Monday's Check In

I have to go shoe shopping today.  I HATE shoe shopping!!!!  I so wish that I had an easy foot to fit - preferably a size 7 with a B width.  NOT SO!!!  I wear an 8.5 AAAA.  No one carries that size and the cute sandals are never in AAAA widths.  What's with that?

The weekend was wonderful.  Our newest little grandson came home to an adoring family and is now being  spoiled loved to death. 



Gotta love the double chin and red hair!!

Here are a few more pictures of that darling quilt in the Maternity Ward.  I tried to get some detail to show, but there was a large flourescent light right above the quilt.  Sorry about the reflections.  The one on the upper left was so cute - an Asian mother - but the reflection was atrocious.



Triplets????

I was also able to spend some good time sewing and working on a few blocks in my Quilt Alongs.




Sorry about the shadows!!!

2 most recent blocks from the Civil War Quilt Along.

Thread Head Quilt Along block #14

The Mug Rugs are also finished.  These things can really be addictive.

Mary of Quilt Hollow gave me the best idea.  Why not save all of the little snippets for the birds to use for their nests.  Soooo....here is my contibution to the building of nests.  Just think how colorful they will be.

There appears to be a big storm moving across the country.  I hope that all of you who are in line to receive it will stay safe.

It's a Boy!!!

I love being surprised when a new baby is delivered.  Our newest grandson arrived in the wee hours of the morning to the delight of all.  Mom, baby and siblings are all doing well. 

Please pardon the picture that I am showing, but it was one of those "what were you thinking" moments.  I charged the battery yesterday in anticipation that she would not be returning from her doctor's appointment.  I grabbed the camera and started shooting.  Within seven shots I got the message of no room in the memory.  What??????  I had forgotten to put the memory card back into the camera.  Brilliant!!!!  So....the trusty phone had to do, but I will get better pictures when I go up to the hospital later today.

They have recently finished a remodel in the hospital and it is wonderful - private rooms for all.  There was one wall as you entered the OB department that had the most adorable quilt hanging on it.  Again, the picture is not great and there is a glare from the overhead lighting, but I thought it was adorable.  What do you think???  Is it perfect or what????

I'll try to get a better picture of it too as the details were precious.  Soooo cute!

Still Waiting

Each week I think I will have the news to report of our newest grandbaby, but this little one is playing stubborn.  It is actually due next Monday, but our DIL has delivered each of her babies three to four weeks early.  So....we wait.  It is actually good that it is late as they have had strep throats and the H1N1 in their household.  You would not want to bring a baby home to that.

Our weather continues to be just gorgeous.  We have been able to enjoy beautiful sunsets each evening as we sit outside.  I love seeing the days becoming longer and know that spring and summer won't be far off now.

What has been going on in my sewing this week?  Actually, there is not as much to show as I would like.  I got into a deep cleaning mood and cleaned all of the floorboards and polished ALL of the wood floors.  Then I cleaned my refrigerator and freezers before I moved onto the pantry - a huge job after the holidays.  My husband even asked if I was the one expecting.  It did feel good to get those jobs out of the way.

I am working on a large embroidery order of eighty shirts.  Each design takes 15 minutes to stitch out. 

One box down....



Two to go.

As well I finished my setting blocks for the Thread Head Quilt Along.  I did not like the ones that I had made as they did not show the blocks off enough. 

This is block #13.  I am making two of each block and will have twenty sets of blocks when finished as well as forty setting blocks.

My Birdie BOM for the month of January is completed.  I am using the Sunkissed fabric line.  I love these cheery fabrics. 

My ALQS5 mini quilt is finished, but we aren't suppose to show it yet on our blogs.  Also, I have my mug rugs cut out for the Quilting Gallery swap.  We received our partner's names this week so I now know the colors that she prefers.  Things are moving along slowly here.  I have so many projects that I really want to do, but the days just seem to slip by in the blink of an eye.

Hopefully, my next post will bring news of a new baby in the family.  I hope everyone has a great week.

Soaking Up the Sun

For as much complaining that I had done over the cold summer that we experienced, I must say it is weeks like this past one that I am glad to live in southern California. It has been positively glorious! The clouds made way for what The Weather Channel has been calling "bountiful sunshine" and "high" temperatures. Needless to say, I have spend much of the week outside working in the yard. Where did all of the weeds come from???? I did manage to go from this

                                                                         to this.

Boy, that was a job and my arms are showing the scars from a job well done. The rose gardens are done as well as the scattered bushes throughout the yard. All that is left to finish are the three climbing ones. They have wicked thorns!

My cuckoo clock had to go to the clock doctor this week and these are a few of the sights we saw along the way.



