New Digs

Blogging is just such a part of me that I could not stay on a break for very long. I moved to a new place. You can find me at Life With A Little Sass.

Stepping Back and Taking a Break

My sister in law, Sherry, has been here all week and we have had some nice visits. It has made me look at some things and I think I need/want to take a step back from my blog. It is no secret (do I have any of those?) that the last several months have been difficult for me....dealing with constant pain in my jaw from grinding, loss of family, losing Hope, and other losses that are unmentioned. My blog is meant to be a place to share my family and life so that some day my children and grandchildren can look back on all the wonderful times. For now, I think I have shared enough of that. My heart is just not in it right now. Maybe that will change down the road. For now, I will enjoy reading your blogs and keeping up with your lives and quilts. I need a break.

Here are a couple of cousin pics.....family is so important and I am so blessed that my children have lots of extended family to connect with.

She Spends Saturday Sewing Sea Shells

I am working on the brown border of the Pink & Brown quilt and loving it! It is such a cool design. Very classy.Here is a peek at the back. It will be a nice finished edge.I only have 3 sides to go and then on to the binding. Sorry if you are all getting tired of looking at this quilt. I am just so excited about the progress I am making. I plan to spend the rest of today working toward getting a second side done.

Yesterday, my grand children came for an overnight. It was such a blessing to have them two weeks in a row. TJ had his first "piano lesson". He learned middle C and is learning to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb".Emerson has forgotten how to walk and RUNS everywhere, which is why I have no pictures of her that are not a blur! She also says "poo" when it is appropriate! She wrinkles her nose and says "icky" while you are fixing her problem. I think she will potty train early. So cute, that little one. TJ pulled a toe nail and was quite freaked out, yelling, "Hurry, Grandma, it's almost gonna bleed!" Grandma hurried and a bandaide took care of everything!He wore his pj's backwards last night, on purpose. Don't ask why, cause when I did, he had no answer except that he wanted to. My type A- personality let him do it and I was not too disturbed! LOL

Tomorrow I am having dinner for 15. It is Kyle's 24th birthday and Sherry is in town with 3 of her kids and 2 of her grandkids and will bring along her "special" friend. It has been a year and a half since Scott passed away. I am so glad she is finding happiness again. I will try to get lots of pictures.

If you get a chance, check out Pam's web page. It is a fun place to visit!!! I want one of the shirts!!!!

A Quilter is Born

My friend and neighbor, Cindy, came yesterday and we finally cut and started her first quilt. She is making a Jacob's Ladder which will measure 60X72....not your traditional "first" quilt, which would most likely be a wall hanging or baby quilt. She is a gifted seamstress, so I knew she would do just fine, and she did.
She just had to erase all the ideas of anything more than a 1/4 inch seam and pressing her seams closed instead of open. Butting up her corners to make them match was a cinch for her! Her first block came out beautiful!!!! Only 29 more to go! Cindy called me later in the afternoon and invited me to come see her new sewing room. It is WONDERFUL!!! A quilter's dream room! I will have to take some pictures next time I go down. She has separate pressing and cutting tables, along with an area for her serger and a nice table for her sewing machine. She has beautiful hard wood flooring with lots of floor space and it is a beautiful room with a fireplace and library, and incredible track lighting. I decided I would love to get some track lighting above my table. Lighting is my biggest problem in my sewing area since moving downstairs.
I have so much piecing to do in my near future, and Cindy has helped motivate me to get started on it. Not my favorite part of quilting, but once I get going on it, it is not too bad. It is necessary to do and once done, I can move on to my favorite part.....hand quilting.
Have a Blessed Week!

Grand Blessings!!!

Can you believe how incredibly handsome my grandson is??? After doing his sister's hair, he asked if I could style his. He was very proud of his new do! I had a wonderful time with the kids this weekend. I had them Friday overnight. TJ and Zach went sledding with the next door neighbors. They had built a hill and had a blast. Emerson watched and waved from the window. A few days later and all that snow is gone!!! My time with the kids went by much too quickly. They left Saturday morning, but returned on Sunday late afternoon for Sunday dinner. TJ helped me prepare fried chicken tenders. He cracked all the eggs...........but when it came time to touch the tenders into the egg mixture, he decided he would rather do the flouring!!! Sorry for the blur.
We had a nice dinner. While dinner was cooking, TJ got hungry so he decided to make a sandwich. (he did eat dinner too) He told me he needs a chef's hat. I will have to look for one!! Emerson played hard and was very tired, but not too tired for some "twinkie" time with Paw Paw. She loves her sweets!!!He did not give her a whole twinkie.....just a bit, and she loved it. He was her new best friend!! She says PawPaw quite well. She also says "Grandma" but it sounds a bit like "SpongeBob"!!!! I will answer to anything from that sweetie pie!
My friend, Linda, made a beautiful gift for Emerson. 4 GORGEOUS hair clips. Her hair is too thin for them now, but we can clip them to a headband and make her a movie star!!! Aren't they beautiful??? Thank you, Linda!

My son had them until Monday morning and I would not normally see them for another 2 weeks, but since my sister in love, Sherry, will be visiting, their parents worked it out for them to return again next weekend. I am happy for them that their mom and dad are thinking of them first. Even though it had always been that way, you never know what divorce will do. I am so happy that my grandkids are not a weapon and that they have parents who put their own emotions aside to do what is best for the kids. In such a horrible scenario, it is the best anyone can hope for. Can you tell I am not over this yet??? LOL I am working on it!!! I know it is for the best where the adults are concerned, but for the kids, I still mourn.

