It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We are getting an inch an hour in Michigan today, and it's not supposed to stop until Sunday night. Any body want to take bets on a total for two days? We had a visit from Santa already (AKA Mr. Wonderful) did anybody recognise him? Five of our grandchildren were already on his lap this year, and not one of them knew it was Papa!

Then we went home and decorated Christmas cookies...and waited for Papa to "get up from his nap"

We had a wonderful weekend, and now, all the company have gone home and the hugs have went with them. The last of the kids left yesterday, the family room is vacuumed, the bedding is washed, the cookies are all gone, and Granny's house is quiet.

But, the postman continued our Christmas vibe today, and brought the most wonderful package. Norma sent me a new ruler caddy, hand made by her Great White Hunter!!! How did she know I wanted one? needed one? I absolutely LOVE it!! It is extra long, and has five slots!! I"m going to have to go shopping to get more rulers!! hip hip hooray!!

My rulers are all so happy, I think I can hear them giggling in the next room! tee hee, they will nest good tonight, Thank you, Dear Norma!!

I hope you all have happy rulers!

lyn

Gearing up for the Holiday Season

I have been feverishly working on gifts for Christmas, it is a favorite tradition of mine to send out hand made gifts to some of the loved ones who have a place in my heart. Some of my family never read blogs, so I can show a few of the ones I have done. This is for my wonderful DIL, she is a "purry" type and I know she will love the french look to this. Pink is her signature color.

This one has some memories in it, my mother's blouse, and my grandmother's fabric. It is for my nephew's family, they just bought a new home outside of Chicago, so this fits.

This is for a perfect friend, she and I have been best of friends since we were 13,,,and I'm not going to count how many years that is!!

This is a rag rug for my neice, she loves the bags I made, and hinted that she'd love a rug, too. I love the controlled ragginess in this one.


And, another UFO of the yarn brand. I had a few granny suares, so I put them together and kept going, this one is a Linus Project blanket. I am still bogged down with yarn, after 6 of these are done, I have to admit to at least 5 more boxes of yarn...is that a bad thing? or do I get bonus points for using the skeins up? tee hee

As for Mr. Wonderful, he is getting physical therapy on his shoulder, his insulin has been readjusted and they added another fast acting insulin, he has had an MRI on his knee, and will most likely have to have surgery, his back has been getting worse(worse than BEFORE his back surgery!), and they will re-evaluate in January. His stomach is better, with the help of Reglan, his foot problem is something called Charcot Foot, and is caused by his diabetes, and he has an appointment with a foot surgeon for that one. We only have one Dr. appt this week,,,,hip hip hooray!! one more thing to be thankful about! His pains are easing, one by one, and he is, once more, the wonderful husband I love.

I just want all of you to know how thankful I am, to have found a whole world of women to share and laugh and learn with. In these blogs, we spill our hearts, not just our stitches, and you have all been so wonderful!

I am thankful for you!

hope all your hearts are thankful!

lyn

I'm a quilting flunky

I have not done any real-quilting around here, I should get going! I have to get caught up for Christmas,,,, but I have been stitching, the crochet kind of stitches,,,

I have dozens and dozens of skeins and balls of yarn, along with UFO's of the afghan variety, and they are taking up room in my "fabric area." So, I pulled a bunch of them out, put them in piles that kinda matched, and started crocheting again,,, these three are for the Linus Project in our county.

Hopefully, Donna can pick them up and they will be keeping a child warm by Christmas...???

All of the patterns are mindless patterns, no real complicated stitches here, which I find comforting in my old age, the older I get, the less complicated I like my life (and stitching) to be. I don't have to consult a pattern book every five stitches, I don't have to count higher than 10, and I can mix two reds together without feeling like a yarn-idiot. So, I have two reds in the same blanket,,,do you think a six year old will notice?

