Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all

Our most precious gift is 4 month old Princess Gracie.  She is the joy of our lives.

                                                                               Superquilter

Christmas Stocking

Today I finish the Christmas stocking for princess Gracie's Mama.

Now I can move on to finish a Christmas table topper for me.

Superquilter

Gracie's Christmas Stocking

My Granddaughter is 4 months now and this will be her first Christmas.  I am so excited about it.  I made her a Christmas stocking in honor of her first Christmas.

I am also working on one for her Mama.  I made one for her Daddy several years ago (he was single then). So now everyone in the family will have a stocking.


Superquilter

More Mug Rugs

I made a couple more mug rugs for family

And now I am off to make Gracie her Christmas stocking for her first Christmas.


                                                                                             SUPERQUILTER

Very Long Time Posting

I know it has been many months since I last posted.  I have been busy and haven't taken the time to blog. First and foremost Our first Granddaughter, Gracie, was born in August.  She is a blessing for sure.  I have two Grandsons that are in their 20's and two Great Grandsons that are five.  As you probably can tell it has been all boys.  This includes my two sons.  I keep busy playing with Gracie (I don't call it babysitting.)  Gracie makes my each and every day a joy.

I haven't quilted much, but that mini quilt I posted with the flower--well I won a 2nd place ribbon in the Grady County Fair. I really enjoyed making it. 

I made a mug rug for Gracie.  In fact it is my first mug rug.

In between I started knitting socks again.  I have one sock done and have to do the other one to make the pair.

Thanksgiving was wonderful as there were eight of us and the food was good (I made most it, LOL) .
Others brought food and oh my gosh did we fill up and then some.  It was a wonderful visit with family.

I do have to sew a couple of Christmas stockings for Gracie and her Mama.

It's pretty cold here in Oklahoma with some ice and snow.  We are hibernating in the house this weekend watching college football.

Until next time stay warm and safe during this winter season

Upcoming August Retreat

I finally came up with a project for the challenge fabric in August.   I was doing a monthly BOM with my Renegade Quilters small group and decided on this sunflower shown here.  So I am happy to be a step ahead on my monthly BOM. I almost forgot to mention that the challenge fabric are the petals of the flower and it does not even look like flames.

                                                      SUPERQUILTER

Happy July 4th

Happy July 4th to all.  I have progressed very well with my fractured pelvis and I am feeling more energy each day.  Getting back to my quilting slowly.  Right now I am working on a challenge for the quilt retreat in August.  May not make it though as our first girl Granddaughter is due to be born about the same time.  I do not want to miss her being born as there are mostly boys in our family.  But I will get the challenge done to send with someone.  The fabric is orange "flames" and I still don't have a clue as what to make with.  Any ideas out there are welcome.  So I am back to putting my thinking cap on.  Enjoy your 4th of July everyone.

                                                                                            Superquilter

My thoughts

I am so thankful that Jesus is my Savior and I count my blessings as I heal from my fall and fractured my pelvis.

"The body heals with play,
the mind heals with laughter
and the spirit heals with joy.

Proverb

                                                          SUPERQUILTER

Out of Commission

A week ago I fell in the kitchen and had to be taken to the ER.  The result is I fractured my pelvis and it is painful.  Dr said surgery not required and it will self heal.  How long I don't know.  So it has really slowed me down in everything to include quilting  ARRRGH.  DH is a good nurse and I am trying to keep a smile on my face.  So until??? Happy quilting.

Superquilter

On The Bright Side Of Things.

Beautiful morning and day. So glad to have had rain, but not so glad for the devastating storms. Make the best of every day and try to have a song in heart. Life is too short not to.  Here in Oklahoma those storms are always out there and our weatherman tries to give us warning ahead of time.  I am fortunate to be blessed.  The storms have come sometimes within a half a mile to a mile close to us.  This time it was less than a mile where it started and headed to Newcastle and on to Moore.   I am not going to say it is not scarey.  I can only imagine how scared the children were, not to mention the adults.  My heart goes out to them.      The teachers were heroic trying to save the children at school.  Our first responders, EMT's, police, fireman are extraordinary people.  To have to deal with everyday things is something to think about, but to handle the devastation in Shawnee and Moore is another thing.  What they see is hard and it is hard for them to carry home to their loved ones and to have a restful sleep at night.  That is to say that they have a home to go to when the storm is over. They always put others first.   It will take a very long time for all involved to recover from this.  But those of us who live here are OKLAHOMA STRONG.  Please pray for those who lost so much in the storm.  Thank you for letting me say what I have had on my mind.

                                                                      SUPERQUILTER

 

My Exotic Garden Plant

I have a rare exotic garden plant this year and it has grown past my height nearly.  Some people may not appreciate my exoctic plant, but I have had a laugh or two watching it grow.  I am looking forward to the bloom.  Everyone needs a little amusement  once in a while and the garden fairy has done just that.  So won't you join me and enjoy what Mother Nature has given me.

By now you should have guessed that my exotic plant is a thistle.  But it must have known I could see the beauty in it.  Thank you Mother Nature for giving me this joy.

Superquilter

Love to Quilt

Yes I love to make quilt blocks, quilt tops and try my hardest to quilt them on my sewing machine.  But quilting my finished pieced quilts is harder for me to get done.  First I have to decide what design to choose, then the color of thread to use and being able to actually quilt them.  I used to hand quilt, but that took me a long time to finish.  I know patience my dear, patience. It seems that I got a lot more done when I was working, but that was 9 years ago and now I barely get any of the quilts quilted.  Oh well, you know what, life goes on and as long as I am happy doing what I can get finished, it's OK.  After all it is not a race.  Right.  Right.  So here are pictures of what I am playing with right now.

