Adam's Request

I got a text from my 10 month old grand son asking for something special for his 1 year old birthday photo shoot.  Well, actually, the text was from his mom, my daughter Amy, but I think my girls have figured out that if the text sent to me starts out "Gigi, will you..." I will do it if at all possible.  Here is the picture I got. She had seen it from the photographers website. So, I got on Etsy and sent her a link to one and she said, "yeah, I saw that, but they can't have it done by the time it was needed for Adam's pictures.  Well, then, I guess it's Gigi to the rescue.  I had a class yesterday at a quilt shop and just happened to find the perfect red and white polka dot fabric needed for this project and found the pattern on Etsy which I could download the .pdf.  So it took about an hour to complete, and then I had to hunt up a suitable model.  So, I got another project out of the way.  

Bella B-Day Present

My granddaughter's 2nd birthday was coming up and I didn't know what I was gonna get her until I ran across this playhouse idea on Pinterest from Parties and Patterns.

Then I thought, do I dare start something like this. Well, yeah!!!!!  Might as well go for it. I worked on it off and on, gathering fabrics and supplies a little at a time. I tried using a lot of what I already had on hand, but really didn't have a lot. Anyway, I got it finished.  Here are my final pictures before delivery.  As soon as her mom can get her still enough to take pictures of her with it , I'll post them.

This was one of the bigger projects I have tackled lately, but really loved doing it.  There was a variety of techniques I had to use on it, so it wasn't boring.  That's all this time, but I have started a new project and will post soon.

I'm Back!!!!!!

I'm so excited to get back to blogging. It's been almost a year and a half. I started a new full-time job and totally have been trying to get my life organized to where I can work full-time and be able to have the time to do what I enjoy. I've missed my blog.  I have been doing some quilting and sewing when I could. I still have to deal with my Fibromyalgia flare-ups sometimes but I believe my doctor is on track to having me on the right medications.  So here we go....

I really don't know where to start. I have so many things to tell you. I guess it's best to start where I left off.

I was telling you that I had a new grandson on the way. Well, he made it. He was born on July 11th, which means he has his first birthday coming up. Meet Adam Logan. He is one precious little boy.  He smiles all of the time.

Is he not a cutie?  Of course, I'm not prejudice. We love him so much. We don't get to see him, or the other grand kids nearly enough lately. Seems like everyone is so busy now-a-days.  Speaking of the other grand kids, let me go ahead and give you an update on Luke and Bella.  Luke just graduated Kindergarten last week. He is now officially a 1st grader. 

Now Miss Bella just turned 2 years old and had a fun birthday party.  Her mom found some fun ideas from Pinterest for the kids to have outdoor water fun. Wish I had pictures, but nobody seems to have any. Really??  Where was I with my camera?  Gigi is slacking in the photo taking department lately.  Is she not just precious?  You should look back at some of the last posts I did on her. Boy has she changed..

As for my oldest grandson Jordan, today was his last day of 5th grade.  We normally get him the last day of school for a few weeks to start off the summer, but he decided to change it up this year and go to his other grandparents first this year. We will see him soon.  His mom sent me this picture of him at his school field trip a couple of weeks ago.  Can you say, "Cool Dude"?

Okay so that updates you on my grand kids.  At least this is a start to get back on track. I'll be back soon with some posts on what my sewing machine has been up to lately. 

Take care and have a fun and safe weekend.

Not Much Happening here on the Farm

Whew!!!  The last couple of months have flown by.  With working full-time again, the days just seem to pass without me even knowing it.  We haven't been doing much of anything lately anyway, hence no blog posts.

I haven't been cooking much, Bill has done a great job of helping with dinners at night.  I get him set up with a crock pot recipe and he has done great with them.  He has starting throwing in a few Hamburger Helpers lately I've noticed, so I need to get back to planning better meals.  I got burnt out on the Hamburger Helpers a long time ago, but he likes them because they are easy to do.

Sewing???  Quilting???  Crafting???  

