New Adventures!

Hello!!! I hope and pray all is well with my awesome followers! I am sorry that I have not been as diligent as I should be with keeping this up, but here I am!!! It is a new day and a new start! So, lets get started with my updates.

I have been pretty busy the past couple of weeks. First we had awesome family time as my last post noted with our DD and DGS visiting us. We really enjoyed their visit, but as usual it takes me a few days to get over being so tired. I do more while they visit than normal, LOL, and so I have to recuperate. Of course, their visit involves playing the Wii with the DGS and that is something I need to do myself more often. I cook more when they are here, too. Even though my DD, who is a great cook and loves to do so, helps out, it still tires me out. We picked apples the first full day they were here and over that week, I cooked four apple crisps. I used almond flour instead of wheat flour and Splenda instead of sugar. They turned out tasty! That DGS loved them! We went to Gadsden Imagination Children's Museum. I really didn't see how it was a museum, it was more of a place for kids to play with different scenarios. What I did see that was cool is show in a couple of pictures below. They had a working model train of Gadsden in the 1930's. It was really neat to watch and look like. My husband and I recognized several locations. I lived in the area for a year and he lived there as a child and his grandparents lived there for years. He still has family who live in the area. We had several other plans, but didn't get to do them. It rained a good bit while they were here, so I didn't get to take him fishing or swimming. :(  I took a few snap shots of them while they were here. Love these peeps! LOL

Above you will see a few projects I worked on for them while they were here. I made my daughter an Alabama rag quilt purse seen below, and she wanted a mug rug with the fabrics, too. So as you can see above, I made one. My DGS loves sharks and wants to do his bathroom in them, so I embroidered and appliqued on a towel, washcloth and hand towel his mom bought to put in his bathroom. I also made him a smaller mug rug with fabric that looks like water and put him a shark on it.

Our new great-niece will be here by tomorrow sometime. Yea!!! She is the one that I made the Sunbonnet Sue quilt for. I sure hope she likes it. My sister-in-law and BIL are taking it to them when they head up that way today after lunch. I know they are getting excited, but are not showing it as much as I would be. LOL I am praying that the niece has an easy delivery and she and the baby Ellia will be healthy. 

I am in process of cleaning up my sewing room. DH purchased me some larger translucent totes after I requested them where I could combine the little totes and ice cream buckets I have sitting everywhere into the larger totes, but still see what is in them. Hopefully, that will make it look neater in there. I sure hope so, because I WILL get the Day and Night quilt pinned and ready to quilt before this week is out. 

Hugs and best wishes to you all. May God bless each and everyone of you.

Family Time!!

Hello my friends! I hope and pray you are all doing well. I have been having a great time visiting with our daughter and playing with our grandson. They arrived on Thursday and are staying with us. We hope to get to go fishing while they are here and maybe do something educational for the grandson while they are here. The weather hasn't been cooperating for the fishing adventure, and we are all so tired from activities that we haven't done a lot. 

On Saturday, my niece and her son, my great-nephew came to see us and our daughter. Believe it or not, this is the first time my great-nephew and DGS have seen each other since DGS was six months old. He is now eight. LOL the GN is almost twelve, so it has been a few years. We had them for lunch, and the boys played together very well. It was so good to visit with my niece. We don't get to see each other as often as we would like. She works long hours and her hubby is a police officer/investigator. I am proud of both of them. Then that evening, my DS and DIL came for supper. I fried catfish, okra/squash combo, cooked apple crisp. (I had cooked two the day before) I was so exhausted when it was all said and done, that I couldn't move. It was a lot of fun and enjoyment to hear my children laughing aloud at videos on YouTube, and my DGS laughing with them. That has always been one of my most favorite sounds: the laughter of my children. God has blessed us so much!

Sunday, we had to run to Sam's, so we got to spend more time with our son. He left his car and drove his wife home from our house the night before. He needed to come back to our place to pick up his car. He traveled with us. Another enjoyable day, but tiring. 

My DH got me some larger tubs for organizing my sewing room, so I can combine the little ones and not have so much clutter. I did a little today by combining my Christmas fabric into one of the bigger ones. I haven't done any sewing since the kids are here. It will come later. They do want me to maybe embroider some sharks on some towels for the GS bathroom. Maybe that will get done. LOL

Today, my daughter who blogs at http://bobjenjack.blogspot.com added me to The Family Christian Blogger group on Facebook where I can do reviews for them. Yea!! I am so excited! I have been wanting to do reviews of books or products for someone, but haven't been given the opportunity. So.... maybe I will get the opportunity now. Who knows?

I will share a picture for you of a rag quilted purse I made for my daughter before she arrived. 

TWO FINISHES!!! Wahoo!!!

I finally have something I can show you all that I have completed!!! I finally finished a Christmas 2013 gift for our DD and SIL. It is the Carpenter's Star quilt whose designer is Debbie Maddy. It was an easy quilt to make, but not an easy quilting job for me on my domestic machine. But, I will be so happy to give it to her when she comes up for a visit in a few weeks. Better late than never, huh?

Below you will see the Sunbonnet Sue top that I did on my embroidery machine for a new great-niece due in August. I believe I actually liked the way it looked better before I quilted it. I just have not perfected my quilting, yet even after four years of making them. Maybe one day I will be much improved in my eyes. Next you see the finished top. I did echo quilting around the Sue's and then put butterflies on the top and bottom border. I now wish I had used a thicker batting, but it is all done, so oh well. I sure hope they like it. 

I also made a taggie blanket and burp cloth for a former student of mine and her new baby boy. She loved it and said he did, too. LOL I hope so. I have a few more burp cloths to make for the great-niece and started my daughter's rag quilt purse after finishing the baby quilt. It will be in another post when it is completed. I still have to pin and quilt the Day and Night quilt for our DS and DIL, and the pinning may happen today. Who knows. If not today, tomorrow?? I REALLY need to get it done.

I pray all is well with each of you. I hope to get better with keeping up my blog soon. Please be patient with me. Hugs to you all!
Teresa