A Memorial Day Tradition

62. 

 that's the number of geraniums that i have gotten every Memorial Day for the past several years. those 62 geraniums are put into a green rectangle flower boxes and a piece of grass green carpet is added to keep them upright as well as to cover the pots the geraniums are in. 

 we do it this way because that is how my grandpa has always done it.

for as long as i can remember my grandpa would put together these flower boxes each year and place them on family members graves each Memorial Day. six or seven years ago my cousin and i began helping my grandpa do this. 

 when we did this we would take a walk through our family's history each year. some years there were several family members that joined us. other years it might just be a few of us, but it always got done.

with the passing of my grandpa this past year it was more important to me then ever that the tradition is carried on. so just like years past i ordered the geraniums. placed them in the boxes with the carpet and got them ready for their time in the sun.

my cousin put them out this year and i will be picking them up and reversing the process i did just days before. the geraniums are then given out to family and friends for them to plant and enjoy all summer long.

(my great-great uncle)

as our list of family members who have passed on gets longer somehow we have always managed to make the 31 flower boxes always work.

(my great-great grandparents)

and each year we get to remember those who were before us and how we are related. i think its pretty cool that we go as far back to the relatives who first came to this part of the country. those who helped make our area part of what it is today. my great-great grandfather was the first tailor in town. i guess sewing is in my blood.

(our town's 1st tailor)

what ever you are doing on this Memorial Day i hope you pause and take a moment to remember those who have passed. those who have served. the people who are the reason we are here.

tomorrow i will be out picking up 31 flower pots. taking my walk through history and remembering my family members.

happy Memorial Day

I Love Being An Aunt

as you know i have a couple little monsters in my life. my niece's. the oldest monster is turning 5 shortly and for Christmas she got an American Girl doll. so for her birthday i decided that her doll needed some new clothes. i checked out the prices of an 'official' American Girl doll outfits and passed out. once i recovered i remembered a pattern book i had bought a few years ago for doll clothes for 18" dolls.

of course me being me - i didn't follow the pattern directions and i did my own thing.

i used the pattern pieces as guides but used velcro instead of snaps for ease of use.

i lengthened this top instead of adding a ruffled bottom to it because i didn't feel like dealing with a ruffle.

the best part of making these clothes was that it used up scraps that i had.

scraps from quilts, pajama pants, bags or even ones given to me from other sewers.  they were fun to make and easy to sew up.  i don't have the name of the pattern book i used with me but i will update this post later with that information.

on another note - i know i haven't been posting much lately....  or at all.  however i have been busy.  i have moved my sewing space out of my house and into its new location.  that takes some time getting things set up how you want them.  whew.  glad that is over.  i have also been working on a few other projects that i will be sharing here soon.

happy sewing

I am still here........

I am still here.......

I think.

its been over a month since I last posted here on my blog.  time really does fly by.  I would love to tell you all that during my absence I have been sewing up a storm, but that isn't the case.  it has only been the past few days that I have gotten back to my machine.  somehow life decided to take over and change my plans.

on July 2nd my grandfather passed away.  he was 98 and had an amazing life that impacted not only his family but his community and everyone around him.  he will be forever missed and never forgotten.

we said goodbye to him on July 9th and later that day I caught a flight followed by a couple more and ended up in Orlando, FL.  a work trip but a little bit of play was added in as well.  while I was there I got to celebrate my birthday with a great group of people.  I came home a week later and I am just now feeling somewhat normal again.

the past few weeks have taken its toll on me.  I am extremely thankful for my close friends as well as Superman who have been there for me through it all.  they have given me strength as well as a shoulder to lean on.

Many Thanks go out to them.

I am now hoping to return to our regularly scheduled program.....  sewing.  like I said above I have been back at my machine and I will be sharing soon what I have been up to.

also, my machine and I are taking a trip this weekend to go spend some time with Tula Pink.  I know I am sort of still freaking out about it.

Another 1st

another 1st

my second niece turn 1.

her birthday was earlier in the month but the family party was this past weekend.  with them living out of town and crazy schedules its just how it worked out. 

hard to believe she is 1 already.  i was at quilt camp last year when the call came that my SIL was in labor and we made the mad dash south. 

i love this little monster.

