A beautiful, sunny day!

AND, better still...a vacation day in the middle of the week!  As luck would have it, this is the only sunny day we are expecting for the week so I took advantage!  Went to JoAnn's quilt shop, determined which of the new Carolina line I needed to have (all...no surprise) and signed up for the bus to the Minnesota Quilt show in June...then I went for a lovely bike ride.  What a great day!

As promised, here is the picture of the Missouri Star block...love the fabrics!

I am going to just love this quilt...and I cannot believe that we are 19 weeks into it already!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a beautiful day in Minneapolis!  We have picture perfect skys, lovely temperatures and just a light breeze...perfect for Mother's Day!  I have fun plans...going to make pork tenderloin for Mom, Katherine and my friend, David...some asparagus and some saurkraut will round this out to make a great meal...then Katherine, David and I are going to do some quilt / craft related fun stuff...

Katherine has returned from Europe...she has tons of great stories and I can't wait to see her pictures.

I have my fabrics picked out for this week's civil war block...have to get that one done too!  Better get to work!  I will come back with a picture of the block...

Keeping up...and other news!

I just finshed this week's Civil War block.  Union Square...I like these easy ones!    Jo Morton fabric, as always.  That print that looks like gingham is such fun!

Good news!  My sister is scheduled to come home tomorrow afternoon.  I pray that she will not be disappointed again.  She will be home for her daughter Ashley's birthday.  Diane misses her doggies and they miss her.  They keep going into her closet and sniffing her clothes.

My niece Katherine is still in Europe.  She texted me from Berlin.  She will be there another four days and then to Amsterdam and then home next Saturday.  I pick her up at the airport at 3pm. 

She is home just in time for the "Divas and Desserts" concert by the Twin Cities Women's Choir.  My sister-in-law is a member of the choir.  We just LOVE their concerts!  This one is a particular fave...desserts!  They have always had a gluten free table but I have never had a reason to check it out before.  Well...I bet there will be a lot more people checking out that table this year!  They also have a silent auction which is lots of fun.

I hope everyone had a good weekend...I have a couple of puppies that think they need to check the perimeter for fuzzy tailed rodentials...good thing we have some mature trees those squirrels can climb!

Oh HAPPY Day!

My sister called me a few minutes ago...she is scheduled to leave the hospital at the end of the month!  She has been hospitalized since January 7th.  Yahoo!!!

Happy Easter!

Boy did I fall behind in my Civil War blocks...I have three of them ready to go...pictures are here:

This first one is Fort Sumpter

This one is White House

This one is Comfort Quilt...all in Jo Morton Fabrics.  I am so excited about this Civil War quilt!


I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter!  We have a quiet home today.  My niece Katherine is in Amsterdam right now, going to Bruges, Belgium and then to several cities in Germany.  I have to hold down the fort with Grandma for a couple of weeks.

I have a fun week ahead!  I am so excited that the weather has warmed up.  I took my new bike out for a 30 minute ride...adventured to the neighboring city via bike path.  It was fun!  I love my new bike!

Enjoy that spring weather!

Busy, fun weekend!

Boy, oh boy do I have fun plans!  I started my weekend with a massage...and as usual, came home Friday night feeling wonderful!  My friend David is absolutely MAGICAL!  I hope everyone who has aches and pains can find someone like David to help them work through those "issues"....

Let's see...today started out with cookery and hopefully will end in a quilty fashion.  Katherine made quiches for breakfast...then we freeze the rest for week day breakfasts...wonderful!  A trip to Costco and we are set for the rest of the month with meat and vegetables...lucky us!  I hope to get my Civil War blocks done...I have two weeks to do.

Tomorrow is a BIG day...my friend David is coming over and we are going to work on a quilt for him.  He is redecorating his space and needs something quilty for his bed.  His house has a decoration on the front...I noticed it was a quilt block standing on point...Puss in the Corner!  How fun is that?  I think that Puss in the Corner will have to be a second quilt somewhere down the road.

More later on Shipshe, and hopefully the Civil War blocks.  Katherine has laid out her graduation quilt so now I have to start putting that puppy together.  It will be a beautiful quilt!

Inspiration and Affirmation

My visits to Shipshewana are inspiring always.  I get to visit with people I only see once a year.  I also get to see all kinds of quilts and all kinds of quilters.  One of the people I see is Rebecca Haarer.  I mentioned her name in one of the shops and the shop keeper said that she read Rebecca's blog...well, I got all excited and when I saw Rebecca, I asked about her blog, wanting to become a follower.  There is no blog at this point, much to my dismay.  Rebecca has such a gift with words.  I want to share with you an email she sent me ( I have her permission) that will inspire me for years to come.  We only saw each other for maybe a total of 15 minutes during the time I was in Shipshewana, but she made an observation that has me glowing...what follows is an affirmation of the work I have been doing for the last three months, with my friend Maria, a nutritionist, and my friend David, a massage therapist.  Here is Rebecca's note.

Hi Deb! I am barely awake it seems as I check my email after several very fun and busy days! I got in too late last night to check email, as I had a birthday party cookout to attend after work yesterday. I promised myself when I dropped into bed early this am, that I would "sleep in" but here, I am. Not to worry though....soon, I will turn this lap top off, set it aside, and roll over, and go back to sleep!


I am still very happy inside and out, from the happiness of having you and all the other beautiful quilters here. It just feeds my Soul and Spirit to have all of your creativity and enthusiasm sprinkled around the community. There is nothing better than to have a group of quilters in the shop laughing, discussing, and being excited, in general about quilts. I LOVE it!!!


Thank you So much for sending your blog to me. I enjoyed reading quite a bit of it!!! I wanted to tell you when you first walked into the shop, how radiant you look. Your "energy" has really shifted... in some way, and I couldn't put my finger on it but having read your blog....I know in part, it is the weight loss! wow. Congratulations on your committment to a healthier life style. You are an inspiration to me. (this is something I too need to address!) I have to say, that even though you have lost weight, there is MORE to you, in terms of energy, or something! You do look and feel radiant!


Also, I am sending prayers to your sister. Thank you for sharing her journey...what a journey, and I pray for her and her family. Witnessing a family member friend go thru this is a huge task. I feel for you as well. God's grace, to you all.


I also enjoyed seeing your quilt blocks. What fun blog sharing. I don't know if I will set up a blog....I don't quilt. I don't know If I would have something consistent to share. Probably my posts would be "all over the place!" But, If I do set up a blog.....I will thank YOU for your encouragement.

Now, back to sleep. Hope everything I have written makes sense...as there is still plenty of "sleep" in my brain!


Thank you Deb!


Be well! Rebecca Haarer


Now isn't that inspirational?  I have to thank Maria, David and my niece for their support and guidance in this journey I am on to a healthier me.  Life style changes take a whole lot of support and patience!  But, I am finding these changes worthwhile...
 
More on Shipshe later when I get caught up!