Lazy Sunday Afternoon...

The kids are gone, which makes me sad...it was so much fun to have them here.  They are so different from each other...so special in their own ways.  I love being their Grammy!

Kaylynn played with Tag a lot yesterday before Conlan & Jasmine got here.  "I can't reach it, Tag!" are the words that cue him to push the kong closer.   

She has so much fun playing with him...

The kids played outside for a long time this morning...

I plan to spend a quiet afternoon and evening watching the Olympics.  USA plays Canada - gold medal hockey game - this afternoon...will watch that.  My ex-husband refereed hockey, so I know a bit more about it than I do of some other sports.  And, I clearly remember 1980, the Miracle on Ice.  There is so much excitement about this upcoming game....GO Team USA!!!

Hope your weekend has been a good one!

Sleeping...At Last.

The girls...and Tag.

Conlan made a fort to sleep in...

Watching a Movie...

DQS8 Finished...& Grandkids Coming!

Kaylynn, Conlan & Jasmine are coming today & staying overnight.  I'm excited, as I don't see them nearly enough!  Devin is at his other Gram's today, but may come tomorrow for breakfast and to spend the morning with us.

In the meantime, I wanted to show this...I finished the dqs8 quilt!  YAY!  It measures about 20 inches square...perfect size!  I love this fabric...MoMo's Wonderland...and the snowball blocks were easy peasy to make!  This turned out so much better than I had envisioned!  I love it!  

I haven't yet decided if I should wash it before sending it.  Last year, I washed the quilt that I made for dqs7.  I love the crinkly look...but, come to find out, my partner didn't.  So.  Decisions, decisions.  

Here is the quilt front...

& the back...

I am sending along some goodies...

this fabric basket I made using this tutorial.

My swap partner loves owls.

And this gnome panel, ~20" tall.  

Here's the front...

  

and the back...isn't this adorable???

That's all for now.  

Have a great weekend!

I'm in Love...again!!!

I am in love with this little quilt...

it is so sweet!

Perfect for a baby girl.

It measures 37 x 43 inches.

The front was made with pinwheel 

blocks & fabric from Cathy (thank you!)

and the backing is 

Aviary by 3 Sisters for Moda.

This first photo has the truest colors. 
(be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them)

This is the quilt I am giving to a friend - 

a donation to her son's school fundraiser.

  I'm hoping she gets some decent money for it.

The auction is in April...

will let you know what happens!

I have enough fabric and pinwheels

to make another one of these...

I must do that.

It's too, too sweet!

My Birthday Gifts...

A few of you (nosey people...{grin}) have asked what I received for my birthday.  Here you go... 

From Lindy over at The Gingerbread House.  I think I showed this before, but I'm going to show it again.  Lindy's birthday is the day before mine, though she is not as old as me.  We like to remember each other's special day.  (Lindy, my gift to you has not been mailed, yet.)  

From Janer, my BFF, who lives in my hometown, Eau Claire.  She sent me a pair of wonderful slippers (I hate wearing shoes), flavored powder to add to water (I hate plain water), 2 candy bars (must have already eaten one when I took this photo), large safety pins, and a bottle of Skin So Soft lotion (Avon).

In the photo below this one, the beautiful handmade (not by Janer) rosary,

and in the photo below that...a poster of SHEPHERD!  When we were young and wild, we hung out with a huge group of guys and gals (we were hippies, ya know).  Shepherd was an excellent local band...and we were totally in awe of them.  Janer ran across this poster (a friend from 'back in the day' had a stash of them)...thought I might want it.  I do.

                          

This next photo...gifts from my family.  "The Guardian" Season 1...this was when I first became aware of Simon Baker {swoon}.  (He is now in this season's popular show, "The Mentalist").  Jafra skin care products,  (direct sales company I was once involved with...love their products...click here for more info on their skin, color & body care products), microwave popcorn which was given so that I had a snack when watching the dvd's given...but I don't have

a microwave!  I'll have to take them to work,  I guess.  2 chickens and an angel bell (every time an angel gets his/her wings, a bell rings), a gift certificate for Stitcher's Crossing (lqs), a gift certificate for The Calico Shoppe in Eau Claire (to use when I go home to visit), tealights for some gorgeous candle holders I received for Christmas, and, a cherry blossom exfoliating bar of soap.

Love all my gifts...thank you!

GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

Thank you so much for all of your birthday wishes
and kind words.
I loved reading them all.
I wish I could send each and every one of you a gift!
You made this birthday very special for me.
Thank you.


Now, on to what you are really waiting for!

I'll spare you all the drama, 

but the brown boy got the job done!

(was there ever any doubt?)

Here are the winners:

   

Orange Sink wins the hooker gift

and

Picking Dandelions wins the quilter gift.

I have emailed you both.

Congratulations!!!

I'll be shipping the packages out next week.

(This was fun...I should do it more often!)

A Succesful Night of Sewing.

I am happy to say that the Friday Night Sew-in was again a success for me!  Participating in it makes me focus...knowing I'll need to show photos of what I worked on.  So, instead of watching every single minute of the Olympics, I actually did some good work.  

I did watch tv here & there...was fortunate to catch the gracious Evan Lysacek (gotta love him!), caught some skiing & watched all of the ice dancing.

Here's what I got done...

Finally figured out how I wanted to do
the backing for my doll quilt swap quilt.

Put it together and got it quilted.

Here's the front...love making these snowballs!

And, I finished putting this top together.

This is the quilt I am making for a friend...

to donate to her son's school fundraiser.

 

I am happy with what I got done, and

it gave me a great start to the weekend.

Friday Night Sew-in...

brought to you by Heidi & Bobbi.  

 I'm sewing...are you?

Alexander James Aiken
December 17, 1996 - February 9, 2010

Rest In Peace

The dog in this photo with a younger Alex is Breka.

A very sweet German Shepherd...

fiercely loyal to my son 

and very protective of Alex.

Fabric Shopping...

Had to pick up a few pieces of fabric.

Some of it is to finish out what is needed.

Some of it is for new plans.

Some of it was on sale.

Some of it was 'simply irresitible'.

Like this one...so fun!

See the photo below for all the fabrics in the collection.

 

 

These two pieces are for my Bee Addicted 3 block swap.

My month is April.

I needed a few more neutrals.

I found the perfect backing fabric for the pinwheel quilt!

So soft and feminine like the other fabrics.

 I won 24 pinwheels & 5 fat quarters from Cathy of

Quilting on Turtle Hill.

A friend from work asked me if I'd be willing to donate a quilt 

for her son's school fundraiser.

Sure.  Why not?

This will be it.

It's due March 15, so I should get started, hey?

I finally have all the fabric for my son's wedding quilt.

This fabric is awesome! 

I had a plan when I bought it.

But, I changed my mind.

I now have a better plan.

 

(Don't be surprised when I show more fabric on Monday.

I need to pick up the rest of the fabric for my whirlygig quilt...

and my lqs offers a 20% discount on Mondays.)

pssst...this is post 499.