Sewing Row by Row

I finished my swap row quilt from last summer.  It is called 'Sewing Row by Row". My friends from the Friendship group made the individual rows in the swap.  I used my quilt pins and buttons to embellish the quilt. I love all the different rows, the wind and tea, measuring tapes, spools, machines, dress forms and being the queen of UFO.  such a great swap and I'm glad I was pushed into finishing this yesterday and can now hang it in my sewing room.

It's February Already

Can you believe that one month of the new year is gone already? I spent the month in Tennessee and North Carolina with my daughters and grand children.  It was a great time and I miss them dearly.

LOVE MONTH - HUG YOUR LOVED ONES

OPAM

Since I have all these blocks done I suppose it is time to finish some of them, so with urging from my friend Pat, I will commit to the OPAM, one project a month site. Finished project. Oh dear, can I do it?

Piecemaker Cows Block

Finished another block in the Piecemakers quilt and think my cows look almost real. What do you think?

Winter Mug Rugs

I am in a winter mug rug swap and have recieved two this month.

One is a lovely pink and blue, fussy cut snowman rug from Cindy D.  So cute and will make the drab January days so cheerful.

The other one was from Cathie in Oz, which is down in Australia, and is a snowball block.  Corners of blue sky, and yellow sun, brown embers glowing from the fireplaces to keep us warm.  Gently falling snow and a cheerful house on the reverse.

Here is picture of my mug rug that I made for my two swappers.

I just love this Florida snowman.  Thanks ladies, I love them both.

Happy New Year Everyone

It's almost January already - a new year - 1012. Wow! did last year go fast.  I have been posting my cubicle blocks started this summer.  They were for Christmas presents for my daughters, so have been making four of each block. Sorry the snowballs are a little blurry in the picture.

One set for my daughter, Donna, she is a college professor, for her office.
One set for my daughter, Tracey, who is a special needs teacher in North Carolina.
One set for my daughter, Grace, who works for a financial institution in Tennessee.
And one set for me, to remind me of what month it is, and of each of my special daughters.

I love you all.

This week I put together my snowman quilt from a swap this month.  Like the way it turned out. A good quilt for the January snows.

Happy New Year to all.

Christmas Dinner

Christmas was a quiet affair at our home, no grandchildren here this year. My niece Susan and her husband, Lou; my brother Ray, and Lou's father were here for dinner.
We spent too much time eating but everything was so yummy that I haven't been hungry since.

My Christmas Rosemary lamb bread and the lemon cake I made.

Special Doll Dresses

Last year I made complete wardrobes for the girls 18" dolls for Christmas. This year a little slower.  I only got two special dresses done and two embroidered pant sets.

Dress in white was made out of my daughter Tracey's high school graduation dress scraps and then the clasp of the jacket was from one of the roses taken off her wedding dress.  It had a beige center flower and she wanted all white ones so they were changed and I have used a lot of the roses on other projects.  Only one made so Tracey's daughters will have to share.

The yellow dress was from scraps of daughter Grace's bridesmaid dress when I made all the dresses for daughter Tracey's wedding.  Think that this is the last of those scraps. So this dress if for her daughters to use on their dolls.

The embroidered pants were done by my niece Susan and then I put the pants and tops together.  I think I need a new sewing embroidery machine Santa.

Orchids

My orchids are blooming and just had to share some pictures of them. All of these are in my one palm tree out front of the dining room window.  I think I will use them on my table for Christmas. The quilt I am using has pink/lavender poinsettias in the fabric.

Merry Christmas Early

Jim and I received our Christmas present early yesterday. Can you guess whats in the box?

Tracey, Don, Timothy, Amber, and Hannah are expecting a new little one in 2012. WAY TO GO HOLTONS.  What a wonderful Christmas present for your family and ours. May your new little one be healthy and safe until he or she joins us next summer.  Exciting times. God is good.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

TO EVERYONE AND MAY YOUR NEW YEAR BE A BLESSED ONE FOR YOUR FAMILIES.

Visit in Kirksville MO

The first weekend in December I visited with DS Richard and his lovely wife DDL Donna. It was his birthday and he had some friends in for homemade stew and chili. He even made his own deliousous birthday cake as he loves to cook. 

