June Already......Time is Flying By!

 I stopped by my parents house on my way home from work last Saturday.  Dad was out pruning his roses while Mom was at the store with my sister.  (I forgot how many rose bushes he has!)  He cut me a bouquet to bring home.  They smelled heavenly and were beautiful.  I really enjoyed having them out on my kitchen table this last week.  After he cut them we went in the house and visited.  It was a great time listening to Dad tell stories.  I miss that.  Made me realize that I need to stop by more often and visit!

 My parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on May 28th.  We got the whole gang together in the morning for pictures, all 70 of us.  Then we went to their church pavilion and had a luncheon.  My brother, Bryan, put together a slide show of family pictures throughout their life.  It was a tear-jerker!  Then we presented with a quilt with blocks made by everyone in the family.  My sister, Nann, did a great job getting the blocks signed, sewn together and then quilted it!  There are some creative people who made the cutest blocks!  I took pics with my cell phone and will try to get some posted soon.

 I've been sewing!!  Yes, really doing something in my sewing room besides ironing clothes.  I saw a fox quilt on Pinterest and finally bought the pattern.  At first I was just going to make a baby quilt, but then decided to make a throw size too.

 If it looks good, I'll probably enter it in the quilt fair next month.  (We'll see how fast I get things going.)

 I did get kicked out of my seat a couple times by this young man.  He told me it was his turn to sew.  

 And finally, here's a picture of Keegan.  He's such an adorable baby and seems really good natured.  There's nothing like snuggling with a newborn.....so much fun!!

Another Boy......

 We welcomed grandbaby #10 May 6th.  Jodi, Cody, and sister Katelynn are so excited he is here!! (and so are we).   He weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces and was 20 inches long (if I remember correctly).  They named him Keegan Scott.  I love the name!  We are so in love with this little guy.  They dropped by last night and it was so fun to hold him again.  Below is a picture of Katelynn holding her new little brother.

 He really has a full head of dark hair.  You can sure tell they are siblings, they look so much alike.

ABC's

 I've been working on these fabric ABC's lately.  I used these instructions and printed off the alphabet she used.  (Note:  I didn't wash the letters to fray the edges.)  The first set I noticed that my granddaughter had a hard time with the I, which looked like a lower case l to her.  I added a line on the top and bottom for the next set, which helped her identify it better.  I think the next time I make them I'll do the same with the J.  

Also the first set I made I used random colors on the backs of the letters, whatever matched the scrap of fabric I used for the front.  I found that she identified the letter easier when all the backs were one color, like the grey used here.  I'm thinking of doing some with denim on the back.  That's a good way to use up scraps of denim I have leftover from cutting up squares of old Levis for a quilt.

 I cut out the printed letter and traced it on my fabric with the Frixion erasable pens.  After layering, sewing, and then cutting out the letters I ironed the pieces to remove the pen markings.  Easy!

 Here's another project.  My friend made these and when I saw them I knew I had to try it.  The instructions are found in the Missouri Star BLOCK magazine (found here).  If you haven't already subscribed to this, I highly recommend it. I've loved every issue.  My mom and sisters get them too.  In fact it seems like every time I stop by my parents to visit mom is doing a new quilt from one of the magazines.  

 They sell the iron on vinyl at Walmart for about $4 a yard.  I think that's a better deal than the vinyl I bought at JoAnns using a coupon.  It's easy to use!  I did my zippers different than the instructions in the magazine.  I didn't sew the fabric on the ends of the zipper. 

 One warning, these bags are addictive.  You'll be buying candy you don't even like for the wrappers!!!

Nautical Quilt

 I made this Chevron quilt from nautical fabrics last month.  I almost forgot how fun it is to quilt!  I think it's the winter weather that makes me so unmotivated to sew.  

 I put red Minky on the back again.  So soft and fun for a baby.  It went to my daughter's sister-in-law who just had a boy.  

I've been working a lot on this embroidered blanket.  Starting to do the outline work.  Love how it makes the animals come alive.  

 I started out so neat and tidy with my thread.  Good thing I'm almost done.

 I forgot to post pictures of the carvings Dad gave us this year.  I think this snowman is my all time favorite.  He made the snowmen for all the couples, older grandkids, and neighbors.  Then he made elves for Mom and all 8 kids.  I'm so excited to add them to my collection!

