A Quilting I went

So for my first night at retreat @ Hilltop House by Margie I cut out, laid out, and started piecing a quilt for Baby Wharton that was due in the next week or so. But we all now how these babies make their own arrival dates. LOL Unfortunately I can't share the pictures of my progress because I just got it back from the quilter and don't want to share it before Baby Jeremiah Wharton gets to see it. I'm working on the binding now so eventually I can share a picture.
That first night at retreat everyone got right to work.
Next morning Sandy went out to say "Hi" to Ruler and the gang.  Now you can't pet one without the others coming to check out what's happening. They're hoping for food but Sandy and the rest of us have been banned from feeding the gang. Retreaters were feeding them snacks so often when Margie and Jim first got the ponies and they got fat. Oops! 

Then Donna Lynn decided to go into the coral to hang and photo a barn quilt she had completed. Sandy went in to help her find the perfect spot but they had help.  Rosie wanted to see what they were hanging in her home.

Rosie stayed right with Donna Lynn the whole time.  At one point Rosie even started nibbling on Donna Lynn's ankles and feet. She kept tickling Donna but Donna got a great shot of her Barn Quilt and Rosie

I have a great bunch of Quilty friends. Sandy, Donna Lynn and Donna Marie gave everyone a goodie bag. Too sweet.  Here's a picture of all the goodies in my bags.  Pin cushion, a card, candy, a sewing machine pin and a fat quarter. Can't thank these gals enough.

One day maybe I'll be good and make each of my retreater's a goodie bag. I normally bring several game prizes but this time I only had one since I wasn't as prepared for this retreat since it was an impromptu retreat. My sweet friend Donna Lynn provided 2 Lavender bags full of sweet goodies for me to use as game prizes. A big Thank goes to her.



My friend Denise couldn't stay past dinner the 2nd evening due to work. She had planned to stay till Tuesday evening. Instead She had to leave that Monday after dinner so that she could fly out to New Jersey for a meeting the next morning at 7:30am. Such a Bummer! 

So I decided we would play a game called Left Right Center. 

Normally we each bring 3 fat quarters to play with but that would only give the winner 18 fat quarters. So this time I had everyone bring 5 fat quarters so the winner who happen to be Donna Marie would have plenty of 1930 fat quarters to make a small quilt. Can't wait to see what she makes.
This game can be a little crazy sometimes. Poor Donna Lynn rolled the dice and all three dice showed Center. She had to throw 3 of her 5 fat quarters in pot.  Then when it was her turn again and she rolled 2 Centers again and she had to throw her last 2 fat quarters in the pot. Of course that doesn't mean she's out of the game but the dice cleaned her out in 2 rolls. A few rolls away she got passed some fat quarters and got to play for awhile but then Donna Marie ended up with the last couple of fat quarters making her the winner of the pot of fat quarters. 
 



After dinner before Denise could leave Margie took a picture of the group.  Now the shortest one in the group hid in the back. Sandy you are such a brat. I'll get you the next time and put you on the front row. I surround myself with lots of talented women.

Donna Lynn dumped a box of scraps looking for the perfect piece to go in a quilt she was working on.



Here's a quilt block that Sandy was working on.
She started putting the blocks on the design wall to find the perfect layout. 



Then Donna Marie was about to finish all her quilt blocks to create a quilt pattern called Love Notes. I love this pattern and may have to make a quilt like it. 
She had fun laying it out and trying to avoid similar colors together and making sure the envelopes are all going in the right directions.  

Do you see the envelopes?




I love the decor at the Retreat. Margie does a great job. Gonna have to have her come help me decorate my sewing room at the farm when it's built.
 That night I poured a glass of wine from Perrine Winery called Red Zombie. I promise no fabric was harmed while drinking this wine.
I worked on the backing for my quilt I finished last night so I could hand it off to my quilter Donna @ Donna's Lavender Nest. 

Every time we went outside to sit or take pictures the cows were always interested in what we were doing. I snapped this picture and then as I took 3 steps forward they would all take 3 steps back. Then I took 3 steps back and they took 3 forward. They were so funny and sort of entertaining.

 I ended my 2nd night by starting another quilt and had another glass of wine. This wine glass I got from friend Kathy for my birthday. Do you think she was trying to tell me something?  LOL 


My daughter sent me a picture of my grand- dog after her grooming.  This groomer takes pictures of each dog she grooms. March's theme was St Paddy's Day. So Sophie was a leprechaun.  She makes a cute furry leprechaun.

