california travels to alabama . . .

I'm just going to warn you right now . . . this post is going to be super SUPER photo heavy.  And not a single quilty, stitchy thing.  All grands.  :)

As I teased in my last post,  James, Kim, Sawyer, June and Olivia made the trip from California.  They came the last few days in June and stayed through the first week of July.  It was so spectacular to see them all!!  I've just uploaded pics.  Enjoy!

My folks with six of their greats!

There always has to be the funny face photo!

Edith thought she'd sleep on the top bunk.

You see where Edith ended up.  My bunk. Hahaha!

Sawyer holding Horsepower!

Exploring the trails!

Everyone on the Bull!  (That's what we named our Gator.)

They conquered the Obstancle Course!

Setting up!

Lotsa bug spray, water and popsicles!

Sparkler fun!

Edith's first time with sparklers!

Firework anticipation.

Todd and I in the twilight of the 4th!

Ready for the show!

Sawyer, June & Olivia 

Best cousins!

Group Grands!

These are outtakes from the group picture.  Edith was put out about something!

We had a lovely sleepover -- ALL of the grands -- one night!  We schlepped over to the cabin.  It was such fun!  The kids did so great!  It was Olivia's and Edith's first sleepover at Neesey's!

We also enjoyed the July 4th holiday at the camp! The kids purchased a bunch of fireworks, and it was such fun to enjoy them!

It was a fabulous visit ... over way too quickly.  I enjoyed every minute of it (except the part where we said goodbye!)!

:)

let's make it . . .

. . . a wonderful Wednesday!!  (Did you think I was going to say something quilty-cutesy? Psyche!)

I'm just going to be straight out honest and say that I got in more napping than stitching on Sunday afternoon. (insert cheesy grin here) But I have done a smidge of stitching on Evey's quilt . . . 

"G", to be exact.

I found a cute pattern for bubble britches for Evey (to go with her turtle smock). I was prepared to buy a pattern when I remembered I've got a pretty decent arsenal of patterns for little girls' clothes saved on my laptop. Sure enough . . .

Just the bloomers. For now! Pdf patterns are interesting, because you've got to print them and then put them together . . .

Tah-dah! That was quick...luckily for me, these little cuties only needed five pages. But I still had to find some appropriate fabric! Luckily for me, there's a little shop *two*doors*down* from my place of work -- Barb's Sewing. I think I've got the perfect little print to hide a diaper and go with the smocked turtles . . .

Isn't that cute stuff??? Add that half-yard to my stash and out again.

I found a *GREAT* video tutorial for baby bloomers from Vintage to New.  

This tutorial is definitely worth checking out if sewing a pair of baby bloomers is in your future. LOL!  (insert another cheesy grin here)

So that's where I stand on Wednesday -- hoping to have bloomers finished on Friday and powering through letters "I" and "J"! Linking up today with Esther's Quilt Blog WOW (WIPs On Wednesday) post. Have a GREAT day!!

:)

whew . . .

Whew: an exclamation: used to express surprise, relief, or a feeling of being very hot or tired.

Whew! I've been working this week. At a job. A real job. Well, out side of the home job. In an office. It amazes me how fast one gets used to NOT working in an office. LOL! I've been pinch hitting, so to speak, just for this week. It's been busy (and long hours), but I've enjoyed it! The office hours are 7:30 to 5:30, Monday thru Thursday. This makes for a very long day, but a short week!

This is one of the things I've been working on this week. Putting the Association on Facebook. Yay! 

I also had some very sweet visitors at work . . . 

My Merkel girls! Ellie was very impressed with the office space and even more impressed with the pens, pencils, markers, scissors and letter openers, just sitting in a jar on the desk, within reach.

She drew me a darling picture of her hand . . . 

Complete with a boo-boo on it. I love special art work!

I haven't had a lot of time to stitch this week (or last, or the week before), but I did finish piecing my antique rose.

I started it because one of the classes at our Quilt-In (in July) was making one of these with a special acrylic template. Since I love English paper piecing, I decided to try the same block, only use EPP to put it together (and to use my Michael Miller Fairy Frost fabrics to do it).

That was a lot of work! I love hand piecing, so I enjoyed it very much. I'm just not sure that I'd ever do more of this one . . . or what I'm going to do with what I've got! The card stock templates are still in the 'kite' shapes (hence the funky black thread lines running through it all). I will remove those as soon as I've decided what to do with it! Linking up to HeLP for Hexie-aholics!!

