Celebrations

The first celebration is NEW BATTERIES… which are absolutely essential.  Without them my pictures had been held captive for weeks.  Not that they are artistic wonders.  Just that I promised you guys there would pictures (and even a video if I can figure out how to load it) of your, and my, favorite little people having fun with Papa and Mimi, and Papa and Mimi having fun with them.

Really though, the real, official, first celebration is actually Sam’s (little cutie in center) kindergarten graduation.  Congratulations, Sam; and thank you for inviting me to your very special event!

Just look at those CUTE dimples!  I could just eat you up, little man!!  And doesn’t this just look like a fun bunch of rugrats?

After graduation, Mimi loaded up all three of her adorable munchkins and we headed to Oz for a week of celebrating the beginning of summer vacation.

There was lots of fun and chaos and very little structure because, after all, one is supposed to have tons of fun when visiting the grandparents!  We will leave structure and discipline to the parents.

So…

There were green slides and red slides to delight in:

 

Mama was missing her girl, so some phone time was in order!

 

And lots of sand to bury ourselves in:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we had to touch the clouds with our toes:

 

The usual pestering:

 

 

 

 

 

Fish and frogs to be caught:

Lots of climbing:

 

Getting dizzy:

Of course, fun in the water (had to wrap the cast in plastic bags because we just couldn’t let Hunter miss out on the fun):

Papa you are so awesome! Just the best papa ever!!!

Plus lots of fun and popsicles with the neighborhood children,  picnics, playing catch with Papa, looking for awesome rocks with Mimi, late-night movies and popcorn, and hours of searching for “rolly pollies” and snails.

And of course what trip to Papa and Mimi’s would be complete without a visit from “Wedgy Man.”

 

To think they actually look forward to this and, from the moment they walk in the door, practically beg their Uncle Adam for the experience.  Of course he makes them wait… until the very last evening of their visit.  But I think it was the highlight of their whole stay; not to mention it has pretty much become a tradition.  Go figure.  Will they still be begging for wedgies from the Wedgy Man when they are teenagers?

Another celebration:  the dining room chairs are now complete.  YAY!!  Pretty decent if I do say so myself.

 

And one final celebration:  Mary of Little Red House is celebrating her 500th post with a spectacular giveaway.  If you haven’t seen her blog yet, you certainly owe it to yourself to get over there now.  Her decorating style is impeccable.  Her photography, breathtaking.  I’m so envious.

All in all, life is good!

Iva

Another First

I couldn’t stand that you all were having so much without me.  So I’m jumping on the bandwagon and participating my first quilt-along being held over at Old Red Barn Co.

Whether you’re a seasoned quilter or a beginner, you’re sure to want to participate in this project.  Go check it out and see why.

(If you are a beginning quilter, you are going to LOVE Dana’s oh-so-easy to follow directions.)

Happy quilting!

Iva

A Little A.D.D?

First I didn’t think we would ever have warm weather.  Now I’m not sure it will ever stop raining.  My fear is that summer temps will take effect before we even get to experience spring.  Really though, I can’t complain, because there have been some really splendid days interspersed with the cold and wet.

But this weekend, rain or shine, I have got to get these babies in the ground.  Otherwise, the Plain and Fancy household will not be enjoying some fresh, home-grown tomatoes and bell peppers this summer.

There is another tray of plants above this one and I have NO idea where I’m going to put them all!  Because we don’t have a large backyard (and the neighbors would not appreciate me creating a garden in any part of my street-facing front yard area), they will all have to get scrunched into the flower beds.  That should be an interesting sight!

But, oh my, am I ever looking forward to eating some “real” tomatoes!

In addition, I have to get my basil and parsley seeds in the ground – and pray this weekend’s rains don’t wash them away!

PLUS… I have started a new project (surprise!):  re-upholstering the dining room chairs.

Not something I’ve ever done, so I need a little encouragement and support here!

Then there is the Orange Crush project to finish. 