Hummm, not much of that going on either.  I regretfully had to resign my position as 2nd Vice President at my quilt guild, Wise County Quilt Guild, as I felt that I was overwhelmed with things going on around me, and I was stressing too much with making sure I got the newsletter out on time and making sure it was a quality newsletter.  A fellow member, Peggy has stepped up and volunteered to take my place.  I am so thankful for her.  Working has sure put a kink in my life, but I know it will get better.

I did get to purchase a new "used" L-shaped desk for my sewing area.  It is going to be great.  I've been cleaning out and rearranging my sewing spot in hopes of getting to start sewing soon.

I have been gradually trying to clean out my scrapbook room to make room for some of my sewing things.  For those of you who know me and knew my scrapbooking obsession I had for many years, you know just how much stuff I have.  I hate to say it, but since getting the quilting bug, I have totally lost interest in my scrapbooking hobby.  It's sad, and although I'll go in the room and look at stuff and see things that I had plans to do, I just do not have the interest in it anymore.  I am cleaning out and selling a lot of things that I will no longer use.  Here I come, Ebay, Craigslist, Wise County People to People Facebook page (a great place to sell things you no longer want locally).  So, if your looking for anything that I might have, let me know, I'll try to accommodate.  I used to sell Stampin' Up! products also, so I have a lot of those items laying around too.  I may create a page of things I'm selling and link to my blog for future reference.  I need to pull out and take pictures.  Lots to do and so little time to do.

Family

BTW, for those of you that haven't heard (earlier post), I have a new grandson on the way.  My youngest daughter Amy and her husband Aaron are expecting their 1st baby in July.  We are so excited for them.  Hence, the hopes of starting to sew soon....  I have several baby projects in mind for this new little one.

My daughter Mandy and her family recently got to take a fun snow trip up to Colorado last month.  The kids really enjoyed the snow.  Lucas got his first chance at skiing and loved it.  Well really it's his second chance.  We went a couple of years ago, but he was not ready at age 3.  But now he is 5, he was loving it.  Bella even got in on the action.

Air Force Bound

My only nephew, Seth is leaving for Air Force Basic Training on Monday.  I so respect what he is doing and what he is giving up to serve our country.  I know he will make us all very proud.

My sister held a going away party for him a couple weekends ago.  It was a fun party, with BBQ and cake and lots of family and friends came to wish him good luck on the new phase of his life.  He even sang and played his guitar for us.

That's about all for my update for now.  I'll try to post a little more often.  Hopefully with some pictures of a few sewing projects.

Meet Fannie Mae

Isn't she Bea-U-ti-FUL!!!!  She was born in 1949.  She was my Christmas present this year.  I couldn't believe when we found her on Craigslist. She looked good, she sewed great, the case was amazingly in great condition and she came with several accessory pieces.  And, the price was right.  I promptly ordered bobbins and needles for her.

You may wonder about her name. My first memories of quilting are from my Great-Grandmother Fannie Mae King.  I remember her really small living room that she had quilting frames hung from the ceiling.  I want to say I remember playing under the quilt while she and her friends hand quilted.  That could be my imagination, but seems like I remember something like that.  I still have the baby quilt she made for me.  It is a little ragged out, I must have really used it a lot.  I don't even think it is restorable at this point.  Someday when I get it out again, I'll take a picture and post.  It also had hand-embroidery on it.  I believe my mother helped with the embroidery.

I have only gotten to play on her a little bit, but hope to start my first quilt on her soon.  Fannie Mae will accompany me to quilt guild meetings on work days and possibly on retreats.

Happy 2013!!!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

Boy, this new year has already started with a bang.  Many things have been going on around the farm.  Changes are good, right?  I'm going to cover everything, but will probably end up being in several different posts.  I'm going to start with Christmas Eve.

We enjoyed 2 Christmas celebrations with our families this year.  On Christmas Eve, my kids and grand kids came down to spend the night and celebrate.  This is a new tradition my girls decided they wanted to start this year.  We are kinda going back to the way our family used to celebrate Christmas when my kids were small.  And then the next weekend, Bill's kids and their families came down for our 2nd Christmas celebration.  (later post).

This is my living room prior to the arrival of the kids.  I promise, you don't want to see it after the invasion.  You can see Miss Palyn resting in one of her favorite spots.

You gotta have pictures of kids
playing at Christmas time.

I asked the girls what they wanted me to fix for dinner that night (being used to having hot ham sandwiches, potato salad, and baked beans), I knew this is what they would want.  Oh no, not my girls, they wanted my chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and ball beans (English peas).  Yes, in our house we refer to English Peas as ball beans.  So this is what we had, but I also threw in a platter of Chicken Fried Back Strap for the son-in-laws.  As for the dessert, we didn't have anything other than all of the goodies (will post about later) I made the day before while I was stuck here without a car (Bill's truck was in the shop) while he went down to Laredo with son Trent, and grandson Patrick deer hunting (will post later).  This was a last minute trip, so I stayed here and cooked.

Here I am mashing my famous mashed potatoes.  I say famous because this is one thing that my family and Bill's all enjoy.  They are very basic.  I just use Yukon Gold Potatoes, lots of butter (or margarine if that's all I have) and some Pet milk.  This combination just seems to make them so creamy and good.  I don't think there were any left.  I think everyone enjoyed their Christmas Eve dinner.  Total there were 9 of us here plus the GrandDog Piper, Libby and Palyn.

But WAIT!!!!  Let me tell you.  While I was sitting at the table fixing to get up and start clearing away the dishes, I was told by my daughter Amy that I couldn't get up until I see what was in my stocking.  I'm thinking what is in my stocking? NO IDEA!!!  So they went and got it for me to see.  Inside was this picture of Piper (Amy and Aaron's chocolate lab) and a small lime.  

This is my Grand Dog Piper with a very interesting sign around her neck.  If you can't read it, it says, "Only Child, Expiring July 2013".  In other words, Amy is pregnant!!!!  I'm gonna be grandma again!!!  I was so happy.  They had been trying for quite awhile.  I am so happy for both Amy and Aaron.  Oh yeah, the lime.  That was the size of the baby at that time.  Such a cute idea!!!!!!  

Okay, so after the excitement calmed down, we got the kitchen cleaned and the kids ready for bed to await Santa's arrival, Mandy got the french toast ready to go in the fridge to soak up it's goodness for breakfast the next morning, and the guys played a few hands of Cribbage.

(l to r) Aaron, Larry (Bill's brother), Bill and Ryan

The only one without a picture is Amy.  I took some of her, but she would probably disown me if I posted them.  She was feeling so bad that night with her sinus infection as well as being in the hospital the day before being dehydrated and throwing up (pregnant you know).  So maybe I'll catch a good one of her later.  I know we have a gender reveal party in the near future coming up, so I'll post then.

Again, Everybody, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Christmas Goodies

I've been working on a few Christmas things this year.

First, here is a picture of my paper-pieced Christmas tree wall hanging.  I worked on this during our quilt guild retreat we had a few weeks ago at the new Sunset Retreat.  I got it quilted last week and got it hung this week once my hanger came in the mail from Connecting Threads.  I had a spot picked out on the wall that needed something.  I believe it is going to be the ever-changing wall hanging block spot.  Well, let me say the "ever-changing" if I get different blocks done for different seasons and holidays.  I have high hopes, but we shall see.

Next, also I completed this Twister Wreath while at the retreat.  I had been wanting to tackle a twister project for awhile and I finally got around to it.  This was using the Lil Twister with 5" blocks of fabric.  I haven't had the time to quilt it yet, but hope to get to it soon.  Will probably be a new addition next year.  Since that was so much fun, I have now purchased a mini-twister that I can't wait to try out.

And today, I made Santa a key so he can get in our door Christmas Eve to bring them grandchillins lots of toys and goodies, since they are staying here this year.  I'm so excited to see them wake up Christmas morning to see what Santa has brought.  Well, Bella may not be too excited, but I know Lucas will.

And, speaking of grandchillins, I just happen to have a picture of them with Santa this year.

This will be my last post until after Christmas, so I would like to say to everyone,

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!"