Happy Easter

Wishing each and everyone a very Happy and Blessed Easter Sunday!

Easter is almost here!

My word here we are waiting on Easter Sunday and wearing our flannel yet again!!
Our weather has been rather different this Winter and Spring.
We did have some nice very warm days with temps 80's F but we seem to have back tracked to Winter! Burrr!!
Today we are cloudy yet again and north wind blowing.
Expect more rain also.
At least it is not snow!!!
No matter we deal cause we do not have a choice! ;-)

We had a wonderful time celebrating DH's birthday. 
He loves his new apron and accessories . I have yet to get a pic though!
I know, terrible! I take the camera and then forget to use it!
Our son and DIL fixed a wonderful meal and we enjoyed the sweet company as well.
We also shared fun times with our nephew and niece-in-law...;-)
DH received a metal detector as his main gift. Nephew also has one he got for his birthday.
So they are  going to be treasure hunting buds!
So cute!!

Not to much sewing happening here.
Still working on hand quilting my basket quilt.
Did do one small project.

 Sweet niece stitched up this cute Scatter Eggs cutie.
 

I aged it (over dyed)some what and made a small pillow.
Used some lovely French General Fabrics.
Not really that bright so not best pic. Cloudy and over head lights cause glare.

We are not hosting Easter Sunday here this year so have not really done too much decorating.
Just have a few things here and there.

Mantle has the old quilt eggs tucked here and there along with the old paper one I found in the barn.

This couple has been around a long time! My BFF gave them to me to use a table decorations one year.

 Mr. I Am Late Rabbit with his fob and pocket watch.

Cute bunny bank I found at thrift one year.

Have the old basket on table with wool chicks and fabric wrapped eggs. Looks bright but really not!

Now these egg sticks are bright!;-) $Store buy and stuck in old canning jars in the old soda crate.

 This painted wooden plate normally is on mantle or side board but on hearth now. Love it. Was a gift.
Yes those are crabs. DH had to have them from an auction. We do live on the Chesapeake Bay and love crab all kinds of ways... cakes, steamed crab, crab boils you name it!!
So I figure if crickets on the hearth are good luck I bet crabs on the hearth are AWESOME LUCK! ;-)

Another craft show wooden painted bunny.
I have yet to get my outside Spring flag put up!!! So hope to get that up later today!

I added a special button  up there on right side my blog. This is for our son and his wife who are walking in this event. You can read about it on their blog here. Thanks for checking it out!
We are still waiting on that one special sweet baby to join our family through adoption.
My heart breaks for them and as a Mom wish I could fix it all and make it better. Somethings are not kissed away. Our family loves and supports them. We have faith that it will all work out.
Thanks again!!

April Sewing

Well here we are beginning the 4th month of the new year! WOW! Time is indeed flying by us! We are having some very nice Spring days. Yesterday, Tuesday, was so warm and pretty! Today is nice but chance of some April showers later. Tomorrow we are to be 84F!! WOWZERS!

Friday is also DH's BD. So will be coking him something special for supper.
He has not said yet what he wants though. Best get on that so in case shopping needs doing for the meal.
Do hope one gift I ordered will arrive tomorrow as it is suppose too!

Did a bit of sewing for him as well. He did like the chef's apron I made for son so now he also has one!
Along with the cooking rag in pocket and some pot holders.

 He loves his mushrooms so when I saw this fabric it had his name all over it!

Cooking rag tucked into the pocket of the apron. Will try to get a pic of him with apron on.

Potholders to match.  He tends to be hard on them so make em tough just for him!;-)

 I did not have enough mushroom fabric to do the backs. Was not able to go to big city for more. The thrift store fabric I found worked great for these and apron!

Already have my next 'get it done' project ready. Used the GO! to cut out some flowers.

It is a runner with a Spring/Summer vibe. Yes another BD gift.
Thanks to Alice's Christmas gifts I have the perfect fabrics to use!

As I said before from Jan through June we have lots of birthdays!! Next big birthday rush will be Fall!
I was behind celebrating my all sweeties with hospital stay and then sick yet again at home!
We hosted a meal with our sweet niece and nephew this past Sunday for their birthdays.
Fun day! Once again Old Gal here forgot to take pics!

Just have two more BD gifts to make then mail out and I should be caught up...hahaha!
Caught up only on the BD gift making list, nothing else!!!
I do so want to get 2 big quilt tops finished!
Oh well being caught up and on track is over rated...right???!!!
Least I always have something I can be sewing !! ;-)

Well best get moving. Have to make a town run for something I thought I had but as usual it is no where to be found!
 Have a good one!!!

Such Is Life

I do declare ..as my sweet Mama used to say...Winter is still hanging on round here! Tonight suppose to be snow. Not a huge lay out but still snow! We lost our warm temps and have had cold again. Did have sunshine though.

