Merry Christmas

I certainly hope everyone had a great christmas and received everything they had wished for.
Our christmas was very quiet. This year the children all had different plans and we couldn't get together. We have however, set a date for 12-31-09 to get together to exchange gifts and have dinner together. So I still have something to look forward to. All my grandbabies anxiously waiting for their gifts from Grandma and Papa.

But our two little girls did have a good christmas. Here they are opening their gifts. Or trying to. And then ofcourse there was fighting.

Zoey received a new coat and scraf from Santa, and she actually begs to wear it. She thinks she is going somewhere.

Since christmas was a quiet day for us, (Bill napped on the couch) I did get some sewing done. I worked on some baby bibs and also burp clothes. My nephew and his wife are expecting in Feburary of 2010 and next month will be her baby shower. I already have the baby quilt done.

And I finished up this Wizard of Oz quilt top. This quilt is a gift for Bill's niece who gradutaes from high school in the spring. So not a real hurry to finish it up. I will have some time to deceide how I will be quilting it.

And there you have it, our christmas. But it was nice, we enjoyed it. We were together, and we are healthy and that is all that counts................

Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Trying to slow down

After being talked to again from the other half of this relationship, it was again strongly suggested that I fill my days with too much stuff and I am keeping myself way too busy.

Well then, lets see how I do at trying to slow down.
First, I had to run to the salvation army on saturday morning to drop off the christmas gifts for my adoptive family. They had times of 9am to 4pm for the drop off of gifts. And since I had to be in Oshkosh by 10:30am for this young man's big "5" birthday party, I needed to do it first thing in the morning.

Ivan had a wonderful birthday party and received alot of wonderful gifts and too many toys. Here he is trying to protect his cake from his younger brother and two cousins. They all wanted a piece of the action, or should I say a finger in the frosting.
And when we got home from there, Bill took a nap while I scrubbed the kitchen floor and finished up the wash. Later in the evening we were invited out to dinner with some friends. That was a wonderful evening with good food and good friends.

Sunday morning we got up and ran to Target to pick up a DVD portable player. Mine had broken a couple weeks ago and since they went on sale Bill bought me an early christmas present.
One we got back home we were off again to Bill's brother's home to see his son. Tyler had just turn 12 and Bill wanted to make sure that he got his present from his Uncle Bill. We did make it home in time to sit and relax to watch the Packers/Bears game, while I did a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies.

After the game, I manage to get these 9 patch squares whipped up. I think I might cut them in half before sewing them together. The disapearing 9 patch. Just kind of winging it with these squares.

And there was a pile of mending that needed my attention. Three pairs of pants that needed heming too.

So there you have it, my attempt of trying to slow down. I think this weekend was a bad example don't you?

Snowday

We were hit hard with that horrible snow storm! This is my view while driving to work this morning.

My goodness, it will take us forever to dig out! Thank God for snowblowers. My back is aching just for the little bit of shoveling I did for the dogs. Oh and I shoveled the front steps and walk too. These old bones can't handle that heavy wet snow like I did in my younger days.

And of course, because I am the only employee that lives in town, I had to go to work this morning. Everything got called off. No court, no appts, and most of the area businesses were closed. So why were we open????

We had one quick appt this afternoon at 2pm that my boss drove into town for. And after that he said, "Why are we here?" "Lets go home"

Well, someone should of said that to me about 5 1/2 hours sooner!!!!

But hey, at least I am home early. I could of gotten stuck there by myself all day.

Remember when we were kids and we used to just pray for these snow days. "No school!" "Yeah!" Oh to be young again.

At least I have a chance to get at my sewing. It has been way too long since I even sat down at this sewing machine.

Black Friday......no way!

It is Black Friday and already the newspapers are carring stories and pictures from early morning shoppers. My daughter that lives in Green Bay called me last nite to tell me about all the shoppers camped out in their little tents at Best Buy. My God, what has this world come to?

No Black Friday for me. I am sitting here at my computer with my cup of coffee in my jammies. Planning on doing some sewing and maybe finish up the chritmas wrapping I started Tuesday nite. Just a quiet day planned for me and my sewing machine.

