A Fun Time In My Quilting World

A few months ago I ran across an announcement that Melissa was wanting to start a Front Range (that's what they call our area that runs along the beautiful Rocky Mountains) Modern Quilt Guild. My friend Susan and I quickly responded that we were interested. We have been to a few meetings and enjoyed the enthusiasm and excitement of the young women (and not so young) women who were there. Did I mention that we also attended a leadership meeting?? Yes, we did! We have now been assigned the title of "Swap Adventure Mamas". Both being teachers, we will organize and brainstorm, and organize and find ideas, and organize and create ways to involve everyone for our guild swaps!! Any ideas are always welcome!!

Our guild had it's first Saturday Sew-In a week ago. We started with a meeting in the morning and then all went to lunch together. After lunch and all of our visiting, we went back to our meeting place and all pulled out our precious, smart, one of a kind, couldn't live without sewing machines. I am not sure we all got a lot done but we all marveled at the beautiful projects that were being created. Melissa had a surprise for us at 2:30 when Angie, who owns Crafty Laine, gave us a project to work on. It took about 10 minutes and the finished project was ours to take home. I know many will be reproducing this lovely project. Thank you Angie!! It was so fun.

Can't you see this lovely flower on a precious little girl as a hair bow, or on a coat as a pin, or on a shirt to dress it up?

I know I am going to enjoy this precious group of ladies in the FRMQG!!

Luv ya, Jodi

Wordless Wednesday...

Something pretty....

And something odd....

---Jackie

Friday Night Sew-In and the B. U. G.

Last night was a rare evening for me! My husband and I are seldom home on Friday nights due to traveling to our cabin at the lake most weekends. We decided to just stay home this weekend! It has been so nice.

On Thursday, I decided to join this weeks Friday Night Sew-In that craftyvegasmom was hosting. First, though, I had to figure out what to work on. Isn't that a nice problem to have? I was feeling kind of "weird" yesterday, so I decided to work on a couple things that I could do while relaxing in my chair.

My sister and I are going to the lake in May to sew for a week or longer. We are going to work on a couple projects, one of which is the Single Girl Quilt. I recently bought the pattern and really, really want to make it, but know it would be so much more fun to make it with Jodi. When we sew together, we each make the same quilt using our own and each others fabric stashes. (Usually we ONLY use fabric from our stashes.) It is so fun to look at all the fabrics and remember when we made this or that.

Now, back to my Friday night sew-in..... The Single Girl Quilt uses templates....a TON of templates.

I traced all the pattern pieces onto template plastic and then just sat in my chair and cut and cut and cut. (If you want to know a secret about me, it is this....I love to cut out ANYTHING!) I got them all cut out and put into individual baggies that I labeled.

After I got that all done, I sewed down binding on two small quilts. AND, started an embroidery project.

I am happy to report that I got all of it done....well, except the embroidery!

Amish 9 patch - measures 16" X 13"

hmmmm, I can't remember the name of this quilt. But I love it. Jodi and I took this class in Houston at the International Quilt Festival several years ago.
My good friend, Emily machine quilted it for me. She is A M A Z I N G!
The picture makes the quilt look crooked, but I promise that it's not!

Today I am a bit under the weather. I think I have a bug of some sort. This is what I ate for lunch.....toast with cinnamon/sugar! There's just something about toast that makes me feel better. Probably the carbs!

I love, love, love this bread, but can't find it anywhere but at a delicious little restaurant at the lake.

I always buy at least 2 loaves!

So, now I'm off to my scrap bin to find some fabrics to use in the Single Girl Quilt. (Jodi and I are going to make the quilt very scrappy!) I think tonight will be a great time to just sit in my cozy chair and cut the night away!

---Jackie

What a difference a week makes!

This is what our yard looked like last Thursday....

19 inches of snow and -15 degrees!!

This is what our yard looks like today...

(Yuck....don't look too closely at the gross retaining wall.  DH still needs to finish painting it!)

The snow is gone and it is 75 degrees out!  Amazing, isn't it!

On another note............

I said goodbye to an old friend last week and hello to a new friend.  Meet my old and new friends:

For more than 4 years, my love has been Miss Blackberry!  She has been a great friend to me, but like all things, she has gotten old and cranky!  Miss B has dropped calls, ignored calls, and not told me when I had a call.  So for Valentine's Day, my DH got me Miss Iphone!  Miss I is wonderful and it didn't take me long to fall head over heals in love with her.  Do you know that you can store a lot of photos on an IPhone?  I do because I just downloaded over 2000 photos to her!  (I do love my pictures!)  And did you know that you can "video chat" on her too?  I do because I have talked to and seen my DD and DGD on it!  So, goodbye Miss B and hello Miss I.  I hope you will be as good to me as Miss B was.

---Jackie

Edit:

I just signed up for the Friday Night Sew In going on over at craftyvegasmom.  This is always a lot of fun and I love knowing that other quilters are sewing right along with me. Hop on over to Crafty Vegas Mom and sign up!

It's a boy!!

My son, daughter-in-law, and Maren are so excited to welcome Marvin (a made-up name because they won't tell us his real name) into the world! He will be coming sometime mid-June!! Maren has many things to show him.....

One of her favorite things to do is feed the ducks and geese that live behind the Library in Monument, CO.

She loves to share and when she saw this little girl looking at the ducks, she quickly ran over and gave her some bread so she too could feed the ducks.

Bubble baths are oh so fun!!

Wow! Living life to the fullest is great!

I am excited because I get to make the bedding for (Marvin)!! Kate picked out the fabric and the pattern for the quilt. She is so good at that. His room will definitely be a place where he will love to sleep, feel love and security, and enjoy life!

The main fabric and theme of the room. Isn't this fun?

Coordinating fabrics for the bumper pads.

Fabrics that will be used for the quilt, sheets, and accents around the room.

Can you see why I am excited?? I will keep you posted on all the fun I have sewing up these projects. We will soon have another announcement in March when we find out what my other son, Daughter-in-law, Asher, and Theodore are having in mid-August. If it's a girl........I will be making more bedding, sheets, and accessories. Yes, life is good.

Luv ya, Gigi

Tilda's Valentine Heart Swap

My Tilda's Valentine Heart Swap package arrived yesterday....just in time for Valentine's Day!  My partner was Wendy Ford from Pill City, Alabama.  Look at all the goodies I got!

I love the box it came in.  It is a photo box for pictures.  I love photo boxes and am in need of a new one!  This one is perfect.

Inside the box were these lovelies....  

2 pieces of pretty fabric, Valentine napkins, 3 sparkly hearts, a sparkly love sign, a Happy Valentine's Day wall hanging and of course, my Tilda heart.  But that's not all....  I also got this!

Yum!!  I love caramels and especially chocolate covered caramels.  I haven't dug into these yet.  I may have to limit myself to just one a day so I don't overload on them!

Thank you so much, Wendy.  You were more than generous and I love it all!  Check out Wendy's blog at:  stitchduchessscrazysanequiltingworld.blogspot.com

Also, a big thank you to Cat from catalinanz.blogspot.com and Lydia from lydiastreasures.blogspot.com  for organizing this Valentine's swap.  It was a lot of fun!

--Jackie

Why I love Valentine's Day!!

OK, should I copy my sister? Why not....we love the same things. I am very thankful for the many wonderful people God has put into my life. They have helped me through tough times, they have stood by me when I needed support, they laugh with me and encourage me, and they show unconditional love.

My husband who is wonderful, loving, sweet, full of patience, a great dad, and friend!

We have been married 37+ years!!

My wonderful family!

My kids doing what they always do to make life fun! HA!

My precious grandchildren!!

Oh yes, life is good! I love my nieces and nephews, my precious Bible Study friends and all of my quilting friends, my friends I have had for 30, 40, & 50+ years, and I have a special love for my sister and all the many, many things that we share!!

While sewing together we always laugh, sew, sew, sew, laugh, eat, laugh, support each other, solve the world's problems and our own, etc....you get the picture.

Happy Valentine's Day to anyone reading this!! You too are special to me.

Luv ya, Jodi

Why I Love Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day to all of my Blogger Friends!!

Valentines Day (for me) is a day to reflect on all the people I love......

My patient, loyal, wonderful, strong, and kind, husband of 33 years.

My funny, loving, and caring, children.

Did I mention that they are funny???

My children's awesome families.

My fun, creative, and loving sister:

AND... of course, I love sewing with her too...

And I love the fact that I do not have to work!  I get to stay home and quilt to my heart's content!

I am a lucky, lucky girl!  I love my family and my family loves me.  Life is GOOD!

---Jackie

Do you ever have one of THOSE days?

Today was one of those days for me.  You know the kind of day I'm talking about!  The one where no matter what you do or how you do it, nothing seems to get done.  But...and this is a BIG but....I did sew!  Since we have had this much snow....

Yikes...this is what 19 inches of snow looks like in Kansas!

But, isn't it beautiful?

I haven't gotten out of the house much this week.  You would think that I could at least have my house all picked up, the laundry done, and every meal planned and prepped! Wrong!!  All I have wanted to do is sew.  

So today I worked on an Amish nine patch.  I have made two of these already and still have a lot of those 3" blocks left.  Hmmm, I might need to find them a new home soon since I am sooo tired of them.  

Work in progress.

3 inch blocks!

Finished top.  It still needs to be machine quilted.

And I made a couple blocks for a queen or king quilt called Amish Arrows.  I think I see a theme developing here!

This will be a very scrappy quilt.  My favorite!

Today I even made 5 blocks for a quilting bee that I am in.  I can't show you those yet!

I tried to make dinner tonight!  See, I even got all the ingredients together for my sisters recipe of shredded beef in gravy.  YUM!

See that diet coke?  You put that in the pot with all the other ingredients.
Seems weird, but it is oh so good!

But, since it was one of those days, my DH took me out to dinner.  He is such a sweetheart!

I really should get off the computer and at least go and clean the kitchen.  (Did I mention that I still have dishes in the sink from this morning?)  I should, right???  Well, I will as soon as I finish just one more block!

***Oh and an update on our puppy, Winston.  To date he has eaten 5 pairs of glasses (2 were my DH and 3 were mine), 1 pair of sunglasses (mine again - he ate those today, grrrr), and various odds and ends.  (I really do keep things picked up and out of the way.  I just don't know how he gets to them!)  Next up... Puppy Boot Camp!  And I have told everyone I know....NO MORE PUPPIES - EVER!!***  

How was your day???  I would love to hear your stories!

---Jackie

I'm Back and Ready to Sew!

I had a fabulous time with two of my best girlfriends the past week.  One friend, Ann, owns a couple time shares and she tries to use them a couple times a year.  This is where we went....

This is our hotel in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  Our room was way up on the hill and we had an awesome view.....

We saw tons and tons of whales from our room and the beach!  Awesome!!

We ate a lot....

This restaurant is on the beach.  Can you see the sand?

We sat in the sun a lot....

SORRY...NO PICTURES OF US IN SWIMSUITS IS ALLOWED ON THIS BLOG!

We shopped a lot....

The downtown Flee Market

We laughed a lot....

We aren't laughing in this picture, but it cracks us up anyway.
I had set my camera to take a picture of the three of us.
Then I had to run and jump on the beach bed.
I didn't quite make it in time.

We read and rested a lot...

We took a lot of pictures of our feet in the sand....a weird and funny tradition of ours!

And we took a lot of pictures of sunsets....

The beach beds.

I am so lucky to have great friends to share moments like these with.  And I have a wonderful husband who encourages me to go on these fun trips without him.

Now....back to the real world and SEWING!!  It's nice to come home and have fun sewing projects to make.  Now I just need to pick which project to start first.  More to come on that later!

---Jackie