Quilting and Mother's Day

When David was mowing last Friday he found one egg and we thought it was a duck egg but decided it was too small. Then on Saturday when David was working out in the yard he saw Doves out by the fence and he found two eggs now. So we've decided these are Dove eggs. I just hope the darn armadillo that's been tearing up our yard don't get them. Or any other critter we might have roaming around.Oh NO David just checked and there are no eggs. I found one of the eggs on the other side of the yard half crushed tonight! Bummer
Forgot to mention that when we went to Groesbeck a couple of weeks ago we also called a fellow quilter/co-worker who also
 has a place up in Groesbeck. She and her husband built a barndominium that they plan on retiring to  and used a floor plan that David and I keep looking at for a barndominium we'd like to build. We got lucky when we called and they said come on by. First let me say my friend Margaret's 
property is beautiful!. I'll share a couple of pictures of her view 
off her porch that she's shared on facebook. It's very relaxing. 
And second after touring her home I know I love the floor plan and with a couple of tweaks that David and I have discussed it will be the plan for us too. She had a couple her own tweaks in the plan.  It's a miracle David and I may have almost come up and agreed on a floor plan. LOL A few people have wondered if that would ever happen. Thanks to Margaret and her husband David we're definitely closer than we were I think.
When I came home the other day I saw a Postcard in the stack of mail. 

I didn't think much about it until I sorted through the mail and realized it was for me and it was an Art Fabric Postcard. It came from Annie @ FreezeFrame Blog.
OH WOW!   






She told me she'd send me one of her awesome postcards one day but I never knew when it would come. I'd kinda forgotten. I feel very honored to have been lucky enough to have received one. Thank you so much Annie I love it.
Annie is very talented and creates some of the coolest cards.
If you get a chance go check out her blog by clicking on her blog name above. She does some awesome work. She's very creative.

And finally I get to show you my great-nephew Beckett's quilt.
He got it Friday. I got the phone call from my nephew saying Thanks that it's pretty cool. I hope Mr Beckett get's lots of use out of this quilt over the years. I had texted Melissa back when we found out she was pregnant asking what colors she planned on using in the nursery and when she told me I realized I could use my little raccoon fabric and coordinating fabrics I had picked up during a bus trip not knowing what I would use it for when I bought it and Viola' Mr. Beckett. 
My nephew is a hunter so I thought fabric with raccoon's would be a good choice. So this is one quilt my daughter didn't have to help me pick out the fabric. I did it all by myself.  She did help me lay it out. Then after going to quilt retreat my friends Mary Jane and Mildred helped me further and that's this is the layout that stuck.

Can you see the cute little raccoon's peaking out all over the fabric? That small 1 1/2 inner border was a new fabric we found while on a field trip at retreat called Grunge and I added it to the quilt. Grunge comes in lots of colors and it's awesome and this one worked great on this quilt. Love the quilting that my friend Donna @ Donna's Lavender Nest did. If you need anything quilted she's good, priced right and her turn around right now is very reasonable.

This past Wednesday we had a date night and went to Main Street Crossing to listen to Max Stallings and his lovely talented wife Heather.
His great songs, smooth voice and her awesome violin playing and alto voice you couldn't ask for better night. They are so cute together.
I have such a sweet daughter. She came home for one night and day to celebrate Mother's Day early.  With her schedule as a Nurse we don't always get to get together on actual holidays as they come around. 

So Saturday we met up with Mom and Joe a day early for Mother's Day at the Black Walnut Cafe in the Woodlands for breakfast. 
They have a wide variety of food and it's really tasty. The prices aren't too bad either and you don't have to worry about a tip since you place your own order and you pick it up at the counter so there's no waiter or waitress involved.

It was a beautiful day.
Hope everyone else had a lovely Mother's Day.

While I had a Lovely day I know there are several out there that are missing their Mothers such as my Sister's who are missing their Mom my step Mom Carolyn, my Sister in Law who lost her Mother Margaret and then there's my Husband, his Brother and Sister who lost their Mom, My Mother in Law Thelma, who kept me out of trouble around the house and there are many of my friends who have lost their Mom's. I'd like to think their Mom's are looking down from Heaven and smiling knowing what good and loving people they've raised. They say if you whisper to a butterfly it will fly your message to Heaven. I know my message would be Carolyn, Thelma, and Margaret you are greatly missed on this earth.

On that note.... I'm outta here 
Until next blog post.....Hugs and Prayers for everyone for peace and love.

Happy May Day

Thought this was cool watching the poppies blow in the wind. I kept trying to time it where no cars were coming but that didn't happen plus I meant to share this in my last post but forgot.

To possibly see the poppies swaying in the wind you'll need to open the blog link to get the mov to work.  

Well some much getting this posted in April or even getting more than one post in April.  Geez I'm slacking.
On the 16th we went to Main Street Crossing to see Wayne Hancock. We went with our friends Billy and Cheryl from Clear Lake. It was a fun night. Wayne Hancock music is called Juke Joint Swing and is compared to Hank Williams Senior. His music is the old timey Country swing. He and the band rocked the stage. 
Mother Nature must have been angry with Houston and the Cypress area. She dropped record amounts of rain on the area. Like up 17" in some areas. This picture was shared on facebook of a local restaurant about 7 miles from the house. Pamela goes "No Fair I still haven't got to go eat there"  I hope they get it cleaned up so she can eventually go. 
The CyFair School District was closed for the whole week because so many families were affected and we had several schools damaged by rain/flooding. It has been a mess. Our grounds are saturated.

About 18 miles from the house the bridge going to my mom's  was washed out.  Not sure of the status as of today.  I guess I better find out before next Saturday when we want to get together for an early Mother's Day Breakfast.
  
After the rains and flooding receded David and I jumped up the Grand Parkway and headed to Old Town Spring to Puffabelly's to see Thomas Michael Riley and Davin James. These two were in rare form. It happens. It was a great evening.



Last Saturday David woke me up saying let's run up to the farm and to our friends Ross and Sheryl's place which is  about an hour further up the road from the Rockin K to see what they have going now that they have their building plans.

So I suggested we take Lilley and drop her off and Pamela's to play with Sophie and see if maybe Pamela would like to ride along. 
And that's what we did. It was a beautiful day. 
Pamela had never been to the Ross and Sheryl's. Sheryl was surprised when she climbed out of the car.  
We spent a good hour or more there checking out their floor plans and where they plan on building and just catching up.

Thursday night I spent the evening with this group of lovely ladies discussing our latest book The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman @ Teotihuacan Mexican Cafe. This meeting had been canceled because of a death of one of our members/dear friend of many years and then because of the flooding but we finally got together and discussed a book that everyone really liked. What was interesting about this meeting was we had a special guest a white dove. 

My question in my book club blog was..... Was it a sign or just a coincidence? Who knows but one of the ladies came back and said it was Cindy our departed friend visiting. 

The bird wasn't afraid and it wasn't begging for food. She just hung around watching. The waiters said it was the first time they'd ever seen her. sooo

mmmmm

I finished the binding on my Great Nephew's quilt.. Yippee! I went out and took some pictures of it today so tomorrow or Tuesday I hope to get it in the mail so by my next post I should be able to post the pictures. And now I'm back to working on my other unfinished projects and another baby quilt for a baby boy that made it's appearance recently.

Until next Blog...   Take a Deep Break. I Calms the mind.

Quilting,April, and travel equals fun

Isn't this little bluebird cute. I've seen them and I was hoping we could attract them but no luck yet but we did attract the next pretty guy/gal.  Which I believe I have identified as an Eastern Bluebird that is really pretty too. It's bigger than the little guy in the first picture but I'll be darn if it doesn't squeze itself into the Aggie Bluebird house we have hanging in the oak tree. 

It's really pretty to see him hanging out with the cardinal and momma red bird on the bird feeder.  I hope to add bluebird houses at the farm too. I have seen some of the little bluebirds up there but we'll see. Hopefully we'll add a Martin house here and up there also. We'll just have all kinds of birds to watch.

Well I was gonna hold off on posting these completions from retreat until I could get the binding on my nephew Becket's quilt and he had received it but by then my post might be too massive so I'll just post what I have.

A couple a years ago my dear Friend Linda in Dallas from Linda's Life Journal had posted on Facebook "the first 5 friends to comment on this post will receive a handmade gift and will need to post this to their wall and do the same" So I commented on hers and she sent me rather quickly a denim book cover she made. So I re-posted and she was one of my first 5 only I wasn't so fast in getting her hand made item to her..... But I finally did it.... 

I made her a wine bottle bag to use to carry 

a bottle of wine in for herself or use as a gift bag plus I made her 2 wine glass slippers/coasters. You slip the base of the glass into the coaster or you can simply set the glass on top like a normal coaster. I believe she liked them.

Took me long enough. I have one more handmade item to make to complete my obligation. Oh and I included in her box a wine glass from one of the wineries that Pamela and I visited plus a couple of  empty pretty wine bottles for her to use to make her lighted wine bottles. She made me one just because she was my friend. I love it.

The second thing I completed while at retreat was a quilt top for baby Thomas who's Momma was like one of the family. Pamela gave her the quilt this past Monday and I was told she loved it. The quilt went to Fredericksburg with us so I could find the perfect place to take a picture. A fellow blogger Carol over at Art and Sand had posted this quote by John Lennon saying "Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted" She felt it reflected her life. She loves taking pictures like I do. Expect her pictures are awesome. We may take 50+ pictures of the same thing looking for the just right look and post just that 1.
Like the picture of Baby Thomas's quilt. 
I think I had about 30-35 different shots and Pamela had some of the same and a few different ones. I was looking for the shot.
The first one was taken at Becker  Vineyards in Fredericksburg and the other 2 were taken at the Wildseed Farm. Pamela had one she sent me similar to my second shot that might have been slightly better but I can't find it.
This quilt pattern was based on a pattern Pamela found on pinterest from Cluck Cluck Sew blog tutorial. It came out really cute I think. 
My daughter picked out all the fabric and did a great job. 
I did all the piecing and my friend Donna at Donna's Lavender Nest did the quilting. 

Thursday morning the 7th Pamela and I headed to the Hill Country as an extended part of our birthday from David. Here we are at our first winery called Saddlehorn in Brenham. It was about 11am. And so the Fun begins. It was 5pm somewhere right? They even had a clock on the wall that said 5pm and I had Pamela take a picture of it and now I can't find it. We always enjoy our drive with all the wild flowers and sites. Such as the snake crossing the road. Well actually I didn't see it Pamela did but I didn't miss it. I ran over it. We hit I believe 3 wineries Thursday along with a couple antique stores and a fabric store called Val and Kim's in Dripping Springs. Cool Shop. Lots of eye candy and fabric to touch. It's a fabric-a-holic thing. 

One of the wineries was there in Dripping Springs call Bell Springs Winery. We found one there that wasn't bad but the name of this wine caught our attention. LOL.  Several of their wines had catchy names like this. We made it by Fat Ass Winery before heading to the hotel in Kerrville. We didn't stay in Fredericksburg this stay.  For dinner we tried the Acapulco Mexican Restaurant right down the street from the hotel and then we drove around town a little bit. I decided to get some gas and Pamela wanted to go up this road that looked like it went straight up so we did.  It was definitely a steep and winding road with lots of pretty homes and lots of deer standing right next to the road and in the yards. You could see the whole town. It was getting fairly dark by the time we started back down so we decided to call it a night.  

Friday we hit several more wineries (5) and a couple of old favorites like Sister Creek and Fiesta. We drove back into Johnson City about 25 miles  back down the road for lunch at a place called Bryans. It was really tasty food. Then we headed back to Fredericksburg for some more looking around and we went to LBJ Ranch. Pamela had never been.  

She couldn't believe how big it was. The ranch was loaded with blue bonnets.  We found a spot and took time to take a couple pictures of each other.

And while driving the the back 100 acres we came across these 2 cute calves that were very interested in what we were doing.

That night we ate at West End Pizza. It wasn't bad but I think I've had better. They had live music outside and we were gonna go check it out but when Pamela went to the restroom she came back and said no way. There were too many young kids outside running a muck. She didn't even get to go to the restroom because of 3 young teenage girls guarding the bathroom door and being rather rude. 
Saturday we got up and went into Medina and Bandera. The road I took out of Kerrville (Hwy 16) was very scenic. step at times and twisty and

sometimes all 3. We stopped in Medina for Apple pie and strudel. YUM. We were about the only ones there then all of a sudden there were dozens of people. The Mercedes car club had arrived and so had a motorcycle group. It got crowded in hurry in this tiny store. We finished up and headed on up the road to Bandera. A cowboy town. At certain times of the year they'll drive the cattle thru town and the cowboys still ride their horses to town and tie them up to the hitching post to go into the 11th Cowboy Bar. You might even seen the guy having a beer with his pet pig on a leash.
Of course while there I drug Pamela to the quilt store Gone Quilting. LOL yes if there's a quilt I'll find it. I did find Creations the quilt store in Kerrville next to the retreat house but I didn't drag Pamela to that one.
Just never seemed to have time.
Looked around Bandera and headed back toward Comfort to go to the Hill Country Moonshine Distillery.  Somewhere between Bandera and Medina we saw these goats and they all had 3 baby billy goats. In fact one had just had hers. These little guys were soooo cute. We sat there snapping pictures for quite awhile. While sitting here taking pictures a car club passed us. About 20 Lamborghini's. Wow. That was a lot of money going down the road.
These little ones kept trying to eat and momma goat just lifted her leg over them and walked away. It was like a game.

I stopped to take a picture of this section of the Medina river. I thought it was pretty. It looked so peaceful, clear and inviting. Wish I could have gotten down to it. Oh well on wards and forwards. Next stop Hill Country Moonshine in Comfort Texas.





So I'm not a Bloody Mary drinker but put jalapeno moonshine and several shakes of tabasco and I'm your girl. well I'm good for at least one.  Pamela was drinking a Dreamcicle here but before we left she had one more drink called a Dulce Breeze I think. I only had one drink since I was driving.

