San Francisco Part 2

So here are some more pictures. The first is still the beach we were going down to Moneray. Once we got to Moneray, there were a million seals!!! We did go out on Moneray Bay whale watching and these are some of the things we saw. First I will show you 2 humpback whales, a mama and her baby. Then you will see the fins followed by 2 whales and then, my favorite, a whales tail!!! I even bought a necklace with the whales tale as the pendant. The next picture is a starfish we saw while docking. Isn't he enormous!!?? The last pic is of the flowers everyone has planted along the coast of Moneray bay. Aren't they beautiful??

I will have to post more tomorrow as I am very tired tonight. DH and I worked outside all day today in the garden and the back yard. It is looking pretty good so far. Once it is all done I will put up some pictures. I did make him stop at Joannes to buy some interfacing for the DD's tee shirt quilt before we went to my friend's house for dinner. Let me know what you think so far,

San Francisco Part One

I am sooo sorry for the delay on posting. You probably thought I forgot! I didn't, it has just been unbelievably crazy around here since I got back. As I said before DD #1 did get her job. She is supposed to start the job June 4th, YIKES!! We will be going with her next week later in the week to help her look for a place to live. If anyone knows Madison Inidana, please let me know where a good place to stay is.

Now for the beginning of the trip. You already know about the plane ride so I will pick up from there. On Thursday morning Chris and I headed down to Moneray. I really wanted to go whale watching and he really wanted me to see the otters and enjoy all the "stuff" he does when he goes there alone. So we got up fairly early (still on MI time) and drove along the coastline. The pictures I chose to post today are from the drive. We stopped several times along the drive. The tide was low so we were able to view the tidal pools up close. They were full of wonderful things like starfish, sea anemones and snails along with all the usual vegetation. It was kind of overcast and chilly as you can probably tell from the beach pictures! I did take many more pictures but these are fairly representative. There is one we took of ourselves too! We look kind of silly, I don't know how my kids always manage to get nice ones the same way. Are their arms *that* much longer than ours?? As we approached a place called Pigeon Rock there was a light house and these beautiful pink and white flowers all along the fields by the lighthouse.

Anyway, that's all for now. We have decided to begin a through cleaning of the old homestead beginning in our bedroom! We have a pretty large closet and have not gone through it in a long time. I did my stuff yesterday including my dresser and my "corner" of the bedroom. It is amazing how much stuff you accumulate over 20 years! I think have filled 10 or 12 garbage bags so far and DH is still working on his "stuff"!! I guess I really am a pack rat. I finally threw out all the things I will, most likely, never be able to fit into again with out an act of God himself!! It feels good to have the closet so clean. I want to shampoo the carpet in the closet too. I think we need a few more storage unit type things and it will be all set. I keep walking by my sewing room (aka the living room) longingly but all the bags are in the way!! DH says I can sew, but I can't even get to the machine, lol!!
I did get a UFO back from the quilter this last week, oh, good, another one to add to the needs binding pile! I will take a picture of it as soon as I get more batteries for my camera(which is why I have not been able to download all my pictures from SF yet either). I am going to stop for now and go to Target for the storage unit thingies, as well as Home Depot for hanging planters (only $4.99 each!!)Then I need to go to Joann for some interfacing, as I found the myriad of tee shirts I have been saving for *someday* to make a tee-shirt quilt for DD#2. I *promise* I will be back later and post more pictures.

What have you been up to this weekend??

I'm Back

Well, I am home safe and sound from the SF trip. The trip home was a little harrowing but I FINALLTY made it!! My cameras and clothes are with the DH as he is still on a trip. I think I said before but he is a corporate pilot. He had a trip that flew into Napa Valley so he took all my "stuff" with him so I had no bags with me except my purse. The down side is that all my "stuff" is still with him! I will have everything back tomorrow night so hopefully I will be able to post some pictures and all the stories about the trip.

