More Purses

Three posts in one day... must be a new record for me. Tawnya scolded me, so I had to make all these postings!!

Here is a picture of my latest creations - two new handbags for two lucky gals (it's a secret yet)! Each one looks so cute, but they take a lot of time to sew. I'm pleased with them when they are done though, so it's worth the time spent sewing.

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a wonderful time with friends and family this Thanksgiving. Joining us was mom & Curt, Shawna & family, Cassie & family, Travis & family, Ed & KC Brown, Clarice Loseth, and the Manning family (minus Mallory). It was great to have the house full! I didn't take many pics, but captured a few highlights...

Miranda Manning loves to make cupcakes. She shared some of her masterpieces with us:

Aren't they adorable?!

Tawnya was with us in spirit and sent this beautiful fresh floral arrangement to remind us of her:

How thankful I am of all the many blessings in my life.

Walk or Ride, It's All Good

My babysitting of Ethan is getting to be more challenging. He wants to walk but only if I hold his hands. It gets a little sore in the back after a while. Ethan loves anything with wheels, so he is combining his two favorites - walking and wheels. I have a walker/chair I use in the kitchen, and this is quite the attraction to baby E as you can see.

He loves to walk behind and push the walker, but gets a little upset when he runs into something and can't turn it free.

Another discovery we made, is his love of riding - that's when the really big smiles come out!

Oh, how we love this little guy!!

She's Here!

Grandchild number nine arrived last Friday, November 5th. She is a beautiful healthy perfect little princess! She weighed in at 8 pounds 10 ounces, and measured 21 1/4 inches long.  Mother Cassie is doing well also. Congratulations to the Brown family! After much deliberation, parents decided on a lovely name - Jocelyn Rae Brown.

Not Too Sick

For over a month, I was sick with a sinus infection. No fun! Even though I couldn't be out in my flower gardens (it hurt to have my head hanging down), I wasn't too sick to work on something. I was able to find indoor stuff to do.  Of course I chose to sew a lot, and do a little scrapbooking. Here are some of the projects I worked on.

Purse for mother (I made 4 more for myself using different colors of course):

Christmas Snowman quilt - the center embroidery work was done by my mom. Then I made all the blocks - 24 total- for the borders.

A darling baby quilt with Newton:

And finally a quilt called Fire Escape:

It was fun to sew these projects because they were all so different. It was a good use of my time while recuperating. So three big boxes of Puffs tissue later, I'm happy to say the worst is over!

Puffs

This past week has been a disaster.... beautiful weather outside, but not too sunny inside. What is it about noses.... as soon as I start sniffling, sneezing, and blowing, my nose turns red. I'm not fond of looking like a sister to Rudolph, so my only answer is PUFFS. They truly work miracles for me. Soft and gentle on the nose, but strong and efficient to do the work required. No more Rudolph in my family tree!

Long Time Coming

It took over a year, but here it is... the top is all done and ready to go to the quilters. Heading to Duluth on Tuesday with my quilting buddies and will take this Double Wedding Ring quilt to be quilted.

It was started over a year ago, and took a long time to complete... several steps in the process, and I lost interest half way through. Wasn't sure about the brown center squares but now that I see it done, I really like it!

Another UFO (unfinished objects) that can be crossed off my list!!

Two Month Silence

I can't believe it has been two months since my last post. What could possibly be the reason?

Perhaps you are thinking the rain washed me away!

We have certainly had enough rain - if we didn't live on this sand plain, we would need Noah's blueprints!

The garden is doing great, but it could use some sunshine (more than one hour a week) to ripen the strawberries and such. I have been very busy sewing since me outdoor time is limited between rain showers... made another quilt, and a new purse.

Did I mention it has been raining? I'm getting a little irritated - not really. I'm getting a LOT irritated because I need sun too!

My real reason for not posting in two months - (drum roll please) is because I can't get my pictures out of my camera and onto my computer. And I'm too busy and irritated to figure out why!

Hitting the Wall

John & I spent the weekend in Duluth and it was good to see that my typical interests there fared well through the winter. Walking along the Superior shores I enjoyed the water still splashing on the rocks...

seagulls still fly friendly missions over the heads of visitors...

mass numbers of people still enjoy walking the pier to the lighthouse...

George Washington still keeps a close watch on the liftbridge...

and, way off on the horizon a large ship could be seen hauling unknown cargo...

It was a beautiful day to enjoy a return to Duluth!

Progressing on Projects

Another month has flown by and I was able to make some more progress on my sewing projects. Last Friday Barb, Sandy, and I spent the day sewing at Millie P's - what a fun time! They pamper us with chocolate and lunch. We provide the chatter and laughter.

So, what did I get done? Well, I put all the borders around all 30 blocks in my Simply Sweet quilt.... now I just have to sew them all together.

Then, I started and almost completed a St. Patrick's Day tablerunner. Only needs the borders added on each end. Will be ready to use next year!

Over the last month I also completed all 24 blocks of stars for my Christmas quilt borders. My mom is embroidering the center panels and almost has them done. Hopefully next month I can show you the finished project!

Awe, such a great feeling to see progress being made!!

Freshly Painted

I'm giddy with joy - my office and half-bath have a new paint job! It wasn't without sacrifice, but then what good things in life are?! I purchased a gallon of paint a year ago with the lovely name of Koala - was suppose to be a creamy brown color. When I removed the lid to paint, to my surprise it was the same peachy color as the scrapbook room. What happened I will never know:( Anyhow, I went to the hardware store and brought home all of their paint samples for brown paint.

After deciding on a color, I went back for the paint. Come to find out, the one I chose was displayed on one of their walls. I didn't like the looks of it, so chose a lighter color named Macadamia. Then I came home and started painting, and painting, and painting.

A couple days later, with sore back and muscles, I was very happy with the results. Gone was the Pistachio green color, replaced by the new Macadamia brown color. NOTE: I must love colors that have food names.

And now, to make Tawnya (Miss Osha) happy - here is a picture of the kid-friendly, no sharp corners, soft top foot stool/coffee table for our living room. If kids run into it, they should just bounce right off - no bleeding or stitches required!

Doesn't it look comfy with the conversational couches around it?! I enjoy resting my weary bones in this spot. Come sit a spell with me when you can!

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!