On to another subject....I spent yesterday morning in a dentist chair. I do love my dentist, but not going through the procedures. Just a filling, and not the dreaded root canal we thought would happen, yet I am quite sore today. It took 3 shots and I still felt some pain. I have been grinding and clenching again to the point of jaw pain and so I need to learn some relaxation techniques for before I fall asleep.....also I grind while I am awake without knowing it until it is too late.

In the last 3 weeks of dealing with the jaw pain, I have gotten some quilting done. I am on the 3rd side of the pink border and plan to finish it all up today, then, on to the brown border and binding. So close I can "see" it done!!!! I better get my day going here. Lots to do!!!!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!!!!

More than 3 Years Later.....

It's Done!!!

Well, ok, not technically done, but the body of the quilt is finished!!!!That is a LOT of quilting!!!! Whew!!! Three and a half years later......I did put this aside quite often in favor of other projects, but I am so thrilled with the outcome. The borders have already been started and are quilting up pretty fast! In just an hour and a half, I think I have half a side of the pink border done.
I also wanted to share some of Charlotte's newest projects. She has begun a blanket for her bed. It will be twin size, so she has quite a ways to go, though she just started this 4 days ago.
So pretty!!!! In that 4 days she has also crocheted 3 of the 6 dishcloths that were special ordered by her Aunt Debbie. She is making one a day and then working on her own project. Great plan! Here are 2 of the dishcloths.....She certainly has gotten to be quite the crocheter!! Is that a word???
And as for Sass.....the other female in the house.....though she has no skills with a needle, she can certainly appreciate the benefits of being in a family of yarn and fabric lovers!Grandkids are coming tomorrow! WOOHOO!!! See you next week! Have a blessed weekend!

A Hug From God

Has it been a week already??? I have been spending much time with my new best friend.........my Neti Pot. It is a freaky little contraption, but I am seeing positive effects, so I will keep him close by! Anyone with sinus problems, really should invest in one.

Yesterday was Charlotte's crochet class. I go along and hand quilt while they all crochet. Charlotte's teacher, Miss Mary, had a large bag with her this week. She handed it to me and told me not to be "offended". I was puzzled by that, but opened the bag and inside was the most beautiful crocheted afghan EVER made! She made it to look like a quilt. I laid it out to take a picture and instantly a cat and a kid climbed on it!!!I could get the kid off, but the cat had other ideas!Isn't it gorgeous! I cried big-fat-baby tears and hugged her neck. She said, "God told me to make this for you so you could feel his love. It is from Him." More big-fat-baby tears!!It is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. Mary has no idea of the things going on in my life and I barely know her. God knows, though, and Mary hears His voice. I am speechless.While suffering in silence with my sinus, (say that 3 times really fast!), I have been doing a lot of hand quilting. Between laying with the heating pad on my face and the Neti Pot up my nose, I have managed to get a jump on Emerson's quilt. Some cutting and piecing.Mostly, though, it has been hand quilting.That entire cream triangle was finished last night and now I have 2 and 1/2 blocks and the entire body of the Pink and Brown will be finished!!! Once that is done, the borders will be quilted up and the binding put on! I even remember where the binding fabric is!!!!

I was able to spend yesterday afternoon with my mom, out to lunch and some shopping. It was great to get out of here, and I love my time with her. I think, other than a couple of trips to Walgreens, I have been couped up in the house all week.

Sassy, though still a bit stuffy in the mornings, is recovering from her sinus infection quite nicely. She was a tad irritated with me yesterday when I disturbed her nap with some picture taking.Today is a special day....It is Winona's birthday!!!!

She has taken a blogging break, but I know she reads her emails, so leave a Happy Birthday message on her last post and she will get it! She is a wonderful friend and I count it an honor that I have gotten to know and love her!!

That is about it for now. Hopefully it won't be a whole week before I get back here.

Have a blessed day!!!

Hold Your Quilting Plans Loosely

I need therapy. I am serious! So how do I get it??? I make quilts. I have all my 2010 quilting goals lined up, but because of my need for therapy, I have to change those.....Hold Your Plans Loosely....I do that often, and good thing. I started off with some Fabric Therapy. TJ needs a new quilt from Grandma.
Doesn't that blue look like the perfect "ocean"? I think some sailboats (or pirate ships) will be just the thing!!! Emerson also needs a new quilt. I saw this on Karen's blog and she graciously sent me a copy of the pattern she got from an older magazine. I think it is a perfect quilt for Emerson!! (Those 9 patches are 3" finished!) I may add some flowers to that vine also.All I needed was some background fabric, a nice yellow and a crisp green! I have lots of blues, pinks, and lavenders to add in.I will still continue with the Hidden Star, and the Pink and Brown will stay in the hoop until it is finished, but all else will be put on the back burner until these quilts are finished and covering my grandchildren! (I think I can squeeze in a Libby Quilt every month too!)
PERFECT therapy....though it is NOT cheap!
Here are a few Sassy pictures. She has found quilting to be quite fun also. She spends much time chasing my thread as I hand quilt.....it is a race to see if she can catch the loop before it disappears into the fabric! She usually wins!Eventually she wears out.....but not before she wears me out!I sure love that cat!!!!