Anyone for a game of chess on a sunny day?



This would be my idea of plowing a field.



The sun trying to poke through the clouds over the Pacific.

We were blessed to have some of the grandchildren for the weekend while their parents were out of town so we had a busy weekend. I think we even wore THEM out because they were ASKING to go to bed at 8:00 on Saturday night. They were out cold as soon as their heads hit the pillows.


Grandpa was called into duty with the tractor for many rides and driving lessons. There is such satisfaction when ones legs are finally long enough to reach the gas pedal and ones weight is sufficient enough on the seat to keep the tractor from shutting down.



It's always a fun game to go through the orange trees and duck your head.

A little help reaching the pedals is always good.

That's a long leg stretch!!!!

There is nothing like an ice cream cone to cool us down after school either. Bet you can't guess what flavor was chosen.



Chocolate-peanut butter, of course!!!

There really hasn't been a lot of sewing going on, but I did manage to have a couple of the granddaughters over yesterday for some skirt sewing.  Their sisters were over last week and I did not get pictures, but I did yesterday.  Oh, for the days of being able to wear gathers around the midsection of the body again!!!!!  The girls did a fabulous job on sewing and fabric selection.

I spent some serious time this morning squeezing lemons.  The Meyer lemons are ripening quickly and it is always nice to have the juice frozen and ready to pull out for fresh lemonade.  The Meyer lemons and limes both ripen in the winter here when a tall glass of frosty lemonade isn't what you would normally desire, but we don't have a hot cocoa tree.  The Eureka lemons will ripen in the summer.

 I will try to spend a little more time sewing this week so I have something to share in my next post.  I hope everyone has a great week ahead.

One Week Down ALREADY

Whew!  I can't believe that we are already in the second week of 2011.  If it continues like this we will all be asking where the year went. 

The first week has been a busy one around here.  The dismantling of Christmas decorations always seems to take so long.  Maybe it is because it is less fun that putting the things out.  Why is it that you think you have it all done and then you find that one stray item which means you have to go back and dig all of the stuff out to put it back?  Is it only me?

I attended a great machine embroidery class this week and really felt that I learned a lot.  Even though I have been doing machine embroidery for about five or six years, it is always fun to get together with others and pick their brains.  It is also fun to see the newer products which make hooping easier.

The biggest chore at this time of the year is rose pruning.  The roses were so late this year with our cold summer so they don't look as though they are in need of pruning yet.  They are still covered with beautiful leaves, a lot of buds and roses.  But....I need to get them finished and get some dormant spray on them before winter is over.  Have I mentioned before that I have over 100 bushes????

The weather here has been really cold.  The snow levels have been way down and it has made for stunning views around our valley.  Our local farmers have their field fans going all night to prevent freeze damage to their crops.  

I think even the birds are cold this year.  This is my little friend who has been hanging onto my screen for the last week.  I think he is begging to come in and get warm.  I can relate!

The grandchildren went back to school this week, but not before we got a day of sewing squeezed in.  Unfortunately, I can't share a picture because I forgot to take any before their dad showed up.  They made themselves darling skirts with godets and yokes - both new techniques to them.  I think I need to make myself one as they were soooo cute.

I am also working on some of my PhD projects.  I managed to get the red and aqua squares all put together and started to work on my siggy blocks as well.

I added another row to make it the size that I wanted.

Blocks #11 for the Thread Head quilt along are done.

Blocks # 1 and 2 from the Civil War quilt along are also finished.

I received my wonderful hearts from Judy at Sew Fun Quilts this week.  She had a giveaway for them and I won!!!  I want to make them up into a Valentine's quilt as they will be perfect in it.  Thank you, Judy.

Sooo....that's been my first week of 2011.  How about yours?

Happy New Year

Along with everyone else, I wish to extend my wish for a wonderful 2011 filled with rich blessings to all.

Our New Year's eve was quiet and we were enjoying the view of the inside of our eyelids by the time midnight rolled around here.  We did see the ball fall in Times Square so that counted for us.  We had a quiet dinner with my mom, sister, BIL and our daughter with her two little ones.  (Her husband had to work.)  It was a pleasant evening and I enjoyed cooking for a smaller crowd this time.

This morning was spent watching the Rose Parade and enjoying my coffee while lounging in my nightgown - a perfect start to the new year.  Despite our very chilly temperatures the last few days, the sun was shining on the Rose Parade.  It is magical how that happens.  The rain even held off until later today which is not what they had forecast.  Yeah!

I have been enjoying some nice peaceful time in my sewing studio this week as well.  I had several projects that needed to be caught up on and I was able to get them finished.  The first was my block for my Raggedy Ann and Andy quilt. 

