Color

I love color!    It energizes me.  Makes me happy.  Lifts my mood.

Aren't these pretty?   I have a yellow one....so much happier than boring old kitchen white.

How about these colorful bowls?  I gotta get some of those!

Or maybe some of these?   They would go great with my Fiesta dinnerware.

Yesterday I was at the mall looking for some new tops.  And this girl wanted COLOR!  What I saw was noticeably low on color.  I saw loads of black, gray, browns and olive drab......but not much of this:

That rainbow display of tank tops was just this last July.  Why oh why is it absent from the mall 3 months later?   Sigh.    Maybe it's time for a trip to Hawaii......the land of gorgeous color.   :)

Blankets

I always crochet a new blanket for the grand babies.  I finished Heidi's a while back but didn't want to post a picture of it, as it's a nice surprise for Jenn when she gets to see it.   We never know gender so I have to pick colors not knowing.  For Liam I did a white with some variegated colors.....for David I did purple.  This time I chose this rich yummy blue.   Its gorgeous and looks great even for a girl.    :)

Here's Miss Heidi with the blanket and big ole' yawn!

I also make a baby quilt which I can now show.  I don't do anything fancy since they get washed a ton.  The four patches use flannels that are in all three of the grand kid blankets.   The other print is new to this baby.  Again I was forced to pick a color........unfortunately I didn't find a neutral pastel in flannels locally and went with blue.....thinking we'd be welcoming a Peter and not Heidi.   Oh well.   Quilts for her from now on will be definitely feminine. 

My latest distraction

Heidi Anne and Nana.   Sweet love.

New job

I started my new job today!   I am working for Pink Chalk Fabrics....an online fabric store.   Check out the web site to see all the gorgeous fabrics I get to cut up!   :)    Kathy Mack is the owner and she also has a nice blog that you want to be sure to visit cuz she gives away fat quarter packs every Tuesday!  There are only a few employees and no customers so it was quiet, much different than a "brick & mortar" quilt store.  I enjoyed processing orders and imaging what the buyer was gonna make with the fabrics! 
 I didn't want to spend my first day taking pictures....wanted to make a good impression.....hee, hee.  But maybe next week I'll bring in my camera and get a few to show you the company.

Just for Laughs

Gathered Clutch

I sewed this clutch yesterday at Yaya day.   Directions are at this blog and looked really good and thorough. There were lots of pictures so I felt safe in trying it.   Unfortunately sewing experience is assumed in the tutorial.  Some times the pictures didn't match the text and I didn't know which to follow and some times the directions didn't make sense.  Thanks to my uber experienced Yaya Melissa!   She knew exactly what the gal wanted and I was able to make the clutch....which is so cute.   Now that I've made one, I feel confident in making more....which I'm definitely gonna do!   :)

Fun with Glass

I took a glass class a little while ago with some other gals.  We went to Calypso Glass Studio in Bremerton for a few hours of fun.  This was a first for me...I've never worked with glass before.   After spending a little time on learning to score and cut the glass we were set free to create.   I created like a quilter!  Hee, hee.   I had my scraps of glass just like my scraps of fabric....cut and designed till I had some thing I liked.   We left our creations to be fused in the kiln and picked up later.

Practicing; Bins of scraps in the colors I was using; Fellow creators

Final creation.

My finished plate after fusing....too many bubbles means I didn't clean & dry well enough, I think.  Boo hoo.  My son likes the bubbles, though.  Maybe he should get this for Christmas?   :)

Put your smile on

I saw this on a friends Facebook wall and loved it....had to share the laugh.
Ignore the lousy job I did of embedding the video from You Tube....it's my first time.   :)

Living My Memories

My Dad's side of the family has owned a camp on Indian Lake in upstate New York for about 100 years.  It started as a hunting cabin.  Not exactly sure when it became the family residence during the summer but I know that's how it was for my Dad growing up.  I was lucky enough to get to go for a vacation most years growing up...though never for an entire summer.  I LOVED my time on the lake.  "Camp", as we have always called it, holds fond memories for me...all happy ones. 

Here is Camp as it was in 1988:

Time stood still on vacation. My brother and I played from the time we woke up to the time we were sent to bed. We played in the woods, swam, canoed, water skied, caught frogs, worked on puzzles, visited at neighboring camps, cards & board games, read in the hammock, fed the chipmunks....so simple but unforgettable.

Me with our dog Charlie out for a canoe ride:

Me water skiing for the first time at age 11....still "got it" many years later as an adult:

My last visit to Camp as a child was at age 14.  My parents divorced and we never went again.  That is until I was married with kids of my own.  1988 was when we had a small family reunion at Camp with my Dad, Edie and my brothers family.   I was thrilled to introduce my kids to what was my favorite place on earth.

Here they enjoy canoeing (same canoe) with their grandparents:

We were able to take them back to Camp two more times after that trip.   Flying across the country was much harder to accomplish than a drive.   Who knows if my grand kids will ever get to go.  I hope so.

For now, hubby and I rent a house on Lake Cavanaugh here in WA and invite our family to come spend time at the lake.  The area is different, the "cabin" is a huge modern home, the lake is more crowded....but the lake is still a lake.  Our grand kids might not get to experience canoe riding on the same lake as their ancestors have but they CAN experience it.   And I get to live my memories all over again.  

A few pics from this years lake visit.

Jenn, Faith and David learning the fine art of summer relaxation:

David and Liam playing with dominoes:

Puzzles...gotta complete a puzzle:

Thank you Lord, for happy memories past, present and future.   :)

30 Years

Then:

Now:

Happy Anniversary to us!!!

Super Easy Receiving Blanket

I put together this cute little blanket in less than an hour.  I already had the pieced top done.  The pattern is for two pieces of flannel so there'd be no piecing involved anyway. 
So nice to have a pattern that is quick and easy. 

Close up of the mitered corners:

Weekend with the Grands

Jenn and the grandsons came over this last weekend.   The weather was nice so we had lots of outdoor time.   Hubby had found a wooden mailbox at Joann's that he painted a few weeks ago.  We thought it'd be fun to put it on our property with "mail" inside for the boys.  We put it in plain sight for this visit but will hide it more as they grow older.

Here it is under the tree...waiting for the boys to collect their mail:

Close up:

This time we put some cars inside.  Who knows what it'll be next time.  
Barely got this picture taken before they were up and running!

They also love playing in the back of the truck. 

And we topped the night off with a marshmallow roast.  :)

Fun visit!

Quilt Closet Organized

I'm one of those people who can't deal with clutter once it happens!  In my head I want everything to be all nice and orderly but in practice....well, you know how it is.   Once my quilt closet got cluttered it became a spot of overwhelmingness (yes, I made that word up!)...so I'd just flip open the curtain and throw in whatever needed to be "put away".   Ugh.   It finally got to a point where I couldn't remember what was in there....and that's bad.  That's when you start re-buying what you already own cuz you forgot you had it....and I didn't want to go there.   It was time to dig in and organize.

Here's my closet before:

And here it is after:

Much better.  :) 

There are shelves off to either side too...and they are all pretty now.    I didn't really purge much but now I know what I have and where it all is.  

Miniature Garden

My step mom makes the cutest miniature gardens that I got to see again when I went to visit in May.   I decided I wanted to make myself one.  So to start I ordered some cute mini garden furniture from here.  Then told my Yaya's & hubby that I wanted related stuff for my birthday....which they lovingly did.    You can see the cute mini garden Miss M made for me at her blog.  

I used what I bought and what I was given to create this:

Aren't those two retro chairs adorable?   Found those on clearance at Lowe's while shopping for the container.   Grand kids just *have* to have them.    :)

Here's a close-up:

Too cute!   I have a few things left over so will be making another one.  I love them.

Blog Comments

Just a quick note for those of you who regularly read and comment on my blog.

I've been getting spam comments for months now and even though I have enabled the word verification, they are continuing.   So now I'm gonna try moderating.  But I'm starting by moderating only comments that come 3 days after I post a blog.   Usually the spam comments come after the blog post has been up a few days.   Hopefully this will work.   If you comment after the 3 day, I will approve you, don't worry.........us bloggers love our comments.   :)

Thanks for your patience.  

Leaf bowl

Yesterday I went to my first MEOW meeting.   :)    Machine Embroiders of Oregon & Washington has a local chapter that meets once a month.   Quilt artist, Cynthia Keim, has been asking me to come join them since I started working at the quilt store.  But their meetings fall on the same day & time as my Red Hat group, so I've not attended.....that is until yesterday!   I decided it was time.   I'm ready to learn new things that go beyond the traditional quilting that I usually do.   We made these little fabric leaf bowls and it was fun!   I'm looking forward to more meetings.....once I figure out how to manage two groups on the same day!

Inspiration

The other day when visiting the grand kids I got some quilt inspiration from a book I was reading to Liam.    Hubby and I love reading to the boys but for some reason this is the first time the illustrations jumped out at me and said "QUILT"!  

(David currently doesn't like his picture taken...this right as he saw me with my camera and seconds before he yelled NO and wiggled off hubby's lap)


            This is the illustration that "talked" to me:

All the insects are singing.  Aren't these grasshoppers cute?   I love the bright colors and the cheerfulness of the picture.

And here's a different illustration that I liked:

I love finding inspiration all around!  If only there were enough time to make all the quilts that I want to make.

Shop Hop Fun

Tink and I got to work together again today at the quilt shop.....that's 3 days in a row!!!   It's the Western Washington Shop Hop....busiest time of year for shops here in our part of the woods.   

I didn't think to take a picture of our shops block (a totally adorable squirrel) because I've been seeing it for months and was more in love with this new beauty:

Barb Schultz of Enchanted Valley Arts designed this little wall hanging for this years shop hop fabrics.  We have a sample in the shop along with the pattern.  So cute.   Since I can't do the hop because of work, this wall hanging will be my memory piece.   

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Hubby brought home this gelato last night and.....oh boy, is it good!    He got it at Central Market.  Not sure what other flavors were there but I will definitely be checking it out.   You should too!!!

By the way, I saw a "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday" post at Kingston Girls blog.  Not sure if she originated it or not but I thought it'd be fun.  

Fabric Fortune Cookies

 I just finished my first "batch" of fabric fortune cookies and they were so easy.  I saw it on a quilting show or magazine or something.....can't remember.   Aren't they cute?     :)

I didn't think to take pics of each step, sorry.   But I got some of it.   First you fuse two 4 inch squares of fabric together.  Then cut them into 3.5 inch circles (I traced around a glass).   

Next you fold them over and fuse the opening closed like this:

Then you put your fingers in each opening and push in the middle to look like this:

I used paper clips to hold the openings together.   Then you brush on a liberal coat of fabric stiffener.   I put a cookie cooling rack into a jelly roll pan and then set each fortune cookie upright (using the paper clip) to drain and dry overnight.  (pic below is before I painted them with the stiffener). 

Afterwards I stuffed them with the "fortunes" I found online.  Mine were quilt quotes --- of course!   :)

Fun project.