It is not like I never went out on Black Friday, in my younger days I did. Get up early and rush to get in line to wait for one item. But like I said, in my younger days. Now I would just assume stay in bed.
My girl friend already has called me to report her finds at Menards at 5AM, and she is making plans for us to go out to eat and to a movie later tonite. So at least I will have part of a quiet day. And tomorrow Bill comes home, and there goes the piece and quiet. But I miss you honey.

Oprah in Person!!!!!!!

Well the day was finally here. The day that we have been waiting for. We finally got our chance to see Oprah in person in Chicago this past friday. We spent more time waiting in line than we did actually sitting down to enjoy the taping. But it was well worth it. A very nice show, and it will air on November 25, 2009, the day before thanksgiving.
I feel I don't need to tape it, cause I was there while it was going on. And I really don't think from the area that my sister and I were sitting in that there is any chance the camera caught us. A nice trip to Chicago and we did get a chance to see some of the sites as well before we made the long trip home. A memory for me and sis.

And speaking of memories, my little bug, Hailie broke her arm two weeks ago. Just a freaky accident when her sister jumped on top of her and landed just right. She broke both bones in her wrist. She is such a trooper, even this little cast does not keep her from using her arm.

Saturday was a grandma and Ivan day. We went to a Kris Kringle shop here in town. The grandkids refer to it as the North Pole. Ivan sure thought that was were he was at. Here he is all smiles with a train ornament he picked up from his visit there.

He was so good, and very intent on finding just the right christmas ornament. Grandma even had it painted with his name. He was so proud.

Sunday was another babysitting day but it ended early and gave me enough time at home to finish a camo fleece quilt for Ivan's dad and I manage to cut out material for the BOM project from the Thimbleberries Club monthly meetings.

And while Bill is still gone, (till the end of the week) the house remains quiet and lots of housework is getting done. I even manage to get some christmas baking done.

I haven't figured out yet, why it is when he is home I don't seem to get as much stuff done. But I am still pondering it.

Busy Busy Busy..........................and more Busy

My goodness! It seems like weeks since I bloged. Maybe it has been.

Three table shows this month for my sister. Not good for table sales, but I did get alot of orders for her. The economy is bad on all of us, and with the holidays coming everyone is very frugal with their paychecks. I am too! So the fact is that while everyone loved my sister's artwork embroidery, no one wanted to buy. That's ok. We all understand where each of us are coming from. We all are going thru the same thing.
It is just great getting out and meeting different people and experiencing different types of products and different ways others display their wares. Very interesting.

There was one day of babysitting somewhere in these few weeks, and a birthday party for one of the grand daughters. Oh yes, a quilt club meeting, work outs at the gym, housework that I got behind on, grocery shopping.......................and a partridge in a pear tree...............smile.

Enough already!!!!!!!!! When was the last time I sat down at that sewing machine and where is it anyways???????????/

Treat or Treat

This was halloween weekend, but it just was a weekend of treats for me
I spent saturday morning with my oldest grandson. He had a swimming class and this was his last one. Since I have never been able to go along, my son in law invited me to go with them for this final class. Grandma was so proud.

That's Ivan, the second from the left splashing around.

I had to be home for the little ghosts and gobblins that come trick or treating in our neighborhood. And these little cuties showed up.

They had to show off their costumes to grandma before they went out to seach out the neighborhood for the best candy and treats.

I sent a nice quiet evening cutting out the material for my next project. So relaxing working on my next sewing project in a nice quiet house. I hope deer hunting goes on forever...............just kidding Honey.


Oh and sunday, another table show. The holiday craft show in Chilton. Not really big, and not reallybusy. Actually it was a small place with a poor attendence. But hey, I spent the day with my girlfriend, and we really didn't mind at all. It has been quite a long time since we spent a day together, and it was great that she volunteered to come and keep me company for the day.

I love deer hunting season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unbelievable what was accomplished this weekend!
It is soooooo quiet around here for the past three days. No tv, no radio, no one to talk to. Now some people might think this was a boreing three days. But not me.

