I can't believe it has been eleven months since I last posted on my blog! A lot has happened this year. Number one was the birth of our first granddaughter in April. We already have two grandsons and a step-grandson so a girl was pretty special.

Then in October Mom needed to have surgery and was in the hospital for almost two weeks and in November my husband of 45 years needed to have surgery and was in the hospital for a whole two weeks!

Needless to say not much happened at home during those two months. Thankfully both are well on the way to a full recovery so that life around here will get back to normal soon.

I have been working on a hexagon quilt and a disappearing 4-patch that was in the last issue of "Quilting Quickly" magazine and I can't wait to get back to the 4-patch. The hexagon quilt will probably be a couple more years in the making since it is for a queen bed size and is completely sewn by hand. I have a long way to go yet!

I have also started on Bonnie Hunter's new mystery and hope to post a picture tomorrow.

That's all for today!

Judy

Yesterday was another day spent with Mom working on her "Easy Street" quilt. We got four blocks finished and laid out four more. All of her Block A's are done now. We have a road block though-we need to mark and sew all of the Sitting Turkey blocks for block B. We even need to cut a few of the 2" squares we will need for them.

After I got home, I sat down and worked on five more of my blocks. Two are finished and two will be finished today. Only ONE more to go. I doubt if it will get done since I am doing laundry and hoping to get a couple of items on ebay, too.

Choir practice tonight too. We will see how it goes!

Judy

Wow! Another day spent working on Mom's "Easy Street" quilt. We finished three blocks and laid out three more for her to work on at a "Girls Sew Day" at our friend Connie's. Later tonight I sewed up eight of the birds in the air blocks and some more flying geese blocks.

It was a productive day!

What a day!

I have been working on Easy Street all day and doesn't seem like I am making much progress. I have been taking the parts and pieces and laying them out in blocks to make sure I won't end up with too much of one fabric design in one block at the end. And it is taking me awhile.

Link to Easy Street part 4-my blog post

Easy Street-Last Link Up

Here it is almost the middle of January and we are all still assembling our Easy Street blocks. I wish I could say that one of us has a top pieced, but we are not there yet.

This first picture is of Mom Charlene's blocks that are finished. Her quilt is going to look very different because of her color placement. At this time we have 5 of block A and 1 of block B.

My version is the same as Bonnie's as I was to chicken to try another color scheme. I do like the layout so someday may make another quilt with different colors.

Karen has not made much progress since going to see her daughters. Soon she will have blocks, too.

This has been a wonderful experience and thank Bonnie very much for making the plans and clues for us to follow along.

Click here to see all the other wonderful "Easy Street" Quilts that are being made!
Easy Street Final

Thanks Again, Bonnie. I will be joining you again for another mystery!

Easy Street Part 4

It's been a busy week with Christmas being celebrated on Saturday the 22nd. Three of the kids were home for the holiday with two and a spouse here for more than one day. That has cut down on the time available to spend on Easy Street. Mom Charlene has been working on her four patches and now has them all done. She has started on her first set of flying geese also.

Sister Karen traveled to Tennessee to see her daughters and grandkids and has not been able to work on hers this week.

I have gotten a few blocks made and and also trying to catch up on some of the past clues. Can't hardly wait until tomorrow for the next clue. I should be able to work on it!

Here is a picture of my Clue 5 blocks-

See you again next week!

Judy

Easy Street Part 4

It has been another busy week! All three of us have been working on Easy Street, (click her to see Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery) just on different parts of the Mystery.

Mom Charlene is still making 4-patches, but the last 50 cut now and ready to sew. We discovered there was not enough teal fabric and went looking for more yesterday. Here are the last of her 4" squares.

Sister Karen had to make a Christmas trip to see her girls and grandchildren but she has her flying geese cut and ready to sew-

My own flying geese are nearly done. All 64 only need the last wing sewn on. Yes, there are pins, but the reason for that is my sewing machine is living at my moms during the holiday season. I like to keep my sewing out where I can get to it easily, and that can't happen when you are having company all the time. So the pins are there to keep everything in place while I travel to her home to sew.

