Approaching 2009

As I sit here contemplating, I am jolted to the reality that another year has passed. Since my last post, so many family activities have engulfed my time. Aimee, Alex, Caitie, Chris and Lori were here with us for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful time and even got in a little shopping. Immediately, we were vaulted right into the Christmas flurries. Chris and Lori surprised me with a wonderful evening of dinner and a Ronnie Milsap concert in early December for my Christmas. What sneaks, they all kept the secret for several months without my knowledge.

David and I made the trek to Leander, TX the weekend before Christmas to share the holiday with Aimee and her family arriving back home in time for Chris, Lori and Jordon to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning here with us. We made the trip to Orange, TX to visit family and friends the day after Christmas arriving home the following Monday. It was a nice trip. I spent last night at a "Girl's Night Out" house party just eating, drinking, and visiting. Very nice!

Here it is New Year's Eve and David and I have no plans of any kind. I guess that means we are getting old! lol It is a good thing we enjoy each others company so much.

I look forward to starting the new year with gusto with the resolutions to finish several of my quilting projects. The Dear Jane quilt is the oldest but the one that I will concentrate on the most is the 4-patch posie quilt for my bedroom. I would like to have it done for spring. If I can just refrain from starting anything new and not join in too many swaps! lol

So long 2008! Happy New Year and welcome 2009!

National Tie One On Day!

Participation in National Tie One On Day is simple - on the day before Thanksgiving, pause in the preparation of your own bounty, wrap a loaf of bread or other baked good in an apron, tuck a prayer or note of encouragement in the pocket, and tie one on...an apron, of course! and deliver the wrapped bundle to someone in need of spiritual or physical sustenance.

Sweet November

As the seasons breeze through my ordinary life, I am reminded of the beautiful outdoors! Halloween came and went without much flurry around here; no tricksters or treaters in sight.

But the following week has been so full of anticipation and excitement. David has been busy with the political action campaign for Steelworkers. Due to his absence, I have had lots of quilting/quiet time. I was thrilled that he was able to be home on Election night so we could share the making of history. We are both so excited for our new president and for all of America!

After a long stretch of small projects, I have finally finished a quilt. This project was a block of the month that I purchased in a sale bin. I had the patterns for quite a while before actually gathering up the courage to begin. I am so excited to have finally completed it and have it hanging on my guest room wall.

Already Fall!

Like so many others, my summer disappeared far too quickly. The highlight, of course, was the wonderful adventure with Alex and Caitie. Soon after my last post, their parents arrived to add a few days of joy to my world. We had such a good visit that ended much too soon. Once they left to begin their new journey having just moved back to Texas from Arizona, my life was filled with getting back to what I expected to be my mundane routine. I quickly learned different; my help was needed to trek over to Austin to supply some adult supervision while Aimee and David started their new jobs. What fun we had playing games all day and just spending quality time together.

It wasn't long after getting back to Ruston settling back to the everyday ordinary existence that I call "my life" when we had another diversion called "Gustav". We had planned on having weekend guests for the Labor Day weekend. Those plans had to be altered a bit. Instead of just a visit, it turned into an evacuation plan. lol Our evacuees saw more wind and rain by coming here than if they had stayed home. They were all home just over a week when more plans had to be made to prepare for "Ike" who proved to be much more distructive. While some of our "guests" headed home to begin cleanup (flood waters inside a house is not a pretty site), my Mom stayed with me by David headed to Nashville on business. Once he returned, we drove Mom home and got her settled. Fortunately, her only loss due to "Ike" was things in her refrigerator and upper freezer.

OK. Life now returned to what we know as normal. David and I made the trip to Oxford, MS for the Presidential Debate. No, we didn't get anywhere near the actual debate but loved the frenzy surrounding it. We were in the crowd behind Chris Mathews during his commentary on MSNBC. If you were looking very close, you could see us in the crowd holding signs. We then met with a group to have hamburgers and hot dogs to watch the debate on big screens. What a wonderful experience!

Here we are almost half way through October and life is just busy enough to keep me from being bored. I have started hand quilting my Mystery on the Oriental Express and my Afternoon Tea in the Garden quilts. I really want to get the Afternoon Tea quilt finished since I will be hanging it in my guess room. So the Mystery has been put aside for now. I had also hoped to get back to work on my Dear Jane by now. But I just get too obsessed when working on it so it will stay buried for now.

Hopefully, I will get some new pictures taken soon to spice up this blog. Will I ever get my act together enough to keep this blog fueled more frequently?

First sewing projects finished!

