New Lotus Flower Pincushion

Do y'all remember the Pink Lotus Flower pincushion I made back in August? Well, a friend of mine saw it and really wanted one like it. So I made her one but decided to use different fabrics. I also put a small piece of felt in each petal to make them stand out better than the ones on my pink one. I think it turned out quite lovely. I just gave it to her a couple days ago and she loved it. She is a quilter and makes some lovely quilts. Her piecing is excellent!
Here is a picture of the pincushion before I put the wrist band on it.

Here is a picture of it showing the band for the wrist. These next two photos are kind of dark. I guess it was because the pincushion was on a dark surface.

Quilt Top & Keith with Horsefly/Giveaway

I had the pictures arranged in a different order but they switched on me so I will talk about them backwards! This is a close-up of the quilt I am making for my son, Keith. I had gotten the light house fabric at a yard sale and realized there was enough scraps of it to make Keith a quilt. I already had the red fabric and thought it was perfect for the light houses.
This is almost the whole quilt top. I didn't have anywhere to take the top so I could get a picture of the entire top. It is 81" x 87". I hope to get it sent off to the quilts soon!
Betz White is having a give away. She is giving away some of the cutest bugs she has made out of felt. She ask that you leave a comment with your favorite bug story. I told her about a time when we lived out in the country and these huge horseflies would fly into our home every time the door was opened! One time one landed on the inside screen on one of the windows and my son, Keith, who was 1 year and 4 months old at the time just reached up and caught it! It was alive when he did this. I couldn't believe it! I grabbed my camera and got this picture of him. See the horsefly he is holding in his right hand?! The picture is not great as this was before digital cameras and I am not the best photographer in the world, but you can still tell it is a horsefly if you look close.

Giveaway!

Check out this give away over at Sue Daley Designs!

Daddy's Birthday, Quilting, & Tara as Nun

familyMy pictures are not in the right order and I can't seem to get them into the right order so I will just have to deal with it. I realized this morning that I had not posted about my daddy's 77Th birthday which was on October 13Th. Below is a picture of my Daddy and Mama on their Wedding day back in 1951. Weren't they a handsome pair?! I think so. My Daddy was 19 and my Mama was only 17. She was 2 months shy of being 18 and lied about her age to get married.
I have been really sewing a lot lately! Hubby was working nights last week and I sewed every evening when I got home from work till I went to bed. I don't know when I have sewn on my sewing machine so much! Below are some of the rows for my son's quilt. I got the quilt top finished Saturday night. I haven't taken a picture of it yet. But I will soon and will post it. As he never looks at my blog it won't matter. I don't even think he paid any attention to what I was sewing, even though he was in the room at the time! He was on the computer and he never sees anything when he is on the computer! The papers with numbers on them pinned at the end of the rows is my method of keeping everything straight.

Here are the 4 inch wide rows. The above rows are 2 inches wide. They go in between the 4 inch rows. I really think it turned out nicely. I also got someone elses quilt top finished but cannot post any photos of it as I don't want them to see it!
I hope to start another quilt this afternoon. Hubby is on days and so I figure I can come in from work and sew for about an hour before he gets home. It is strange how for years I have not wanted to piece quilts on the sewing machine and have done all hand applique'. But here lately I have wanted to do machine piecing! I just want to use up some of the fabric I have accumulated over the years. It does hurt my back really bad to sit at the sewing machine so long and after I get through sewing after a few hours I have to get my son to come rub my back and pop my spine for me. Then I take a couple Ibuprofen and rest! What hoot.
Here is my son, Keith, my Daddy, and my daughter, Tara on Daddy's birthday. Notice that Daddy has on a jacket. He also has on long sleeve shirt! And it was hot as can be on that day!
Here's Daddy blowing out his candles! I baked the cake and Keith iced it and put the sprinkles on it.
Tara's senior class had a Halloween Party this past Saturday night. Tara went as a nun. Here she is with her friend, Bird, who dressed as a priest. He was her date for the night.
Here is Tara's best friend, Tiffanie (who was a pirate) and Tara. Notice Tara's head dress. She didn't wear it at the party. She said it wouldn't stay on her head. Doesn't Tiffanie's hair look pretty? I curled it for her with a curling iron. I had to spray a ton of hairspray on it to make the curls hold. When she came back by after the party the curls were still in place!
~Tiffanie & Tara : The Pirate & The Nun~
Here is Tara in her whole Nun outfit. Notice her closet wall? She decided to let her friends sign the wall! What a hoot!
I spent all day Saturday cleaning house! Hubby helped me. We opened all the windows and doors and aired out the house. It was so nice, while it lasted, that is. It was between 70 and 75 degrees outside. Perfect weather, but it freaked my Daddy out to have the windows and doors open. He couldn't stand it! As soon as we got through cleaning he started shutting the windows and doors. I did manage to keep the kitchen window open for a little while and I kept the windows in my bedroom open and in my kids rooms. Daddy couldn't stand that. He kept wanting me to close them. Now, you have to understand that he has this little heater sitting next to his chair in the den and he runs it non-stop all day long! So it was like 80 degrees in the den, but he thought it was cold because I had the windows open in our bedrooms! It is a mind thing with him! I went into the kitchen to cook yesterday at 3pm and it was 80 degrees in there so I opened the kitchen window and the living room door to get some air in there. When Daddy got up to go to the bathroom he saw the living room door open and freaked out! He wanted to close it. He said I was freezing him to death! I told him it was 80 degrees in there and the temperature was climbing because I had the oven on! He is such a hoot! It seems his world is shrinking more and more and he cannot stand any kind of change. He told me it was going to be cold last night. I told him I didn't care what temperature it was going to be at night, that it was 80 degrees right that minute and I was trying to cook and I was sweating to death! I have a feeling it is going to be a very long winter!

