A little bit of everything.

My DD's in-laws, Kurt and Rita, brought this with them yesterday when they came over for dinner. It is so beautiful and smells so good. The lilies don't really smell but the apples in the water do. Every time I walk by it I get a whiff of apple. Just delicious!




The pictures of the quilt are what I promised I would show you a few posts ago. When we got back from our trip to NC I drug this out and finished it. I had taken a picture of it earlier but somehow I clicked on the ceiling! (I don't even want to know how that happened.) This quilt was a kit I bought at Houston Street Mercantile in Granbury, TX. I love that little shop. It is cram packed with everything I love. I can't get out of there without spending big bucks! The quilt shop has a little house used for retreats. We went there last year for our retreat. We had so much fun! Teresa and Mary came from SC to visit with us. They got stuck here a couple of extra days because of a hurricane!


Anyway, back to the quilt...I named it The Heart Garden. I fused everything and buttonhole stitched around all the raw edges. Of course, it was a UFO. Now it's off to Ty next week to machine quilt. I have collected a bunch of tiny buttons shaped like hearts and stars to add after the quilting has been done. I can hardly wait to get it done and hang it up.

My first Work In Progress Wednesday!

This is Vintage Valentine. I did the first one last week and then took a break and cut all the pieces for the WHOLE quilt from freezer paper. I just started the second block a couple of days ago.

I've been busy cleaning my house! We're having company for Thanksgiving. My daughter's in-laws and sister-in-law are coming over with my daughter and her husband. My son is still in NC and won't be home until early January. I've gotten some cooking done today. I made a pecan pie, sweet potato casserole, a cheese ball and the dressing.

I'm wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! Don't eat too much!

Character quilts and some applique.

I finally got the roll of film developed that had my nephew's and my sister's quilts on it. Those are the quilts packaged and ready to go. You can read about these quilts earlier in my blog.





I've been busy cutting out freezer paper templates for Vintage Valentine. I collected this BOM last year from Cotton Patch. Last week I finsihed appliqueing the first block. Then, I decided to trace (onto freezer paper) and cut out all the pieces for the quilt. Normally I baste each piece of freezer paper to the fabric before adding it to the applique piece but this time I just put the freezer paper backed piece of fabric right on the background and started needle turning. It worked like a charm! I think now I can eliminate the basting part and start right in with the applique. That is going to save time!

Lori Smith BOM

This is the first installment of a BOM by Lori Smith. I am getting the blocks from Cotton Patch.

I received the 2nd block the other day. So, I've still got to put it together.

This is not the picture I promised in my last post. I'll try to get around to that tomorrow!

And finally...

On our trip to NC we drove three days there and three days back. Since my husband enjoys driving he drove all the way. So, I had some time on my hands. First, I made the mini yo-yo quilt. I had a kit of 100 squares of 30's reproduction fabric. I can't remember what the pattern was but I wanted a little yo-yo quilt. Next I did some stitcherys. One of them is The Pledge of Allegience and the other two are Texas related. The last one is called Ripping 101. I hope you can read it because it is really cute. I don't like the white thread I used I might have to redo those. I did one more than those shown but my picture didn't turn out so I'll have to retake it and show you later.

Tomorrow I will take a picture of what I've been working on since I got home. It's too cute! Tonight I made 4 bindings and 1 label. I've got a stack of quilts ready to be quilted all I need to do is call Ty. Maybe this weekend...

A little bit more.

While we were in NC I visited two quilt shops, Cotton Patch and All About Quilting. I found a few patterns, a little bottle of Roxanne's glue baste and some tatoos!

I had to have the jacket pattern. When I saw a model of it in the store it looked so good (and easy...it's made on a sweatshirt). Another patritic stitchery and a baseball saying for my son-in-law who loves baseball. Also a Cheri Saffiote pattern called The Widows Garden, very prim.

In the next picture there are two Santa patterns, an old dress pattern, a Jan Patek pumpkin pattern and a Country Threads pattern called Liberty Basket. One of the patterns has a Santa with buttons for his beard. Really cute!

He's home!!!

The day I'd been waiting for was here! We were told 1/9 would arrive around 4:00-4:30 so we were there waiting at about 3:45. Well, they didn't come in until about 7:30! I had struck up a conversation with another family that was waiting and the wife turned out to be a quilter! That really helped to pass the time! There were hundreds of people waiting for their Marine to come home. Lots of little babies waiting to see their fathers for the first time and plenty of young wives ready to hug their husbands.

First the big trucks came in with all the guys stuff and unloaded hundreds of packs and tons of gear. Then the Marines came marching in! The crowd was cheering and the music was playing real loud. The song was Welcome To The Jungle by Guns and Roses. The guys loved it. You can see me giving a big hug (one of many)to my Marine.

After he gathered up his things and took them to his barracks room we ran to Taco Bell and then to the room where we were staying to talk for half the night.

The last picture is of the guys outside of Outback where we all had dinner the following night. It was so nice to meet them and put faces to names. We had a great time laughing and listening to stories. Bobby even joined them for two shots of Tequila!

I have a few more photos to share with you but I'll save them for tomorrow.