I arrived in SF on Wed evening. The plane was so hot, and I felt really ill when I got off the plane. The ride was fine, I just felt sick from all the heat. I got to the hotel with no problems and waited for DH to arrive. He showed up a little later and we went with the other pilot to dinner. I was NOT hungry but I watched them eat!!

I won't say a whole lot now as it will be so much more interesting with pictures! I will tell you about the ride home though. My plane ride to Chicago was great!! Much better than the ride out to SF. The size of the plane we were supposed to take from Chicago to Detroit changed (smaller) so they were asking for volunteers to leave 2 hours later. I figured for a $300 voucher, it was fine by me. So I volunteered. Hence began my big adventure in O'Hare airport! I was supposed to arrive at DTW at 6pm. After 7 gate changes we borded the plane and waited an hour for a pilot. I was happy one finally showed up figuring that we could leave, but ohhhh noooo. We had to wait a little longer for a co-pilot!! Silly me. We finally did get to take off but I got home to the DTW airport at 10:30pm not the 6pm we were told!! It certainly was an adventure!! Would I do it again, yep! I got a voucher I can use anywhere they fly and can transfer it to anyone I want, family or friend. I was wide awake anyway what with the time change and all.

I didn't get to go to any quilt shops as our time was spend doing many other things. That's ok though, I had a blast and it was so nice being away from everything. I feel refreshed and ready to start up the hectic time that is summer!! I'll post more once I get the cameras!

Goin on a Trip

How many of you remember playing "I'm goin on a trip"? Well, I leave tomorrow for San Francisco! My DH is a corporate pilot and he had a trip going out to Nappa Valley. I can't ride with him but I booked a flight and I will be meeting him in SF tomorrow! I have not been to SF before so I am very excited! He goes all over the world but I only get to experience his travels vicariously. I'm not complaining mind you, I love being the one home with the fam and I can't leave my job either but sometimes it is nice to be able to travel with him. I am taking the quilter's travel companion so I will try to visit some quilt shops while we are gone. We plan to go to Moneray and to Nappa Valley too. I promise I will take lots of pictures and post some once I return.

Thank you to those of you that take the time to post a comment. It just makes my day when someone leaves a comment! I try to visit your blogs and leave comments too. Well, have a great week and email me if you have any suggestions on places to visit while in SF!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you that have children (even if they are the furry kind). My day started off slow with none of my human children home, but Jack was sleeping with us. He came up and head butted me and rubbed his nose across my face purring all the while. My DH made me breakfast and then I got to go and sew! Idecided that I needed to finish Thadd's quilt top today so I started about 10am and finished about 2pm. It's DONE!! Now I have to make the back, YUCK! Which will involve piecing. I will use only the scraps and fabrics from the stash. I have a few blocks left over so I will piece these into the back, but not today! I would like to make the binding tonight too. I made the binding (from the excess backing) for the turning twenty last night and will probably sew it on, then I will have two that need binding turned.

Thadd came home from his friend's house and so did Kelsey. Kelsey bought me a gift card to her favorite store(Victoria's Secret.) She and I will go out today and get some flowers for her garden and maybe mine too. We spent a lot of time cleaning out flower beds yesterday after the lax game. I still have part of the back and all of the front beds to do, ugh. It is hard work and I got quilt sunburned at the game yesterday. (my face and arms)

I have to go for now. How did you spend your day today??

Current works in Progress

You asked for it and now here are 2 of my current works in progress. I am in charge of a group of women quilters at my church. Our group is called Poke-N-STAB quilters. (STAB is for St. Thomas A' Beckett church). I try to keep a hand work project going most of the time so we have at least one continuous project. I find that pieced blocks seldom come back at a uniform size and many of the ladies don't like to use their sewimg machines so I usually choose an applique, something simple. Simple because I usually end up with all the prep work and all the putting the quilt together! The first one we did was the butterfly one I posted about awhile ago. The latest one is these scotty dogs. I think we will have enough to do 4 X 6 -12inch blocks with 2 on the back. We tried the Quiltsmart method for these. I let the ladies choose their own fabric and we got quite an assortment! I am thinking of sashing them with assorted plaids in varying lengths but I have not really decided. I asked the ladies to bring in their plaids so we can see what we have to work with (also uses up some of the stash...BONUS!!)I actually did some of them and you can see one of my Halloween scotties in the picture.