 
   

The next day was a craft show in the next town. I went with him and helped him set up his wood crafts he makes.  His hoppy has turned profitable and, of course, Mom had to shop too. My as well support the family instead of the big corporations this year, right?

Richard first love is his dogs.  He has three Corgi's and they are more like kids than dogs.  Archie, Brooke and Comet are their names and Archie is a champion.

Our picture was taken at the airport just before leaving in a twin prop airplane that seated ten.  I got to sit in the co-poliot seat, which was an experience for me.  Unfortunetly didnt get to see much as it was snowing that day and were lots of cloud cover until we got into St Louis airport. But I can cross that off my bucket list.

Thanks so much for the lovely weekend Richad and Donna.

Design Wall

My dear friend Pat visited with me yesterday and toured the mess in my quilting room. She did see some progress in my AOTH [Affairs of the Heart] quilt I am making for DD Grace.  Pat said I should post the progress on the blog, so here it is.

The AOTH is on the left and a current swap we are in with the snowmen is on the right. So far I have received seven of the fourteen coming. So cute and love them all.

December Cubicle Block

Wow! Is it December already? The month has flown by and am way behind on posting and my quilting projects for Christmas.  Happy holidays to all. This past weekend I was in Missouri to spend time with my son and daughter-in-law. It's his birthday and he had a Mellow Yellow Party. I guess you can tell his age by that choice.  I will post pictures later.

HE'S A STAR IN MY LIFE!

Maple Leaf Quilt

This quilt was from a swap in the Friendship Group from last year that I had put together.  My niece, Susan, machine quilted it for me and it looks fabulous.  I used it on the table for Thanksgiving.  Great job Susan!

November Mini Quilt

The trip was wonderful and I will post some cute pictures of us later but I thought I had least better get the November quilt up before the month was over. Can you believe that 2011 is almost over. Wow has this year flown by, must be that I'm getting older and the time goes much more quickly now.  Remember our veterens tomorrow and Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

EPIC trip

Time has arrived for another Sister Cruise. This year we are flying to Barcelona Spain for a week and then cruising back transatlantic to Miami.  Stops in  Portugal and St Thomas and a total of thirteen days at sea. It will be so relaxing.

We will be sailing on NCL's new ship the Epic.  Each trip the five sisters wear the matching tee shirts each day.  After a day or two we will meet people and they say "there go the sisters" or "what will you be wearing tomorrow?"  This began on our second cruise with one shirt, then a few more, and then we had to keep buying shirts for our fan club.  I think we are up to more than thirty shirts now.  Originally we purchased shirts that had four of something on [ie. four moose, four flowers, etc, for the four of us]. Then we adopted a sister and thus had five of something on them [ie. five bears, five turtles, etc].  Now we are in to bedazzled so I made the Epic shirts for this trip and the eagle is our theme [Mom's family name is Eagle]. Wearing matching shirts helps us to find each other when in a crowd also.

This trip is mixed blessings. My sister Linda won't be going as her husband is undergoing treatment for aggressive throat cancer [doing well with treatments].  Our adopted sister Faye can't go as she is retiring at the end of November and has much to do.  However, my husband Jim is going so the three of us will have a body guard to protect us and keep us on track. LOL.

October Cubicle Block

Its fall in the air and time for pumpkins and falling leaves. This months mini quilt is fall trees and pumpkins. I love pumpkin pie and guess I better make one soon.

September Cubicle Block

Its back to school time and I am late posting my September mini quilt.  Had to get all those little kids ready for school, and three of my grandchildren too.

Grands

I have been visiting with my grandchildren and helping daughters get all six of them ready for school year. Here's a snap when they were all together, although some not wanting a picture taken.  As of today, all back in school and it sure is quiet here in NC. I return home on Saturday to a lonely husband.  Tuesday I was in my first earthquake but it seems the hurricane will miss us. Thank goodness.

Of course the two grand dogs were there also.

August Cubicle Quilt

My August quilt 15x15 inches for my quilt room. It is an ant farm, if you look close you can see them burrowing in the sand.  My little six year old helper, Sage, helped me lay out the ants.