Monday, April 21, 2014

Another Holiday Come & Gone

It's definitely true, the older you get, the faster "time" goes.  Wasn't it just the New Year a few weeks ago?

At least the weather here in Northern Ohio for Easter was perfect.  It was a bitter sweet time for our family, daughter No. 3 and her family were not able to join us again this year.  They were here two years ago, which to my way of thinking..........seemed like last year.  It's that old age time flying thing!!!!

We still tried to keep with some traditions though.  My oldest grandson (15) and oldest granddaughter (13) along with their 10 year old brother wanted to do an egg hunt.  Which I heard through their mother was my idea and they would do it "for me"!  When I brought up the idea to them.........they quickly responded with a yes.  "Make it hard for us Gramma" came the cry from my granddaughter.

So like the dutiful Gramma that I am (LOL) I buried 66 colored plastic eggs.  Everyone had their own colors.  So, 3 grandchildren and my 2 daughters and son were also game to play.  Candy in some, IOU's in some for a later date, and the grandchildren's Easter Money in one.

So, of course, my youngest grandson found all of his except the one with the money in it. So, I toured the yard around the house a couple of times........can't find it.  Then I asked him for the 3rd time if he had actually looked in a certain place.........well no, he thought I said something else.  Anyway, thank goodness, he found his money.  Note to Myself:  do not put their Easter Money in a plastic egg and hide it.

So, out of 66 eggs hidden, and me unable to bend or walk the rest of the day, they found all but 2.  We did several searches, and I can't for the life of me think of where the heck they would be.  Note to Myself:  Requested by egg hunters.........Gramma make a map the next time!!! LOL

Back to Quilt Talk.......... I finished the April Quilt Challenge given to us by Kathy T. from her group SQTG. I am pretty proud of myself so far this year.  I have made all 4 quilts as of this date.  This, I think is my all time favorite small quilt challenge.  I had never done Prairie Points before, have always wanted to do them.........so I was feeling a little unsure of myself for this challenge.  The quilt turned out to be a really fun and quick small quilt to do.  The Prairie Points were so much fun ......and they actually turned out even on all four sides.  

Quilt Name:  Prairie Point Delight.......23 1/2" x 29"



I have had a busy day with friends, a local road trip, and I am worn out from having so much fun.  I have a new hand craft that I am anxious to try.  I enjoy embroidery and have been admiring my friend, Charlene's, counted cross stitch samplers.  They are just adorable, and she is in the process of making this huge wall hanging.  So, I asked her to get me started......and please, make the Aida Cloth large enough for these old eyes to count the cross stitches. LOL So we found a pattern today....and wish me luck.  I can't wait to start it, but I think I'll have to wait for tomorrow.........gonna make this an early night bedtime.  Oh, of course I have to kill a slice of cheesecake my daughter made, or maybe the piece of pecan pie my other road buddy, Gail, sent my way.  Oh, decisions, decisions, decisions!!!!

Bye for now......please visit again.







Monday, April 14, 2014

Must Have Sewing Gadget!!

At a recent Guild Meeting, we had a lecturer, Cindy Casciato, showing us her quick and easy ruler she had designed for flying geese, half square triangles, corner square triangles, and many more blocks using this tool. It is The Magic Triangle Method Ruler.  You also can purchase templates that have all the calculations for everything you can use the ruler for.

I am not going to show a picture of it, because I don't know the rules and regulations of showing someone's product without their permission!  But, I would highly recommend that you find her on the internet and check it out for yourself.  That would be:  www.cindycasciato.com.

The flying geese is the one that caught my eye.  In the fall I had been in a flying geese signature block swap.
Much to my dismay.....I had a heck of a time making all my flying geese (at least 250+) coming out perfect. I tried many many ways to make them.  I even did the Quilt in a Day version.  It was better, but they still had problems. LOL

This last week, I have been working on getting this flying geese signature block swap quilt put together.  I have it on my design wall, I just need to tweak it  a little more.




Also, in the last couple of weeks, I put together our SQTG April Quilt Challenge quilt.  I have the top completed..........currently hand quilting it.  It has prairie points sewn into it, something I had never done before.  But, they turned out pretty good.........It was a quick and fun quilt to put together.........  I'll be posting it once I get it all quilted.

Until then...........hope all is good in your "world".