WIP Wednesday

hey there. i know i am a day late with this. but, as they say. better late then never right? i did some sewing this past weekend but not anything that i can show you. what i can show you are these two adorable monsters.
my brother & his family came into town this past weekend. i got to help watch the girls for a couple of nights. my brother & SIL were worried that the little one would be hard for me at bedtime. she was a dream. the big monster was another story. in short it was 10:00 or after by the time she got to bed & grandma did the trick both nights.

i love this pic. i just had to share it. she is so much fun with her faces and noises that she is making.

this past week i did finish up Roxanne's baby quilt. i think i showed you a pic of it but it wasn't bound yet.

i just did simple diagonal quilting on it.

the backing is flannel.

went together super quick. the baby was due August 7th & i wanted to get it to Roxanne before she had her.

today is August 11th & poor Roxanne still hasn't had the baby. we are all trying to come up with ways to get her to go into labor. its pretty funny around here.

on another note. i see that i am almost to 100 followers. once i hit 100 i will have to find something to giveaway. so spread the word & lets get those 2 additional followers.

22 days until the Gorge & Dave Matthews Band. woo hoo.

hope you all are having a great week.

WIP Wednesday

i was in Boise this past week hanging out with these two monsters.

i did take a couple projects to work on while i was there.

i finally finished block #5 on my Quilter's Journey quilt. i have #6 ready to start stitching on.

i also got the templates cut out for the class i am taking in Sisters.

when i got home i had this nice little stack of fabric waiting for me. more about this later.

i have the final blocks of my Opening Day quilt ready to go. i need to get this finished up soon so i can move onto another project.

WIP Wednesday

wow, no post between my WIP Wednesday posts. i must have been busy. busy getting ready to be gone for a week. busy working at my job so that i am not to far behind when i get back home.

i have been in Boise since Sunday helping to take care of my 3 year old & 3 month old nieces. my SIL had to go back for that last week of school. Monday & Tuesday she did half days but today she will be gone a little longer. let me just say...... i don't know how she does it. hats off to all of the moms out there. i think that you must be given extra energy & patience when you have a baby. taking care of kids is work & those moms who have a job outside of the home & have kids. amazing.

i didn't get to spend anytime with my machine before i left so no new updates there. i did bring my hand project down & i have made some progress on it.

i am almost done with block #5. i just have to finish the string around the outside.

the other project that i brought with me is this fabric. i need to get the templates cut out & start cutting up the fabric. this is for the class that i am taking at Sister's from Tula Pink in July. i thought it was fitting to use Prince Charming for a class from her.

its Wednesday & i will be heading home on Saturday. i don't know what i was thinking when i brought both projects with me. the days have been flying by. i honestly don't know how moms who have kids at home get all of their sewing done. i am sure that there is some secret to it that i don't know. the only thing that i can think of is no sleep.

i hope that you are all making progress on whatever it is that you are working on.

WIP Wednesday

yes i know its Thursday & not Wednesday but Wednesday got interrupted by stuff. you can read more about it here. i am happy to report that i did not end up in the hospital or jail. the meeting this morning went well & the issue was resolved. i am frustrated by the way i was treated yesterday & that at the meeting this morning my dad was present & the individual was most agreeable and understanding. why are people like that? is it because i am a female in what use to be a man's world? whatever the reason maybe it makes me mad. i am working my way through it with lots of ice cream and music. hahaha......

not much progress in the sewing area of my life this past week. my favorite two monsters came to town with their parents for the long weekend. i spent a lot of time with them.

how could i not?

i also spent one day of the long weekend on the couch with the stomach flu. major yuck.

i did get my tumblers all together & now i need to cut & sew on the boarder for it.

i also got a bee block done for a group that i am in.

i sewed up some pillowcases for some soldiers which i learned about over at Vicky's blog LA Quilter. an amazing story about an amazing woman. if you have the time read it.

i also machine appliqued these heart blocks for a gal in our H2H group who has recently experienced a loss in her family.

a little progress on my Opening Day quilt but no pics of it.

i have a few days left at home & then i head to Boise to spend a week help taking care of my favorite monsters. i am really looking forward to spending time with them. who knows i might even have some time to hit a quilt store or 2 or 3........

Love

love

the one word that describes this picture the best.

my 2 nieces almost 3 yrs old & 6 weeks old. i still have a hard time looking at this picture & not get tears in my eyes. i am very blessed to have them & their parents in my life.

WIP Wednesday

its Wednesday & there is always a WIP

this is just a WIP of a different sort.

the past 10 days have been a blurr for me. truth be told the past 2 1/2 months have been a blurr for me. my calendar in my kitchen is still on January to give you an idea of how crazy things have been.

super short update:

since the 1st part of January my 90 year old grandma hasn't been in the best of health. she had lived on her own & been healthy up to this point. it has been a change for our family & one that has required a lot of work for some. i also had a trip to Texas for work as well as a trip out of town to the doctors.

since i work with my mom & she has been gone a lot with my grandma i have been working more trying to keep up with both of our jobs. the month of February is a blurr to me.

