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.

Our Beach Vacation

I love the ocean, sand ..... the whole works.

Now don't get scared and run off ..... I'm not going to bore you with a million beach photos, I promise. Actually if you want to just take a fast look via a slide show .... go HERE

We vacation at Ocean Isle Beach, NC which is about 45-50min north of Myrtle Beach. We love it at OIB ..... no night life ..... houses and condos only .... the beach is wonderful, not crowded and maintained beautifully. We've been going here for more years than I can remember.

So here's just a few more

Now see that wasn't so bad, was it ...............LOL

New "legal" driver on the highways .......

Yep it's legal for GD#1 to be on the highway ...... and yes she had all her beautiful hair cut off.

We gave her a surprise gift ...... her favorite snack ......Dill Pickle.

Mom and Dad bought her a car ....... it gets great gas mileage.

We can't believe she's old enough to drive and own a car ............ time is flying.

Prince's First Quilt

I am so thrilled with my Nolting PRO ....... he quilts like a dream and responds on a dime. Hmmm with inflation I guess I should say responds on a quarter.

I'm a nervous quilter who doesn't have a creative bone or the slightest hint of imagination in my body. I haunt other quilt forums like APQS, Longarm Chat and MQResouces to just name a few .... oh the eye candy ..... Then there are the Yahoo email groups like MQSG and, of course, Nolting ..... more eye candy. There are others but the above 5 are my favorites.

I made this little charity quilt several years ago so I put Prince Charming II to work. I decided to try some freehand, rulers and whatever else I could dream up. All of the fabrics are super busy so I knew none of my quilting would really show (boo-boo's wouldn't be seen either). I know they're there but on a galloping horse they aren't seen. LOL

I used some rulers like a curvie one for feathers, straight ruler to make spikes and piano key; I did use school chalk for the C's, loopie pink border and leaves on the black. OK I'll shut up now ........... a couple photos

Prince did an excellent job, he earned a gold star.

Nolting PRO 24" Long Arm

Meet Prince Charming II ............

Back in mid-June DH and I traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the NQA Show. While wandering around checking everything out we (DH & I) found ourselves at the Nolting booth. Dan from Nolting and Mike (new Nolting dealer) from Memory Lane Quilting were showing off their stuff. To make a long story short they offered me a deal I couldn't refuse ....... I'm the proud owner of a Nolting PRO 24" plus hydraulic legs (heaven). And I also got the "M" bobbin ... love how much bobbin thread it holds. I traded my Nolting 18". The wait began from June to August.

On Aug. 24 Mike and Bonnie arrived to set up Prince Charming II ......... they are definitely pros at setups and teardown. I know we're going to have a great owner/dealer relationship. 2PM we were waving good-bye to each other.

Gordon (Nolting) has designed a new side shaft foot for quilting .... it's wonderful especially for SID (stitch in the ditch). The foot allows complete view all the way around .... no part of a quilt can hide from me now. AND it's so easy to thread. I LOVE IT.

School Started

School started here August 26 ...... didn't they look nice. This year we're in 3 different Schools: Elementary, Middle and High School ........ traffic times three. It's fun.

Hey check out those shoes ........ WOW

Sure have missed blogging .........

I didn't post all summer. Two reasons .... 1) I keep my GC during the summer and we are very busy and 2) my beloved desktop was hit by lightening killing the harddrive. Yes, I have a UPS (universal power supply) but you know what those things die too especially after taking many hits. The worse thing is you won't know when your UPS has gone face down or is that face up.

Summer is over, School is back in session. My beloved desktop is getting a new harddrive and other goodies. So I'll be back in full swing soon.

In the meantime I'll be posting things that took place months ago and probably out of order. So here I go posting, quilting and who knows what else. I've also made some life decisions which I'll talk about in a later post.

I sure have missed being here ........... have a GREAT day.

2008 Honey Princess Pageant

This summer GD#2 competed for the title of Honey Princess Pageant 2008. It's a small, local affair with crafters, dancers, food and more.



GD#2 did quite well ..... she was 1st Runner Up ..... CONGRATS sweetheart. The young lady, 3rd from the left, was crowned 2008 Honey Princess.

I'm collecting all her t-shirts for a quilt someday ....... LOL

Sorry about the photo but my desktop is still out of commission so I don't have access to my paint shop pro software.

We Will NEVER Forget 9/11/01 Quilts

We Will NEVER Forget

The quilt panels above are just a few of the more than 160 panels that were made to honor all those who died on 9/11. I was one of many from all over the World who helped to make a quilt block for every person who died on 9/11. I traveled to Long Beach, CA several times to work on the quilt panels in 2002. The idea was born by Corey Gammel and Peter Marquez, LongBeach, Ca.

The first showing of the completed panels was on August 30 - September 1, 2002 on the Queen Mary. The quilt panels (16,000 square feet ) (if aligned end to end would stretch across a quarter-mile) tours all across the country and was finished in 11 months. It was largely done as a grass-roots effort. Over 3,600 volunteers from every State in the United States and 18 countries contributed to the assembly of the quilt panels.

This is the quilt block I made to honor Walter Matuza, Jr, New York resident. He was the father of 3 boys, killed in the Trade Center. Each section represents Walter's life: he served in the armed forces; family fishing trips, loved playing with his 3 boys and cherished his wife dearly.



Please take a moment to remember all of the families who lost so much 9/11/2001.

Your SomeDay May Never Come

Great Aunt Clemma

Over the weekend I received very sad news ....... my Great Aunt Clemma passed away .... she was 82. Her passing was sudden, unexpected as she had attended a great neices wedding just 2 days prior.


Someday has run out.


I saw her last in October 2007 at my 2nd cousins wedding. Again she invited us to her home and I said .... next time as we had a long trip home and it was getting late.


Someday has run out.


She looked the same as I always remembered along with her 3 children, Jr., Barbara and Phyllis. At that time we talked, as we have many times, of a family reunion .....


Someday again has run out.



So as I have said many times .... I'll do it someday .... well my someday is here and I'm going to take it to the fullest ... no more stalling, no more putting it off, no more to-do list ........ no more "someday" in my speech.


Don't let your SOMEDAY run out ....................