Baby Memory Quilt

This has been a full weekend.

I started with a lovely meeting with my friendship group. We are starting a quilt that we'd like to enter in a local quilt show as a group quilt.

Then I delivered the quilt made with baby clothes. I only posted a little picture on Monday, but here is the finished quilt. I used as many of the clothes as I could. Only one or two items escaped the quilt. The mommy is very happy with the results. I am too. I tried many different designs. Because I really like on point quilts I wanted to try one, but too many of the little designs could not be put on  point. Back to the drawing board, or rather back to EQ6. This is the design I finally used. Not as original as I would have liked (this is the perfectionist in me speaking), but I think it turned out nicely.

                                                                                                                                                           

 Twinkle Toes had a dance recital yesterday. She was a gingersnap.  There is something wonderfully sweet about a group of 3 and 4 year-olds dancing on stage.

I'm going to Road to California today to take classes with Marilyn Badger. I'm very excited about hands on longarm classes.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Grandkids are Great!

I had a wonderful, grandchildren filled weekend.

Yesterday, Spicy and Bubba allowed me to take them to the park near where we were visiting a gift boutique. Spicy's BFF came along for the fun.

As I've mentioned before, Bubba loves climbing and slides.








This evening Twinkle Toes and Little Man brought their parents over for dinner. Little Man is sporting his new big boy haircut. Our canine puppy, Ginger, loved having the company of two-legger puppies. She followed them around all night. Of course, she also loved the way a one-year old eats. Ginger was quite attentive by the high chair.
Twinkle Toes drove them over in her sporty pink Jeep. She's such a good big sister!
















As they say, "A good time was had by all."

Little Buckaroo

Here is Bubba the Buckaroo. When we went to my daughter's house for the birthday lunch, Bubba headed to his rocking horse and struck this pose. The boy loves his horse!

What's on my design wall

I finished making all of the components for the Starstruck top. I still have to sew the rows together though, and I'm not sure what borders I want on it.
I pinned these fabrics up on the design wall to give me a chance to think about it. I usually have a hard time deciding about borders. These will have to sit with me for a day or two before I decide.

If you want to see other design walls, visit Judy Laquidara's blog.









I finished quilting this today. It was the New Year's Eve Mystery Quilt designed by Ann M. Smith. She presented the clues on the Pickle Road Studio Yahoo Group. I admit that I didn't get it done on New Year's Eve. I wanted to, but I was also working on the piecing for Longarm University's New Year's Day mystery quilt. The two mysteries were quite different. With Ann's the mystery was how the quilt would look when it was done. She posted cutting and pre-sewing clues before the big day. (She just had a summer mystery also)

With Longarm U's the mystery was how would it be quilted. Cindy Roth, of Longarm U., designed a simply pieced top that would highlight quilting. The piecing was done on New Year's Eve, and on New Year's Day she posted videos of the quilting lessons. A couple of weeks later I received a DVD of all the lessons. It was a great bargain.










By-the-way, if you like the idea of machine quilting lessons, she has another mystery scheduled for August 29. The one on the 29th focuses on feathers.

Now, cute kids and puppy pictures. Twinkle Toes and her brother came over to meet our new puppy. Ginger was thrilled to have new playmates, and chew toys.

My Weekend

Can I just say I love the maps feature on my iPhone. I can use it to find new quilt shops. Yesterday, hubby and I were driving to Escondido for Spicy's dance recital, and we were going to arrive very early. What could we do to pass the time? I used the map's search feature to find quilt shops in the area, of course! Unfortunately, there was only time to visit one of the shops.



I was lucky enough to find Quilter's Paradise was only about two miles away from where the recital was going to be. It is a lovely shop. Friendly staff, and a great selection of fabrics. I was not good. I bought more fabric. No, I don't really have a plan for them. They're just helping my stash grow. I know I should go on a stash diet, but it's so hard when the fabrics are so beautiful.













We did make it to the recital in plenty of time to see Spicy and her friends dance. These two were so cute. They kept looking at each other throughout the dance. It caused them to be a little out of sync with the other girls, but it was sooo cute.















