Canoe Carnival 2013

This time of year is always a little crazy.  The first Saturday in August every year is Canoe Carnival in the little lake filled town that we live in.  It's a time to get together with friends, build a float...and mount it on two canoes so it can make its way around a lake.  The float idea and design is usually decided by late February and the serious building starts in June.  We work a few nights a week and the occasional weekend to get it all together.  This year the theme was circus, so we decided to make a Lego Circus.  Here are a few pictures from the building and from Canoe Carnival night, which was last Saturday.

Bringing all the elements we'd made to the lake house.

Getting them mounted on the float.

The work continues...

Our float group...A Group Named Sioux.

Lego Circus out on the lake.

Another view...I loved the little penguin!

Isn't it amazing what you can do with aluminum supports, 1" foam, paint and a little creativity?

Lee and I after he rowed the float around the lake.

It was a great night, perfect weather and so much fun..in spite of the fact we came in last in our division!  Now that it's all over, I'm back to doing some sewing and knitting...more on that next time!

Working on my Short List

It's been awhile since I had a short list post, so it must be time! Every year, Pennington Quilt Works sends a 20% off coupon to be used the month of your birthday.  Last year I used it to get to get the fabric and pattern for this quilt...

The pattern was Sherbet Stars by Cotton Way, with a few changes to make it my own. I had hoped that by the time this quilt was done, my Shingles pain would be gone, but that didn't happen.  Although using acupuncture, it has lessened and I've been able to cut down on my pain meds, so that was a blessing!  This one, although I had planned on keeping it, went to my daughter Ellen.  She fell in love with it and who was I to say no?  So, one down from my short list!

Second on my short list was a quilt for my youngest, Grace.  She was accepted into the Disney College Program and headed down to Orlando last week. She'll be working in Disney's Hollywood Studios until January of 2014.  I was working very hard on a quilt for her, but 5 days in the hospital really put me behind!  I still managed to get the quilt together, quilted and bound the night before she left.  This quilt is the large version of Plan C from Miss Rosie's Quilt Company book Schnibbles Times Two.  Here is the quilt, which I called "Disney Bound".  Yes, the name came to me when I was binding it. If you are "Disney Bounding" you dress like a character when you go to Disney, so I thought it was appropriate!  I love this quilt, made with Bonnie and Camille's Ruby.

Which brings me to my next birthday coupon!  When I was putting the borders on Disney Bound, I hit a pin with my machine.  Yep, it started clunking, the tension was off and I was in a panic...it was Thursday night and the quilt had to be finished by Saturday!  I pulled out my Featherweight and was able to finish the border, then put an emergency text in to my son's girlfriend and asked if she could send over my old Singer which she'd borrowed.  I was able to get the backing and binding made on the Singer, panic over!  Yesterday I took my machine up to Pennington Quilt Works to be serviced and brought my birthday coupon along.  So, this year's birthday quilt is going to be one from Camille Roskelly's new book Simply Retro.  The fabric is Lario from 3 Sisters...this is a very pretty line of fabric which I hadn't seen before.  The pattern I'm using is called "Fresh".  

I can't wait until I get my machine back and this quilt goes to the top of my short list!

Magna Cum Laude and all that...

Friday, May 17th was one of the greatest, proudest days in my life.  And one of the worst.  Ellen, after a very long road that included several colleges, major changes, a life changing diagnosis of Celiac Disease, and some time off to regroup, graduated from Rowan College with a degree in Law and Criminal Justice.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude (just .01 from Summa!) with a 4.0 for her last semester.  She was accepted to grad school and is leaving with a job as a case worker.  I'm so incredibly proud of Ellen and all of her accomplishments!  Here she is receiving her diploma...

And with that precious diploma that she worked so hard for!

 

The new graduate!
 

 My parents were there to cheer her on at graduation...

 

 

And so was my husband....

 

 

Her boyfriend Joe also graduated...

 

Do you see a picture of me?  No?  That's because I wasn't there.  While Ellen was graduating on Friday, Grace was taking me to the Emergency Room for a bladder infection gone bad.  I thought I might have one when I came home from picking Grace up at school on Wednesday.  I called the doctor on Thursday for some antibiotics but it was too late. 

 The infection had moved into my kidneys and had gone septic.  I was admitted and spent 5 days in the hospital on IV antibiotics, fluids and anything they could come up with to keep the fever down and get this bug out of me.  There were a few times I was worried...when my blood pressure dropped down very low the first night in the hospital, when my fever shot up over 104 degrees and they had to cool me down with ice packs...but all I could do was lay there and cry that I was missing one of the most important events in Ellen's life.  I also missed her party on Saturday which sounded like lots of fun!  I can deal with a lot of things, but this was one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with.  Not being sick, that happens.  Missing graduation?  That sucked.  Ellen, I swear I'll be at your grad school graduation...I'm so glad I'll get a second chance!

 

Happiness is a Warm Baby...

and we have a new one in the family!  Little Emma is my great niece, the daughter of my nephew and his wife.  She decided she couldn't wait until her due date of May 30th, and made her appearance on April 27th.  This is the first of the new generation in our family...my sister's first grandchild and my parents' first great-grandchild. She is very tiny, so she's been in the hospital since she was born.  Of course, I couldn't stay away and have been to visit her several times.  She's just beautiful!

Emma and me

I was going to make her a quilt, but my mom was making one for her.  I decided that a quilt made by her great-grandmom would be very special, so chose to crochet an afghan for her.  Had she been born on time, I would have had it finished, but since she came early, she had to wait for it. (Not that she noticed!) I didn't use a pattern, just a tutorial on how to make hexagon crochet blocks from Lavender and Wild Rose.  I arranged the colors differently, trying to make them resemble roses surrounded by leaves.  I love how it turned out...I hope Emma does!

Emma's Afghan

Here's a little closer shot so you can see the blocks...

It was a fun afghan to make, it just took a lot longer than I thought it would!  I'm glad it's finished and I'm glad she's here!

It's Hard To Believe...

But I've been sewing! My daughter Grace is heading to Florida in a few weeks to take part in the Disney College Program. She'll be working at Disney for 7 months, so I thought she might need a new quilt to take with her.  This is the big Plan C quilt from Carrie Nelson's Schnibbles times two book. Now to start putting those rows together!

Wow, didn't realize how awful the picture I posted last night was, sorry about that!  I took a new one with a real camera instead of my phone.  This is the second Plan C I've made, the first can be seen here. This is the larger version, which I'm loving.  I'm using Bonnie and Camille's Ruby fabric for this.  I had bought it to make an applique quilt, but that project has been abandoned.  I  love that this quilt showcases the fabric by having a big, bold design.  I have a few more finishes to share in the next few days...I really have been working on projects!

New Winners!

Well, I never heard from the winners from my previous post and it's been more than a week.  I've decided to go ahead and pick new winners for The Giving Quilt.  Mel from Covered Porches and Wooden Screen Doors and Suzy from Suzy's Quilting Room are the two new winners according the random number generator!  Congratulations ladies, please send me your addresses and I'll get your books and pins off to you!

I visited a lovely quilt display a few weeks ago...post coming soon!

Winners!

I'm sorry it took so long to choose winners! Last week got away from me because I was busy with our new family member...we welcomed Ivy to our home!  She's not really a one eyed cat, the vet said that her eye is in there, but is so retracted that she couldn't tell if it was very small or just retracted so far in.  Ivy will see an eye specialist later this week.  She's a sweetheart and adapted into the house quite easily.

But, enough about Ivy, how about some winners?  Comments number 4 and 5 were chosen by the random generator, so Elisabeth and Patti from My Current Obsessions are the winners. Ladies, please send me your shipping information and I'll be happy to send your books along!  Elisabeth, I don't have an email for you, please email me!

Happy Easter Giveaway!

Wishing all of you a very happy, blessed Easter.  I love going to the Easter morning mass at our church, love the music and seeing all the little children dressed up in their adorable outfits.  I miss those days!

I was lucky enough to receive two copies of The Giving Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini and some pins to share with you.  If you are interested in receiving a copy, just leave a comment.  I'll choose two winners in the next day or two and send them along.  I reviewed this book awhile ago, you can read about it here.  I enjoyed this story!  The Giving Quilt comes out in paperback on Tuesday.

On The Needles Friday

It's been a while since I posted for On the Needles Friday.  I've been working on this hat for awhile, it's a Ravelry pattern called the Temperance Hat.  The pattern is pretty easy, I just knit slowly!  I'd hoped to have it done to wear this winter, but that didn't happen, so now I'm planning for it to be done by the end of baseball season...some of those late season games get cold here!  What's on YOUR needles today?  Show us at Patchwork Times!

My Little Helper

Holly decided to give me a little help quilting today. This quilt is made from blocks that I exchanged in the Jo Morton Yahoo group a few years ago. I made the top and basted it on the machine for hand quilting. Well, you can see how far I got with that! So it's back on the machine and on its way to being finished at last. Sometimes you just want/need to get things done...

Binding

Time to stitch down the binding, I just love the polka dot flannel on the back!

Getting close...

To another finish! Should have this one quilted today, then the binding and I'll be done!

Monday Morning

This was on my desk when I got to work this morning. Day made!

Hexies

It seems I've caught the hexies bug too. But mine are just a bit different than the rest I've seen on other blogs, seeing as they're crochet, not quilting! I used the tutorial from the Lavender and Wild Rose blog but did the first two rounds from the same color so the blocks would sort of look like flowers. This is the start of a baby afghan for a little girl who will be arriving in late May!

Winner at last!

I'm quite late in choosing a winner for this book...bet you thought I forgot all about it!  The random number selector chose Ruth's comment as the winner, so I've already contacted her and the book will be off to her house in the morning.  Thanks to everyone for leaving a comment!

Christmas Quilt

The sewing room is finally cleaned up and I found a little time to quilt and bind my Christmas quilt made from a free Gail Pan embroidery Block of the Month from a few years ago.  I couldn't seem to get a good picture of it, so here are a few...I hope you can get an idea of what it's like.  This one gets the whole quilt in...

A little closer so you can see the embroidery. Most of the fabrics are old Robyn Pandolph Christmas fabrics and some by Three Sisters.

Here's a picture of the family room where it's hanging...even though Christmas is over!

So, that takes two items off my short list.  I really didn't like the way the baby blanket for Ellen's friend was going and when the baby was born he was far to big for the small blanket I was making...he was over 10 pounds! Now onto Plan B, whenever I figure out what Plan B is. So, that leaves me with this...

The Short List

1.  Ellen's quilt - my "birthday quilt" from this post

Wow, guess I need to find a few more projects!

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker - Review and Giveaway!

I was recently asked to review Jennifer Chiaverini's new book, Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker.  This is this first book that she's written that is not part of the Elm Creek Quilts series, which we all know and love!  I was curious to see if her writing style would \be different when taking on a more serious topic, and it was definitely a change from what I was used to!

While the book is not one that I couldn't put down, like the Elm Creek novels, I'm enjoying it in a different way than her other books.  This brief synopsis of the book came from Amazon:

In March 1861, Mrs. Lincoln chose Keckley from among a number of applicants to be her personal “modiste,” responsible not only for creating the First Lady’s gowns, but also for dressing Mrs. Lincoln in the beautiful attire Keckley had fashioned. The relationship between the two women quickly evolved, as Keckley was drawn into the intimate life of the Lincoln family, supporting Mary Todd Lincoln in the loss of first her son, and then her husband to the assassination that stunned the nation and the world.

Elizabeth Keckley, a freed black woman, was a seamstress to many of Washington's elite.  Her work came to the attention of Mrs. Lincoln and she was hired as her personal seamstress. The book chronicles her life with the Lincolns as she becomes a confidante of the first lady and a friend to the president.

I'll admit, I'm not yet finished the book as it is a much slower read than her previous books and I've had a hard time remaining interested in the subject. To me it reads more as a history book than it does as women's fiction.  I haven't connected with the characters. I'm looking forward to hearing what others have to say about the book!

If you've stayed with me this far, please leave a comment...as soon as I finish the book, I'll randomly select someone to share this book with! (US comments only!)

Here I am!

Hope you didn't forget about me!  Thanks to all of you who sent me your thoughts and condolences for Cheyenne.  She was a sweet cat and I miss her terribly.  We did adopt Holly right before Thanksgiving and she has been a joy to have around. We've had a lot of great cats over the 27 years we've been married, but never one with the personality that Holly has.  She's constantly making me smile!

So, here's a quick wrap up of our holidays...the kids were all here for dinner and we had a wonderful time...

and my little bit of "secret sewing" that was on my short list was embroidering Dayna's name on her new Christmas stocking.  We figured that it was about time she had her own stocking on Christmas instead of using an old one that we've had for years.  I got this stocking at Target and embroidered her name on it. She seemed very excited when she saw it!

I haven't done any sewing since the new year started, although I have been doing some crochet.  One of Ellen's friends just had a baby boy and I had started a little afghan for him.  It's about 36 x 36...not very big! Well, little Wyatt weighed in over 10 pounds, so by the time I finish it, he will be far too big to wrap up in it!  On to plan B....I think a baby quilt is in my future!

Another reason I haven't sewn is that my sewing room has been a dumping ground since Christmas.  It's going to take a bit of tidying up before I can find the top of my sewing table...I need to excavate down through layers of stuff!

So, my short list for now will stay very short...

1. Finish the crochet afghan,

2. quilt and bind my Gail Pan Christmas Quilt that didn't get finished for Christmas!

3. Finish my "birthday quilt" which will be going to Ellen once it's finished.  It needs more borders, quilting and binding.

But none of that can be done until I clean the sewing room....I'd better get to work!

Rest In Peace

Rest in Peace, Cheyenne.  You were a good friend and I'll miss you. 

Eleven years was just not enough.

Another finish...

Another project on my short list is finished!  This wool Santa Mat was finished about a week ago and I haven't had time to sit down and post it!  It was fun to make, although I didn't fall in love with working with wool.  Want to know why?  There's way too much cat hair in my house to work with wool!  I spent more time pulling stray hairs off the black wool than I did stitching!

With the tree skirt and this done, I have two projects left on my list.  I've loaded the Gail Pan quilt top onto the longarm, but haven't had time to quilt it yet.  I've also started the baby blanket, but haven't gotten too far yet.  I have one secret project that I'm adding to my list.  It's only a tiny bit of work, but it has to be done by Christmas.  I'll try to take a picture when it's done...if I remember!   Then I'll decide what will be the next projects added to my short list!  Luckily the shopping is done and except for a few small things, everything is wrapped.  Grace is in charge of the cookie baking this year...can't wait to see what we wind up with.  I'll make pizzelles for my dad like I do every year, and probably chocolate pizzelles and chocolate chip cookies for the boss.  I can't believe Christmas is so close!!!!