Could I Be. . . Royalty????

This beautiful lady is my dad's sister, my Aunt Ruth.  Of all my dad's sisters, I think she most resembles my beloved Grandma.  I've always admired her.  She was always strict, but had the same glint of devilment in her eyes as my Grandma.  You can see it here.  She is a very opinionated lady, and has never attempted to keep those opinions to herself.  And although some of those comments hurt you, you had to respect her for having the nerve to speak her mind.  (Thanks to my cousin Verla for this picture.)

She's always been a classy lady.  I have always loved the way she dressed.  I can close my eyes and see her in her straight skirts and short heeled sandals.  I can see the way she walks.  To me she was the picture of class.

And here's another classy lady - Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.  Another lady I admire.  She, like my Aunt Ruth, has aged gracefully.  She has a great smile, and you can see a twinkle in her eye.

So where am I going with this???  Well, I've always felt that my Aunt Ruth looked very much like the Queen. What do you think?  And, if she looks so similar to Her Majesty, is it possible that I am somewhere, somehow related to the Royal Family????   Hmmmm.
Maybe just call me Queen Bee.

Another Saddle Up has come and gone.

Yes, the Saddle Up is over for another year.  Even with the state of the economy, we raised over $19,000 for the kids at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.  This is one of the quilts that I made and donated for the quilt auction.  The little guy who won this one wanted it so badly.  He's in second grade and even though the quilt wasn't very big, he loved it.

This is the second quilt that I made to donate.  It was Pittsburgh Steeler colors with Steeler fabrics.  The lady who won this one must have spent $60 in tickets.  She is planning on sending it to a relative who is currently serving in Bahrain.  I was so happy to hear that she was the winner.

This is the third quilt that I made.  It is a sampler quilt made with various western fabrics.  It was definitely my favorite, and both of the twins wanted to win this. But it was not meant to be.  As many years as I have been donating quilts, the twins have never won one.  Lucky I can make quilts special for them.

 These are my older two girls (not twins, but close in age).  They worked the registration tables along with one of our neighbor families.  The Saddle Up is certainly a family affair.  Our family along with two other families from our neighborhood volunteer their time to work with the Hall family (daughter Kristin's in-laws), who sponsor the event.

This is daughter Pat on the horse that she rode.  It's not her regular horse, but she took him so that a less experienced rider could take her horse.  Jenna's horse had some sores and couldn't make the trail ride, so Pat took a different horse and let Jenna ride the more gentle mare.

This is daughter Pam on her horse.  Her regular ride is still nursing a foal, so Pam chose to ride this one.

Jake helped me sell raffle tickets, and taught me all I ever need to know about dinosaurs.  He even knows their names.  You can see Krissy in the background.

Krissy was a big help with Jake.  She is at the age where she loves babies, and Jake loves her right back.  Krissy had a good time with him as you can see.  He's wearing my hat and her sunglasses.  You can see the food trailers in the background.  Texas Roadhouse donates the food, the cooks and servers, and several door prizes.

It was a great day, but way too hot for me.  I came home to the air conditioning before it was all over.  But George and Cheryl had Rod fix me a plate with the BBQ's ribs, some pasta salad and delicious rolls with cinnamon butter.
It was certainly a success once again.

An Easy Solution

Yesterday I told Mary about the Vinylmation Quilt, and she came up with a great solution.  Since she knows her daughter better than I do, I have to accept that it will be alright.  She suggested that I just use the blank vinylmation and trace it onto fusible.  Then fuse it onto the various Disney fabrics that I have.  Seems that all vinylmation are not characters.  Wow does that make it simpler??!!!  Sounds like a plan.

I need to add something new and fresh to my life.  You know, redecorating on a limited budget.  I decided to start with the kitchen. I don't want to repaint the kitchen (which is a barn red).  But I couldn't decide what to use.  I bought patterns for owl and cupcake potholders.   But which one should I use???    I have finally decided --  It's owls!!!  I found this owl fabric, which I absolutely love.  I was able to purchase a 5 yard piece from a seller on etsy for a great price.  I'm so excited.  I think these colors will look great with the red kitchen.   Right now the curtains are looking dull and faded, so hopefully the owls will perk it up. 


