Christmas Gifts . . .

I didn't get a lot of shopping done this Christmas . . . with all that's been happening with Mom . . . so I decided to give quilts to two of my sons and their wives . . .
this one is the "Patience Corner" pattern . . . I had made it a few years ago . . . and hadn't used it yet . . . so it was perfect to give away . . . I also knew it was colors one of my daughters-in-law really likes . . .
this quilt is from my first Sampler class . . . the theme of the sampler is called "Sweet Stuff" . . . and the colorway was named "Chocolate" . . . again I knew these colors were perfect for this couple's home . . . it was a UFO for a long while . . . and I managed to finish it in the last few weeks . . .
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both couples really liked them . . . I think better than if I had bought gifts !!

3 More Finished !!

I just finished 3 more stockings . . . only 2 photos because I made 2 of the blue one . . . well that's it until after Christmas . . . I have 9 more in different stages . . . will work on those for next year . . . LOL . . .

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guess I was more ambitious last summer when I first got this idea !!

Finished !!

well . . . 3 are finished . . . I needed these for gifts at work tomorrow . . . LOL . . . I'm still hoping to finish the others this week . . . but not sure I can get them done . . . oh well . . .

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things have been hectic with Mom the last month . . . but she is coming along . . . she's working so hard in her therapies . . . saying a few words and phrases now . . . and walking about 15 feet each day using a walker . . . it's slow . . . but she is progressing . . .

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Hope you all have a wonderful holiday . . .

Christmas Stockings - Step 2

First, let me say thank you to everyone who has been praying for my Mom . . . I am guardedly saying she is doing better . . . she has had 4 good days in a row . . . and we're hoping it will continue . . .

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Some of the feeling on her right side has come back a little . . . and she is able to say a word here and there now . . . her mind seems to have cleared considerably . . . the doctors are saying they think she is on the right track now . . . but we're all still praying and keeping our fingers crossed that she will not have anymore setbacks . . .

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we know we're looking at several months of rehab if she can just continue the way she has the last few days . . . so please keep praying . . . we need all the help we can get . . .

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now the stockings . . . my nerves are finally not as bad as they have been the last 6 weeks . . . so I'm trying to get back to some sewing . . . this is the 2nd step for the stockings . . . I've traced the outline of the stocking onto the EPP piece . . . cut it out . . . and ironed it onto a piece of iron on batting . . . now I need to quilt them all before I sew them to the backings, make the linings, and add the cuffs . . .

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so far I have 9 large ones to do . . . and 4 small ones . . . and I really want to make at least 3 more large ones . . .

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stay tuned !

Sad News . . .

things have been nuts for the past 3 weeks . . . and they are not going well . . .

Mom had her surgery for the colostomy on Oct. 13 . . . on Oct. 15 she began to have kidney failure and they did a procedure to put in tubes . . . on Oct. 16 she had a small heart attack . . .

On Oct. 17 she began to slowly improve . . . very slowly . . . that Friday and Saturday she had 2 great days and they were beginning to think she was turning the corner . . . Sunday a.m. she was doing even better . . . I talked with her and the nurse . . . and then left home to head in to see her . . .

10 minutes into the trip I got a call from the hospital that she had just had a stroke . . . I called everyone and we all went in . . . they did a CAT scan and found a blood clot on her brain . . . also paralyzed on her right side and unable to speak . . . so they went in to try to remove it but they were unable to do so . . . the doctor said he was able to break it up somewhat and now they are hoping the body will take over and continue to break it up . . .

over the last few days she seems to be slowly improving . . . she has a little movement on her right side now . . . but still cannot talk . . . although she is trying very very hard . . .

it is just so so sad . . . she has always been so vibrant . . . nobody ever guessed her age to be 81 . . . she lived alone . . . took care of herself . . . drove wherever she wanted to go . . . just an amazing woman . . .

now to watch her trying to communicate . . . and being so frustrated . . . it just breaks my heart . . .

it seems it's just been one thing after another . . . the surgery for the colostomy went great . . . and there was no reason she shouldn't have recovered just fine . . . but I guess her 81 year old body thinks otherwise . . .

they are hoping to have her moved to a rehab facility within the next week . . . we're hopeful they will be able to help her to recover and regain what she has lost . . .

please keep praying for a good recovery . . . and thank you all so much . . .