I was very impressed with the talent of all the young dancers at the recital. There are some very talented young ladies, and one young man, dancing at Studio 31.

After the show Spicy was very upset because she had left her arm ruffles someplace and couldn't find them. Her first case of runny mascara. It had been a long day and it was more than a girl could handle.

















I delivered this dragon quilt to its owner today. It is such a cute quilt. It was also lots of fun to quilt. This customer usually just hands me a quilt and says, "Do what ever you want." I just ask if she wants an overall design or custom work.












Here are a couple of pictures of one of the dragons. I'm not sure how well it will show up, but the picture on the left is before quilting and the one on the right is after quilting.














Here is a slightly more detailed shot of one of the dragons.



Enough fun on the computer, back to sewing down the binding on a quilt.

Before and After

This is the Little Dresses quilt before quilting.












This is the quilt after quilting.

The dresses are a little on the poofy side, but I couldn't decide what to put inside the dresses.






Last night Spicy spent the night, my son and his family joined us for dinner. Little Man was in a good mood. His hair is getting so curly. Twinkle Toes and Spicy enjoyed the mandarin oranges.























This morning Spicy and I have been sewing letters. She was adamant that she could sew. I was skeptical, but she did a very good job controlling the speed of the machine. I helped a little bit with guiding the fabric, but most of it she did. Not bad for a four year old. She has her grandma impressed, but she is just the best four year old.

Twinkle Toes is the best three year old. Bubba is the best one and a half year old, and Little Man is the best ten month old. Isn't it wonderful when they can all be the best!

Time Out

My machine and I had a time out yesterday afternoon. After I had the problem with the occasional loopys things went downhill. I had some major tension issues. Lots of ripping. Thread breaking. Grumbling. Bad words, so we had a time out.

My hubby and I went to watch our granddaughter's last swim lesson of the season. Her nickname is Spicy, because she is. She is also Feisty, but I'll go with Spicy.




The child loves the water, and she's almost fearless in it. She was, of course, the best swimmer in her class. No really, she was. Just ask her mom. Ask anyone. They'll tell you, she's the best.








Then we went to her dance class. She was, of course, the most talented ballerina there. No really, just ask her mom. Ask anyone. They'll tell you, she's the best.





Hi, my name is Lynn, and I'm addicted to my grandkids.












Now, I'm ready to face my machine this morning.

Disneyland

Yesterday I went to Disneyland with my children and grandchildren. Exhausting and delightful. It is so much fun visiting the Happiest Place on Earth with little people. The girls walked hand-in-hand almost everywhere. They were excited about just about everything.





The boys on the other hand weren't quite as enthusiastic. It seems one can be too young for all that the park has to offer. Dear Grandson 1 was not overjoyed about the rides. Even It's a Small World frightened him. Poor baby we just kept torturing him with rides. I hope we haven't warped him for life.







Dear Granddaughter 1 showed me how she has learned to whistle. I was totally in awe, as this is a talent that I have never acquired.






DGS1 had a lot of fun on the slide in Toon Town. It's just that the slide doesn't really slide very well. The kids have to pull themselves along with their feet, or push themselves with their hands. I do think that

for DGS1 the true allure was the steps going up to the slide. The boy does love to climb.









As we were getting ready to leave I found this mug for my husband. It's perfect for him. Except for the fact that he no longer drinks his coffee from a regular mug. He only uses thermal mugs now. Oh well, I like it. I think it suits him to a T.

I'm Such a Grandma

I'm such a grandma. I love looking at, being with, and taking pictures of my grandkids. This morning my husband and I went out to brunch with my son and his family. Out of 20 some pictures 17 were of the kids.

Dear Granddaughter 2 likes playing with the iPhone apps.







And, hamming it up for the camera.








Dear Grandson 2 is just a happy boy. He's not always sure what to make of his Grammy, but he's good natured about it.

I mean, look at those cute faces. Wouldn't you be taking pictures of them?