2012 is Winding Down

     I have just been perusing my new "Blog Book" that I ordered from "Cutest Blog on the Block", I am quite impressed - and not just with myself! It is 308 pages, hardbound and contains all of my posts and pictures since I started my blog in 2008.  It is really fun to look through and remember lots of fun times with my family and friends.  I highly recommend it! (It cost $140.00)
     We've had a wonderful Christmas, and even though Brooke and her family were not able to join us, we "face timed" with them lots and lots!  Jeff just went back to sunny San Diego, but he certainly enjoyed snowboarding with Doug while he was here.  We had a beautiful, snowy Christmas, even though we failed again at making a snow man, I did make a snow angel - my first one! 
     Feeling grateful for all of my blessings, we are heading to Cali for a few days with ALL of the kids and grandbabies (I'm sure Shane will bop down for a day or so!), except poor Ben, who will be hard at work and school still.  Hopefully my family will survive our visit!
     Here's to a wonderful 2013!!!

Christmas Time

It's December and that means lots of fun and lots of busy!  It's trying to snow around here, which would be very beautiful, but it's a bit chilly!  I am still dreaming of a fireplace, but this is what I make due with around here - it's Netflix.  Funny, when I lived in California, we always one, if not two fireplaces in our homes, but here where it really is cold, none!

I finished my sewing machine cover (no, it's not a tea cozy), I sewed up some jelly roll strips (Thanks - Steve & Jen), quilted it up and sewed up a quick cover to keep the dust out.  I love the bright colors and it will match my new color scheme come next month!

We do finally have our little Charlie Brown Christmas tree up, yes it's on a table, we just keep getting smaller ones each year. There are no gifts under it because we have too many toddlers around here for them to be safe.

I do so enjoy looking at other's amazing blogs with their fantastic Christmas decorations and trees, but I am basically pretty lazy when it comes to all the fuss, but I love it when I don't have to do it!  Toodles!  -Brenda

Fashion

     So I went to the mall the other day (something I don't do very often) to buy some new clothes. My lovely sister gave me a birthday gift card for a department store, so off I went (2 months later). Well, it was kind of a challenge!  It seemed like nearly every thing was neon colors (think 1983) or polyester pantsuit type stuff (think great-grandmother) - where was the "in-between" stuff??? I realize I am a grandmother and I KNOW I am no teenager, but aren't there others like me? Lots of others like me? I circled the store more than once and was able to find some cute things (2 shirts and some new soft Christmas jammies), but I was sad about the selection for the most part.  I guess that's why I wash nearly all of my clothes in cold water and hang them up - it is hard to replace the things I like! I realize I am no fashion plate and sadly, I have been wearing the same shirts for years! They are my first pick when I open my closet and they are clean.
     And then, there is the make up - I have pretty much worn make up nearly every day since I was 16 or so. But, I am tired of it! It's not like I am trying to pick up some hot guy (I've got one), and it's not like it makes me look fantastic - better, yes, but not fantastically gorgeous or anything.  I still wear it sometimes, but not every day.  So, if you see a nearly 50 year old woman schlepping around in old t-shirts and no make up - it's probably me.

Still Here

Back from a super fun quilt retreat last week in Park City! My BFF Megan joined me and 73 other ladies to quilt our hearts out and eat lots of chocolate!  I finished one quilt top and worked on two others, I also took a little class on making a sewing machine cover to keep out the dust and worked on that - hopefully it will be done soon and I can show it.
Finished (after much cursing and muttering and un-picking):

I have been working on this scrappy around the world for a couple of years, but am ready to finish it, it is kind of fun, because I can see all the bits from all of the quilts I have made. I made 10 more blocks while at the retreat and have about 10-15 more to make:

I have been working on this baby for at least two years, but am on a mission to finish it! I only have about 100 units left to make, then I can put together the blocks and carefully put them together to make the (giant) quilt that has carefully placed lights and darks:

I bought this printed interfacing from Quilt Smart to attempt to make a double wedding ring quilt - the easy way?  I am planning on doing it in brights:

