Turkey Trot 5K

I have been running since February, run for a minute, walk for 5. I have finally attained the capability if running 2 to 3 miles without stopping!

My husband and I drove to Grand Junction, Colorado, to spend Thanksgiving with our son Addison and his family.

We ran our first 5K together :)

It was a great feeling of accomplishment!

My body was comfortable, but my hands were freezing!!!

I want to run a couple more 5Ks and then a 10K and ultimately a half marathon :)

Another check on my bucket list.

I hope you all had a wonderful and memorable Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

 

Quilty Fun Sew Along, Week Four

This block was perfect for Nanette at Freda's Hive to host.

Vintage baskets remind me of her :)

Here are the fabrics that I chose.

I'm really excited about adding navy blue to my sampler quilt.

Three little baskets all in a row :)

Better Than Grand!

This is a collage of all 9 of my grandchildren.

I began a tradition of making each of them their own heirloom blessing outfit.

I embroider the girls' initials on the back hem of their dress.

The idea is that each child will pass their gown (or outfit) down to their child, and their mother will embroider the baby's initials next to their own.  

Wouldn't it be incredible to see a row of five initials, all embroidered next to each other.

That would be a true heirloom :)

Top row, left to right:

Bridger Alan, May 25, 2005

Kennedy Grace, July 19, 2007

Charlotte Leigh, April 9, 2010

Lucy Jane, August 25, 2013

Bottom row, left to right:

Maisie Louise, July 7, 2010

Benjamin David, September 5, 2012

Neo Kimberley, October 14, 2010

Kylie Violet, January 5, 2013

Reagan Clara, November 17, 2010

I have my adorable little grandchildren on my mind all the time.

It sure is grand being a grandmother!

Each one has their own little personality, and I love each and every one of them more than they will ever know :)

As my friend Joni says, they are the "flowers in my garden".

Paperdoll Quilt, Finished!

It's been almost 5 years, but my Paperdoll Quilt is quilted and bound and finished!!! 

It is so difficult to get a photo of a quilt, have you ever tried?

Do you have any tips for me?

This is a full view of my quilt before it was quilted.

This post will show you how beautiful Cindy Paulson quilted my treasured Paperdoll Quilt!
Here are the paperdolls, in the center of the quilt.
I love the "pebble" quilting on the "paper doll" block.
I also think that the vertical quilting behind the paper dolls really shows them off.

I want to mention that the paper doll quilt is lying on a bed with a quilt on top of it.  
You may notice the quilt underneath at the edge of the paper doll one.  
Do you notice the quilted flower vine on the polka dot border?

Cindy quilted "x's" in every single 1" square!
Don't you love the little pom pom trim added inside the binding?

It just turned out so pretty!

Little dainty swirls, enhancing the hand embroidery.
I love how the quilting makes the suitcase look even more vintage.

The kite looks like it's in motion :)

Cindy is always so careful  not quilt over my embroidery, I completely trust her with my quilts!

She quilted around the embroidered sprays of water from the hose, to complement the embroidery :)

Thank you for letting me share my quilt with you.
I'll take a photo of it hanging on the wall after Thanksgiving.
I think it's sort of Christmasy with the paper dolls on it.
It reminds me of little girl things like "The Nutcracker" and sugar plum fairies dancing in my head.  Lol!

Quilty Fun Sew Along, Week Three

These were my first Courthouse Steps, and they won't be my last!

Just like Lori and everyone says, they are so easy and fun to make.

I reached into my 2 l/2" inch square pile and chose two centers.

I reached into my l l/2" strips container and chose some red, pink, orange, green, yellow, navy, aqua and gray strips, so easy!!!

I'm so glad I reorganized my scraps, you can see the story here.

I love this Quilty Fun Sew Along, have you joined the band wagon yet?

Chalkboard Design

About a year ago, I transformed a framed print into a chalkboard.

You can read about it here.

Since then, I draw on it for each season or holiday.

This is my current design.

I don't come up with the drawing myself, I look at pinterest til I find something I like, and then I draw it.
This is what I had on my chalkboard for July 4 and kept it up until my fall design.

I guess I didn't take a photo of Valentine's and Spring....
This was last Christmas.
Some of our grandchildren will be here for Christmas, so I'll choose something that will spark their interest :)
The scripture at the top (Matthew 25:40) is my son's favorite.
He wrote it on the chalkboard almost 19 months ago.
I'm never erasing it, although one of my daughters pretends that she is going to when I'm not looking!! Ha ha!
He's serving a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he'll be returning home at the end of April :)

Travel Sewing Kit and tutorial

I love this travel sewing kit tutorial at Lots of Pink Here.