James the owner came over and started talking to us and telling stories. He's really  nice and funny.
It was getting late and we were going to try another new restaurant called Alamo Springs Cafe. It had great reviews and David had a book that said it was a place you should eat at if in Texas. Well we're in Texas. Now the address said it was in Comfort and it's not a big town so we programmed the address and Siri began to navigate us down the road. Down the road and out of town. What the heck?! Okay Siri I hope you know what you're doing and you're not going take us out into the boon docks and say park your car and walk the rest of the way. She did that once. Only we were a couple miles away from our destination. So we're driving down the road and driving and now we going past Sisterdale and about 9 miles out of Comfort and we haven't seen any other cars on the road. We've driven maybe 15 miles out into the middle of no where and we finally see another car but no signs of a restaurant and very few homes that we can see. Oh boy this isn't looking good.  After about 17-20 miles and a couple turns she goes you have arrived. mmm not so much. What I see is a sign that says National park and some kind of look out. Doesn't look good. Wait ... Look I see cars coming from past the curve and cars parked on down the way so I back up and drive down the road just a little ways and there it is...........ALAMO SPRINGS CAFE... We made it. We get inside and it's crowded but we don't see a cashier of front desk so I has a waitress if we just sit where ever. She looks at me like I'm crazy and rushes by me and say you have to get on the wait list to which I reply that's great but where do I do that... She points. Glad she wasn't out waitress. 
Then I had to stand in a line of about 5 people to get my name on a list that luckily didn't exist and they pointed us to a table right away. Very unusual I'm told. Normally you can expect an hour or two wait. Pamela and I both ordered a cheeseburger and shared some fries and we still couldn't eat it all. It was so good! Then we did share one of their appetizers ..a fried avocado with meat and cheese in it. It was fried perfect and it was good!
After dinner we had to use the flashlight on our phones to find the car. The parking lot was pitch dark and so was the roads. Not only did I have to worry about the mass quantities of deer I had to worry about all the other critters in the country side.
I have to say there is one less armadillo though. There was a car coming at me and an armadillo crossing the road right in front of me. Yikes! I tried to avoid him but I heard a thud. Next critter was a skunk. Avoided him Thank Goodness then there was a possum. Other than the armadillo we made it back to the hotel safely.
Sunday it was time to come home. We drove down to the Guadalupe River to snap a couple of pictures then went to the Wildseed farms to snap a couple more and try to avoid rain drops.

And before we knew it, it was time to come home.

On Hwy 71 in Austin some guy lost a huge chair off his truck. He didn't have it tied. Talk about heart attack. Cars were going every which way and I left half my tire tread on the road and to top it off the guy walk out onto the road in front of me while I was try to avoid the chair. Pamela could have reached out and slapped him. Someone needed too. Oh well that's the end of my adventures and quilting for this post. 

Oh and Right before we left I got an email from BillieBee over at BillieBee's Blog tell me I won the 3 charm packs from Connecting  Threads. And when I got home there they were waiting on me. I can't believe I won. Gotta think of something to make with them. Thank you BillieBee. 

Thanks everyone for following along and reading

Here's project list. It hasn't changed much but I' working on things. 

2016 UFO's

Trying a new way of identifying status of my projects. Stole this method from fellow blogger Bea at Beaquilter.  Trying to make it easier to keep up with and read.

If in red I've worked on recently

If crossed thru it's complete. 

need 1 more handmade item from FB post. Finished 4 of 5

Sandy's memory quilt - bought fabric, photos ready, need a good pattern -started blocks and putting on design wall

Texas Flag quilt - red and white section ready, work on blue blocks
Nickies Tshirt quilt

Mom's 

·    flannel quilt - pieced, add applique

·   fleece quilt

 Allan's quilt - fabric bought

Phi Mu auction quilt - fabric bought
valances

·    den

·  breakfast room

·  dining room

·  master bath

got a valence up in guest room

Hobo Quilt - picking out fabric

Bible Quilt - fabric bought, 1 block

Special Quilt for a special grandma (JLK)

• Baby quilt for Jeremiah and Melissa's baby Becket quilt cut out -   

•  Laina and Josh for baby Thomas in progress - at quilters

• Quilt for Rhonda

Pamela's projects for me

·    #1 t-shirt quilt

·   #2 black/white/teal

·   #3 kit we bought in Missouri a few years ago

   #4 back door window cover for Pam's new house

• curtains for cabin temporary burlap
• Open a pattern I bought and and make it

Ongoing projects

·  postcards

·  bookmarks

·  mug rugs

So until next blog...Live every day as if it were your last, because one of these days, you’ll be right… unknown