And let me tell you, after lounging around, eating chocolate, etc. while wearing my cushy/stretchy sport bra, the girls did NOT want to get back into the wire cage come Sunday! But, I forced them (you can thank me later)

So, back to life, as usual which is pretty dang good these days. I am down to working 3 afternoons per week! One of my favorite things is going to the movies in the afternoon - I'll go by myself if no one else is available, so I'm planning on doing that on one of my "extra" afternoons, as well as making soup, etc. - things you just can't do too easily while working 5 days! Toodles! -Brenda

Meandering Along

So I've decided that I'm tired of reciting my email address and phone number, and of course, I like to have people visit my blog, so I got cards made:

It was super easy to order them, with this cute design and I just put my name, phone number, email address and blog address on them.  I showed them to Mr. Handsome and he said - "They don't say what you do, housewife, quilter, chef, lover (he's funny, isn't he?), etc." I told him they are not business cards, just my contact information.  I love them! I am putting them on my luggage, my new Sew EZ table I got at quilt festival and, sure, I am giving them to new people I meet, that might need my information or seem like they would be friends, etc.
I did finish my "Selling Houses" wall hanging, but I don't like where I put it, it looks better from far away, and mashed here in the entry way by the front door, it is too narrow to see it well.

Of course, it helps if it is right side up too - I don't know how my computer, phone and camera all continue to outsmart me!!!!!!
Here is a before picture of a particularly messy part of my quilt studio:

Unfortunately, it still pretty much looks like that, but hopefully progress will be made SOON!  I'll keep you posted - that's a pun, by the way...

Hooray for Fall!

     It is so nice that fall is finally here! It's been a summer long enough and hot enough to try my patience (and my deodorant!).  It is nice and chilly at night and in the morning - yummy! I am baking some apples with cinnamon and it makes the house smell delicious and very fall-y.
     I finished quilting a quilt for a Christmas Gift - so sorry, no peeking yet. I am ready to quilt my class project of a log cabin cityscape from the class I took at Quilt Festival from Flavin Glover.  I will post it soon, my camera is visiting Amanda and I'm not that good with my phone yet.
     I took a class on "precision piecing" and I am sorry to say that I don't think I will ever be a "precision piecer"!  The techniques I learned seemed challenging and involved lots of pinning(bleck), and un-picking if it was not "just so",  so I think I will continue blissfully quilting speedily (and sloppily) along and giving my quilts to friends and family members who think they are wonderful and that I'm talented, etc.
     I also took a class on "panels", since we are having a panel challenge in our bee this year, I got lots of good ideas and we will see if I can wrestle down that EQ program Mr. Handsome bought me and design a fab quilt with the panel - hopefully pictures are forthcoming and I don't have to hide it in shame - it makes me a little nervous - I only have one panel - BUT - I guess if I mess it up, I can just use a little part of it -right, right??

     We've had our little baby pals over some - enjoying the last of the peaches - rather enthusiastically, I'd say:

     I am currently working on this project - and no, mine doesn't look like this (yet), this is the picture I took at the vendor booth I bought the kit from - mine is all cut out though...

     Looking forward to attending a quilt retreat at our bee later this month AND - going to working 3 days a week instead of 5!  AND Mr. Handsome is going to start improving my wonderful quilting studio!!!!!!!!!! We will be adding storage, painting, lighting and hopefully new carpet - yippee skippy for Fall!

Birthday Month!

     It's been a great month so far! For those of you who pay attention to the details, I have changed my age on my profile to 49!!! Had a (wonderful) birthday earlier this month.  Mr. Handsome got me a fabulous Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake (chocolate cake w/chocolate chip ice cream) and had them make it look like a quilt! What a guy!

