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Thursday, November 24, 2016

A DIFFERENT KIND OF THANKSGIVING

This Thanksgiving, Jorge and I will not have either one of our sons with us.
To be perfectly honest, I don't like it.
Living hundreds of miles away from them does not help.
But this is life and it is what it is.

Jorge and I are so thankful for the sons the Lord has blessed us with.
David, our oldest, is a wonderful son who works very hard
and is always helping those in need.
He has been blessed with an awesome wife,  Amber.
She is an answer to our prayers.
I don't know how she does it in supporting
him in a lot of his activities.

We're thankful for Chris, our youngest son.
He has always had a tender heart for the underdog.
I don't know how many times he has come to people's aid.
In a few weeks, he will marry his princess, Liz.
She too is an answer to our prayers.
She has such a zest for life.
To know that she will care and love my son is an
answer to a parent's prayer.

I'm thankful for my husband who has loved me for the last 33 years.
We've gone through our ups and downs
but he has always been there for me.
I'm so thankful that he is still alive from the 
motorcycle accident he had this past September.
I'm thankful that he wants to serve the Lord in the best way possible.

So yes, this year, our Thanksgiving is going to be different.
Our sons are not going to be with us but I am still thankful.
God has blessed me in so many ways.
We will be spending Thanksgiving with friends from church.
We will have fun  and it will be different.
So as you spend this day with your family,
reflect on the blessings that God has given you.

Happy Thanksgiving Graphics

Monday, October 17, 2016

WEDDING QUILT


My youngest son, Chris, has found his princess and she said yes!
I couldn't be happier.
Liz  is a very fun loving, joyful and beautiful young lady.

Because of this wonderful occasion,
I'm making them a quilt.
I asked Liz what are her favorite colors.
I happily went to the quilt shop
and selected fabric.


Chris and Liz will be getting married December 17, 2016.
I have a short period of time to get the quilt ready.
So I had better get to work.






Wednesday, July 13, 2016

FLORIDA BREEZE SHOP HOP

Back in January of this year, I participated
in my first Florida Shop Hop.
A shop hop is where different quilt shops
work together in coming up with a theme.
They then design a block for their particular shop
and the customers go to each shop and purchase
the kit from that particular shop.

I decided to do it and check out the shops.
The shops were in different parts of Florida.
The furthest I had to travel to was in Orlando.
Yes, I was determined to go to every shop and get the kits.
Since I only had a week to visit each shop,
I had to plan my itinerary very carefully
so that I can maximize my time and travel.

I was able to accomplish all of the visits.
When I got home, I put away the kits
and had completely forgotten about them.
Last week, I decided I needed to get to work on
them because I'm doing another shop hop.

The blocks are all applique.
I rarely do any applique but I decided I would this time.
I still need to finish the edging on the pieces,
make the sashing and put the blocks together,
add the borders and then quilt it.








Saturday, July 9, 2016

QUILTFEST 2016 CHALLENGE QUILT

Last year I went to my very first Florida quilt show.
The quilts were exquisite.
At the show, I bought a kit for this year's show.
The kit includes fabric and the directions.
We have the freedom to design a 
the wall hanging no bigger than 110" overall.
The quilt has to have either a nine patch, applique or 
a design embellisment.
The main fabric in my kit has beach umbrellas
and that's where my idea for the quilt happened.

 The three fabrics that were included in the kit.

 I chose to make nine appliqued umbrellas.


I chose nine different fabrics to make the umbrella.
I fused paper back fusible and pinned
the umbrella design and started cutting.
I did the same thing using black fabric for the handle.

I fused all the umbrellas to the 5 1/2" block.

The red sashing is 1 1/2".
The blue border is 1 1/2".
The umbrella border is 2".
Now I'll quilt it and get it ready for this year's show.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

T-SHIRT QUILT

A friend of mine from Indiana asked me if I
could make a quilt for her son out his t-shirts.
I told her that I would be happy to.
She wanted to have it for his high school graduation.

So here are the steps that I used in making the quilt.
Materials:


Tee shirts,  Interfacing (fusible, woven type), woven cotton fabric for sashing and borders, fabric for backing (woven cotton, flannel, or polarfleece) and batting if you choose to use it.
InterfacingThere are many brands of interfacing. Look for a woven type or a non-woven that is not stretchy (don't use a knit interfacing). You are using the interfacing to make the knit tee fabric non-stretchy for ease in sewing.

Cotton FabricsYou'll be using woven cotton (ie. regular quilting cotton) for the sashing and borders of your quilt. You want the stability of a woven cotton, not stretch from a knit. Pick a fabric that will frame your tee blocks nicely.

Batting  A cotton batting or blend is better for a machine quilted project.

Backing


Preparation & Techniques

Decide Layout  Assuming you have all your tee shirts out and have done differente layouts so that you'll have an idea of your block sizes.
Washing & Cutting Wash all your tee shirts, if not previously worn you may want to wash them twice.
Fusing cut the fusible interfacing about 2 inches larger than the size of your unsewn blocks.  You may want to use a 1/2 inch seam allowance for your tee shirt blocks rather then the traditional 1/4 inch of quilting to make sturdier seams.  Follow the fusible manufacturer's advice, fuse the interfacing to the tee shirt sections you plan to use.
Cutting the fused tee shirts.  If all your blocks are to be the same size, you will find it convenient to make a template from cardboard, mat board or plastic template material.  If you are a quilter with a rotary cutter, this is definitely the tool to use.  
Cutting the sashing and borders Remember to leave 1/2 inch seam allowance if you choose to have extra.
Arranging blocks If all your blocks are one size, you can go directly to arranging their order.  But, if you are using some smaller units of tee shirt images to make larger blocks, sew these first.  Then clear off a place on your floor, a bed or hang a big flannel sheet or batting on the wall to arrange your blocks.
Sewing Sew blocks in rows, either horizontal or vertical inserting sashing pieces (if desired) as you go.  Then assemble rows and add the borders.
Finishing Layer top with backing and batting and quilt.

Since I knew Nick was joining the Air Force, I found this fabric to make the quilt.

 The stack of t-shirts that I had to cut and put the interface
on each of them to stabilize the t-shirts.


Once they were cut, I had to decide on the layout.
Since none of the designs were the same size,
I had to lay it out in several different ways.
This was the final layout.

 One thing that I had decided is that I wanted all of the
t-shirts to have a 2-inch sashing no matter the size they were.
I did this to make it consistent.

 Here are three with the sashing.

 Now came the fun part.  
I had to measure and decide width and length
of the blue fabric to make everything
lay out perfectly and level.

 For me, laying out the blocks on a bed was very helpful.
Each section had different measurements.
So the old saying of measure twice cut once is true.

 I liked the way the blocks turned out with the red sashing.
They look like they're floating on top of the blue fabric.

 I added a 3-inch border using the Air Force fabric.
The Air Force fabric was also the backing.
I used a basting spray to hold the quilt together
while I quilted it on my sewing machine.
I used a patriotic cotton thread
and meandered all around the blocks.

I used the red, blue, and Air Force fabric to make the binding.

His mom made this photo collage.
I had the honor to present him his quilt.



Wednesday, June 29, 2016

HELEN GEORGIA MOTORCYCLE RALLY RECAP

Both Jorge and I had a wonderful time in Helen.
It was great seeing our Indiana riding friends.
The last day of the rally was Thursday 
and Jorge and I stayed till Saturday.
He and I went out on Friday afternoon and
did some more riding on the curvy roads.
Yes, I got nervous at first, but I knew that I could do it.
I'm so glad I did.

I am so glad that Jorge did get the opportunity
to go ride the curves with friends.
The two guys he went with challenged him.
The same way he challenged me when he and I went out.

Saturday, he and I made our way home early in the morning.
We had to make many stops because it was so hot
and we were both getting dehydrated.
The temperature on our way home was 95
with a heat index of 103.
We got home and just jumped in the pool.
Boy did that ever felt good!

