Christmas is Coming!

Oh Look!  Mom has put up her Christmass village!  I have a great view from up here....

Look at all those little people!

Mom says that white stuff is snow, but why isn't it melting?

I wish I could play with those people, especially that dog....

I just love the city lights at night!  Makes a nice night light for me.

Hey!  I just realized Christmas must be here soon!  Santa will be coming !

I believe....I believe....I believe....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Little Sheep Quilt

I've had this kit forever and finally made it.  It's only 13" x 15" so it goes pretty fast once you get all your pieces cut.  All the applique is wool and I really enjoyed working with that and want to do more with wool.  I love the teeny tiny buttons they included for eyes.  Handwork is my favorite thing to do and this was very relaxing!

The kit is called "Wooly Sheep"

My Backyard

My hummingbirds have been very active lately making it a challenge to keep the feeder filled.  Saturday I had 4 fighting over it.  Finally 2 decided to call a truce and drink together.  I guess their filling up for their migration.

I love to watch the birds enjoy their baths. :)  This is a young robin ....

tickled me...looks like another bird is waiting his turn.  There was some serious splashing going on!

We had another storm knock a tree limb down.  I thought it was interesting how this cardinal blends in so well with the dried leaves.  We have finally got that large limb cleaned up!

Earlier this summer I wondered what got my flowers.  I think I found the culprit!  We had lots of bunnies this year in our backyard.

This is a common routine for Annie.  She has a good view of the outside wildlife.

She hates it when I'm outise and she's not.  She can look so pitiful but it's not worth the risk.  I wish she could understand!

Looking forward to all the fall colors but not the cold.  I guess I'll snuggle with Annie on the chilly nights coming.  :)

DIY

http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/2011/07/you-might-be-a-diyhome-blogger-if.html

I got several chuckles from this website describing a DIYer.  Several things I can relate too!  Anyone who loves to do home projects will find something here that sounds familiar. :)

My Computer Buddy

I think I need a new arrangement.  :)

Dejavu....almost

We had a horrible thunderstorm last night that began about 11:30 p.m.  I was still up and thought at first it was hailing but it turned out to be debris hitting out windows and house.  Thunder and lightning were continuous!  Power went out and DH finally got up to sit in the dark with me.  Thunder was too loud to sleep.  Thankful I had my Ipad and could look up the weather radar to see where the storm was and check weather warnings.

DH finally went back to bed when we thought it was dying down and than BOOM! we heard the loudest thunder clap we've ever heard.  It was really weird.

Power was out for about 9 hrs.  I finally went to bed about 3 a.m.  I can't sleep when I know there is a storm coming late at night.  This would have been impossible to sleep through anyway.

We woke up to this in our back yard.....

Beautiful view out my kitchen window.

Backyard right beside the deck.

All those brown spots are where we lost trees in last storm and the stump ground up.  I think we lost 7 trees then.

Looks similar to our April tornado.

Actually the top of a tree evidently snapped off and fell.  We had really strong winds, weatherman called it a downburst.  I rarely see so much consistent bright lightening and hear so much thunder.  Hope it's a long time before I go through that again.

Thankfully DH was home.  Next week he's gone again.  I'm glad he could experience this with me.  :)

Long Time No Post!

Not much going on here except it sure is hot!  I Just got back about a week ago from a trip to Oklahoma to see my hometown and reminisce.  It was great though bittersweet.  I still really miss my old stompin' grounds though I've been in Alabama for about 24 yrs.  I have no relatives out that way anymore so I don't really have any reason to go back there anymore and it's not on the way to anywhere I would be going.

It was fun to see some things hadn't changed but of course progress has its way of wanting to improve upon things much to my chagrin.

Here are some highlights of my hometown....

I am happy to say this place hasn't changed!

See that teeny little building behind the pickup?  That's J & W Grill and yes it is teeny tiny....

Everyone sits at the counter, no tables or booths.  Guess how many seats there are....14!

We got there right at lunchtime and had to wait a few minutes but they really get you in and out fast.  There were random empty seats but when they saw there were 4 of us everyone moved down to make room.

My daughter couldn't believe how friendly they were.

What is the attraction to this teeny weeny place?  Take a look....

Cheeseburger with fried onions.  Yum!  We all agreed this place was a winner.

Next we drove down main street...

Looks pretty much the same.  My dad worked at the bank in the long building with that old clock that's been there forever.  My mom was a nurse and worked for a doctor in the tall building.

Here's a couple of pics that show how some things haven't changed much....

Liberty Drug store, my sister worked behind that counter when I was young and made me the best vanilla phosphates.  Here it is now.....

I couldn't believe they kept it exactly the same, even the little stools and the color is the same also!

Now on to the main entertainment in town when I was young.....

then...

and now....

I spent many happy Saturday afternoons here.  I loved movies, still do.

In the old picture you can see the Singer sewing machine on the right of the theater.  I got my very first sewing machine there.  All it did was a straight stitch and zig zag, all metal and VERY heavy!  It was a really pretty seafoamy green.  I guess it would be "vintage" now. lol  I put a lot of miles on that machine.

After showing my daughter, Katie, various places in town with my memories she said I lived in Mayberry.

She meant it as a good thing.  :)

I wish kids today could experience a Mayberry in their childhood.

Happy July 4th

We've had a quiet 4th which has been kind of nice.  DH reminded me with all his travelling he was home 5 days in June.  Wow!  I didn't realize that.

 I've cleaned a little and worked in the yard until I started hearing thunder in the distance.  We are supposed to get pop up storms.  Hope it doesn't ruin the fireworks shows tonight.  There are several shows in town but we are staying home.  I used to love going to those but I don't care for the crowds or traffic anymore.  Is that a sign of getting old???

I finished one of my scrappy flags.  Boy, I did NOT enjoy doing it.  This was hard for me with all the wavy lines.  I was planning to make two of them but I'll have to think about that one.  It's all hand pieced and hand quilted.  When I got ready to do all the sides I realized it wasn't square.  It was really slanted and I tried to square it up some but it's not completely square.  Oh well, I guess that gives it more of a wavy feeling.  :)  Here is the one I finished.

First...all pinned and ready for hand quilting.  This is my least favorite part.  On a large quilt it takes soooo long!

Here it is completed.  The finished size is 13 5/8"  by 21" according to the magazine.   Mine is 12 3/4" by

19 3/4".  I guess it's a tad smaller since I had to square it up.

I like the fabric I found for the back at Hobby Lobby.  I thought it was perfect.  Too bad it won't be showing.

This pattern was in McCall's Quilting magazine, May/June 2011.  The pattern is by Carol Bader.

Annie's Birthday Month

Annie will be 1 yr. old this month!  I've enjoyed her so much and she's been great company for me when DH travels.  She's as sweet as she can be though sometimes a little stinker but how can you be mad at that sweet face.

She's always my computer buddy.....

my sewing buddy.....

and my shower buddy.  She always lays like this and falls asleep while I shower.  Maybe the sound of the water is soothing.....hmmmm.

Sometimes she likes to do her Ragdoll flop in the middle of the kitchen floor while I'm cooking.

I'm definitely never alone with her around. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE

30's Quilt

I just love 30's inspired fabric.  I think the prints and colors are so  cheery and I especially  love the conversational prints.  This is a quilt I'm enjoying though it has a lot of applique.  I enjoy handwork, that's my favorite thing to do rather than sit in front of a sewing machine, but it is very slow go for me. 

I've taken a break from it and started another project but will soon return.  I have a few more rows to finish before I can do the next step.

The quilt design is from Darlene Zimmerman.  I found it in the magazine "American Patchwork and Quilting"

Feb. 2011. 

The original has the 30's green but I like the cheery yellow best.

I Love Spray Paint!

Spray paint is magical (if that is a word).  With little effort you can completely change the look of something and see immediate results.  Here I had some old metal plant stands and basket that badly needed  some TLC.  They had rusted pretty bad from the weather.

But with the magic of spray paint they have been given a new lease on life.  I bought a paint primer and a  paint with a rust inhibitor so I hope it helps.  I never like the prep work before painting but I sure like the results!

By the way, the black wasn't a flat black nor shiny, just right.  The brown was a texturized paint that gave it a stone look.  I really liked it but it was sure hard to push the button on it!  I had to use two hands to push it down.  Also there is a little whitish place on the brown scroll part.  That's because I got impatient and picked it up to look at it.  Sigh.....I'll fix it later.  It has primer under it so it should be OK.  I'll just turn it so as not to see it.

Ipad Sewing Project

I saw a quilted bag for an ipad on a blog and decided to try to make it for mine.  I have a cover for it but I would like to have a little protection to pack it when travelling....not far, just in the car.    I had some cute fabric I decided would make a fun bag so here is what I did this afternoon.


I quilted simple rows first.  Here is one panel with and one without quilting.

 This is my blue cover which I really love but not enough protection from being bumped around and my finished bag.

I thought this lining would be happy looking.

See how nice and snug it fits.

TA DA!

I'm not real happy with my velcro closing.  I'd feel better with a more heavy duty velcro, mine is more of a light duty kind.  I used what I had on hand and I think I will do it over again later.  Otherwise I'm pleased with it.

My thanks to  www.oneshabbychick.typepad.com/   for the great tutorial.

OOPS!

Now what was I saying about perfectionism.....I posted two pics of the same block.  My third block is really much better!  Here it is...

Whew!  Glad that's over. 

Now I'm going to go play with my ipad. :)