     We had the "close by kids" come to dinner (easy quiche and salad), then had a Wii Tennis Tournament, which I promptly lost! Doug was the big winner, closely contested by Jeremy, but even with his superior reach (he's 6'6"), Doug prevailed!  Lots of wonderful cards (and some pretty nifty gifty's too) and just a lot of hearing from people and talking to the people that I love, it's what makes my life great! (No, I don't think my life is "great-er" than yours, just perfect for me).
     It's finally cooling off, at least at night, which is a huge relief! Fall is in the air, at least until noon or so, when it starts heating up.  And, of course the fun is just still happening - I head down to the Utah Quilt Guild "Quilt Festival" on Tuesday (Yay!!!!), can't wait, it's going to be lots of fun with classes and shopping and quilting and lunching and hanging out with my quilt-y friends.

     I got this quilt finished and gave it to my friend, who lost her son this month, he will be missed!

 

Happy September to all!!

The Beach

     We just got back from a quick trip down to California to visit family. We went down to see Jeff in beautiful San Diego and went to the beach while we were there. I haven't been to the beach for a long, long time! When we parked the car and got out and walked around the shops near the boardwalk (which, in California is not made out of boards at all, but is cement), before we even got that close to the beach, the way the air felt and the coolness compared to inland was heavenly! As we got a little closer I could smell that beach smell and hear the ocean and it was just wonderful! It made me feel so nostalgic for all the time I spent at the beach!
     When we were little, my mom took us to the beach each week, even though she hated the sand. She would plant a big pirate flag in the sand, so when we got to playing and drifting a little in the current, we could look up and see the flag flying and get back to mom.  She would lay out a big sheet and we were not allowed to step on it and get it sandy! We played for hours and had lunch there and just enjoyed ourselves!
     When I was a teenager, so much of my social life revolved around the beach, I would take a carload down nearly every Saturday and we would work on our tans, swim, play in the sand, and of course, flirt with boys - I remember us taking turns walking up to the lifeguard to ask him what time it was - so subtle! We had lots of church youth group activities there too, the men would fill up a big metal trashcan with ocean water, put it on the fire and fill it with corn on the cob, I don't know how sanitary it was, but it was delicious!  We also did some camping at the beach when I was a youth.
     When I became a mother, and my kids got a little older, I took them to the beach often, back then, gas was cheap and parking was free if you knew where to go, so we'd pack lunches and take off! It wasn't super relaxing, keeping my eye on all those little rascals, but it was fun.  As my kids got older, and got more involved in their own lives and friends, we didn't go so much, then when I was 40, we moved to Utah (nearly 9 years ago). Even though I go to California to visit several times a year, I surely don't get to the beach much. It was fantastic to go swimming and dive under the water and just be at the beach, the weather was perfect, the water was perfect (warm for California), I got a little reading done while feeling the warm sun on my pasty white self!  So glad we went and a big Thank you to Jeff (and Vanessa) for being great hosts!

         Here is a blast from the past, a cruise to Mexico 10 years ago with all of our kids!

What I did on my Summer Vacation...

     The last of my wonderful houseguests left yesterday morning!  It was a fun time around here for sure this summer! We had Brooke and her whole family here, my sister and niece, Jeff was here from California and all of the "close-by" kids were here hanging out with the "far-away kids".  Party on!
     We got a picture of all 6 of the grandbabies, although they were not all cooperating: Beckham cracks me up, lying there in the front where he was placed, not moving or smiling. Natalie had just woken up from a long nap and I believe a couple of the kids had thrown up this morning - ah well - life!

    
                   They did do a bit better with Grandma & Grandpa there to steady them. 

     A week into their two week visit, I decided that Natalie-Bear needed a twin sized quilt to go on her bed, now that she is in a bunk bed, so I whipped this baby up and managed to complete it before they left.  Of course, Brooke  completed 4 quilts out of my scraps and got them all quilted and bound and the binding sewn on before she left and she was only here for a week!(She was in Hawaii the first week). The funny thing was, she was digging in my scraps/stash and managed to use my new Block of the Month fabric that I had left sitting on the cutting table, she was mortified, but I just get to buy more fabric! No problem. Natalie was so cute, calling it her "qweelt", she  was super excited - very gratifying for this granny!