The Greeks are here!

My children's school was having homecoming last week. Every day they had to dress in something different. Every year I think they choose the same thing. Each grade dresses differently. Friday was Greek day and they had to wear togas and ivy wreaths on their heads. This is my daughter, Tara, and her best friend, Tiffanie in their togas. Of course they have to wear a t-shirt under them and pants. Tara had downloaded these pictures on her camera and I just busted out laughing when I saw their ivy wreaths! Tara's dad had taken her to the store to get the sheet for the toga and the ivy. I guess they didn't think to get ivy that had small leaves! And Tiffanie looks like she has leaves growing out of her head!

Here is a picture of Tiffanie, Tara, and their friend Abby. Abby's ivy looks much better then the other two, but her toga looks more like an angels outfit! These three girls are a scream! I like to think of them as the three musketeers! We have about a zillion pictures on our computer of the three of them together and most are taken at school! Makes me wonder if they are doing any actual school work there!
Here is a picture of my children, Keith and Tara. Keith's grade had to wear shirts and ties. He needed a tie that was either purple or gold. Tara took him to Wal-Mart to find a tie and long-sleeved button down shirt. He called me and told me there were no purple ties, only gold ones with gold crosses on them. I told him that would work! Let's show some Christianity in the schools! They took prayer out and that was horrible but they can't stop my son from wearing a tie that represents Christianity! Boy does he need a haircut or what?! I keep telling him I am going to take him to the barber and he keeps telling me no! He wound up not wearing the long-sleeved button down shirt Friday as it was so hot and humid. I told him just to wear his white school shirt with the tie. Of course I meant for him to wear the tie under the collar! He left out the door with the tie in his hand. I guess he tied it in the car on the way to school.
Hubby was working days this past weekend and so I took the opportunity to sew! It was just about noon by the time I got everything done on Saturday and sat down to sew. Then I sewed on Sunday from the time I got home from Church till hubby came in at 6pm. I got quite a lot done on the quilt I am making. I can't show you any pictures as the quilt is for my daughter, Amber. She knows I am making the quilt, but I do not want her to know what it looks like till I am finished with it.
The weather here has been so nice all weekend. I left the windows up in my bedroom while I was gone grocery shopping Saturday morning and when I came home my father informed me that he had shut them. I told him not to bother my windows again. So I went and reopened them. It was so nice to sew in there all day with the windows open. So Sunday morning I opened the windows again and this time I locked the doors to my room before leaving for church. When I came home from church my dad told me I tried to outfox him by locking my doors, but that he wasn't going to shut my windows! Now the fact that he knew my doors were locked tells me he tried to go into our room! He is a hoot! I told him he did not need to be going into our room!
I just love this cool weather. This morning is was colder than it was Saturday or Sunday. It was 45 degrees when I got up at 6:30am! Fantastic!

Commnet on children's pajama's post

I got a comment from Amy on my Children's Pajama's post wanting to know about a pair of pajama pants. Amy you did not leave me an email address nor do you seem to have a blog. Please email me or leave me comment on this post with your email address so I can contact you.
Thanks,
Diane

Tara is a Senior!

We took Tara to Olan Mills and had her Senior Portraits taken. They took some at her school, but the photographer did not do a good job and their prices were outrageous! I guess they figure the parents are going to buy them no matter what. Well, not us! Olan Mills did a much better job and their prices were much better, also. And we were able to get a couple pictures of Tara and her brother, Keith. I wish Amber had of been with us so we could have had a family portrait done. We will have to go back when she is home for a while and have one done.
Here are the portraits. I scanned these into my computer and no matter how clean I though my scanner glass was there are still some white specks on the photos. Just wanted you to know those are white specks on the scanner and not dandruff!