Iv'e had some crazy snowy morning commutes this winter.  Yesterday was one of them.  When I left home at 5:30 a.m. the roads were snow packed and no plows were out.  I was plugging along in the right hand lane, going slow.  Cars were passing me and I thought to myself "Well, if they can go that fast I should be okay to speed up."  Just then a car in the left hand lane spun around.  Cars had to go around it until he could get himself turned the right way again.  Passed 3 accidents and watched one more car spin out.  It took me an hour to get to work.  My coworker asked why I didn't call and let them know I would be late.  Really??  I was not taking my hands off the steering wheel for that!

Happy December

 We put our tree up before Thanksgiving.  I know, a lot of people hate that, but we did it anyway.  I'm determined to make it a great Christmas.  For various reasons, I have hated Christmas the past few years.  It's time to like it again, right? 

 We didn't get our big tree and old fashioned (glass) ornaments out of storage this year.  Instead we bought this smaller tree and plastic ornaments (toddler safe) from the dollar store.  Not too shabby.  

 This is a cool bottle I found at the thrift store. I had Gary add the knob on top.  It's one I picked up out of the clearance bin at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago.  It's been waiting in my drawer for the perfect jar.  Looks so festive full of candy (which didn't last long).

 Here's a few shots of the progress on the embroidery on the baby quilt.

 It's a TON MORE WORK than I thought it would be.  Oh well, I'm determined to get it done.....sometime next year!  I bought two more kits, but I'm waiting to see what grandbaby #10 is.  We find out if it's pink or blue a few days after Christmas.  So exciting!!  We have 4 granddaughters and 5 grandsons, but they want a boy.  Either way it's going to be fun to have another one to love.  Jett, our newest little guy, is getting so big.  I held him at Thanksgiving.  I just love being a grandma!

 Since I've been bad at blogging, here are a couple Halloween pictures.  Sterling was Calvin and Hobbes.  It was quite the ordeal trying to find a Hobbes stuffed animal.  He ended up looking so darn cute!  Jaycee did her own makeup and did half her face as a sugar skull.  I didn't get any pictures of the other grandkids.  I think that should be a New Year's resolution, more pics of the grandkids!

Jungle Fun

 I made this fun baby quilt for my cousin's son.  I had a hard time finding jungle-themed fabric.  I found this yardage and cut it into a center piece, then added borders.  Out of the leftover fabric I fussy cut the setting squares for the border.  I made the top last week, then quilted and bound it on Monday -- the day of the shower.  Once again, I work better under the pressure of a deadline, ha ha!!

 I quilted a big quilt for my friend.  She wanted it fluffy with not too much quilting.  I kept putting off doing it because I wasn't sure how to quilt it.  Then I just decided to try a meandering stitch.  I practiced doodling it and then just put the fabric on and went with it.  Turned out pretty good.

 This is a crib sized quilt I embroidered when I was expecting my third child.  I remember sitting out on the porch watching Jared and Jamie play while I embroidered.  I wasn't sure if I was having a boy or girl, but this was pretty gender neutral.   

 It's been washed many, many times and now is really soft.  Jonny has it tucked away on a shelf along with a few other baby quilts.  When I saw it a couple of months ago it made me want to do another one. 

 I bought this one at JoAnn's with my 60% off coupon...woohoo!!  This one is as wide as Jonny's, but not as long.  Oh well, I'm tickled with it.  It's relaxing to work on it.  The only hard part is not going through the back, since I don't want to have to sew a back on when done.  I like the soft cotton feel it has now.  

I've been working on it at night while watching TV and on the way home from work while my husband drives.  I'll just keep posting my progress every few weeks.  I'm hoping to get it done in time for Christmas.

He's here.......Grandbaby #9

 My newest grandson arrived on September 18, 2015 at 6:46 p.m.  He weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 18-1/2 inches long.  He made his appearance a couple of weeks early, but is still a good size. His name is Jett Lorenzo.

 Here's a cute picture of my son, Jared, handing the baby back to mommy (Lara Leigh).  She was induced early because the baby's heartbeat keep dipping down too low on non-stress tests.  

 And, of course, what's not to love about a picture of me with the baby....ha ha!!  He has his mom's pretty dark eyes.  He's such an adorable baby.  I fell in love instantly.

Lara Leigh invited me to go the hospital with them and watch the delivery.  It was a fun experience,  The miracle of birth brings tears to my eyes every time, and everyone in the room.  After the doctor delivered the baby, she said to my daughter-in-law, let me show you something.  The cord had a knot in it.  She said that usually you get a stillborn baby with something like this.  It doesn't show up on ultrasounds. That explains his heartbeat dipping down.  He's a little miracle baby!