Happy Halloween ! !

just a little trick or treat surprise for my granddaughters . . . little Hershey guys . . . with the cutest dangly legs . . . so so cute . . . we got these months ago when we went to Hershey, PA . . .

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the 2nd photo is one of the Halloween placemats I made for each of them . . . luckily I finished these before Mom went into the hospital or I'm afraid they would have been for next year !!

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my grandsons are getting a different surprise . . . but can't post it here . . . just in case they are watching . . . LOL . . . haha sorry guys !!

A Little Update . . .

thank you for all your prayers . . . I think they are working !!

she seems to be getting somewhat better . . . most days . . . the doctor says it will be up and down for another week or so . . . but we're hopeful she will get steadily better . . .

last night she was in a lot of abdominal pain . . . but the nurses said that means the bowel is beginning to work . . . which is good news . . .

they said she needs to walk and eat . . . both of which she is fighting them on !! . . . but the nurses said that even the fact that she has a fighting spirit right now is a good thing . . .

thank you all again . . .

PRAYERS !!

if you were praying before . . . please pray some more . . .

things took a bad turn on Wednesday for Mom . . . she began to have kidney failure . . . and they had to go back in and put tubes into her kidneys . . .

yesterday was a really bad day . . . they could not get her heart rate and blood pressure under control . . . and she was having extreme fluid retention and difficulty breathing . . .

they tried some other meds . . . and things began to improve last night . . . today they are saying she is somewhat better . . . but the next few days will be critical . . . if she continues to improve we will be headed in the right direction . . .

thanks for all your prayers . . . we really need them now !!

Thank You, ALL ! !

well yesterday was the big day . . . my Mom's surgery . . .

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the doctor said she came through it pretty well . . . tolerated the anesthesia good . . . and they had no problems with her heart . . . they did have to do some extensive work though . . .

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he says he expects her to make a full recovery . . . but she has a long road ahead of her . . . about a week in the hospital . . . then 2 to 3 weeks in a rehab center . . . and another 8 weeks of recuperation at home . . . after that he says she should be as good as ever . . .

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I feel so bad for her . . . she is 81 years old . . . and has had a lot of hard times in her life . . . along with 3 other major surgeries . . . it's just so sad that she has to go through all of this now . . . but she is a strong person and a real fighter . . . so she will do it . . .

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thank you all for your prayers and well wishes . . . I can't tell you how much I appreciate it . . . thank you again . . .

YEAH . . . a Kindle !!

I finally ordered a Kindle !! . . . YEAH . . . I'm so excited . . . I should have it in the next couple of days . . .

everyone I know that has one . . . lovesssssssssssss it . . . I sure hope I do too . . .

I do think I will really like it when I travel to California . . . no more carrying a pile of books to read . . . just download what I want onto my Kindle !!

now I'm in the process of going through all my books . . . I'm either going to have a big book sale . . . or just donate them . . . but I do know I finally don't want to be collecting books anymore . . . I am only going to keep my signed 1st editions . . . everything else MUST GO !!

I SURE DO HOPE I LIKE MY NEW KINDLE !!

Cultural Day at School . . .

at the end of the month my granddaughters will be celebrating "cultural day" at school . . . their mother is a descendant of the Fulani people of Nigeria . . . so we did some research on the Fulani clothing colors and designs . . . and I went shopping in my stash for fabric to make them each a little outfit to wear . . .

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at first I chose the fabric in the 3rd photo . . . but my son thought it looked more Indian than African . . . so then I went STORE shopping . . . and found the fabric that is in the 2nd photo . . . looks like we're going with that one . . .

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I'm going to make them each a little tunic with a wrap tie for around the waist . . . and possibly a kerchief to tie on their heads in the back . . . it depends if their parents decide to buy them the Fulani straw hats we found in the 1st photo . . . I'm voting for the hats !!

