Mid February

I'm not quite sure how we have already reached the middle of February, but the calendar never lies.  I guess I can start pulling out the greens for St. Patrick's Day now.  

We had such beautiful, warm days last week and we are now under freeze warnings for the next few nights.  Today was spent covering up all of my frost prone plants, and there are quite a few.  The stone fruit are all in full bloom and too big to cover.  The citrus is as well.  We just need a tent to cover the entire yard at this point. lol  I am more than ready to see the arrival of spring.

I have finally finished piecing the Quiltville Mystery Quilt, Chilhowie, for this year.  Between my design trials and mistakes, I think I have sewn every seam at least twice!  It feels really good to have it finished and ready to quilt.

This week the Project Quilting Season 14 prompt was a novel project.   We were to stitch something that reflects a book we have read.  The book I chose was Goodnight Moon which was read over and over and over again to our children and continues to be a favorite of the grandbabies.  The children always enjoy searching for the hidden mouse with each turn of the page as you slowly put each item in the room to sleep.  Goodnight red balloon fabric postcard!

I managed to finish the quilting on my red Kaffe heart quilt in time for Valentine's Day, but I need to find a good binding for it.  I was not pleased with any that I had so it got displayed this year with no binding.  I guess I need to make a trip to the LQS.  That's always a dangerous place to visit.  ;-)  

One of my favorite heart quilts I have made was for our youngest granddaughter.  I think I need to make another one for our house.  Ramona of Doodlebugs and Rosebuds just made this quilt as a baby gift and her version is so sweet.  

We have no big, fancy plans for dinner out tonight.  We've always preferred to fix a nice meal at home.  Two of our sons own restaurants and it is always their busiest night of the year.  I made a nice loaf of heart shaped sourdough bread and a fresh orange cake.  DH is going to BBQ lamb chops and we will both be happier with that than any meal out.  How about you?  Do you dine in or out on Valentine's Day?

Wednesday's Words and Pictures

Gosh...it's been two weeks since I last blogged so there is lots to share.  There has not been a lot of sewing as we have been away for a bit.

We had a delightful trip to Florida.  This is a time when I normally meet up with a fellow friend and blogger, Midlife Mom, but it was not to be this year.  Her father had fallen off of a ladder and was in the hospital so she was staying with her mom and getting things sorted out.  I am glad to report that he is doing much better and is now home in Maine with Louise.  I did miss our chats and will have to make up for them up next year!!!!

We were staying near Key Largo and this year we made the drive down to Key West.  It was a fun and interesting drive.  I always love the colors that you see in that area.  I am sure that we would be fined by our HOA if we were to paint our home one of the luscious colors that can be seen.   They have such a tropical feel to them.

Of course I love seeing the flowers - especially the orchids that are planted on the palm trees.  I would love to be able to do something like that here, but I would worry about a freeze.

Can you imagine doing a topiary like this on your house?  The entire house was done like this and this is only a small section of it, but I found the rats very interesting.

During our stay we enjoyed a fun concert with KC and the Sun*shine Boys.

We returned home for two days - long enough to unpack, do laundry, shop and repack for our annual trip to the Sierras with the children and grandchildren.  The snow pack was nothing to write home about, but we did find some good areas for sledding and, of course, the skiing areas were open for those who ski.  We all had a fabulous time - snow or not.




The techy group.




Birthday boy.





Dinner in shifts!!!




Sun rising on the mountains.



While we were away several wonderful packages arrived in my mailbox.  Some wonderful Valentine fabrics arrived from Annie.  Aren't these fun fabrics?  I think I see a valentine quilt coming.

From Pat a package came with a glue stick and another pretty piece of fabric.  I will use the glue stick for the paper piecing that I do.  I tend to go through it quickly so I am excited about trying this new brand.  Thanks Pat.

I joined up for the Year of Mug Rugs and the February mug rug arrived while we were away.  Jeanne also included some fun charm squares in the package.  I have enjoyed using my seasonal mug rug!

Also from Jeanne, I received fabrics that I won from the Blog Hop.  Aren't the colors pretty?  They remind me of the Florida Key colors!!!

As I said, there has not been a lot of sewing going on as we were away.  I did manage to finish up my heart quilt for the auction next week.

As well, I made the doll school uniform that I make each year for the grandchildren's school auction which is in a couple of weeks.  It feels good to have those both finished.

It's a rainy day here so I am heading in to my sewing room for some fun.

Added later.......

Is this new word verification driving everyone else as crazy as it is me????  I simply cannot read some of those words.  I notice that I am leaving fewer comments due to it so thought I would add a hint as to how to get rid of it on your blogs. 
to turn word verification off:


Go to dashboard, then  settings, then comments, scroll down this page until you find word verification- fill in the NO bubble. Click "save settings" at the bottom of the page.