Carrie's Cakes

I don't know if you remember but my sweet DIL made a birthday cake for my granddaughter and it was pretty cute....She had trouble with the icing wanting to melt and had to keep it in the fridge. She really likes to make cakes for the kids so for her birthday, I told her I would pay for a cake decorating class for her. She said yes and has been going to classes on Tuesday nights for a little while now. I got to do Gramma duty and watch the kids while she went to class. It has been fun for all....She has really enjoyed the classes and has done several cakes but here are the last two that she has done. Last night was the last class for awhile and look at what she did....Pretty cute, Carrie....

Going Green and musings

I have decided that I am going to go green. I have several patterns and I am going to start making grocery bags for myself and anyone else I can pass them on to...I've been wanting to do this anyway cuz I hate those plastic bags. I always liked the paper sacks we used to get . We would use those to cover our school books with when our bookcovers got too dirty. My Mom would use them for all kinds of things. We'd take them apart and draw on them. We'd cut them up and make paper hats out of them.... We were recycling when we didn't know what the word really meant....Do you remember saving your newspapers and having paper drives at the schools? My grandmother used to put newspapers in her quilts when she didn't have money for batting...She also used newspaper to cut out her patterns AND she sewed directly on the newspaper just like paper piecing today.
One of my favorite dresses when I was a kid, was made out of a sugar sack. I thought it was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. It had red roses on it and I thought I was really something. We used feed sacks for dish towels and for diapers too.
We bought oatmeal that had the glasses in it just so we could have the glass. My Grandmother dipped snuff and she always saved her snuff glasses for drinking glasses. Jelly used to come in glasses too and we saved those for drinking glasses.

Isn't it funny how you do things all your life and then whamo, somebody comes along and names it something and gets credit for starting something? I've always turned the lights out when I leave a room, don't run water when I'm brushing my teeth, put a brick in my toilet to reduce the water needed, catch water off the house to water my plants, save plastic and aluminum for recycling....etc, etc, etc. I just thought it was using common sense.

Retreat-Black Squirrel and Golden Finches

Here's some pics of the black squirrel and golden finches we saw at retreat.

Retreat

Retreat, isn't that a beautiful word? The place we went to was BEAUTIFUL. We were greeted every morning by beautiful birds, squirrels and rabbits playing. It was so good to see these miracles of God! We saw Golden Finches, Bluebirds, Cardinals - both the male and female, hummingbirds and a Red Topped Woodpecker. This was the first time in my life I have ever seen a black squirrel. There was a deer feeder but we never saw a deer. I took pictures of the birds but they didn't turn out very good. The pictures were taken through a screened in porch.
It sure was fun to watch these and it was hard to concentrate on sewing as they were so entertaining.

I did not get as much done as I wanted but I got a few things accomplished. I finished a quilt top that was a BOM from last year, I started a project that I had been holding onto since last year and I got a block done form My BOM for this year. I was going to work on my Orange Crush but lo and behold, I left the directions at home. I could not remember anything. So much for that! Anyway, I will work on them this week....Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. Lovely ladies and a good time. Til next time.

Retreat Pictures

Retreat Pictures

Retreat and Sewing step 2 of the OC

Ok, here it is. I just wanted to say a little something before I log off for a whole weekend...I'm going on retreat starting tomorrow. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning then off I go. I have not packed a thing. I've thought about what I'm taking and written it down somewhere and now I'm starting to panic...I went to my small group meeting tonight and found out I have to change my Saturday lunch plans. At this retreat , each person or two persons have to fix one meal. I had planned a meal and bought the supplies for lunch on Saturday and another lady bought and planned the same meal for Saturday night! Oh well, I decided to change mine but now I have to go shopping on my way to the retreat house...One more stop to make before I can sew. I am taking several things to work on at retreat. I'm taking my Orange Crush for sure and my Carolina Crossroads. I'm just going to put all kinds of things in my car and only take in a few things at a time. I want to enjoy myself but I also want to get alot of sewing done, plus I do not want to regret not taking enough....Ok, can you tell I'm a little stressed! I really need this time to sew and relax....Got to get off for now, it's starting to storm and I get a little crazy (scared) and don't like to be online when it's thundering. I will update when I get back. Have a great weekend....

Quilt Giveaway!

Ok, go check this out: JulieKQuilts is giving away a quilt! Go take a peek and comment to register. It's a bright and lovely little quilt, and anyone would be very fortunate to win such a charmer.