My wonderful friend, Brenda, was over for dinner last night, and we both agree,---- simple is the new fun---- She has crocheted, but only granny squares, and I tried to tell her how easy these patterns are, once you are done stitching, you're done...no sewing the squares together, the ends are already tucked in, just zip-zap-done. Perfect, Simple, Forgiving, and Old Fashioned....just like me!!!

Hope all your patterns are getting easier!

lyn

Monster Balls!

I was invited to a Ball! So I grabbed my rattiest black cape, my droopiest black hat, and I cackled all the way there!!!

The croud was eerie at the school!!! Witches and Vampires! Woopies and Faries!!! You know a family is kookie when the adults are just as dressed up as the kids!! And we were not out numbered!!Sitting pretty, these witches were waiting for their turn in the Costume Prominade....this was the only time they sat down, they danced all night!!And I had a dance with a Vampire,,,shhhhhhh.....don't tell Mr. Wonderful!! "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!"

After the festivities, the kids all came to Granny and Papa's house to rest (yeah, right)


Elly learned to crochet, and crochet she did !!! We have 6 foot chains, in red, purple, pink, and blue. Anybody need a 6 foot chain? We have an abundance of them! But just look at the determination in her face!!!!

She got it down pretty quick!! Papa kept asking "Why don't you show her how to do the next row?" But he never learned how to crochet, he has no idea how much practice it takes to regulate the tension, or get into the rhythm of moving both hands full of fingers all at once. She wasn't ready to go on to the next row,,,,believe me! But the girl can chain!! boy howdie, can she chain!! I learned to finger crochet when I was little...anybody remember that? But I stuck a hook in her hands, and I think she's going to be a natural. Of course, all my grandchildren are especially talented,,,don't you know. tee hee

Then we tested Norma's recipe for these treats, and boy, she was right, perfect for wee ones to help on, and they are scrumptious!! no left overs after this tea party! Even Papa had tea with us!!

Hope all your chains are pretty chains!

lyn

Another UFO down

Yesterday was such a BEAUTIFUL day, and the weather man was promising rain in the afternoon, so we went for a walk before the raindrops fell. The sky to the East was as blue as an ocean, but then the clouds became thicker

and the sprinkles started messing with my mascara!

So, I decided maybe I should play inside,

So, I finished the long promised lap blanket for Mr. Wonderful, my retired Marine.

He was so thrilled with it, he cuddled up with his book and his beloved remote, and proceded to fall asleep. How much more of a compliment could a wife get? A sleeping husband in his own little blankie...warms the heart, doesn't it, girls???

Hope all your Mr. Wonderful's are warm and snuggly!!

lyn

One more UFO done!!

With all the time we have spent in the Doctors offices with Mr. Wonderful, I have done ALOT of stitching! And I finally got one finished, all the way! It was nice to have some time with Bessie (my machine) and our visit was productive! We talked, we giggled, and we sewed,,,how wonderful!!!
This pattern is a freebie from http://www.homeberries.com/, She has some beautiful patterns!!! This one was free, can you believe it? You should go check her out!
All is getting better with Mr. Wonderful, he had the zap done on his back, he is in therepy for his shoulder, and the build-up in his carotid arteries is under control. I have done a LOT of cooking lately, and I think that has given him the strength to get better (yeah, that was it) tee hee



Actually, I have been spoiling him, and now it is time to crack that old whip again and turn him back into my "Personal Happiness Supporter" (in other words, it is time for him to start baking again)



Hope you all have your loved ones watched over

lyn

Give aways are soo much fun!!

I'm so excited!!! We are up north in our little book store, and I could not wait till we got home (tomorrow) to pick the winners of the little Granny bags...Mr. Wonderful waited patiently as I wrote the names down, ripped the paper in strips, and he pulled two names....


And the winners are...

Jeanne and Norma, so, girls, send your address and I will be sure to get it out by Wednesday!

hope you all have a baggy day!!!!
lyn

I missed the big one!

Jeanne, at luv2stitch is having a giveaway for her 200th post! She is soooo talented, that I would LOVE to win anything from her blog, but after I left a comment, I wondered how many posts I had...am I the only one who forgets to look at the number? so, I checked it out, and would you beleive it, I missed my 50th!

