always include Apricot Shortbread Thumbprints, because those are a family favorite. I also do sugar cookies, chocolate chips, and candy cane cookies as stock favorites. This year I did no-bake cookies (because they're easy and so good) and I added the ginger oatmeal cookies I first made HERE. Yes, I thought they were that good! And I tried a new recipe ... one for Praline Graham Crackers ... which was SO good (and so stinking easy) I know I'll make it again! I try to put a nice variety of shapes, textures, tastes and colors on the plates. One went with us to our family Christmas Eve party and one went with Todd to the fire station when he went in on Monday (that's a long standing tradition). I do love the holiday baking!

I tried another new recipe this holiday season -- appropriately enough named Firehouse Crackers. Todd and I had never had them until the open house event at the MBA. Todd fell in love with them. He likes saltines anyways, and these were nice and SPICY! I got the recipe and made them to go with a cheese ball (another new and great recipe I found) for our family party. He took the leftovers in with him on Monday and brought home none. These will go into the recipe book for future (and frequent) use!

Yesterday was dreary and grey (a right smart day to use my happy light) and we didn't see the sun all day long ... until it set.

If you look closely you'll see a bright red speck center photo, just beneath the tree tops. Finally the sun made its appearance. I barely managed to capture a shot of it before it disappeared completely. It was a big glowing ball and Todd and I sat watching it, entranced, before I thought to grab my camera.

Today is filled with ministry work and putting some normalcy back into place!

:)

a tad different . . .

2011-12-27T08:13:00.002-06:00

So it was *going* to be a quiet, stay-in-your-jammies kind of day, but around 11:30, I got a better offer. Seriously. James called and wanted to know if I wanted to hang out with them ... and then he added the clincher ... "Sawyer would love to spend time with you!" LOL! Do you think I wanted to stay home alone after that?!?! NO WAY!

I don't know what I was thinking, though. I left the house without my purse, which meant I didn't have my camera. Just my phone. And while Sawyer can be entertained for quite a while with the phone, the phone's camera doesn't take the greatest pictures. Of course, that doesn't stop me from taking (or sharing) them!

He had just gotten up from his nap. He was very intent on eating his snack of apple slices and vanilla wafers. Very intent. He's still holding his "puppy" closely, too.

I think I got a good shot to convert to a silhouette, too. I love playing with those! I saw a craft on Pinterest for a silhouette ornament. I'd like to give that a try!

Sawyer had a pretty good Christmas. James & Kim said he didn't know what to do with the wrapped presents ... he mostly played Santa, delivering boxes and packages. Until they were unwrapped and then he was ready to PLAY! Another funny thing? Evidently he was most interested in the clothes he received. Especially a new pair of shoes and a couple of hats. This boy will be GQ! :)

Me? Oh I had a terrific Christmas! I'll share photos and commentary later on this week. A nice mix of gifts this year -- some tea things, some women's ministry things, some candles and nice-smelling things, some quilting things, some books, DVDs and a planner, and some clothing things. Really a well-balanced and well-rounded Christmas haul!

I never really shared my Christmas decorating in the RV. Life has just been so hectic with the leg and all. (And besides ... it's an RV ... I decorated it pretty much the same as I did last year. LOL!) But I did want to share this one little corner . . .

The tree is a tree my Pop made out of tin cans, many moons ago. The Santa was given to me when I was a young, young thing -- like forty-something years ago. And the PUMPKIN is red. And the Alabama Crimson Tide are headed for the BCS, so I had to leave up my tribute! Yes, I'll have had a pumpkin on display through four months, when it's all said and done. And if Alabama wins on January 9th?

I'll put heart stickers on that bad boy and leave him up through February, too!!

:)

last one of the year . . .

2011-12-26T06:50:00.001-06:00

So today is the last Design Wall Monday of 2011. I cannot believe how quickly this year has passed. Wow! This week I just have some odds and ends on the wall ... wrap-ups, if you will. First, I've still got a little fleece project I'm working on. I'm using my Fancy Fleece ruler on it. See my fun triangles?!?

That ruler is the bomb-dot-com! There are so many fun things it makes easier! I'll use a couple of them on the above project.

I've also got to finish cutting out the sashing and the backing for My Orange Crush quilt. I keep saying that, don't I?

Okay, so my goal is to have all the blocks ready for quilting before the year's end. There. I said it.

Joc delivered a last signature block for her wedding quilt. Her cousin and his wife had been here for the wedding, but for some reason had missed signing a guest block. We sent one to them to sign and Joc got it back over the summer, and just got it to me. This is why I haven't finished that quilt.

Yeah. Anyway, if you read my UFO for 2012 post, you know that this quilt is on the radar for a wrap-up, in the very near future!

I hope everyone had a happy and merry Christmas!! Todd and I enjoyed a lovely, quiet day together, after spending a marvelous Christmas Eve with Kim, James, Jason, Joc and Sawyer. What a sweet family I have; I love spending time with them! I can tell you I was thoroughly spoiled by my family, my husband and Santa! I'll post more on that later in the week . . . for now I wanted to share my two favorite light displays of the season. These two yards were side-by-side:

Haha!! Gotta love it. And you've also gotta love all the industrial quilters out there who've got stuff up on their design walls this Monday morning. Head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to check it out.

Today I'm going to curl up in my *new* Snuggie and have a quiet day. Peace be with you!!

all i want . . .

2011-12-22T20:20:00.004-06:00

Todd and I spent yesterday getting our ministry's holiday newsletter printed and out for mailing. I love working on our newsletter ... we're so busy! LOL! If anyone's interested, here's the link:

Restoring the Church Ministries Newsletter Volume 3, Issue 2

It takes a second to load, but it's an eight page pdf, so that's probably why.