 

     I also managed to complete this throw for a friend's birthday, it worked out very well, the legos were downstairs in my studio, so the kids played down there a lot and I got some quilting done! Win-Win for sure!

     While my sister and niece, Katrina were here, Brooke taught her how to quilt, so she made a quilt from my scraps and her mom bought her a backing and batting and she completed her quilt - mind you they stayed up until 3 and 7 a.m.!! My sister's remark "Quilting is expensive!" (She bought her minkey for the back) In my frazzled state, I did not get a picture of her cute quilt.

     In July we had our family reunion, as mentioned and I got this picture from my sis-in-law:

    August is almost over and it is going to be Quilting Season!!!!!! My birthday is coming, 3 quilt retreats and cooler weather, could life get any better????

Mr. Rooster

     I finished the beading on Mr. Rooster tonight while enjoying the Trunk Shows at the Springville Art Museum this evening.  A big thank you to Mr. Handsome who took care of not only 3, but 4 of the precious grandbabies! They went to the "Splash Pad", then home for waffles for dinner.  Poor Natalie who misses her nap everyday while she is here got a little over-tired, but she is fast asleep now.

     Even though I am a bit bleary-eyed from early wake up nudges, I surely enjoyed the quilt show! It was so nice to just sit and drink in the beauty of the quilts and mingle with my fellow quilter friends. I have actually gotten a quilt quilted this week, will post soon when I get it bound.  Lucky for me my quilt studio is in the (cool) basement where the Legos also live, so the kids have been down there quite a bit, so I just join them and work on my quilting.
     Mr. Rooster is bound for the September Quilt Festival for the mini-quilts fundraiser, after I bind him and sew on his label.  Off to the community pool tomorrow for a relaxing hour or so before I dash off to work!

Up for Air...

     Whew, July is about over, it was a super fun but super busy month! I won't bore you with the details, but I am looking forward to August for sure!  I am hoping there will be cooler wheather in store for sweaty me soon! I was barely able to get any quilting done, but am looking forward to finishing up a couple of projects in the next week or so, I will post the pictures, I promise! I am even beading a mini-quilt.
     I got home last night, after being in meetings all day and after dinner (nope, didn't do the dishes, saving them for today), I decided to head down to the quilt studio to sew a couple of rows together and Mr. Handsome pipes up "Oh, I was trying to sew my pants down there and I kind of messed up, maybe you could help me" Can I just tell you I was not in the mood to mend (I am actually never in the mood to mend, but he just doesn't see it), so I didn't even go downstairs, just reclined on my bed and read and played on my phone until bedtime, so no sewing done yesterday either. I did remind him that the new-ish neighbor does mending, etc. for a business and is a single mom that could use the income, etc., so we'll be heading over there today after work.
     I am toying with updating my blog profile picture, the one that is up there is 9 years old! Do I get a free pass until it is officially 10 years old?  I'll have to mull that over, I haven't seen one of me that I like any better, so it may stay for a bit yet.
     I got a little sunburn last week, I took Babygirl to the pool and I put sunblock on us, but failed to put any on my back, since I usually just lie around, facing upward. BUT, I did not take into account that I would be going down the big twisty slide, and off the diving board, etc., so I got quite a nice burn on the back! Ouch, it's been a few years for that!  We are going again this week, but I bought some of that newfangled spray on sunblock, so I will get my back this time.
     I was going to take Babygirl to see "Brave" this week, but she is going with her other Grandma, so I may have to sneak in and see it all by myself (sigh).
     Hope your summer is going well and I should have more to "show" next time!

July Quilt Fair - Utah County

Just a note - if you live in Utah County or can get there - get to the Springville Art Museum this Wednesday, July 18!  It is the annual Utah Valley Quilt Guild's Quilt Fair! There will be over 20 vendors, a wonderful silent auction, free quilting classes, a garage sale, yummy lunches AND the Quilt Show is going on at the same time, but best of all, the show, classes, etc. are FREE!  Hours: 9:30-3:30.  (Not sure where the Springville Art Museum is? - just google it!)

