It's Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year!  In just a few weeks, the leaves in New England will be turning into beautiful colors - reds, oranges, yellow, different shades of green! Last year I was in Vermont during the peak of the foliage season!

 

As a kid, I remember raking up the leaves, jumping in the piles we made, raking them back up again, then eventually having to burn them.  YES, we really did burn the leaves. That was WAY Back a LONG TIME AGO!

 

Fall in Phoenix tends to be only colorful when we bring it into our homes. We decorate with wreaths:

 

 

And Wall hangings:

 

 

My wonderful friend Kim, made and gave this to me as a gift many years ago!

I was so excited to put it up yesterday! (I bring it out every year!)

 

 

I hope to be adding to my collection soon!!!!!

 

Lately I have been busy working on getting ready for more GRANDSONS! Yippee!

 

I came across a youtube video on making baby receiving blankets with self-binding. They are so incredibly easy to whip up! Here are some photos:

 



 A close-up of the self-binding corners

 

 I think the pink one is my favorite

Unfortunately, I will have to be giving it to someone

other than my own kids

We are expecting only grandsons this year!

 

If you want to learn how to make these, go to YouTube and do a search for the Missouri Quilt company - they have a video on the self-binding receiving blanket.

 

Until next time, happy sewing! Happy Fall!





Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

I sincerely apologize for taking so long to write again! I have had some technical difficulties - my computer had a virus and needed to be nursed back to health. Heaven only knows what I did to cause it!!!!
My wonderful husband and I are coming up on our 32nd wedding anniversary! Where did the years go? In a lot of ways it feels like yesterday when we were married. Then I look at the HUGE family we have and KNOW that it was not just yesterday! Nine children, four kids-in-law, and four grandsons with two more on the way!!! How wonderful the Lord has been to us!
We started out on August 16, 1980:

In 1980, I believe that was a normal sized diamond!!!! The rocks girls get today . . .
I have been so sentimental about this ring! After all, Louie and I chose them in May of 1980! Well, Louie asked if I would like a new Diamond . . . .

                                                            AND I SAID YES!!!!!!

                                   Here it is, the Husqvarna Viking Designer DIAMOND Deluxe!!!

OK, so here's the story:
On June 30th, my sister, Diane (who lives in Vermont) went to a quilt show at the fairgrounds in Essex Junction (where we grew up).  I had literally been out of bed for 5 minutes when Louie brought me the phone and said "I just bought you a XXXX thousand dollar sewing machine". I laughed and said "you did not!".  Apparently my sister had already been talking Louie's ear off, telling him how I needed to take advantage of this great offer and trade in the Viking ROSE I'd had for 15 years.  I informed my sister that yes, I had been getting emails and flyers about this deal they were having but there was no way I was going to buy a new sewing machine! Besides, I had brought my sewing machine in to have it repaired a week earlier and was waiting to get it back.  WELL, we made several phone calls back and forth and I ended up trading in my ROSE and purchasing a DIAMOND!!!!
Not only that, but DIANE bought one too!  I bet those ladies in Essex Junction had to grab a piece of fabric and tie it around their head (from top to chin) to keep their jaws closed! TWO DIAMONDS in one sale!
It took about a week and a half to arrive in Phoenix and I called the repair shop and told them to pull my machine off the line because I was trading it in. I brought my machine to the Viking Sew Gallery in Glendale to be repaired (I think the timing was finally off after hundreds of hours of sewing) and they were so kind and gracious. They helped facilitate the whole transaction and I have returned there to learn how to use this new machine.
My sister bought the software (5D) with hers and I did not. I figured it will be a while before I am digitizing savvy like she is so she can be the designer for now!
The classes have been great and today is the last one. This is where I will be using my computer with the embroidery unit.  Unfortunately, the last few weeks have been crazy with getting used to my new job, traveling, and doing on-line education, that I have not had a whole lot of time using the machine. Besides, I really am a little bit scared still  :)
Well, I will be posting more as I learn more!
Have a happy day!

Oh My! Oh My! Oh My!

