I'm Off to San Diego

Up, Up and Away I GO





I'm taking off Tuesday morning for San Diego to visit my mother. I love San Diego ... it has the most perfect weather and nice all the time (my opinion). Our DD#1 was born in San Diego while DH was serving in the U.S. Navy.


We'll be celebrating my Mother's 80th birthday ..... WOW





This is the Hotel Del at Coronado ........ not far from my Mother's.

See you in 10 days or so. I gotta go pack ........ oh dear which suitcase .... big or little????

There are tons of quilt shops in the San Diego area.

Little Gardeners

Whew look at those sunflowers ...... they planted several and boy are they tall.

Check out these watermelons ........ yummy. All the kids had their own little part of the garden. By the way they "are not" holding the same watermelon.

Naturally the dogs have to get in on the act. That's Oreo on the left (Mountain Feist) and Tippy on the right (ShiShi+Terrier).

Missing are tomato photos ...... they were very good but alas the wasp have built several nest so camera were not allowed (the wasp said).

Thank You for Judy in Strings

This quilt is for a dear person, Judy. She works at the assisted living home where my father resides. He has dementia and can not live on his own. Judy has helped us so much. Unfortunately at the end of the week she'll be laid off.

I wanted Judy to know how much I have appreciated her over the years and to say THANK YOU. Judy you will be missed.

This quilt was quilted on Prince Charming 2 with a heart/loop pantograph.

Pampering Myself

So many colors to choose from. Yep I get a pedicure about every 5-6 weeks ..... if you haven't had one before oh please treat yourself.

Now I had a video to show you but blogger isn't cooperating with me today so sorry.






Oh man I love red toes...................

Favorite Salad (meal)

I'm a Weight Watcher. Several years ago I lost over 50lb and made Lifetime status. Alas back problems and other life happenings occurred and I gained back 25lb. I started back to WW the first of June and to date ............... drum roll ......... I'm down 12lb.

I love the Weight Watcher Message Boards ...... they are FREE. You'll find me mostly on Neighbors Board with the Wild Wonderful West Virginia group and Taking It Off In Ohio group. Both groups post everyday and so supportive .... we even have get togethers.

This is one of my favorite meals. I cut up onion (lots), pepper, mushrooms, tomato, celery, lettuce, left over veggies and mix it all together. Then add my favorite protein .... in this case I used salad shrimp but anything works .... tuna, chicken, ground beef, turkey .... you get the idea. Oh and a little Weight Watcher cheese, too.

I love the spray salad dressings too.

Flooring, Butterscotch Oak

Ahhhhhhhhhh isn't the floor beautiful ....... we love it. And now the story behind the beauty. (we still have a few things to finish up) The laminate flooring is from Lowe's, special order Pergo, Butterscotch Oak.

In case you don't remember way back last Christmas we had a water line break causing water to come into our family room. Of course, the carpet was done for .... thank goodness ... I hated that white carpet. (side thought here: this house has white carpet in every room, yes every room, and not only that but it's 5 different white carpets ..... UGH a big UGH). So the hunt was on except I wanted laminate. DH pulled up the carpet over several weeks and for several months we lived with concrete floor. In fact, I said let's just paint the floor, lay down the area rug and move on.

So we finally find a laminate we like at Lowe's ..... we ordered ...... we waited. It comes in, DH brings it home. It sits on our fireplace hearth for another few months while we discuss what to do. At one point I say .... take it back and we'll buy carpet.

OK first you buy a saw and put it on your grandmother's table.

You allow the flooring to sit for several days (in our case couple months) so it can adjust to the indoor climate.

Then you discover after removing all the baseboards that your drywall doesn't come all the way to the floor. So you have to cut pieces to fit so that your flooring doesn't slide under.

Put down your vapor barrier ..... different types for different floors.

This is a problem we haven't solved yet ...... round pole (holds up the house) which is now in a square hole. If you have any ideas we'd love to hear them.

Not all cuts are even but hey the doorway thingie will cover that it where floor meets quilting studio carpet.

Reinstall the baseboards and etc.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh doesn't it look nice. Yes, 2 walls are painted RED.

It took awhile for DH and SIL to get it installed .... we have lots of busy evenings and weekends.

To make this quilty .... someday I plan to make a small quilt for over our fireplace. Maybe something like seasons then we can change it out. I'm taking suggestions.....

I love it. You do have to dust everyday ..... all that dust your don't see with carpet YOU DO SEE with laminate/hardwood floors. I still love it.

Trunk Show

Yes, that's Linda McCuean, 2007 winner of $100,000 with her Bella Quilt.

Linda McCuean gave us a Trunk Show. Oh my it was wonderful. She's been quilting for over 30 years, creates her own quilt designs and quilt patterns, uses all kinds of threads and is self-taught on the long arm machine.

This is one of her latest quilts and for the life of me I can't remember the name. It was Ivy something, maybe Ivy Remembrance.




If you ever get a chance to hear Linda speak run as fast as you can to her lecture. It was a wonderful day.


More photos from the Trunk Show are HERE

Quilt Challenge and more

Several months ago Shirley Stutz challenged Marlies and anyone else to make a quilt from this Christmas skirt panel. And this stripe could be used too.

OK are you ready ......... here are the quilts they each made using the Christmas skirt panels.

This is Shirley's, she used 6 skirt panels.

Here is Marlies', used 8 skirt panels.

Side by side.................

Shirley also made this one using the border stripe fabric from above.



More Show'n'Tell photos are HERE

Dance, Dance, Dance

Dance, dance, dance ............. I LOVE DANCING...........

GD#2 is crazy about dancing ........ this year will be her first ever toe pointe class. A couple weeks ago they traveled to another city about an hour away to get fitted. Oh they are so pretty and PINK (her favorite color).

The shoes already have a story to tell. Last week when classes started up the younger girls were admiring the older girls toe pointe shoes. Well, to make a long story short one of the younger girls (9yr) sneaked upstairs to where the dance bags are kept, she opened GD#2 bag taking out the pointe shoes (brand new, never worn, expensive) and placed them in "her own dance bag". Yes, you read correctly ... she stole the shoes. Pointe class begins and GD#2 can't find her shoes .... the 9yr old has already gone home. Luckily for us another student thought she knew who stole the shoes. You got it .... at 9PM DD#1 and GD#2 went to get the shoes. In my opinion the girl and her mother should have brought the shoes to GD#2's house. I still can not believe what happened. Amazing.

More pretty pink ballet shoes.

Jazz dance is so much fun. Such cute costumes go with jazz shoes.

Here she is in her costume for the 2007 play, Clara's Dream, as one of the dolls. Check out those curls.

AND here she is as a soldier in 2006 ... this was the poster notice for the 2007 Show.

When You're Ready, You're Ready

Today was a red letter day for our GS ........ he learned to ride his bike without the training wheels. AND dad is getting a work out too.

And who better to cheer you on ...... a sister.

Quilt Bindings ...

This is where I get alot of my quilt bindings finished. GS has winter swim team practice for an hour. Practice is everyday but we usually only make it 2 or 3 times a week.

Specialized lessons by Coach Megan ..... the pool is olympic size and they swim for an hour constantly. Great exercise and calories disappear.

Here's a short video, 40seconds.

Yep he has a swim team quilt .... I made it several years ago.