birthday hijinx . . .

Whew! What a wonderful birthday week/weekend it's been!!

It started when I got out some of my fall decor and decorated my front door . . .

I kinda miss having a front porch ... and the back patio really isn't big enough (or seen well) to do more than a bit for me.

Then I met my Cross Stitch group on Monday.  Remember how I'd made such great progress on my Lady Halloween piece?  I looked at it Sunday evening and realized I'd stitched two complete elements in the wrong place:

UGH!  Don't you hate it when that happens? Anyway, I spent my group time on Monday picking out all the inappropriate stitches. And then the rest of the week adding them back in the correct location (along with a few more) . . .

Then there were presents from my Affirmation Sisters . . .

Fun stitchy stuff!!

On Friday I had birthday dinner with Joc and the local crew . . .

Joc made me this beautiful Almond Joy birthday cake.  It was SOOO good!

And they gifted me with this beautiful blue enamel dutch oven, which was on my wish list!  I'm so excited to cook in it ... just in time for soup and chili season!

Saturday morning started early ... with Ezra's soccer game!

He scored the first goal of the game, and they won (although they don't really keep score officially, the parents do)!

After that, I headed to the Merkel's to watch the Alabama vs. Mizzou game.  It was a good (and close) game, but BAMA pulled it out!  Roll Tide!  When the game was over, I headed home to do some stitching.  I worked on the cute little Halloween stitchery that was gifted to me with the stitchable ort tray.  It's really cute!  

Someone had no interest in what I was doing . . .

And then someone was waaaaaay too interested . . . 

Sassy girl!

A quick look ahead . . . we've got LUKE Haynes coming in to speak for our guild program on Thursday evening, and then he's there for the next two days doing workshops.  

I'm taking his Friday workshop, Clothes to Quilts.  I'm really looking forward to it!

So that's it from me.  Celebrating all month long, though ... whoohoo!! Linking up last minute with Kathy's Quilts: Slow Sunday Stitching!

:)

full(ish) disclosure . . .

Since I celebrate my birthday pretty much for the entire month of October, it probably won't surprise you that birthday gifts come in over the course of the month, too.  This year I got some really lovely *quilty, stitchy* gifts, and I wanted to share those here!

I think I already shared that Joc and her crew got me a 16.5" Creative Grids square ruler, but I'll share again, because Edith is so cute . . .

She couldn't for the life of herself understand why this made a good birthday present, much less why it made me so happy. But she proudly paraded it around!

And I shared that Todd had gotten me the 10.5" square ruler, but he also got me a lovely wool applique book:

Very fitting that there are pumpkins on the cover, no? He knows me so well!

Lots of lovely, wonderful patterns inside. This will keep me busy for a while!

The Panter crew sent me Kathy Schmitz's Tiny Treasures, along with a bag of Samovar's Masala Chai (not pictured). 

I've wanted the book for a while ... it's filled with so many sweet little embroidery patterns! And the Masala Chai by Samovar is the best chai I've ever had.  Perfectly blended spices to give it a warm, full-bodied flavor.  It's the epitome of a fall tea for me!

My darling friend Gail gifted me with an Etsy gift card.  I put it to good use pretty quickly!

One kit and three patterns!  (Not pictured is the pattern for the Jack-O-Lantern placemats!)  The wool Thanksgiving bowl fillers are the next season project I think I'll tackle.

My sweet friend Sarah brought me three spools of yummy, gorgeous perle cotton and a spool of shiny, pretty green that just reminds me of pumpkin vines, winding their way in and around the pumpkins in the field . . .

What's funny is that these colors all work just perfectly for the next Hospital Sketches block I'll work on.

I mean, right??!

And dear Janet (Rogue Quilter) send me a lovely package that smelled so good before I even opened it! Some of her handmade soaps (which I treasure), some Hot Cinnamon Spice tea (another fall/winter favorite of mine!), and Pocket Prayer Quilt made in my favorite colors!!

Isn't that so sweet? I love the pocket prayer quilt — it has a cross between the batting and the cotton, so as you hold it, you feel the shape of the cross. Such a powerful, thoughtful gift!

Today is cold, dreary, grey and wet, so no boating.  I spent some time in the Nook this morning piddling around and cleaning up after the barrage of projects (the Trick or Treat bags, the placemats, and hemming costumes).  Then I came in and had some tea . . .

Yeah.  The day calls for a POT of tea, not just a spot of tea.  ;)

Sunday I'm participating in the Halloween Trick or Treat blog hop sponsored by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!  Should be lots of fun. Each participating blog shares a letter that forms a secret phrase! You hop 'round the blogs in order, gather the letters, cipher out the phrase, and report it back to Jo! Doesn't that sound like fun??

