Friday, October 26, 2018

The Beginning of a New Quilt...

Sometimes it all starts with a little doodling....
Our little grand-guy is going to be one next month which means, time for yet, another birthday quilt.
My daughter requested a "cow" theme to represent her successful year of nursing.
(I know, she's funny!) This is what I sketched and with a rainy weekend forecast ahead, I'm looking forward to spending a better part of my Sunday creating this fun quilt. I plan to incorporated many different textures along with an eye-spy body to boot! Won't that be fun! 
Your suggestions are welcome...as I won't be starting this till Sunday. Fall clean-up first. 


Tuesday, October 23, 2018

What! I WON!!!!

Before I raked leaves after work today, I snapped a picture of today's happy mail:
I won this Rustic Vive thread collection by Pat Bravo during  Kathy's Quilts Save the Bee draw!  


Saturday, October 20, 2018

A Birthday Celebration!

Our little grand-guy is five and we celebrated by treating him to his first college football game!

The pre-game "kid zone" events were full of fun! Bouncy houses, "cool" cars and big foam hats!

Boise State is know for it's BIG BLUE...and they didn't disappoint. By half time we had scored four touchdowns to the opponents one, each filled with fireworks, loud cheers and music.

He and Poppi spent quilty time together as he taught him the "ins and outs" of football. 
...and his day was made when Poppi even wore his funny hair!

A much needed family day was had by all and I'm so grateful for the fun had.

Plus, you know it's good when you have two very exhausted little boys by day's end!
 


Friday, October 19, 2018

A Super Hero Finish

This is a pretty "busy" finish...but with two jelly rolls and a few 1/4 yards of superhero prints I was able to quickly put together this array of Super Hero fabrics for our grand-guys 5th birthday quilt! His two requests: "Meme it has to have Captain America and Spiderman annnnddddd be long enough to cover my feet! My feet fall out of last year's quilt now!"

It finished measuring 53"x 68" and should be big enough this upcoming winter 
as he keeps his feet warm under it's soft, fleece backing of superheros.
(Notice our traditional "birthday" label! Five already!!)
I will tell ya, I've never used fleece as a backing before and really like the extra layer of cuddly warmth it gives the quilt. I only had to raise the foot a little on my long-arm and it was easy-peasy to quilt. As you can see, it was not only big enough to cover his feet but, Jackson LOVED it as well!!!
Happy Birthday buddy!

Thursday, October 18, 2018

A Mental Health Day=A Great Hike!

Once or twice a year, I treat myself to a Mental Health day off from work. So when my niece's volleyball team was in town for college play and my sister decided to drive across the state to gather a set of videos of her on the court, I knew exactly what to do.
Yep! The next day I took a mental health day. We loaded the pups into the car, took our "selfie"
 and headed to Boise (only a 45 minute drive away) for a day hike.

Our hike began at the Old Idaho Penitentiary....

 ...and our destination was Table Rock. A two mile upward hike.

 We loved it!

The view of Boise was breathtaking.
 Along with that of the foothills behind us:

Being four years apart, like many, our journey in life has had it's periods of closeness and distance. 
We married within a year of each other yet our oldest daughter and her youngest daughter are nine years apart...thus she is just beginning her "empty nest" chapter of life and coping with the loneliness and transition of such. We enjoyed one of those two days visits that found you staying up till 1:00am talking only to turn around and get up early for hiking and a little shopping the next day. 

 We literally laughed out-loud as we found ourselves driving along with  dogs on our laps,  reminiscent of the days our cars were then filled with car seats and children instead. We wrapped up our day with a visit to a quilt store to pick out fabrics for a quilt I'm going to make her and JoAnnes to pick out yarn for a blanket she is going to crochet me. I'm grateful for our visit and that we had this time to get reunited. I'm learning that it's not so much that we change, as much as it is that we grow. We're already discussing our next visit and things we'd like to do. I hope the next time you have the opportunity to take a Mental Health Day from work that you feel inspired to take care of yourself and do just that! 


Sunday, October 7, 2018

Progress....

Having a stitching project nearby is always soothing isn't it.
This one sits at our kitchen table where my Ott Lite is easy to use and 
I can stitch as hubby and I catch up at the end of each day.   
I almost have all the birds and flowers stitched onto their rows.
It's fun to watch the bright wool flowers and birdies brighten the wonky houses.
Happily stitching this morning and quilting our grand-guys SuperHero quilt this afternoon.