A Small Finish!

  Hope you are having a great weekend! I havent done much of anything except work on this quilt for the new grandbaby. I finally put my dresden quilt aside to start another project for a little while. Besides time is getting away from me and if I dont get busy on baby quilts, I wont have any made when she arrives! I made this using 3 charm packs of A Walk In The Woods. I love Little Red Riding Hood, so thought it would make such a cute quilt.

Well, have a birthday party to get ready for! Have a great day.

New Cookbooks

 I was so excited to find a copy of The Farmer'sWife cookbook at Sams last week! I could'nt wait to get home and find some free time to sit down and read through it.I have picked out a few recipes to try out this weekend.

  Gonna make some fresh strawberry shortcake using the Elvis pound cake recipe that I have. It is so good and sooo many calories. I see my my diet going out the window this week.

 I also picked up a copy of Pioneer Woman. This is her latest cookbook and has such wonderful recipes. If you have never been to her website take a moment to head over there and say hi!

 When I went out this morning my squash plants had blooms on them! Oh, I miss fresh squash! We planted 2 plants last year and had a glorious plenty, but planted four this time to share with the kids and people at work. My little 2x12 garden space is just right.

 I have repotted many of my plants and herbs in the past few weeks. The petunias are going crazy and was happy to see all of most of them coming back from last years pots. I planted some more cilatro and lavender this year. A few pepper plants and a tomato plant and I will be done.

Have a great weekend and enjoy this good weather!

This Is Love!

This little man has stolen my heart!

Ready to Quilt! Finally

 I know everyone is tired of this quilt top! I have been working on it since February and just finished the borders today. I really want to hand quilt this one, but it will take me forever to finish it. I am thinking I may take it to the church ladies to work on. They quilt for the public at a reasonable price.

I have several more projects in the works and that will free me up to finish them. This entire quilt is machine pieced, hand applique, 50 blocks, Ruby fabric. I really enjoyed the process and learned a few new skills!

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has had a very blessed day and enjoyed their families today. My grandkids had an egg hunt this afternoon at my house. But it has been very quiet otherwise. My husband has been in Alabama all week hunting turkeys. So I have been sewing and cooking all weekend. I have really enjoyed the free time and a chance to get caught up on my chores. I still have not finished my quilts ,I decided to enlarge the Dresden plate to a queen size. I made 25 more blocks and just finished appliquing them today. I plan to finish sewing them all together this week and start quilting next weekend. Since I have 4 projects started and none of them finished. I am not going to allow myself to start anything else! It is so tempting to join in on all of the many projects out there in blogland! But with work and school it leaves me little time right now to work on my quilts. I am so amazed at the women who can post all of these projects every week. Well, maybe jealous is more like it, I would love to have enought time in my schedule to complete several projects a month.

Have a great week !

Two Quilts!

  Hey yall! I know I have been out of touch for a couple of weeks. Things are so busy at the hospital that I have been working some extra shifts! Needless to say there has not been alot of sewing going on. The first quilt I wanted to show you is a pattern I found on Moda Bakeshop. I pieced it with Moda Hometown fabric, which I love so much! I have had to order the backing and havent quilted it yet. Most of my time has been spent on this scrappy Dresden Plate quilt. Im really in love with it, it is made from my favorite Ruby fabric and is my first attempt using applique! I am so happy that it is nearly ready to quilt. I have put some serious time into this one! Sorry for the poor photos, I am having to use my phone right now to take pictures.

I am trying to decide how to finish this one. I have the lime green dot for the backing and wondering about just sewing all of the blocks together to make a scrappy binding. Let me hear from you, I need advice!

Have a great weekend, I will be working again tomorrow so see you next week.

A Wonderful Weekend and Applique Class

 Ok, I got so excited over my quilt class that I forgot to take any pictures! Seriously! So here are a couple of new ones of the grands.Im not quite sure what is going on with Logan's hair. I think his mother was just being silly....Ok I hope his mother was just being silly. Grandma will have a talk with her if this is a permament condition!

