Baby Gifts Done!

Like many of you, I enjoy making baby quilts but find new moms seem to use the heck out of these extra large, flannel receiving blankets. The first one  I made is for my instructional assistant who is having a baby boy in February and doing an "outdoor" theme for his nursery. The middle one is for my stash of baby gifts and the third one is for a friend who is having a little girl and they are having a "mermaid" themed shower for her. (Cute huh!) So quick and easy to sew them right sides together, turn right side out and add a decorative stitch around the perimeter. (Finished size: 45"x45")

Plus! These are blankets that seem to be a favorite with the little ones for quite awhile,

as witnessed by our own grand guy. Here he is a few days old with his Dinosaur R.B.:

Here he is last June with it as he packed all his "favorite things" to go to preschool.

It doesn't get better than that does it.

Wishing you all a great start to the week.

Our snow days are FINALLY over and I'm looking forward to a NORMAL week.

Well, as normal as things get around here! LOL!!

Slow Stitching is Rejuvenating!

THIS HAS BEEN MY WEEKEND! 

I've rejuvenated my Sue Spargo wool applique. I prepped four blocks for my Lori Holt Bloom QAL annnnddd I'm wrapping up the binding on my crazy jelly roll race! Needless to say, we've watched a series of good movies too as I've enjoyed the peacefulness of just stitching. 

We're all tuckered out and hand sewing has been just what the doctor ordered to relax and re-energize. (Yes, even Jackson is worn out from a  week of  play with my parent's German Shepard.)

My weekend of slow stitching has helped reground me after a wonderful two weeks of:

A VISIT TO OUR KID'S HOME

The highlight for me was our Fourth of July Hike. 

As you can see the view was worth the trek.

GRAMMY CAMP...WEEK TWO!

I ended my visit, bringing this guy home with me!! Oh the happiness Grands bring into our lives.

And finally, FAMILY TIME:

 I especially love that I get to spend a lot of quality time with my family during the summer. None of us live close, so when gathered together, one can imagine the energy and activity. I love it as any mother/daughter does, especially because these are all the people I create my quilty hugs for!

I hope your weekend stitching provides you with the same peaceful, rejuvenation it has me.

Linking with everyone else at Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

JOIN US for my Fourth Annual Piggy Bank Challenge.

Click HERE to read more about it. Help spread the word and join in!

6,800 I-Spy's Collected!!!

In the wee corner of our basement one will find 34 rows of 200 piles of I-Spy squares ready to be packaged and mailed to all our participants. 

With only two rows left to lay out, our grand-guy emerged from his nap upstairs and enthusiastically joined me. And if his enthusiasm is any indicator of how stinking cute these are...well...you guys have some wonderful happy mail coming your way next week!

He immediately got excited as he found  Crystal's "mouse" I-Spy:

Then he found "Roar" (What he calls dinosaurs) and...

  ...with great enthusiasm showed me his best "Roar" impression!

I finally had to stop sorting and actually play I-Spy with him as he pointed out a 

boat, duck, cow, sled and a puppy from Heidi's  I-Spys. So cute!!

Thank you so very much to everyone who participated in our I-Spy swap! This weekend I will start the packaging process. NOTE: I-Spys were all mailed on Monday, July 11th. 

It's also not too late to link your Piggy Bank savings!

Click HERE to share.

Tuesday Archives on Vacation

Hello! Hello! And...Happy Tuesday Archives. 

The linky party that let's you rejuvenate OLD blogging posts.

No linky this week.

This week I'm on vacation.

I have a little tradition with our grand guy where I get him for a week of "Grammy Camp" each summer. Last month he visited our house and we had great adventures together as we took advantage of all the wonderful opportunities offered in rural farms areas.

We visited my friends milk farm:

We stopped to pet horses: 

And we stopped by another friend's chicken farm where he got to collect his very own eggs. 

Oh we had so much fun together that he keeps telling his mom and dad that he wants to go to Meme and Papies house. So this weekend I packed my bags, and the two of us will be on the road for Grammy Camp Week Two! Except before we head to Meme and Papies house, we're going camping with his Great Meme and Papa. We'll be enjoying all the joys of camping that include canoeing, ice-cream and smores I'm sure! So thanks for your understanding no linky this week.

(Our camping week didn't happen due to my parent's moto rhome breaking down...but our little guy and I did have fun continuing and repeating much of our farm themed fun shown above.)

Wishing everyone a great start to July!

PS: Our 3rd Annual Piggy Bank Challenge Linky is pre-set for Wednesday July 6th.
I lost to hubby again! Grrrr....but did save enough to buy something fun!

I-spy a cutie pie!

My grand-guy loved playing with my pile of uncut I-Spy fabrics.

He used them as a cape.

He used them to cover his cars and animals for "night night".

He used them to fill up his wagon and rolled them around the house. 

He of course loved these big cookies I got from Lara saying: "Meme look! Yummy!!!"

He's back home now and without the pitter patter of little feet following me around, 

I feel my studio calling me! I think I'll start by getting these all cut and my own piles of twenty done.

Hope your weekend is off to a great start as well.

PS: I found the two "cape" materials tucked away in his suitcase to take home!! LOL!

I grabbed them back when he wasn't looking and will use them to make for him something fun.

Any suggestions??

Next week's theme is: FLAGS

Tuesday Archives #118: Faces

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvenate OLD blogging posts.

. If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party.

(You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

Like many of you, before I jumped into the world of bloggers some three summers ago, 

I was an avid blog reader. I was always inspired by the blog SewTakeAHike. And though she doesn't blog often anymore, I passed by this post last Fall and was inspired
by this FACE technique created by Melissa Averinos. 

This is an example of Melissa's work! (Amazing huh!)

Anyhooo....thanks for your patience with my late linky posting this week.  I started Grammy Summer Camp with our little grand guy this past Sunday and life has been non-stop since. Whew! Can't remember the last time I had to make a little person breakfast! LOL!! Need-less-to-say, 

I replaced my morning tea with a strong cup of coffee! 

A Happy Birthday + Recipe!

The best birthday surprise was having this little guy arrive for the weekend to 

help his Meme celebrate her birthday! 

Who better to help me blow our all those candles!

(And this was only half of my 51 candles.)

We were all left in stitches when he spit instead of blew!!

If you ever need a quick and oh so yummy chocolate cake, I hope ya give this recipe a try.

It's been a family favorite since we were kids. Thanks for the recipe mom.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg. Devils Food Cake Mix

1/4 cup of vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups of water

1 pkg. Chocolate Instant Pudding (4 serving size)

1 cup of chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour oil into a 13x9x2 inch pan. Tilt the pan until the bottom of the pan is covered with oil. Add the remaining ingredients in to the pan, stir with a for or spoon until well blended. (about two minutes) Scrape sides and spread batter evenly in the pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes our clean. Cool cake and sprinkle with powered sugar. Enjoy! 

Happy Memorial Day.

Sign-ups open June 1st!!

H2H: I-Spy Finish

 I've had so much fun sewing these I-Spy blocks together for my H2H Happy Chemo quilt. This quilt measures 53" by 56" and was made with 240 4" I-Spy squares.

Can you I-Spy the goose and otter? I think they are my favorite,
but then again, the cupcake, hamburger and school bus are so fun too!
Here it is finished and trimmed with it's purple binding:

This quilt has been so much fun to create and it makes my heart smile knowing it's 

now on it's way to to be part of  Sarah's H2H Charity Challenge.  

Thanks for organizing this annual event for all of us Sarah!!

After reading that Emily's Happy Chemo quilts will be going to the Rat Pack organization, their main focus is helping those fight breast cancer. They will fill their Love Handle Bags with our donations, so I knew this breast Cancer Ribbon quilting and flannel backing were the perfect finishing touches for my quilty donation. 

June 1st sign-ups for our I-Spy Swap begin!

If ya haven't yet, I hope you'll mark your calendar and stop by June 1st and sign-up for our I-Spy Swap. Annndd....if ya can't wait and want to start collecting now, you'll need ten 1/4 yard or fat quarters of ten different I- Spy prints and you will be able to get your 20 4" squares out of these. (Yes...you'll be getting 200 different squares through this swap!!) Be sure you can tell what you are looking at within a 3 1/2"x 3 1/2" square. (There's many examples in my quilt above.)

 Help me spread the word! This will be a double swap...meaning with a maximum of  36 "swap spots" available, you'll be able to sign-up for a maximum of two regular swap spots if you want...but the fabrics for each swap will need to be different. Okay...Happy collecting!!

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This week's theme will be: EQ Designs.