Recent finished projects

 I finished two projects this past weekend. The first is a sweater for our youngest granddaughter, Nora. The pattern is by Marlaine DesChamps, it is called Kiddie Cables. It was an easy to follow pattern and I am pleased with the way the sweater turned out.

About six months ago I took our daughter Emily to a quilt shop in Rome City, Indiana, Caroline's Cottage Cottons. Emily selected a quilt pattern called Sunny Days by Darlene Zimmerman. Caroline's had a very nice selection of 1930's reproduction prints for us to choose from. The blocks were easy to piece, the challenging part was the final layout, it took a lot of rearranging to make sure that I did not have like fabric against like fabric. I machine quilted using the free motion setting on my Janome Horizon sewing machine, I did a very small meander pattern. I will not do such a small meander pattern again, it was very time consuming, and I feel the quilt is a bit "over quilted". Otherwise I am very pleased with how the quilt turned out. I am now working on a quilt for our granddaughter Aubrey and knitting another Kiddie Cable sweater in dark blue in a larger size, it will go to either grandson Ralph, or Harrison, it depends who it fits best. 

New Shirts

 Earlier this summer our grandson Patrick asked if I could make him a shirt like Grandpa's only with a Harry Potter print fabric, of course, I said yes. Several weeks later I was in the fabric store with several grandsons to get the fabric for the shirt, while looking at all of the licensed fabric Patrick decided he really liked the Animal Crossing print and wanted his shirt made with it instead. Then Henry asked if I could make him a shirt too, again, I said yes. Henry selected a Marvel Comic print. Yesterday I finished both shirts, I am pleased with how they look and will given them to the boys next time I see them. Younger brother Charlie has now asked for a shirt, he saw a print he liked but isn't totally sure it is the one he wants, I will take him to the store to browse the licensed fabric and go from there. 

Patrick's shirt

Henry's shirt

Dave (Grandpa) modelling his Starry Night shirt

The Very Long Monopoly Game

Last week on a Monday afternoon the boys were dropped off by the school bus, came in and devoured a snack and Charlie asked if we could play Monopoly. The game began, properties were bought, rents paid, but no one owned a complete set of properties before the boys were picked up to go home.

It was Wednesday when the boys were over again, we got a little bit of a late start on resuming the game as Patrick had play practice after school. But things quickly got exciting, Patrick got a completed set of properties and started buying houses, then I did, and after a bit so did Charlie. Then the boys were picked up to go home. It certainly looked as if Patrick would end up the winner.

Roll on to Thursday. The boys arrived home from school, had a snack, and the game resumed. It was brutal! After a bit Charles was bankrupt, but I think he was just ready for the seemingly never ending game of Monopoly to be over and left the table quite happily. Patrick and I battled on, but in the end he got the better of me and became Monopoly Champion!

It was a lot of fun but we were all glad to finally end the game.

 

February Quilt Guild

The second Wednesday of each month is a day I really look forward to as I get to go to Quilt Guild. I have learned so many things since the first meeting I attended in October. The block of the month assigned in January was Spinkys Block, I love seeing how the blocks look different depending on the color choices.

At every guild meeting someone presents a demo. Some demos are very basic, and last maybe ten minutes, and others are very detailed, but all have provided tips and techniques that are helpful. The past two meetings have had very good demos. In January it was tips and tricks for new quilters, I have quilted for many years and walked away with several useful ideas. Last week we had another good demo on how to use Bloc-Loc rulers, they are amazing, and how to use and design borders. It was so interesting. 

This book was passed around during the demo, it had pages and pages of border ideas. I went online to order a copy of the book and found that it is out of print and the only copy I could find was priced at $70, a bit steep for my budget. I checked with the library and it is not a book they have in their collection. I am sure there must be other books out there with border ideas.

 During the business meeting part of quilt guild the ladies talked about their annual field trip, usually taken in June, and it sounds so fun. The field trip will involve stops at various quilt shops and lunch out somewhere. I can't wait to hear what is planned and am looking forward to a fun day out with a bunch of super nice ladies.

Happy Valentine's Day

Last week I was talking to Mom on the phone when she mentioned that Dad was sending me a gift for Valentines Day. I could not imagine what he would be sending, he is an excellent photographer and the only thing I could think of was perhaps he was sending a picture. Imagine my surprise when a large package arrived at the house and inside was everything necessary to make a mini herb garden. 

The directions said to soak some of the seeds in tepid water for a day. I started my seed soak in the evening and left them over night.

The other seeds did not need to be pre-soaked.

At first glance you might think this is a rather murky cup of coffee, it is in fact the potting soil. The herb garden kit came with four hockey puck sized discs of potting soil that needed to be rehydrated. I let the soil discs soak over night in a pitcher of water

The next morning it was potting time. I found that I had to add additional potting soil to the soil provided in the kit. Because I have a mild house plant addiction I always have a large bag of potting soil on the go, so I added a scoop to each pot before adding the soil that came with the kit.

Because it is a winter and seeds like a bit of warmth to germinate I decided to create a greenhouse effect and wrapped the tray of seed pots in Saran wrap. I placed the tray over a heating vent for the first couple of days. 

So now I wait, and hopefully in ten or so days seedlings start to emerge and I will enjoy watching the plants grow. This is a really nice project for the final weeks of winter and it has me excited about starting a garden this spring. Thank you Dad.

Happy Valentine's Day

 

A Short Trip To Tavares

Last week I headed to Florida with our daughter Emily, our grandson Masen, and Emily's step-daughter Emma. My parents are getting ready to move to Colorado to live close to my sister and brother-in-law and I went to help mom get some things done in readiness for the big move. Emily and co. went to visit and have some fun. They visited Homosassa Springs to see the Manatees, and on the last day they surprised Masen with a visit to Disney.

The car is loaded, Masen is buckled in and plugged in and ready for the long drive from Indiana to Florida.

We were making good time until we hit southern Kentucky where we ground to a halt. We spent several minutes not moving seeing the Welcome To Tennessee sign ahead. Suddenly we able to inch forward and then stopped again with the front of the vehicle in Tennessee and the rear of the vehicle in Kentucky, it was kind of funny. We travelled like this for nearly two hours! 

We stayed overnight in Macon Georgia, Masen was excited to see a palm tree.

Masen met Great Grandma and Mr Woftie

Masen met Great Grandpa

We took a few late Christmas gifts, Mr Woftie is modeling his new doggy sweater that will come in handy in Colorado.

We did a lot of sorting out and took several loads to the local Goodwill store.

We had some fun while sorting out and Mom "rocked" this hot pink wig.

It was sunny and rather chilly while we visited, Mr Woftie was glad to have a sweater, and one morning it was only 34 out.

The weather did not hold Masen back. As soon as we arrived at my parents house Masen asked if he could go swimming. We went out to check the water, it was very cold! Of course being six Masen insisted it was warm enough to swim, so we let him. If I have to use one word to describe Masen, exuberant, is it. Not one to mess around with dipping in a toe, he leapt into the pool without a second thought, his face when he came up out of the water was priceless. The swimming didn't last very long and not once during the rest of our stay did he ask to go swimming.

Enjoying the dock.

Exploring the back yard.

Who is that in the bushes?

A little paddle in the shallow end of the pool, brr.

Being silly, it's fun to be six.

A picture of Mom, Dad, Emily, Masen and me. We had a wonderful visit and I will be heading back in March to help out with moving day! 

Two Different Weeks and Two Different Walks

 Last week I was in Florida for a brief visit with my parents. I enjoyed several morning walks, although warmer than Indiana, the temperature was near freezing one morning and I had to bundle up and borrow a hat and gloves from mom. Meanwhile back in Indiana it was way below freezing, lows in the single digits, too cold to go out and walk. I returned to Indiana and we had a snowstorm and now have about nine inches of snow on the ground, making my morning walk very pretty and a little more challenging.

I always enjoy seeing Donkey on my Florida walks.

The donkey hangs out with the cattle and the horse to scare away coyotes.

The trees were absolutely loaded with oranges and looked so pretty.

A beautiful morning that soon warmed up into a pleasant day.

Bundled up in Florida!

Back to Indiana, eighteen degrees and windy, but bundled in layers it is easy to keep warm.

I enjoy this tree in every season.

I did not venture down the trail as the entrance was blocked with piles of snow from the snow plow.

Snow makes everything look peaceful and beautiful.

The snow eventually ended, I think around nine or ten inches fell, it sure looks pretty.