Blessings....

Nuf said......

What a Beautiful Day!

We had such a beautiful day today!  The first thing I did, as with most Wednesdays, was to go to my weekly Sew and Tell meeting at Above and Beyond Sewing and Vacuum. We always have so much fun.  If for some reason I have to miss a meeting I feel like I should bring an excuse note from home. 

After the meeting I was going to run down to a local kitchenware shop to pick up something for my daughter, but thought I'd run back home first and pick up the hubs.  It was such a beautiful day out.  In the 50's with blue sky and it made me feel guilty to leave him home on such a nice day.  

After we stopped at the shop, we were trying to think of somewhere to go eat lunch.  After driving a bit I remembered someone at a quilt class mentioned a good restaurant in Castle Rock which is not far from where we were.  I thought, wrongly, that Castle Rock was just a new area of businesses between Denver and Colorado Springs.  Turns out there is quite the historical downtown area.  We ate lunch at The Castle Cafe which is located in a historical building downtown.  We had a great lunch and then I discovered a couple antique stores.  Yipee!  

This is all I bought.  Isn't it cute!?!  I have it hanging in my laundry room with my other Scottie linens.

We did some more exploring east of Castle Rock but finally turned around as the sun was going down and I didn't want to end up in Kansas.

Our son is coming home to visit the end of the month!  That's a big YAY! As you know, he's in the Navy and we don't see him often.  While he's home I'm going to have him hook up our wifi so I can use my laptop and not my husbands Mac and then I'll be able to load pictures that I've take on my camera so I'll be able to post more of them on my blog.....whew!

Aaron sent me a note telling me when he was going to be coming home and asked me to de-feminize the guest room.  HAHAHAH!  My husband gets Sports Illustrated magazine so I'm putting the swimsuit edition on the bed and calling it good!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Snow Day

Just how am I supposed to get anything done when I can sit and look out at this?

And this? 

(sorry for the poor quality of pictures - they are from my phone)

It's just not going to be my fault if nothing gets done today.......

Birthday Angels

Firsts are always difficult when you are in new situations especially when you have moved far away from familiar things like family, friends, restaurants (tee hee), etc.!  Yesterday was my first birthday since we have moved so it was rather bittersweet.  Not because I am getting older, just that it made me miss everyone.  I never celebrate my birthday, so I went to a Sunday sew  at a friend's like I had planned.  I knew some of the gals there and was able to meet some others.  All in all a great group and we had a wonderful time sewing, chatting, and eating a wonderful potluck. 

One of the ladies brought her darling little granddaughters who are learning to sew.  For privacy sake, I'm calling them the little Sparkly Girls!  They were so sweet, so serious, and such good little sewers.  When her machine thread broke the youngest one would say, "I'm so good, that's why it broke!"

Aren't they the cutest?  Sparkly Girl #2 is making a doll quilt and her big sister made a notions holder that fits over a clear frame and stands next to your machine to hold all of your notions.  I just loved it and casually mentioned that I wanted one.  She went back and whispered to Grandma, "Can I make that  lady one?"   So she got busy and made one for me.  She seemed to be happy when I told her it was my birthday and was a wonderful birthday present.  Grandma and I were moved to tears.

 Here's the front.  She did everything on her own, cutting with a rotary cutter, quilting, everything.

Here's the back.  This is really a useful and awesome little holder.  I'll use it every time I sew and thank God for sending me Sparkly Birthday Angels!

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday, Maggie!!!!

Even though she thinks she owns the house....
Even though she thinks she runs the house....
Even though she thinks we are here to wait on her hand and foot....
Even though she thinks she can jump on the guest bed....
Even though she thinks she can sleep on the pillows and wrinkle the vintage pillowcases and get dog hairs all over them.....

She's quirky, silly and, most of all, loving.  We can't imagine life without her!

HAPPY FIFTH BIRTHDAY, MAGGIE!!!!  We love you more than you can imagine!!!

Snow Day

Hubs and I got up today with the plan on going out.  I'm sewing Sunday morning at a friend's place and I wanted to check out where I'm supposed to go ahead of time.  The temperatures are supposed to be near ZERO degrees out first thing that morning.  In case you didn't already know, quilters can be a bit crazy at times!!

They said it was going to snow later today but it started earlier than planned.  So we're staying home and watching the snow fall.  It's coming down pretty good, but you can still see the houses across the street. Hubs is so funny, a true California native, "I guess it never gets worse than this out when it snows."  I'm from the mid-west so I know that it can get way worse.  I just told him, "you've heard of blizzards, haven't you?"  Lucky for us if the weather is bad and the roads are slick or icy, we can just stay home.  My new favorite hobby is watching the snow come down.  I can do it for hours.  There is something really hypnotic about it.

No, this is not Maggie, although she does love to play in the snow.  It's my concrete Scottie on the front porch.  He sits out there and watches the house for us.  Ever faithful regardless of the weather.

Stay warm out there!

New Years Quilt

Happy New Year to all of my blog friends out there!  Hubs and I celebrated New Year's Eve by watching some movies, we never go out.  We're content to stay in where it's safe and warm.  I sat and hand stitched a binding on a quilt. - Yes, Miss Jean actually finished something!!!!!

I'm sorry the lighting is so poor on this.  The pattern is Disappearing Nine Patch and the fabric is Moda's Heritage from the Collections for a Cause line.  This one happens to help support the fight for ovarian cancer.  I love the fabric, especially that border fabric.

I'm sure you noticed all the foot prints in the snow.  Nope, those are not mine.  They are all Maggie's with a few rabbit tracks thrown in.  I wish you could see her running around the yard in the morning.  It's hilarious.  "Over here - no over there - no down here - no up there!" When she's tired of running around she sits by the back door in the sun, not moving a muscle.  I think she thinks the bunnies will think she has gone inside.  So far no luck.

I don't usually make New Years resolutions, but this year I just hope to get more done around the house and finish up more of my sewing projects.  How about you?

Maggie

My son's hobby is photography and he has taken some wonderful pictures.  Here's one of Maggie!  She looks so demure and sweet.  Sweet, yes, demure, not so much!

Christmas Gift

I have joined a quilt guild here in Colorado and have had the opportunity to make new friends, learn new things, and have lots of fun.  On Wednesdays I go to Above and Beyond, a Sewing and Vacuum shop for a weekly meeting.  The shop lets us know all the latest and greatest things going on in the sewing world, we have show and tell from those attending,  and we have some sort of demo of something we can make.  It can be a bag, an ornament, holiday pillows complete with lights or anything someone wants to share.

For Christmas we have a pot luck and a gift exchange.  The gift is supposed to be something that we have made.  We're all quilters, sewers, knitters or embroiderers so it only makes sense that we make something rather than buying something.

I was stumped as to what to make.  Then I ran across a post from The Pattern Basket blog.  They are a great pattern company and I just love their patterns.  As a holiday gift, they graciously posted a free pattern for this darling pin cushion.  You can see it here.

This is what I came up with.  I am really happy with how it turned out and I hope whoever gets it will be pleased.

I made mine with Christmas fabrics to go with our holiday theme. I can see them made up in all kinds of holiday fabrics and I'd like to figure out how to attach other types of figurines on the top.   I think I'll make myself one or two.  Maybe a Fourth of July pin cushion and, of course, a Scottie pin cushion!!

Thanks, Pattern Basket, I don't know what I would have done without you!!!