Today, after enjoying the staff Christmas party at the Madison Baptist Association, we got all the newsletters off and in the mail. Now all I've got left is a little shopping, some baking and some wrapping. In the event I don't get back on here before Christmas (which is really hard to imagine), I wish you all a truly Merry Christmas, filled with the light of Christ and the peace that passes all understanding.

Joy to the world! the LORD is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart, prepare Him room,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n and nature sing,
And heav'n, and heav'n and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He come to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, and wonders of His love.

Third Day - Joy to the World

tah dah . . .

2011-12-21T20:00:00.000-06:00

Today's the day! I'm guest posting at Sew We Quilt. Whoohoo!!

Hop on over there and check out my tutorial for this cute little Holly Jolly Topper.

And if you're over here from over there, thanks for dropping by! Don't forget to leave me a comment if you'd like me to send you a pdf of the project template (or even just to say hello). And I sure don't mind new followers, either!

Happy Holly-days!

:)

ufo's 2012 . . .

2011-12-20T16:53:00.002-06:00

Okay, I am the first to admit that I am *terrible* about starting a project and then ... well ... leaving it high and dry. I don't know why. I get distracted, I get bored, perhaps I find something better to play with? Who knows. What I *do* know is that I have a pile of perfectly great quilting projects, in various stages of completion, that I truly need to work on. So here's the deal. I went through and picked seven. One of which includes some really tough piecing, and so I've split it into several. Like ... five ... LOL! Because I want to be reasonable and I want my goals to be attainable. So only seven - in various stages of completion. And my goal for 2012 is to definitely complete these UFO projects.

#1 This first will probably should be my first to finish. Don't laugh ... it's Joc's wedding (2009) quilt. The one with all her guest signatures on it. Yes. I will take it on retreat with me in February.

The last time I worked on this was the last time I went on retreat. February, 2010. YIKES! The blocks for the top need to be sewn together and then it needs to be sandwiched and quilted.

#2 Next is a hexi quilt-a-long project I started last year with Jaybird Quilts.

This is going to my niece for her 13th birthday (which is in March, but she probably won't get it until June). I just need to sew the blocks together, sandwich and quilt it. Do you see a theme?

#3, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10 I love these blocks! This was a feathered star BOM from 2008.

The inner blocks are all finished, I just need to work the big feathered star for five more. This one is the one I've spread over several (aka six) months. Five months for piecing and one month to put it together. Because I know this feathered piecing will take me all year! And it's the one quilt, because of how intricate the piecing is for these stars, that I'd give myself a pat on the back just for getting it pieced. :)

#4 These are my Overall Sawyer redwork blocks. I've got the coordinating fabrics to make the nine patch blocks that go with them.

This will probably be a project for later in the year. I'm in no hurry -- I'd just like to have my first redwork quilt finished!

#5 I really, really need to finish this gem. It's the oldest UFO I have, from a 2007 BOM. Seeing as how I just started quilting in 2006 (and I started *and* finished 2 quilts in 2006), I guess they couldn't get any older, huh?

This piece was a quilt-as-you-go project. All the blocks are done and quilted, including the center applique block. The only thing in the above picture that *isn't* actual fabric that I worked on is the red that the pineapple center is sitting in. That's the part I need to do. Once that's done (and I'm afraid of it, that's why it's still unfinished), all that's left is to hand sew the rows together--the machine stitching part is done--and bind it. And this will be such a fun piece to have finished! Up until I started My Orange Crush (which I don't yet consider a UFO, but which I do want to finish in the coming year), it was my favorite quilt.

#11 My Orange Crush quilt. It's only a UFO because it was last year's BOM. But I've never really *stopped* working on it. Just saying.

#12 I've got a little table topper that I cut out when I made one similar for my mom a couple of years ago. I'd like to get it put together and get it out of my stash box. All the applique leaf pieces are cut and ready. And it's cute... here's a look at the one I already finished:

In addition to those quilts, there's a tee shirt quilt for another niece who is graduating (see also NewFO's 2012), a baby quilt for Ellie, my Civil War swap blocks quilt, another Leaves & Acorns topper (since I gave mine away to be raffled), the Christmas stitcheries quilt, and another BOM from 2008 that probably needs to be finished. Wow -- if I really did all this, I wouldn't have a UFO older than three years! That's pretty exciting stuff! (It's also a really big IF.)

So there ya' have it. My project list for 2012. Not too lofty...but it will definitely give me a sense of accomplishment if I get them all finished!! And I'm linking up over at Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times; head over and check it out.

And speaking of checking it out, don't forget to check out my guest post and Holly Jolly Topper tutorial at Sew We Quilt tomorrow!!!

six days to go . . .

2011-12-19T06:40:00.000-06:00

On my design wall today? My little topper. Or more specifically . . . the instructions for the tutorial I'm trying to cohesively write for Wednesday's Sew We Quilt guest post. Other than that, all I've got is a couple of nearly finished goodies I really can't share photos of, it being Christmas and all that. So while I work away on finishing up the tutorial and my secret projects, I leave you with this darling little fellow for a little pre-Christmas good cheer! (And then be sure to head over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to see what else is going up on design walls this Monday-before-Christmas!)

James & Sawyer came and picked me up Saturday evening for a lasagna dinner at their home. Sawyer was *so* excited to have me in his home! I guess it has been a while. He was such a ham!

In case you couldn't tell, he was definitely saying, "Cheese!"

Kim laid a lovely, festive table!

And dinner was *wonderful*! Sawyer was my dinner partner at the table.

Another, "Cheese!" moment.

Sawyer and Kim had put in some work on these darling little pieces . . .

Aren't these sweet??

And here's a capture of their mantel with an inviting fire in the fireplace.

Kim made the "Merry" banner. She's very talented.