My hexagons. 

And my Sister's Choice blocks.

I have sewn the Sister's Choice blocks the way Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville shows on her blog.  I just love her and she makes blocks easier and logical.  I am even doing the leader ender thing to work in another project on down the line.  I keep saying that this year is the year for using scraps.  Believe me I have plenty of them everywhere.  As the nation is talking about cutting down the budget, I am also by using what I already have.
Although that thought probably won't last long as I am addicted to fabric, I will try. Well I have rambled on and must get something done, whether it be making blocks, starting a new quilt or finishing one, my quilting life goes on. 

Renegade Retreat March 2013

Our small group decided to work on UFO's from now on in March every year.  So I took 6 of my old projects.  Why, I don't know, because my normal is to get one project done.  One of these old, old projects was my 4 1/2 inch paper pieced stars.  The stars were done years ago (probably about ten) and they need sashings.  So I now have it all pieced together and it just needs borders and to be quilted.  Note:  there are 195 stars and the sashing is 1 1/2 inches unfinished with 1 1/2 inch unfinished squares.  This morning I am doing a happy dance to get this much done.  The other 5 projects will be done another time.

Gotta Practice, Practice, Practice

This morning I started practicing some free motion quilt designs other than the  meandering.  I am going to try practicing something every day.  I have been following some of the free motion blogs and I think a lot of practice I can do it.  Oh by the way, I do it on my domestic sewing machine (DSM).  Even though I have a lot of admiration for longarm quilters, I like the idea of doing it myself.  Believe me I have plenty of tops to quilt.  So wish me luck and success.

Snow Day

We've got snow today and you know what that means--it's a sew day.  Have not sewn on the sewing machine since I got back from the cruise.  So today is a good day to do that.  First, I think I will work on a challenge for the Renegade quilters Retreat the end of March.  Then I will work on the Mystery Quilt from the McCalls Cruise.  This should get me started on the machine again.  Since the cruise I have worked on Hexagons and that for me is handwork.  So off I go to the sewing room.  Enjoy your day everyone and work on something creative.

Cruise Ship Vacation Gone Bad

This post is not about my cruise, but of the Carnival cruise "gone bad" this past week.  I have prayed for the safety of all.  It brought heartache to me to know how this "nightmare" of a vacation turned out for those on the Carnival Triumph when my cruise with Royal Caribbean was so wonderful just the week before.  I am in no way advertising for the Royal Caribbean.  I pray all of those passengers will come through the settlements with ease and be able to sleep and live their lives more peacefully now that they are home or almost home.  Welcome Home to all passengers that were on that cruise.

Hexagons

I have had a bag of hexagons forever.  Well, on my cruise we had a demonstration of hexagons and that renewed my interest.  I decided it was a good project to work on while DH and I watch TV. That way I am not stuck in a room with the just the sewing machine.  I am not a big TV watcher, so it gives me something to do with my hands instead of jumping up and down doing something else. I don't have much done, but it is a start.

The last Cruise Port

The last cruise port was Cozumel and we were supposed to go helmet diving.  We were very excited, however it started raining and all water excursions were canceled.  Disappointing to say the least.  So we shopped at the port stores and then went back to the ship.  The dock was so very long and I barely got started leaving the ship, I was exhausted. After all joint replacements my legs are not strong and had walked everywhere which includes all the walking on the ship all week.  So my friend hailed a wheel chair and I was happy to pay the tip going and coming from Cozumel.

Here are the girls that went on this cruise also.  I just want to say how very wonderful they are.  Bless them for I know I slowed them down a lot with my legs getting so tired.  They are the best you could ever have.  They have done so much for me and I can't thank them enough.  Thanks girls for making my cruise so very enjoyable. Love ya this much xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

Grand Cayman Here We Come

Our next Port stop was Grand Cayman.  There we waited for our shuttle bus and went to swim with the sting rays.  Here I struggled first by getting on bus.  The steps into it were too high for me with my four joint replacements, but my wonderful friends and others helped.  As for the stingrays they were huge.  There too friends helped me because I float so easily, they hung on to me or I probably would have floated to who knows where.  LOL  I knew it would be hard to get in the water, but with the boatman's help I made it.  Then there was the reality of getting back up on the boat.  And again the boatman and his brother were there to save the day.  The  wind was blowing and the waves were a little strong.  Then we were back on the bus headed for the dolphins.  There it was fun, but I knew I could not stay on the surf board So I watch my friends being pushed by a dolphin.  However I did get to pet, kissed and got a kiss back from the dolphin.  From there we went to Tiki Beach to soak in some sun.

The ship could not dock at Grand Cayman because the water is too shallow.  All kinds of boats came to the ship to pick us up.

The next pictures show us going back to the ship the same way.

Once we were back on the ship, I saw the Disney Cruise Ship.  The water was beautiful with so many blues.

Port Arrival

Jamaica was in view.  We were to have docked at Falmouth, Jamaica, however the sea was too rough to dock.  The Captain announced that he would be docking at Montego Bay, which was about two hours away.  There was a hustle to get everything arranged for those that were doing excursions.  It was successful as shuttles were waiting for us.  We did get to do our excursions which was "Taste of Jamaica" in Falmouth.  It took an hour drive going and coming, but the lunch was very good. 

The water was so blue.  It was different trying to walk or stand on the ship as you either walked like you were drunk or swayed when standing still.  I surprised myself because I never got nauseated.

After about two hours, Montego Bay, Jamaica  came into our sights.  We were so excited, because we were going to get off the ship. The water was so blue.

As I mentioned above we were driven to our lunch destination.  I think it was called Hope Great House and it has a history back to the 1800's.  The furniture was beautiful inside.