Happy Thanksgiving

I apologize for being MIA for so long.  I'm not exactly sure where all the time has gone to, but it really seems like only a few days ago I posted, so I was shocked to see just how long it's been.

Tom had his wrist surgery last week and is doing really well.  He's able to sleep through the night mostly and that is something he hasn't been able to do for months.

We've also had the house in total disarray while some remodeling of bathrooms and the utility room have been going on.  One bathroom is just starting so, it is going to be at least another week before we're done. 

I've made progress on the borders for Dutch Treat #2...three borders are appliqued (except for the corners) and I'm starting on #4.  I  still hope to have this quilted and bound by the end of the year.

Today I started cooking for Thanksgiving.  We'll only have one of our sons, his wife and youngest daughter here tomorrow.  And we are hoping that our Iowa son and his wife will be able to drive down tomorrow evening after she gets off work.  It's still up in the air since  she will need Sunday off and won't know if that is possible until tomorrow morning.  Isn't that the pits????

I've scaled back considerably on the holiday meal.  We are fewer in number and I guess none of us need tons of calories.  Still I think we'll have a nice meal.

The menu:

Ham
Turkey  (Tom and I aren't big on turkey so I'm just fixing a small breast)
Oven mashed potatoes (with cream cheese and sour cream..yum)
Gravy
Stuffing (DIL is bringing)
Green bean casserole (granddaughter is bringing)
Baked beans
Deviled eggs
Cole slaw (with sunflower seeds and ramen noodles)
Yeast rolls (still deciding which kind to make)
Layered taco dip
Vegetable tray (son & DIL bringing)
cheese and crackers
Pumpkin crunch dessert with whipped cream
Peanut butter cheesecake squares
Date bars (maybe)

Think that should do it.

Hope those of you who celebrate this holiday will have a wonderful day filled with the love of family and good food.

A Win!

Today is my lucky day!  Judy at Patchwork Times had a giveaway this week... a copy of Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 2.



Her block  Fiesta Sunset is one of the featured blocks


I was so surprised this evening to read her blog and realize I was one of the winners!  Thank you, Judy. I can't wait to spend some quality time looking at all the cool new blocks. 

I'm so thrilled for our local quilting superstar, Susan Stewart, who once again won big at Houston.  Her quilt "Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining" won the Pfaff Master Award for Machine Artistry. I can't wait for the chance to see this amazing quilt in person one day. Since she lives here in Pittsburg, I'm sure that will happen.




Another of her quilts, "Monochrome" won 2nd place in the Computer-Aided Machine Embroidery category.


She is such an amazingly talented woman. You can see detailed pics of both of these quilts and others on her website . Click on the "Gallery" tab and be sure to use the links on the bottom of the pages to see detail pictures.



On another note, I started quilting row 14 of Dutch Treat #2 today!

Baby Quilts

Finally able to post a couple of finishes from the last few weeks.  I couldn't post pictures before because they were gifts.  I've mentioned that two granddaughters are expecting babies in January..a day apart according to official due dates but how likely is that to really happen?

Yesterday was the baby shower for our youngest granddaughter, Caitlin, in MO. In 2005, when she was just shy of 16, she designed and pieced a baby quilt using my Electric Quilt. She loved playing with that program whenever she came to stay and her sister, Ashley, had a six month old son at that point. She didn't finish it the first year and worked on it again in 2006 when she came for a week. By then, nephew #2 was on his way, so she was no longer sure who the quilt was going to be for. She learned how to make HST's and how to chain piece and she sat up late at night sewing and ripping and trying to make her points match. She did a really good job.

Once it was all pieced I asked her if she wanted me to quilt it and she say no, that she wanted to come back and learn to quilt herself.  Well that never happened (that she stayed long enough to learn to quilt).  Since she's 21 now and expecting her own baby I decided to go ahead and quilt it and surprise her with the finished quilt. 

So that is what I did.

I just love the butterfly on Teddy's nose.

Guess I forgot to take a picture of the back. It's a nice snuggly flannel.

I also gave her a baby quilt I made several years ago.  She helped me do the hand buttonhole stitch around these hearts while on a trip to Colorado in 2003.  So it seemed like a good quilt for her first baby since it will be a girl.

Caitlin was able to have three grandmothers at her shower:

Left to right: Kathy (her mom's mom), Cait, me, Maggie (her dad's step-mom).  It was a nice day and she got lots of useful items.

Our oldest granddaughter, Kelley, is the other expectant mom and since I've pretty sure she doesn't read my blog, I can go ahead and show the quilt I shipped to her to arrive in time for her baby shower next week in MA.  Wish I could be at that one too, but it's a bit far away. 

Kelley is expecting a boy so I decided to make a bow tie quilt which was the traditional quilt my grandmother made for boys in the family.  I made the 3-D version and used lots of bright scraps.  The arrangement of colors was per Tom..not at all as I would have arranged things, but I decided to be different.

It has a plaid back and nice colorful binding.

I already gave her a smaller baby quilt in June when we were together in Arizona.

So two new great-grandbabies will be doubly wrapped in love. Can't wait for them to be here!

That is some of what I've been working on and not posting about.  I'm in the home stretch of the quilting on Dutch Treat #2..at least the central 14 row portion.  I'm working on row 13.  Getting there.....

Lots of doctor appointments for Tom this week.

Happy quilting.