Sundae Quilters Luncheon

Hi All,
Yesterday, despite some "iffy" weather, some of the Sundae Quilters got together for our Christmas lunch at Red Robin. We had such a good time, great food, and lots of laughs. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera but if you'd like to see photos, you can go to Nancy's blog, www.patchworkpenguin@blogspot.com. She has posted some photos and a video of Beth's entertaining tree hat - you've got to see this one - it's great!!!
I've got a few things to get finished before Christmas and have yet to send out a card. I did make up a short Christmas letter to send to friends out of town - now to get them in the mail!! I just seem to come to a standstill at this time of year - maybe it's the overwhelming feeling that there's so much to do and I'd just rather bury my head under the pillow and wait until it's all over - my own personal ostrich syndrome, I guess. But I know that everything will get done and we'll have a great Holiday - it always seems to happen that way. Hope you all have a great Holiday season, too!!

Look What I Got!!!

Last night I went to a "drum jam" hosted by friend Bonnie. This is a monthly get together with all sorts of hand drums, whistles, flutes, didgeridoo's, bagpipes and even belly dancers and a throat singer. What a great time!!! Friend Fran and I helped out by serving up delicious punch and pulled pork sandwiches. As a thank you, Bonnie gave each of us a gift - mine was this wonderful purse. Bonnie has one just like it and every time I see it, I tell her it might "disappear" since I am really coveting it. Now I have one of my very own!!! Thank you, again, Bonnie - I LOVE IT!!!

Signs of Christmas

There are signs of Christmas at our house. First is my Scottie planter decked out with poinsettias...

and then my "Christmas goose" flag ...

and finally, Scottie pups having their first "taste" of snow!!!

Have a great day!!!

Snow!!!

Hooray, hooray, hooray - it's snowing!!! This is the first of the season and it's really coming down right now. I'm like a kid with the first snow - and I can hardly wait to see the pup's reaction to the white stuff!! We're only supposed to get 1-4" and the ground is still warm, so we'll have to wait and see how much we actually get. Since I don't have to be any place today, I can remain excited and just enjoy watching from the warmth of my home. Better fill the bird feeders, too, since our little feathered friends have a tough time in this kind of weather.

Keep smiling and have a great day -

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi All -

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. Our two daughters and their husbands joined us for turkey with all the fixings - yum, yum. Needless to say, we were all "stuffed" - just like the bird. Here's a photo of son-in-law, Mike, modeling his "turkey" hat. I saw this one day and just had to get it for him. He's such a good sport and is even contemplating wearing it to work on Monday :o)

Today is reserved for making turkey soup, quilting and also watching Nebraska play Colorado. My husband is a Nebraska native and we root for the Huskers - GO BIG RED!!!

Have a great day and keep smiling -

Fall Retreat

Hi All -

Went to my Quilt Guild's fall retreat on Friday and Saturday - it was great to get away, if only for the day. Since my hubby's back has been acting up and the pups run him ragged when I'm away, I came home at night and then went back up in the morning. There were about 40 of us there and lots of creative juices were flowing. A few of us worked on Bonnie Hunter's "Chunky Churndash" - we swapped strips so our quilts came out really scrappy. Here's a picture of Nancy's (she's an overachiever and got her top done!!!). Isn't it pretty!! I'm about a third of the way done on mine - will try to finish it up this week.

Fran was working on a quilt for a class she's teaching at the local quilt shop. It's a variation of "Stack-n-Whack" - you'd never guess that by looking at it - isn't it fun!!

Carole was working on a Civil War wall hanging and it came out really nice.

The place where we have our retreat provides meals on Friday night, three on Saturday and a Sunday brunch. It sure is nice since we can sew to our heart's content and we don't have to worry about getting meals, taking care of kids, etc., etc. We have our retreat twice a year - one in the spring and one in the fall. You can see from these few photos that we can get a lot done in that short time - no interruptions makes a big difference!!!

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving - keep smiling :o)

Purse Class

Hi Everyone -

It's been a while since I've written - seems like life gets in the way of creativity sometimes. Anyway, our Quilt Guild had Didi Salvatierra as a guest speaker yesterday - she was great and showed us some of her beautiful creations from jewelry to quilting to necklaces, etc., etc. She's really very talented and it was great seeing all of her beautiful artwork. She also taught a purse class on Friday night and Saturday morning using the Lazy Girl "Towne Purse" pattern. I forgot to take my camera to class so all I can show you is my purse - sorry!! I love this pattern. The inside is all finished before you put it together so there are no raw edges to cover. It also has 9 pockets and 1 or 2 on the outside. This is the first project I've finished in class - but I do have to add 4 decorative buttons on each side of the zipper ends. I made mine with short handles but you can use longer ones for a shoulder bag. I'll probably make this purse again - I can just imagine it in lovely summer florals!!

The pups are doing great but I have to really watch Duncan. He's my little escape artist!! He got out of the yard on Friday night just before I was to leave for class (of course) and was hot on the trail of a rabbit. He was zigzagging all over the place and rabbits were scattering everywhere!! Meanwhile, Hamish was back in the yard (good boy!) barking like crazy since he was missing all the fun. It took me about 15 minutes to corral Duncan and get him back home. He was pooped, to say the least, and slept all the time I was at class. The good thing about all this chaos is that I've lost 10 pounds!!!

Take care and keep smiling -