GMA @ 60

This is what 60 looks like at my house.  No Fooling.  And I have the cake (and waist line) to prove it

New Grandson-in-Law

Here is a picture of the happy couple on their wedding day 3-12-11 in Ecuador, Gustavo's home.  Grandma is happy.

Tool Bucket

This handy dandy little guy sure holds a lot of small tools.  The nice thing is, if you put them back after use, they are still in the same spot.  Also nice to pick it up and move to the ironing board.  Thank you Elaine!

Got Snow?

This is the view from my driveway 3-5-11.  It looks a little worse than it is, as our "snow removal" has turned into "snow rearrangement" instead leaving those nice big hills in front of the windows.  Counting the days.

Dresdan Quilt

This is a picture of one of the Dresdan Quilt blocks started last year - and hopefully finish this year.  It's pretty wierd for anyone in MN to say this, but winter ended abruptly and early last year, so curtailed my projects.

I am big on browns, carmels, etc and also on monocromatic color schemes.  So am trying to figure out what kind of a center will work the best for this project.  There are about 20 different fabrics used in all of the blocks and each one is a little different.  10 fabrics are used in each block.

The pattern came from  Boutique NutMeg Designs - here is the link http://boutiquenutmegdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/12/dresden-plate-quilting-photo-tutorial.html

I loved her color combinations.  I did wimp out and sewed my dresdans onto the block by hand, but I think it would have worked just fine to use a small zigzag to attach as well.  I am thinking of the fabric in the 10 o'clock and 4 o'clock position as the binding.  Also going to add a 2" sashing to each block using the same materials in the blocks. 

Any ideas for centers are welcome. 

My studio - aka My everything room

I always enjoy seeing the studios that people post.  It's fun to see the things that surround each of us in our everyday life.

I changed this room up around Thanksgiving.  It used to be the guest bedroom and I sewed in there and watched TV and ironed, you name it.  But it was too crowded, so moved the beds elsewhere and put a desk in front of my sewing table - they are almost the same height.  A cutting mat covers the top and works extremely well for cutting out small projects.  In the background are the drapes I made the first year I lived here.

It's not called my everything room for nothing

This is my TV chair, my nap chair, my thinking things over chair.  Looks like an electrician could tidy up all the backround cords though.  The pillow is something I made a couple of years ago.  It was a one of a kind placemat left at TJ Maxx.  I opened one end, stuffed a pillow form in it and away we go.  There is a reason the door is not open.  This is a walkin closet that is stuffed with all sorts of supplies.

This is the sewing corner - all pieced together with a bunch of odd ball pieces.  The old sewing machine was my aunts, the little table came from a thrift shop and the actual sewing table was given to me by Elaine when she outfitted herself with a new Janome + table.  It's a little tight, but as long  as there are no kids or animals it will work out.

This is one of the other storage areas.  The wicker thing I have had since the 80's and holds all the TV cable equipment etc, and certain kinds of fabric.  The drawers hold supplies like interfacing, my scraps and gift bags etc.

And here is the TV corner all lined up directly across from the TV chair.  The electrician really does need to come over.

Heart Shoes

Made 4 pair of these little "Heart Shoes" for some little girls I know.  I have some gorgeous old buttons that would have gone with the fabric but were just too big for these little sizes.  So thought the selections on my sewing machine might work out.  Should have had a just a slightly darker pink thread for the hearts, but I guess it worked.  The strap is connected by velcro on the closure side, and just sewn into the seam on the other side.  The material is a cream/white pinwale corduroy that used to be a shirt.  The pink stripe is from a project long ago.

Long winter, longing for golf

Last summer during all of my computer problems, Elaine & I golfed almost every Wednesday.  We became friends with the foxes of Edina.  And we mean foxes.  There is a small herd of them.  If you enlarge the picture by clicking on it, I think there are 3 in this picture.  They were all mangy, and flea bitten so Elaine took to bringing them some food items that were a little healthier than the beef jerky that the course manager was feeding them.

We are counting the days to see our carmel colored friends again in that beautiful, lush, green landscape that does not exist right now.

Chase's Blanket

This is the same ripple pattern that I used for AJ.  I used to work with Chase's mom, and she requested blue & chocolate.  I put some white in there to lighten things up a little.  The blues are all the same even though they may not photograph that way.  Chase was born 11-29-10 to first time Mom, Julie O

AJ's Blanket

This old fashioned ripple blanket is from a pattern book that Doris gave me.  I had wanted to do ripple for awhile and just couldn't get it.  This pattern worked out great.  AJ is the first grandson to my cousin Vickie.  With our MN winter this year, he needs a warm blanket.  Keep warm AJ.