Nana's Cutie Pie! :)

UFO finished

January 2010

My oldest UFO. Look close and you can see the fabrics of the 70s. 80s, and the binding was copyrighted 1992. All I can say is WHEW! Machine quilting cotton/polyester fabric is tough work! This was a labor of love and when I look at this quilt I can hear strains of music from that time and almost see our young children playing in the house as we crafted. It's a true memory quilt for Linda and I; the geese were from our days of beginning quilting. She experimented with machine quilting much more than I--I do believe I pooh-poohed it at the time. Oh we of little faith...

Well that's done so on to more finishes!

Cheer for Mom!

We love the grandkids but they are a HANDFUL!!! Yesterday I had both Helena and Miles; it got to be a bit much so I called in reinforcements! YAAA for my Mom who came and kept Helena busy with crafts (here she is in her killer bee ensemble).

I needed reinforcements because Miles is a whopping 15 lbs at this point (and the little guy is only 10 weeks old!) and he was little under the weather. He was congested and had problems breathing whenever I layed him down. So I ended up rocking him through most of the day. All I can are two things: Don't think I can take care of both kids at the same time right now and THANKS MOM!

This is the first week that Miles seems to be enjoying is Nuk. He was really sucking on it and puts his fingers to his mouth now :)

He is soooooooooooooooo cute!

Working the stash...

I was dedicating this month to pillowcases and teddy bears for my local guilds. They donate these items to the local hospitals (pillowcases for children in the oncology ward, teddy bears for children in the ER). It has been years since I have been able to focus on any kind of community outreach; family problems have taken precendence for some time now. It feels good. It feels like I am becoming a citizen of the world again.

It isn't hard to think about donations now with the haunting images of Haiti on tv. The other day while I babysat Miles, I rocked our wee babe and watched CNN and the awfulness of it all.

All I could think was something I heard once, not sure who said it: "for today and all its blessings, I shall have an attitude of gratitude."

Mr. Miles Day!

Mr. Miles is coming today! It sure is fun having him here :)

This is a close up of an old quilt I have and like a lot (love the colors). I find it interesting on this one that she did crosshatching on the green fabric (which was the border of the 9 patches) and just stiched in the ditch for the 9 patch. Most quilts I have that have cross hatching are quilted that way through the entire quilt. I like cross hatching anyway, it is one of my favorite ways to quilt but the colors in this one spoke to me!

Have a wonderful day!

66 Days Til Spring

Bundle up!

Its cold and going to get much colder! I've been having some hand/shoulder pain so this is my brief howdy. I posted this because my Nana always said that the color red was a "too hot". She was always warm and the color red made her warmer :) This is a good thing this weekend....Bundle up and stay warm!

teddy von barky

This boy has been barky since the day we brought him home.

Good thing he is so cute!

Road Trip

On Wednesday, Aunt Carole and I took Helena and Logan to Roadside America. Logan loves trains and I thought Helena might enjoy it as well. Kids are funny. We left at 11 am and the kids didn't really speak much to each other on the way down; it had been a while since they had seen each other. One McDonald's Happy Meal and a visit to Roadside America, and the kids didn't stop chattering all the way home!

Roadside America is a warehouse of a miniature town. Around our part of Pennsylvania we call this a "putz"--a representation of our lives that we would put around our Christmas tree (complete with train). This one takes the cake though...it is huge! Includes everything you could imagine---including an airport, all sides of industry, numerous trains (and trolleys), farmland and village are represented:

Below: This is the circus come to town, the circle spins so the kids can see all the entertainers and animals.
Our fascinated kids:

Happy New Year: Moving Forward...

According to the Pennsylvania Dutch, one eats pork and sauerkraut and mashed potatoes on New Years Day for good luck. My mother always said that she heard a pig moves forward with his nose, while a chicken scratches backwards. All I know is that I get to eat pork and sauerkraut today with my brothers and son!!!!
Hope the new year brings you peace, happiness and all the joy you can embrace