Trip to the Lake

We all went to the lake last week. Katie came down for a visit since she was off of school all week. The boys only had off from Wednesday... :( so that was the day we went. Quite cool and a little breezy but we had fun anyway....don't ya see the fun on Douglas' face?!?!?

Katie and Charlotte pose for a picture...can't ya see how much attention Char pays to me?! Just like the photographer trying to take baby pictures...ugh!


Here I am again...who'd have thought it, twice in such a short time....there is a reason I stay on the other side of the camera...lol...

Took some interesting tree shots and landscape pics to transform into ever so lovely landscapes later....I'll put it into the que with all the other projects I have in my mind....it's getting quite crowded in there ya know......

Practice at rock skipping....don't think we will be entering any challenges anytime soon...most of the rocks landed with a thump or ploop into the water.....

So after the frost has hit and all the leaves have turned brown and the pine needles have fallen, you can still find little bits o color - aren't these just adorable!

Doug and the pups racing...go Charlotte go....guess I should tell you that Char is my lazy puppy and this is truly a deceptive pic of her but at her very best....she does short sprints and stops...just ask Douglas who now refuses to take her on neighborhood runs because she stops in the road and refuses to go any further...he got tired of carrying her back home and only takes Wilbur on long runs anymore....



My very most favorite part of the day was when we stopped by the park at the dam and Doug and Charlotte and Michael and Wilbur went down the slide together...I do believe the guys had a bit more fun than the pups did but I got quite a giggle watching them go down. Truthfully the funniest part was watching them get the pups in their laps in the first place...lol...you shoulda been there to see it!!

Tonight the Wonderful Women Who Quilt, our Tuesday night bee group, met at Ille's (who we have decided is the hostess with the mostess) for a birthday dinner for three of our quilt friends, Rachel, Margaret and Betsy, whose birthdays were today, yesterday and tomorrow.

It was a lot of fun with great food and great stories of quilting adventures and misadventures!! The surprise for Rachel was the quilt that we all supplied our hands for and

Margaret Hunt pieced and appliqued and

Bonnie Hunter quilted. I didn't get the picture of the backing which is full of hoochie mamas in bathing suits that received plenty of laughs and giggles.

We ate till completely stuffed of shrimp cocktail, cheese & crackers, chips and a wonderful dip, lasagna, salads & the most delightful lime and spices dressing that Paula B. made, pistachio salad/dessert that was completely devoured, scrumptuous parmesan bread that Rachael T. made, rolls, pecan tassies, a divine chocolate cake and yummilicious tiramisu cake!!

The evening came and went by so quickly for us but not for Ille's hubby who patiently occupied himself elsewhere while we had our girlyfest. What a great guy! This is Rachel's happy self with her new quilt.

Here is a close-up of the quilt.




Since Margaret introduced me to the quilted postcard, I gave her this one for her birthday.

Weekend at the Beach

Well, Margaret, Joyce, Judy and I headed for Charleston, SC (where I have never been before) on Friday morning. We went to People, Places and Quilts first then through the vendors on Market Street and out to dinner. When we were done we headed to Margaret's inlaws place on Edisto Island (where I also have never been).

We had fun looking over our fabric purchases and eating the most wonderful pound cake that Judy made and 'to die for' lemon bars that Joyce made. Wonderful, wonderful!!

On Saturday I went with Margaret to People,Places & Quilts in Summerville, SC where she taught a machine quilting class (which I took and passed). Bought more fabric. Judy, Ille and Sue came for the afternoon amulet class Margaret was teaching and I headed back to the beach house where Joyce was doing something mysterious.

I doodled on the way home stopping to take pictures of a cemetary, and the really cool oak trees with all the spanish moss hanging form them. The trees on the island are amazing in that the branches reach across the road as if trying to hug one another. Also amazing is the fact that a great many of the trees are on the edge of the road and I do mean that seriously!! Scary when we were going down the roads for the first time at night on the way there. Kinda like a real life halloween movie or something.

Went to the Piggly Wiggly and bought stuff to make chili for supper. Stopped and took pictures of the beach before going home. The girls came home and the six of us ate chili, a wonderfully divine cream cheese spread and crackers that Judy had made and this killer cowboy dip made of corn, avacados, onion, cilantro served with tortilla chips that Joyce had made. And dessert was the wonderful cake and lemon bars.

