Could It Be Spring?!?

Today an amazing thing happened:  it was sunny and it was warm.  We finally had a spring-like day and it was truly wonderful!  We've had no snow for over a week, I had some windows open a few inches, and I barbecued!!

The chicken tasted so good, and I made a pasta salad with a vinaigrette dressing and a tossed green salad. I love barbecue season. When you clear the table, that's all there is--the stove is clean and so are the counters if you made the salads earlier.

On the sewing front, all I've done recently is to quilt a top a local group of kindergartners made. A friend of mine goes into the classroom and helps the little ones make their blocks, then she joins them into a top. I quilted one for them last year and was happy to do it again this year. The class will now decide upon a worthy recipient and give it away.

It's an alphabet quilt--pretty cute, huh?

I've been working quite a bit at the quilt shop due to one regular's broken leg and the knee replacement surgery of another's husband. I've enjoyed it, but I think my run is over for now and I'm looking forward to getting back into my sewing room.

UPDATE:  After I wrote the above, I was enjoying hearing the sounds of the neighbor's lawnmower and thinking of balmy summer evenings with the smell of new mown grass in the cooling air.  Ahhh, spring and summer.  Now (10:45) it's blowing and beginning to rain, and according to Weather.com, it will remain like this for awhile.    Goodbye spring--you were certainly short!

Shoes

(Yes, I know, after weeks of no posts, here I am for the second day in a row!! Go figure...)

For those of you who know me well, it will come as no surprise that shoes are sort of an obsession with me.  I can wear jeans every day of the month (and yes, I wear jeans to church), but I must have cute shoes.  As I get older, finding comfortable cute shoes has become somewhat of a challenge, but I persevere! 

Recently I got a catalog in the mail from a company unfamiliar to me.  It was for clothes, but had some shoes, too.  I must tell you that I judge the quality of the clothes in a catalog by the quality of the shoes also offered.  As I turned the pages, a pair of shoes leaped off the page at me.  Cute!!  Cute, cute, cute!!  And I was familiar the the brand, Rieker, and know them to be quality.  But alas, the shoes were not inexpensive. 

I showed the picture to Dan and he told me to order them.  But the price...  So, intrepid internet shopper that I am, I began my search for the same shoes for less money.  I found them on Zappos for $15 less and free shipping.  Score!!  I ordered the Tuesday before Easter in the evening, and Zappos sent me an email on Wednesday upgrading me to two-day delivery, again for no charge.  On Friday morning, the UPS man arrived and delivered my package.  I tried them on, and I've been in shoe heaven ever since.  Cute?  Check!  Comfy?  Check!  My left knee had been bothering me and it's returned to normal. Double check!

And a closeup:

Dan once gave me a coaster that says, "If the shoe fits, buy it in every color!" In this case, I have. They only come in this color. I may have to buy another pair anyway. (If only they came in faded red or faded navy!!)

Back Again!

I know. I've been very "missing". Do you ever have those times when you just don't have any thing to say? That's been me. The weather has been crazy. Rain and snow. Snow you say? Yes, it snowed again today. Spring seems to be missing this year, too. I've been busy: cooking, baking, and doing all the usual chores at home; working at the shop; making meals for more families of new babies; attending a new Bible study; helping with the Seder at church again this year. I've even pieced another quilt top. Just haven't felt wordy. Or even computery. But I think I'm back.

Amazingly, we had lovely weather last Sunday for Easter. We had a full table for our usual "picnic" (in quotes because as usual, we ate indoors) with family members totaling eleven and ages from eighty-eight to three months. In addition to two of Bruder Bear's offspring, Kirsten and JR, we had a cousin of theirs (sister-in-law Karen's niece, Emma) which made it perfect for having a kickball game after dinner to keep Cameron and Keaton from being totally bored. A good time was had by all and I think the score was tied.

Here's a picture of Great Papa with his newest great-grandson, Daniel:

And one of Gigi, who adores babies, snuggling him:

And finally, one of our "cool little dude" (Mom's glasses courtesy of one of his big brothers) ready to head for home after a great day. (It's hard work being the star!)

And now I'm off to watch a recap of the royal wedding, and a little later, Blue Bloods with the irresistible Tom Selleck. :-)  And thanks, faithful readers, for sticking with me!

What I've Been Up To...

I just finished my latest project. It's a play quilt for my niece Jennifer's new little guy, Grant. By play quilt, I mean it's meant to be used; it's not an heirloom. It's quite bright, but should work well for picnics at the park, trips to the beach, and as a mat on the floor. I hope he likes it!

The pattern is Yellow Brick Road by Atkinson Designs. And Jennifer, if you happen to read this, I hope to have it in the mail on Monday! :-)

Better Late Than Never

So, it was a few weeks after Valentine's Day and I was looking through fabric in my sewing room when it hit me: I had purchased some charm squares last year around Valentine's Day with the plan to make a table runner for this year. Yes, the holiday that had just passed. Hmmm...

I decided that it was better late than never, so I searched until I found the charm squares, and then hemmed and hawed until I finally decided on a plan. I would make the runner using the disappearing nine-patch.

After the usual agonizing over which squares to put where, I threw caution to the wind and just stitched. And sliced. And reassembled. Here's the finished product:

I'm rather pleased. (And ready for next year!) For an excellent tutorial on the disappearing nine-patch, click here.

Our Littlest Man

I got to watch Daniel Wednesday afternoon while Ann was at a meeting at church.  Oh the joy!!  I remembered to take my camera and was able to get some great photos. 

I just know he's trying to say, "I love you too, Grammy!" in this one:

What a smile!

Being a Grammy is just the best!!

Snow, Snow, Snow!!!

Greetings from the land of snow.  The weatherman said we'd get some and get some we did!  About two feet of it!  Hard to believe the official start to spring is just nineteen days away.

Here's my sweetie, shoveling the roof.  The snow we got was wet as well as deep, and there's a chance it will rain soon, so he had to get it off.  We don't relish the thought of our roof caving in.  :-)

He spent most of the morning plowing out our driveway and then went across the street and plowed out our neighbors, then up the street to do another neighbor's driveway while they are in Hawaii (the dirty rats!) for three weeks.  Dan mounts a blade on the front of our 4-wheeler each winter and it sure helps him get the job done. 

I've been getting no sewing done since I finished up the bibs.  Right now I can't seem to decide on a project to start, but I'm hoping to remedy that tomorrow.  Stay tuned!  (Now I'll have to come up with something so I can report back.)