Summertime...

We currently have our  Babygirl staying here for a month! We are down at the condo, where it is 104 degrees.  We are hiding out inside, about to start a Yahtzee game.  We took Austin to Zion's Park yesterday and did the Narrows.  She loved it, she swam all around in that somewhat muddy river (There had been rain the day before).  She looked like a little otter.  We had a picnic lunch, and just generally enjoyed ourselves.  We have been to the cool "Splash Pad" over here in Hurricane a few times too. We still have plenty of things left to do on our "list" for her visit (See Brave, Hit the Hobby Lobby, make good-smelling soap, etc.)
     I have decided that I am in love with air conditioning!  Between these hot flashes and the heat, it is my bestest friend!  At night, I keep a really wet washcloth in a bowl next to my bed and it is doing wonders for those middle of the night attacks! 
     Life just continues to get busier, so I thought to myself,  I have my laptop down here on vacation, even if the internet (from Mr. Handsome's hot spot) is a little sketchy. So - a post from my vacation - aren't you lucky! 

P.S. I did finish my star quilt AND it hangs straight - a miracle!

Great Idea!

Late last night, when I was awoken (again) with a hot flash, I had the most fantastic idea! I have this small set of projects that I have in my 'to do' pile, they are really cute little wall hangings, one for each season.  I bought them with wild abandon a year ago (okay, maybe 2 years ago), every time a kit came out at my local quilt shop, till I owned all 4 kits with plans on whipping them up and enjoying them.  Well, time has passed and I'm not really much on wall hangings anyway, and I have started to dread them, looking at me accusingly every time I wuffle around in my project pile for something to work on.  So - my fabulous idea is:  Put them in a cute basket and donate them to our July Quilt Fair next month! I am so excited, I just need to get some ribbon and 'fouff' it up a bit and voila! Guilt Free Me!

Now that we are back from our trips, and are staying home for a whole month, I am back to quilting away in my spare time!  I am planning on finishing the top on my star quilt this week!

I just need to make the 4 corner star blocks and sew it all together and done! The checkerboard block is just an 'extra' I made with the leftover checkerboard strips, I have two, not sure what to do with them, but they are cute! I have lots of projects I want to get cracking on, while hanging out in my cool basement!  I started having these hot flash things a couple of weeks ago and while the weather was cool - no problem, but now that it is 90-ish every day - not so fun and they do wake me up multiple times each night - bleck.  Oh well, what are you gonna do? Onward and upward!

Back from Missouri

We got back last night from visiting Brooke and her wonderful family in Missouri.  We had a great visit, with lots of snuggles and trips to the dollar store, among other things.  Babygirl had a big list and I think we got pretty much everything done on it.

Here is our sweet, oldest granddaughter, Austin Nicole, AKA "Babygirl", she made a list of things for us to do as soon as she heard we were coming - watch a movie with popcorn, dance party, new shoes, make something, color, go to the park, etc., she is coming to spend a month with us this summer and we are so excited! I am now making a list of things I want to do with her when she comes next month.

Here is Shaun, also known as "The Boy", he is the most active child around, always busy and jumping and leaping! He ate practically an entire plate of huge chocolate chip pancakes and then ran like a madman around the park for an hour immediately afterwards!

Here is Natalie, "Little Bear", she is a sweetie and just loves everything pink and girly. When we arrived, she was wearing her favorite 'sparkly shoes' - red glitter shoes about 2 sizes too small! She refused to wear anything else! She crammed her sweaty little feet in those shoes no matter what! We got her some sparkly pink shoes, in her size, and her mother was able to 'spirit away' the tiny ones.

 Everyone is coming out for a visit in August, so we were able to tear ourselves away without too much pain, but we miss them already!

I remember now...