Shelfari . . .

you HAVE to check out http://www.shelfari.com/ . . . it's so cool . . . it's all about books . . . for readers . . . let's you create a bookshelf with books you've already read . . . want to read . . . or are reading . . .

look at the sidebar on my blog . . . at the bottom . . . it let me put a bookshelf of the books I want to read on here . . .

there are so many good books out right now . . . !!

be sure to click on the next button to see all my shelves . . .

Can You Guess?

sorry I have not been blogging for such a long time . . . things have been really hectic . . . with lots of doctor appointments for Mom . . . and physical therapy appointments for me . . .

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Mom will be having her surgery in a few short weeks now . . . and I am almost all recovered from my fall . . .

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I have been doing a lot of English paper piecing (EPP) . . . here are some photos . . . can you guess what I'm making? . . . I bet the last photo will give you a hint !!

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I'll post them again when they are all done . . . I'm on number 6 now !!

An Update . . .

First, let me say . . . that my friends have been terrific these last 2 weeks . . . this photo is from a card that came with a very nice gift from my friend, Nicole . . . something to help lift up my spirits . . . and lift them up she sure did . . .

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so the update . . . Mom came home a week ago last Tues. . . . with a special diet . . . and instructions to take things very easy . . . we met with the surgeon in Boston this past Monday . . . and need to see him again the end of August after he has totally reviewed everything and decided exactly what will be done . . . she will be having surgery sometime in September . . . we do know that it will be a tough surgery . . . with a pretty long recovery . . . but she has such a strong spirit . . . and such a great attitude . . .

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now . . . to make matters worse . . . in as short a story as I can tell . . . 2 days after Mom came home . . . I went to a local chain pharmacy to get some things for Mom . . . and pick up her Rx's . . . didn't see a huge puddle on the floor . . . and fell . . .

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I won't go into all the details . . . except to say I did a kick like I haven't done since I was 14 . . . and then landed in a split . . . and immediately passed out . . . I've torn all the muscles, tendons, and ligaments from the bottom of my butt to my ankle . . . the pain has been incredible . . . I wasn't able to sit at all for the first 5 days . . .

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this couldn't have come at a worse time . . . but then again . . . is there ever a good time for something like this . . . Mom says it was so I would slow down . . .

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but thanks to my doctor giving me some prednisone to help with the inflammation . . . and the best physical therapist a person could have who has been using ultrasound and electronic stimulation on it all . . . I am getting better every day . . . at least I am finally sitting . . . not pain free . . . but sitting . . . for short periods of time . . .

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the deep down pain is pretty good now . . . and has mostly turned into a real soreness . . . my sciatic is still bothering me . . . but I'm hoping by Monday I will be good enough to drive . . . and try to get back to normal activities . . .

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sooooooooo . . . hopefully this is the END of bad news . . . now that I can sit for a short time I am going to try to get some sewing in this weekend . . . that will pick up my spirits . . . and maybe I will finally have something good to post . . .

Thank You ! !

Thank you to all of you who have written to me saying you are praying for my Mom . . . it means so very much to me . . .
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I've tried to reply to all of you . . . but could not find some of your email addressees . . . so if you didn't get an email from me . . . just know I tried . . . and I am very grateful to you . . .
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I will be writing an update on Mom's condition as soon as I have a few minutes to get it done . . . things are still a little crazy here . . . but decisions have been made . . .
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Thanks again . . . and know that I am offering a prayer for each of you . . . for whatever might be happening in your life too . . . I know we all have our own crosses to bear in life . . ..

What a TERRIBLE Weekend !!

Hydrangeas are my favorite flower . . . so delicate looking . . . but so able to stand up to bad weather etc . . . and such a sign to me that God is watching over us . . . and right now I really need to know that HE is . . . and I DO !!
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I had the day off on Friday . . . and it was my birthday . . . I had planned to sleep in . . . then sew the entire day . . . that's how I wanted to spend my day !!

