WooHoo!! Our 1st Grand & Glorious Year!

Happy Anniversary to us!!!

These....

....have become this.

...with a sneak peak up in the right-hand corner of what I've been working on. I don't know why, but I just love 9-square blocks. Maybe because it was the first block Aunt Kathleen taught me to make (almost one year ago, now!) or maybe because they're so crisp looking or maybe because they're so easy to make and are so very traditional. Probably all those reasons and more. The quilts made from these oxford shirts are going to be so soft and cuddly...maybe for baby quilts?

Spooky

Our Spooky-girl is having a rough go. She started losing weight a few weeks ago and then last week we noticed she was drooling. We took her to the vet and he said she doesn't look good....I won't go into the sad details. Anyway, he gave her an antibiotic shot and some pain meds and we took her home to see if she would get any better. She seemed to perk up for a few days, but now is drooling a lot again and her fur on her paws are a mess. Poor kitty.

The Big, Bad Swine Flu

This is from Webmd:

Swine Flu Vaccine: Will It Catch On?
Some Health Care Workers and the Public May Refuse the New Flu Vaccine for Fear of Possible Side Effects, Study Shows
By Bill HendrickWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Aug. 25, 2009 -- Less than half of health care workers surveyed in Hong Kong intend to get vaccinated against swine flu, citing uncertainty about its effectiveness and possible side effects, a new study indicates.
And another new study shows that health care workers and some people in the general public may refuse to get immunized or vaccinate their kids, fearing that risks of a novel vaccine could outweigh benefits.
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Finally, people are starting to smarten up about flu vaccines. God made our immune systems perfectly....why do we insist on messing with God's perfection?

No, I will not be getting the swine flu vaccine or any other vaccine, thank you very much.

Vintage kids craft book...from 1953

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jim!!

Hope you have a good one....maybe my mom will come over and cook you something with onions....I'm sure she has 1 or 2 in her purse.

Etsy Buys

3.5 yards of HH fabric and a yard of Moda cheeries....so yummy.

Thrift Store Find

So many books....

....so little time.

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Books on deck to be read.

Their Back!

My very favorite Reality show is back...woohoo! in the famous words of Tim Gunn," Let's make it work, people!"

..and my other very favorite is back too!

"Please pack your knives and leave!"

Hmmmmm.....

....what should I do with these pastel button downs I got from the thrift store for less then 75 cents each???Maybe I can stack them up in different eye appealing ways and take pretty pictures of them....

.... OR.....

....cut them up and make a quilt! Brilliant!

The Dog Whisperer or A (Wo)man and her dog...oh, and she can grow cabbage, too.

Amy decided that she really likes Lucy......a lot...well today anyway. Tomorrow there may be a different story. She is also quite proud of her purple cabbage.

Happy Birthday, Robby!

My sister has lost her mind.....

....but the kids are really happy! Meet the newest member of the family, Lucy. She's a 10-week old Labradoodle. She sure is cute. Amy sure is exhausted. She says it feels like having a newborn all over again. Lucy misses her mommy and is barking alot at night and she also likes to do her business inside rather then outside.

Missouri photo shoot

I love the first pic...it pretty much tells you how the photo shoot went. It was about 90 degrees that day and 5:00pm in the afternon....better known as the witching hour as this is the time the kids are starting to fall apart. Love the behind pic of grampa and baby.

Home Sweet Home

Oh, there is nothing like ones own home. Chuck picked me up from the airport this afternoon and it was so good to see him. The trip as a whole went well, but working 5 twelve hour shifts in a row is exhausting! Fortunately, Nana and Grampa Bob kept the kids entertained alot of the time. On another note, I haven't touched a craft in days and I'm so looking forward to digging into my quilting projects this week.

Missouri

Well, we made it here it one piece, thank goodness. Jennifer is quite the.... er....driver on these country roads. The kids did really good ( as did their nurse). We read books and ate snacks and played most of the time. We were able to save the DVD player for the last few hours of the trip (and let me tell you, the Bearstein Bears totally saved our sanity.) Jennifer's parents have been wonderful hosts. They have a beautiful home sitting in the middle of the woods. No neighbors....nice. Bonnie has a big craft room filled with scrapbooking goodies which I've had fun checking out. Not sure whats planned for today....most likely more fun times with Grampa Bob and Nana. Have a great day! Karen

A Little Birdie has flown home....

....and his name is Danny. Dan wants to save some money so he can buy a house. Chuck and I have invited him to stay with us for awhile. I'm glad to have my empyt nest a bit fuller these days. Chirp Chirp.

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On another note, I'm off to Missouri with Henry and his sisters and pregnant mom. The drive there is about 10 hours (SEND HELP). I'll be flying home on Sunday. They'll be staying there for the next week and a half so I'll have some recovery time when I get home.

Introducing......

...the "I Heart Cheeries" quilt.

Color Cubes

Chuck spied these at the flea market Sunday and we bought them. They were marked $10, but I bargained them down to $7. When I got them home, I noticed a sticker under the first one and it was marked $25. I looked it up on the internet but couldn't find an exact match for this set. The closest I could find was selling for $66. Interesting. Anyway, these had to be made before WW I or II ( my history dates stink....my dad would not be proud) as one of the blocks on the inside cover is shaped in a swastica.

Oh be still my quilty heart!

Grace had her friend Olivia over yesterday. She taught Livvy how to sew a nine-patch. I was very impressed. They didn't even need any help from auntie!

The $6.80 Quilt.

The quilt I found at the thrift store for $6.80 has a new home. Chuck hung a curtain rod behind our bed and we hung it up. It looks great. I can see it in the mirror when I lay in bed. Swwweeet!

Sunbonnet Sue....I mean holly Hobby.....the fix.

So I found this adorable hand quilted pic of good ole Sue at the Savation Army thrift store a few weeks ago.....

.....but everytime I look at it, her hand jumps out at me....it kinda weirds me out. I love everything about the pic, but I just can't get past the arthritic-looking, knarly hand. I'm wondering if I could cover it up somehow.....maybe try and find a matching scrap of fabric and make it look like her hand is in her pocket.

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Update: I've been schooled by an anonymous commenter:

Anonymous said...
This is Holly Hobby, not a Sunbonnet Sue. It's from the 1970s I think.

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This will have to do for now.

Kane County Flea Market....where the rich folk go to buy their junk.

Linens and quilts and seed sacks....oh my!

Cool metal dress form thingy....with really weird bike thingy next to it.


Yo-Yo quilt that looked like it was going to fall apart any minute....will somebody PLEASE get it out of the sun!


Flying pigs, of course....doesn't everyone need one?





Stack of handmade quilts....all way out of my price range but fun to look at.



Vintage Dresses.

Metal cars which we played with as kids (AND WE WERE FINE!!!) but nowadays would be a death hazard;)

Super cool spool quilt. (I'm a poet)

S & P shakers....would'nt be a flea market without 'em.

Lots of fun stuff to look at.