Christmas Projects......Part 3

I made this quilt for my son-in-law and gave it to him for Christmas.  He also finished his degree in accounting and computers (and my husband says "a minor in rushing his wife to the hospital").  So it's a "combination" quilt.  He literally took his last final a couple of hours after my daughter was released from the hospital.  It's taken him 5 years but he persisted and got it done while working a full time job and trying to keep up with the family.

Christmas Projects....Part 2

I made this quilt for my son Aaron.  It might be the first man sized quilt I've made for him.  I can't get used to him being a man!  It seems like he should still be a little boy.

His sister Calista made this "helmet hat" for him.  He loves it!

Christmas Projects

Before Christmas gets too far past, I want to show some of my projects......maybe a day at a time.

Daughter Andrea reminded me that little Nola didn't have a Christmas stocking.  At least 10 years ago I made lots and lots of stockings.  Everybody in the family has one, including my sister and her family.

Each time a baby is born in my immediate family I make a stocking.  So the last one I made was for Wesley 3 years ago.  I found the pattern and got to work.  I wanted to coordinate Nola's with her parents' stockings so the search was on to see if I had any of the fabric left. I found a very little piece of the blue with silver print.  

Here are Andrea and Patrick's stockimgs.

And here's Nola's.  Not bad, uh?

And here they are all together.

Last Minute!

I'm sewing labels on two quilts for gifts at 11:48 p.m. On Christmas Eve.  Sigh.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  God Bless Us Everyone!  (We're watching the George C. Scott version of "A Christmas Carol")

Mid December

It seems like my posts have been "few and far between" lately.  I have good excuses.....really, I do.

Remeber some weeks ago I posted about my daughter’s two surgeries and how close she came to death?  Well, she did it again!  Last Tuesday (exactly 3 weeks after her surgeries) she texted me to tell me that she was unable to breath and was on the way to the hospital.  I met them there and saw that she was barely able to make it through the ER doors.  I scooped up the three kids (who were out of school because of the snow) and took them home with me.  I feared Calista probably had pneumonia.  It was much worse than I feared.  Both her lungs had "extensive" blood clots and she was told it was a good thing she got to the hospital when she did.  She spent 2 days in a critical care unit and will be on blood thinners for at least 6 months.  This has caused quite a setback in her recovery.  I'm once again on "kid duty" and am taking them to and from school.  Yes, the weather has improved and just like we can usually expect in NE Oklahoma, the temperatures are supposed to be around 70 this week after being in the single digits last week. It makes kid duty a lot easier when the weather is nice!

In the middle of all of this, Calista's husband Chris finished his degree with a double major after attending school part time the last 5 years.  He literally took the last final just hours after Calista's release from the hospital.  

Now on to sewing (which has helped me maintain my sanity the past few weeks).  I managed to pack in a lot of it during the snow/ice storm.  I started this:

I got to go to my stitch group Chrisitmas brunch and got these:

And gave this:

I hope to be back soon to show some more.  I'm working on bindings now.  But just in case I don't post again before Christmas, I'd like to wish you all a very merry one!

Christmas decorating

Tim and I did the "minimalist" outdoor decorating this afternoon.  Then our son came over and helped us get the TREES up.  Tim really likes the smell of a real tree and I like the convenience of a fake tree.  So we compromised and got a very small table top real tree and also put up our skinny fake tree.  I'm so glad it's done.  Here are the pictures.  If you've followed my blog at all you will see the same quilts as usual, but they seem almost new since they only come out once a year.  

I got new "greenery" for the fireplace this year.  I LOVE red!

I'm back....again!

Well, here it is the eve of the eve of Thanksgiving and it's been well over a month since I last posted.  So much has happened since then so I will try to be as brief as possible but there may be an overload of pictures.

Leslie, Cindy and I had a GREAT time at the Pacific International Quilt Show in Santa Clara, CA.  The drive over from Reno was beautiful.  The weather was wonderful the entire time.  We experienced fall there and then got to experience it again here after we came home.

None of us won any prizes, but we had a blast and were so honored to be there and see our quilts hung in the show. 

My husband has spent the last six months going through Reserve Police Officer's training.  It's been a gruelling six months.  He was the oldest in the class but managed to finish it.  Not only that, he was told he was the best martial artist in the class and a "darn good shot" ( well, maybe those weren't the exact words, haha) and he scored the highest on the final written exam (99%).  So now he's a Tulsa PD Reserve officer and will be donating several hours a month to the city of Tulsa ”suppressing evil” while he remains a mild mannered geologist by day.  I got to pin his badge on him.  I'm super proud!

Here we all are gathered around the man of the evening.  

And here he is with Nola (who was being passed around when the first pictures was taken).  Missing is 3 year old Wesley who had a better offer for the evening!  Haha

I'll end this pre Thanksgiving post with my giving of thanks for this week (and for the rest of my life!)

