Birthday Party!

Mr. Handsome decided to have a birthday party celebrating his dad's life. Larry passed away 8 years ago and most of the young married in-laws never met him, so they don't get some of the family humor.

We had a great turnout and lots of fun!

I didn't get a picture of the food, but Stacy smoked a couple of briskets & some pork roasts - delicious! We also had cornbread, sweet potato casserole and plenty of desserts!

The weather was perfect. Everyone who knew Larry shared a memory of him. Most of them were pretty dang funny! People shared about the nickname that Grandpa had for them and funny things he did and said. Bruce did a great job videoing everyone's memories. Stacy had blown up pictures of him and old family pictures (I really am a terrible photographer, I missed lots of pictures). Denise did a game with "Grandpa's Rules", which pretty much meant, they weren't fair and changed a lot. You could also trade your prize for "whatever I have in my hand". There was also a killer "money grab".

Brandon won a "swig of my pop" Beckham decided he couldn't win against Doug, so he gave up:

Brian was there, looking adorable (even if Shane REFUSES to smile for pictures for me! Shane, when you are old, people are going to see all of your pictures and think what a mean man you were!)

Beckham loved the balloons (and the candy, and the cornbread, etc.)

All in all a great day - thanks everyone for coming and making it fun!

A Finish...

Okay, I figured I'd better post a quilt or I would have to stop calling this a quilting blog! This is a "medallion" style quilt, where you start in the middle and work your way out, and well, let's just say I should have squared up better as I went along, it was pretty skewampas by the time I got to the last borders! (Pattern and fabric from "Crazy Old Ladies Quilts")

This is for Mr. Shane, so, of course, there is Minkey on the back:

I just have to keep it hidden until Christmas, because every time that boy comes over here, he tries to snuggle in it, even before it was finished!

Mr. Handsome and I made another fun trip to the condo and he finally collected on my promise to go golfing with him (from February!!). It was pretty windy, but it's always fun to tear around the golf course in the cart - he drives like "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" at Disneyland. He hit a ball into the desert part of the course and it was so funny that it was stuck in this bush!

Well that's the news from over here, hope you're having fun quilting or doing whatever makes you laugh! (I will be madly sewing Christmas Gift projects for the next few weeks...)

Another Beautiful Baby...

So exciting, Shane and Becca had their sweet baby boy on Sunday:

He is, of course, perfect:

His name is Brian Douglas (after his proud Uncle Doug). We can't believe all of his precious hair! It is beautiful and soft. We are so proud and happy for Shane & Becca!

Quilt Festival, Shoe Carnivals, etc.

This week is the Utah Quilt Guild's Annual "Quilt Festival" - doesn't that sound so grand and fabulous??? Well, it is! I woke up on Wednesday morning and couldn't stop smiling! I had such a hard time sleeping the night before, it was like Christmas when I was a kid (okay, as an adult too). I kept waking up and looking at the clock, waiting for morning to come.

This is my 5th year of attendance and I plan on going every year until I die!

There are all sorts of classes offered, fabulous lunches with National Quilt-y Speakers (David Taylor, George & Virginia Siciliano, Sally Collins) - 2 of my favorite things - eating and absorbing quilty-ness!

There are lots of vendors at the vendor mall, just waiting for me to stroll in and buy their wonderful items that I NEED. I am basically a lazy shopper, I don't like to go from store to store, getting sweaty, etc. So I love it when they all come together in one place!

This year, I took a scrap class - we learned how to organize our stash, and USE it, we got several patterns and I got started on a "Around the World" scrap quilt. What is that you say?- several hours in class and you got 4 (!) blocks finished? Yes - that is me. I took a lecture class with a fun batik quilt show. This morning I took a "Short Cuts" class with great ideas on ways to make flying geese, square in a square blocks, prairie points and more. I loved this class (taught by Bonnie Miles) because I love efficiency and she is very efficient and her brain works WAY better than mine at figuring out the most efficient/easy way to make blocks - and she shares her ideas with us! Tonight I am taking a hand quilting class and am looking forward to that. Tomorrow and Saturday - no classes, just volunteering at the mini quilt raffle/display booth and working on handwork + two more fabulous lunches!!!

Yes, I am aware that my quilt blocks look pretty skewampas, but I'm hoping when I make more blocks, I can arrange them in a way where they will play nicely together...

P.S. Did I mention there is a quilt show too??

P.S. S. Whenever I see the "Shoe Carnival" store, I keep thinking I'll go in and there will be high-heeled shoes riding a merry-go-round or something like that - I am always vaguely disappointed when it's just a regular shoe store.

Sigh...

You can see from my pics, that my projects are getting bigger and my design wall isn't! I guess it's more crawling around on the floor for me. I shouldn't complain, I am grateful I am physically able to get down on the floor, etc. But - in case you haven't noticed, I am a chronic complainer. (I think Mr. Handsome may have noticed a wee bit.) Here is my latest project from "Crazy Ladies Quilts":

I have 4 more "rounds" to go:

It's a Christmas Gift, it should be finished in plenty of time, which is great, except it is not even close to the amount of quilt-y gifts I am planning on giving this year. It is for my baby boy, Shane. He doesn't follow the blog (I try not to be insulted that he doesn't hang on my every word, now that he is married and expecting a baby of his own, etc.), so he won't see it, although he has gotten glimpses of it already.

Well -it's after 11 and I guess at some point I should shower and get out of my walking clothes...

I need a bigger design wall!

And somewhere to put it...

I have been spoiled with my design walls (flannel backed plastic table cloths), this quilt just wouldn't fit, so I had to crawl around on the floor. It was hard to get the perspective right too, I moved a couple of blocks around and numbered and stacked them, so we'll see. I can't wait to get this all sewn up and quilted!

Birthday Month...

Yes, it's my favorite time of year, September! I love that it's my birthday, fall is close, I'm anticipating the fun holidays, there are quilt retreats galore, the weather gets nice and cool, etc. This morning, it was nice and crisp when I went walking, which makes me think happy thoughts and want to quilt!

I just got back from a great visit to my family in Southern California. It was wonderful to see them all, it is so nice to be with a bunch of people that you love and they love you back! We celebrated my birthday (a little early) with "Death by Chocolate Cake" from Costco, always a favorite. Looking forward to a fun family reunion next month in Arizona for my Mamal's (grandmother's) 90th birthday.

Life is good and I am grateful.

P.S. Got a little folding & sorting in at the studio: