And Silver Sandals

Football jersey, bruised knees, and silver sandals.  I love this girl.

Nora and I went shopping for sandals for this week's band concert.  She also spotted some Nike slides, in wolf gray and mango, which weren't in her size but which her mom found online at another store.  I'll pick those up tomorrow.  The deal was . . . one pair of dress sandals or flip flops and one pair of whatever she loved.

Once the shoe shopping was out of the way, we went to Plato's closet, a resale store with junior sizes.  She scored some mint jeans and a tee there.  It's one of her favorite places to shop.

This happens maybe once a year for us, and I enjoy it so much.

Joanne's Box

From Joanne's precious box of fabrics and UFO's.

The brown and tan/rose patchwork were part of a piece with applique interest - that will most likely show up later in another project.  I cut apart the patchwork and inserted the strips of beige animal fabric.  A totally different look - I'm in love.  The back is yellow gingham.

Quilting is that increasingly larger rectangular spiral that I'm currently drawn toward.  36" x 40".

There is something so intriguing in using Joanne's carefully and beautifully executed but never finished creation and making a 180 degree turn.  I feel confident that she was never thinking of a baby quilt.

I wish I'd taken a picture of her original piece.  Next time.  

Baseball Tonight

Of course I love this picture - a base hit for Aaron - note the ball showing up in front of the trees.

But this one touches my heart - the back view of him as catcher.  It seems to capture the lovely evening, perfect weather for watching a boy who loves baseball.  And how I admire his ability - up and down and up and down, throwing the ball back to the pitcher a hundred times, probably more, over five innings.

No matter where it is, sitting watching the evening come in with a baseball game in the background is my happy place.  This game went to the bottom of the fifth for Aaron's team, two out, score tied, before they scored the winning run.

But meanwhile, in Milwaukee, my Reds are struggling.  Swept.

This Girl

I'm proud of this girl,  We ended up at a restaurant that served country food - I really meant to go to a different one down the street.

No complaints.  She ordered bean soup, fried potatoes, and cornbread and was happy about it.  It was a lot of food, but she put a big dent in the potatoes and soup.  The cornbread went home for another day.

Her brother, without a doubt, wouldn't have been as happy with this meal, probably would have chosen something meat related, maybe meatloaf or a ham sandwich.  

I'll be back - it was non-smoking and not every restaurant in Northern Kentucky is.  Can you believe that?  

Unicorns

Preparing for future Starbucks customers:  the Unicorn Frappuccino.  Apparently only available through Sunday.  Purple and pink, no caffeine.  Tons of sugar.

But fun.  Nora and I drove through her neighborhood Starbucks but they were out of the ingredients.  On Thursday.  We had success at a Starbucks in a Target.  Perfect to sweeten up working on math homework.

She declared it delicious but only drank the froth on top, didn't finish the syrup on the bottom, which was just as well.  

I thoroughly enjoyed this grandmother experience, I think Nora did too. 

Easter Memories

How does the time fly by so quickly during holiday visits?  

We had so many wonderful memories.  Kayaking on the lake (one capsize, Aaron, rescued and towed by Nora.)  Gem mining, a favorite with the kids and Walt.  Rocky's Hot Chicken, a tradition.  Campfire, badmitton, golf putting in the side yard, skipping stones on the lake, walking the dogs.  Ginormous egg hunt.

A wonderful Easter brunch coordinated by Winnie, with lovely table settings.  Safe travels, especially returning on Sunday with surprisingly light traffic and no slowdowns in central Kentucky where those usually happen.

There was so much to celebrate and be grateful for.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, everyone!

Guest Artist

In recent weeks, Joanne has sent me not one but two boxes of lovely no-longer-needed fabrics and a few UFO's.  Including this one.

It was begging for a little pieced binding and no more.  The quilting was done, everything.

It's hanging in my kitchen, but, Joanne, if you have second thoughts, we can pass it back and forth.  Or, I can take a deep breath and gift it back to you.  If I were the artist, I'd be sorry I gave it up.

You'll be seeing more of Joanne's work in the form of a baby quilt soon.  My favorite phrase:  "If you're stuck, cut."

NICU Quilt

This baby quilt was so simple, just charm packs, that I wanted some walking foot quilting,

starting with a little square spiral in the center and just spiraling out.  I love the effect on a plain quilt.

If you try it, just know that it requires a lot of quilting.  Just so happens that I like a lot of quilting, but it is time consuming.

There was a time when I would purchase 2 1/2 or 3 yards of sale fabrics for backings-to-come, and I found this 3-yard piece in my stash.  

I don't make those purchases any more because
     a.  the store where I found those bargains has closed,
     b.  there is a limited number of backings that I can possibly use, and
     c.  I like pieced backings too.

The Reds lost yesterday afternoon, but it was glorious to sew and listen to the game.  And there was that home run in the 9th inning.

House Quilt

Finally finished after laying on the quilter for many months.  The pattern is from Craftsy and Freida Anderson.  There is a nice class about how to finish it, but I wanted my own free motion.

Lots of really small-scale free motion, more than I'd usually want to tackle.  What I wanted was a free motion lesson, and a lesson on using my quilter, and that's what I got.  I was very eager to wash and dry it this morning, since that's where the "puff" happens.

Now I can go on to using my quilter for those baby quilts, in a larger scale.  I really, really like my quilter, Husqvarna Viking Platinum 16.  It does everything I wanted and it's oh-so-well behaved.  The delay in finishing my quilt was the chaos in my mind, nothing at all to do with the quilter.

Run the Bluegrass

What a fun weekend in Lexington, where Sarah ran the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon at Keeneland Race Course.  For you out-of-state folks, Keeneland is a lovely horse racing venue.  

This was Sarah's third time running here, and every time it's been cold.  Although she was disappointed to not place in her age group, she finished 18th of 2010 female runners.  I was getting out of breath just walking from the parking lot to the race finish.

Steph and the kids joined us Saturday afternoon.  One of our favorite restaurants is Joe Bologna, close to UK's campus.  The pasta is really good and the atmosphere is fun.

It wouldn't be a Lexington visit without a stop at West Sixth Brewery.  It was their fifth birthday party, with cupcakes and free birthday glasses.  This isn't a birthday glass - those said "Love, Sweat, and Beers, It's Been Five Years."