June ended with quite a BANG!!! Having returned from a business trip on Friday evening (the 29th), I was looking forward to a low-key Saturday. . .  putzing around the house, errands with the hubby. . . you know, just taking it easy. I was up 5 minutes when my husband answered my cell phone and it was my sister calling from a quilt show in Vermont. WELL, you know that could not be good (financially) for my sister! When I listened to all of her excitement, I knew it was going to be very difficult to get her to SLOW DOWN, think about what she was planning, and have a conversation that would include THINKING THIS THROUGH!!!!!
To leave you with just a taste, after several phone calls back and forth, credit cards being whipped about, WE BOTH ended up making a VERY LARGE PURCHASE!! 
And that is all I am going to say  -  until I can post a photo!
Be Back soon.

Visit to Vermont

As a young girl, I remember thinking how nice it would be to travel and see the rest of the country. It seemed like Vermont never did anything "great". We didn't have a Vermonter win Miss America (that I remember), TV shows, movies, and books never took place in Vermont, and the nightly news had more information about life outside of Vermont than inside! It just felt like I lived in an isolated piece of the United States. Our family would ride into up-state New York to visit relatives, go to New Hampshire to camp, visit relatives in Massachusettes and Connecticut, but that was the extent of our exploring. When I was in High School, I used to babysit for a wonderful family that had 4 children. They moved to North Carolina and one summer they returned to Vermont and took me to North Carolina with them. What fun that was! It was so beautiful that I believed if I lived anywhere outside of Vermont, it would be North Carolina.
Once I finished nursing school, I had the opportunity to go on a GREAT ADVENTURE with my brother Paul. We left Vermont in February, 1979 and DROVE across the country to California! I was 20 years old and my brother was 19. I still can't believe our parents let us do that! It took us 5 days to drive across the country because we had to go south to miss the rocky mountains.
We arrived in San Jose and then life changed for both of us! I met my husband, Paul met his wife, and we since have both lived in the western part of the country!
Returning to Vermont is like visiting a small piece of heaven. Everything is lush green, country roads, old barns and houses, ponds, farms, covered bridges, and beautiful lakes! The days go by more slowly as there are no cities in which to hustle and bustle about! The clouds are either giant white fluffy looking things, or gray low-hanging, and full of water!!!  My two sisters, my Mother, and I drove hundreds of miles through Vermont visiting quilt shops and at one point I had to pull over to the side of the road, roll down my car window, and LISTEN to WATER rushing through the brook! It was so melodic and just tickled my heart. As I get older, I find myself longing more for my "roots" and a slower life! I now appreciate much more, all the beauty God bestowed on my homestate. As much as I would love to once again live in Vermont, the Lord brought to mind my wedding vows taken from the book of Ruth : "Wither thou goest, I will go. . .your people will be my people. ."
My wonderful husband is an Arizonan and this is home for him. This is home for our children too. So, I am ever so thankful for those visits I get to make to Vermont!!!
In just over a week, I was able to do many things in Vermont! First and foremost was spending time with Mom! I also spent some time with both my sisters and visited with my youngest brother and his family.
Mom and I spent time sewing and I was able to finish a diaper bag (experiment) I was working on. I am hoping to write a pattern for this but need to do some tweaking first! Here are some photos:

                                          Outside of the bag. It has front and back pockets,
                                           and a pocket on each side. I don't have a got shot
                                          of the quilting details but the light fabric is all lines
                                          that criss-cross, the bottom is meander, and the top
                                          band is swirls.

                                          The inside of the bag has 6 pockets and a covered
                                          cardboard bottom.

                                           These are three matching burp cloths and a matching
                                            bib.

I left these with my sister Diane. She is going to see if they might sell. Meanwhile, I need to put all my notes about this bag together to make a pattern. Then we will make a couple more with more tweaking.

Since I have been home, I spent a day with Daughter-in-law - Victoria, teaching her to sew. Her baby is due any day now and we made a new mattress for the cradle my father made for my babies over 30 years ago! It now belongs to Ben and Victoria. I asked that they have more than one baby and be sure to pass it down making it known that Pepere Bushey made it!
Here's photos of Victoria and the finished project (sorry, I don't have a picture of the cradle):

Victoria learned how to thread the machine, wind a bobbin, change presser feet, she sewed on a zipper, piping, and learned how to "stuff" foam into the finished project!!! She was awesome! Little baby boy Rayes has a nice new mattress to lay on!
Well, back to the sewing machine . . . . .

