Vacation Pics

Here are some pictures Susie took yesterday at the lake.  Fun times.  My dad--Captain Ted--at the controls.

Someone else's dad...also at the controls...



A beautiful view of a seating area near the lake shore.

Focus is Everything!

My husband and I went on an overnight couple's getaway Friday night.  Just as Susie was taking the pic, the ribbon on my camera case flew in front of the lens.  This was a reminder to me of how life is...it all depends on what you're focusing on.  On the way to the retreat and back, I finished hand-sewing down the binding on one of my secret projects.  Pics posted to my secret blog soon.

Recently I've become aware of several heart-breaking situations in families that we are acquainted with...such sadness.  But our focus should be on how rich our lives are in God's love.  We are always "better than we deserve".

Here is the finished center of my snowball quilt.  I think I'd like to do some kind of scrappy outer border.  This is 52-1/2" x 64-1/2".  I think an inner border of gold (maybe just an inch wide finished) and then a pieced border, than another gold border.  The purpose of this snowball quilt was to use up part of my gold scraps as well as get rid of some gold yardage...I have so much gold fabric!!  Must pare it down.

~Joan

Mt. Never-rest is About to Blow & New Baby Quilt

Four of my children got home from a mission trip this AM about 4:30. They each had 10 days' worth of dirty laundry. They did painting/construction work much of the trip. Stink about it. Uuum--I mean *think* about it! I got up at 8 and have been doing laundry ever since. I am halfway through with 2nd child's laundry. Thank God for a fantastic washer and dryer!

One reason I appreciate the functioning appliances is that our vacuum broke yesterday in the midst of a whole-house vacuum extravaganza. I can't remember where we bought it or when, but I need to investigate SOON so we can get it repaired.

While in Florida last week, I decided to make some new friends a baby quilt. The baby is due in less than a couple weeks. Their nursery is light lime green. I am resolved to avoid buying any fabric for I Spy quilts unless absolutely necessary. I found a piece of light lime green mottled fabric in my stash, so I used that for this. Still deciding on border fabrics. I had the novelty prints already cut into 4-1/2 inch squares, so I cut the green and pieced this this AM.




I feel like my life has suddenly escalated to supersonic speed. We have never in all our born days made so many trips and done so many things as we have the last couple months. We just got home from a week in Florida (12-hour trip one way) on Wednesday night. Four of our children just got back from Philadelphia this AM. Now, two of the girls are going BACK to Florida to visit the same folks we just left. All I can say is, "I with I could go, too!!" We are watching three boys starting Wednesday until I don't know when, so I suspect I would be missed. But I'd love to go back.

More laundry, more sewing, more cooking, more everything!! My life is full!

~Joan

Home, Sweet Home

We are finally home. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed our visit in Florida. Well, there was one rough spot for our son, but very nearly thoroughly. Below is our hostess (hi, Kila!!) and her son. This was at a picnic on Bear Lake our last night there (sniff, sniff).

The very first evening I was there, I learned that Kila is a beginning quilter. Need I say more? Like twins separated at birth! She is nearly finished hand-piecing a beautiful queen-sized quilt. I forgot to get a picture of it! What was I thinking? We got along swimmingly.

Speaking of swimming, here are my two youngest at the beach. They didn't see any oil from the recent spill. I heard that some of the Pensacola beaches were affected, but not this one!

The sun is so BRIGHT there. I was graduated from a college in Pensacola, so I actually did live there for four years. Now I recall why I was always squinting in pictures from 1984-1988! This is taken from one bridge to the other on our way back to the Bryans.

This picture was taken on the Naval Air Station base at the museum. My handsome hubby is on the left, then Josiah, our son James, and Steve. James is working full-time at the college he attends. Steve is a new friend :) If you get the opportunity to visit the museum, I would highly recommend it. So good to spend some time with Josiah!!

I have had a typical home morning...woke up at 4 AM (just gained an hour on the way home, so why does my body think I need to be awake at 3 AM??). Couldn't go back to sleep, so I woke Wes up to see if he was having trouble sleeping--hahaha...

Started laundry. Thanks to Kila's generosity (did some laundry at her house the day before we left), I only have a few loads to do from the whole week. Started machine quilting a baby quilt for a baby born last week. Planning meals, shopping lists, etc., etc. Welcome home, Joan!

I think we need to stay home for months since we've been gone so much this summer. Whew--I barely recognize the place.

So glad to be home, but also so sad to be away from our Florida friends already!