 I went to Waxahatchie Texas this weekend to take an applique class at the wonderful Common Threads Quilt shop! I took off work a few hours early Friday and drove to Dallas so I wouldnt have to get up at 3 am on Saturday.I spent the night in a great hotel, ate a nice dinner, took a long long long hot bath, read a book and slept on a king size bed with 6 pillows all by myself! Yes, is was good! I really needed a day away just to myself to de-stress. Saturday morning the class started at 10am and I was so excited I got there at 8:30. I browsed around the square a bit and finally the shop opened at 9:30. There was already a line of women waiting to get in. I struck up a conversation with a few of them and made some new friends. The class allowed 25 students to participate, they had broke it down to 5 stations with 5 students at each. You had 2 instructors to help you with your tutorial and 30 minutes to work on the new technique. When time was up we all switched tables and went to the next instructor. I thought it was brilliant. The fabric templates were already cut, they provided the supplies, a fabulous lunch was served and on my gosh I learned so much! They had a great goodie bag for every student and there was just so much to look at. Denice has the shop decorated with Civil War quilt reproductions and they specialize in repro fabric. It was such a treat to spend time just browsing the store. Oh and did I mention that they had shopping bags already fixed for you. When you found something you wanted you ask the clerk to place in your bag and at the end of the day you checked out with your purchases. That was nice, because after every class there was always a new little gadget that was a must have item.

I just loved it and the whole day was so relaxing. Thanks to Denice and Common Threads for such a great day! I love this card. I cant remember whose blog I first saw it on, but yes, I could go for one of those jobs myself! Have a great week!

New Baby Quilt And Ebay Find!

 I am just learning to make dresden plates as you know and just couldnt resist this great find on Ebay last week. I think they are all old fabrics but in great condition. Some blocks are pastel and a little faded, but that is ok with me. This must have been a summer spread. It is not quilted but rather backed with a cotton sheet. What do you think? I can remember Granny having lighter throws on her bed during the hot summer months.

Here are my little plates. I have 8 of them made and working on the rest today. I still have to sew the centers. Im making this baby quilt with 16 ten inch blocks and a border. Im using my favorite Moda fabric and just loving the way it is turning out!

Well, back to the kitchen. Im making a chocolate pie and beef stew for lunch. The sun is finally shining today and I really need to repot a few plants later today. Just checked all of my classes and have alot of papers to write today as well. Have a happy and blessed Sunday!

A Few of my Favorites Things

Every Saturday morning, I usually get up very early and read, make my grocery list and just get started on my day. It makes my weekend last longer. This morning, I am feeling very thankful for who I am and all the blessings God has given me. Over the years I have grown, become a little wiser, seen my greatest hearts desire come true and continue each day to feel very blessed by his presence in my life. I really do enjoy the simple things and want to give you a quick peek of things that really make me smile!

 I have a thing for hot homemade bread pudding! The kind with a whole stick of butter in it. I have experiemented for about a year to get this just right!

 This is my favorite room in the my house. I love my kitchen! I put on some music, drag out my kitchenaid and get to work, baking and making all of the goodies I have in my mind for the weekend. Did you know that I collect old cookbooks? Love them! There are always such great recipes in an old church cookbook. Women only submitted the very best!

 I love my backyard when it snows! I love the white crisp look of a blanket of fresh snow coating everything in sight. This only lasts for just a bit, afterall I do live in Texas!

 I love it when I get a new Williams Sonoma pan, I just want to bake a cake everytime. This one is called Elvis Presley favorite pound cake. There is a gob of butter in this one. But very yummy!

 I also love my backyard in the spring, it is one of my favorite times of the year. It is a time when we can really be outdoors, cook and eat outside before it gets too hot. After late June this is almost impossible due to the heat. The flowers start to look pretty bad about late July and that is when Im glad I planted lantana. It loves the heat and can grow in near desert conditions.

 I really love that my son in law came over from Ireland and made my daughter so happy! He is a musician and we love to have cookouts and listen to him sing and play! His parents are such great people and we cant wait for another visit. Allan's dad is a musician and even better than his son.

Oh, this is my favorite place in the world! Disneyworld is fantastic! Yep, I cant wait for another visit. I can just stand in the middle of main street and take it all in. Its the happiest place in the world.

 I love this little super guy! Logan has taught me that you can never and I do mean never turn your back on him for a second. My kitchen is his favorite room too! He has to drag out all of the pots and pans. Gets a spoon and pretends they are drums. I think he gets this from his Irish ancestors.