And here's their Christmas tree!

Look at all those presents under the tree! Can you believe Sawyer doesn't bother them at all?? Haha -- maybe not this year, but next year will be a different story!

Shoot ... what does he need with new toys, anyways?!?

He's got this grand box to play in! He did enjoy 'hiding' in the box. Such fun!

And he put on his reindeer pj's from his Neesey and Paw-paw!

I had gotten 24 months in size, but when they came they looked SO big. Evidently not. Isn't he just darling? If these sweet little Christmas footie pj's don't convince you, then check out my sweet little boy in this video:

Sorry about the green pepper (sort of). But for Pete's sake . . . he's eating raw green pepper! Ya' gotta be amazed by that!

Today I'm off to the doc's. Hoping for a cast-free Christmas!!!

:)

wiping my brow . . .

2011-12-16T16:15:00.000-06:00

Finally I had the time to sit down and finish up my little Holly Jolly Topper. Yay! It's been such a busy week ... with Christmas parties and Christmas programs to go to as well as Christmas projects to finish and mail (which I managed to do withOUT snapping pics, first) plus newsletters and ministry business to take care. Throw in a migraine and you'll kindly understand why my blog has been so quiet this week!

Anyway, the tutorial for this relatively easy little topper will be live on Sew We Quilt next week -- I cannot wait to share!

I also have photos from the week, my Christmas decorating and other little bits and pieces I'm wanting to share here before Christmas actually arrives! But not today. Today (or rather, this evening) we are decorating the tree and getting cozy on the couch with a Christmas movie. I'm thinking along the lines of It's a Wonderful Life.

Because truly, it is.

:)

and now, the rest of the story . . .

2011-12-13T07:00:00.001-06:00

You may or may not recognize this particular block:

Or it may seem strangely familiar and you can't figure out why. Let me help, it's the center block used in my blog header. It's a block I stitched in conjunction with a BOM one of our local quilt shops did in ... 2009 (I think). That particular project is one of my UFO's and so it will remain for a little longer, I'm pretty sure. Anyway.

Now, take a look below . . .

See the block down there on the bottom right? Look familiar? Lemme 'splain . . .

A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail from Jill, whom I'd never 'met'. She proceeded to introduce herself and shared that she read my blog from time to time, but that the center block in my blog header had caught her attention and she was inspired to create one similar to it and to enter it into a contest her guild (the Iowa Quilter's Guild) was sponsoring for the barn block on the guild's logo. In her words:

I enjoy viewing your blog and was struck by the pinwheel quilt block shown in the middle of your blog heading. I thought I could make that, so I fiddled with the measurements and was able to put together the block. I said now that looks good. Next thought was that this block might be a good one to enter in the Iowa Quilter's Guild contest. The winning block would be shown on the front of a red barn which is the Iowa Quilter's Guild logo. Their logo is used on their newsletter heading, notecards, banner, etc.

So she whipped up her version ... even using very similarly colored fabrics as mine ... and submitted the block to her guild. She told me she was so excited when her block was chosen to be the barn block; she never wins anything, she said. (She picked the right person's block, didn't she?!? LOL!!) But she was also a little concerned because she didn't want to infringe on copyrights and she also wanted to know what the block's name was.

I immediately emailed Jill back and assured her that I had not created the block (heaven's no), and where I'd come up with it and best I could figure, what its name was (it's a variation on the Louisiana Pinwheel).

So, there you have it. A block in my blog's header, stitched up by little ol' me, inspired the block now used in the Iowa Quilter's Guild barn logo. That's good for a smile, right?

And now you know the rest of the story!

:)

design wall glimpses . . .

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

So ... I've got lots of things going on this week, but I can't show (or even talk) much about any of it. I mean it is, after all, that most wonderful time of the year!

So, I'll show a little glimpse of this red and royal blue fleece, but I won't talk about what I'm going to do with it.

And a snippet of a finish here . . .

But not where it's going.

And doesn't this look like fun in the making?!

But the making of what?!

And a close-up here . . .

And I'm sure if you head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times, you'll find some folks who're able to show a little bit more off their design walls!!

Oh, and speaking of close-ups, here's one of my new work-horse iron. This bad boy steams like a dream and presses like nobody's business!

I'm serious -- and so is the steam from this go-getter. It, ummm....it scares me a little. Respect the iron!!

Happy Monday!

:)

all over the place . . .

2011-12-11T11:30:00.001-06:00

As in, that's where this post is going to be. All over the place.

It starts with my results from the Occupy Your Sewing Room event (sponsored by Cat Patches), from this past week. I had a couple finishes and one almost finish. First were these darling poinsettia flowers. They were so much fun to make and relatively fast and simple.

And my near finish was my Holly Jolly topper.

My other finish I forgot to capture a photo of while it was still in my possession ... though I did manage to capture a 'sort of' shot of it later on. You'll see. But do be sure to head over to check out what others did this last week, in occupying their sewing rooms -- there are already quite a few blogs linked up!

Next I'll move on to one of my favorite subjects (after my husband): Sawyer managed to make it by this weekend for a couple of quick visits! James brought him over Friday evening to say hello . . .

And he also came with his mommy, Saturday afternoon, when she came to pick me up for our girl's night out! Sawyer didn't come with us girls, but James had come up earlier to take a Christmas card photo of Todd and I for the Camp MACOBA newsletter, and so Kim & James traded out. Me for Sawyer. Heh.

This is the winning shot taken down at the pond. As of now it's the unedited shot. James will go home and do his magic and it'll look GREAT! It was a beautiful day, but it sure was COLD!