DH has been fighting a horrid cold. Seems to be easing up some with ZiCam. Surprise it did not land on me...yet. Good thing as I had picked up some sort of bug/infection again already.  Let's just say runs every where with fever. Dr put me back on meds! I am wondering if DH is right and we need to move south when he retires! Germ free if there is such a place! ;-)

DH is convinced he would do great in Florida just for Winter. I am not so gun-ho about leaving my home for 4 months at a time! We have done a month before and by week 3 I am ready to head home! We do not live in town so having our home looked after for such a long period may be an issue. Yes I worry about all kinds of things going wrong! Just my nature!;-)

Been busy dealing with all this mess. What is it? Well medial bills! You have to pay every person who poked in their head into your hospital room it seems!!!!

 I recall a time when it was pretty simple ....you pay insurance,  they pay bills. Not so much anymore as we have to pay more for insurance and more out of pocket these days!

Did have a pleasant day last week! Alice came and we hung out a bit. She is like a ray of sunshine!! We tried to catch up! just not enough time! Told her we need a retreat! We exchanged gifts and I must have been already sick as took no pic of her!!

 One of my pressies was this wonderful fat quarter bundle from Connecting Threads, Spicy Curry.

 Love it! The whole color range works so well. I want to cut it now!!

Also this Jellyroll. When Alice sees good deals on Missouri Star Quilting Co that are 'me' she will scoop 'em up! I just do not hang out in the right places I reckon! ;-) Was more goodies but put away before taking pics. Off we went to town. Popped in a thrift. Found some treasures, lunch and back to my home. Was getting nasty out with cold rain ,Winter mix as they call it. Loaded up all her goodies so she could get home in time to get ready for her kung fu practice. Busy lady!

On sewing front I do have seven of the basket centers quilted but more to go! Plan to do rest of block with straight lines on angle.

This will take a while so I may pull out something else to work on! My gift making is on
hold till I can get more fabric for a project. Did not have enough.;-(

We had Hughes Net come out and upgrade us to the Gen 4 and upped our service. WOW! I can now do stuff like watch a video or Smile Box !!! Even watch QNNtv or Alex and Ricky! So far so good. Had to sign up for 2 yrs so will enjoy while I can!!

On another note, if you are still here....! I have a new wireless keyboard and mouse. Christmas gifts just now set up. The keyboard is a tad weird. You have to be sure you press HARD or what you click will not be what you get! Also seems to have a bit of drag. Just taking some getting used to I reckon. So if I have not found all my boo boos and corrected them..just over look it please!

Happy St. Patrick's Day & Guinness Cake

Hope all enjoy being  a bit Irish today!!!  These jonquils are blooming really good this year. So pretty!

This is one of the cakes DH made over weekend. Wonderful!! So moist and no real beer taste.

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze
http://www.thehungryhousewife.com/2013/03/guinness-chocolate-cake.html

Happy Sunday

Hope everyone is having a good one! We have gray skies, colder temps and chance of Winter Mix into tomorrow! Lordy Mercy when will this nasty Winter go away!!??/!!

We had our son and DIL out today for his belated birthday meal from February.
DH cooked  and baked for two days it seems! Yesterday he made two cakes. Crazy man!

 He made delish ground sirloin steaks with awesome onion gravy, baked the fan cut potatoes and made his famous homemade rolls. I helped. I prepared the butter beans and did clean up duty. ;-)

 The rolls were huge! Oh so yummy good!

 We all were stuffed!! Before the peach cobbler and ice cream was gift time!
 Loved the gift certificate to DH's favorite meat shoppe!

 Here is son modeling the apron! Was a perfect fit!!! He is a nut! ;-)  All enjoyed the day immensely!
Pops did go take a nap after they left. Poor old thing was pooped!

Yesterday was National Quilting Day. I did not sew but did pin!
Another top I want finished into a quilt !!

Yes that is a lot of pins! I have to do this cause I seem to not be able to keep my quilt sandwich from shifting. I like spray baste or fusible batting if I machine quilt and wash  but still undecided which way I will go on this one, machine or hand. Only thing is hate to start hand quilting and my hand/fingers give out on me!
Found a spot where I missed blanket stitching! So will do by hand and do not think will be noticed.

On to the next birthday sewing projects. If I keep at it may get my list all done! Hahaha! Yeah Right!

Sewing Gifts

Yes I have been sewing gifts. Lots of birthdays this month and some belated ones from last month!
 First wanted to share this 2.5 yard piece of Windham fabric picked up at local thrift for $2.99!
Has the look of a coverlet. Do not recall this Buffalo Bill line. Anyway score!!!


 Our son is one of the belated February birthdays we are celebrating this Sunday! He loves to fish and cook out. So his gift is an apron, custom made for his tallness, out of this fish fabric!

