Christmas Eve

Well it is Christmas Eve and the last gift is finished. Hooray the bride doll is ready to go.

Sometime after the first I can start on some new projects. Have a couple I want to do for QOV, plus all kinds of projects in my stash of fabrics and kits. As always, there aren't enough hours in the day for all the quilting I want to do. LOL

Transformer Quilt

Finally finished grandson's quilt. It is done in a quilt as you go, so that was one step that was eliminated and it is reversible. Of course, since he loves Transformers, I don't expect the backside to see the light of day. There are some aspects of it I am not happy with, but I don't imagine he will notice any mistakes. LOL

Transformer Quilt

The first of 3 sections of grandson's Transformer quilt. It is a reversible quilt, and the quilting is done as it is pieced. 1 1/2 weeks to get the rest of it done and finish doll for DGD's wedding gift. I always seem to get into a last minute rush with these things. It is working out OK, especially since it is being designed as I go. LOL

November progress

I'm running out of space to get a good picture of the quilt. Don't know what I will do as it is getting bigger.

It was a busy month, but I still got a fair amount done. A little over 600 pieces. December should be slower what with all the holiday stuff and occasions.

Lego Castle

We have a wonderful museum here called The Henry Ford and it has Greenfield Village attached. The village has a lot of buildings that Henry Ford had brought here from the slave era, edison's workshop and many other things. In the museum are many things from years gone by as well as old trains. They also have temporary displays. Right now they have the Lego Castle which is wonderful to see and has many activities for kids of all ages. These are some pictures I took. During the holidays we will go back with a son and his wife and our youngest grandson. You can find pictures at http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/575636163TJPnDZ

October update

We had close to 200 kids for Halloween. Ours is a very active area for it, and I am another year older. The color has been beautiful here, but it is pretty much gone with the rain and wind we have had.

Our lake property is closed up now, just need to clean the gutters and blow the leaves this weekend. It is always depressing to leave the lake, but we have next spring to look forward to.

Made more progress on my hex quilt. Progress will be slower now that I am in town with more housekeeping to do and Christmas gifts to make and plan.

Picture quilt

Some friends and I have talked a little about picture quilts made for children whose parents are deployed.

A few years back when oldest granddaughter, Amber, went into the Army and was being sent to Germany; I made one for her brother who was only about 2 at the time. I used pictures of her with him and the rest of their family that were taken at her boot camp graduation. He loved it, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. At the time he was really into trains.

Vacation

Saw some wonderful color yesterday. Unfortunately the best color was in an area where we couldn't pull over. This was a very pretty spot in New York that will be glorious in another week or so. Wish we had more time to spend driving around. The picture with the wonderful color was taken from a covered bridge in New Hampshire.

Tuesday's travels

We traveled around with my cousin on Tuesday and saw a couple covered bridges and lots of fall color. We saw this building and decided to check it out. It is currently condos, but until the mid 70's it was a Catholic women's college. Obviously for the well to do from what we were able to see through the doors. The lobby was amazing.

We followed a lot of roads that led us in different directions. It was a long day on the road, but a lot of fun. Was sorry to have to say goodbye this morning.

Trip East

Stopped in New York on the way to MA. Went to church Sunday morning in a little town. The area around the crucifix was done so beautifully, I had to take a picture of it. The rest of our trip went smoothly and it was wonderful to see my cousin and her husband. More about that later.

Quilt Progress Month 5

I've progressed pretty well this summer, but things will slow down considerably over the winter months. I'm currently on vacation, so no quilting. Today was a long day. We started about 9 this am and finally got into a hotel around 8:30.

Quilt Guild Results

Had our guild meeting last night. We held our first quilt show last month and thanks to an excellent committee, everything went very smoothly. We even made a little money on the event.

The only prize was people's choice, and I was the lucky winner. How exciting. We are now trying to decide if we will do another in 2 years or 4 years. There were so many wonderful quilts. We have a very talented group of ladies and 1 man.

The quilt is made up of 7/8" hexes, and contains 12,877 pieces. I call it "You're crazy grandma" since that is what my oldest granddaughter told me when I told her about it.

9-11

Three years ago I saw this quilt at a quilt show. It is reputed to have a picture of each of the people lost on 9-11 on it. It is a wonderful tribute, and an amazing piece.

We must always remember what happened on that day and why we are fighting terrorists wherever they may be.

Hex quilt month 4

It is so hard to believe that another month is gone and summer is just about over. Another 2 months and I will have to move back to the house in town. We have had a cool summer which is fine with me, but the people from Florida are not happy with it. Some will be going back early.

Made some good progress on my quilt as you can see. I have 3 patterns that I am considering for Quilt of Valor projects when I get to the house. Always more ideas than time.

Marge

Hex quilt month 3

Had to take pictures in 3 parts. It is too big to get it in one shot here at the lake. Not enough room to get away from it. I got quite a bit done this past month, but probably won't get as much done next as I have 2 projects I need to complete.

Reunion/Wedding

As the reunion/wedding was on a farm, the bride made an unusual entrance to the tune of "She thinks my tractor is sexy". We had a beautiful day with temps on the cool side, making it a very comfortable day for a picnic, baseball and horseshoes. Over 100 people were in attendance.

Fabulous food as always, and I ate way too much.

Here are the bride and groom with their new quilt. One of her sons is also in the picture. Don't they look great together.

Bride Doll

Have finished the bride doll for my niece's wedding. They make wonderful gifts, and each one is different. Found a doll that had an up-do, so was able to do a different veil than I have done before.

Now I need to start on one for the next wedding.

Hex quilt month 2

Can't believe June is history.

We went to our local balloonfest this past weekend. Over 50 balloons went up Friday and Saturday evenings. Unfortunately the craft area was very small this year - not many vendors. There were a lot of people there both nights. Great show.

Now for my quilt. I have reached the 2000 piece point with many, many to go. You see the beginnings of the land on the other side of the water. By then end of July I should be into the mountains.

Hex quilt month 1

Well I have finished the first month of this quilt, which I estimate will take 2-3 years to complete. It is a landscape design and what has been done so far is as follows:

On the left is a swampy kind of area which goes into a blue water. You can also see the beginnings of a grassy area in the foreground beginning on the right. It will eventually have a tree and some mountains. Hopefully it will come out well. Time will tell.

Memorial Day

Prayers for all our soldiers who have died for us and those serving today. Also many prayers for the families left behind - their sacrifice is so great.

Yesterday was a good day spent with family. Today will be quieter and more reflective. I have been very fortunate to not lose anyone I know in war; but have several family members who have and still do serve.

Mother Nature

About 3 miles from us there is a swampy area next to and behind a local business. The last couple weeks I have noticed a swan there that is sitting on a nest. Everytime I saw her, her head was down and there wasn't any movement. Finally got over there and found her with her head up and got a picture of her. It is the first time I have seen a nesting swan. Looking forward to seeing her babies.

I've pieced about 100 hexes so far in the quilt that I am making. I have a long way to go. LOL

A Great Cause

Last night we went to The Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund annual dinner. It was a impressive evening. The dinner was excellent and there were many items for silent and live auction. Despite the problems with the economy, they had a bigger turnout than last year. They had one dinner table set up with empty seats to represent those that had not come home from each of the branches of military. On the table at each seat was a cap from every branch, a slice of lemon to represent the bitterness of war and salt for the tears of those who have suffered a loss.

The keynote speaker was Marcus Luttrell, a former Navy SEAL. He and 3 team mates who went into the mountainess border of Afghanistan and Pakistan on an operation. He was the only one to survive the battle. He gave a wonderful inside view of Navy SEAL training and what happened on that mountain. He has a book about it called Lone Survivor. I haven't read it yet, but people that have say it is a very good book.

We didn't come away with anything from the auctions, but is was a very impressive evening for an excellent cause. Their website is www.fwsf.org

Keep our soldiers in your prayers

Marge

Busy Bee

For the last 2 weeks I have been busy unpacking boxes. I have already unpacked 83 boxes with many more to be done once the carpet on the enclosed porch is cleaned. Will need the rain to stop for awhile before that can be done. You can see from the picture about half of the boxes that I had to take care of. We didn't lose anything of importance in last September's fire here at the lake, but there sure is a lot to be done before things are completely back to normal.

The last few days I have been busy designing a quilt made of 1/2" hex squares. I'm doing a landscape design for this one. It should be a bit of a challenge, but I do enjoy handpiecing. This will take a while to do, but I am looking forward to it. This is a start of the design.

Pics finally taken

I finished the afghan except for weaving in the yarn ends. Need to find my tapestry needle. It is probably in one of the boxes at the lake.

I also finally took pictures of the quilt for a wedding this summer. The back of the quilt is done in a disappearing 9-patch pattern. The front is a variation of a pattern I saw in a magazine. I changed the arrangement, and added friendship stars to it. Since I did it in pastel shades with a black background, I think I will call it "Blooming Spring".

Unfortunately I don't think I will get to do much sewing for the next month. Need to pack up things I am taking back to the lake, and then need to unpack everything that is there + what I bring out. Also, need to get the carpet on the enclosed porch cleaned before I can unpack that stuff. Such fun. We were just fortunate that we didn't lose anything of importance in the fire we had.

April in Michigan

Pictures above are our 3 dogs. The first picture is Brandy. She is a Welsh Corgi/Australian Cattle Dog mix. The dachshunds are Wilson and Patch.

A snow day here. Only about 2 inches and it will go fast. Welcome to spring in Michigan.

I've been really busy working with insurance companies as we had a fire at our lake property and a tree fall on our house. Fortunately nothing of importance was lost either time.

I've been making a quilt for a wedding gift and will have pictures of it soon. Also almost done making an afghan. Mostly right now I am busy cleaning clutter and getting ready to move back to the lake for the summer. Hooray.