Daisy Baby Quilt

This sweet pink & green baby quilt was QUILTED with a Daisy Meander (freehand)

 

Don't be afraid to quilt using minky or fleece as a backing. They both quilt up beautifully! Just be careful not to create too much tension between your roller bars, thereby stretching the flexible fabric.

I've even used fleece on the back, rolled it forward, and sewed it to the front to create the binding. It makes for a soft edge :)

Braid in a Day in Blues & Lime

Braid-in-a-Day Top

QUILTED with a Daisy Meander (freehand) 

TGIF peeps! Enjoy the beautiful weekend...

Crazy Patch Pastels Quilt

QUILTED with a Daisy Meander (freehand) 

There's something about this quilting pattern I love. Simple yet sophisticated! 

Braid in a Day Quilt with Daisy Meander

Lori is cranking out these Braid in a Day Quilts like it's nobody's business! The colors are stunning

QUILTED with a Daisy Meander (freehand)

So weren't we just talking about Spring finally having sprung?? Um yeah, we here in PA will possibly see some snow flakes later today or this evening. What the hay???? It won't stick because the ground is too warm but an aberration to be sure!

My count-down to Paducah continues: 6 days until I leave! Since I'm going as a bus hostess, I've been checking out games to play with the ladies & am still looking for ideas if anyone has one to share.

Mauve Sampler & Braid in a Day Quilts

Mauve Sampler Top; QUILTED with Triple Loop Meander (freehand)

Braid in a Day Top; QUILTED with Daisy Meander (freehand)

Is anyone experiencing Spring yet? We've had a couple of "teaser days", but we're back to being rainy & raw out there today.

I haven't shared a silly dog story in a little while. So even though it was raining a bit this morning I decided to head out with Smokey the Lab for a morning walk anyway. He's a water dog, right? I grabbed my umbrella from the car & off we went. All was good until we got about a mile from home, and the wind picked up, and my umbrella went inside out on me & poor Smokey got startled & tried to bolt. I hung on, lame umbrella flapping in the wet breeze. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), the wind was pretty steadily gusty, and so by positioning it just right, it righted itself with a loud fwap. 5 minutes more & the rain had gone from "raining steadily" to "pouring/pelting cats & dogs". We did an about-face. We started to jog home in hopes of shortening the actual time spent in the rain & I was hoping to keep my poor puppy warmed up. So I come barreling home, round the corner to my road, umbrella popping around spastically as I try to hold onto it even though it's impeding my gait & still being blown around by gusts, huge puffy winter coat/hat/gloves/wet sneakers, slipping in some mud, and of course there's some strange man standing on the Railroad House's front porch watching us splashing home, laughing... sigh... I laughingly explained that it wasn't raining so hard when I left. 

Truth be told I love walking/running in the rain, and I even enjoy the brisk winter walks. I don't enjoy making a spectacle of myself or almost falling down in the mud while a strange man watches :) Such is life (or at least mine!)

Take care & enjoy a Slow Sunday

Goodbye Spring!

How has springtime been treatin' ya? Besides some itchy eyes & sinus headaches, I've enjoyed getting outside a bit more. 

Here in Lancaster, PA, we've said goodbye to spring & have gotten Slammed with Summer this week. Sounds like a bad romance novel! The kids & the lab have enjoyed the early pool weather.

In other news, I'm almost past this stretch of time that nearly sends me over the edge every year. Springtime for me is on par with the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays. 

*Three family birthdays in May ~ one of which included my eldest turning 21!! Really, I can't possibly by THAT OLD?!?!?

*Mother's Day ~ while I'd love to tell you I look forward to this day & being pampered, it'd be a lie. I don't. It never feels "right" or completely joyful when my heart aches & it hurts to breath from missing Montie. I did have a terrific day, but maybe that's hard to understand? I still love being a mom. I still found enjoyment when my girls, their boyfriends, my hubby, and I went for a hike, and then they treated me to Sweet Frog & showered me with unexpected gifts. Plastering that smile on my face was hard, though, & took a conscious effort. And it was exhausting & so I was relieved on some level when it was over.

*Wrapping up a homeschool year ~ here in PA we have to have our child's schoolwork evaluated by a professional, then hand in a portfolio proving "appropriate learning" took place, then turn it into the school district. I have this pretty down-pat, but it still takes a great deal of time to attend to all the organization & compiling of materials.

*Planning for the upcoming homeschool year ~ need to have subjects & books picked to go to the CHAP curriculum fair in May and also prepare the affidavit to hand into the school district legally notifying them of my intent to homeschool in the upcoming year. Again, I love perusing curriculum & books, but the time factor can be huge if you don't use the same curriculum year after year (some I do & some we change up).

*This spring brought two added challenges in the midst of the craziness ~ my younger daughter was practicing to take her driver's license test AND she interviewed multiple time & has since been hired for her first job! These are definitely exciting events, but man, so much time involved!! And can I just admit that I HATE practicing parallel parking with a teen!! BLECK. Boring. Rifled & peppered with unhappy outbursts mixed with laughter. It's quite the bi-polar experience.

*And finally the crazed-spring-frenzy wraps up with Montie's birthday. He'd be 15 tomorrow, Monday, June 3rd. How I miss my little man... though I guess he wouldn't be so "little" anymore and more of a lanky teen.

I have managed to get some quilting done in between everything else in "swiss-cheese" fashion. It goes against my nature to do things in this manner but thems-the-breaks!

Red Floral Attic Window top; QUILTED in Bubble Meander freehand:

30's Scrappy Rectangles top; QUILTED with Daisy Meander freehand:

Red Labyrinth Top; QUILTED with Loops & Stars freehand:

Baby Rail Top; QUILTED Bubble Meander freehand:

Just had to show the Minky backing... quilts beautifully & so soft!

Geometric Blue top; QUILTED with Jilly panto:

Brown Batik Labyrinth top; QUILTED with Single Loop Reverse freehand:

Thanks for sticking it out till the end of this lengthy post! Hope you're enjoying a Slow Sunday :)

A Few More Finishes

Blue & Purple Center Star Top; QUILTED Leafy Swirl Freehand

Flowers & Animals Flannel Top; QUILTED Leafy Swirl Freehand

(Somehow I forgot -!!- to photograph this one before I folded it up, and since it was a huge bugger, I was too lazy to unfold to have to refold.)

 Modern Folk Rectangles Top; QUILTED Daisy Meander Freehand

The week went quickly, we had some swirling snow but nothing that stuck, and we celebrated Valentine's Day! 

What do you all do for Valentine's Day? Anything? For the last 20+ years it's been mostly about the kiddos. When they were younger, there were heart-shaped breakfasts, Valentine's for friends to write out, and candy/small gifts given. 

For the most part, Hubby & I feel like it's a nonsensical commercial holiday. After all, shouldn't you show the ones you love that you love them EVERYDAY? 

But this year both our girls had dates (when did we all get old enough for THIS????), so hubby & I decided to venture out ourselves. We didn't dare brave the restaurant scene, anti-socials that we are, but we saw a movie, Mama, hit Maggie Moos for dessert, and the icing on the cake was spending some time & money in Barnes & Nobles. I cannot describe properly how thrilling it is for me to peruse the many books, checking out the the backs of the most random titles just because I can, and looking for obscure magazine titles. The smell of books is like my own personal brand of heroine (... if you're a Twihard, you'll get the reference!)

Anyway, instead of getting the girls a bunch of random crap for the holiday, we opted to take them out for a sushi dinner tonight (along with which they got the requisite heart-shaped candy box). It was delicious & I'm stuffed to the gills! 

Can't wait for my Slow Sunday tomorrow!!