This is the pattern that I bought eons ago, (well maybe I exaggerate), and I think it will be fun to choose fabrics to coordinate with the curtains.  I have the insul-brite already so I can get started on new potholders.






And look at these adorable appliques that I found to put on towels for the kitchen.   I just can't wait to get started!!!

I Think the Vinylmation Quilt is a Bust!

I tried yesterday and it didn't go so well.  This is the coloring page blank that I had downloaded and resized.  I had resized it to 8.5" x 8.5" to be used on a 12.5" block.  Sometimes I think I have delusions of grandeur.

These are the 12 designs that I wanted to sketch onto the blank and then use as applique designs.  I started with Chip the Nerd.  He's one of Krissy's favorite vinylmations.  I worked for a few hours on this one, and it was still sort of scary looking.  But I moved onto the Steeler vinylmation.  He turned out pretty good.  And so I decided to try Lotso Bear (He's the pink one).  Not too bad, but after nearly 5 hours I had done 3 designs and they were questionable.  And so I had to ask myself if the quilt was worth the frustration.  My heart said yes, it's for Krissy. But my mind replied with a definite NO, Are You Kidding?????  So I haven't thrown the pages away, but I think my mind has won this one.

This pattern is called "Jungle Walk for a cause".  You can find it here.  I bought it two years ago at the Hershey Quilt Odyssey.  The fabrics were so unique that  I also bought the fabric pack for the animals.  Since Krissy loves the zoo and her brother walks with a walker, I thought this pattern would be perfect for her.  I'll talk to her mom about it later today, but it's what I have considered using for Krissy instead of the vinylmation quilt.  Disney sells a vinylmation laptop bag, so that may be a great gift for her.

Right now I'm sort of feeling like a failure since I had such high hopes for the vinylmation quilt, but I think it's a good thing that I have recognized my limitations and decided to move on.  Go Me!

A Morning to Relax

And then on to work.  After I finish a project, I always take some time off to relax and catch my breath.  That's what I did this morning.  I spent a few hours this morning reading the blogs of some of my cyber-friends, and then decided that my blog needed a face lift.  I searched a few of my fav background pages, and chose this one with the flowers.  Then I used my favorite graphics program and designed a new header.  And finally I found a blinkie that I liked.  And so, my blog has a new look.  Not sure if I like the placement of the blinkie, but it will stay for now since it expresses one of my favorite sentiments -- dream big.  How can you reach big heights if you don't dream big???!!!  I'm off to dream.

Mission Accomplished

Yes, Mission Accomplished.  I finished the quilts for the Saddle Up before noon yesterday.  It is such a relief to know that they are done.  I haven't taken pictures yet, but will post them when I do.  I really wanted to have four done, and dug out my black and white log cabin top.  I considered finishing it for the Saddle Up.

It was a sew-a-long with Pat Sloan in 2008.  She called it a Break-out-of-Winter project, and named the quilt Log Cabin Insanity.  I really thought it wouldn't be a problem to part with it.  But the more I looked at it, the more I liked it.  So, I'm going to finish it, but it will be for ME!!  I know it may sound selfish, but I really love this top.

Now that the Saddle-Up quilts are done, I need to decided what to do next.  There is certainly no shortage of projects, that's for sure.  I want to make quilts for all the kids for Christmas - before you panic, they're just lap quilts (44 x 56).  For Mary, it's finishing her Toy Story Quilt that I started a few years ago.  For Pat, it's a Bonnie Hunter pattern called Boxy Stars.  It's made of turquoise and pink bandana fabrics.  The blocks are all finished and ready to put together.