The other one I did was just some fall colours and a turning twenty. I think it came out rather nice for such a simple pattern. I loved many of the fabrics (all from the stash)like the funky roosters and the acorns. I adored the backing fabric which was also from my stash. I got it a little while ago with the intent of using it for a back. It was clearanced for $2.00 per yard and I got it half off that, great deal. Now I have to do the binding. If you are counting, that means 2 to put binding on. This one will be a gift so I can't say much more as the person it is intended for may read this blog from time to time.

I finished the blocks for the Texas quilt and since the lacrosse game was cancelled for today, I figure it is a good time to put the last two rows together and add them to the quilt. Then all I will have to do is cut and sew the borders, yeah!!

Oh yeah, for any of you that have been wondering...DD#1 just heard and SHE GOT THE JOB!!! I guess that means she will be moving to Indiana. I am so thrilled for her!!! This job and the community suits her so well. I know God made this place and this job for her. A long time ago when she was little someone told me that my DD would be a teacher, not just of children but me as well. I have to say they are correct. She is a wonderful young woman and I am very proud of her.

What are you working on??

This and That

I wanted to post but I only have a few minutes and I hate to post without photos! So here are 2 of my cats. Hallie was all stretched out on the piano in front of my sewing machine and Jack (formerly a stray, currently enjoying the life of Jack!) was all stretched out on my bed. He was laying on a quilt I made for my middle DD. She loves flamingos so I made her a YBR using flamingo fabric. A lot of the fabric was from the clearance section, but I think it turned out really well. I *want* to post some of the things I am working on but two of them are just sewing on binding and both are for gifts, so I will post pictures once the binding is on but you won't know who they are for until I give them and one is for Christmas! I want to show you the Texas quilt but I need to add two more rows before I put up a photo. (Wow, I guess I am a little vain! Note to self, WORK ON THAT!!) I have to go and make dinner for the kids and then off to quilting with the ladies at the church. I hope to collect up the Scottie dogs. Hey, I'll bring the camera and photograph them! Then YOU guys can suggest some ways I can set them together!!

TTFN!!

Weekend Progress

WoW! This was a busy weekend. the DH and I had to split up as our oldest dd hada job intervies in Lexington Indiana and our middle DD had to be moved home from college. I got the middle one and Chris and Shelby headed for Indiana. They ended up staying in Madison, which, apparently, was fabulous. It is in Jefferson county and both of them thought the town was wonderful. It is on the Ohio river and there is a watefall in the town. They arrived on Thursday and drove around and walked around the town. Chris dropped Shelby off at the school where she had her interview. It is a school for troubled kids, middle school to high school aged, boys. She had to spend the night at the school as that is what she would be doing in her job there. She would be a small group counselor. Chris picked her up on Sat about 4pm and they headed home. The interview went really well and they will let her know about the job on Tues. Keep your fingers crossed!! Housing is cheap there too so she might even be able to get into a house there eventually.

I moved Kelsey home, not quite as much fun as the rest of the fam had, but it had to be done. It looked like a "stuff" bomb exploded in my living room!! It is no small feat combining 2 households!! I missed her but not all her "stuff!"

I did manage to finish an old baby quilt I had begun quite awhile ago. I had all the 9 patch units done and a friend's mother took all my setting triangles and set them on point in strips. I had to cut the sashing and sew it on as well as the borders. I got that all done and also sewed the back so it is ready to go to the quilter!! Another UFO finished and fabric from the stash used!!!

I also worked on the UT quilt. I got the blocks all sewn together and my son informed me that he didn't want it square, so I have to make 2 more rows, arrrrgh!!! I got the blocks all cut out but it will take me a little more time to sew the blocks. I also worked on the U of M quilt a little. It is all cut out, but last week I traced all the l "M"s and cut them out. This weekend I fused them all to the backgrounds, (there are 2 for each background, one on top of the other to make them stand out a lot!)

My good friend across the street, Marcia lost her mother on Friday. I made soup for her and her family as I remember how much I appreciated not haveing to cook when I lost my mom. It has been a difficult time for her and her family as her husband lost his mother about a month earlier. I knew Marcia's mom quite well and she will really be missed by her friends and family. Please keep my friend Marcia and her family in your prayers.

My Own Backyard

I just wanted to take a minute to share with you some of the things in my backyard. I told you I would *try* to remember to take a picture of the new baby birds in my ivy and I was able to do it today. Isn't he cute? I don't think the mama was too happy that I was that close to her babies!

The other pics are from my garden and our woods. The bleeding hearts are in my garden and so is the Trillium. The Jack-In-the -Pulpit grows in the woods. We have a LOT of trillium in the woods too. There is a dark red one and I think some cross pollination has been happening because we have some pink ones as well!! I hope you enjoy the pictures.

I went on Cynthia's blog today and learned about the 365 quilts. I think I would like to do this too. I will try to use as much of my stash fabric as I can, but I think I will use the 365 in a different way. Last Christmas I cut out a Christmas quilt for myself (and *no* it is not done yet!). At the same time I cut one for my friend, Ellen. I put it in a project bag with the pattern and gave it to her for Christmas. She loved it so much she told me we should do it each year. I said, "yeah, right, like I have time for that!" I think I will make the 365 quilt rows and give them to her for Christmas with the challenge that we both have to do it for the 2008 year. I have also been thinking about what to give my sister-in-law and brother-in-law for a baby gift when my friend, Holly suggested a 365 quilt for Sarah to keep track of baby's first year I think this is a great idea and will make the "rows" for her too. Once she is done I will make it into a quilt for her. Isn't that a great idea?? Then, I thought about my own chickie that will soon be flying the coop (DD, Shelby). I told her I wanted to make her a quilt for her new place but now I think this might be just the quilt for her. She is very artsy and loves to draw, so along with recording her first year on her own she can draw the dragons all over it that she sketches all the time! I know it is a little ambitious, but I think I will be able to do it and I have some time so I will keep you posted. I am also not supposed to be buying this month (but I am going to go to CA with DH so maybe vacation fabric purchases don't count. I really don't have a lot of light fabrics to use for the 365 quilts but I will certainly pull what I have. I think mine will be multi-coloured as I am certain I don't have enough of just creams or whites to make it for 4 of these quilts, lol.

PCS Lacrosse

This is why I have not been posting a lot lately! My son, Thadd, plays attack position on the PCS lacrosse team at his high school. If you have never seen a game you are missing out! Lax is one of the most fun sports to watch. My daughters are not huge sports fans, but the love watching the lacrosse games. We have a game tonight and another one on Thursday. We had 2 games last week. My friend Terry and I are running the concession stand, ie buying all the stuff, setting it all up and tearing it all down and scheduling all the workers. It has been a lot of fun and not as much work as you might imagine. These are some photos of the team from last year.(We are in the blue) I have not been on the field to take any pictures this year, as there is another man doing it and I just want to enjoy the game. We have 3 high schools on the same campus and the kids take classes at all 3 schools (supposedly saves money for the district). So our lax team is combined. Next year we have to split into 3 individual teams. We will probably struggle to get enough boys but we should be able to field at least a varsity team. The last picture in this group was my all time favorite of all of the pictures I took last year. I probably took over 1000 pictures and my dd, Shelby, took them and made a DVD for all the boys. She set many of the pictures to music and individually placed each picture so many of them actually match the lyrics in the musid, which was totally cool. She did an outstanding job! I wish you all could see it. I had soooo many photos that she didn't even use them all as they (with the music) would not all fit on a DVD!! I even had some video in it. The weather here is cold and rainy today, I hope it clears up a little for the game tonight.