The girls were all meeting at The Melting Pot, at Bridge Street in Huntsville. We were have a "Celebrate Ellie" night over chocolate fondue! We had so much fun! It was a small, more intimate gathering of girls. Joc is going to do a big "Sip & See" event a couple of months after Ellie is born.

Kim and I shared a pot of S'mores Chocolate. Oh. my. gosh. It was so good! They brought us a plate of bite-sized portions of pound cake, bananas, strawberries, graham crackers, cheese cake, brownies and marshmallows to dip into the chocolate.

From chocolate to PRESENTS!!

Kim had made several of the most darling hair bow bands for Ellie! She really has a talent for baby bows and headbands! But she got Ellie some darling little outfits. I mean, really. Baby girls are so much fun to shop for!

Okay, see the pink blob in the middle of the picture? That's the other finish from my sewing room jaunt -- a minky changing pad cover. I didn't have a pattern, so I just kind of winged it. It turned out pretty well, I think!

This beautiful print is a gift from Jason's sister, Jenna.

She's an incredibly talented artist! I wish I could show you Jocelyn's baby bedding -- this picture is *perfect* with it!! Oh wait ... maybe I can ...

Isn't this darling?? And speaking of baby bedding, there's quite a story here. Jocelyn designed this herself on Carousel Designs' website. Well, shortly after she designed her look and realized it was a bit pricey, they had a contest... you guessed it ... for free bedding! Well all of us entered -- Jocelyn, me, Kim, James, Jason and even Todd. And wouldn't you know it? Kim WON! And she very graciously picked Joc's design. Such a sweet thing! Anyway, the bedding arrived and Kim delivered it to a very surprised Jocelyn last night!

Here's the group shot . . .

It was a lot of fun -- especially is you like fondue, chocolate, and ooohing and aaaahing over darling little baby girl things!! I do.

Joc, Kim and I went from there to see The Nutcracker. I have a photo, but it's not very good -- it's very blurry. Joc had one taken on her camera. I'll share it as soon as I get it!

Today will be a quiet day ... just me, myself and I. Hmmmm....I wonder what kind of trouble I can get into . . . !

:)

a totally different day . . .

2011-12-09T14:00:00.003-06:00

In that I purposed to fill it one way and actually filled it quite differently.

I had planned for yesterday to be my Occupy Your Sewing Room day, but it ended up being more like an "occupy your kitchen" kind of day. *shrug*

It started on Wednesday, when Todd and I went grocery shopping. I really like ginger snaps, but they didn't have the sugar free kind, so I didn't get any. But I thought about them. A lot. They had the regular kind, but if I'm going to eat something with sugar in it, then it might as well be something *I've* made, right? Anyway, Thursday morning, I've still got a ... taste ... for ginger cookies of some kind. So I turned to google.

Trusty google. I actually ran a search on ginger oatmeal cookies, because the combination just sounded good and I knew I had oatmeal in my pantry. The search netted a couple of interesting prospects, but one in particular caught my eye, from the Cooks Illustrated website. Where it was from was enough to sell me on the cookie. I love, love that magazine. I used to have all the issues and even their annual collections, but that was one that didn't make the RV cut. I was really tickled to find them online! A quick look at the recipe assured me that I had all the ingredients (with a minor sub for sugar plus molasses for the brown sugar it called for), and I cut it in half, because it was better than way. To me, the ultimate test is the raw cookie dough test. If the cookie dough is good, then the cookie is going to be good. The cookie dough for this was GOOD! I thought about just wrapping it up and eating it be the spoonful from the fridge. But I didn't -- I portioned it out, put it in the oven and let it bake. The result? See for yourself . . .

They were soft and chewy on the inside, with just enough 'crispiness' around the edges. The oatmeal did its job of added substance and texture and nutty flavor. The lovely, warm ginger flavor made my mouth smile!

Oh yeah -- they were good still warm, too. :)

After that, since the oven was already heated up, I went ahead and put in a chicken for tonight's chicken & dumplings. I like to cook a whole chicken, pick it, and then cook down the remainders for my broth. Once that was done I put in some venison cutlets to cook and then made hash for this morning's breakfast (which was really good, by the way). Then finally, just in time for Jocelyn's afternoon visit, I made up a saucepan of cocoa.

And so we had cocoa and ginger oatmeal cookies for a lovely afternoon snack on a chilly day. Just perfect!

Isn't she beautiful? I swear she gets more beautiful each time I see her. We are getting so, so close!! Early tomorrow evening is our small "Celebrate Ellie" get together at the Melting Pot. I'd order some special little things for Ellie -- I can't wait to share them with Jocey! And then afterwards, Kim, Joc and I head to see The Nutcracker! A girl's night out -- so fun! I'll be sure to share.

Speaking of sharing, in the event that anyone's interested, I thought I'd share my version of that yummy cookie!

Ginger Oatmeal Cookies

based on recipe from Cooks Illustrated - Published January 1, 1997.

Makes about 28 cookies

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter (1/4 pound), softened but still firm
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 egg
3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups rolled oats

Instructions

1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugar and molasses; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg.

2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, ground ginger, and nutmeg together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats.

3. Form dough into twenty-four to twenty-eight 1-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper–covered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom. [editor's note: I didn't do this.]) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving. [editor's note: good luck on that!]

If you prefer a less sweet cookie, you can reduce the white sugar by one-quarter cup, but you will lose some crispness. Do not overbake these cookies. The edges should be brown but the rest of the cookie should still be very light in color. Parchment makes for easy cookie removal and cleanup, but it’s not a necessity. If you don’t use parchment, let the cookies cool directly on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Happy Friday -- enjoy!!

:)

this shoe was made for walking . . .

