This what happens......

When Dad and Mom are old and tired.....and just give in to that last child.

We went to IFA to get lawn fertilizer and seeds, and came home with 2 chicks we hadn't planned on. I guess it's my fault. I had seen an article in the newspaper about a new trend to have chicken coops in your yard. I thought that would be fun...and we have animal rights. It would be easy to build a chicken coop out by the barn....right Gary??? Well, Jaycee has been talking about getting some chicks for 2 weeks now and we just gave in. What an adventure!

We started cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, red/green peppers, beets, onions, and zinnias. We'll plant peas as soon as we get the ground tilled. We are planning on putting in a big garden this year. Our kids (married and at home) all expressed an interest in helping us with the garden, so hopefully it will be a success. It would be awesome if we had a big enough crop to do our canning this fall from our garden.

The color purple....

I know I've mentioned several times on my blog that purple is my favorite color. I was looking through quilt magazines last week for inspiration. I came across an ad in one for Alzheimer's Awareness. Guess what color they chose for this disease? Purple. I though it was fitting. I'm forever losing things, forgetting where I parked the car, what people tell me, etc. I set the magazine aside to take a picture of the ad for my blog and -- you guessed it -- I can't find it anywhere.

I worked on my pretzel quilt today and got the main part put together. Now I need to make the borders. It's taking a lot more time than I thought it would. While I was sewing I watched Twilight. I've only read the first two books. Jaycee keeps bugging me to read the next two books.

I bought a few books to read today. I used to be an avid reader until quilting took over my life. I think I do most of my reading now on road trips -- which don't happen often enough! I am so ready for a vacation. I'd really like to go to California and walk on a beach.....sigh.

A few out of the way....

I've been trying to clean out the pile of quilts waiting to be machine quilted. I've done one lap size quilt and 4 wall hangings. They are my sisters and her quilting ladies. They get together once a week and have a blast! I really want to sit down and work on the pretzel quilt, but I'm feeling good about being so productive on the others.

I've got a new project for when I watch TV or riding in the car. I've loved the Grandma's Garden hexagon quilts forever. After seeing some beautiful quilts recently I decided it was time for me to try. I really enjoy doing them. I can get a few done during a movie. It might take me a year to get this one done but it will be so worth it. Another thing -- it's a good way to use up those little scraps I can't bear to throw away.

I made this bag last week. It's wider than I thought it would be -- but still turned out cute. I think it's one of the easiest bag pattern's I've tried.

It's Sunday afternoon and we have a ham and funeral potatoes in the oven --traditional Mormon dinner! I think we'll pass on the green Jello. Hopefully some of our married kids will be over with the grandkids.

Pretzel Quilt

I had the day off today so I worked on a my Pretzel Quilt. I used a Moda Jelly Roll from Mary Engelbreight. I got 7 done -- only 11 more to go. I can't wait to get it all put together to see how it looks.

This is the pattern I'm using. It's easier than I thought it would be. I really like the corners of the quilt. I'm so used to make square corners so this will be fun.

I did some machine quilting Saturday and and got a full size quilt done, so that felt good. I need to take a picture of it to post.

Doll Bags

I made a few of these bags for the paper dolls. The pattern is from a quilt magazine. I thought it would work great with the pockets on the outside. I added a pocket on the inside for the doll clothes. Next time I think I'll add Velcro to the pocket to hold it closed.

As my family knows, I've been without a cell phone for almost a year. I gave mine to my 14-year-old daughter. I thought I really didn't need one since I work from home -- but there have been times when I've been out running errands that I really could have used one. Before when Gary couldn't reach me at home he would call me on my cell and the first thing out of his mouth was always "Put the fabric down and step away from the counter." Well, he got new phones for both of us today - Yeah! They are slider phones. Our kids were laughing at us trying to use the darn things. It has a joystick butting instead of up and down arrows -- so sensitive. It's going to take some getting used to, but I feel like I'm back in the real world now!