 Pam's is also a bandana fabric quilt - it's the
Spin Cycle quilt that I posted from Pinterest.  These are the Blazin Bandana Fabrics that I bought from Bear Paw Quilting.  The blocks and sashings are already cut.  The square-in-a-square blocks are all sewn, and ready to put together.



Kristin's quilt will probably be the most difficult.  I've bought the fabrics to do her a Star Wars character quilt.  The coloring book pages have been found, they have been  cropped and sized and are ready to trace.  It will be a challenge, and I'm looking forward to it.  Izzy wants a princess quilt - I've already done one of those, so it will be fun.  Bubby is getting a Mario quilt since he loves that game.  Jake is really into dinosaurs, and I have enough applique embroidery patterns to do his.  I haven't decided on a theme for Krissy yet.  She loves Disney Vinylmation, and also loves the Disney Nerds.  So it will be a hard decision.  The guys are a cinch.  Jimmy has been asking for a Steeler Terrible Towel quilt for years, and I bought the towels to get started on it.  George would rather watch hockey, and I bought Pittsburgh Penguin rally towels to do his quilt.  Looks like I have my work cut out for me.  Better go get busy.

What Have I Been Up To??

 What have I been up to, you might ask?  Although it seemed so far off when I started the quilts, the Saddle Up is just eleven days away.  YIKES!!!!  And I don't have a single quilt finished.  Over the weekend, I managed to get two tops done.  A third top is pinned and the quilting is nearly finished.  Today, I had a day off with no kids, so I busied myself pinning quilts onto the fleece.  Here's three of the shots,  Both the quilts are now pinned, and I'm ready to start quilting.  I'm anxious to get them finished so that I can do something I want to do, something fun.  All the binding is cut and sewn and ready to put on the quilts once they are finished.



Hopefully, I can finish them up by Sunday evening and then I can start a new project.

Bits and Pieces

My mind is just strollin' the world this morning, and you are about to catch the brunt of it.  Sorry!

A few weeks ago, I ordered new "gutchies" (sorry, Mary.  Had to say it!)  Now, like most of the clothing we buy in these United States, they are made in some foreign country.  I have been wearing this brand of "gutchies" for years, and I know that the tags are always on the left side.  Well, I put one pair on a few weeks ago, and they felt horrible.  After a few hours of discomfort, I checked them out only to discover that they were on backwards!  Backwards!!!  I am an adult, I've been dressing myself for over 50 years.  How in this world do I put my gutchies on backwards???!!!  Not my fault -- the tag was on the wrong side.  Not a big deal you say.  Well, if you're from Europe and drive in the USA on the wrong side of the road, it's a BIG DEAL.  Wrong side is wrong side.  But here's the kicker -- I did it again yesterday.  Geez, have I now become a senior citizen or do I just get dressed too quickly???  Tis a puzzlement!!!!!

In an email from Bearpaw Quilting, I saw the fabric line by QUYLTE called Blazin Bandana, and immediately fell in love with it.  I ordered 1 yard of 11 colors.  And last week when Nancy pinned a photo of a quilt called Spin Cycle, I had to have it.  Sunday, after finishing a quilt top, I cut the Spin Cycle quilt out of the Blazing Bandana fabric.  I'm using only 12 blocks, which will make it a perfect size for the Saddle Up quilt raffle.  And that's what I'm working on today.  I;m anxious to get these quilts finished.  Not only because the Saddle Up is just 3 weeks away, but also because I want to make something for ME!

And now on a sadder note, "Vic" and I are finally through.  There's no going back.  I have given him three chances, which in my book is a fair number.  Each time I have had some horrible side effects.  This last time, they occurred after 4 weeks with "Vic".  And so, although I loved the effect "Vic" had on my glucose numbers, I have to say goodbye.  The side effects on the rest of my life just weren't worth it.  So now, I begin the walk to health without "Vic".  The key word here is "walk" and I know I can do it.   And so, my word of the month is "walk".  Cheer me on, please.

Keep on Sewing.