Catching Up With Makes

 I have been SO busy sewing and trying to finish my "to do" list. 
 (and no, Margie, I have not forgotten about the stockings).
I have LOADS of Christmas presents to finish binding, some baby quilts to ship out, and baby shower gifts that I needed to make.

First up is to share what I made for Avery for his first birthday.  

I put together a car mat, and made a Bendy Bag to put the little cars in and

 then a Midi bag to put it all in.  

This way his mom can carry everything together.

  Isn't that mat the bomb?

You can see both bags here.  Loved making them and will likely make more .

I used Hot Wheels fabric on the back of the mat too.

I was working on a quilt back that needed some attention  

The front was made using the fabric line called Dorothy's Journey.  

So I used the panel for the back and then I broke out my embroidery machine to make this crown and the label for the quilt. 

 I'm still a beginner with my machine so was pretty proud of myself to make this!

I had the BEST helpers.

Next up a lovey using the cutest skunk flannel and some minky.

Of course, my signature chenille blanket!

Made another 6 burp cloths

2 receiving blankets

2 crib sheets

Here it is all together, but I added some resuable wipes in a container, 

and some teethers that I made, and a sloth Warmie.  

Plus 2 books.

Another chenille blanket and a Tiger Warmie. 

 How cute is this combo??

I may need to find more of this fabric. 

Making the tiger stripes for the chenille was so cute!

I have a few more things to share but they need to be gifted first.

I leave for a retreat in WI on Tuesday.

Will likely not post again until I get home since I can't show gifts.

PHEW!  Lots of new stuff!!

~XOP~

Alamance and Glencoe NC

 If you are an Outlander fan you will remember when the Loyalists and the Regulators fought each other in Alamance NC.  

This is a real place and we went to the actual Alamance Battleground.  

It was so amazing and informative to learn the actual history of the battle.  

We also found out that Diana Gabaldon had gone there, and read from the story on the battlefield.  

We had a lot of fun and learned a lot!

This showed an overview of the area and talked about the history.

Snapped a photo of Chris by the cannon.

This Quaker house was pretty amazing.

I took videos of the views Jamie would have had and Murtough would have had.

They were fighting against each other so were on opposite sides.

Since the guns they were using didn't have much range they would have been very close too.

After we left Alamance we headed for the textile museum in Glencoe. 

 The historical preservation society of NC bought up the entire mill village. 

 They sold the homes to individuals that have to keep the front of the house historically accurate.  Fascinating. 

 It is the only completely preserved mill village in the entire US!

This was the textile museum. .

 I believe it used to be the general store.

The guide person was SO  knowledgeable.  

In the photo below you can see all the mills along the Haw river. 

 Glencoe Mill produced a Carolina Plaid.  They produced lots of plaid. 

 Glencoe is a city in Scotland so I think the scots settled here and brought their plaids with them. 

 It was what this textile mill was known for. 

This is a small scale model of the village. 

 SO COOL!

They did a fundraiser and a woman made this amazing quilt.

  There are all the houses in the mill village on it as well as other buildings in the village, like the mill, school and church. 

 The woman that won the quilt allowed them to display the quilt in their offices indefinitely. 

 I'm so glad I got to see it!

These are some of the plaids that were made when the mill was functional.

This was one of the houses in the village. 

 It was the barber shop! 

 So tiny and so cute!!!

We walked down to the dam and the mill race.

Do you know what a mill race is? 

 I didn't know.

  It is a trench type thing that  the mill dug after they dammed up the river and used it to control the flow of the water into the mill to power the machines.

You can see in the video the dam and then the mill race.

So these are the last places we visited before we headed home to MI.

I have some things to share that I made but that will come soon.

~XOP~

Avery's First Birthday

 Our little man turned 1 last Saturday.

 I have literally HUNDREDS of photos, LOL, but will post just a very few of my favorites. 
 All of his grandparents were there. 

 His great grandparents from Nick's family were there as well. 

 A few close friends of Kelsey and Nick's were there as well. 

 I'm sure you just want to see photos so here you go.
First up the decorations. 

 Can you see that little rocker? 

 That was Nick's when he was a boy. 

 Avery loves it!

When Avery was eating his cake this was what he was seeing, LOL.  

All of us taking pictures.

Avery with his mom and dad.

Our turn with Avery.

He had his own "smash" cake.

He loved playing with this ribbon.

We forgot to put his crown on pre nap, but got a few pics after his nap.

His mom and dad got this bubble blower and he LOVED it!

Avery always kisses any stuffed animals.

This was the fox we got him.

This is probably my all time favorite photo from the birthday party!  

His little friend Reese got him this tunnel (you can see Reese in the background).  

Avery had a ball with it!

I will show you what I made for him in another post.

Happy birthday little man.

Love Gigi and Papa.

~XOP~

The Haw in Swepsonville, NC

 Since we get time to ourselves while A is in day care we find other things to do to keep busy. 

 For instance I have finished binding 2 quilts, made a quilt top and have almost finished the hand work on my Quite Contrary quilt top.  

I've also finished reading 5 books. 

 This day we went to Swepsonville and found a park on the Haw river. 

 Beautiful day to go for a walk along the river.

My Batman showing off his Bat Cave shirt.

I found a few interesting plants.  

This Clematis for instance. 

 It was going to seed but still pretty.

I had Moonflowers in my yard and this blossom looked like the plant was in the same family.

Chris looked it up and it is a Datura stromonium. 

 I wish we could have seen it in blossom!

These next 2 photos reminded me of faces on the log. 

 Kind of creepy for Halloween, right?

We went to the Saxapawhaw general store and THIS time I made Chris get some "quilty" beer.

I don't really drink beer anymore but I loved this can!  

We saw them the last time we were here and I didn't buy any.

  I picked up a 6 pack this time!

We did go to the brewery there and Chris enjoyed a beer.

Next up is Avery's first birthday.  

I hope you are enjoying our trip to NC so far!

~XOP~