Shelby's Graduation from College

Our daughter, Shelby, graduated with her BS in Psychology this Sat. She graduated from Grand Valley State University (GVSU). We are very proud of her! The first picture is of me and my dh with Shelby in the middle. The next pic is of all three of my children, Kelsey, Shelby and Thadd. I could not be prouder of the three of them! Just wanted to share my joy!!

The Interview Game

I was reading the blog of Amy at thecalicocat and she was participating in something called "The Interview game". Her post also asked that if you wanted to be interviewed to ask. So I did. Since I am relatively new, I don't know how many people will read this, but we will see : )

These are my questions to answer:

1-1. Who inspires you (their quilts, their blog, etc.) & why?

I have MANY sources of inspiration in my life. Of course, God is the ultimate inspiration but if you mean mortals and creatively, I would have to say my quilting friends. They are always working on new things and we discuss new ideas and they push me to try things that are out of my comfort zone. My daughters are a continual source of inspiration not only creatively but as a person. I am very blessed to have such marvelous girls. The things they do in their lives inspire me to reach for new and better things in my own. My son and husband are also a source of inspiration, but in a more quiet way. They challenge me in a different way and I love them for that. I run a quilt group at my church and most of the women are older than me. They inspire me with their creativity and stories. I feel like I could go on forever so I will just stop with this.

2. If you could live anywhere (you &/or your spouse could get an equivalent or better job there) in the United States, where would that location be & why?

I would have to say Delores New Mexico. We had a family trip several years ago and traveled by car through 14 different states. I LOVED Delores! The scenery is just beautiful and there were not a lot of people living there. Mountains, and water and no people=heaven!!

3. Are you a morning person?

I am TOTALLY a morning person. I love being up with the sun and getting my day started. We back up to a woods so there is a lot of activity there especially in the summers. I really feel like a slug if I stay in bed too long!

4. Do you like to drive or be the passneger?

Both, depending on the situation. If I am going to a new place with my friends, I perfer to drive (it's a control freak kind of thang...) If I am going with the fam somewhere and the dh is there, I am absoloutely A-OK letting him drive, but I will take over if he gets tired.

5. What is your fondest school (elementary through college) memory?

I have sooo many, I don't think I can choose. I loved being a Pom-Pon girl in HS. I have a lot of wonderful memories of friday night games and hanging out with my friends. I also have a LOT of great college memories. I went to Michigan State University and I am still a Spartan at heart! I really loved the football games. I think one of the most memorable events was the day we has sooo much snow that classes were cancelled! they had not been cancelled for a VERY LONG time! There was no beer left in any of the party stores. People put kegs of beer on sleds and were pulling them down the main street back to campus. We were able to climb to the top of the ice arena and slide down the roof into the snowbanks! It was amazing.

Here are the rules to keep it going.
If you want to play the Interview Game, here’s what you do:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” (Many of you do not have your e-mails linked to your responses - if you fit that category, leave your e-mail too.)
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. (I have been thinking long and hard on my questions.)
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions. (Let me know when you do.)
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.


I hope someone will read this and ask, it is kind of fun!!

Stashbusting

My friends Robin and Yuki asked me to go to the quilt shop in Tecumseh, Mi yesterday after work. I was not able to go as my son had a lacrosse game. I really did not NEED any new fabric either. I made a NYR to try to use as much fabric from my stash as possible this year. So far I have done pretty well with that. A fabriholic still lapses occasionally but for the most part, I have bought very little.

I have been using scraps up making fabric postcards and now my friend Yuki showed me how to make a small whirly gig pattern that will be great for scraps and odd pieces of fabric that I just can't bear to part with. I have left overs from quilts that I loved making, but not always enough to make another quit but I can use this pattern for trivets or placemats or table runners. The blocks are quite small 3" X 3" so it is great for scraps. I am always looking for something to make for my husband's family for Christmas (there are 7 of them) and for my friends so this may be the project for me for this Christmas!

Robin gave me the fabric to begin the U of M quilt for the art auction at U of M so I will be trying to get that cut out soon. It will be like the Texas quilt but in U of M colours, obviously! It is another stash buster as I had some left over U of M fabric from the Big Ten quilt last year and the U of M quilt I made for my daughter's, now ex, boyfriend!