Thank you God that my family is intact and all living and well tonight.  8 days ago my son-in-law Patrick and his precious daughter Nola were involved in a terrible car wreck.  Patrick was hit 3 times, one of those head on.  He walked away from it with Nola in his arms.  Granted, he was very sore and hurting all last week but Nola was just fine.  It could have been much worse and I'm forever grateful that they're both okay.  Then the very next day my oldest daughter underwent a hysterectomy.  All went as planned until about 14 hours later.  She started bleeding internally and came near death's door.  Since all three of her kids were here with me I couldn't go be by her side.  I felt God reassuring me that she was in His hands.  Thankfully, she is home now and is regaining her strength.  I, on the other hand am worn out!  Haha. Since her sister nearly bled to death when she grave birth 3 months ago, I'm not ready for any more emergencies any time soon.  In fact I called my son and informed him that if he planned anything like this in the near future that he should not call me until it was over!

In all seriousness, we just never know what each day will bring.  I'm hugging them all a little tighter and loving them all a lot more.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving day and take the time to count your blessings and thank God for all he so generously gives!

Fun sewing

I've been doing a little "just for fun" sewing lately.  These little bags make great gifts...and I'll keep one for myself, too!

Tornado quilt

Just dropping in quickly to post a picture.  My stitch group, T Town Stitchers made this quilt for a young couple who lost their home in the Moore, Oklahoma tornado in May.  The young woman is a friend of my two daughters.  

Here I am with the other "Theresa" in the group.  At least we spell our names differently.

Quilters' Retreat

This past weekend I went on a quilters' retreat.  Ten of us gathered at the Bluebird Lane Retreat Center which is only about 30 minutes from my house.  I had never been there before, but believe me, I will go back!  The place was wonderful!  All the food AND SNACKS were provided along with a very comfy place to sleep.  The spacious work area was great, too!  Each quilter had a 6 foot table with a rolling leather chair and an Ott light.  We didn't even have to take our own irons, ironing boards or cutting boards!

I finished my table runner and coasters while I was there.  Here they are on my table at home.

I also worked on these two UFO's.  The big one will be for my bed, but it has a ways to go.

Exciting News!

This is my friend Cindy. She lives in Reno, Nevada.  I've known her for about 35 years.  Her husband was best man at our wedding and he and Tim have know each other most of their lives.

Here she is visiting me in March.  She has invited me to come see her and go to the Pacific International Quilt Show with her in Santa Clara, CA.  She encouraged me to enter my quilt.  This one:

So I made a deal with her and said I would enter if she would.  She had a top that she pieced 16 years ago and had never quilted it.  So she sent it to me and I took it to the fabulous Donna T who quilted mine.  I was sure it would be juried into the show.  In the meantime, since my friend Leslie's mom lives near there, I talked Leslie into entering a quilt, too.  And guess who quilted it?  Yep, Donna!

Here's Cindy's quilt.

And here's Leslie's.

So to make a long story short ( I know....too late!) and after weeks of waiting and nail biting I'm announcing that ALL THREE of our quilts have been juried into the show!!!  Leslie and I took a leap of faith and bought plane tickets a couple of months ago so we're flying out to join Cindy in October.  We're super excited to go to the biggest quilt show on the west coast and to see our quilts hanging in the show!Fun times ahead!!!

P.S.  Donna T is pretty proud, too!  Thanks, Donna for the beautiful quilting!

Working on Appliqué Again

Remember these?

You may not!  It's been a long time since I've added to this group.  But finally, I have another block done.

Still don't know for sure where I'm going with this but I DO so enjoy hand appliqué.  Just don't know if I'm having that much fun trying to design something myself.  

Here they are together.

Finished quilt and on to the next project

I started this a few days before my granddaughter was born and last Sunday when I had a "day off" from helping my daughter,  I finished the piecing.  My friend and neighbor Theresa C. quilted it for me on her longarm and I finished the binding last night.  It will be entered in the Tulsa State Fair under a special category, "Quilts For Kids" and then all of the quits will be given to local kids who need them.  Last year they went to the children's hospital.

This may be the first quilt I've ever made without a border.  It's all half square triangles.

Since I can't sit still, and since I've had a few more "days off" ( although I'm chomping at the bit to get back to little Nola tomorrow) I started another new project.

This is what I'm going to make from this book:

Mine will be in much brighter fabrics:

Since I've redecorated my kitchen eating area I wanted a new table runner in bright colors.  This pattern calls for a lot of piecing, but I said to myself, "Self, why couldn't you appliqué those squares on the background instead of piecing them in?  You could certainly save yourself a lot of time?" So I agreed with myself and I'm appliquéing them on the machine.  I think I'll be just as happy with the outcome.

No time for blogging

I'm spending my days and some of my nights at my daughter's house helping out with the new baby.

I'm one blessed Mama T!