(Remember this from the OP challenge?  Still not done!)

And the “Danielle” quilt project…

(She’s much further along than when this was posted.)

Not to mention completing the de-construction of Aunt Josie’s project.

(Exciting news – at least for me anyway!  I have come up with a new design for her quilt, which is partially sketched out.  Still working on ideas for the borders though.) 

Lastly is the sweater that I am knitting.  Which I won’t bother with a picture of that until I see how turns out.  Since it is my very first knitted sweater it could end up being a complete disaster!

So what do you think?  A little A.D.D.?

I’m thinkin’ ADDDDDDDDDDDDD!

Have a glorious weekend!

Iva

Fun With the Family

I adore my children and grandchildren!  Their wackiness makes them such a blast to be around.

This excursion was in celebration of DS#1’s birthday.  That’s him on the receiving end of the sword (his wife enjoying the giving end; DD fondling the samurai's leg; and AGD in one of her very brief stationary moments).

We missed those who were not able to join us.  They would most certainly have added to the zaniness.

Drum Roll Please

But before we get to the winners of my first-ever giveaway, let me share with you what I will be working on next.

Several years ago I was visiting with my favorite aunt, Josie (Josephine to others who also adored her).  Aunt Josie and I were talking about one thing after another and somehow we ended up discussing quiltmaking.  She had found in a magazine a very simple pattern for a quilt she wanted to make and was excited about getting started on it.

Aunt Josie’s quilt was going to be constructed of 4” squares of all the fabrics she had in her collection.  The fabrics were remnants of dresses and outfits she had made for herself and for her daughter when she was a child.  And somewhere in that quilt, Aunt Josie was going to incorporate alternating red and white squares. I don’t recall her ever showing me the magazine picture of that quilt, but my fuzzy memory tells me the red/white was to be an inner border.

Fast forward a few years during another visit, I had asked Aunt Josie about her quilt and told her that I had recently made a couple myself.  Her eyes lit up and she went into her room and came back with a small paper bag and a rolled up bundle. 

In that bag contained lots and lots of fabric squares; and the bundle consisted of many strips of 4” squares sewn together.

She handed it all to me, said that it was now mine and asked that I finish making her quilt.  I’m not sure if she just lost interest or if her health (which had for several years been in decline) prevented her from completing the project herself.

Well, I’m sad to say that years slipped by since that day and I still had not done anything with those squares and sewn strips.  Every so often an image of that bag would flash across my mind and I would feel a slight pang of guilt.  To top it off, we lost our dear Aunt Josie last year, which only compounded my guilt for not following through.

This week, however, during what has become a frequent occurrence of sleeplessness (thanks to hormones!), Aunt Josie has been flooding my thoughts.  So a couple of days ago I dragged out that bag and those sewn strips and took a good evaluation of what I had to work with.

After careful examination, I determined that all those that are already stitched need to be taken apart.  The squares are not all uniform, the stitching varies from a scant 1/4” to almost 1/2”, and there are some stained/damaged pieces that need to be eliminated.

Again, I don’t recall her showing me a picture of the quilt in her magazine and all I have is my fuzzy memory and her hand drawn sketch of the layout (drawn on a piece cut from a paper bag).

She placed marks here and there, and some sections appear darker (highlighted?), but I have no idea what her intentions were.  So I have decided that I will create my own design that will showcase some of the more interesting fabrics like this one of old movie scenes and actors:

And one that will pay tribute to a lady who was so well loved.

As you can see from Aunt Josie’s sketch, there are at least 418 squares!  Which is a good thing, because I am going to make two quilts: one for her daughter and one for her son.  Can you believe she cut each one of these using a paper template (assuming from that same paper bag)?  Wow!!!

Wish me luck!

Now for the winners (who were selected by the Pawsitive Tails crew who licked, sniffed and tried to eat the paper strips with your names printed on them)…

Mary Engelbriet Fabrics:  Sara of NE Ohio

4-Square Blocks: Shelly of Tennessee

And because there were only three entries (bummer for me, but great for you ladies!!)…

a Sussie (little giftie) for Kay of Oklahoma

Ladies, if you will email me your address I will get your goodies on their way to you.  Congratulations and enjoy!