I have quilting with the church ladies tonight and hope to work on the U of M quilt there. We will see how it goes. I will keep you posted. Then lax game on Friday and dinner with some friends. Sat is my oldest daughter's college graduation so that will take up the entire day. On sunday I would love to quilt, but if it is nice I really really need to work in the yard. On days that I am not working I would rather quilt than do anyting else so I make deals with myself to do a certain job and then I can sit down and quilt for a certain amount of time. Does anyone else do that?

Winter Snowfall

I had a minute and thought I would find a pic of a quilt I made to send to Australia with my dd. She went there to visit a friend at the University in Sydney and as payment for her stay I sent her friend a quilt. I asked her what kind of quilt she wanted and she asked for something winter. Well living in Michigan, I immediately thought of snow. So this is my rendition of snow beginning high up in the dark of space all the wan until it covers our ground in the palest of bluish white. The white pinwheels are actually a white on white snowflake fabric. The friend was thrilled (and so was her mom as she is a quilter also!) The first day my dd was there her friend's mom took her to a big quilt show in Sydney and my dd brought me back some lovely fabric from halfway around the world! I have since bought a BOM called "Australia all over", and plan on making it for my dd. I vowed to try to use up a lot of my stash this year and to work on things I bought to do and have not done yet. I still do not have a quilt on my own bed.

My dh told me that I could not make any more quilts for others until he had one on our bed. Two days later he came home from work and told me that one of his friends at work was expecting...TWINS!!! I said that was wonderful. He hmmnned and hawwwed and finally he asked me if I would make quilts for the new babies, and would I use a Noah's Ark pattern? Hahaha, it was kind of funny. I will post pics of the Noah's Ark quilts later. I designed them around a panel and they came out cute.

Thadd's quilt begins

Here are some pictures of the Texas blocks I have made for my son, Thadd's quilt. He is a HUGE University of Texas quilt (but we live in Michigan, go figure.) I have finally settled on a design and I just have to finish stitching around all the longhorns before I can lay it out and begin to put it together. I am quite excited, I think it will be great. The person who runs the quilt raffle at my work was looking at my pattern (mostly my own design) and wants me to try to work with her to make one using University of Michigan fabrics and colours. Now, for any of you that know me, a die hard Spartan, this will be difficult, but it is for a good cause, I suppose I can...I think it may actually end up in our "Art Auction" so I will keep you posted and you can go to the auction site in Novemberish and bid on it! (If YOU like U of M that is, lol). If anyone wants to see the quilts we raffled last year go to www.pathology.med.umich.edu/charity/ That will bring up the charity page and you can see the quilt raffle quilts for the past few years, but last year was our best yet! Let me know what you think of the quilts and if you could find mine...
Gotta run, LAX calls.

"Hen-na Party"

Yes, those are my hands covered with Henna designs. Most of the women I work with went to another friend's house last night and got our hands and feet covered in henna. It is more beautiful in person than the pictures show. It was a true "Hen" party! Thank you to Amrita for hosting the party.

Cats and Quilts

It seems like they are a natural combination. I happened to be on my computer looking for some other quilt pics and I found these of some of our cats. The first one is our cat Aiden. She belongs to my oldest daughter, Shelby.

In the next one, I was finishing up a Noah's arc that I designed around a panel for friends of ours that had twins and I had them draped all around. The pink and purple one was a graduation quilt I made for a friend of my other daughter's. In this pic Aiden and Mosen and my son, Thadd are all in the quilt "tent" and have appeared to have fallen victim to a "nap zone". You all know the place. You start petting the cat(s) innocently and then, WHAM, you are fast asleep. Well, my friend, you are in the cat's "nap zone". I believe they could take over the world if they could organize. Hmmm...maybe we should send cats to Iraq, we could use some of the Iraquies to fall into a nap zone...

The next pic is a close up of Mosen. Isn't he so sweet? He is napping on a flannel rag quilt I made for my dad for Christmas 2 years ago.