I'll save the last couple of days of retreat for my next blog post....

Until then.... Behind every sewer is a huge pile of scraps..

A shower then A Quilting I will go

Ha...I bet you were thinking I meant I took a shower didn't you. Come on admit it you were thinking who cares if she took a shower or not. 
LOL! Well my co-workers might if I start stinking to be honest but that's another story. 

I was actually talking about a Baby Shower. On March 10th I went to my co-worker/friend Samara's sister's baby shower. I know this, I want them to plan and decorate for any baby showers I have. 
Samara and her sister Seyla plus a couple of others went above and beyond. They really got into this decorating bit. The decor was so pretty and cute. Look at that cake.







And this is the Guest of Honor...Beatrize. She's 36 weeks along. She says she feels huge but look at the girl, she is tiny and all baby. She's full of personality that I think really shines in this picture of her. I met her at her nieces track meets and then I learn she could do architectural drawings and had her do some preliminary architectural drawings of our original floor plan that we wanted to us to build at the Rockn' K. Since that first draw we've tweaked it several more times. 
I'm stealing this cute idea. They gave each guest a blank block from Hobby Lobby. About 2" square and each guest was to decorate it with colored markers. It was a really cute idea. And I forgot to take a picture of the blocks. But trust me it was a really cute idea.

 I had to leave before she opened gifts but I was sent a picture of her opening my gift. Beatrize is a Texas A & M Aggie graduate so I couldn't resist getting her some little Aggie items. All the fabric hanging down is my way of letting her know she has a quilt coming for her future Aggie.

This picture was so cute. They played a game where the participates had to put a balloon under their shirts then bend over without busting the balloon and tie their shoes.  The young lady in orange is Beatrize oldest niece Adelynn. Adelynn said there is no way she wants to be pregnant. She popped her balloon not long after bending over. It was too funny. It's one of those you had to be there moments.
Here's a picture of Beatrize with her sister's Samara and Seyla who did the decorations.  It was a sweet shower and I was honored to be included.
To bring you up to date.. Beatrize and her husband Shane had a sweet baby boy March 26th at 8 pounds 5 oz. and like 22 1/2" long.    Like I said she was all baby.

So now that I've had my shower (LOL) I was off to quilt retreat. This was my 10th retreat to organized. I organized my first retreat in the fall of 2013. I have a great group of quilty friends that joins me each time. Some have been to every retreat and some have had to miss one or two due to surgeries, grandbabies or travel. It's always a fun time. Even with all the laughter we manage to complete several projects. 

I'll keep this post short and I'll share more about retreat on my next post. This retreat was for 6 and an impromptu booking. Everyone got there and set up Sunday evening and got to work. 
Trying to get all my pictures edited and in one folder. I need to hurry up so I can be more current on my posts. Oh well...



Until next blog post..... Small wonders...Bring special joys

PWAT birthday celebrations Fun

So the best way to have a party without having a party is going to Painting with a Twist and inviting friends to join you. I mean you get to drink wine if you want to, paint a picture with friends and family, and most of all have fun. Lots of laughs for sure. Pamela and I even supplied a few snacks. Didn't want everyone drinking wine with no snacks around. 



One thing Pamela requested was a cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company so I obliged. Then I heard about not putting my name on the cake. I thought about it but hey I got the cake for her. 

 

Michelle my co-worker is being shy and trying to hide her creativity. Not sure why because she did an awesome job.

 Got behind her and took another shot. HA! 



None of us know what we're doing but we're having fun. I think....I hope Wine makes everything fun. 

 This is Pamela's long time friend Laina. She finally got to join us this year. YAY

Oh did I mention this post is on photo over load.  





This is Pamela with my God child Michelle. Doesn't she have a beautiful smile? 
They're both beautiful! 

Even after harassing Michelle she let me 
take a selfie with her.  I work with Michelle. She recently joined our office and we're glad she did. She's talented and smart. Shhhh  don't tell her I said that.

 Here's Pamela with our friend and favorite hair stylist Brittany from Trendsetters in Tomball.