Oops!  You need an email address don’t you?  ivamcadams At sbcglobal DOT net.

Have a fabulous weekend…

 

Iva

Trying Something New and A Giveaway

Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality has praised the benefits of using Windows Live for blogging. So much so that I just had to try it out myself. Supposedly inserting and manipulating pictures is a snap. I certainly hope so, because that seems to take such a v e r y long time – for me anyway – with the format I have been using. So let’s see if it’s true:

Well, that was cool! This program allows you to crop and size and other fun things right here on the page.

Since I'm new to blogging (fairly so anyway -- still learning; does that count as new?), I found writing, editing, linking, pictures, etc. much more user-friendly than that other program. If you're not already using Windows Live, you really should give it a whirl.

Anyway…

I’ve been pretty lax in posting, haven’t I? But it hasn’t been for lack of material. There have been several events in the Plain and Fancy household, what with family, vacation, outings, projects, and “stuff” (as my youngest, during his teen years, used to say)…

Me: “What have you been doing today?”

Him: “Stuff.”

Me: “What did you buy at the mall?”

Him: “Stuff.”

Me: “After 3 years of flying lessons (that have cost me a bazillion dollars), what have you learned to do?”

Him: “Stuff.”

Me: “How exciting that the President of the United States was the speaker at your friend’s graduation ceremony! What did he talk about?”

yep: “Stuff.”

Does anyone else have these same kind of stimulating conversations with your teenage son?

Anyway, I’ll get caught up on “stuff” soon.

In the meantime, the Mary Englebreit fabrics in the picture above… well, I purchased those to participate in a block swap that didn’t turn out so great. And on top of that, I am just not a fan of Mary Englebreit things. Not that there is anything wrong with them mind you, just not my thing.

(Yes, I realize that one should only participate in swaps that appeal to them. But it was my first swap and I wanted to get the jest of the concept; and now that I know, it's time to move on.)

Although my first inclination was to go ahead and make something with these fabrics -- maybe a baby quilt or bag or...something -- I couldn't face the prospect of working with fabrics that didn't at least give me warm fuzzies. Instead I decided why not just find someone to give them a loving home. So as a result of this brainstorm I will be holding my very first drawing.

One lucky winner will receive the group of fabrics pictured, which consists of four fat quarters and two 3/4 yard (approx., maybe more?) cuts. And one runner-up will receive a small batch of 4-patch blocks.

To enter, leave a comment with your name and the state you currently call home (ex: Hi, my name is Iva and I live in Kansas.). Double your chance of winning by mentioning this give-away on your blog.

Drawing will be held on Friday, May 1st (May Day!). Good luck.

Just. Couldn't. Re-sist.

Last week while working on my charity blocks I realized that my fabric stash had a major shortage of light/background fabrics. Since one of the local quilt stores was having a really good sale, I decided while I was already out and about I would stop by and see if they had anything (on sale, of course) to help me fill in those gaps.

But those fabric store ladies are oh-so clever. They know that not only can we quilters not pass up a good sale, but once we're inside that shop we also won't be able to resist all those gorgeous new spring fabrics!!

Don't these look luscious?!

MFG would be thrilled to know that I did restrain myself and only bought a ~few~ Fat Quarters (that is if he was even aware of these purchases to begin with... shhh). There were so many more just calling out to me. So, you know, I saved a bundle there. Right?

The other good news, Sweetie, is that I saved 31% on the already marked down price of those other yardages that I "needed"!

So see, you married such a clever shopper.

Ladies, go check out Judi's new pattern, Strippin' Time. She's having a giveaway to celebrate.

Edited to say: Almost forgot to tell you that Coffee Time Stitches is also having a giveaway to celebrate her 400th post. Hurry over!!!