See you next week!

Judy



Easy Street Part 3

What fun it has been working on Bonnies Mystery Easy Street. Check out everyones progress at Easy Street.

Now Karens and my Mom Charlene has decided to join the group. We searched out fabrics for her last Friday. Here is what she chose--

She is working on her 4-patches-here they are:

Sister Karens Birds in the Air patches are here:

And of course, there are my Birds in the Air patches.

I don't have the required amount yet, but like everyone else, my life has been busy with hosting meetings, choir practice, church and other obligations. Hopefullly next week will slow down a little. Maybe that is wishful thinking!

See you next week with Part 4 link-up!



Easy Street Week 2

128 Flying Geese! Well, I'm almost halfway there-62 finished. Sister Karen is doing Easy Street, too. She's a little further along than me. Here's our pictures!

Judy's Flying Geese



Judy's Four Patches



Karen's Four Patches



Karen's Flying Geese

Easy Street Link-Up Part 2



Sunday

Had a full day today-Church and Choir first, then started working on an old quilt project. After some time away it was easier to make the decision about the next move. Mom and I chose a border and it looks much better than I thought it would. Next step is to make some little blocks for the last border. Only one or two to go, but will have to be creative on the long borders as they will not be quite long enough.

Spent some time looking for fabrics for a project at Connie's later this week. She is going to show me how to make a table mat in a different pattern than I have used before. No pictures today, but maybe tomorrow.

Iowa State Mens basketball will be the tournament. Always fun to see the Alma Mater in a contest.

That's it for today! Hope tomorrow is a good one!

Judy

Quilt Blocks of the Month

This entry really should have come before the last one-but I got ahead of myself.

Three of my friends and myself signed up for a BOM (block of the month) program where we make 12" square projects that hang on a small free standing stand. Of course, I am behind, but I have finished a few. Just Friday night I finished the September Schooolhouse block. It was very detailed, but it is great!

Finished in January was the Penquin--he is really cute and I like him, but am hoping the weather stays warm enough to retire him until next winter.



And also made up was a block received at the last International Doll Makers Association convention in Mobile, AL.

I think this is better than a tote bag-don't you?

Until next time-

Judy

Let's get going again!

It's been a long time, but with a little nudge from youngest daughter, I hope to get back on track! My work revisions are down to the last one, so there should be a little more
"free" time.

Yesterday-Saturday March 10, 2012 I got out a longtime UFO (unfinished object) and decided to get it finished. Here it is-a wall hanging autographed by friends in a Bleuette Chat group. Bleuette is a French doll from 1905-1960 The project is called longtime because two of the autographers put the date on their block-2003. It was all done but cutting and sewing the binding on plus the hanging sleeve. It's DONE! The hardest part will be finding a place to hang it!

This was accomplished in spite of going to my Saturday morning quilt group-a BOM which I go to with two of my friends and having my son come out to spend some time with us and Grandma. We grilled and played scrabble as well.

It was a good day!

Judy

A Quilt for Ian

Something I wanted to do for Ian was to make him a quilt. Now I have liked quilts for some time, but this is something I was not doing at the time of older grandson Hunters birth. I looked for sometime for a pattern that I thought Ian's Mom would like, and then I had to find fabric-and that was even harder. What I finally found was a batik print of farm animals in bright pastels. The unfortunate part was that there was only a fat quarter available. So that meant rethinking the pattern. But it all worked out with this pattern.

And of course there needed to be a label on the back so that maybe someday Ian could pass the quilt down to his own son as a family heirloom! You can see the animal print a little better in this picture that was the starting point.

Here is a closer look at the quilt--

And while in the quilt making mode, could not resist a fleece blanket to match the wild animal quilt that went out for Kari's baby shower.

This one should be big enough for his big boy bed in a couple of years. (Grandma's like to think ahead!)

That's all for now. Enjoy!

Judy

We have a new Grandson!

Husband Steve and I have just returned from a trip to California to visit our daughter, son in law, and new grandson Ian. What a trip! Not nearly long enough and next visit will to far away. It was very hard to leave everyone behind.

Here he is! Little Ian David

Ian was born Oct 21, 2010

and weighted 7 lbs 15 ozs
And what a handsome boy he is!

Grandpa and Grandma both enjoy holding him. In fact, Grandma was named the official burper while visiting.

Can't wait to see Kari, Matt, and Ian again!

Judy

More Tablerock

Many years ago when we first came to Tablerock Lake a friend of my parents told them about a place where he had hooked up a ski rope and you could run along a rock ledge and swing out over the water to jump into the lake. This has been a favorite activity ever since. We had to introduce Ben to this spot. He and Kim took a couple of runs off the ledge.



Jumping off the boat--



And swimming from the boat to the ledge----



Getting ready to take the run and jump--

And the swing---


Doesn't Daddy Steve look relaxed here? He waited a long time for this vacation to come and enjoyed every minute of it!

What a day on the Lake. Wish there could be more just like this one!

Judy

Tablerock Lake, Branson, Missouri

We vacationed again this year at Stormy Point Village at Branson, Mo. We really love being on the water of Tablerock Lake. Two years ago the weather was very fallish with cool temperatures and rain. This year more than made up for that! We had warm, sunny weather with temps in the 80's. Loved it.

My birthday was during vacation week and we celebrated with a small cake. I'm not telling how many candles should have been on the cake, but this was plenty to get lighted! They melted FAST!

The first weekend our daughter Kim and her DH Ben came and spent a couple of days with us.

They enjoyed the water as did Grandma Charlene.

And we had plenty of good food!

More in a bit!

Judy

Out the front door

Many times we can see great sunrises and rainbows out the front door. Just thought I would share a few! Enjoy!

Judy

More IDMA Convention!

This beautiful home was open for us to tour. I love Victorian homes and would love to live in one, but I bet they take an awful lot of upkeep!

The Arizona Doll Museum is just around the corner from the Victorian Home and we spent alot of time looking at all the wonderful dolls. There was a great variety from antique to fairly modern dolls.

We saw lots of interesting landscapes, too. So different from what we see daily.

This doll was in the competition at the convention and was voted viewers choice. Quite striking.

Judy

Catching Up-Again

Last July, three friends and I went to the International Dollmakers association convention in Scottsdale, AZ. As usual we drove to the convention. Just no way we could get there on a plane. We have toooo much stuff. We all signed up to take the "Specialty" class where we painted, dressed, and coiffed a French Fashion doll. Her costume was a two piece beaded Victorian wedding gown. And while I am still beading on my dress, I think the other three have theirs completed.

This picture shows how hard we concentrate on the task at hand. Hardly a spoked word to be heard here!

And here is the Class instructor Joyce Murch demonstrating a painting technique. We did have the option of purchasing a painted head from Joyce if we did not want to do the painting ourselves. Of course, I wanted to "Do It All", so I did both, purchased a head and painted a head.

We worked at this project from 8-12 each morning and from 1-5 each afternoon. And if there was not a function to attend in the evening, we worked in our rooms as well.

Here are the four of us with our Specialty Class dolls right before the closing banquet.

Here is our instructor Joyce with all the dolls at the closing banquet. Quite a nice display of dolls.

Hope you enjoy these pictures!

Judy

Hollyhocks!

We have had Hollyhocks growing on the west and south sides of our house for a long time. But they were showing their age-weak colors and not very plentiful. Last year I found a bag of seed heads that had been saved and sprinkled them around. What a difference that has made this year. Must collect some seeds this summer to use again another year.

Judy