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well I did sleep in . . . got up at 10:00 . . . put on the coffee and was going to sew right after that . . . decided to call to check on my 81 year old Mom . . . she sounded terrible . . . she said she was having one of her colitis attacks but that this one was worse than any she had ever had before . . .

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I prepared to get dressed and get myself to her house . . . things just got worse over the next 30 minutes . . . long long story . . . just let me say . . . that we took her by ambulance to the local hospital . . .

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we stayed there all day while they ran test after test . . . trying to figure this out . . . again long story . . . finally I called her gastroenterologist who happens to be at another hospital about 20 miles away . . . he said . . . "have her transferred over here . . . I am on duty all weekend" . . .

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so at 4:30 p.m. that's what we did . . . put her into another ambulance and transferred her . . . then drove ourselves to that hospital . . . where they did more tests . . . and more tests . . .

I got home at 9:30 p.m. . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

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actually . . . I really don't care about the birthday . . . hopefully I will get to celebrate another one next year . . . right now I just want my mother to get well . . .

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it's been a really trying weekend . . . more tests . . . lots of procedures . . . and now it looks like she is going to need some major surgery . . . which needs to be done at a hospital in Boston . . . so she is looking at another ambulance ride . . . poor thing !!

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we should know in the next hour or so just what she is going to be facing . . . so I'm praying like crazy . . . and just hoping it will all turn out good . . .

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needless to say . . . no sewing this past weekend . . .

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if you read this . . . please say a little prayer for her . . . thanks friends . . .

Working on my craziness !!

well I tried to aleviate some of the craziness in my quilting this weekend . . . sewed for most of the weekend and got a whole lot done . . . first . . . I finished the first block in the BOM for the Fat Quarter Shop . . . I really love the colors in this one . . .

my sister-in-law, Sandy, came over for the afternoon on Saturday and we worked on our blocks for the BOM for Quilter's Way . . . the 2 top ones were our homework for this month . . . the 2 bottom ones are from last month . . . it's sort of a mystery sampler . . . and somehow the blocks with the big half-square triangles are going to form the center of the quilt . . . each one is going to be appliqued but we haven't seen the design yet . . .

on Sunday . . . I cut all the strips for the 9-patches for "Birdseye" . . . and managed to make 31 of the 121 needed . . . they came out really good . . . and it was kind of fun and relaxing . . .

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I also did some EPP . . . made 18 more blocks for my Batik quilt . . . I now have 66 blocks done . . . about 104 needed in total for this quilt . . . I think . . . I might decide to add more depending if it comes out the size I am hoping it will . . . I hope to have all my blocks made before we go to Truro next month for our relaxing long weekend sitting by the ocean . . . I would like to be sewing these blocks together while I sit on the deck and listen to the waves . . . and maybe come home with my quilt just about finished . . .

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so that was my weekend . . . and I DID NOT START ANYTHING NEW!! . . . but I CAN check some things off that list I made last week . . . yeah ! ! !

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I had yesterday off and had planned to sew again all day . . . but I have to say . . . it was NOT calling me . . . maybe because of the previous 2 days of sewing so much . . .

Driving Myself "CRAZY" . . .

well . . . I am driving myself crazy . . . I keep flitting from one project to another . . . and keep starting new ones . . . does everyone have this problem . . . LOL !!

I just made a list of JUST the things I want to be doing RIGHT NOW . . . I had no idea how long it was . . . this is by no means my UFO list . . . just the ones I want to be doing NOW . . .

English Paper Piecing . . . my blue and white Seven Sisters quilt . . . my batik Grandmother's Flower Garden . . . my 3" hexagon Christmas stockings (of which I want to make 8) . . . and 2 table runners I want for thank you gifts for 2 special people . . .

Redwork . . . 7 of the Santas for my Christmas quilt (5 are done) . . . 2 Angels for Christmas stockings . . .

Bindings I need to do . . . an EPP quilt (2 sides are done) . . . my "Chocolate" sampler quilt (2 sides are done) . . . a Kitchen wallhanging . . . a baby quilt . . . my "Jewels" sampler quilt . . . and my "Skittles" sampler quilt . . .