Is that time for celebrating? I"m in my 50's all over the place, no matter how you look at it, I think that is a good time to celebrate!! So, I have a couple of Granny Bags, shall we share those? Why not!!!!
So, there's no "rules" just a give away!
Leave a comment, and I'll pick two names,,,just leave me an e-mail address if you don't have a blog. How about Monday? is that long enough? OK, Monday it is!

How else could I thank all you wonderful women for making me feel so at home in this vast world of bloggerville.
Thanks, to all of you!
lyn

A stitch in time...

Granny and Papa have had the blessing of the two oldest girls the last month or so, and Granny has had enough children to know that a busy child is a happy child... So, we do a lot of crafts at Granny and Papa's house. The three oldest grandchildren are boys, and when they were younger, I taught them how to stitch, too. Now, they are teens, and do not want to be reminded how much they LOVED to stitch!!! But the girls will carry this love all they way through life!! (that is Granny's wish!) So, we drew our pictures,
Then we taped them to the window, and it did not matter to Liberty that hers was up-side-down, but Elly would have had conniptions if hers was taped wrong. We traced our pictures, and we were soooooo happy!
No peeking,,,,you have to wait!!!
Our fingers were so nimble, our needles flew!
Have you ever seen such concentration???

Our work in progress...now all Granny has to do is figure out how we want to finish them, and we'll let you see the end result when we're done...

Hope all your needles are flying, too!

lyn

Ti-i-i-ime is not on my side...

OK, girls, beat me now and get it over with, I am not a good blogger, I have missed you all, and do I get an extra 100 points for blogging BEFORE I read my 212 e-mails???

I have finished the benefit quilt, (good thing, since it is only a week away) it is all quilted, washed and we are guarding it from dog hair the best we can!!

The girls have been here a lot, and entertaining them has been a treat. We painted, cut, stitched, and colored. We found the perfect letters at a yard sale, an E for Elly...and an L for Liberty, they must have known I was coming??? could it be more perfect??? And after school started, Papa and Granny had some wonderful free time up at our trailer. (sigh) it is sooo peaceful up there.

On Finn's blog, I pledged to finish 5 projects by the end of the year, EEEEK!!

I have the Benefit (leaders and enders, which is DONE!!!) the African Star, (which is still in strips) the yellow wondow pane (which needs to be taken apart and re-aligned) the Project Linus, (Liberty and I are working on, and she is THRILLED) and I have a Marine Corps one to do for Mr. Wonderful, (just a lap quilt, I cheated and bought some panels)

The only problem is,,,I have been stitching more than I have been quilting, so I better "get to gettin" here because time slips by fast in this house!

hope you all are passing time happily

lyn

Fabric Inspirations

Anybody else falling in love this summer? I found this fabric in an "End-of-the-bolt-get-rid-of-it" bin at Hobby Lobby. It was over four and a half yards of 54", and regularly priced at $24.97 yd. I paid $13 for the whole shot.
(pardon me while I wipe the drool off my chin) Now, the dilemma was...what could I do with this fabric? I could just throw it on the bed and roll around on it, (it has SUCH good "hand") or I could dress a couple granddaughters in it, or I could just let it stew in the sewing closet (which it has been doing for a while, now)

Oh, girls, just look at this fabric! How can you NOT do Something with it!! So, I decided to let the fabric be the boss, and just window pane it. I have some coral colored flannel for the backing, and I'm going to try my hand at hand quilting with the bigger stitches and thread just around the flowers. When I was pregnant, 34 years ago, a friend of mine made a Bambi quilt for me, and she quilted just around the animals. That quilt was a favorite in this house for a long time, and I would take a picture of it, but it is on one of the grandbabies beds at their home. But, it seems to me that the quilting brought out the animals in the print, so, whattya think? Is it hard? Do you think I can handle it? I can always try it and if it really looks crappy, I can hide it in the kid's room.