I remember now, why I don't have anything new to show you, life starts getting busy about now - flowers to plant, yardwork to do, bushes to trim - and I don't even mow/edge the lawns, Mr. Handsome does all that!
I also try to get in some quick trips to visit family, I spent 5 days in California with my mom, sisters and Jeff for Mother's Day Weekend. I am headed to Missouri to see Brooke, Ben and the babies next week.
I am hoping to work on my star quilt tomorrow, hopefully I'll have something better to report!

Moving Along

Life is moving right along over here, I am making progress on this quilt that I am loving, although I am remembering now that medallion quilts are a challenge for me with my not so fussy quilting style - really I can't sew a quarter inch seam to save my life! I was taking a very scant quarter inch seam on this baby, then squaring up each star block to a perfect 4 1/2 inches, but, as you can see, as I sewed them together, I lost some points, and then some more points.  You would think, as this is my 85th quilt, I would be better! Actually I am better, just not as better as I'd like.

It's kind of like me - I am better than I used to be about a lot of things, some days I just think I'm doing great, then other days, I'm a raving lunatic and I realize I still have a lot more to learn and to be taught by this adventure called life!  I just try to keep practicing and being humble enough to ask for help (a very hard thing for me) and I'm hoping by the time I'm 90 or so, I'll be a somewhat fit human being - maybe even fit enough for heaven!  We'll see...
Hope your days are happy and your seams line up!

Bliss

Yesterday, at the quilt shop, I purchased some fabric for a new project.  I had purchased this pattern a couple of years ago and I was super excited to get started!  

Even though it is more work to traipse all around the store, hauling bolts of fabric hither and yon, it was fun! Here's what I bought, I will add goodies from my stash and may need to shop some more.

It seems like I haven't made a quilt "from scratch" lately.  I have sewn up a few kits,  made some from pre-cuts plus a couple of scrap quilts for my most recent projects. I forgot how much enjoyment I get out of that part of the process of quilting.  Last night (at family quilt night) I got the center done:

Granted, the center is probably the easiest, least time consuming part of this quilt, but I love seeing it on my design wall! I am owing this burst of creativity to going to Quilt Guild this week, where I saw lots of gorgeous quilts and it just made me start dreaming about quilting again. Life seems to get busy and stay busy, so I am glad I remember that I have to make time for this hobby that I love!

Thinking...

So, after finishing the first season of "Downton Abbey" on Netflix, I have come to the conclusion that my life would be a lot better if I had a staff of servants. Mr. Handsome and I spent part of the weekend washing part of our windows, curtains and blinds - that was a bit of work! We have the other half to look forward to doing in a couple of weeks (sigh). I know I need to be grateful that I have a wonderful husband to help me and do the heavy work and I have my health that I am able to do it, but still, watching that show several nights over the last week or two, makes me a wee bit envious.

I am finally showing the quilts I got quilted and bound last weekend - I am quite happy with how they turned out - it seems that even mediocre quilt tops look much better when quilted and bound. This one is going to be auctioned off at the family reunion this summer: (It is made from scraps)

I finished this one for sweet little Sydnee, and even though it is huge for a baby quilt, it turned out great and Amanda loves it - always important! Made from a kit.

I also finished this little baby for a shower gift:

(Every time I take pictures of my quilts on my family room floor I am reminded that I would really like to get new carpet sometime soon....)

I am off to stitch up some receiving blankets that I like to keep stocked up for quick baby gifts...

March is Winding Down (Thank goodness!)

Happy to say that March is almost over! I think I have learned a lesson about over scheduling! I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend of quilting little Sydnee Marie's second baby quilt and enjoying our church General Conference, which is televised, so I can watch AND quilt - yay!

March is National Quilting Month, which I feel like I celebrated within an inch of my life, with 3 quilt retreats this month. I have eaten too much junk food and sat on my heiney way too much. The weather is getting nice though, so I'm hoping April will find me outdoors, puttering around the flower beds.