2011-12-08T07:15:00.003-06:00

Let the walking games begin! Yesterday I finally donned my little cast shoe (isn't it pretty? NOT!), which means I can start taking baby steps. Yay!! It's slow going and I'm not supposed to put more than 25% of my weight on it. That's a good thing, because I'm afraid to put more than that on it anyway. I have a bizarre fear that the screws the doc put in during the surgery, will be forced out the bottom of my foot if I put too much weight on it. LOL!

I know that's silly, but that's irrational fear for you. Too much weight (I've played around a little with it) and it starts to get uncomfortable, so I'll stick to walking on it with my crutches or walker. I can say, without a doubt or any hesitation, that going up the stairs is *SO* much easier, now that my right foot can bear a little weight! My left knee is nearly singing with relief. LOL!

I also thought I'd share a piece of my morning . . . I pulled out my Noritake Christmas tree mug. This morning it's filled (or rather, was filled) with coffee and my favorite peppermint mocha coffee mate. A couple of years ago I gave each of my sisters one of these mugs, so that as we sipped our coffee, tea and/or hot chocolate during the month of Christmas, we'd think of one another and perhaps relive fond memories of Christmases past.

This morning it seemed appropriate to stir my coffee with this darling, darling little spoon. It was a gift from one of my sisters -- and actually, it was one of a set of three. All three had something different in the spoon. One says, "hi tea" and one says, "<3" but the one I used this morning says . . .

Good morning, sister!!! :) Isn't that fun? And perfect with my sister mug!!

Today is my day to:

Yay! I probably won't work on anything Christmas, but maybe I'll get some more work finished on My Orange Crush. Or who knows . . . perhaps I'll get in there, inspiration will strike, and I'll work on something completely [new and] different! Have you heard about Cat Patches' Occupy Your Sewing Room? If not, click on the pic above to check it

One never knows. Mwaaaahahahaa!!!

:)

how i spent my day . . .

2011-12-07T07:00:00.002-06:00

I have the *best* boss and the *best* office in the whole, wide world.

Of course, my boss is my darling husband and my office is my home. We have a pretty good working situation. For the most part, we've got a daily/weekly/monthly chart of things I need to do (or need to remind him to do) for the ministry and the Camp. With a few exceptions, I can do them in my own timing, within their particular time constraints. I like this. Today, after I finished up some correspondence and blog work I had for the ministry, I had a fun project. I worked on a map of the camp, including all the trails and the landmarks. It's not to scale, and it's definitely not even close to being engineer-perfect, but it's a good start for groups who come up and have never been here, and aren't sure what's where. Especially the trails, since even though they're marked, they're spaced pretty far apart.

It's probably tough to see here, but I didn't compress it, so if you click on it, it will open up enlarged. It was a fun project for a rainy day! And yes, we're parked there in the yellow box!

I saw this on my sister's humor board on Pinterest. It *so* resonated with me! And since I started by telling you what a great boss (ergo, hubby) I had, I thought this was an appropriate time to share it . . .

Bless Todd's heart -- it should read, I have someone who is prepared for ...

:)

secret santa arrives . . .

2011-12-06T15:00:00.002-06:00

Well Ho, Ho, Ho!! In all the fun of collecting little happies for the delightful blogger I'm sending to, I completely forgot about the fact that I would also be receiving something from my very own personal Secret Santa. When Todd brought me in a box from his run to the post office the other morning, I had no clue what it was. Isn't that the BEST?!!

Anyway, he drops this box into my lap and I'm thinking that perhaps it's one of my recently ordered Etsy items. There's no return address, but perhaps, due to the season, they purposefully leave it off to throw nosey people off the scent (which is *exactly* why it was done that way -- LOL). So I open the box . . .

I'm surprised but very tickled that a vendor wrapped their product in such festive tissue paper! And then I push the paper aside . . .

And my first thought is, I didn't order anything with an angel ornament. I know I didn't. Where is this from? And so I dig a little deeper and dig it all OUT.

Oh! Look at all this loot. Oh, what fun this is!! And then I turn the little tag over and see For: Denise - Love, Santa. OOOOOH!!! Now I'm getting it!! Look at this pretty fat quarter of violets -- with a vein of sparkly thread running through it. So charming!

Did you see that darling little butterfly box? Cinnamon shortbread tea cookies. Oh yummy!

In the pretty green bag?! Tea . . . delicious loose leaf tea. I didn't even need to open the bag to know that it was filled with that rascal of a chap, Earl Grey. Oh my, it smelled so good!! No seriously, it smelled so good I had to stop right there and make a cup of tea!

And perhaps I ate a cookie with it, too. Or two.

Thank you, my darling Secret Santa pal -- you are the BEST!!! And quite *clever*!!! Haha!

wall in my lap . . .

2011-12-05T07:23:00.001-06:00

Yes, literally -- my current project is in my lap as I do the hand-stitching on my Holly Jolly topper! I need to close the seams on each piece and then it will be ready to do some quick, machine quilting. Once that's finished I'll stitch the pieces together. Look for a how-to for this one, later on in the month!

I also had a little fun with a holiday felted project this weekend. I was browsing through my button board on Pinterest, looking for an appropriate project for a blogger friend. I stumbled upon this cute one at lil fish studios and not only is this one I passed along, but right then and there I made one for myself!

And then I made another. Because it was SOOOO easy and SOOOOO cute!! I really enjoy Pinterest. I know it sounds funny, but I really have used it for lots of great ideas that I actually worked out! A lot of my fall projects and new recipe tries came directly from Pinterest inspiration. :)

So. Now I have to decide if I'm going to make more poinsettia flowers or if I'm going to do something with just these two. Hmmm....after slight deliberation, I have to say I see more of these in my future!!

Speaking of more, there are tons more design walls to browse through today! Head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times and check 'em out!

Happy, happy Monday -- be the light!

grocery help . . .