But that is going to have to wait, along with the scrappy benefit quilt, because we're going to New York for 5 (or maybe 6) days to visit family. Not the city, this time, but upper state, Watertown, where my Mr. Wonderful grew up. I am going to enjoy this trip sooooo much! I have the most wonderful SIL's and the brothers are great, too, I can't wait!! We are packing today, and I have packed some stitching, some crocheting, and I"m off to the Library. Can't go away without a few books!

Have a great weekend, ladies, and I hope all your fabrics give you some inspiration!

lyn

Ol' Bessie is humming a happy tune!

I have struggled to get to my machine for a while, now. I spent time with the grandbabies, went on summer jaunts with Mr. Wonderful, did a lot of fartin' around in the yard, and the beach is always calling my name. So the lack of gumption in the sewing department was not bothering me too much, my African Star was whispering to me, and I found a beautiful yellow flowered fabric that has been nicely asking to be cut into, but nothing was screaming at me.

Then I heard of a friend who is planning a benefit, soooooo,,,what more motive could you ask for? I could cook,,,,naw.... I could sing,,,,,gawd no,,,, how about a good Irish jig?
Wait just a dog-gone minute.....I have TONS of leaders and enders (4-patches) to be used! Those darn ol' things have been bugging me lately. I even had them sorted (kinda sorta) in bunches... so I was half way there!!! Put them in a block,
put some blocks together,
figure out some sashing,
and in a day, you have a scrappy little flimsy. This one has 12" blocks, 2" sashing, and measures 58"x72" and I'm thinking it needs a green border, whaddya think? So far, all I've used is scraps, so if I buy a few yards of green, no big deal. And I won't have to do an Irish jig after all!!

The bonus is...Bessie is running again, and she has a smile on her face. You know how she loves a good benefit!
So, we're off to the LQS around the corner, anybody need anything while I'm there?

Hope all your Bessies are Happy Bessies!
lyn

I got nuthin'

In the middle of summer fun, yard work, and kids off from school, I have been sooooo lazy. Not one stitch has been put in anything quilty!!! I made a few little girl's sundresses but that about covers the stitches in Granny's house this summer. I am hoping for some inspiration!!! Any body have any on hand to spare??? But I think I'm not the only one, as the summer gets busy and the yard work is plenty, I don't know about you, but I get pooped by the end of the day!

Mr. Wonderful went on a three day writer's conference in Indiana, and that left DD#3 and I to fend for ourselves,,,you all know what that means...........FAST FOOD!!!! Mr. Wonderful is such a wonderful chef, and he is basically a healthy chef, with his diabetes and all, and he really likes that "every-day-a-different-dish" thing. I, on the other hand, am a good cook as long as it is for something special, and I have specialties, (I have to admit that my fried chicken cannot be beat). So, while he was away, we hit the chinese buffet, the pizza parlor, and you guessed it, Mickey D's was calling our names!! All of those things are a rarity around here, if we have fast food, it is Subway. Now, I'm not knocking Subway, I love it, and it really is healthier,,,,,but girls, a Big Mac once in a while, mmmmm....can you hear my fat cells giggling? Let;s change the subject, I"m getting hungry!!





The beaches here are so perfect this time of year, we have sugar-sand beaches, and the sun sets over Lake Michigan with reds, purples, and oranges and makes the "evening times of life" absolutely gorgeous!!!


When the kids were younger, we co-owned a hang glider and would spend all day at the beach with friends and family. The guys would glide off the dunes over the water, and the women would watch the younger ones in the water, and pass out PB&J's and rinse off sandy little paddies.


Oh, for the days gone by, right? If you look close, to the left of the seagull, you can almost see Finn's house. These pictures were taken by my DD#2, she and a friend came to spend the weekend a little while back and the weather was not perfect for the beach, but they went anyway, away from the tourist beaches, and they had a great time.

So, that is all I have, just some summer thoughts and some dirty fingernails from weeding the tomatoes.

Hope your summers are just as "beachy"

lyn