~Joan

Another Long Trip

We just barely recovered from our long trip to Ohio (both in length of travel and duration), and now we're off tomorrow. Some are headed for Philadelphia, PA and others to Milton/Pensacola, Florida. Whew-whee...

I just listed a Thimbleberries scrap bag for those who are interested in fabric auctions.

I'll post again from Florida or when we get home.

~Joan

Packed Pilot

Here is our new Pilot stuffed to the gills, ready to travel home on Friday. I bought 74 partial bolts of Thimbleberries fabric from my sister, which turned out to be 560 yards.

Good thing we didn't have much else to pack! We couldn't have gotten another hanger in there. As it was, the three youngest children shared a bench seat the whole way home. Susanna drove all 13 hours. Since she has only a driver's permit, I had to ride shotgun the whole time. She drove very well, and only scared me half to death three times (fortunately they were spread out).

We got all the fabric sorted and put up today. Thanks to Susanna for helping me.

Home, sweet home!

~Joan

Autumn Splendor Progress

While I was watching some of the girls swimming yesterday and fielding calls from family and friends, I put a few stitches into this quilt top. I had hoped to work on it in the evenings, but that hasn't really happened. I quilted a little more today and finished the 2" squares on one side. I am doing a simple diagonal line both ways through all the 2" squares.

Two sides down, and two to go. I want to do some interesting hand quilting in the sawtooth star blocks and leaf blocks. Any ideas??

Off to do some ironing for my mom.

~Joan

4-Wheeling Fun

Here's a self-portrait my daughter took of herself as she rode on the back of my dad's four-wheeler. It makes me laugh, and I though you might enjoy it, too. I'm sure she added extra drama to the facial expression...

...or maybe not!! Hee hee!!

~Joan

Remember Sparklers?

After sundown tonight, I let my nephew and son light and play with eight boxes of sparklers. I burned my hand on one that popped as I lit it, but other than that it was a fun time that brought back a wave of nostalgia for me. My grandparents used to get these for me as a treat.

~Joan

Family Reunion

Had our family reunion yesterday. My sister is pregnant with her tenth child. Her baby was asleep in the house for the picture. This is just my parents, my uncle's family, my cousin's family, my sister's family, and my family. There were 27 of us.

We cooked all AM and cleaned up all afternoon, but it was a fun day of catching up.



I would be remiss if I did not add that my sister and I won the balloon toss against ALL the children (those young whippersnappers). Whoo-hoo!! We are both a bit competetive, so it is a very good thing we won. We lost because we could not throw the balloon all that way the last time, not because it could not be caught!!


Me, making the next-to-the-last successful catch!! I fully expected the ballon to burst and soak me, but I could not stop smiling!


~Joan

Fun at Grandma's

Poor little girl...just konked out on the chair. I covered her with my sister's soon-to-be I Spy quilt. Too much fun at Cedar Point yesterday and 4-wheelin' tonight. Bless her heart.

~Joan

Always Room For One More

Always room for one more! My mom said that so many times after I was married and started my (now) large family. I'm not sure she remembers ever saying it. Buy, boy, oh, boy, does it apply to our family now. Above is a wonderful pic of my children, my sister's children, and...wait! Who is that one non-child on the right? In the back?? The one with the GRAY hair?? Well, it looks like my DH, but I'm sure he wouldn't try to ruin an otherwise great picture.

Think about feeding this bunch for a meal, or two...or eleven. That's what my mother, sister, and I did in PA. I think I would be quite happy cooking morning, noon, and night. But who would do the teaching, shopping, laundry, etc.?? Any volunteers? I didn't think so! I did come back with a couple new recipes. Thanks, Diane!

Check back soon to see the results of my great Ingles triple coupon outing from today.

~Joan

One More Snow Picture

We arrived home last night after spending a few days up north with my parents, sister, and her family.

Above is my DH and youngest daughter as they slid to a stop on a sled. The snow was plentiful and enjoyable, but I'm glad to be home where they just THINK it's cold!

When I was at a store today, the manager commented that he hadn't seen me for a while. I told him I'd been out of town and just got home last night. He said, "you missed all our snow." "All our snow" was a two-flake thick layer in areas that were still in the shade. Up north, "all our snow" is 2 feet thick and doesn't go anywhere!! It was snowing off and on the whole time we were there. I think it's so peaceful to watch. It makes coming in from the cold to a warm kitchen and inviting cooking aromas that much more "homey". It's only 35 degrees here now, but there is no snow.