2011-12-04T20:27:00.001-06:00

When I saw this pinned by a friend on Pinterest, I was immediately interested. Even with just the two of us, Todd and I easily spend....well, let's just say we spend a lot for two people -- and we're not extravagant shoppers. I go into the store with a planned menu for the week and a list. We don't purchase a lot of junk food or snack stuff. I'm pretty good about getting store brand or shopping for the best price, and I usually have coupons. And not only that, but our freezer is filled with all kinds of cuts of venison and loads of fish, thanks to a good friend and my husband, so the money we spend on meat is minimal. Groceries are just . . . expensive. And getting more expensive!

I want to take a look at this and see what it provides . . . thought I'd share here for anyone else who is conscious of the high cost of feeding your family!!

:)

one last look . . .

2011-12-02T19:33:00.000-06:00

I figured that since December is here and Christmas decorations go up tomorrow, I'd better get my Thanksgiving photos posted and share what a glorious day we had.

The weather was perfect -- sunny, balmy and breezy, with temps in the 60's. The perfect day for an outdoor dinner. And also for stroller rides!

While Kim and Jocelyn got our buffet picnic tables all set and ready to go, my sister, Julia, went walking in the woods and picked up some lovely natural decor to set on our table.

Between the pineapple turkey and the pumpkins, gourds, leaves, branches and acorns, our table looked quite Thanksgiving festive.

Lu cracks me up ... when she is posing for a picture, this is her "pose" smile . . .

Can you see the family resemblance?

I had to laugh when I saw these pics, back-to-back in my film roll. So funny!! Anyway, the tables were fairly well loaded down!

My nephew, Ben, and Jason -- our fearless turkey carvers!!

Jason actually did a GREAT job carving the turkeys (yes, we cooked two ten-pounders -- one in my gas oven at the RV and one in the electric oven at the pavilion). And Ben de-stuffed the birds! They were quite the turkey-team. :)

Julia's husband was our fire-fender for the week. Seriously, a fire got lit in the pavilion fire place when they arrived Sunday afternoon and it was maintained day and night until they left on Friday!

Michael makes a great director, don't you think?!

I don't think we had to call people twice ... the more food that went out on the table, the closer the crowd got!

I tried (and tried) to get a photo that had *everyone* at the table but there was absolutely no way ... in fact, I'm not sure that there was a point when *everyone* was sitting at the table! I was able to sneak in a profile shot of Todd's dad!

Sawyer . . .

Mom? You forget about me over here?

Mom?!? You need me to come help?!??

MmmmmOMMMMMY!!

Food must have been good . . . smiles all around!

And my favorite capture of the day? The girls took the dishes over to the (warm) RV and put in a Christmas movie and washed dishes. The guys?

The guys hung a white sheet over the canvas and projected HALO on it for a little gaming action.

Yup, they were occupied for HOURS!! It was a wonderful, fun day, and I'll remember it fondly as one of my favorite Thanksgivings since we've moved here!

And, just so you can see I'm keeping my hand in the quilting game . . .

I should have a finish soon!!

:)

let's go for three . . .

2011-12-01T17:39:00.003-06:00

Gosh, what a sweet week of visitors it's been! First Jean and her hubby on Monday, Jocelyn on Tuesday, and can you guess who came to see me yesterday?

My little man!! He was all bundled up in his coat and darling new hat. He came in and went straight for my laptop!

He brought with him his "baby" -- the little stuffed reindeer I got him last Christmas season. He's so sweet with it, holding, loving and rocking it!

Oh my grandbaby goodness. What a cherub he is! Do you see that disarming grin?! And looking at this picture, even though I see my James's coloring, Sawyer is flashing his Mommy's smile at me!!

Kim was so sweet -- not only did she bring Sawyer for a visit, but she brought lunch, too!! I'm such a lucky mom-in-law!

And Sawyer's such a character -- full speed ahead and busy, busy, busy! I think the highlight of his visit (as always) was a ride on the golf cart with Paw-paw. He truly adores his Paw-paw!

Earlier this week Kim had texted me this picture of one of the wisemen in their Nativity scene. Underneath the picture she had typed, "Sawyer pointed at the above wiseman and said, 'Paw-paw'. Ha!" I think it may have been the mustache. LOL!

You know it strikes me ... if that little boy grows up with his Daddy, his Paw-paw and his Grandpa as his three wisemen, he'll do okay in life.

:)

two in a row . . .

2011-11-30T09:58:00.000-06:00

Two great days in a row, that is! Yesterday was a ticket-buying/picking up kind of day. First, Jocey came and got me. It was a grey, snow-flurry, misty morning ... can you believe that it was 33 degrees and we had snow flurries in November in North Alabama?! Some of the more mountainous spots in Huntsville had TWO to FIVE inches!!

But I digress.

Joc came and got me . . .

And our first ticket stop?! A 11:30 matinee showing of Breaking Dawn! Yes!!! She'd purchased tickets online to ensure we'd get handicap seating. The theater was nearly empty (which I enjoy) and we sat center stage. It was GREAT! Joc had gone to see it already (the very first showing), so this trip was just for *me*! What a darling daughter, non? I'd make Nutella No-Bake Cookies and cut up some cheese and crackers -- we had quite a feast for lunch watching the movie. Real swank-like. LOL!

After the movie, we headed over to Jo Ann Fabrics to look at material for curtains for the nursery and pick up some flannel and other supplies. Joc also got some dark pink minky material so I could make a new changing pad cover. It was fun meandering around the fabric store!

From there, we did ticket pickup number two ... tickets to a December 10 performance of The Nutcracker! It's put on yearly by the Huntsville Ballet Company. This is the 45th year of the production. I got a great deal on Living Social for $15 orchestra seats. I was so psyched! That'll be a busy day -- we're celebrating the coming of Ellie with a small gathering for dessert at The Melting Pot earlier that evening.