The wash got done, the floors vacumm, funiture dusted, beds made, grocery shopping done, etc. etc. etc.
The hunting season leaves me alone alot until after thanksgiving. Just think of how much more accomplishments will get done yet before the end of the year. Not only housework but.............

ta da!!!!!!!! sewing was done!!!!
Lots and lots of sewing. I never watched the time, and stopped only for breaks and went to bed when tired.
Just look at what I accomplised. This is a tree skirt for my youngest daughter and her husband. I am very proud of this and I still have the quilting to do before it is cut and binded. It just looks so beautiful and I love the colors. This is my first attempt at making a tree skirt. One of the gals at my quilt club made one of these and on advice from her I deceided to give it a shot. She said it would only take an afternoon to do. How right she was, this pattern is out of the book "Gathering Friends" by kathryn Squibb & Deborah Jacobs. And it was a very quick project to do. At least up to now.
I also deceided it was time to takle that stash of mine. I don't know what it is that makes me save all the little pieces of materials that are left over from past projects. But when I can't contain it anymore it is time to clean. Really, I did throw some out.

I was also able to finsh this quilt top. This is where all the fat quarter blocks from my Thimbleberries club meetings. I sill have lots left over, this pattern only used 13 squares and it measures out to a 80 x 80 square top. A very nice scrap quilt.

Here is my fat quarter block from my october meeting. I finished two of these to take back to the next meeting to received my next fat quarter.

And these are my 10th BOM from the meeting. As always, one 12" and three 6" blocks. I am getting really excited to get this quilt done.

What a wonderful weekend. I don't get many of these. So I enjoy what I have.
.........And yeah honey. I missed you too.......!

What was that???????????

My weekend, my quiet time. Just me and my sewing projects and peace and quiet.
Ahhhhhhh!!! What happen!!!!


The grandkids came for a visit. Surprise grandma!!!!!
Well, no sewing was done, but I bet you guess that by now. Wonder what was your first clue.


So we made ghost cupcakes in honor of halloween coming soon. Sprinkles everywhere, and frosting in the mouth. All the good clean fun that makes momma soooooo happy.
A good time was had by all.
If I had my choice, I would do it again. My little grandbabies. What sewing projects?

First you win,,,,,,,,,then you lose

There are those moments in life that you can go for days on cloud nine and enjoy good news every day. And then, just as suddenly you can have one day with nothing but bad news.

A couple weeks ago I won two tickets to go see the Oprah Winfrey show. A live taping. My girlfriend is such a huge fan of Oprah's and I surprised her with the other ticket. She had been very depressed lately because of loseing her job of 26 years and finding it difficult to find another job. Then I made her day with the Oprah news. And a week later, she finds a job. I am so happy for her.
Today is a different story. She was able to tell her new employer that she would start right away as long as she had this certain day off to go to the Oprah Winfrey show. "Not a problem says her new employer, it is the month of november which will be hard to get a day off."
Well, I just received this morning an email from the audiance crew at Oprah and was informed that the date of the show tapeing has been cancelled and we would be able to get another date of our choosing in November. I was crushed, more so for my girlfriend because now she can't go. I feel so awful.
It isn't a problem trying to find someone to take the other ticket. But I feel so bad for her. She has wanted this for like ever. And now she will not have an opportunity to see Oprah in person.
So there ya have it, first your up, and then your down.

Bill is leaving tonight to go hunting, and I will be alone for the weekend. Perfect opportunity to finish the one flannel quilt I need to finish by christmas. I also found a beautiful tree skirt pattern I thought I would try my hand at. So I have everything together to start that project too. Some quiet time for me. I don't get enough of that these days.

Pumpkin Sunday

First you pick out the perfect pumkin, it has to be the right size.

And once you got just the one. we take them to Papa's house so he can carve them up pretty.!!!!

What an exhausting day. And no sewing done.

Babysitting Again

Oops! Another babysitting weekend? My goodness it feels like I just had one of those.

Well that is the plans this weekend. I have been working non stop this week every nite after work or for a few minutes in the morning sewing my BOMs for the thimbleberries Club meeting and working on the haunted house table topper to finish in time for the meeting on Oct. 12. How did I get behind? I think the days are just going by so fast that everything is a blur. I know I need to get these done by the next meeting. So I am hopeful that I can finish tonight.

