... and what will you bring me today?

Friday, June 20, 2014

June - and Summer has arrived!

This June started out with weather so pleasant that we didn't really think we were in St. Louis! But it seems that Summer is here now and the temperature is rising fast. 

Piece Mill Quilters had a Sew Day and I picked two fun kits to make. Both were very easy and went together pretty fast. The Children's Hospital really appreciates all the quilts that the group makes which are usually lap sized cuddle ones.

Mickey and Me!!!!


Bianca finally decided she liked wearing the little Cinderella dress that I HAD to buy her last March. Good thing too because it looks like she's having a growth spurt and soon it will be too small.

Also, the van died…
It needed too much money to fix so it has been donated. So we have a new Ford Escape. It's nice with some pretty fun options but has a smaller trunk space than the last model. I do think it will still fit a bike if the back seats are flattened.



May Happenings

The biggest thing that happened was that little Bianca had her 2nd Birthday! She and her Mom came to visit with us while her Dad studied for his finals. Quiet time for him and great fun for us! We also started sewing on a T-shirt quilt for Karly and Mike with many of their college shirts. The top is done but they need to visit again to work on the back and quilting. Soon, I hope!

Bubbles, chalk, sprinklers & cupcakes!

We went to a baseball game ...

We went to Grant's Farm and fed the goats …
except they wanted to eat Bianca so Mom held her.

And we went to the Magic House where we pretended to be a veterinarian...
and a construction engineer...

and a musician!



Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Easter 2014




April also has Easter time and it was a beautiful day! St. Timothy's Episcopal Church has the most wonderful windows I think, and every time I look at them I see different parts in new ways. The monk that designed them for the new sanctuary had a true feeling for what the parishioners wanted and what was best for the space. This was also the first Easter for the new Rector and the celebrations were overflowing with people, music and caring for each other!













My son Mike and his family were visiting Karly's parents and had a fun Easter egg hunt for Bianca - ah, to be an only grandchild and have all the adults around only for you!


Every child should have as many adults as possible around to love them!

Such a sweet little girl she is!

April

This month is always hard because of sad memories and it can be a dreary, rainy time too. But I've been working on my outlook because there are also quite a few happy times to celebrate and, of course, all that rain does make nature beautiful. What I know in my head that I should do does not always get done, and also I think in my heart, "What is wrong with taking a bit of time to be quiet and think and remember even if it does make me sad?"

This April though has brought extra challenges with a friend from church who has died from breast cancer, and another very good friend being diagnosed with breast cancer within the same week. There's not much I am able to do except to support the dad and two young daughters as they miss their wife/mom, and be close by for my friend as she faces chemo after her mastectomy.

I don't feel up to it. I don't know what to do best for any of them. Flowers, food, hugs, listening…     I wish there was a magic formula.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

March 2014 - Bits 'n' Pieces Quilt Show

Just a few pictures of the quilt show because it is such a great undertaking! But with at least 90% of the members volunteering, everything works smoothly. The show is open Saturday and Sunday.

Starting with a Friday set-up beginning at 8:30 am with the pipe & drape company and ending at 7:30 pm when the vendors had to be done with their booth areas.
half-way done
ready for quilts






And here are some of the over 350 quilts we had to show - from antique to art to modern! Best selection of fabric art anyone would want to see.


The guild always has a Charity Ticket Raffle where members donate small quilts or quilted items for people to buy tickets which they put in bags numbered to the item they would love to take home. This year the charity was Honor Flight St. Louis which flies WWII veterans to the memorials in Washington DC. We raised over $2000!

Candy setting up charity booth

WWII veteran


The Bed Turning always has a crowd. They show about 25 quilts and tell the history of each as it is held up, then fold it onto the chest at the foot of the bed before showing the next quilt. The quilt being shown here was my grandmother's and I found out the fabrics for the top probably cost 75¢! Compare that to fabric costs now…




Monday, April 21, 2014

Quilt Show Quilts - Finished!

Baby Pinwheels
Well, quite a bit happened through January and February too, but my most pressing time use was FINISHING MY QUILTS FOR THE QUILT SHOW!!!! My family was not all that impressed when I finished one or another. Their questions were more on the line of, "Are you fixing dinner? Oh, it's okay. I will eat whatever is in the fridge… No problem." Or, "Mom, you should take a break from all that sewing. Want to take me shopping?"

Christmas Confetti




But I am very proud of myself for finishing my quilts. I do feel like such a procrastinator because I had all of these quilt tops (and backs, too, ready to go) that I really liked but was putting off the quilting part for so long - ridiculous! And I have more tops just sitting around, waiting…

I do get stuck on how I'd like to quilt things. I have a regular sewing machine so some designs are beyond what I can do on it. I will not try big circles or long curving feather designs because I know they won't be smooth. either I should invest in a machine with a larger throat space or practice those designs on smaller lap quilts.



Everglades Postcard 
I'm in a small art-quilt group called Rambling Art Quilters and we give ourselves challenges. This one was to choose a National Park and make a 'postcard' of it. The size was 9" x 12" and was two-sided with the back looking like a postcard with an address and message too. Mine is based on a photograph that my mother took while she was visiting the Everglades. There were six of us that did this challenge and we made a plastic 'page' with rivets at the top and space for our six quilts. Unique!

Habitat

Almost a year and a half ago I made the top of this 'Habitat' quilt for my youngest daughter and her husband as their wedding shower gift. She is very happy that I now have it finished even though she can't have it until after the quilt show. It turned out great and they love it - I did ask that her dog not get to jump on it on the bed though.


Splash
Bits Challenge Kid donation quilt





The Bits n Pieces Guild Challenge was called 'Water, Water, Everywhere.' I browsed the web for images for inspiration and liked how photos of water drops looked. Then I saw a quilt similar to this which helped me set the idea on how to design the water drops. I could not find the quilt again so can't give credit to that person, but their quilt was red and orange if you ever see it.

'Splash' won the Challenge Viewers' Choice at the show!

Hexies




'Hexies' was a spur-of-the-moment purchase of two packs of die-cut hexagons that just called to me. Lots of fun playing with placement but these were full cut hexies, not split ones that are easy to pieces, so this quilt did take some time.

Friday, April 11, 2014

WooHoo! Jamaica for Christmas '13 to New Year '14



With a lot of work we have put together our trip to celebrate being together - Jamaica from Christmas through New Year's Day! Things went well considering this is such a crowded and busy time to travel. Most of our bags made it, of course it was Dad's bag that they 'misplaced' and Mike's too, but some of his things were in another bag too.


...loving the swim up bar...
our personal waitress
1 baby + 7 adults = no need to walk

It was relaxing and just plain fun watching the kids play. We loved the opportunity to just watch Bianca explore.
loving the beach & water!







ATV tour for the younger group


Happy New Year!!!!


Lovely Sunsets




We had a wonderful time!

Wouldn't it be fun to do each year?