And finally, guess what?  I'm a *winner*!!  Whoohoo (vs Whew)!!!

Marsha (who is a fellow RVer) had a lovely giveaway over at her blog, Quilter in Motion, and I won a book by Heather Ross (fabric designer and so much more); How to Catch a Frog!  She also wrote How to Behave at a Tea Party, which is on my 'to be purchased' list!!

One more day.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can . . .  Whew!

:)

controlled chaos . . .

Or, as my sister happily encourages, "Embrace the chaos!"

This is what I've been doing for several months! LOL! We still don't have quite *everything* moved over from the old RV, but we've been making progress (in between rain drops).  I would imagine by next week, we'll have gotten everything we are keeping, moved.  And everything we are letting go of, boxed up and either given away or donated. At first I was dreading the decisions of what to keep/what to let go, but it went very easily (thank You, Lord!) and there hasn't been any 'stuff' heartache!

My little sewing area is looking good . . .

Todd got the pegboard up for me and I moved over my 'Nina! The 'garage' space (the front storage under the hitch) was deeper than I thought and I was able to get a good bit in it.  Yay!  We also got the happy light strung.  Happy lights are very important.  ;)

I've really enjoyed putting out our homey touches . . .

There really wasn't the space to do this in the old RV, so seasonal decorating takes a whole new meaning!

And the views -- with more and *bigger* windows throughout -- make me smile, too. I love opening the shade to this bedroom window first thing in the morning! :)

I wasn't able to get to Paducah this year, but one of my darling quilting buddies (we're in guild and a stitcher's group together) saw this precious little pattern . . .

. . . thought of me and brought it back as a gift!  Isn't it darling?  I can't wait to make it -- in the fifth wheel version, of course (center bottom)!

We've been busy, busy with the turtle sanctuary, too!  Todd and I go out and feed them every morning.  Our tiniest little turtle is no bigger than a silver dollar! I captured some video of him eating a worm (that's nearly as big as he is) to share:

And then there's one-eyed Joe.  He is quite the character and actually comes running when I call (and when he can see I'm holding a worm).  Todd caught him on video, too:

We're really enjoying the sanctuary and also really enjoy sharing it with camp visitors (and the grands, who are as in love with turtles as I am)!

And since this *is* Feline Friday, I suppose it wouldn't be out of order to share a capture of Leia . . .

Leia, fish-slayer, that is. I have my worries for poor little Herman! (Ellie picked out the fish, his name, AND the purple rocks! Girl's got style.) Linking up to Feline Friday at sarah did it!

:)

busy, busy, busy . . .

A happy finish ... well, piecing finish, anyway . . .

I so love the way this pretty little Christmas twisted hexie looks!!  The basting stitches are still intact -- I haven't removed my template pieces, yet.  Now my quest to find an appropriate 'skirt' for it!  I think it will make a gorgeous holiday table covering!

I put my fall fabrics to good use and made another spirograph topper.  I think this may be my go-to project for a pretty little hostess gift.

But I think I may play around a bit with the center applique, too. Any thoughts? I made the center of this one a bit smaller than my original, and I don't think I'll do that again.  I *did* miter the corners of the borders on this one -- and I *will* do that again!

I got out and about a bit this weekend.  Our church had a huge yard sale to benefit the children and youth ministries.  I was mostly good.  I found a couple of fun things for Ellie's dress-up trunk and lucked into this group of silk ties . . .

For a buck!  I figured that between Easter eggs and crazy quilting, I'd be able to put these to very good use!

I also headed over to one of my favorite quilt shops.  I needed backing fabric for Pixelated and Hooked on Quilting was having a guild appreciation sale -- 25% off! So I headed there and found the brown Civil War print (on the left):

It works well with the muted red binding and the front, I think, and will be good for a son to roll around in. I've decided I really do need to machine quilt this, since it is for James ... now I just need to settle on how I'm going to quilt it.  Both the pattern *and* the logistics in the RV!  

I also grabbed some 'burgundy' (the photo doesn't translate that well, I'm afraid) for our guild's 2-1/2" strip exchange that starts next month.  

And I filled up my Martindale card and picked up this book on Baltimore Album blocks (which I *WILL* make one day).  Now I get a freebie book!  Yay!

I also have this fun thing pieced and ready to put a back to:

I'd won the strip kit for it in March and got a hankering to put it together. So I did (minky is a *mess* to work with, by the way!).  But then I needed a back in keeping with the front!  I swung by Sirs, where I remembered seeing the Dr. Seuss prints in wide minky.  Sure enough, I found what I think will make the perfect backing from that same line:

Don't you think?  Technically this won't be a quilt -- the minky is so thick, it really doesn't need batting.  I'm going to stitch the outside edges together (with the right sides facing), then pull it inside-out and 'quilt' down the vertical lines. It'll be an interesting finish!

All that fabric shopping injected another healthy dose into my August stash report, but I also will have some big yardage finishes to include, which will help balance things out!  Linking up this post to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times and Design Wall Monday and Kathy's Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching.

Before I head out to tackle the world, thought I'd share some of my favorite peeps . . .

Todd is *thoroughly* enjoying retirement and the ability to grow a beard!  I have to admit that I find him quite dashing in the beard and I'm enjoying the "Duck Dynasty" commando look!

Sawyer is now a dragon whisperer.  Seriously.

He's making up wonderful dragon stories and everything -- his imagination is quite vivid!  I got the dinosaur costume for him last October -- and he'd carry it, but refused to wear it.  Until just this past month or so. Gotta love it!

Ellie's driving.

Good gravy, slow the growing down!!  That's a smile she's sporting, just in case you're not sure.  She's pretty much able to give Sawyer a run for his money these day!  She's a clever little chatterbox, too -- Joc asked her to sing her ABC's and Ellie replied, "A, B, C . . . no more!"  Sassy pants!

June is ... well, at home she's called the Princess Baby.  

I think that means she's queen of the show -- I know she's got both daddy and big brother wrapped around her little fingers! 

With a smile (and giggle) like that, who can resist?!

Have a GREAT week!

:)

my new obsession . . .

Gracious.  As if I needed a new obsession on top of those I've already got, right? Right.  There's no *help* for me . . . 

Or is there??!!!!

I'm talking about English paper piecing, which I absolutely adore!!

I've finished up my apple core columns and am now ready to stitch those together.  I'm hoping they go together as smoothly as the 9 columns went.  I numbered them (and marked them with an ↑) so I ensure I'd be able to easily figure out which one was first, last, and how they went in-between!

I was having so much fun EPP'ing those, that I decided to take my original design and put it together that way, too.

I've got the center done and have the pieces cut for the balance.  I decided to leave the outside edges of the yellow and orange pieces un-stitched, so that I can trim them to a 1/4" and stitch them to the purple fabric I want to use to set the block on point.  We'll see how that works.  Linking up my EPP projects to the HeLP linky party over at Sarah Did It!

In other news, we had a fabulous guild meeting last night.  Our guest speaker was Shelly Zeggart, of Why Quilts Matter fame.  Her program was wonderful, and we got to watch one of the episodes of the documentary.  If you've not heard of this program, you really need to check out the trailer for it:

My friend Melissa (of I am Beautiful Bee) and I went in together and purchased the DVD set.  I can't wait to watch the whole thing!

Another perk from last night?  My darling friend Jane gifted me with a pattern for a pinwheel wreath.

She'd made one last year and I fell in love with it -- you can see hers HERE;  it's about halfway through the post.  Isn't it DARLING!?  And wasn't that sweet of Jane to remember how much I liked it?  I also came away with a tidy little bundle of fabrics and some romantic stencils.

My cup (aka my fabric bin) overfloweth!  That will put a little spike in my stash reporting (and my fabric obsession) ... but I'll wait until we return from Maryland -- just in case I happen to acquire some fabric while I'm gone.  Who knows, right?!

I found a REALLY CUTE youtube tutorial for making origami dresses.  As soon as I saw the finished product, I thought it would make the *perfect* place card for a little girl's tea party!  So of course, I tried my hand at it, because I also have an obsession for all things tea!

They got better/easier as I got them done.  I made one and figured out where I'd put the name -- then I was able to run the paper through the printer and cut out my squares.  The tutorial can be found HERE.  For these particular dresses, my paper was 4.5" by 3.5".

And let's wrap this post up with an *old* obsession of mine . . . 

CHOCOLATE!  I had just enough ingredients to make a batch of my favorite fudgie One Bowl Brownies and frost them with ganache!  Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Cheerio!

:)