 Here's Pamela and I with my co-worker Samara
 Pamela has a new friend. She met her through Laina. Her name is Kari and she sells
LuLaRoe clothing and Pamela loves LuLaRoe 

Ashley couldn't join us for painting because She had to support her 4 year old Aria at her first T-ball game day. Ashley popped in though long enough to drop off Pamela and I a birthday gift of the best kind (wine) and say 'Hi'.   They had a parade and everything so what Mom could miss that. Isn't Aria a cutie in her uniform. Next year hopefully Ashley will be able to come paint with us.

 I got to meet a new friend today too. Her name is Susy. She's sweet and crazy. Cute too. She was taking a picture of me and Kat and turned the camera on herself for a selfie. Love it.  Too bad she's so shy. NOT! LOL   

This is Kat. She and I used to work together years ago.

We were being silly and bought ourselves some birthday had on our birthday princess crowns.

And here's the whole gang.  Everyone did great! And so ends another great day at PWAT in Tomball with our friends who were able to come out and join us. Hope our friends had as much fun as we did. Thanks to everyone for making our birthdays special.

One of the gifts I got was a new wine glass from Kat. Perfect. LOL  What a fun fun day!  If you didn't get enough Picture overload you can click here to see all the silly pictures.

For the evening I was able to do what I wanted because Pamela went out with her friend's to continue her celebration. We were both looking forward to tomorrow when David got home and we got to go eat at The Taste of Texas. Best Steaks ever. Only I didn't end up spending the night by myself. David came home early so we could go to dinner early on Sunday the 4th. Not only does the Taste of Texas as great steaks they have a great salad bar and if you're not careful you could fill up on salad before you get your main course. Then as a special treat they give Pamela and I a choice for a birthday treat. She chose the apple dumpling with cinnamon ice cream and I chose the cheese cake and we shared with David. The took a picture of us but I managed to miss place it. oops. 

Sunday, March 4th was Lilley's 8th birthday. I got her some special treats at the pet store and she shared with Sophie.  She's such a good little Momma. I shared my birthday crown with her. I'm not sure she is totally impressed with the idea but I know she enjoyed the treats.
I just remembered I still have one hidden away I can give her tomorrow. She'll be one happy puppy.

For my birthday Monday the 5th Pamela and went up to visit with my Mom and Joe. We had Mom go shopping with us to help Pamela spend some of her birthday money.  For different reasons I never took pictures that day darn it.

On Tuesday Pamela and I went to brunch at a place called First Watch and then we went to have a massage with money from Christmas and birthday. aahhhhh so relaxing. We ended up at a different salon this time. Waiting to Exhale where we usually go didn't have enough massage therapist so they sent us to their parent company Dermatech off Champions and 1960. This place was nice and had the same nice atmosphere as Waiting to Exhale so we weren't disappointed. 
Just wanted to go home and take a nap but Pamela had a friend/co-worker coming in from Bryan to go to the Rodeo to see Jason Aldeen with her and another friend Rochelle who was in from California with two of her Cali friends. They made a night of it.

Well the birthday festivities have wound down now. Pamela headed back to Bryan and I went back to work for the week but then I was off for vacation for Spring Break. 
Gone Quilting. It was time for a retreat. It was an impromptu booking at Hilltop House by Margie in LaGrange. Margie had openings and I hadn't booked a spring retreat on the spur of the moment. If you click on the the name you can check the place out. Prices and menu's if you want her to cook for you.

More on the retreat in my next blog.....

UNTIL NEXT POST.....Birthdays are good for your health. 
Studies have shown that people who have more birthdays live the longest.

Time is going by so fast

February has come and gone. Wow that was quick. Recently on Facebook I posted this lovely little picture...

And this is so how I feel. Back in 2013 when they scoped my right knee they told me I had arthritis in it but until recently I hadn't had any problem but the past 3 1/2 weeks have been rather miserable.  The knee throbs and aches and then it doesn't. About 2 weeks earlier I decided to up my game and be more active. Fitbit is holding me more accountable. I was tired of accepting my friend Sheryl's work week hustle and always coming in last. I had worked my steps up to 7000. My goal of course is the recommended 10,000 plus but I have to work up to that and then my knee slowed me down. Not fair.  Went to see the Orthopedic and hopefully the Meds will work their magic before their gone gone in 30 days or otherwise I get the pleasure of steroid shot.  Come on Meds you better START working! It's crazy but today I am actually kinda feeling some relief.