My DH, two youngest boys, and I stayed in a former barn. The upstairs had been converted into 2 large finished rooms and a bathroom. The door leading up to the stairs hadn't been sealed well. So we all stayed in the room farthest from there. We put a blanket under the door to keep the room we were going to sleep in warmer. It was so cold that night that the water pipes all froze...no toilet, no shower, no sink water in the morning...

We found out later that it had gotten down to -21 that night. Silly me--it only felt like -19. Seriously, though, it was so nice to have a space of our own. Four of my children stayed with my parents and 2 stayed with my sister.

This was possibly the best visit we ever had up there. Yes, it was freezing. Yes, it snowed. Yes, there were 23 of us (at least) in the house at one time. But it was great...good visit, great family.

I love being really useful. My sister had pieced and machine quilted a table runner for herself. She wasn't satisfied because where it wasn't quilted at all it was poofy. So I was able to hand quilt those areas!! I loved doing that. She unquilted my Christmas quilt that I'm un- and requilting. I got a lot of it finished on the drive up there and back. The end is in sight.

~Joan

Who Needs Dippity-Doo?

As promised...above is Luke's post-jet-ski hair. Is Dippity Doo still being sold? I remember that there was always a container of it in my mother's bathroom closet.

FWIW, I started CURVES today. Updates to come!

~Joan

#251

I just noticed that my LAST post was my 150th one. Hahaha...some of you probably thought I'd hit that milestone my second week of blogging at the rate I started. Here are a few shots from our family lake day last week.



~Rachel with a new "friend". I don't even want to know where it was before it was in her hand!

~DH on the jet ski (ummm...I think you're supposed to face the other way). He must have been getting ready to tow someone on skis or the "airhead" (see below).

~Emily getting some sunshine

~Luke before his new hairdo (updates tomorrow)

Hope your evening is a great one.

~Joan

Seed Success

My Seeds of Kindness quilt (hand-cut and hand-pieced) as of 10 minutes ago. It is now 18 rows by 18 rows (that's 324 cores so far). While it was laid out on the floor of the porch, I planned 2 more rows. The cores I have cut out that are as-of-yet unused are all greens, reds, and golds. If you could donate some blacks, blues, purples, and oranges, I'd be so grateful. This is the screened-in porch where I stitched this AM. Since everyone (except for me) has been staying up w-a-a-a-a-y late, I am usually the first and only one up for a while. In a few hours it will be too hot for me to be out there. Now it's only 70 degrees.

I continue to be amazed at how flat the Seeds of Kindness quilt is staying. This is my first hand-pieced project, and I've been told that this is a difficult shape. I am stitching one set of cores together, flipping the quilt so that the "smile" side is facing me. So every other set, I have to flip the quilt around. It makes a much flatter seam. I picked up that trick from Shar somebody on www.quilterstv.com. We don't have a TV at home, so I'm not familiar with all these folks' names. I think her quilt is called Apple Cider.

My DH is taking the girls to the lake today. That means the boys will be here playing video games, swimming, eating, more swimming, watching movies, etc. I get to be chief cook and bottle washer for them today.

Hope your day is a blessed one.

~Joan

Blessed Beyond Measure

My DH's cousin's family has allowed us to stay in her home while her family is on vacation elsewhere. The house is beyond beautiful. It is very large, and when there are ten people "visiting", that is valued as well. Here is a pic of the kitchen from the back door. This is looking from the kitchen into the dining room...
Looking out the back door over the pool...
A wonderfully-planned-out screened in porch with full bath and full-sized frig off it...
We have enjoyed the "facilities" so much. We are leaving them some goodies in appreciation...some consumables, a homemade meal ready to eat when they arrive home (in an etched baking dish, a la Kairle), and a family movie night basket (complete with movie, popcorn, peanuts, etc.).

My children have enjoyed swimming, jet skiing (at a lake about an hour away), and many movies. I have been doing most of the meal prep and cleanup. I do love to cook. More than I let on (the girls do nearly all the cooking at home). My 3rd daughter packed most of our cooking supplies and food. She did a wonderful job. Made it very easy for me.

I just watched a Poirot movie while I hand-pieced more of my Seeds of Kindness quilt. I'm still looking for donations for that (4" x 5" rectangles of Thimbleberries scraps). Email me if you wish to be included. Picture after I get home, most likely.

More later!

~Joan