This is my favorite thing to just relax and spend the day with my best friend in the world. I never thought I would be a biker chic! Just goes to show you that we never know what life will bring us down the road!

Have a happy weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you are having a great week. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! I have many reasons to love this day. First of all, my youngest son was born on Feb 14th! He will be 18 years old tomorrow! I simply cannot believe that time has past so quickly. Phillip came into my life at 2 years old, he was found riding a trike late one night alone. Social services quickly came to the rescue and around 1 am, they called me to ask if we would take another foster child. He was quite the challenge, he couldnt talk..was starved.. and his parents were drug users. I will never forget how he looked when he arrived that night. Weighing about 17lbs, he looked like a refuge. Filthy and clothed only in a mens t-shirt, he was terrified and let us know it very loudly! After many months of working with him, he learned to talk, gained weight and became a normal little boy. 3 years later he was placed for adoption. There was no way he was going anywhere! He had such a hold on our hearts and we brought him home forever. He has been a wonderful child and it so very sweet and respectful! He has fears to this day, one of them that he might not make it to dinner on time, but everyday he improves and has grown into a wonderful young man. I cannot tell you how very proud of him that I am!

My second reason for loving Valentines day is that my daughter owns a florist and this is her busiest time of the year! Every mother wants her child to prosper and it is such a wonderful thing to know she does so well! I am also very glad I now have a full time job and cannot be there for the event. I used to go and help her out every year! It is just too stressful...LOL!!!

My third reason is that I have a wonderful husband! He took me out to dinner Saturday night and we enjoyed such a nice candlelit dinner, music and fun. Donnie is such a dear man and I am so lucky he came into my life. We are working on our 4th year of marriage and I couldnt be happier.

My 4th reason is that Downton Abbey is now on DVD!!!! If you havent seen this series run to your nearest Target and buy it!  My youngest daughter introduced me to this last year and what can I say we are seriously addicted! Right now it is on PBS on Sunday evenings, now into the second series it is a great Emmy award winning show. You will love it!!!!!


Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
Lorri

My First Dresden Plate!

This is my very first attempt at a Dresden plate and I am just loving it! I have been saving all of my scraps from previous projects with no idea what to do with them. After reading and admiring all of the beautiful plates that are being posted in blogland, I just decided to try it. The scraps I used were 2 1/2 inches and the finished projected is exactly 7 inches across .I know its not perfect, but just had to show you my first scrappy plate! Hope you have a great weekend and bundle up. We are in for some cold weather! Its supposed to be in the 30's here in Texas!...LOL..I know many of you experience those temps everyday. But we come from a place that shuts down schools with a snow flurry! You can just imagine how many wrecks we have with bad weather,no one knows how to drive in snow or ice! But this summer we will be melting with temps soaring into the triple digits!

Saturday Winner!

Hope you have had a great week! I have been very busy at work and happy to see the weekend here.

 Here are a couple of cute pictures of my little men. Logan is trying on his daddys irish cap.

 There is a story behind this photo. Logan rushed over to comfort baby brother when he was crying. He took his binky out of his mouth and put it in Jensens little mouth. Jensen stopped crying, started sucking on it, just about the time Logan realized he had just gave away his pacifer! He took it back and when the baby started to cry he patted him on the head and said "awwwww, awwwww" But he was not giving it away, no matter what. Some things are just not meant to be shared!

 Speaking of sharing, I am now at liberty to show you my new grandbaby on the way! We have no idea what it is yet, but could make out little arms and legs. Jennifer is so excited, this will be her first. She is hoping for a little girl and since this is the last shot so am I. With four grandsons we need a little girl to keep them in line around here. New baby will be due sometime in September. Unfortunantly, that is also the height of Jennifer's busy season at work, but we will figure it out. I always thought that June was the busiest Bride month. Seems that here in Texas September and October are the main choices.


And ........................NOW.....................................FOR ........................THE............................

                                                    WINNER!

Mr Random choice number 1! Sorry the photo so bad,I had to take it  with cell phone.
Congratulations to Mary at Neat and Tidy! You have won the Little Apple charm pack!
Please email me your address and I will ship it right out to you! Thanks to everyone who left a comment and followed my blog. I really loved reading all of the great ideas you left me.

There will be another giveaway soon!

Have a great weekend. Its raining here!