I got 4 quilt tops finished this month and made 10 more blocks for my scrappy around the world quilt, I also worked a little on my "Eye Fooler Quilt", which is a big project for sure. I realized that looking at the rest of my projects I have to do, I don't WANT to do most of them, so I may be un-doing kits and kitting up my own projects with patterns I want to make and fabric from my stash - or, I know, I COULD GO SHOPPING OR SOMETHING!!! We'll see.

P.S. I don't know why those babies look so worried, they love me!

March Madness

March is a busy month around here - fun stuff, and lots of it! Just got back from our 13th annual Sister in Law retreat (My husband has 5 brothers and 1 sister), we went south for nicer weather and had a blast. We did a little shopping, a lot of visiting, very little sleeping, plenty of eating, and an amazing amount of laughing - probably aided by the lack of sleeping.
I finished a quilt top, which is good, but, of course, I had taken 3 quilts to work on and was somewhat disappointed that I only worked on one, I swear I have a "sweat shop" injury, my shoulder/neck is pretty stiff and sore.
There were 7 of us, including my great Mom-in-Law and we did various projects and ate various junk foods and enjoyed great meals cooked by each other as we do every year.
Denise brought a really cool lego set to put together (and, yes, she took it apart afterwards to take home!)
Jen dyed Denise's hair, it turned out great! (Don't ask about the mayonnaise, it is a joke having to do with killing lice and how it didn't work, but was super gross)
Rose took lots of pictures and brought fun glitter toes stuff. At first we worried how we looked in the pics that Rose took, but then she confessed that she rarely gets them developed and actually lost the disc from the last years pics, so then we stopped sucking in our stomaches and trying to get the chocolate out of out teeth every time she snapped a photo.
Deanna made 2 darling crocheted hats (I know her eyes are closed, it's the only picture I had and the hat still looks way cute)
Here is the other quilt top I finished when I was down at the condo a couple of weeks ago - and - if you're keeping count, I now have 4 (!!!) tops to get quilted.

I'm off and running to the next thing - toodles!

Post from a Slacker

Ack! It's been awhile since I've posted. Life has just been a little crazy - a little out of balance around here and it's no one's fault but mine! I guess I though when my kids were raised, I wouldn't ever get "too busy" again. But, I have a lot going this month and I got a little behind on my sleep - the result - feeling like I was never going to get through everything I had to get done - REALITY - it's all turning out just fine!

I went away last weekend with some girlfriends for a quilting weekend at the condo - it was beautiful weather, but we hardly set foot outside!! I got this little baby done:

(I got another one done, but haven't taken a picture yet, it's coming, I promise.) We managed to get a design wall put up - by pinning a cheap table cloth to a quilt I have hanging down there - it was a lifesaver for putting together our quilts. Now that I have a design wall at home, I practically can't quilt without one, so this is great! I am heading back down there in another week for the annual "Sister-In-Law Retreat", there will be 7 or 8 of us stuffed into that cozy condo, but I think we're going to have a blast! I will be quilting, of course.

Something has happened to me: when I started quilting a few years ago, Mr. Handsome bought me a light-weight sewing machine to haul to quilting bee each week and to retreats - it cost $200. I have 'inherited' an old Bernina that is HEAVY and doesn't like to come out of it's table in the basement, so this was perfect - BUT - I am afraid I have become a sewing 'snob' like my quilting friends! The stitch on the 'cheapie' isn't nearly as nice as the Bernina! When my friends used to talk about how they liked "the stitch" on this machine or that, I thought they were just talking crazy - well, now it's happened to me! So, today, when I went to my bee, I took hand-quilting, I didn't want to haul the old Bernina up and I don't think I can bear sewing on the ol' jalopy!

In other news, the grandchildren are still perfect and I am getting my 'fix' of the close-by ones at least, fairly regularly. Life IS good these days, especially when I get off work early and get enough sleep!

Pile of Grandbabies

These little guys were all over here yesterday: (Some were easier to photograph than others)

Sydnee, Brian & Beckham

Here's little Brian in the middle, with his little "lip":

He smiles easy too: (These are the more cooperative ones)

We sure love these guys, but we sure miss our "big" grandbabies in Missouri!