After supper we all looked at our purchases and chilled out and did girly things like laugh and giggle. Also pictures were taken. Some were hostage pictures so I've only used the really good ones that make everyone look beautiful. Judy's picture didn't turn out so I'll have to get one later of her on another beach weekend. Ille was very comfy on the loveseat after a long day of driving, shopping, taking class and eating till we were all ready to bust. She really is quite adorable and one of my prettiest friends.

Sue is here showing her Georgia Quilt.

Sunday morning started off with a walk on the beach. I looked like a crazy person chasing after this little bird to get a close-up of him catching whatever it was he was eating. The little guy was a speed demon! Ille took off on a fast paced walk along the beach and we all lost her. Sue found her on the way back and that is them walking along the shoreline heading back to the beach house.

I was amazed at the lantana just full of butterflies! What a gorgeous site and the picture just does not do justice to them. Judy had to head back to Atlanta much to our dismay but we really enjoyed our time spent with her. She is an amazingly sweet lady and does such gorgeous work (she won all those awards at the quilt show).

Afterwards we headed for the bead show in Mt. Pleasant where we shopped for beads till we could shop no more. We then headed into Charleston and the five of us, Margaret, Joyce, Ille, Sue and I went on a carriage ride through the historic town and were entertained by our tour guide. Just a few pictures from the tour (I took 187 during our stay) are at the beginning of the blog. My favorite color houses are the pink and the turquoise ones. The bright colors seem so beachy!

We headed out early Monday morning but not before we got pictures. This is also the only picture on my blog of me so take a good look because there probably won't be another...lol....l to r: Joyce, Me, Sue & Margaret.

The filled up truck and no I couldn't see real well outta the back but I had been up the driveway enough times it wasn't a problem....lol..and another picture of the girls Ille, Margaret, Joyce & Sue.

We headed on to PPQ where I took Margaret's Thread Painting Class. I've included the pictures of my classwork at the end.

After class was over we went next door to the Greek Restaurant and had supper before heading home. A great time was had by all and we're looking forward to the next trip!!! Thanks especially to Margaret's inlaws for letting us stay there!

Princess

Just had to share the pics of my niece Kylie who went to a princess party this past weekend. Ain't she a darlin?

Quilt Show and Antiquing

Today, Margaret, Connie and I rode to Aiken's Historical Museum to see the Quilt show there. It was a relatively small show but the quilts were stunning, including some that were in the Pieceful Hearts Show several weeks ago. They had an opening reception at the museum after going through the show.

Before going to the show we went to the two bead shops in downtown Aiken. Connie had never been there before and I think she had a good time.

After the show we went back downtown and hit a couple of the antique shops where I lucked across a Sunbonnet Sue quilt made of feedsacks. It's a real beauty if I say so myself! These are just a couple of pictures of the quilt which shows a little wear around the binding.

And not to be forgotten we stopped into the Bone-i-fide Bakery were we bought our babies some puppy cookies.


Ever since I was pregnant with my daughter, I have loved Sunbonnet Sue. Her father's Aunt Betty, made a crib quilt of alternating Sunbonnet Sue's and Overall Sam's in green and white. Brandy wasn't one for carrying around blankets but her younger brother, Jason was! He wore the poor blanket plumb out and I have been redoing it, salvaging the Sue's and Sam's and replacing the muslin and all other parts of the quilt. Now that I have written this, I will have to finish it...funny the things I do to get my tasks completed!!

Jadene's Amulet and close-ups of Dallas' Purse

These are pictures of the crazy purse amulet that I've made for my friend Jadene's birthday. Of course it is late (not an unusual event unfortunately) but I'm hoping she will be happy with it. Actually Jadene is a longtime friend and I worked for her parents in their flower shop 'Colonial Florist' in Annapolis, Maryland on and off for about 10 years. She's one of a very few people I keep in touch with and I am delighted to call her my friend. She's also one of the few people who never seem to change in their looks, weight or pleasant demeanor and I know her!! Happy Birthday late Jadene!!


I've included these close-ups of Dallas' Purse. I'll be sending it to her soon and wanted a couple more pictures to have.

Presidents mug for Siobhan

This is my block for Siobhan for serving as guild president 2004-2005. I had heard she likes Mary Engelbreit and just so happened I had some fabric left over from a quilt I made for my friend Denise last Christmas. The pattern came from tracing around one of my favorite mugs and appliqueing it to the background fabric. Darker fabric swirls are appliqued for steam and then I mixed up some coffeeish looking beads and used them to make more steam. I hope she enjoys the block... was going to decorate more but was reminded she'll need room to quilt around so I guess I'm done.....