This was Caitie and Alex's first sewing experience. They really enjoyed it. Alex is already planning a project for her next visit. Caitie stitched pre-cut squares together for a front and back then stitched it all together with batting. She bar tacked the intersections.

Alex wanted to do a collage of fabrics. She cut shapes from squares of fabric and stitched them to a foundation with a zigzag stitch adding embellishments by hand. We made a wire hanger for hanging since she wants to hang it in her bedroom at home.

And the adventure continues

After doing some Monday chores, mainly laundry, the girls and I headed to the library. After spending some time on the computers in the children's section, they found lots of books to bring home.

Today was our day for baking. We have a tradition of baking pies (scratch dough and all) every time they come. Sometimes they are here during Blueberry season and we even get to pick our own berries for the pies. Not so this time. They are eating the blueberries that I saved in the freezer for snacks. We made Ruston Peach pies today. I found the cutest little pie dishes at a kitchen shop- bigger than an individual serving but smaller and easier for the girls to handle.

Their parents are driving in tonight, will stay a few days to visit also before taking the girls back to Austin. Since their dad does not eat peach pie, we made a batch of Sugar cookies for him. Of course, he probably won't get as many as he would like since the girls have been scheming on them too.

What has been keeping me busy?

On Wednesday, July 30, David and I drove to Orange, TX to pick up our two darling granddaughters where they had been visiting friends. Alex - 9 and Caitie- 7 have kept me hopping! We spent Thursday and Friday playing in my sewing room. This has been their first sewing experience and they love it. We started with making each of them an apron then I let them use their imaginations to just play and create with needle and thread and the sewing machine. It was getting hectic with them having to share the machine, so I pulled out my traveling machine so they could each stitch away. I was hopping from one side of the room to the other teaching and assisting. They are so different. Alex is the careful planner, taking her time and trying to get perfection. Caitie is the creative designer who thinks done is better than perfect! I stepped out of my zone and let the room stay in an upheaval with fabric and threads all over the place.

They each brought several items from home that needed mending. So I showed them how and let them help. One of the items was Caitie's gingham check plisse baby blanket that I had made before she was born. She still sleeps with it. It had an L-shaped tear. So we sandwiched the tear between two fabric hearts.






We got a break from sewing on Sunday when we enjoyed a day of good food and visiting when Uncle Chris, Aunt Lori and Jordon drove over from Shreveport for the day. It was too hot to be outside for very long, so we played games indoors and had a great time.

Catching Up

Here it is Saturday again! We just returned from a business trip to Biloxi, MS. Well, it was business for hubby; fun for me! I got in some good shopping and relaxing, enjoyed some really good food too. When I got home, the instructions for the final steps for my Mystery on the Oriental Express quilt had arrived. I couldn't wait to complete the mystery; I had a fair idea of where the express was taking me! I have the top complete but have no idea how or when I will quilt it. It will probably just get folded and put away for a little while.

Passing The Award

Here it is a week later than I was honored with the Brilliante Award and i am just now making my announcement of my awardees. Besides having a hard time making a decision, I was out of town all week.

I gain so much inspiration from my blogger friends.

Gail was the first to inspire me to start a blog.

Fran is a fellow quilter and QOR sister.

Wendy cracks me up with her zest for life and neat projects.

Mavie inspires me with all she does.

Lucy has such an interesting blog filled with lots of goodies.

Award

I was greeted first thing this morning by the most wonderful honor. My QOR sister, Veronica, awarded me with the Brillante Weblog. What a surprise. Unfortunately, I had never heard of it until this morning. I know now that I am to pass it on to five other deserving bloggers. I will need a little more time to prepare for the passing.

summer projects

I failed to mention some of the things that have kept me busy lately. I made the cutest little water bottle carriers for my daughter in law, Lori and two granddaughters, Alex and Caitie. I saw the pattern at the AQS quilt show and just knew I had to get it. I even monogramed their names on them. They love them.

......................Still Summer

Once Yvonne and I got the quiltlets made and mailed, we could move on to the big project. In Paducah, we bought a pattern for The Professional Tote and planned to make it together. Just the cutting and fusing took almost an entire day. Of course, we like to take breaks and enjoy our snacks and drinks! How exciting when we finally finished our bags!

Jumping from Spring to Summer

Wow, has life just whizzed by since my last post. We had a wonderful trip to Paducah, KY attending the AQS quilt show, shopping at Hancock's, and enjoying our stay at a quiet little cabin in the woods. Leaving Ky, we ventured on to Pittsburgh where David attended meetings and I got my first look at PA. As always, we enjoyed our time spent in the car traveling listening to audio books and talking.