Our reservations are made for next year.
Overall, it was a great few days of riding.


 Jorge, Mark, and Rich riding and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

 The day that Jorge and I went on our own.

The scenery was beautiful!
I could really get use to riding on these roads
and getting more practice.

Jorge was ahead of me and he sped off so that he could
take a picture of me coming out a tight curve.

The only bad thing that happened to our bikes
was with mine.  The brand new right saddlebag plopped open.
The latch does not align and won't close.



FLORIDA GARDENING - BOUGAINVILLEA

For a very long time, I have loved bougainvilleas.
But because I used to live in Indiana,
I could not have them grow outside.
But that has all changed now that I live in Florida.

I love the many colors that it has and how
thick the flowers can be.
So today I decided that it was time
for me to go and purchase them.
Off to Lowe's I went.

I found two in the dark pink color that I fell in love with.
Bought two and brought them home.
I learned that the name comes from Louis Antoine de Bougainville, 
a French navigator and military commander who was the first
European to take note of the plant, in Brazil, in 1768.

The Bougainvillea is a tropical and subtropical woody, evergreen, shrubby vine.
The true, perfect flowers are small, tubular, and surrounded
by showy, colorful petaloid bracts.
They grow best in full sun.
Strong light is required for good flowering.
They can tolerate hot dry locations, 

 First thing was to clear the area.
I dug out several roses that I thought
would come back to life with my care.
But that wasn't the case.

 The two Bougainvilleas that I bought.
They both had trellises already in the pots.
They were very easy to plant.

Watered the plants and then added a bag of black mulch.
Now to enjoy and water once a week.

HELEN GEORGIA MOTORCYCLE RALLY DAY THREE

Our day started nice by having breakfast with our friends from Indiana.
Afterwards, Jorge and I with another couple and two guys
went off on a ride so that she and I could get experience
on very curvy and twisty roads that included
a couple of switchback roads.

I will be very honest that I was very nervous.
We did tell the two guys with us that the ladies
were going to set the pace.
I am very happy to say that I did the curves and twisty roads
well and did not go around them at 10 MP!
At one of the curves I scraped by right boot!

At the end of the ride, Jorge said I did well for being my first time.
One of the other guys told me the same thing.
Their comments really made me happy.
I saw that the more we got into the ride,
the less scared I got doing the curves.
I know that I'll need to do more of those types of roads.

At the end of the day, there was a bike show.
I decided to put my bike in the show.
I did not win my category but that's okay.
I still had a good time.
What I didn't realize how much of a hit
my bike was among the ladies there.
Jorge was listening in on their comments.

There was a couple on their honeymoon!

Breakfast at a German bakery.
The food was delicious!

After a nice day of riding, lunch was on the agenda.

I wonder if I could put that on the windshield of both our cars.


My bike was a hit with the ladies.
Several actually sat on it after they asked my permission.


The day ended with a banquet and the announcement
of next year's rally which will be held at
Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri.
We've already made our reservations.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

HELEN GEORGIA MOTORCYCLE RALLY DAY TWO

Started our day off with having breakfast
at Huddle House with our friends from Indiana.
It was so great to see them.

After breakfast, Jorge and two other guys went out riding
and I went with Laurie to walk the town of Helen
and we did shopping.  There are a lot of nice shops.

The architecture is definitely Bavarian.


 This candy shop was fantastic.
I bought pecan brittle and it was so delicious.
Jorge and I loved it!

There are two companies that do tubing down this waterway.

One of the bikes that I saw that had custom paint.

 Laurie and I found a Dutch shop.
I fell in love with all the things they had.
I had to use self-control and buy the many things I saw.



 The rally had scheduled a time for the ladies
to get to know how to take care of their
own motorcycles.  Jen did such a great job.
I came out of it knowing more than I did before.


 I rode this bike in the 2014 rally.
It was a lot of fun riding in the side car.

We all ended the day with ice cream.
Perfect way to end a great day.