BOM's . . . from Quilter's Way - the current month - 2 blocks . . . from Candlelite Quilts - this month and last month - 1 block each . . . from the Fat Quarter Shop . . . this month and last month - 1 block each . . .

AND . . . I need to get going on "Birdseye" for my project with Nicole . . . I did get the fabrics all pressed for this one the other night . . . and I am dying to start it . . . I'm off tomorrow and plan to work on this one a good part of the day . . .

so . . . OH MY . . . what do I work on . . . with this list I will NEVER be bored . . . I hate it when I hear someone say they are BORED . . . not me . . . NEVER ! ! !

("crazy socks" photo courtesy of my daughter-in-law, Isis - thanks sweetie, you have a great eye . . . I love this one!)

Finally Made My Decision !!

I have been trying to decide on a layout for my English Paper Piecing quilt that I'm working on . . . it's a Grandmother's Flower Garden . . . that I plan to call "Night Garden" . . . I'm using batiks . . . and the path is a black with copper water marks . . . almost looks like raindrops at night . . .

I've been trying to decide between the single ring or double ring design . . . and I finally decided to use the single ring . . . even though most of my friends said they liked the double better . . .

in the double ring . . . I was afraid the blue would over power the other colors . . . plus the dips on the sides and the top and bottom are so huge . . . and I didn't want to have to cut blocks in half to fill them in . . . I really don't like that look as much . . .

in the single ring . . . I think the flowers are more dramatic . . . the dips are only one row . . . and I was thinking I would put a row around the entire quilt that looks like a pebble path and use that to fill in the small dips . . . then use the same fabric for my borders . . .

anyway . . . here are the photos . . . the top one is the one I'm doing . . . with a close up in the 2nd photo . . . the 3rd photo is OUT . . . I've already taken the blocks all apart and re-basted them . . . so NO turning back now !!

My First Quilt . . . "oh my"

there's a challenge going around the blogs for us to show our very first quilt . . . oh my . . . talk about UGLY . . . but it was warm !!

I started this quilt in 1989 . . . instruction coming from a friend . . . and it took me until 1994 to finish it . . . by the time I finished it I didn't even like it anymore . . .

it's a California King size . . . the construction isn't anywhere near what I would do today . . . for one thing . . . it's tied . . . yes . . . I said TIED !!

the binding isn't even a separate fabric . . . it's the backing . . . folded forward and over a few times . . . and top stitched . . . yes I said TOP STITCHED !!

I am so thankful to Marybeth Stevenson . . . who told me in 2004 about a Saturday sampler class . . . that was meeting once a month for a year . . . I sure did learn a lot in those classes . . . and it doesn't take me 5 years to finish my quilts now either !!

Two More Finished . . .

with the economic times we're in . . . I find I don't have the extra $$ I used to . . . to indulge in the kind of fabric and pattern buying I could just a few short years ago . . .

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so now I'm trying to "shop" in my own stash . . . and I've found so many UNfinished quilts it was amazing . . . so I have been on a path of "finishing" . . . and it really is rewarding . . .

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now I try to only buy what I need to finish something I already have . . . of course . . . then there are always some new things that I just have to make . . . but I do try to not buy fabric now unless

I have a definite purpose for it . . .

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here are 2 that I finished recently . . . they are from 2 different classes I took when I first started . . . sampler blocks . . . done in basically the same colors . . . so I decided to finished them alike so I can use them on twin beds in one of our guest rooms . . .

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these photos are before they went to the quilter . . . they are back now and I just need to put the bindings on . . . they look like identical quilts . . . but they really aren't . . . the blocks are all different . . . and the fabrics are too . . . only the block sashings and the black border are the same . . .