Saturday morning starts early with my granddaughters and doesn't end till sunday evening after 8pm. My weekends go super fast when it involves the grandchildren.

We actually had a day planned with all four of them, Papa was helping them carve their pumpkins on sunday. The boys came down with strep throat this morning so I guess I won't get to see them at all this weekend.

I am sure any sewing I can get done this weekend will be while they nap, or later in the evening when they go to bed...............

PumpkinFest

Do you ever notice how many festivals there seems to be in your area?
Do you know there are festivals that go on around the state all year?

It is fall, time for the beautiful fall colors and pumpkins and gourds and witches and gooblins. This up coming weekend is the PumpkinFest in Neskoosa, Wisconsin. I have never been, but I hear it is just fabulous! Something for everyone young and old alike. And there should be lots and lots of craft booths as well. So the plans are, to try and get in as much as possible on saturday.

The men usually go hunting that weekend, and the wives get to go alone on one of their weekends. We normally chose the weekend. And this year we chose this weekend because we are camped close to Neskoosa for the PumpkinFest. Wouldn't you?

So no sewing will be done this weekend, and my busy schedule is not allowing me to get much done so there really isn't anything to report. Other than I spend a half hour in the morning before work trying to finish up the quilting on the Halloween table topper. Still alot of work to be done on it, but I will prevail. It seems the half hour in the morning is the only time I have these days.
Isn't that terriable? My goodness, I should be able to take at least one day for myself, don't you think?

Battling Sisters

Why is it that girls in the family that are so close and love each other battle all the time.
Sunday is a babysitting day for me and it seems every time I turn around these two little adorable girls are at each other's throats.
Kinda reminds me of my three daughers while they were growing up. Hmm did I say just when they were little growing up??? Somedays they have their problems too.
These two little ones certainly take after their momma and aunts. Thank goodness it is fast approaching evening and they are slowing down.

Yesterday was Octoberfest in Appleton, and it certainly was a nice day to be walking around visiting all the craft booths. I found some unusual items and tasted some differnt kinds of foods. I and my girlfriend left early in the morning and spent most of the day there.

No sewing to report for this weekend. It went fast and no time for me time.

How do I do it??????????

Do you ever get those weekends, where you think to your self, how am I ever going to get all this done?????????
Well I seem to have alot of those weekends.
I promised to take all the grandchildren to The Day on the Farm, a local event held each year around this time to raise money for St. Jude's cancer research.
Lots of activities and ofcourse the children wanted to do them all.

And then there were tomatoes screaming at me from outside in the garden. So I managed to put up another 20 pints of salsa. Which prompted a trip to the store. That made for a long day..........

And somewhere in the weekend my girl friend needed help with doing her resume and cover letter. Since she didn't know anything about a computer, I invited her over to use mine so I could help her. I gave her a few short lessons on the computer, which I am sure she will soon forget. It is alot to take in at one time.

The house needed vacumming, dusting and scrubing also, so I was up bright and early this morning to get a handle on that.
and when do I have some spare time to relax and do some sewing you ask????????????

Well right after I got two loads of laudry done and Bill's work shirts ironed for the week.
This is a table topper by Mary Jan Carey. It uses the fabric line by Jacqueline Paton. Such an adorable table topper. And it was fun and easy to make. The top is done and now I just need to sandwich and quilt before the binding is added. I can hardly wait to add this to my kitchen.

Crafty AppleFest

What a beautiful day for a booth at the Crafty Applefest in Chilton.

So many people passed thru our booth, and we were given such lovely compliments.



Here are the aprons that my sister made. Such lovely work and they got alot of attention.

These are the flour sack towels that we sold in pkgs of three. They are done in a redwork. I know it is hard to see, we were in a blue tent as you can tell by the bluish shadow.

For our first show, it went well enough. We certainly didn't figure on breaking the bank, but to cover our expenses and more was good enough for me. We had a wonderful time, visiting with family and friends that stopped by our booth to wish us luck. We couldn't ask for a more beautiful day and I accually got sunburn.

I am looking forward to doing some more table shows. My next one is a holiday show in November

Labor day weekend

Well the plans for Labor Day weekend were changed at the last minute. My sister's daughter was very ill and my sister needed to help out with her two grandchildren and her daughter during the weekend.
I did get a chance to see her on sunday when I traveled to green bay to pick up some of the items that needed to be priced and package for the upcoming table show in Chilton for the Crafty Apple.
But my weekend got filled up fast.
I spent the day saturday canning salsa. I put up 20 pints, and that took a good part of the day. I actually went to the farmers maket early in the morning to get some of the ingredients I still needed that I couldn't get from my garden.

I did get some sewing in also. I finished up this sweet treat bag for a christmas gift.

And worked on my bethelem star qilt blocks. More like a puzzle.

And on labor day, I spent the day with my four grandchildren and my three daughter's at the Bay Beach amusment park. That was a wonderful day. The weather was beautiful. The children all had a great time.

So I guess it was a great weekend all together. Actually any time spent away from my office is a great day. Speaking of which, back to work for me.

Manistique Labor Day plans

So what are your plans for the upcoming labor day weekend??

I am making plans to go to Upper Michigan to visit my sister. Well it will be more of a working weekend than a visit.
We need to finish up the last of the products for our first upcoming craft show on the 12th of September. The Crafty Apple in Chilton, WI. Actually my sister has been able to acomplish alot, and I need to get caught up with my part. Which is ironing, labeling, folding and packaging the products. So we do have our work cut out for us. This certainly will not be a sewing weekend.

But it is still a girls weekend, no matter how you look at it. So I am looking forward to it. It is so beautiful in Manistique, MI. She lives right on the lake and every morning is just beautiful and every evening when the sun sets is just picturesque. It is so quiet there, only the sounds of the loons and small animals during the day, and the appearance of the deer in the evening.

And Bill is looking forward to a no women Labor Day weekend himself. He is planning on some lazy day events for himself while he stays home.

Beautiful fall weekend

What a beautiful weekend. That wonderful crisp cool air that only can mean autumm is on it's way. I was able to run a few errands on sunday, but essentially spent most of the weekend inside sewing. Yes, that's right, I was inside. But I had windows open, doesn't that count?
This is a quilt top I was able to finish this weekend. This will be a christmas present for one of my DH's hunting buddies. It is a twin size or a very big lap quilt. It was very easy to put together, the pattern is called four plus one. It alternates in each row with a four patch block. It is made with flannel material so it is very soft. Hopefully soon I will get a chance to sandwich it and quilt and bind.

I was able to put together this fall table runner. It just adds to that fall feeling around here.

A very good weekend, very relaxing and quiet, even if I only saw the beginnings of fall from my sewing room window.

Ok, ok...... I will get out for a walk later today, really I will!

My Sunday, my day

My day to sleep in, my day to lounge around in jammies, and my day to sew.
What a relaxing day when you can do whatever it is you choose to do.

This little delicious cupcakes are little pin cushions I made for my sisters trade show comng up next month. I whip a couple dozen together just for something simple to have in our booth. No I didn't do them all today, just finished them up.

Then I got a chance to work on my thimbleberries project due for early September. Here is my fat quarters block, actually two, I can usually get two big blocks for every fat quarter.

And here is my BOM for the month. One 12" and three 6" blocks. Each month each block takes me through a different type of design. I kinda like that, gives me practice on alot of different types of piecing.

Well then I deceided to work on the 3rd sweet treat bag for one of my daughter's for christmas. Notice the pink. Yup, and I said I was so sick of it didn't I.
Unfortunetly I ran out of fusible fleece, and since it is my sunday and a jammie day, I wasn't about to go out to the store for the fusible fleece. It will have to wait.

So I deceided to finish up my day doing the hand work on the binding for my sister in law's quilt. I just love the coffee theme going on in this quilt. This should take me up to bed time and the end of my day.

Oh yeah, I did pull this panel piece out of my stash. I was planning on doing a table runner with it. But when I found some green material to go with it for the backing, I thought, wait a minute, this would look neat as a lap quilt. A nice masculine quilt. Hmmmmmmmmm. What do you think? Another project sitting on the side till I make a decision.

Thoughts of sewing

The thought of sewing is running thru my head all day today. I can't even concentrate, because all I think of is the pile of UFO's and material waiting for me in my sewing room. That's what I get for taking time off. I need to get back to sewing. I am going thru withdrawals! So much to do. Not sure where to start.

Although, it was a lovely wedding and a wonderful break from housework and sewing. I still find myself thinking back to this past weekend...................hmmmmmmmmmm it was so beautiful.

Ok, reality check here. Come on Jean, back to the real world and all the backed up laudry and ironing, dusting, vaccuming etc.... Not to mention the next big day on my agenda is the Crafty Apple in Chilton on September 12th.
I and my sister have a booth and we will be introducing that little town to the accomplishments of "We Stitch" My sister's embroidery business. It has really grown and she is becoming quite successful. I have agreed to do some trade shows for her. There is this one in September, and two more holiday shows in November. We will see how it goes.
I will post some pics on my site to give you an idea of the different items she makes that we will be selling.

Wedding

The Wedding day was here and over before you know it. Of course I suspected such would be the case.
All the jitters and nerves, not to mention the organizational skills of my daughter are here and gone.
But what a wonderful day. The bride was beautiful, and yes Mom cried. But there were alot of other tears flowing from others as well.

It was a very long day for all of us, but once the wedding and pictures were done the rest of the afternoon and evening seemed to have flown by. A good time was had by all. The dinner, the dance and all of their guests were great.
And the biggest news of all is........................this is my last one to marry!!! So much for wedding plans in the future. LOL

And now, that makes three son in laws...................

Moose quilt

Here is the quilt that I finished for my brother in law's birthday. His birthday isn't until September 12th, but it kept me busy the last couple of evenings hand sewing the binding. It is so cute with cabins and moose on it. I am not sure if you can see them from this photo, but they are there.

This was a simple pattern, "Take 5 on Point". Very easy to put together.

I believe I should be doing things that are more of a challege, but when things are tough, I tend to pack it away and forget to get back to it. Case in point is my Bethelem star quilt that I am making for one of my daughters. It is a tough puzzle to do for me so right now it has been in a drawer for quite awile now. I started it last year before christmas.

Anyways, now my attention needs to be focus on the wedding. It will be here and gone before you know it. Tomorrow we leave for Green Bay for the weekend, saturday is the wedding, and sunday opening of gifts and then home again. A very fast fast weekend I am sure.

Babysitting Sunday

My goodness, it was a hot one today! 90 degrees out, so the best thing to do to beat the heat is to cool off with water. So that is exactly what we did today.
But that didn't really last that long. It was even too hot for that after awhile. It also is so much fun having the girls for the day, but I am so exausted by the end of the day too. These two wear you out.

Saturday it rained just about all day, and it made for a perfect day to stay in and get some sewing done. Here is a fleece pillow I made for my youngest grand daughter. She adores it.

And then I was able to get this cell phone pouch done for my girlfriend.

I had cut it out some weekends back and finally had the time to finish it up. Saturday certainly was the day for finishing up projects since I had the day to myself.

I was able to add another row on my scrap star quilt I am making for my oldest daughter. This quilt is put together with the fat quarters I receive once a month from the thimbleberries quilt club. Each fat quarter is used to make two star blocks and slowly I am using them for this quilt. I imagine I will be able to make two.

Then I worked on these four aprons for my grandchildren. Each year before christnas, we have a cookie making day, and I wanted to suprise them with these aprons on that day. My little bakers!

They went together very easily. Not too much to them at all......

Today was a baking day too. After we were done outside, the girls helped grandma in the kitchen. Since it was too hot to bake, I picked up a few cupcakes from the local store bakery for us to decorate.
These are monkey cupcakes. The picture in the magazine is what there were to look like. I think they did a excellent job. Don't you agree???????? The girls had a great time and as always grandma enjoys the time spent with them.