March came & so did quilt camp - which i will post more about that later. my life was pushed into overdrive on the 6th when my 2nd niece was born.

mom, big sister & baby at the hospital.

i stayed in Boise for awhile. i helped take care of the big monster, did some laundry, meals & those sort of things to be helpful. i did hit some quilt stores as well which i will post about soon.

we went grocery shopping while we were there. not the best pic (taken with my cell phone) but i couldn't resist. my dad on his cell talking & my niece standing in the cart. i am pretty sure that her parents don't let her do that - we just won't tell them.

when i came back home my mom then went down to spend sometime with them. when i got home i spent time with my grandma who was back in the hospital. she is out now & doing better. i am finally unpacked from quilt camp, my laundry is almost caught up & i am working on getting caught up at work.

on top of all the craziness my laptop decided to jump ship on me so i spent a ton of time doing online chatting & stuff like that to bring it back to life.

i just wanted to let you all know that i haven't fallen off the face of the earth. i will be posting soon about the rest of quilt camp, the projects i worked on there, bee blocks that i got while i was gone, fabric purchases made & what ever else i feel like yapping about.

i will say this....

spending almost a week with my family in Boise really make me want to be closer to them...... hmmmm......

***UPDATE***

there is a giveaway going on over at Mauby's.... go check it out!!!

http://www.maubys.net/2011/03/january-pattern-review.html

we interrupt this blog

we interrupt this blog to bring you

my new niece!!!!!!

we were at camp on Sunday when i got the text at 10:15 in the morning.

contractions were 5 to 6 minutes apart but not intense. they wanted to let us know but they were not headed to the hospital yet.

we hit the road & my great friend Sharon packed up my stuff & brought it home for me.

from camp to Boise is about a 6 1/2 hour drive. we made it in a little over 5 hours.

the hospital admittance papers were signed at 4:20 & she was born at 4:45.
even though they got to the hospital around 2:00 the hospital wasn't sure if the baby was going to be born then or not. little did they know......

********

needless to say mom, dad & baby are home now as well as big sister.

i feel like its still Sunday & i have been awake for 48 hours.

i will be here for awhile helping out as needed.

i will post some more pics of camp soon.

********

THANK YOU to all of my friends at quilt camp for your support over the weekend as we know it was touch & go there for awhile. THANKS again to Sharon for bringing my stuff home & taking it to my house.

WIP Wednesday

i have had a semi-busy week with work, family stuff & the flu. the flu was a total blast......NOT

i still managed to get some stuff done in sewing land.

i quilted this French General quilt which is for my mom & i got the binding sewin on it. i am in the middle of sewing down the binding.

i did finish sewing down the binding on this French General quilt. yep, 2 French General quilts. this one i did as a quilt along with KarrieLyne over at Freckled Whimsy. once our weather gets better here i will get outside & get a pic of it to share with you all.
yesterday in the mail i got 2 packages which i am sure are some more bee blocks.
something to look forward to when i get home this evening.
i also got the ribbon added as well as a bow & a button to this bag. i think that it really brought the bag to life.

i am in the middle of quilting this for my niece. i figured that if i was taking my new niece a quilt that i had to take my other niece one as well. i finished the quilt top last October at a camp & i am just now getting around to quilting it. i am about 1/2 way through it.

i have also started a quilt that is inspired by this book from The Buggy Barn. long story short we have 3 ladies expecting babies in our family this year. i was so hoping that one of them would be having a little boy so i could make this quilt for one of them. needless to say they are all having girls & i was grumbling about it because i really wanted to make this quilt. so, my dad said 'i like trucks & tractors.... you can make it for me.'

so i am doing just that.

i am using the truck & tractor blocks but giving it my renegade twist with a different layout.

if you have never made a Buggy Barn quilt before i strongly encourage you to make one. they are a ton of fun to make. i think this is my 5th or 6th one.

********

up this next week i would love to finish the quilting on the quilt for my niece. plus a week from now i will be at quilt camp. so i have a lot of packing to get done.

i hope you all have an amazing week.

********

one more thing.

just as a reminder i am a guest judge over at Kim's Crafty Apple for Project Quilting.

if you have never seen this give it a click & go check it out.

it should be fun.

My (soon to be) Niece's Quilt

this adorable little monster is going to be a big sister soon.

real soon.

i made this quilt for her when she was born. it has hung in her nursery & she is well aware of who made it for her.
so......
i needed to make her soon to be little sister a quilt.

some applique'.

some rick rack.

some striped binding.

i followed Julie's binding tutorial over at Jaybird Quilts.

it is awesome & i am a convert to bias binding now.

the backing is a Valori Wells print.

the quilt is a kit that i got at Fat Quarter Shop.

i am very please with how it turned out.

i hope that my soon to be niece will love it as much as i do.