How to Make Your Own Mosaic . . .

some people have asked how they can make their own mosaic . . . I got the idea from my daughter-in-law who found it originally on this blog . . . bohogirl . . .

here are the instructions . . . you will need to join Flickr and Mosaic Maker . . .

type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search . . .

using only the first page . . . click on your favorite image . . .

then copy and paste the URL for that image into the mosaic maker . . .

make any arrangement you would like . . . I used 3 columns with 4 rows . . .

these are the questions . . .
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10.What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

Sienna's Baby Quilt . . .

this is Sienna's baby quilt . . . "yellow brick road" . . . my first finished quilt after starting classes . . .

I chose the seals because her grandfather loves the seals at Pier 39 in San Francisco . . . funny thing is . . . now at almost 4 years old . . . she loves them too ! ! !

Olivia's Baby Quilt . . .

this is little Olivia's baby quilt . . . I fell in love with the Asian paper dolls fabric . . . had to have it . . . just perfect for her !!

Sienna's "1st Birthday" Quilt . . .

this was Little Miss Sienna's "1st birthday" quilt . . . I was a little more ambitious 4 years ago when she was born . . . so embroidered pillows to match . . .

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the Sun is for "good morning" . . . and the little bear with the night cap was for "good night" . . .

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I made a quilt for each girl when they were newborn . . . so of course . . . they had to have another when they turned one . . . at least Gran thought so . . . LOL . . .

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I keep saying they are NOT getting another one until they are 5 . . . BUT . . . I keep finding fabric that would be so perfect for them . . .

Olivia's "1st Birthday" Quilt . . .

Little Miss Olivia finally got her "1st birthday" quilt . . . a little late . . . on our recent trip to the West Coast . . .

Closer Look . . .

here's a closer look at the Civil War fabrics I've collected so far for my special project . . . not sure I will use all of them . . . and . . . I'm still collecting !!

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I still haven't made it up to the shops in Sturbridge Village . . . hopefully this coming weekend . . .

Amish Country Visit . . .

we went to Amish Country the last few days and had a great time . . . food was wonderful . . .

I thought I would spend a ton of $$ on fabric . . . went to several shops . . . and bought NOTHING . . . there just wasn't anything there I wanted . . . everything was kind of old . . . fabrics I saw 2 years ago in my local shops . . . I was bummed !! . . . I guess I have the best 4 shops right where I live !!

I did find a good Amish bookstore . . . so I found a new author of Amish books, which I really like to read . . .

the other disappointment was Hershey . . . we went there to buy raspberry chocolate chips . . . Hershey has always been the only place I could get them . . . and . . . they are NOT making them anymore . . . darn . . . I loved putting them in my brownies . . .

but we still had a good trip . . . spent time with some friends . . . and then went to Philadelphia to meet up with my son and his family from Virginia . . . we toured the US Mint and the Benjamin Franklin Science Museum . . . and most important . . . we got to spend time with our 2 grandsons . . . always fun ! ! !

Civil War Fabrics . . .

. . . some Civil Wars fabrics for a special project I will be doing with a friend . . . we're not starting for a few months . . . so I still have time to collect moreeeeeeeee . . . YEAH !
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. . . buying and collecting the fabrics is such a fun part of quilting ! ! !

Happy New Year . . .

wow . . . here we are at the beginning of another new year . . .

I began reading "The Shack" just before Christmas . . . and I have just finished it . . . it is such a fabulous book . . . that I am going to begin re-reading it immediately . . . this time with a highlighter in my hand ! !

it is one of the most meaningful books I have read in a really long time . . . in fact . . . because of this book I have chosen the word "Papa" for my word for 2009 . . .

I can't tell you why . . . because if you haven't read the book yet it would ruin it for you . . . and if you have read it . . . well then . . . you totally understand . . .

the idea of choosing a word for the year came from my daughter-in-law, Isis . . . and it's a fabulous idea . . .

Isis explains it on her blog like this . . . "this idea of choosing a word for the year. a word that not sums up the year you've just had, but on the contrary, helps shape and define the year ahead, a word that focuses your attention and sets your intention throughout the year" . . .

I love the idea . . . and when I read about it on her blog . . . the first word that popped into my head was "Papa" . . . you just have to read the book ! ! !