First Bike

Last weekend the grandsons were over for a visit.   It was Liam's 5th birthday!  Here he is on his birthday present.    After many times around and around the house.....and lots of tire marks inside........it was time to head to a park and use sidewalks.   Boy did watching Liam on his first bike ride bring back a multitude of memories....both of my kiddo's and their first bikes, as well as my own.   The only time I've broken a bone was falling off my first bike and breaking my wrist.   It never deterred me from riding.  I have always loved the feeling of freedom while riding....still do.    In fact, I'm looking forward to a bike ride with hubby in Maui on our upcoming vacation.  Woo hoo!  

This pic cracks me up!  It's David's boot after he was done playing in our creek!  Little guys simply don't stay upright when splashing and jumping in water.  He loved every minute of it!   

Free Block of the Month

Isn't that a cute block?   It's part of a new block of the month offered by Bunny Hill Designs called "Snowbound".   I'm sharing this with you cuz Anne Sutton (the designer) just started this quilt in January....so it's not too late to get started if you're so inclined!    Click on "free patterns" on the left hand side of her welcome page.        Anne designs the cutest blocks!   And the best part is they are FREE for the year....after that she'll still have the patterns available but you'd have to purchase them.   

Kitsap Guild Quilt Show

Yesterday I went to the Kitsap Quilt Guilds annual show.  Haven't been to a show in quite a while so it was great to see so many wonderful creations and be inspired.  The day was all the more fun since I knew so many of the quilt makers....thank you job at a quilt shop!!!

Isn't this one spectacular?  It's called "Aurora" and was made by Darlene Calvert.

I really love how this gal took often made blocks and "pumped it up" with those wonderful borders.   I'm not positive about who made this....silly me didn't take notes....but after reading the catalog I think it's Lynn D. Green's "Misty Mountain Pond".   Someone correct me, if you know for sure.

This is a quilt that I saw several versions of.....this coloring was my favorite.   I don't know what the pattern is called but I'm trying to find out cuz I want to make one.   I'm currently enjoying making easy quilts that showcase fabrics rather than intricate piecing.    Oh, this one was made by Linda Moran.  (PS. I found the pattern. It's called The Big EZ from Bloom Creek)

Fabric Friday

This one's just for fun!  :)     

The theme for this weeks Yaya Photo Challenge is "Signs".   I was at a local quilt show today with a fellow Yaya and she pointed out this bolt and said it'd work for our challenge.  Yes, it would.  But I decided I'd post it here for Fabric Friday.   I also bought some French Fry & Pizza fabric to add to my Junk Food collection.  So excited that I found Pizza!!!

Design Wall Monday - Lemon Chiffon

I don't participate in Design Wall Monday very often cuz my design wall doesn't change frequently enough!   But I did put up some blocks from a very old project....determined to FINISH it this time.   I took a class from Sandy Bonsib years ago through our local quilt guild.  She was just starting her quilt series on color value (titles are dessert names).  She was teaching "Lemon Chiffon"...a value study on lights.  She was a good teacher but I didn't dig an entire quilt of lights, so I never finished the blocks.   I figure its time to just be done.  I can use the top as practice for the long arm machine and then it can be a baby quilt for some one.

Speaking of the long arm machine.  Tink and I were able to work together last week and she was my teacher for the day on the shops HQ Avante.   I am trying to learn the computerized part of it.   I loaded my Warm Wishes quilt and away we went.  Tink was a super duper teacher and I came away feeling much more confident.  Not ready to fly solo yet....but I feel closer to that time than ever before.  

Valentines fun in Picnik

"For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart.  It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul."

- Judy Garland

Just cuz!    :)

Quilt Showing

Back in December I posted about my "Roosting Robin" challenge quilt.  Our small group was invited to show our challenge quilts in a local gallery for the month of February....of course, we said yes!    Last Friday was the reception. I have to admit it was exciting to see my quilt hanging some where other than a guild quilt show.   Not all of our group finished their quilts but were invited to bring a different small quilt to display.  Only Tink took advantage of that.

Here I am with my "Anchor of My Soul" quilt:

The display signs....the one of the right shows the rules we had for each round:

Gretchen is the gal who got us our gig.  Here she is with her challenge quilt:

Diane with her challenge quilt:

Trish with her challenge quilt:

Wanda with her challenge quilt:

I totally forgot to take a pic of Tinks display quilt (sorry girl!) but you can see it at her blog.

Our quilts will be hanging through the month of February.  So if you're in the area, stop by the Verksted Gallery in downtown Poulsbo and take a peek.

Beach Projects

Projects are always a part of my beach vacation.  I don't usually get much done for being gone 3 whole days but hey...productivity isn't the point of vacation!   :)

This is the little bag I made one day.  I'm not so patient with little things.....I get frustrated quickly and spend a lot of time sighing and sitting there wanting to quit but determined not to.  The girls would tell you I whine a bunch.   Not sure what I'll do with it.   It's called "Puffy Pouch".

I did a little sewing on some quilt blocks but didn't take any pics. 

But here is Tink sewing away on a lovely bag she made:

 Melis brought her watercolors this year and did some beautiful flowers:

Melis and Yvonne were my mentors on jewelry making.  Doing beadwork is another "little things" project....which means Cindy was whining.  I think I was complaining about my fingers feeling like they were the size of bratwurst and the girls were teasing me. 

Playing with Henna was a new thing this year.  It was fun!

This wasn't a project but it was a first in our 10 years of winter beach vacationing.   Tink and I put on our suits and went in the ocean.  It was all Tink's idea.......I went along for the dare.....we weren't even drinking at this point!  LOL!!  So this is the proof  that we actually went in.  I was a wimp and didn't get very far out in the water.....my poor feet were numb within a minute! 

One quick pic before we jumped in the fabulous hot tub to warm up!

Thanks girls for a fun filled 3 days.  Till next year!

Beach Memories

My three days at the beach were loads of fun.  Us girls continued many traditions from the past....good food, laughter, movie watching, projects to work on, beach walks, lots of talk....as well as adding some new ones.

One new thing was the house we stayed in.  Last year we had to find a new house that was cheaper than the one we'd been renting but we didn't like it enough to go back.  So this year the search was on and we succeeded!  This new place rocked!  I sure hope they don't raise the rent and we can continue to stay here.

Isn't it lovely?  

This is the view outside from the master suite upstairs:

We stayed on the Washington coast in the town of Moclips.  What I love about Moclips is how close the beach is to the houses.  No cliffs.....the dunes are small....its so dang close!  Even though we go in winter, we always have nice days for beach walking:

That's it for now.  Later I'll share some of the projects we worked on.  :)

Beach fun...here we come!

Kindred Yaya's of the past.....at the beach....with their trophies for dancing.

It's that time of year again.  Time to pack up too much food and liquor....time to pack way more projects than a girl could possible do in 3 days (when there is dancing to be done)....time to pack the Ambien so some sleep will happen....time to kiss hubby good-bye........time to head to the beach........YAYA VACATION time!   Woo hoo.  Let the fun begin!

Fabric Friday

McKenna Ryan is known for her beautiful appliqued quilts.  She is quite popular in the quilt world.  Since many people have wanted to duplicate her quilts exactly as she made them, there are now entire lines of fabric for specific quilts of hers.  

The Kingston Quilt shop recently got the entire "Lake Forest" line.  

Close-up of some of my favorites from the line:

The Blanket Stitch

Today I finished my bird blocks and got them all sewn together.   I had fused them a while ago but needed to do the blanket stitch around each one.  My machine has that stitch but I've never done it.  Going around the bottom big circle was a piece of cake.   But I had no idea how to get a nice look at right angle corners or the sharp point of the beak.   Thanks to my boss, Connie, I was able to accomplish that part.   She has the same machine as I do and apparently we have this snazzy button called "stitch re-start".   It's right smack dab on the front of my machine.....I'm sure I was told what it was when I first bought the machine years ago.....but I have never used it, nor thought I needed to learn it.  Now I know how wrong that thinking was!   Learn the machine.  It's a good thing.

Close up of how I did around the beak and the itty-bitty eye.  Not bad, huh?

And the feet:

I'm pretty pleased with how I did.   I only had enough fabric to make the blocks and now need to find more in this collection (I bought fat quarters while in a different city on retreat) to make the border and have it finished.   I wonder how long that will be?    :)

Buttercup Bag

I first saw this adorable bag on Storybook Woods.  The free pattern is from Made By Rae and looked pretty easy.  I have only tried a sewn bag once before but got stuck doing embellishments on the outside and never got around to finishing it.  This was a small enough project so I knew I would finish it.  I did the handles a teeny bit different - sewed them into the lining instead of outside the bag.  I also used a magnetic snap which is too heavy for the cotton fabrics I used.  Some velcro would have been better.
I am happy with the finished bag.......only problem for me is that it's too small for such a cutesy look and I'll never use it.   If I had chosen more elegant looking fabrics, it would have made a nice evening type bag for me.  As it is I'll be looking for a little girl who wants her own purse.   :)

Robert Burns: January 25, 1759 - July 21, 1796

"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?  Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and days of o'lang syne?

Robert Burns

Today is Robert Burns birthday.   He was a Scottish poet and lyricist and regarded as the national poet of Scotland. I'm sure all of you recognize the line from the song above....we sing it every year!
 He is celebrated the world over on or around his birthday in a variety of ways.    We were invited again this year to dance at the Burns Night celebration at St. Pauls Church in Bremerton.   I wasn't able to get any pics of us dancing....kinda hard to do while dancing.  But I'll share a few I took of other things.

Music is always a part of Burn parties.  The Tacoma Scots Pipe Band played and were fantastic.  I'm actually not a big fan of the bagpipes but something about the intimacy of the event made it wonderful to me.

The "presenting of the haggis" is a highlight of the evening.  I've seen this done with a lot of "pomp and circumstance" but at St. Pauls its done simply.  

You'd think after all these years in Scottish Country dance I'd know the history behind all the traditions of Burns Night celebrations but I don't.   If you're asking yourself "wassup with the haggis", you're gonna have to google it yourself.    :)  I do know Burns wrote a poem called "Address to the Haggis" and it relates to strong Scottish pride of his time.  But then everything is about Scottish pride!  

Bruce (one of our dancers) and Hubby were the "presenters".

The Tacoma Scots Pipe band brought this young dancer with them and she performed two highland dances. This was the start of the sword dance.

A young harpist played two songs for us.  He was really good.

River Search

Remember I told you about the Yaya's weekly themed photo challenge for this year?   Well, this weeks theme was "Book I'm Reading".
The book I'm reading is called "Yukon Lady: A Tale of Loyalty and Courage".   True story about a gal named Emma who moved to the Yukon in the early 1900's as a new bride.   There were lots of things I could have chosen as my picture(s) for the week:  cribbage, Husky dogs, sourdough, glaciers, etc.    They lived on the Stewart River and the river was central to life for them.  That's why I chose "river" as my pic for the week.

Getting a river picture meant a field trip for hubby and I.  So this morning we took off across the Hood Canal bridge in search of the Quilcene River.   We parked at Rainbow campground and hiked a short distance down to the river.

Dennis and Bonnie on the way down the trail.

Some mushrooms we saw.  Love how plentiful fungi are here in the NW.  For some reason they have always interested me.

And here she is, the mighty Quilcene River.

Dennis dinking at the rivers edge.

Me on the way back UP the trail...lots of stops to catch my breath.

We finished our little adventure with lunch at the Timber House in Quilcene.  Yummy, yummy food.  I highly recommend this place if you're in the area.

Blog Blockage

I don't really have anything to blog about.  Haven't had blog ideas for a while now.   I just spent about an hour going through my pictures looking for inspiration.......got none.  Sad.    There really is more to my life besides fabric!    :)


So I decided I'd share a blog I diggin' right now.  It's called "A Year Of Slow Cooking".   Stephanie, the author, is passionate about her crock pot and has shared an amazing amount of recipes.   Today I made her Asian Shredded Beef recipe.....nummy.  I didn't add as much honey, cuz I don't like overly sweet main dishes.  I served it over rice (basmati, of course!) and the shredded cabbage. 

Enjoy. 

Fabric Friday and Firsts

This is just a few bolts from the "Nicey Jane" collection by Heather Bailey.   I hadn't seen any of her work before seeing these at the Kingston Quilt shop.   Seems like there are more and more new fabric designers out there!   Hard to stay current but I do love the additional choices I get for my quilts.    :)

Tink and I got to add another "first" to a long list of things we've done together.   I've mentioned that both of us got dream jobs at the Kingston Quilt shop last June.  Last Wednesday was the first time we got to work together ALONE.  The whole shop to ourselves.  So much fun.   

Days end....time for a rest.

We get to have another day next month....thank you dear boss.......can't wait.

Fabric Friday

Kaffe Fassett is an amazing artist who knits, paints, does patchwork, mosaics, needlework and designs beautiful fabric collections!    I took a picture of some of the bolts of his at work last week.   These soft colors have been calling to me lately.  Spring on a shelf.  

Here's a close-up of one.  As you can see the prints are large.   I like using them in big chunks in quilts. 
I don't have a project in mind for using them but I don't know how long I can resist the "call" to buy!    LOL!

Warm Wishes Quilt

I finished this Warm Wishes top today.  It's one I started ages ago and never had the "oomph" to finish.   Silly part is there was only one row left to do!!!  Sigh.   Warm Wishes is one of my favorite easy quilts to make.  Very fast and I love the way it looks.   I'll use it to practice my long arm quilting at the Kingston Quilt Shop where I am learning to use the computerized long arm.   Cool stuff.

Project 365 is over!

I did it!  I finished!    Last year I decided to join a fellow Yaya in doing this "Project 365".   I'm not a photography hobbyist but thought it'd be an interesting way to look at my year when I was done......which it is!    Plus I LOVE doing stuff with my Ya's!    You can read about the start of the project for me here.

This year all four of us Yaya's are gonna do a photo project but not a picture a day.  I couldn't handle that again!  :)     Instead we have picked theme's for each week of the year and will take pics according to the theme.   Our first week's theme is "Doors/Doorways".   I haven't "found" my pic of the week yet but have some idea's.  

Here's to another year of camera carrying and clicking!

Fabric Friday

Hungry, yet?    LOL!

I decided since I haven't done a "Feet Friday" post in ages, that I'd switch this year and do "Fabric Friday" instead.   There is always fabric to share.   :)

 I decided I'm gonna collect junk food fabrics.    This is a new bunch of fat quarters I bought last month. I don't have a quilt pattern in mind yet but that never stops me from collecting.  It's so fun to go from fabric store to fabric store and look for new pieces.   Hopefully I'll find more in the next year that I can show you.