The 4th, more redneck pool shots...and family fun.

Well, Happy Belated 4th to everyone. We had all the kids and the grands..and what fun. We even enjoyed phone calls from our special Italian exchange student, Francesco. It was fun hearing from our UK buddies and texts from South Africa. It really is a smaller world we live in. June and July saw many family members birthdays...so we had to have cake...and a cookie cake...er...well ....lets just say the kids "really got into it!" And leave it at that.

Now the redneck Pool was a huge hit. All of the kids and babies loved it! Even most of the grownups made a dip or two. The Princess and Wee One, had their own little paddling pool...but seemed to enjoy being in the big pool too. While we had the kids all here...we went through some of the many stored things of our grown up kids...and DS2 found some of his swimming medals.... Michael Phelps.... probably looked like this after the last Olympics... the kids were sure impressed with the medals... and now they are no longer at my house....more room for fabric!

Since it was the fourth of July... we had sparklers and glow sticks.... I even found these very cool glow stick balls that the dads put together quick quick. And because I don't want anyone to get in trouble...but a certain Aunt and Uncle.... set off some pretty awesome fireworks.... and sparklers and charcoal snakes. We ate and grilled and sat out on the deck every night until quite late. The fireflies were fun for the kids to try and catch. WE even managed a couple of games of horse shoes! It is the best 4th I have had in years. And all thanks to my family. I did manage to do a few quilts... this week after all the company left

The pictures don't do them justice...but they were both lovely quilts. I also completed a sweet baby quilt for one of these gals..but the photo is way out of focus... I have that affect on many things. Hope you all had a great weekend. I am off to a visit a new quilt group... tomorrow.... new to me...hope they show some pretty things.

Garden goodies, More quilts and Birmingham quilt show....

The garden has been producing some yummy things finally. I picked fresh blueberries, this morning for lunch and some fresh grape tomatoes, with a few tomatoes for slicing. I love fresh tomatoes. The peppers are finally growing..in that I can see them... a couple of inches. The only peppers going great are the cayenne. I have no idea why I planted them...except they sounded good that day at the garden center. We are preparing for family to come for a get together. So have loads to do..extra baking. But have finished up a few more quilts for customers. Two sisters sent me similar colored lone star quilts. I wanted to do them slightly different...but still keep them similar. They actually turned out so well...that I really want a red, white and blue one of my own. I love these quilts..but don't think I have the patience to do one of my own. For myself. I have finally finished a simple little bargello style flag for Independence day. Now I had never done my own pattern...and these were scraps...so they didnt turn out exactly as I planned, in fact...I forgot about cutting the pieces apart to sew back together...so it is narrower than a waving flag should be...but Its finished. Yeah. I started this quite a while back...so that is another UFO done. I also had the pleasure to go to the Birmingham quilt show in Alabama last weekend with some other quilters. Let me tell you it is a very small world... while standing in the Altzeimer's exhibition looking at the quilts another lady and I began chatting...and somehow having a longarm machine came up.... come to find out we have emailed and chatted online. What are the chances.... I had no idea ...it was definitely fun seeing a face to put to a name. It also was a lovely show. Lots of beautiful quilts. I really enjoyed seeing each of them. I loved this chicken applique, pieced wall hanging. It was lovely and so beautifully quilted. And today is my darling Elisie-Pie's birthday... she is growing up so quickly. This photo was taken by her mom at the "Broadway" evening at her school. She of course was one of the performers. She is so talented... making quilts... I am going to recieve one very soon of her very own creations! I can hardly wait.

Quilts for Africa, Warm Feelings and being Blessed and more ...