UFQ #1

WooHoo! I have one unfinished project (quilt) done! I will call this UFQ  #1. For those who are reading this post, you might notice my UFQs are not in order (sorry, yours is coming!).
Last year I was blog hopping and found a bunch of bloggers who were in a virtual quilting bee. They would send fabric and directions to their friends and they had to complete the block and send them back within a certain amount of time. Sooo, knowing I had a stash that needed to be used up, I decided to put my feelers out among my friends and see who was interested. Kim, Sally, and Diane, these photos are for you! I finished the tablecloth with the blocks you sent me. The blocks are beautiful and I am so appreciative of all the work you did on them! I have to apologize for not putting forth the absolute best stitching on this project - each time I sat down to work on it, I kept thinking of all the other things I should be working on!  I still think the virtual  quilting bee is a great idea and would love to get another one going. We can make it simple and the more people that are involved, the better! Let me know what you think.
 The flower block is called Aster. It was fun and a little bit of a challenge to put the block together but so worth it!

                                          I just had to add the beautiful flowers Nick, Kathryn
                                         and the boys sent for Mother's Day!!!

                                           A closer look. There are 9 Aster blocks in all.

                                          The bowl in the middle is a fabric bowl Diane
                                          made out of the rest of what I sent her.

                                           My photo take on how the Amish display their
                                           gorgeous quilts     :)


Well, I am able to cross this off my to do list! Now on to the next. Hmmm, dare I tell what unfinished project I will work on next?  Maybe if I do, it will actually get done!
OK, here goes, I am going to take out and work on . . . . .  (Drum roll please). . . . Nick and Kathryn's quilt!!!!!  There, I said it, now I have to do it!
Til next time!

Hello again

I haven't posted since last week as I was waylaid by 4 days of dizziness (thanks to having Meniere's Disease)! I was pretty much limited to sitting in my chair and not moving a whole lot. These times - while quite bothersome - also are beneficial in helping me realize how thankful I need to be for those days that I feel great! I need to get myself in gear and really take advantage of those feel good days and get a lot done. Yesterday I managed to clean out a significant pile in my bedroom, clean out a kitchen drawer and cupboard, get all the ironing done and all the clothes folded and put away! While I had wanted to get some sewing done, I felt the need to work on household things first. Today, I spent 2 hours cleaning the pool and managed to get a load of laundry washed, dried, and folded and it is only 10am! I hope to have a photo within the next couple of days of what I have been working on. We will call it a UFP  - Unfinished project!!  Talk to you soon!

Frodo

I spend time every week reading the blogs of quilters. Many of them have cats and share photos of their precious felines. I tend to smile when I see those photos of sweet cuddly furballs and think - "In my dreams. . ."  You see, when we got our cat, he was about 8 weeks old. He was from the litter of some family friends and the kids were thrilled to have another cat. (We had a cat named Simba and we all felt it would be great for Simba to have a playmate). We got him during the Lord of The Rings movie trilogy and thought the name "Frodo" was cute. Well, as time went by, we decided a better name for him would have been "Gollum".  I think Frodo was jealous of Simba. Simba was (at that time) the Lion King of the neighborhood (yes, our cats are outdoor cats - we live in Phoenix, after all!). Simba was quite Kingly in letting others know what his turf was. There were many mornings we would go out front and see giant tufts of fur and know Simba had been in a fight. But, I digress. This is about Frodo.
Gollum would have fit him better as a name because - Frodo is Evil!!! This cat thinks about what he does and how he can show his superiority. One time he had a stare down with our dog (Penny) in the kitchen. Penny peed the floor! Penny is a 50 pound mutt!!!!  Frodo became more bold as time went by. He would come into the house, eat his food, taunt the dog, then disappear. We soon learned those disappearances resulted in unpleasant arromatic incidences throughout the house. So we threw him out of the house. Oh, we would give him attention outside and feed and water him, BUT, he was no longer allowed to come inside.
One morning I opened the front door to let Simba out and made eye contact with Frodo. It was 7am. At 7:15am, I went out the door to get into my car to go to work. As I got closer to the car, I saw something on the top of my sunroof. It was cat POOP!!!! I ran into the house and hollered at Louie to come outside and see this spectacle on my car. (I needed a witness!). It was so fresh it was still WARM! What cat does that? Don't they usually bury their duty? He was sending me a message - let me in the house OR ELSE!!!
My resolve to keep him outside was even stronger after that. UNTIL, one night we had a terrible storm. Pelting rain, cold wind and I felt sooooo sorry for evil kitty who was outside. I opened the door and called for him. He was close by and darted into the house to safety. Since then, we have a love/hate relationship.  Here's "My Precious". . . .