On a happier note I got to go to lunch with my long time friend Joanie. We've know each other since before kids. It's hard to believe our kids are all grown up. We hadn't seen each other in a few months again so we had a lot of catching up to do.  
I keep trying to get her to a quilt retreat since I know she's been doing some quilting now herself but the timing hasn't been right for her or I haven't had any openings. One day the threads will align so to speak.


Cassie, the youngest of my co-workers had a birthday on the 24th of February and none of us remembered to decorate her office or pass on the crown for the birthday girl. We were so bad! I really felt bad because they always do so much for my special day.

So with the help of her boss we got in and decorated her office first thing Monday after she left to go to a campus so she'd be surprised when she came back in Tuesday morning. She got extra special decorations. Her boss got plenty of balloons and started blowing them up two at a time.
He wasn't prepared for me to be taking pictures but he should have know better. And there's the Man JJ Watt in the background cheering him on sorta. LOL!
 
Leonard did a great job. Cassie was surprised.  We might have half redeemed ourselves in her eyes.

And since I was going to be gone several days around and on my birthday they just moved the balloons and decor to my office. LOL Let the celebrations begin.

It was a great day. For lunch I had tortilla soup that my daughter made and shared with me. All I had to add was some avocado and a dollup of sour cream.  It was really yummy and them my Boss Kim made this totally awesome ice cream cake. 

Are you drooling yet?

I went to get my hair trimmed and colored on March 1st by my favorite hairstylist Brittany @ Trendsetters in Tomball and she surprised me with a birthday cupcake. She's so sweet and so was the cupcake... mmmm.

Check out the clouds for my drive home that evening. They were so lumpy and fluffy.  I was surprised the picture even came out since all I did was reach up and tap the camera button on my phone. It's in a holder mounted on my window.

Well my celebration will now blend into Pamela's celebration since her birthday was March 2nd and I always seem to start early.  She came home so we could celebrate together. So She came home on her birthday and went to see her favorite hairstylist "Brittany" and I went to College Station to an appointment with David to see a builder.  LOL. We basically passed each other on the highway.  After our appointment David went to the farm and I went back home to Cypress. Pamela were left on our own until Sunday. That's when David came home to take us out to eat at The Taste of Texas. OMG it was so yummy good.

Our sweet bundle of joy. This picture doesn't show her pretty blues but our cutie pa tootie.

Anyway Pamela and I went out to eat on her birthday that Friday night the 2nd at the Yard House located in CityCentre but for us old timers in Houston it's Town & Country. LOL

The food was really good and they brought us each out a bread pudding birthday dessert. OMG so good. We were stuffed. Our plates said  "Happy Birthday". Pretty cool.             

After dinner we walked across the way to Kendra Scott Jewelry Store to pick out our piece of jewelry for 50% off. In case you don'y already know Kendra Scott let's you pick out a piece of jewelry and take 50% off for your birthday. I had been wanting a purple stone so I found what I wanted in a necklace for my birthday and then bought a pair of matching earrings with my birthday money from David and my boss Kim. Love my new jewelry pieces. What'cha think?

I got this awesome handmade card from my very talented creative friend and Retreat owner Margie Lawrence of Hilltop House by Margie in LaGrange, Texas. 

On Saturday March 3rd we had a joint Painting with a Twist Gathering to celebrate both our birthdays with friends.  More on that in my next post. 

Oh Oh and the big News is...... We have a builder... Yep we finally did it. We started with like 5 or 6, narrowed it down to 3, then we got it down to 2, then a one builder showed up at the farm that we had talked with last year but never received a bid from and asked to give us a bid so we said okay. Got that bid and went back to down to 2 builders. Each builder had a different floor plan. Each builder and plan had their good  and their strong points. It was hard narrowing down the possibilities. All of the builders we were looking at were awesome in their on way and were very personable.

But When it came down to it we/I really liked the first floor plan David and I had found and with the help of Bubba of JDB Contracting (Bryan, Texas) together we tweaked that plan to be what we wanted our forever home to be. YAY! 

Oh Crap now the hard part is how to pay for what we want. So the process of getting a construction loan is next.....

So Until next Post...Never do anything that you wouldn't want to explain to the paramedics. ~Author Unknown