A New Quilt Shop and finding fabric I wanted

Yesterday, a friend and I went to a quilt shop I had never been to. It's a great quilt shop. It was quite a drive but well worth it. I went to a shop in Celeste, Tx called the Quilt Mercantile. The shop is owned by a mother/daughter team and both ladies were very nice. Very friendly shop and lots of great fabric and books....I even found a kit for a quilt I wanted to make earlier but the LQS had run out of the fabric and it wasn't available. Woo hoo, I can't wait to start it. I will take it with me this coming up weekend to work on and drool over at retreat. It's so nice to find things you really want and didn't think you'd be able to get! Fun times! It's another project but one I was really interested in doing so I don't feel bad about buying more fabric. I even ran into a friend I had not seen in years at this shop and got to visit with her. It's really strange how small the quilt world is, huh?

I was planning on sewing today but my son and sweet grandkids came over and spent the day with us. I played with my grandkids and watched TV with them instead of sewing. Now that the kids have left, I can at least pull out my pattern and book I bought yesterday and look at them. I will not be sewing tonight but will try to get some things done this week. I'll have to decide what to take to retreat and pack up so I can leave Friday. Hmmm, I'll have to think about this. Til next time....

Favorites Friday

Roxanne started Favorites Friday a few months ago. Isn't that a great idea? Here are a few of my favorites today:

My sweet husband making my coffee for me.
My doctor letting us off 30 minutes early today.
Stopping by the LQS to see what's new.
It's a beautiful Spring day.
Going over to a friend's house to help her bind a quilt. (Her first quilt)
Reading blogs and finding interesting things to spark my imagination....

Yeah, it's Friday! Let's all do the happy dance! Til next time...

Step 1 of the OC Done, Audio Books and Cleaning Out

Yeah, I finished step 1 of the Orange Crush....150 four patches.... that wasn't as bad as I thought.
I am glad to have had two weeks to sew these. I want to stay caught up with the group but I have alot of other quilts I'm working on now too.... it's nice to have time to enjoy the journey.When someone tells you that you have to make 150 blocks, your first thought is wow, 150 blocks! That will take forever! It doesn't...this was no thinking sewing...I listened to an audio book and sewed my strips together. No problem...I listened to Sue Grafton's book, S is for Silence. Good mystery, kept me guessing to the very end. She's a good writer. This was just my second audio book to listen to and I love them. I can do two things at the same time. I normally listen to the radio while I'm sewing and thought I would try this. I think I'm hooked on audio books...I cannot watch TV and sew on my machine at the same time as I am an avid TV watcher and do not do well watching TV and sewing. I can knit or crochet or do hand work but don't get enough done when the TV is on. I just don't really like it either. I go to my sewing room to relax and unwind...I don't need another noise in the room....I enjoy the quietness....I do like the books but don't think I'll do that alot either. If I have mindless sewing, I'll save them for that!

I also cut more fabric strips from my stash and added it to my scrap bins. I am steadily trying to dwindle down all my leftovers and get my bins organized. A friend of mine gave me some scraps and I plan on making some crumb quilts shortly. Like I needed her scraps but it helped her out too....Who knows, maybe I'll recycle and give some away too.
I did do some cleaning out about two weeks ago-I gave some books, fabric I no longer loved and two quilt frames (big ones) to a nursing home in Dallas. They were very appreciative and were anxious to get started hand quilting. I do plan to go over and help them but haven't had the time yet. I showed them how to set the frames up but that's all I was able to do at the time. I have some more fabric, yarn, needles and books ready to go to them now. Also, some of the ladies in my friendship group have given me fabric to go to them too. I will have to make a trip soon and will give updates when I go to the home. I can't wait to see what they have done. I gave all of this to the director and she was going to get them started. I told her I had more stuff for her and I would come check on the progress and help her too...til next time....

Orange Crush Mystery

Yesterday was the beginning day for the new mystery from Bonnie at Quiltville.com. I was not able to start sewing last night but will start it tonight. All the girls on the blog site have started step 1 and are finishing up already....Ahhhhhh, I can already feel my blood pressure rising! Bonnie has some other commitments and we will have two weeks to finish step 1 so that will really help me get it done and hopefully stay caught up. I love her website and her mysteries. Her patterns are always correct and well planned out. Here's a link to this mystery: Orange Crush Mystery . Bonnie's site is http://www.quiltville.com/. Check it out. It has good patterns as well as tips and tricks to help you on your quilting journey.

I haven't completely decided on my four main colors yet but am definitely using orange and red. I have to decide on my other two colors pretty quick now....I will post a picture when I decide -and progress along the way.

I only have two more weeks until I go to retreat and I hope to get alot of my other projects under control at retreat. I'm already making a list of things to take with me to work on...3 days of sewing! Oh boy, can't wait....