I think this is one of my favorites!

I love this one. I wanted her to have this one made with all the flowers because it reminded me of my Mama. I know she wasn't thinking of my Mama when it was being taken, but the look on her face makes you think she is. She kinda looks sad. I was having a very had time trying not to cry while these pictures were being taken. My Mama would have loved them!



Keith was really not dressed for picture taking and his hair really needs cutting but they turned out cute anyway.
Keith is so tall and Tara is so short! He is 6 foot. Her date for the Senior Halloween Dance is 6 foot 7 inches! Can you imagine what a pair they will make! She says she loves to stand beside him because he is so tall! They are just friends.
Let me know what you think of them. This week has really been busy for Tara. It is homecoming week at her school and she has been involved in all kinds of stuff. She is playing powder puff football tonight and so she has been practicing for that for a few weeks. I just can't imagine Tara playing football! I can't wait to see it! I'll try and take lots of pictures to post tomorrow.

Giveaway!

Kris over at Tag Along Teddies is having a giveaway! Pop on over and check it out!

AMBER IS 21!

My baby turns 21 today! My oldest baby that is. It is hard to believe that this sweet little baby is all grown up. Well, she thinks she is all grown up! Here is a picture of Amber when she was 2 days old. We were on our way home from the hospital and had stopped at my parent's house for a few minutes. I had always wanted a sweet little baby girl and had prayed for years that the Lord would bless me with one. When I found out I was pregnant I knew I was going to have a girl. No ultra sound had to tell me that! I made all kinds of little girl things and sure enough Amber was born!
Here she is at 4 months old. I made the dress and the blanket. My hubby's cousin gave Amber the little shoes with heart balloons painted on the bottom. They also had her name painted on the back of them. Amber was such a sweet little baby. Always laughing and smiling.
Here she is at 6 months old (her first Easter) being held by my Mama. My parents only other grandchild at the time was my niece who was 16 years old at this time. My Mama and Daddy spoiled Amber rotten!
Here she is playing in the snow in Alaska. She was two years old here. She loved to go out with her bucket and shovel and bring a bucket of snow back in to play with using her tea set! We couldn't stay out long at 65 degrees below zero!
Here is my beauty in a lovely, lacy dress I made for her! I had to include this one as Amber definitely does not like lacy dresses today! I used to love to make her lacy dresses and dress her up!
Here she is in her Senior Portrait!
Here she is going to the prom. She doesn't like to wear makeup but she did for the prom. Doesn't she look beautiful?!
Here is Amber and me and her cat Apollo. This was taken almost two years ago.
Here is my sweetie with her cat, Apollo, last Christmas! These past 21 years have really flew by. Seems like only yesterday she was born and then going off to her first day of Kindergarten and then graduating from high school and now she is in her 3rd year of college!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER!!! I love you so much and am so proud of you!

Recipes & Goldenrods

It seems like forever since I have even looked at my blog! I know it hasn't really been that long. Only about a week. I talked about the cook book our church is putting together and that I have been helping type up the recipes for in an earlier post. Well, I think we have finally finished typing them! I have typed over 300, myself and emailed them to the publisher. Below is a picture of just a small portion of the recipes as they looked when the ladies gave them to us! The red checks on them is my method of knowing which ones I have typed and which ones I have not.
Even though typing them has been a lot of work, it has been fun. The lady heading up the cook book project is the same lady I have posted about before. She is our church pianist and she is so sweet and funny! She keeps me laughing! This has been a fun project!

Below is field of Goldenrods that I discovered right up the street from where I live. Goldenrods are beautiful. They only bloom at this time of year. When I was a little girl I used to pick them for my Mama. She told me years later that they were very hard on her sinus, but she would always put them in a vase of water so as not to hurt my feelings! I always think of her whenever I see them.

Here is a close-up of a couple of plants in front of my neighbors fence.
I also saw this plant not far from my house. It makes me think of visiting my grandmother as a child. The people across the street from her had one of these plants in their yard and I always thought it was the neatest plant. I don't know what the name of it is.
Isn't it something how so many things remind us of our childhoods. I guess with me it is that I am older and I still miss my Mama a lot. She has been gone now for 3 years, but that really is not long at all.

I have finally started quilting on the quilt I mentioned in an earlier post that my friends helped me baste together. It is coming along nicely. I can't wait to finish it and give it to the person I made it for so I can post pictures of it on here!