After we picked up the ballet tickets - and since we were so close, we stopped at my (our) favorite bakery, Peggy Ann's Bakery. They have the BEST petite fours I've ever had. Seriously. I sent Joc in by herself (which may have been a mistake) and she came out with a pastry box filled with some lovely, lovely sweets . . .

Aside from the petite fours, I think both of our favorite sweet treat were the petite four cookies (which we ate in the car, pretty much before we left the bakery parking lot). They were *wonderful*!!! There were some sweet tea cookies, a lemon bar (which was scrumptious), and a frosted brownie (we split the two bar cookies). It was so fun we *had* to get out the China and have a tea party!! So, a little on my Lenox Kelly, a pot of Almond Rocker tea and a plate of cookies, all on the Christmas topper ... it was quite a lovely feast!

And that's when I remembered I hadn't looked through my latest issue of Tea Time! I was saving it for a special occasion. :)

Perusing through it, I came across a page of recipes for a Christmas Eve tea.

How festive!! The candied fruit scones look marvelous, but it was really the Christmas Tree Tea Sandwiches that caught my eye.

Aren't these darling?!?! They are heartier than they look and the recipe was fairly easy.

Christmas Tree Tea Sandwiches from Tea Time Magazine
Yield: 12 sandwiches
Preparation: 30 minutes

12 slices pumpernickel bread
12 slices ham
12 slices Havarti cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
48 very thin slices English cucumber

*Using a 4-inch Christmas tree cookie cutter, cut 2 tree shapes from each slice of bread, ham, and cheese. Using a 1/2-inch star cookie cutter, cut 12 stars from remaining cheese scraps. Discard all scraps.

*In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Spread mayonnaise mixture on pumpernickel bread. Top each bread slice with 1 slice ham and 1 slice cheese.

*Cut cucumber slices in half, and arrange on top of cheese in shingled fashion, trimming as necessary. Place cheese stars on top of cucumber layer. Serve immediately. [And enjoy!]

It was such a fun day -- and I definitely think I'm beginning to get into the Christmas mood now!! Decorating on Friday ... whooohoo!!

:)

up one side . . .

2011-11-28T17:12:00.001-06:00

And down the other. It seems to be the major theme of my doctor visits!! This is my third cast removal in two months. Whew! Today's appointment was at 7:30 -- the first of the day. It was a nice change of pace for us. The last two have been afternoon appointments and we've waited 1-2 hours before even getting back to a room. Today we were in and out in under an hour.

The swelling has measurably improved . . . from straight on it really almost looks normal again!! the doc is pleased with the progress, but there's still another week and a half to two weeks of non weight bearing. He gave me a 'cast shoe' that I can wear after that and start putting a little weight (no more than 25% of my body weight) on it, if there's no pain. If there's pain, I'm to hold off.

From the side it still looks rather like a shaved hobbit foot. But better. The incision is healing up very, very nicely!! But you can see where the opening for the ultra sound has been. Doc noticed, too - he switched the opening back over to the inside again.

And so, without further ado, here's cast number four!! And hopefully the LAST cast. I went with a seasonal green this time. I'm thinking Christmas lights and holly. With bells on the shoes, perhaps!

And then, I had the BEST treat this afternoon!! Jean, from Jean Creates, was not too far away visiting family for the Thanksgiving weekend and decided to drive down a meet ME!! She and her sweet husband, Bill, drove to the camp and spent a couple of hours visiting!!

Isn't she beautiful!! The best smile and the prettiest eyes, and a kindred spirit! We have so much in common -- they've spent hardcore time in their Airstream, she's a creative person, and we both met our respective husbands online!! We had a fun afternoon chatting and her visit ended all too soon. I hope I get a chance to meet her again ... hopefully when I'm able to be up and active!!

And as if driving all the way down here to meet me wasn't enough, Jean came bearing a sweet gift -- a quilty book!

It's full of marvelous tips and tricks for quilters -- organization, piecing, tools of the trade, storing your finished quilts ... you name it! But the really sweet thing about this little book?

The inscription from my friend. I'll add today's date to it -- what a sweet memento to remember such a great afternoon, and a lovely lady!

:)

season of advent . . .

2011-11-27T09:00:00.002-06:00

Did you know that today is the first day of Advent? Advent is the period of "hopeful expectation" prior to Christmas, which each of the four weeks prior to Christmas representing a different aspect of the season: hope, love, joy and peace. The folks at Busted Halo have put together a marvelous, two minute video on what Advent is and isn't. My sister shared it with me and it was so great, I wanted to share it here . . .

And there's even an Advent calendar on the site. Each day, in turn, will lead to a special Advent-themed Daily Jolt, with an opportunity for reflection and a microChallenge. Pretty cool stuff and a great way to keep close to heart and mind, the true Reason for the season.

Happy Sunday!

:)

an iron faceoff . . .

2011-11-26T15:30:00.001-06:00

An iron BOWL that is. Bowl game. Football. A classic, classic rival game! The Alabama Crimson Tide versus the Auburn Tigers.

source

And no matter how our respective teams have played through the season, when it comes to this, the last game of the regular year, you can't help but be a little anxious. This game is not one decided by polls or fans or even necessarily the better players or coaches . . . it's decided play-by-play, minute-by-minute, and quarter-by-quarter. And just because you're ahead at half-time doesn't mean you're the winner. This is *definitely* a four quarter game!!

source

And -- all that being said -- just so there's NO confusion as to which side I cheer for . . .

ROLL TIDE, ROLL!!!

[Post game update: final score was Alabama 42, Auburn 14. And the Tide rolls on!]

:)

a long line . . .

2011-11-24T07:00:00.001-06:00

This was my great, great, great times a lot, grandfather. On my dad's side.

One of my cousins grabbed these two pics when she toured the old homestead, when it was up for sale a year or so ago.

I thought today was an appropriate day to show and tell! I'm one of those lucky people who's descended from Mayflower stock from both parents. My dad from William White (Peregrine's dad), and my mom from EIGHT Mayflower passengers, including Miles Standish, John Alden, Priscilla Mullins, and George Soule, to name a view. Pretty cool! Thanksgiving takes on an extra special meaning for our family.

And so, Happy Thanksgiving!!

From my home to yours!

:)

parade of cuteness . . .

2011-11-23T21:48:00.000-06:00

Over at the Generation Q blog, this week has been declared the week of "Oh Thank Cuteness". And seeing as how I have all this marvelous family here for the week of Thanksgiving, I have a lot of cuteness to be thankful for!

Starting with this trio of beauties . . .

Taken at Emma's Tearoom, where we had a marvelous time!

And then the two youngest of our gathering . . .

Does it get any cuter than this?!

Mommy and daughter, hiking the trails . . .

So sweet!

And look, a wood fairy!!

Such a little darling!

And I believe this is her brother . . .

The wood gnome!

Water babies!

Yes, it's November and they're playing in the stream wearing flip-flops. It's Alabama.

Look Ma, no hands!

Actually, I believe she was 'surfing'. Seriously.

Lucy has no problem striking a pose . . .

Top of the world, Ma!

What's cuter than kiddlies making haunted gingerbread houses?

Such fun!

No really, it's cuter in person.

Well, it was cuter before it was, um...taken apart.

Bon appetit!

And here's a cuter-than-cute pair . . .

Nothing says cute like a toddler with his finger 'in the zone'!

Daddy and son . . .

That's all folks!

Head over to Generation Q to see all the cuteness being blogged about this week!

:)

hang the design . . .

2011-11-21T08:23:00.000-06:00

No, literally ... my 'design wall' is actually just the last two blocks I completed quilting of My Orange Crush quilt. Hanging by pins off the bunk!

Really you can't even tell that they're quilted in these pictures, except that you can still see my blue marking pen in the last one I finished . . .

Yeah, I need to get that off. Four blocks down, twelve to go!! But seeing as how it took me less than a week to finish these two, once I get all the blocks set and sandwiched, the quilting shouldn't take long. Of course, nothing will probably get done this week, seeing as how my sister and her family are here - we'll be too busy having FUN!

Speaking of which, today all the girls in the family are headed to my favorite tearoom, Emma's, for lunch! Yay!

All right, I'm off. But two things first . . . if you have a chance, please check out this post from yesterday about a dear quilter in need of some hugs *and* check out Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to see what's up on design walls all over the bloggy world!!

And . . . it's Monday!! Have a *marvelous* day!

:)

a quilter in need . . .

2011-11-20T15:23:00.001-06:00

In need of some hugs and cheer, that is.

A bloggy/quilty friend, Debbie, of Designs by Debbie and Dixie Too! recently shared that a dear friend of hers -- her quilting mentor -- has been diagnosed with breast cancer and starts chemotherapy on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Debbie posted about her friend Sue on her blog, HERE, HERE and HERE. Debbie is going to put together a 'good cheer' basket for her friend, to give her something to do to pass the time as she goes through and recovers from her treatments. I know how quilters are -- generous to a fault, especially when it comes to one of our own. Please take a look at Debbie's blog and help in any way you can. Especially in the prayer department -- I know Debbie (and Sue!) would appreciate your prayers above anything else!

glorious weekend . . .

2011-11-19T08:50:00.001-06:00

I love weekends. It sounds kind of silly when you think of it ... I don't work and Todd doesn't work a traditional 9-5, 5-days-a-week kind of job, so you might be tempted to think one day was pretty much just like the next for us, but no. Weekends are football and family (because our son and son-in-law do work more traditional hours) and worship and activities at the camp . . . yup, I do love me weekends!

This weekend we've got a group coming into the camp for a fellowship supper; it's a returning group -- they come out in the spring and fall, and they're always fun and *always* bring great food and invite us to eat with them! And then tomorrow, my sister and her family arrive for the WEEK!!! I'm so excited! (Oh, and with that tidbit of news comes the caveat that my posting for the next week *may* be a little slim! Maybe not. We'll see.)

So we're getting ready to head out and be busy and get things spruced up around here. In the meantime, I did have some things to share . . .

Sawyer's first finger painting. I wish you could see the huge grin on my face when I see this! Doesn't it look like he just had a blast?!? And I love the fall colors, too! I can kind of see a turkey in there . . .

I told you last weekend that all the kids were up here; Jason was taking pics for Kim and James for the Christmas cards. He captured some great shots, like this one . . .

Aren't they a darling family?

Sawyer had a really great nap that afternoon. It makes a world of difference when you're taking his pictures after 4:00 pm! Of course, his favorite Aunt Jocelyn was there helping, too!

I love this one . . . walking in the tall grass! It's so sweet how nicely he holds hands!

And this one is darling, too!

And a great transition to this one . . .

Funny, funny story on this one -- it evidently took a whole lot of attempts to finally get this one. Every time James would lean over to kiss Kim, Sawyer would have a fit and start kicking his feet and waving his hands. Jocelyn said it was hysterical to watch! Finally they were able to get one where it actually looks like Sawyer's grinning as his daddy kisses his mommy. So sweet -- but a lot more fun if you know the background story on it!

Okay, so thanks for indulging me in sharing one of my favorite things ... family. I'm off to get busy!! Have a happy Saturday! (Oh, and ROLL TIDE!)

:)

Count it *all* JOY!!