"Another one down, another one down..."

the rest of Queen's lyrics state, "another one bites the dust" but I can't really say this bit the dust because it's done, complete, finished!

J's quilt is officially complete with lime green fleece backing and folded over binding. But before show you details, I have a question.

Does anything look familiar between these two photos?





The minute I fnish a quilt and lay it to photograph, and at no other time during the quilting process when I'm sorting layout, cutting backing to size, etc., does she come to lay on the quilt. Only when I set up for photos. Either she loves the camera or she's part cat and knows when to be where she's not necessarily wanted.

Now details. J wanted a bunch of different colors and fabrics and the only way we could agree to incorporate them all was to use the attic window motif. J then chose the quilting design and it was all done in a purple thread. I think his designing abilities are great! He only needed a small bit of guidance for me but the rest, him. Maybe one day, we will start creating complete patterns and quilts together! hehe







And here's J sharing with the pups, even now, as I type this, the 3 of them have moved to the chair in the corner and are vying for space on the quilt.

A Confession, a delivery and a QUILT ALONG

Remember I went shopping earlier this week? Well, guess what arrived. It's the items from my Cafe Press order. It's my first order from there so I learned the T-shirt is a little thin but then, for the price it makes sense. The mug, I love.






Now, here's the confession, I listened to the Bitchy Stitcher's advice and didn't drink and quilt.

However, that martini, well, I DID drink and cut. Tonight it looks nice and even but I can't vouch for what will happen when I'm told to do something with the cut strips next week during the quilt along at Old Red Barn Co.




If you haven't joined, there's still time! It's 6 weeks long and we are only finishing the second week (selecting fabric, I'm using mom's old stash, and cutting into strips.) Go check it out, the link is on my sidebar.

Now, I raise my glass and toast to all the quilters out there tonight who are NOT drinking and quilting.

CHEERS!

Quilted fleece

I quilted this for close friends down in Louisiana. They are big football fans, so much so, they have converted my husband and I into huge LSU fans. I decided to send them a nice throw to watch the games under as a thank you for their never-ending hospitality. I quilted this on my Voyager 17. I think you need to click the photos to enlarge them before you can see the quilting detail. Enjoy while I'm off to mail this today.

GO TIGERS!

I've been shopping

I have some great fun finds. First, I ordered the large mug and a t-shirt from this site
which say, "Don't Drink and Quilt." Kudos to the Bitchy Stitcher b/c I thought this was pretty creative.

At another point over this weekend, I also purchased 2 packs of moda squares.



I think I might do a small coin quilt with the multi-colored one and with the reds, I don't know. Maybe a Valentine's Day runner or maybe even a small wall quilt using Kaye Woods' pattern.

I don't know, we'll see. For now, I am just pleased I saw these gems and got them both with 25% off discount!

I've been quilting away. I'm currently binding a lap fleece for a friend which has the LSU Tigers logo and with a couple more hours today, I'll have finished quilting J's quilt top and will be on the binding path with that one. My goal is to have that accomplished by the end of the week. Pictures soon. WOOT!

And finally, our newest dog has had a successful introduction with our family. Here they all are playing in the yard with Daddy.

Quilt along!

I'm joining a 6 week quilt along over at http://www.oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/.

I'll put her little button on the side bar but just wanted to say, I'll be keeping you updated on my progress. I will gather all my supplies this week but tonight, I will baste a wall hanging I've been working on and bind a fleece lap quilt I'm sending off to a friend soon.

This was a perfect little find while I sipped my red wine and waiting for my dinner to cook. Oh happy day!

My Mother's Day (NQR)

My previous post discussed my mother, as it should, on Mother's day but now, I want to share with you what my family did for me. The kids were so creative, well, I have to share.

My 12 yr old girl, K, made me a pin cushion because, as she said, I'm always holding pins in my mouth. She cut up an old t-shirt, stuff the pieces inside 2 circles and sewed the circles together. Then she drew the basketball design (because I love and coach basketball) and added a ribbon that said, "smile, laugh, play."

Her cards were cute. The first came with the pin cushion and said, "You know my b-day is coming up so I decided to make getting me a present worth while. So here! I want you to know that I worked hard on this pin cushion so I hope you will enjoy it. Happy Mother's Day. Love, K"

Translate that all to mean, she gave me a thoughtful gift and was sarcastically, in a fun way, telling me to give her one for her birthday in July! lol

The other card came with a piece of a dog's rawhide and read, "Mommy, I decided to get you something for Mother's Day. It was my idea, not K's or Sasha's (the other dog). K assisted me with the crafts and writing but I showed her what I wanted to give you. I will gladly accept it back if you do not want it and for my b-day I would like a nice long rub down in case you are wondering. And for Christmas I would like 2 big strips of beef jerkey and 3 new squeaky tows and another rub down. Remember I will gladly (I mean sadly) accept your present back. Oh by the way, I really like that food you give us and tell Daddy I miss him. With lots of love,
-insert a printed picture of Buddy's paw pads-
(Buddy dog Collins) ps Sasha says Happy Mother's Day"

You have to appreciate her humor!

My 12 yr old son, P, made me the following:

with a card that said, "Happy Mother's Day, P (p.s. I hope you like the jewelry)"

It's beautiful.

And this, is the example of what happens between card writing when they hit puberty and when they are still nice and innocent momma's boys at age 9 because my 9 yr. old boy, J, made me the following:

and his card says (spelling errors and all), "Thank you. Dear Mom, I truly thank you for always being there when I needed you. Enjoy. Treasure me forever, J"

Last but not least, my DH knows I love fresh flowers but also appreciates that I don't love them enough that I think he should send them these days with higher shipping prices and inventory costs. Therefore, I think it's been a year or two since I've had a flower delivery (he used to send them for most occasions.) I haven't complained once. -hehe- Now, this year, he sent some roses with this card.