Having barely been home long enough to finish laundry and catch my breath, we headed down to Orange, TX to pick up Mom bringing her back to Ruston for a Mother's Day visit. Chris, Lori, and Jordon came over and we had a wonderful day together. What should have been a busy week of fun things was not; for Mom suffered with her back so much that she could not do anything. It hurts me so to see her in pain with no relief. She did manage to feel good enough for us to go to my regular Thursday Quilt group and then out to Hannah's Quilt Shop. We drove her back home Friday where she could relax in the comforts of her own place.

June was heralded in with my adventure of being guest speaker at the Jonesboro Quilt Guild. I brought my Dear Jane quilt top in progress. I told them about my introduction to DJ and what I know about Jane Stickle. They were all so very interested, it made me feel good for questions to be asked and me to have answers. Still having the borders to make and add, they pleaded that I return when the quilt is finished for another presentation. I couldn't wait to get home to start work on all those pieced triangle borders!

David and I celebrated our 38th Wedding Anniversary on June 14. We are long past the hype of romantic dinners and gifts. We spend a great deal of quality time together throughout the year and don't wait for any certain day to show love and affection. Therefore, other than beautiful cards, on our special day we went to Mass, dined out at a Mexican Restaurant in town then stopped at Lowes before heading home for a relaxing evening.

At the end of June, while David flew to Vegas for the USW Convention, I remained back in Ruston to enjoy of week of quilty girl fun. Yvonne drove up from Orange to join me. We first attended the Peach Festival that Sunday then worked on our Quiltlets for the QOR Online Retreat Swap. Mine is the one with the green border. Yvonne used a 9-patch house block then added borders. We were happy to get them
so we could get them in the mail.

Keeping busy

Log Cabin Posie in a box kit received from Yvonne for my birthday. It went together so fast and looks so good. I just love it. I still need to quilt and bind it before it is ready to hang on the wall. It is 20' square.

Looking to the end of April

Just returned from a 7-day Cruise to the Western Caribbean. We had a great time. Unfortunately, Montego Bay, Jamaica wasn't too kind to me. Our group decided to take the Appleton Estates Rum factory; sounds pretty harmless. Little did I know when I agreed to this trip was it involved a 2 hour "roller coaster" bus ride up, around, and across the island! I spent my time at the estate sipping ginger tea and dreading the trip back while the others enjoyed the tour and lunch. And I missed the Beef Wellington being served at dinner that night! Our day on Grand Cayman was much better. We walked the beach enjoying the scenery then had lunch at Margaritaville. Our day at Cozumel was the most fun. We shopped and toured then partied at Carlos and Charlies. But as the saying goes, "there is no place like home".

Kristy's Round Robin.

Vines and Roses!

Plunging into April

Afternoon Tea in the Garden before borders.

March is almost gone!

Oh, I can't believe I almost let March slip away without a mention! What the heck have I been doing that has kept me away from this blog? My darling husband, David, was gone for two weeks; that was supposed to give me lots of free time, right? Wrong! I filled that time with so much activity! I spent some of the days driving to Texas to visit my Mother. She always enjoys those times when I make that trip alone. She knows that she will get my undivided attention while there. We visited her quilting group, played around with fabrics in her sewing room and just enjoyed each other. I spent the last day there cleaning her house. I needed to get home to rest! lol





Once home, it was nice to enjoy the quiet and do whatever or nothing. March 8 was my birthday. My dear friend treated me to a visit at the Crescent City Coffee Cafe where we enjoyed Cappucino and Chocolate Khalua cake while having the most wonderful 2 hour visit. The next day my dearest friend and cousin, Yvonne, drove up from Texas to spend time with me. We always have such fun together but with no husbands, it was like a girlfest! We shopped on Monday then she treated me to lunch for my birthday. That night was my regular Bunko night and she was able to accompany me and play. And she is the one who won!!!! She paid a price for coming to visit during this week because I had prior committments; but she agreed to help with them. We prepared lunch for my ladies church group on Tuesday and helped serve lunch to college kids at our church on Wednesday. Of course, we didn't work the entire days, we still had time to play in my sewing room. We were working on projects for a quilt retreat we will attend together in July. Then on Thursday, we went to my regular quilt group which is always fun. By Friday, she had to return home and David was on his way home. What a whirlwind two weeks that turned out to be! Isn't that always the way when you are having lots of fun?





I have consistantly been working on my Afternoon Tea in the Garden applique quilt and will soon be ready to assemble the center blocks so I can start the applique process on the borders. Pictures will come later.





On my birthday, I started a new wall hanging. I made a spool quilt several years from a kit. It is truly one of my favorite quilts; I love the fabrics sooooo much. I have a book that Chrissie gave me for my birthday last year that had a cute little quilt that I like. I decided to use the scraps from the Spool quilt and make that wall hanging. It has turned out so cute.



Because of internet problems, I was able to post to my blog. Here it is already almost a week into April. I have the Roses and Vine quilt finished and hanging on the wall. I have the Afternoon Tea in the Garden assembled and ready for borders. I also have my round complete on Kristy's RoundRobin Center.

When I can get this crazy Internet Explorer straightened out, I will post the pictures.

What a week! What do I have to show for my time? Not much, I am sad to say. As far as accomplishments, there is one that I am quite excited about. I received my first Round Robin box last Saturday. I knew what the center looked like because Sherry had posted a picture on the QOR site but until reading her instructions and seeing her fabric selections, had no idea what I would add. Those of you who know me, know that I don't let myself work on hobbies or fun things until I have my work done...........and my mother is not even here watching over me either. LOL I just seem to enjoy my hobbies more knowing that the housework is done! Not only that, I had Bunko last Monday night and a casserole to prepare for a family with a new baby. We have a program at our church called Stork Bites where we bring a hot meal and several frozen meals with dessert to the family when they get home with their new baby. So while preparing the meal, I decided to go ahead and make a few loaves of fruit bread for the freezer. I will use it next month for my Women's Guild luncheon.

Once I had all that done, I hurried to my sewing room to create!

I am really pleased with the outcome. I had seen the magazine which gave the directions for the center that Sherry chose at quilting a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. Wow, was I ever surprised to see that Sherry had chosen that same design for her Round Robin project. It will be hard for me to box it up and send it on to the next participant. lol I had already made a pattern for myself from my friend's magazine for later when I have time. I want to make a wall hanging using that design.

Since completing my round on Sherry's center, I have just spent my spare time hand quilting on my 2005 QOR Retreat Swap Blocks. I now have one 12 block and the borders to quilt before it will be ready for binding. It will be really good to have another UFO complete.

Unbelievable!

I knew that I needed to update my blog but just kept putting off taking the time. Today, I have a little while and thought I might as well write a few lines. Upon arriving at my blog, I was totally surprised to see that it had, indeed, been too long since my last update. Has it really been since November? or is there a blog thief on the loose?

Things got pretty busy during the month of December. Besides the usual holiday parties, preparations and shopping, our neighborhood association sponsored a mailbox decorating project and cookie swap. The mailboxes were decorated with wooden cut outs of trumpet playing angels, fresh evergreens and large red flocked bows. It was really beautiful! The cookie swap was a great way to get the neighbors to visit and share recipes and goodies. I put many of the cookies I brought home into the freezer in air tight containers and enjoyed them for many weeks.

After celebrating Christmas in Ruston with Chris, Lori and Jordon, we hit the road driving to Arizona to celebrate with Aimee, David, Alex, and Caitie. It was a wonderful adventure for David and I to spend time together. By the time we found our way back to Louisiana, 2008 had rolled into play.

January took us on business trips to Little Rock, Arkansas and Dallas, Texas. Good greif, Janaury sure seemed short!

February is always a time of busy work getting ready for the big Gumbo fundraiser at church. I spent days making roux, 6 batches in fact. That means six 5lb. bags of flour and 3 gallons of oil. That is only what I made. We use a total of 20 batches making that many pots of gumbo. Each pot makes 52 quarts of Chicken and Shrimp Gumbo. We make and sell 1040 quarts total. Since it is our Women's Guild's one and only money making endeavor for the year, we have good participation. We just completed the cooking and selling process this week in time to relax and enjoy Valentine's Day.

Each evening after a tiring day of either chopping vegetables, cooking, etc., I came home to a relaxing bubble bath and spent my evening on the sofa hand quilting. My project stays ready and waiting for me each day. It is my swap blocks from the 2005 Quilts On Review retreat held in chicago. All the blocks are some shade of green, each block different.

On Thursdays at my weekly sewing group, I work on my Afternoon Tea in the Garden applique quilt. I have two blocks to complete and will them have to prepare the borders which also have vines and flowers to applique.

I still think about getting back to work on my Dear jane quilt. but since the QOR Round Robin has begun, all my creative juices will be needed for those quilts.

I did get a new pin cushion made this month. It is from the book,

"Pin Cushions for Every Occasion". I used corduroy that I had received

in an unusual fabric swap. The corduroy raveled more than I liked but

the end result was what I wanted; that is all that mattered. I save labels

from ready to wear, etc. to use on crazy quilt projects. I used two on this dress form pin cushion. Now that I have made this one, I can't wait to

make another one from the book.