This is the fourth one I've made.

I made a travel sewing kit for Maggie, you can see it here.

I also made an Eagle Scout one for my son Sean, here it is.

The first one I ever made was a tutorial and a giveaway, here.

I made this particular sewing kit for a young man who will be serving a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in Tokyo, Japan.

I don't know if you can zoom in on the fabric, but it tells you how to iron a shirt, in steps 1 to 12.  

I think it is so cute, and perfect for a missionary!

I was able to find some Japanese script fabric, perfect!

I wanted to keep the color scheme of the Japanese flag.

These are all the items I included in the kit, things that a missionary might need in a pant or shirt malfunction!

From left to right, white and black thread wrapped around a card, blue and black iron on patches, 2 hair elastics (may be needed if you have McGiver instincts), a tape measure/leveler, folding scissors, needles, pins and safety pins, iron on silver reflective tape and iron on heat bond, to mend pant hems.

I forgot to include some little white shirt buttons, so I will add them in a teeny ziplock to go in the same pocket as the thread.

Now all the little gadgets are tucked away in their own pockets.

It's a tri fold sewing kit, and is very lightweight.

Now, the missionary is all set for a fashion emergency :)

Quilty Fun Sew Along, Week Two

When I made the Bee in my Bonnet Row Along quilt, I chose my fabrics before I began the quilt.

You can see my selection here.

Now that I'm making the Quilty Fun Sew Along, I haven't chosen my fabric ahead of time.

Is that bad?

My thinking is that since it's a sampler, there are so many prints that I can just choose them as the need arises.

I didn't have any navy in my other quilt, I think it will be a nice addition.

I love these little twinkly stars!

Happy Quilting :)

My Fabric Scraps

My scraps have been growing and growing and growing!

I had a large box for large scraps and a large box for small scraps.

Now the scraps are overflowing and this photo is only a sampling of what has been accumulating.

I was reading Lori Holt's blog and she has a great and efficient way of storing her scraps, you can read about it here.

I decided to organize my scraps Lori's way and went to quite a few stores to find the perfect storage container!

After going to about five stores, I finally found some at Target for approximately $2.79.

I took them home and pulled out my cute Martha Steward chalk labels that I had bought a few months ago at Staples.

I cut my fabric into 3 l/2", 2 l/2" and l l/2" strips and squares.

It took a few days to cut all those strips, sore shoulders from bending over while cutting, but now I've got all the scraps cut and organized, excluding the ones in the two large boxes.  

This photo shows the three boxes and a top view of how organized all the fabric is! 

I have since cut more scraps and the baskets are a little fuller.

I made my "apples" blocks after I did this organizing and it was just so easy to choose some fabrics from the little piles in their containers.
The containers have lids so that I can stack them. 
That will be really helpful since I've run out of shelving! LOL
My fabric stash is expanding :)

The amount of scraps I had after cutting the strips was astounding!

The great thing about all of these scraps, is that I get to throw them away!!!  Yeah! 
 They are all less than l l/2" wide.  

If your scraps are overtaking your sewing area, I encourage you to look into this method of organizing.

Happy Sewing!

Quilty Fun Sew Along, Week One

I bought Lori Holt's book and just love it!

The diagrams are colorful and the instructions are easy to understand.

There is all kinds of yummy eye candy, of all of her quilts that she made with her "Bee in my Bonnet Row Along" blocks.

I made that quilt and gave it to my grand daughter, you can see it here.

I've joined the "Quilty Fun Sew Along", there is a button at the side of my blog if you want to go and look.

Week one is "apples".

I love apples, especially in the fall.  

I love golden delicious, gala, princess and a really good kind from British Columbia, just don't remember what they're called.

I also like Granny Smith, but only in salads :)

I'm going to keep this "Quilty Fun" sampler for myself and hang it on the wall.

Leave me a comment and tell me if you've joined this sew along.

I will take a look at your blog or flickr page :)

Reagan's Princess Dress

We have four grand daughters who were born within 7 months of each other.

Reagan is the youngest, she will be turning 3 in a couple of weeks.

I made her a princess dress for her birthday, purple is her favorite color.

It was a little difficult to find purple fabric that I really loved.

This fabric is sheer, and is variegated with pink and accented with sparkly stars and confetti dots.

I sewed a trim of lavender flowers onto the neckline to add some interest.

I lined all the sheer fabric with purple satin and sewed a peblum at the waist.

There are three layers of lavender tulle under the sheer skirt and on top of the purple satin.

I think it will make a swishing sound when Reagan walks, like a real princess!

Reagan's parents are going to skype with us when she opens the dress so that I can see her reaction.

Isn't she the cutest?