A very nice and relaxing Mother's day where I felt loved and appreciated. No complaints from mom, everyone's thoughtfulness and cleverness made me feel special.

THANKS FAMILY! I LOVE YOU.

I'm pleased to introduce, my mother.

This,

is my mother. And this,


is the family she’s now the matriarch of.

She’s known as mom, Grandma Letty, Coletty (when I can’t find her in the store so I yell it out – if you hear that, come looking for us!), mother, and Letty.

She’s always been the quintessential mother… pushing, pulling, encouraging, criticizing, supporting, holding us up, telling us when our heads are too big, keeping us laughing, reminding us it’s okay to cry, and ultimately, loving us, no matter what.

This,

is my mother.

I remember many things from my childhood but here are just a few.

She taught me about hair-care by pointing out my Medusa coif most mornings when I was in 80-'s perm phase in middle school.

She taught me science, when she told me I wasn’t sweet enough to melt in the rain & then explained that sugar, not people dissolve in water.

She taught me to demand respect, when my older brother thought he could hold her arms so he wouldn’t get smacked for a smart mouth and she instead gave him a shin bruising kick with penny loafers.

She taught me toughness, when the aforementioned brother then waited until she was barefoot to get a smart mouth again and she showed him it didn’t matter if she had penny loafers or not, if he was going to be smart-mouthed to his mother, he was going to regret it. She bruised his shin with a bare foot.

She taught me patience, when she ignored all the sibling rivalry in the house.

She taught me to relax and surrender to the love of an animal.


She taught me to cope with sadness, through the deaths of family members and how to be happy in life during stressful or trying times. She taught me how to handle it all with grace (or at least what I think looks like grace to the rest of the world.)

She taught me how to laugh at myself and she taught me to look at myself and want to be a better person.

She taught me to question everything and to listen to everyone.

She taught me to be a good person. That doesn’t mean I do it… but she did teach it.

She taught me how to love and she taught me to love God.

She taught me how to be a mother and I couldn’t have been blessed with a better teacher. I didn’t recognize life’s lessons when she taught me all this (and that she still teaches me) but I do recognize them now that I am a mother. We’ve become friends, as well as mother and daughter. I can not describe how happy that makes me.

For all of this, I am grateful. I love my mother and I want to take this moment to say,

"THANK YOU, MOM."

This,

is my mom; the woman who taught me to be the woman I am today.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Love,
Becky

The geese have finally landed!

This week, it's been all about DS #2, or "P." P has been patiently waiting for his quilt and also, for the quillow below. Since he's at his father's house this week, I have to wait until Sat. for his reaction but I couldn't wait to post photos for you. I hope you like. :D

The quillow was simple, I opened a fleece sleeping pouch I made for him when he was a younger lad (and not 5'3", 114 lbs.) but has out grown. Since he wanted a blanket/pillow for his boyscout campouts, this was a no brainer. We added the pocket and here you have it.






Now, the geese, they've landed. In otherwords, the quilt is complete, finished, done! I was lucky that I had a pre-folded bias binding tape in the right size and color red so I didn't have to do any additional sewing. It was a nice way to end with this problem-attracting quilt.

A close up of the quilting on the front. (ps- if you click on the pictures you can see a larger image.)


A close up of the quilting on the back.


The whole thing (please ignore the pre-teen room, it's about as neat as I can get him to keep it!)

Another addition to the canine pack (NQR)

Yes, we have another dog in our family. I can sit here and pretend to roll my eyes and say it's all DH's idea and truthfully, it was. However, we made the decision together, after much discussion and many shows of support from the community in which we were seeking advice and recommendations from.

This is Joey. However since "J" of my previous blogs about my family is Joey, the Joey in the picture below may be renamed Jo-Jo or something. This I don't know because this IS DH's decision. J says he will go by Joe or Joseph, rather than making the dog change his name. Got to love his 9 year old thought process!

Anyway, this is Joey.





Joey is a 13-mo. old Vizsla out of the Barben Vizsla kennel. He still needs a full range of obedience and hunt training but already, per DH, he's a love and a smart and good boy.

Why do we have another dog? Well, it's simple and complicated all in one. DH works with the wounded soldiers and often goes out hunting with them (among other activities) to empower them so they may heal faster and with a more positive approach to the process. It assists the soldiers in understanding they can live an active life even with their various physical or mental limitations. I'd been thinking a lot lately about getting more involved in volunteering in this effort but without being a hunter, it didn't seem likely I had anything to offer. However, just when you think the door is closing, something pushes it open. About the same time, Sasha was starting to get into trouble.

Remember Sasha?



She wasn't in bad trouble but like any smart child, she was bored and needed challenging. A house dog was only part of her calling. We decided to schedule ourselves and Sasha into the Foundation seminar led by Ronnie Smith (http://www.huntsmith.com/). It was a fantastic weekend, even if wet and chilly the first day. We learned so much about handling and reading Sasha and we had a chance to see some other dogs in action with various levels of experience. At some point during the weekend, a plan was hatched to add another dog to our family and train him and Sasha both to hunt so we both could take them out with the wounded warriors.

With many inquiries and a tremendous amount of support and tremendous generosity, we've added Joey to our family. We've made some wonderful friends and are just blown away at the generosity of these new friends. Thank you to the Zahns of Barbenvizslas.com, especially, for Joey!

Training updates on both animals will start being a regular part of this blog. I thank my quilting friends for understanding this has become as fulfilling for me as quilting has been and I feel I must "document" it as I am my quilting mishaps and successes.