Then I had my blocks for the Thread Head Quilt Along.  I had gotten a bit behind on those, but did get caught up on all of them.  I just need to work on my alternating blocks now. 

I joined Myra's PhD Challenge and have committed to finishing up at least four of my Projects half Done by the first of June.  I really need to tackle more of those this year.  It is a shame how I can move on to something more fun when I am not completely finished with one project. 

DH took the day off of work on Thursday and we took a drive to enjoy the beautiful new green grasses that have sprung up in the hills with the recent rains.  It was a gorgeous day and we both enjoyed it.  There is one bridge that we pass over as we head up past Santa Barbara.  The engineering fete of the construction is really a sight to see.  It spans over a canyon and if you take a little side road you can enjoy the view from underneath the bridge.  Unfortunately, the beauty of the bridge is marred with numerous crosses of those who opted to leap from the bridge.  Very sad.

 

To end this post I will leave you with this lovely gift that I received over the holidays.  I have been wanting the white Christmas Cactus for awhile and this has a combination of the red and white in the same pot.  It is just covered with blooms and I am so excited to have it in bloom at the moment.  My large cactus that is a piece from my grandmother's plant is just starting to get a lot of blooms setting on it so I will enjoy this one now and the pink one in a few short weeks.



Christmas 2010

Although Christmas day is over and the house has returned to a little more normalcy, I really love these days.  There is a certain amount of quiet calm to reflect on the wonderful times that we spent with family and friends and to think about the true meaning of Christmas.  I will leave my decorations up until Epiphany on January 6th so there is a lot of time for quiet reflection and I never tire of these days.

Our Christmas was absolutely fabulous.  I love the fact that we still have so many  little believers around.  Christmas is always so special with children. 

We celebrate with a large gathering at our home on Christmas Eve.   Rather than trying to organize a dinner with excited children, we have resorted to lots of hearty appetizers.  Everyone brings a couple and the food is left for snacking on throughout the evening.  It works out well and not one seems to leave hungry.

It seems like the kitchen is always a great gathering place.



SIL, niece and my two sisters.



My mom and one of my DILs.

Opening presents always starts off VERY ORGANIZED!!!  One person opens a gift, starting with the youngest,  and then moves on to the next.  After about six or seven gifts are opened it invariably turns into happy chaos.  As they say, “best laid plans”.  We follow gifts with dessert and the singing of “Happy Birthday” to our Christmas grandson.  There is nothing like celebrating your birthday with ALL of your cousins.  The party breaks up shortly afterwards as there is still assembly of Santa gifts at other homes.  Those late nights of doing that are NOT missed!!! 




Patiently waiting for gift opening.

Everyone finding their seats for the best vantage point.

Happy chaos.

I made the gift cards a little more difficult to get to this year.

Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!

Christmas Day started off with Church and then several of the kids came back for a Christmas morning brunch at the house.  The little ones got to play for a few hours before our son and his family headed on home after the fun days spent with us.



A Christmas/birthday hug.

We did not want to let this dolly get away from us.

Our first rollover - on Christmas Day, no less.

There wasn’t a lot of sewing that went on over Christmas as the studio is used as a nursery.  I am always excited to get back into sewing again and there are endless new inspirations as the new year starts.  I need to catch up on my blocks for my Thread Head Quilt Along before I get too far behind.  I will share those in my next post.  I did finish up a candle mat that I made for the gal who helps my mom.



I loved the fabrics on this one.

Several delightful packages have arrived in the mail.  The first was a beautiful centerpiece made my my friend, Midlife Mom.  It fits perfectly on my bare table under my pear tree arrangement.  How did she know that I needed something there????



Perfect!

As well, Micki sent me a delightful quilting magazine from Ireland.   This was the second one that she sent as the first one was lost somewhere in the mail system.  Thank you, Micki, I have really enjoyed some quiet time looking through it.



Thanks, Micki

Lana sent me a wonderful selection of fabrics and a pattern that I won from her Christmas giveaway.  Thank you, Lana, I know that I will enjoy using them.



Thanks, Lana

Speaking of giveaways, be sure to check out Linda's wonderful Giveaway to celebrate her 300 followers and the bringing in of 2011.  Linda is a delightful and prolific blogger and I am sure you will find lots of inspiration on her blog.

It’s hard to imagine that 2010 is coming to a close.  It seems like only yesterday we were concerned about a new millennium and here we are already almost eleven years into it.  Time really does fly.  Our new years will be a quiet dinner with my mom, sister, BIL and our daughter and her children.  Her husband has to work on New Year's Eve.