What a great Thanksgiving!

So Happy Thanksgiving to all!!! I’m in Santa Fe….via Denver ;-) Sunday is my grand-daughter’s baptism in Denver…

We flew to Denver on Tuesday and of course got to see the grandbabies…you can see Caleb got Spiderman big boy underwear from grandpa Bill and proceeded to put them all on at once! lol

Then of course here is photo of granny Teddi and baby “Brynn Theodora”! She’s so precious….

 

But for a change of pace Bill and I decided to take a few days this trip to ourselves for a road trip to Santa Fe… so though the family is eating turkey at Keli’s and Nate’s house,  we’re relaxing at the Hilton on the Plaza ;-) Santa Fe style….

We had a wonderful day! Perfect sunny weather….

I sure hope a wonderful Thanksgiving was had by all!!!

Such a wonderful experience!

So Bill and I celebrated our first anniversary almost 2 1/2 years ago…(June 24)…We planned on going to the Little Washington Inn (a wonderful 5 star restaurant in Little Washington VA) to celebrate and set the money aside BUT stuff happened and we never made it!  We refused to spend the money and it sat in a folder because we knew we were determined to have this experience as planned. Well we finally took the time out for “US” ! Put us #1 and Bill made the reservation as our 3rd year anniversary celebration ;-) Friday Nov 20, 2009.

I must say it was delightful! Everything I /We hoped for!

I had Chilled Maine Lobster in sherry Vinaigrette with avocado,grapefruit and crispy lotus root, then Nantucket Bay Scallops Sauté w/mushrooms,peppers,and homemade Italian sausage, prosciutto wrapped loin of Veal on celery root puree with black truffle sauce....Dessert was tea along with the 7 sins of deadly desserts. (which was 7 perfectly formed miniature deserts) each serving of the 6 course meal looked like a piece of art.. I only wish I had the nerve to have taken photos of each of my servings, truly works of art! Here are some photos of our lovely evening! It was a very special night!

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I want to get back to my quilting!

So lets see it all started with these…

  I made these for my daughter last year….of course to me this is sewing! I do not know how to sew! But having 3 children you know the next statement is always “so Mom when do I get mine?” or “Me next”…..lol   So next came these

BUT they were part of a wedding shower gift this past summer since my youngest son was getting married Sept 09.

Okay so if you’re counting that should have left one more child? well yeah…..sort of….you see Keli added to her family; a grand-daughter for me so 3 were no longer enough for her family and besides it was “wow Mom I really like the ones you made Brian!” lol

Well so next came my middle son’s set and they now have their names in gold on them . (this time I thought ahead and made a set of 4? A semi guess, yet they are expecting their first child in April so at least they will have the set of 3 for next year’s Christmas Season.)

I’ve got to tell you I am sick of making Christmas stocking…I want to quilt not sew!  I was never taught to be a seamstress so sewing is hard to me. But oh well………. and then there were 4 more…… 

Wish you could see the little sparkles in the sky…and on the train wheels.

Cute!

At least I am almost completed with the stockings!…I still have to make the two doggies in the family stockings…but I’ve decided they will have to wait a few weeks!

I NEED TO QUILT!!!!!;-)

My goodness….I’ve forgotten to post!

I know I keep lamenting over and over that I have no idea where my days are going?  Time just seems to fly by faster and faster?  I have no idea how I used to have time to participate in a day job before I retired?   Heck I run out of time daily now and never seem to have the necessary time to do everything I want to!!!Go figure!!???? I am having fun though……sadly the weather has sucked this past week……..and I’m still bogged down with holiday sewing obligations….   Those I hope to get completed in the next day or so at the very worst! Then yay!      I can start on my art quilt ideas….

I also spent an evening this week working on some samples of wedding invitations for my husband’s best friend’s daughter Rebecca!  I cannot share the photo of them since of course we would want them to be a secret till they arrive in the mail sometime next spring…but you can see I’ve been very busy….thus my excuse for not remembering to post….  ;-)

Sadly my husband reminded me today I’d better start painting Brynn’s chair if I want to have it completed in time to drive to MI for Christmas so Keli can then drive it to Denver……yes as crazy as it seems they are driving from Denver to MI for the holidays….which do not misunderstand! I am thrilled my grandbabies will be in MI for Christmas but do feel bad for their long drive!

Geeeeshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so see? I just do not seem to have enough minutes in my day?

Handi Quilter rocks!

So if one recalls I had two items I wanted to fulfill after retiring as a reward to myself!  Things I had always wanted to do in the past but when one has a teacher’s schedule you just don’t take off to participate in workshops for your own pleasure or growth during the school year.  Conferences or workshops during the calendar year are always work related.  (BTW I’m not complaining here just stating facts….'Teachers really try not to take off during their contractual calendar time’.) So now back to me  ;-) lol,  Last week I went to Handi Quilter in Bountiful Utah to attend a U of HQ Retreat on my HQ16.  What a wonderful experience, one I highly recommend to anyone that owns or plans to purchase a Handi Quilter machine……or other mid-arm machine.  The owner of the company Mark  is very gracious and helpful!!!!

Here you see him taking us on a tour of the factory…they build them onsite!

 

 

 

 

The educators are wonderful….We had 4 individual instructors each presenting different projects.

 

 

 

 

 

When I was flying into SALT LAKE I’d forgotten how beautiful an area it is…. it’s time to let go of my past dislike of flying through Salt Lake to get to  Sun Valley Idaho many moons ago…. heck it seemed every winter I was either stuck  in Salt Lake for hours on end or I also remember one winter holiday I flew all the way to Sun Valley and Cindy (my baby sister) then put me in her van and we drove back to Salt Lake for our skiing  since Sun Valley was lacking snow….lol.

oh well enough memories….

back to quilting….The classes are well planned and the hotel they associate with is friendly, clean, and has an enjoyable pool &  hot tub to soak your sore muscles after a day of standing on your feet sewing. ;-)  We were also fortunate to have a surprise guest with a few of her very special quilts to view…Renae Haddadin  – www.renaequilts.com

 

 

 

 

 

We studied threads and tension…..9 different threads to begin with ;-) then on to feathers….pantographs and trapunto….. One evening after dinner we made a trip to a local quilt store…Quilter’s Haven.  Joni Thomson  welcomed us with open arms.  She has a wonderful shop, look for it in Bountiful Utah.

www.QuiltersHaven-ut.com

So I will leave you with a few of my various photos of my flight out and flights back…. it is an experience I highly recommend to all quilters!

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So all checked in ;-)

So thanks to my muse (AKA: hubby) I leave tomorrow to Salt Lake City to attend a 3 day class at Handi Quilter to get to know my machine…hopefully frontwards and backwards….lol

This should be fun and hopefully will put an end to my fear of not knowing how to sew ;-) lol.. I just want to be able to show full respect to my machines thus I’m trying to learn as much as I can about their care and use….

I managed to use some miles to get my ticket but due to that fact I am stuck not flying direct so my travel days will be long….but heck I’m retire so might as well just relax and go with the flow……and enjoy the journey….. ;-)))

I’m posting some photos of my neighborhood…from my hubby and my many day to day walks….it’s such a pretty area…..a golf course and there is one tree I just love! Let’s see if you can pick it out ;-)))))

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So I will be online for a few days.have opted to NOT carry laptop….. ;-))))

So think Christmas???????/

So this past summer I made stockings and a Christmas countdown calendar for my youngest son and his then soon to be bride….

well of course every parent knows when you have more then one….you’re bound to hear so where’s mine?????…..

So this past week or so I have been working on completing my other son and his wife’s calendar and stockings….. went through a few test runs for a design that would coordinate with the basic kit type countdown calendar…….I made an original that I love… 

but it was mentioned that if there were 3-4 of them hanging together they might prove to be too busy? (NOT in my opinion...but that’s okay since my hubby loves it and has stated hey that/those (meaning I must make another one at least…. can be ours)

But so I went back to the drawing board and came up with these….there is a set of 4 (just in case down the road they decide to add to their family ;-) actually they are expecting a baby this coming April (their first;-) another grandchild for us!! YAY! I’ve been told they are perfect thankfully….

So now I’m once again back to the drawing board for my biggest critic….lol my daughter! Have to make her a set of 4 stockings….

the 3 stockings I made last year just weren’t what she had in mind…and now she has added Brynn to their brood anyway..They were my first attempt ever at sewing stockings……and boy I sure wish I had a background in sewing or had taken Home Ec classes in high school….. but you know us art students never had time to add more electives to one’s high school schedules…..Anyway back to Keli’s set? She made sure to let me know she preferred a different set (politely of course)……. (See example of why I call her my biggest critic..and to think I brought her up this opinioned or confident?….lol.)

But not sure yet what I will come up with?  here is my start??? 

One thing though….. this time she’ll be stuck and has to take what she gets  lol lol …I want to get on to sewing some of my ideas….I have so much I have yet to try…….