 It really can be reversed as well. Has a pocket for the cook'n rag , as DH calls them!

 This pic looks a bit werid but anyway here it is hanging. Did ties for the neck .

 To match he has potholders. These are my own design I came up with way back.
I did do a simple TUT for them here.  They seem to be a popular Pintrest pin.

They are heavy duty and work well. I used to not quilt them as much but found with the quilting they wash up well. 

Tried to get a pic of the true colors but this is as good as it gets! There is a added surprise in the pocket.

Little extra is this coffee cup cozy! Used a Starbucks paper one as pattern.
SEW he is all set to use his new smoker grill!

We have pretty sunshine today!
Still cold but no horrid north wind like yesterday.
I need to go outside to spray baste a quilt.

Sadly the maid fairy has yet to show up so I must try to clean some as well.
Darn that sure can break up my sewing stride!!!

March already!!!

 Goodness! We are almost into Spring with Easter soon to follow! Well I hope so anyway!!!

 This is part of what we have had last several days! Was Ice, Snow and more Ice!! Caused so many traffic headaches and accidents around here. Bridges closed, which is not a good thing in the land of rivers, bays and ocean! Today all the snow is about gone and we are looking forward to warmer temps but also rain. Oh well at least it will not freeze to roads!!!

Thanks so much for all the get well wishes and prayers on my behalf! I am feeling lots better. Just seemed to take a goodly bit to get my strength back up!

I did manage to get my Red-work Snowbound to this stage! All quilted. Ready for binding then I will add the buttons and embellishments. Love it!

Just did simple straight outline quilting. It is not a quilt to be used but a wall hanging. I am at the point in my sewing life I want things done! So will not stress over such things. Do my best and let it go. So far my family and friends have loved and used all the ones they have been given! So that is all that matters to me!

Glad to have this one off my list! Have one more that has been ready to quilt for a while so it is up next!!!
I tend to get energized when I finish one project and want to finish yet another!!!
As you know I do not just make quilt items I enjoy sewing all kinds of things!

My sis-in-law had her 70th birthday, leap year baby, so we celebrated on March1. She adores the beach so I made her a beach bag.

I have had these fun gal panels a couple years. Used one for another gal's (cousin) birthday gift a few years ago. Used them as pockets on this bag. I went simple this time just fun fabric that I quilted, no piecing.

We all gathered at nephew's home to celebrate her birthday with a delish supper. SIL seemed to like it. She has booked a cottage for 2 weeks in the OBX this summer so it should get a work out!
I am behind on several birthdays from Feb because of illness so must catch up as March and April are full of them too!!!!
A Wife's, Mom's, Auntie's and Grandmama's birthday work is never done!
Now if some magic fairies would come and catch up the house on cleaning and straightening up I would be all set!!!!

Been in Hospital

I begin to feel bad last Wed, Feb 5th and thought was the terrible flu.
I became so ill by Friday DH took me to Urgent Care. Was not flu.
Was rushed into hospital with Severe Sepsis and dehydration.
Have had a lot of  medical stuff going on which  contributed to the spread of the illness as well.
Tire easily so resting and continuing to take meds
At any rate has been rough and I am so very glad to be home!

Snow Be Gone

 Yes indeedy ...the white stuff has left the landscape!! We have had warmer temps and rain.
More rain today but at least it does not stick to the roads!
DH is back to work, hopefully on a full week schedule! Was sort of startling to hear the school buses run early this AM. Had to stop and go... hum snow plow?? hahaha!
May as well settle in as Old Groundhog did see his shadow so 6 more weeks of Winter!

Sew here I have a new week to get busy! Did some sewing of wee small 4 patch blocks over weekend.  Have more to do today or that is my plan. Using a Glace by 3 Sisters honey bun that has been here a while.

This is how I plan to use them. I was just doing a try out when I took this pic. There are some browns yet to come in the mix.

These are my red work Snowbound blocks. Yes those from a while back! Will use all the 4 patches for sash and borders  and call the top done! Next will have to decide on how to quilt then binding. I am happy to have it this far!
Sew reckon it is still 'snowing' in sewing room!!;-)

Here are the tops I have been able to complete thus far...1 wall hanging and 2 mats or pillas, yet to decide those. The 2 candle runners and 1wall hanging still have to add the wool on them but they are ready!
Busy time but fun deciding on how to rethink projects to get them finished. I am happy with how I have decided to proceed with them!

Seems Feb just rushes at me all at once! Filled with birthdays along with Valentine's Day.
Have some Valentine's I hope to get done. Will take every chance I have to sew sew sew!

Did not do super bowl. I sewed and then watched Downton Abby and Sherlock on PBS. Happy to have a choice rather then old reruns most channels put up against the 'big' football game.

Well if I am going to be done with those patches best get back to it!!
 Happy Monday!!!