Where did all the pictures go?

I just spent a long time going through photos in order to gather up past Thanksgiving photos. I thought it'd be a fun post to show past pics. I knew we were bad about picture taking but apparently its worse than I thought. I only found ONE photo from a past Thanksgiving. One! And that included my growing up years....my folks sucked at taking pics too! Sigh.

So here it is. The one photo I found. Its 1986 and we were at my brothers house. Dig that hair style of mine....why oh why? Jenn is 5 and Dan is 3.

And this year? Well, I managed a single photo. So that makes two in 29 years. I don't think I'm getting any better. :)

This year was the first time someone from hubby's side of the family was with us. His brother and sis-in-law are in the Seattle area for medical reasons and were able to come over. Coolio.
Nice day.....even if I don't have the pics to show it.

Design Wall Monday - Birdie Big Blocks again

Same quilt project as last time but now the birds are fused in place. Next comes sewing it all down with a blanket stitch on the machine. I haven't done it before so I'm expecting it take a some time as I learn.

Won't be happening any time soon....its Christmas time and that means other projects. :)

You can see other projects in progress via Judy's site at Patchwork Times.

Feet Friday

I haven't had a Feet Friday post in ages!

We were in Seattle last weekend and while waiting for the ferry I had to visit the little girls room. Afterwards I sat down.....crossed my legs..........and noticed something. Yup, you guessed it........trailing toilet paper stuck to my foot. Embarrassing. My family never noticed so I'm hoping no else did either. :)

Working on the Longarm

I've rented a longarm machine several times to try my hand at all-over quilting. I'm not great at it but adequate enough for kids quilts or those really busy quilts where you can't see the quilting anyway! :)
Yesterday I tried doing some custom work for the first time. I picked what I thought would be a very simple design to do in the plain 6 inch squares.

I know it's not easy to see in the picture but I will tell you that those ovals are suppose to be pointed not rounded. Some look good....some look yucky. It was hard and time consuming.
I will just do a plain straight line through the pieced blocks here at home on my sewing machine. Not sure if I will attempt custom work again or just concentrate on getting better at free handing all-over patterns. My money for custom work will be better spent on someone who has the talent and experience.

I appreciate the work of talented long-armers so much more now. Thank you, ladies! You rock!

Seen in a Museum

Some things are just creepy. Just sayin'! :)

Design Wall Monday - Birdie Big Blocks

I have done a Design Wall Monday post before.....back in July....and my wall has finally changed! That other quilt is off, quilted and ready for it's binding. Pretty fast for me. Since this meme is still going on over at Patchwork Times, I decided to post what's on my wall again. I found this collection of fabrics at Leavenworth last June while on a quilt retreat. I've been waiting for the "perfect" pattern to use them in. I wanted something that used big pieces of the fabric so I could see a lot of it. I found one called Birdie Big Blocks that you can see at Cabbage Rose Quilts. These circles will have cute birds in them...and that's it. Simple. Easy. Fast. I'll be able to enjoy the bright colors this winter when it's gray and dull outside.

I am not a knitter

Nope...I wouldn't consider myself a knitter. I dabble in knitting but I am not a hard core knitter. I don't dream about yarns or projects to make like I do with quilting! But there is something about this time of year. The color and textures of fibers.....lovely. I'm safe if I stay out of yarn stores. Kinda like staying out of the bakery department when you're trying to lay off doughnuts! :)

Anyhoo. Last week I went with my daughter-in-law, Faith, on a fabric shopping expedition. She wants to learn to quilt and asked me to come along to help. Any good quiltaholic worth her salt would jump at the chance....so I jumped......and danced....and clapped! As it turned out my daughter, Jennifer, was also able to go with us. Extra fun. We went to the Kingston shop but nothing caught her eye there so we headed to Bainbridge.

First we had to fuel up at the Blackbird Bakery....home made soup and bread....so nummy.

Here is Faith with her new lovelies. Gonna be a beautiful quilt.

What does this have to do with knitting, you ask? Well......just across the street from where the fabric lives is a very scrumptious yarn store. Bad move. See some of the lovelies that live here?

My eye caught a pattern for a cowl made with silk yarn blends....oh man, its so soft. And this non-knitter could actually do it cuz it was a super easy pattern. So I bought the stuff. Not too bad. But then I went back. And I saw a pattern for the cutest ruffly scarf....so feminine.....easy enough pattern. So I bought the stuff. And then I eyed come cute variegated yarn for a child's hat....a pattern I already conquered. So I bought the stuff. Whatever! I really need to stay away....I have ZERO self control.

And just cuz.....here are some pics of a few other things I love excessively!

We bought swords for the grandsons and Liam insisted he needed a helmet. Hubby made a couple of paper hats to be helmets.

The wild grandson, who as you can see, gets into everything! Literally! :)

Life is full.