When I left Africa about 15 1/2 months ago.... I thought it would be like most moves.... YOu leave, then slowly but surely your new home takes over your thoughts...but I find that hasn't exactly happened. I am not sure if it was because of the caliber of ladies whom I felt privileged to call my friends...or just because I did volunteer work with them, and had no close family or job to distract me. I love these ladies because of their wonderful hearts.... never thinking anything is too big to get accomplished, or not important enough to do. I have to post this photo...as of course ..being a quilter, and living there for 4 years, I did accumulate a stash. I had to leave much more behind than I was able to bring back with me.Just before I left, a dear lady donated some more fabric to me, so I bequeathed them to my dear quilting ladies. Well, they have outdone themselves. They made 24 quilts...with the bits and pieces and have delivered them to the Komani Hospital in Queenstown South Africa. The email and photo I received said they were snatched up, by the long term patients there. More will hopefully be made in the future for the rest of the mental health patients there. They live very sub-standard with little more than a bed in their rooms, and It is very cold there at the moment, so I know they were appreciated. How could I not be nostalgiac for these dear, caring ladies. And I am so privileged to have known them, even for a short time.

I also can now share the finished photos of Toni Brenker from PA's quilts... she has received them now. One is the Orange Crush and the other is the Double Delight quilt from Quiltville. com .

We are preparing for our children to come for a visit over the 4th. Of course, we wanted to have someplace to cool off..so last year at the end of the season we purchased a large pool..... and tried to set it up this week...only to find out that the ground needs to be way more level than our back yard is.... a dilemma...it capsized... ( I wish I would have had a photo of that one!) So undaunted we went back to the store to see if there was a slightly smaller one... well we didn't find one that would work...or that wouldn't break the bank...so back home...and after much swearing and gnashing of teeth...we decided to go redneck!!! It is only temporary...( or will it be????) but here it is...... set up on the only level area we have.... ON the CARPORT! I know.... now I am thinking of hanging some mosquito curtaining..... along the front just to give us a little privacy while the kids are here.... I really don't want to expose my bits and pieces to the neighbors either!!!!! But it will be wet for the grands when they come. Until we sort something else out.

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Family travel in South AFrica, Gardening in the jungle....more quilts and the princess!

Where does time seem to go. In between, working, quilting for customers...trying to make something for me, visiting and loving every moment of being with the grands, and every day life, I can't seem to keep up with posts! Had to post a photo sent to me by a dear friend from South Africa...now this is family togetherness. Scary but a real reality if you don't want to walk. And the little garden has become semi- jungle.... !!!! I have lots of tomatoes, both large and grape sized.... but the peppers seem to be taking forever. Now, when we visited the princess, she loved helping in her Mom's strawberry patch...Some of the water ended up on the plants even. I have

quilt guild this week...and have been busily working on my challenge quilt. We were given this "Ugly" lime green fabric with little alien people on it and instructed to make a small quilt...many of which will be donated to the Sheriff's dept. for our charity project.( so sorry to the designer of it) Well the more I looked at it...I decided I needed to think outside the box...and oila.... an applique quilt was born. It is fun,

and I have made another to donate to the Sheriff's dept...but will probably use this for Halloween ....it is the proper colors after all.They say that you just have to cut the pieces small enough to overcome ugly fabric.... I think you just have to use it in an unusual way. I also have done several customer quilts..... Here are two that I can share. I have a few more, but don't want to spoil the surprise when TONI from PA, gets hers in the mail.

More later! Unfortunately, maybe much later!

Another visit with the Wee one, water fun, The princess in her Pillowcase dress and more quilts.....

We had the wee one here with his folks,this past weekend, and he enjoyed the pool we had for him. The Princess wore her little pillowcase dress and don't you love those red shoes????!

I had the opportunity to take a Bargello quilt from Dorinda Evans a couple of weeks ago, and although my quilt is still in strips.... a real shame, these ladies did finish theirs and several had the same Kaffe Fassett fabrics, yet they are so unique! I loved seeing them.

Another two finishers from the class.

Then at quilt guild I loved this quilt. It was a simple but effective quilt.

I also am happy to post a couple of photos of finished customer quilts from the past week or two. I have another on the longarm, and a stack to finish in the next couple of weeks. Where has the time gone??? I can't beleive it is June almost, and I am just not ready for summer yet. My garden has baby tomatoes and peppers, but forgot to grab a photo of them. DD and I did take a stack and whack class this past weekend while she was here on her visit...and it was so much fun.

Her blocks are gorgeous..but I didn't get any photos.

I will snap a few of mine very soon. I only had 4 blocks done, but she finished about 12. I guess she just used her time more wisely than I did.

Don't you love this vintage quilt. It was sewn by hand, by a customers great gran, and I loved seeing the vintage fabrics up close. Really a fun quilt to do.

Arkansas,Oklahoma, Texas and Tennesee...man am I bushed!

Grandbob with our Little Ballerina "princess"

Been gone for quite a while... and happy to be home. Saw all of our grandchildren and was that wonderful!First we saw

the Princess...and she loved the tutu...it was the first thing she put on in the morning, as she grabbed toothbrushes!

Then it was on to Oklahoma and three other grands! Not sure how I managed to not get a close up of my gorgeous Elisie-Pie, but she is in the soccer picture. We watched soccer practice and movies! Gave out a few "just because we love you" things...( not the water pistols or water balloons...as I promised DDIL) I know some people, think their grands are smart, beautiful and

talented...but MINE really ARE!!!!We so en

joyed seeing each of them...and the little boys, carried on the long standing tradition of playing with Great Grandma's curlers.... when we drove over to see DH's mom. I loved driving back through Texas, seeing the Texas flag flying everywhere along with the USA's of course and especially to see friends from long ago...and look what my buddy Dodi had hiding in the spare room. I am so jealous!!! Loved this old machine. It is a very old treadle...think she said it was her grandma's. LOvley.

Then is was on to Tennessee to see the "Wee one" while his folks went to a concert. Isn't he getting big????

We had some great times this past couple of weeks...but I did manage to do a couple of really cute college quilts this week, one Alabama and one Divided between Bama and Mississippi State.I so have to do one of these. Have a stack of other quilts waiting to jump on the longarm ..so better get off this computer.

Have a great day!!!

Tornados, a No sew tutu and a pillow case dress for the Princess....

We woke this AM to the wail of the tornado sirens going off.... but thankfully nothing landed on us..... not the way I want to wake up in the morning I can assure you. It kind of reminds me of waking in the middle of the night to the burglar alarm going off... which happened way too often in South Africa! But thankfully it was a fast moving storm, which left just as quickly as it came. Now on to the sewing front, although I have been sewing .... actually started my scrappy bargello, from a class I took on Sat. which is still in strips... and have made progress on a customer quilt, if there are no thunder storms this afternoon, I may finish up a sunflower illusion quilt. Very pretty, and fun to do. I have made a darling little no sew tutu for the Princess to wear, Just wish I could have found some lavender tulle... as it would have added the right amount of color. I also made a sweet little pillow case dress. We are traveling to see 4 of the grands this coming weekend, with another trip to see DH 's MOM, and I wanted to take a little something for them. I have some fun things for the "older" ones, but needed something for the Princess. Since she probably isn't ready for water balloons and squirt guns. ( No Jen, I will probably wait for the family get together to share those with the kids!) Now, I had never sewn a pillow case dress before...but figured it had to be similar to the little halters made for DD when she was just a little girl.... and rightly so.... it was very similar. I did find some adorable spaghetti strap( remember those ???) trim already made up in a similar color to the polka dots of this dress, at the fabric shop I work in. My boss bought out a shop going out of business, and we have a cupboard ( a large closet really ) full of lace and trims. I found some green gingham trim that I am hoping to do another pillow case dress for the Princess, using the same shade of green in polka dots. Its been a long time since I sewed for a little girl. But summer things have always been my favorite thing to sew up. I still may add a little pink ric rac on the bottom of the yellow dress. But otherwise it is finished. So had to share I am sewing something....just not something I usually sew up.