The last one is of Autumn, one of our 2 calico cats. The other one is Halloween, or Hallie for short. Then we have Captain Jack. I will have to snap some pics of him to post too.

I am working on a quilt for my son at the moment. He is a huge University of Texas fan so I found some UT fabric and finally settled on a design but I altered it, of course, so it works better for what I had in mind. I have all the squares sewn, but I need to blanket stitch around the applique before I can assemble it. I will try to get pics of the blocks and post them so you can see the progress.

I just wanted to get something new on this page so you didn't think I had forgotten. It has been a busy week and will be a busy weekend. I have to work tomorrow (every day actually) then the women at my work are having a Henna party. I am still deciding if I want to go. We have a lacrosse game for Thadd on Sat in the am and then Kelsey has her university swimming banquet on Sun at. She earned her varsity letter as a freshman at Michigan State University! The best part about the weekend is that I will *finally* be able to give the anniversary quilt to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law as they are in the same city as my daughter.

Have a good evening and let me know what you think of the kitties!!

The Heirloom

I had a few minutes so I thought I would post the story behind the "Heirloom" quilt. A few years ago, I made a rag quilt for my nephew, also our Godson, for his high school graduation. My intent was that when he went away to college, he could take it with him and it would be a nice utility quilt for college. You know the kind I mean, flannel, with cut, raggedy edges? Well his mother had other ideas. She told me it was an "heirloom" and that he would not be allowed to take it with him! I tried to reason with her but to no avail. So when his mom and dad had their 25th anniversary, I decided I would make a *real* "heirloom" quilt for them. Possibly, by anyone else's standards, my quilt is not an heirloom, but it is the second most intricate quilt I have yet to make in the 5 years I have been quilting, so for me it qualifies!
So when we went to their new home to get an idea on colours, Margie gave me the tiniest bit of fabric and told me to use those colours. So I have included the *bit* on the label. From tiny acorns grow mighty oaks! I guess this is the case.

Enjoy the pic and the story.

HAPPY EASTER!

I know it has been a long time since I have posted, it has been crazy busy with Lacrosse season going on! Now that I have a minute to breathe and no one is on the computer, I have uploaded the pics I promised. The first one is of the butterfly quilt the ladies in my church group made. I cut out all the butterflies and fused them to the background. The ladies took the blocks home and did the blanket stitch by hand around them. They also put on the antennas. I finally got all the blocks returned in Jan (it was handed out in Jan of 06). I put them all together and but on the borders. The outside border with the smaller butterflies had to be done after the center was done, so some of the ladies took the entire quilt and finished the hand-work. As you can see it was spectacular!! I took it to a long arm quilting friend of mine and she did the quilting. It doesn't show up very well, but she did 4 hearts in the white centers, 2 hearts along the edge and 1 in each corner, along with some other creative quilting on the borders. She did a fabulous job!

The next pics are of the Easter postcards I made. It was fun, and I think everyone has received them.

The last pic is the anniversary quilt I made for my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. They had their 25th anniversary last June. Their children planned a party but we had very little advanced notice. I wanted to make a quilt but did not have enough time. They had just moved so, I also did not know the colours in their new home. We went to visit them in August and she gave me a small swatch of fabric with the colours on it (which I included on the label, just to be funny!) When we got home there was an issue of Quiltmaker waiting for me with this quilt on the cover. I had been thinking about what to make and this seemed perfect, just what I had been thinking of! Unfortunately, it was a 3 part series, groan, so I had to wait 6 months (the mag only comes out every other month!) for all the patterns! I began making what I could and finally finished in March. I think it came out really nice and can't wait to give it to them. I sent them the fabric postcard I made with some of the fabrics from their quilt in it and told them to call me as I had something for them. She loved the postcard so I can't wait to hear what they think about the quilt!! There is a story behind the quilt in addition to the one I already told so I will post it another day with the label, so you can see the tiny fabric swatch I had to work with.

Have a blessed Easter!