What a weekend!

We had a really busy and fun weekend. First of all, my daughter, Amber, rode home with her uncle on Friday. He is my hubby's twin and was coming this way and since she was out of school on Thursday and Friday she rode with him home. We were so happy to see her. She hasn't been home since June. Every time she is at home she wants to go to yard sales. There never seems to be any yard sales when she is here, though. But this week there were a lot listed in the paper. So she and I got up early Saturday morning and went yard selling! It was a blast. Here is a picture of Amber at one of the many yard sales we went to.
These are the two who were holding the yard sale. They are very dear friends of mine, Ray & Brenda. I graduated high school with both of them. They were high school sweet hearts. You could not find two sweeter, kinder people on earth. They had several cell phones for sell. I was able to purchase one for my daughter, Tara, for only $5.00! It was in excellent condition and had everything to go with it. I think Ray gave me such a good price cause we are such good friends! Thank you Ray! Then Brenda, sweet thing, gave me a box full of glasses that I was admiring! These two have been so good to me over the years! They are the kind of friends who I could call at any time day or night and they would be there to help me in anyway they can. I just love them!
Amber's birthday is later this month so since she was home we decided to go ahead and celebrate her birthday. She will be turning 21! How hard is that to believe?! Time just flies! Notice how long her hair is! She hasn't cut it since high school, other than to have it trimmed, that is. I am a firm believer in keeping your hair trimmed. I can't stand to see really long hair that looks all scraggly on the ends cause the person never kept it trimmed. It looks much nicer trimmed neat and straight.
Here she is blowing out the candles. She did not want a regular birthday cake. She wanted me to make her a Coca-Cola Cake. So that is what I did!
Here are my three beautiful children! Tara, Keith, and Amber. It is definitely time for Keith to get a haircut! Can you believe he is only 14?
Here they were acting silly! The one in the middle looking all sweet and pretty is Rheanna, my niece. She is 15 and was born exactly 9 months before Keith. Hubby took several more pictures of the kids acting silly and Keith reminds me of my brother, Freddy, in them when he was that age. Keith is tall and built like Freddy and I think he looks a lot like him.
Here is Amber and my dad. My dad's birthday is only two days before Amber's and for years they have celebrated their birthday's together. He will be 77 this year. We are gonna celebrate his birthday on his actual birthday since we celebrated Amber's early. But she always likes to take a picture with him around their birthdays! How they have both changed over the years!
Saturday afternoon I also went to a bridal shower at my church. I took along a quilt top I had made, the batting and the backing. After the shower, my pastor's wife, Glenda (who makes and hand quilts beautiful quilts), and a couple of my friends, Laurie and Linda, helped me baste my quilt so I can hand quilt it. We had the best time! We have decided we need to do it more often! I have not posted any pictures of this quilt as it is a surprise for someone very dear to me and I don't want them to know anything about it! After I get it finished and give it to them I will post lots of pictures of it.

By Saturday night I was exhausted. I had to do laundry in there, also! I'm afraid I feel asleep pretty early.

Sadly, Amber had to leave early Sunday morning. We already miss her. She will be home Christmas for a week or two. That will be so nice! She and I really love doing things together.

Children's pajamas

My friend, Linda Jackson, makes the cutest kids pajamas! Below is a pair in purple with our school logo on it. Our colors are purple and gold. Our school started out many, many, years ago as an agricultural school. So we are called The Aggies. The school mascot is Jake the Farmer. Now when I was young and went to school we didn't have a school mascot that I know of. But now they have Jake the Farmer. One year one of my daughter's friends was Jake the farmer and she had to wear this costume with this big head of a farmer! What a hoot! Below is a picture of a pair of Linda's pajamas. Please excuse the poor quality of the photos. The lighting was not good at work and so the colors look much lighter in the following pictures than they really are.
Here is a close-up of the school logo.
This is a pair of pajamas in our rivals colors and logo. I told you about them in a previous post. They are just over the river and are called The Leroy Bears. Leroy and Jackson have been rivals forever, I guess. Their colors are black and gold.
Here is a close-up of Leroy's school logo. Actually, when my girls were very little they went to Leroy school as we lived in the county it is located in back then. But they have gone to Jackson the longest and of course Amber graduated from JHS and Tara will graduate from JHS in May. How time does fly!
If anyone would like a pair of pajamas for their child let me know I will be glad to pass it along to Linda. She can do any school as long as she knows the colors and the mascot. She doesn't have a blog. She doesn't know very much about the Internet at all or her new laptop she just got. But I am teaching her! lol! I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing!