Yesterday Donna and Lowell dropped by on their way home from Pigeon Ford. Seems they had spent the weekend with Dolly Parton or some such thing. It was great to see them and I hope they will come and see me again soon. We visited for just a little while and I fed them a little lunch and they headed on down the road so they would get back to Cleveland before dark.
Don’t be strangers – you are welcome any time.
Avery and her dad came down for dinner Friday night. After a fun meal with various other guests and relatives, they opted to stay the night so they wouldn’t have to leave early. After all the other guests left and a good night sleep, we spent a fun Saturday morning together.
Our waffle chef mixing up a special batter.
Ready to eat. The menu included waffles, bacon, apple slices and milk.
Playing outside for a few minutes in pj’s cause what happens at Gram’s stays at Gram’s ( I’m just sayin’)
Hiding from the camera.
Building a block tower with Dad.
Putting together a new puzzle.
The finished puzzle
It’s a two-sided puzzle. Did we take it apart and do it again or did we flip it??? You decide.
After lunch at Moe’s, Avery and her dad left and Toby and I took a nap:) It was a great time!
I always love to see what other people have done to their houses. And Rue of Rue’s Peanut Butter and Jelly fame has one gorgeous home. She and her hubby have done some work on their kitchen and tomorrow is the big reveal. To celebrate she is also having a giveaway. Be sure and visit for a look see and to enter the giveaway.
Parkcity Girl is hosting her fall quilt festival. I missed the spring festival but got to see soooo many beautiful quilts. I’ve decided toparticpate in this one. There are several quilts I would enjoy sharing. The one I made for my college roommate when she had her first grandchild; the one I made for my sister – all red and white with “sister” quotes embroidered on it, the nursery rhyme quilt I made and sent to my neice when her daughter Mabry was born or the one I made for my boss before I retired – my first attempt at a log cabin. But I’ve opted for the family tree quilt I made for my Mother in law because it is definitely the most challenging project I’ve attempted to date. I had come up with the idea of making her a family tree quilt before I retired and moved to Nashville. I wanted it to be realistic rather than kind of abstract and decided I would try to use my embroidery software to create the leaves for the tree. I thought I could appliqué the leaves, cut them out and then attach them to the tree by hand or machine. I looked and looked on the Internet and found a pattern that looked exactly like what I was looking for. I found the fabrics I wanted to use and then put it all away for the longest because I was AFRAID to get started. Finally I made myself pull it all out and just jumped in. I sewed the two background strips together and then put it away again for the same reason. The tree just scared me. When I finally took the plunge, the tree though time consuming wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I fused the entire piece of “tree” fabric to something like stitch witchery. Then I traced the pattern and cut it out. Once it was cut t I laid the tree out on the background and when it looked to be in the right place, I ironed it on. After that was done, I used my machine and did a small zigzag stitch around each branch and the trunk of the tree. That was the most time consuming part of the project. It worked quite well. I found an embroidery site that had a leaf appliqué for $1.25 and used it to make my leaves. I had gotten several different colors of batik fabric for the leaves. I made a leaf for each member of the Neal clan and embroidered names and birthdates and also date of death where applicable. Then I put Granddad’s and Grandmother’s leaves at the highest spot on the tree and grouped the other families in various spots below them. I really didn’t think I would like it until after I had added the borders. They made such a huge difference. I used leftover fabrics for the binding. Believe it or not I’m having to add four new leaves. It’s great to know the family continues to grow:)
Here are some pictures of the quilt in various stages of completion.
%5B2%5D.jpg "family tree Oct 14 (3)")
%5B2%5D.jpg "Family Tree Oct 15 (2)")
Toby takes a three step approach to guarding the premises. His main spot to watch for anything suspicious is the window in the bonus room. He can see the street and surrounding yards. Here is a look at his methodology.
1. Pick a spot close to the window and focus on what’s happening outside. There is bound to be something moving at any given moment.
2. Focus …… Focus
3. Oh what the heck!
From start to finish takes less than five minutes unless the neighbor’s cat is outside. Then there is usually barking involved.
The other day the girls stayed with me while Mom and Dad were finding out the results of the home inspection on their soon to be new house. When it was almost time for the parents to arrive I told them they could sit on the bottom step and wait. I took a few pictures.
I’m thinking that without a diaper Kates needs a good belt or pair of suspenders. What do you think??
%5B2%5D.jpg "Sewing_1_05 (15)")
