Twofer

Several years ago I purchased a fabric kit and pattern to make a Springtime wreath. The fabric is very playful with bunnies, carrots, and tulips.

Since I'm working on completing projects left undone years ago.... this one certainly qualified. After sewing the first wreath...

I realized there was enough fabric left to make a second wreath. What a delight! Two for the price of one.

I still have to add an orange bow, but then they will be ready for quilting. Won't that be cute hanging on my wall? Plus there will be an extra one to give away!

Lucky Me!

Let it roll! When it comes to winning, I'm not usually successful. A sister of mine seems to have all the luck - she wins at bingo, drawings, etc. Well the tides have turned.  This last month I won twice - yes, that's two times in one month!

First, I won a $25 gift card at the restaurant where my quilting friends have breakfast once a month. Second, my name was drawn last night for the door prize at a health fair my friend and I attended. The fabulous prize was a one hour body massage. I'm not too fond of massages, but John loves them.

I am really excited about this winning streak. And I'm wondering if I should quick head to Vegas, or Hinckley (and not just for the buffet). Perhaps we could retire early, or travel around the world, or buy some diamonds or a new house... sounds like I'm addicted already to the possabilities of winning. I better just stay home and enjoy the breakfasts and massage!

Sew Therapy

I'm having trouble with my sinus, soooo that means sewwwwwing! It's Monday, which means time to clean bathrooms and do laundry. In between all that, I spent a lot of time at my sewing machine.

Last Friday at Princeton's BOM (Block of the month) we found out the quilt shop is changing hands and may close. We have one more month of BOM to complete our blocks. Then comes the task of assembling the quilt. I decided to change the pattern a little and replace some blank blocks with quilted blocks. So today I made the extra 6 blocks.

Next I will need to buy fabric for sashings, borders, etc. and figure out how all that should look. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result!

Alexis' First Birthday

Last Saturday was party time to honor Alexis. She is 1 year old already- where did the time fly? I made her a card with the new stamp set I got from Jen.

A slightly dirt face after eating her first birthday cake - marble cake with chocolate frosting. Yum, Yum!

Grandpa Bator played piggys with Alexis, while she brought a new meaning to stocking cap!

Do you need any help opening those presents? Don't be shy, we are all here to help you!

Grandma Bator balancing her youngest two girls on her knees!

Jenna & Alexis

It doesn't get any better than this!!

Millie P's

A new quilt shop opened in Anoka called Mille P's. It has a wonderful sewing room upstairs and the shop offers open sewing the 2nd Friday of each month. My dear friend Barb and I decided this would be a good time to work on UFO's from our stash. Barb picked me up at 9:15am and we arrived at the shop at 10am. The shop provided lunch and snacks, so we could use all our time sewing, cutting, or whatever. Met some other wonderful quilting ladies and saw the projects they were working on. It was a great day out and I accomplished so much. Barb had to leave at 2:00pm, but I stayed until 5pm when John picked me up.

These are the UFO's I worked on:

A Thanksgiving quilt - These are hand embroidered quilts blocks sewn by my mom. I joined them all together, then I will add a decorative stitch between each block.

Here is my favorite block - I can only imagine the discussion this child is having with the turkey!

Next will be the job of putting on the borders using this fabric:

Then I worked on sewing some of the star blocks for a Christmas quilt.

And finally, a new quilt that starts with sewing strip pieces. Then cutting them into 3 1/2 inch blocks.

Don't the colors look like spring has arrived? I can hardly wait for the 2nd Friday of April when we can gather again at Millie P's!

St.Paul Nights

Last week was my annual meeting in St. Paul, MN for the Minnesota Rural Electric Association. I enjoyed being in St. Paul, but it was difficult staying at a hotel. Even though it is a very nice hotel - Crowne Plaza- I didn't sleep. The bed was very comfortable - a sleep number bed that should have taken me to dreamland. Instead, I was wide awake listening to all the little noises! 

Tuesday we piled into a van and drove to Fabulous Ferns for a fabulous lunch. Then we visited the state capital to lobby our legislators. Went to an energy committee hearing and found that to be semi-interesting.

The view from my room on the 21st floor was beautiful. Had a room that overlooked the river. Didn't get any daytime pictures, but snapped a few shots to capture the night view. The water and lights were gorgeous!

Had a great meeting and met the artist Kaziah Hancock of Project Compassion. She, and four other artists, paint portraits of fallen soldiers and send them to their families free of charge. It's their way of saying thank you for their ultimate sacrifice for our country. She is a remarkable woman from Manti, UT and I was so pleased to meet her.

Now I'm home, getting caught up on my sleep! There's no place like home, there's no place like home...

Lullaby Daddy

There's nothing cuter than a daddy napping with his son! Unless it's waking up from a nap with Daddy. John use to do this with our babies and it melted my heart every time!

Quilt run to Duluth

I'm really behind on my posts. No excuse just haven't been very diligent. I've certainly had plenty of interesting happenings to write about. I will start with a fun quilt trip to Duluth. My dear friend Barb and dear sister-in-law Lynn went with me to Duluth. We left Tuesday, February 16th and returned Wednesday. With John's Garmin (GPS) in hand, we took a little side trip to Floodwood and visited a quilt shop there. It was a very large shop and we had so much fun looking through all the kits and baby ideas. After that we had a delicious lunch, and then on to the Quilters Coop to pick up Barb and Lynn's completed quilts. This was my first trip there, so I didn't have any quilts to pick up, but I had plenty to drop off. Thirteen to be exact. This is what 13 quilts looks like all stacked up and ready to go! That pile represents many hours of joy for me. Work, yes, but great therapy and fun to see how each quilt develops piece by piece.

Next we searched for our hotel and checked in. It's an old hotel in canal park. We had a suite with two bedrooms and two baths, a kitchen and living room area. We had a beautiful view of Lake Superior from our bedroom windows. The hallway was lined with large pillars and looked somewhat stately!

We took the opportunity after all our driving and riding to just relax and visit for a while. When we couldn't control our hunger pains any longer, we went in search of a restaurant. A Timberlodge was attached to our hotel, so we decided to stay inside and eat there. The food was wonderful and we took our time eating and visiting. Then Lynn and I were brave to put on swimsuits and head for the whirlpool. Lynn's skirt on her swimsuit lost its elasticity and grew into a flowing gown! We laughed a long time about that. After showers, we sat in our PJ's and just visited, ate chocolate, and drank hot cocoa. I tried to sleep, but had a terrible tooth ache (which was pulled the day after we got back).

Had a very nice breakfast at the hotel before plugging in Lucy Lou (Barb and Lynn's name for the Garmin). Then we were off to Superior, WI to find a quilt shop there. It was small but delightful. The owner invented the Twister ruler and showed us how to use it. She has written a pattern book on different ways to use the ruler, which will be ready in mid-March. Then we decided it was time to head home. We had such a great time together, and the weather was nice too. Can't wait to see my quilts done - some will be ready in April and the rest in June. Sounds like another Duluth quilt trip is brewing!