Happy Friyay!

let the festivities commence . . .

It's BIRTHDAY weekend!!  Hip, hip!!  The fun started Thursday evening when I pulled up and there were two beautiful planters of my favorite fall flowers . . .

MUMS!  Aren't they pretty?  Todd knows me so well!

Friday we hit the lake around 11:30.  Even the fish must have known it was my birthday weekend! I actually pulled out my pole (Todd was catching them hand over fist, so to speak) and I did well. 

I caught about eight (to Todd's twenty, but who's counting?).  Mine were GOOD sized!

The heron even squawked out a birthday greeting.  ;)

Saturday I pulled out that cute glow-in-the-dark fabric I found a month or so ago, and put it to good use!  I made these darling, lined trick or treat bags for the local grandgirls.

Then I realized I needed them to be able to differentiate them, so I decided to embroider the each little girl's name on them.  I finished Edith's.  Whew!

Sunday was my actual birthday.  Fifty-nine, if you must know!  Todd and I headed to lunch at my folk's house after church, and then we headed to Joc's house for [cookie] cake and ice cream.  

Edith was very happy to help me unwrap presents!  I'm particularly pleased to have that 16.5" square ruler from Creative Grids!  Todd got my the 10.5" ruler. Yay!

This was Todd's first time to hold Ezra!  Ezra's middle name, Paul, honors in part Todd's dad, Paul. Isn't that sweet?

Not nearly as sweet as this darling boy!

Look at that gas smile! 

I got in a good birthday pic with the entire crew . . . 

I think this is a first with the whole gang!  It's not a very flattering photo of me, but who's looking at me with all those cute kiddos surrounding me??!

This one is a little nicer . . .

Taken Monday at work (secret:  I generally wear the same outfit to work Monday that I wear to church on Sunday).  The first full day of my sixtieth year!  

:)

back-up beeps . . .

I realized that before I could share more about my quilt shop adventures, I had to have pics of my purchases, which I haven't taken yet.  Mainly because I've been going pretty much non-stop since I got home from California!  Then I also realized I wanted to share my quilt-related Christmas haul, and that I could also share some quilt finishes (of which I had FOUR in December)! So let me start with those . . .

All three girls were super happy with their Christmas quilts! They're so sweet! ♥ 

Leia even got in there and tested its catability. It passed with purrrrfect marks!

I did all the labels the same . . . the names were changed accordingly. *wink*

This is Olivia's finish . . . 

I can't believe I didn't think to get a picture of her with it. Doh! She was thrilled with it, though!

I really like being able to print a label, press it on, and blanket stitch around it.  

Here's my Christmas morning haul . . .

Didn't my family do good??!  I was thoroughly tickled!  There was one more book, which came in late, from Todd. 

It was Art to Heart's I Believe.  I love those Art to Heart books! 

He also got me the updated All-in-One Quilter's Reference Tool on Kindle.  This is a fabulous tool for quilters and I'd consider it a "must have"!

Then there was one more quilty-gift.  A class!  My mom has talked about taking a beginning quilting class for a year or two and I told her I'd take it with her.  Todd gifted me with that!  The class is taught by Barbara Black, who is a sweet friend, and I know that I'll pick up some good tips and learn a lot!  This is the quilt we'll be making . . .

Our first class was on Tuesday, and she walked through supplies and fabrics.  And then we shopped.  Tough class, eh?!  Baahaaahaaaa!  So we were supposed to pick a focal fabric, a fabric for the sashing, a background fabric, and fabric for the inner border.  Then were were to pick three groupings of colors with a light, medium and dark value.  Then we needed a "pop" color.  So here's what I ended up with:

This is my first four.

Here's grouping one:

Here's grouping two:

Here's  grouping three:

Here's my groups with the 'pop' color ... it's pretty easy to spot, eh?!

And here they are all together!

I think this will be a fun quilt.  It finishes at 49" square, if you leave the borders as is.  Not sure what I'll do yet.

I also saw this darling folksy animal print and decided I *needed* to have some of it, too. 

It reminds me of a Hungarian Camp MACOBA scene, with all of our little animal friends!

So there it is.  Not sure what this weekend holds.  Our guild (the membership committee) is hosting a New Member Tea that I'm helping with, but we also have severe storms/tornadoes/flooding in the forecast for Friday evening and Saturday.  It's been such a crazy winter here in North Alabama!  I do hope to get in some stitching time, though!

Have a terrific weekend!

:)