Falling Leaves

Have your leaves fallen off the trees yet? Ours are just beginning to turn color. Enjoy this colorful time of the year!

Shoes!!

 

Just in time for Halloween. This litte quilt is a table top quilt. I love the shoes, don't you? This pattern has possibilities for Christmas shoes, Spring shoes, even patriotic shoes!! The imagination can go wild!

Young needleworker

This is my young neighbor who is learning to do needlework. She has almost finished her first project, all sewn by hand. Now she is learning to quilt it. She has done a great job on her first project and I can't wait to see what she starts next.

Garden Art

This is garden art that my hubby made for me. The cup and saucer are the very first ones we used in our married life. The old bottles were found when my hubby did metal detecting as a hobby. They were found in Los Angles at an old house that was being demolished. Now I can enjoy all of them in our garden.

Surprise Lily

Seems like I'm full of surprises lately. The flower you see blooming is commonly called a Surprise Lily, Magic Lily or a Naked Lady. It's scientific name is Lycoris radiata. The deer ate the first buds over two weeks ago (see the empty stem on the left ). I was so disappointed because I've waited three years for this to bloom. (We've had very dry conditions for the last 3 summers.) Anyway, after the deer ate the first blooms, the bulb sent up another stem with buds and the deer haven't touched it yet. It is lovely and well worth the wait! Now about those dang deer...don't get me started!!

Knitted surprise

I have been knitting lately. This is what I'm about to finish. Can you tell what it is? Hint, it's a pattern from Elizabeth Zimmerman.




Yes, it is the Baby Surprise Sweater! Isn't it great? Only two seams to sew up (top of the shoulders), and I'm done. It was so fun to knit!

Finished Little Quilt

I finally finished the binding on the little quilt. Here it is finished. What do you think? I think the binding "brightens" it up a bit. Enjoy!

New little quilt

I made this today between rain showers and thunderstorms. It is a Buttermilk Basin pattern, and I bought the pattern at a new quilt shop, Lone Star Merchantile. The fabrics are mostly Jo Morton's fabrics. It was so fun to make, and tomorrow I'll machine quilt and bind it. I'm getting ready for fall.  Can you tell?

Quilt in Progress

Ok, it's time for an update on the quilt I'm making. Here it is quilted (as in "quilt-as-you-go"). I still have to sew and add the other 4 borders to make it for our bed. I just thought you'd like to see how it is coming along. Stay tuned...I'll be back.

It's summertime!

Right now you can find the sweetest watermelons in the stores. It's what summer is famous for. I like to decorate with my little melons too. Enjoy both!

Fun at the beach

This is just what Summer is all about. Being at the beach, resting in beach chairs and having a little "home" for the birds with "sand" under their/our feet. Enjoy!

My little quilts

This month (July) my quilt group has a quilt showing at the cultural center in Holly Springs. I displayed 16 of my little quilts. Some of my quilts are hanging but most of the table top quilts are here in this showcase. The other 5 ladies quilts are hanging and boy, they look great! Enjoy.

Red and white quilt

This was my Christmas gift from my hubby in 1984. I love the redwork embroidery on this quilt. He found it at an antique store in Fort Collins CO, when we lived there.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day! May the grand flag wave long for our freedom! Thanks to all our service men and women who are defending this freedom.

Things go better...

Let's cool off a bit with this. It's a lovely piece of history in Elizabeth City NC...sign painted on a brick wall of a building.

Growing quilt

I have some more pictures of the "growing" quilt I'm working on. The first picture is going to be part of the middle of the quilt. The second one shows the fabrics for the flowers I'm going to applique in the middle of the borders. The third picture shows the blocks from my group. And the last picture is how the quilt will look when put together. Notice the applique is complete except for the circles around the stems. I still have the outside borders of hourglasses to put on this quilt and the corner blocks. That's another picture for later.

He brings roses

He still brings roses. These are for our 41st anniversary today. He's a keeper for sure! Love you Honey!

Quilt in progress

Here are my finished hourglass blocks. Out of camera view are 6 sets of 6 blocks. Each quilt will have 88 hourglass blocks in it. There are 6 of us making this quilt. More progress to follow.

New quilt project

I'm starting a new project. My quilt group is going to make the quilt on the front of this magazine. There are 6 of us making this and we are all combining our fabrics for a "scrappy" quilt. Here are some of the fabrics we are using. We are dividing the quilt into 6 parts that each of us are making. Then we are combining the parts for an instant quilt. 4 of us are making the entire borders, one member is making all of the Ohio stars, and one member is making all of the small hourglasses in the midde of the quilt. We each are doing our own applique. Deadline is June 19th for the borders, Ohio stars and small hourglasses. This should be a fun and great looking quilt! I'll show more as the work progresses.

Cross Vine

I love to show you my flowers in the garden. This is Cross Vine that we planted last year. It is a favorite of Hummingbirds. It will bloom off and on some of the summer. It's height will get to about 30 feet or more.

Azalea in bloom

Lovely weather we're having in NC. My azaleas are in full bloom. Here's a picture of one.

This is what is blooming in my garden today. The leaves from the Oak trees are still coming down, so you will see them in my bed. The last picture is of a Dogwood in full bloom. This tree is in my neighbor's yard. Enjoy!

Nandina

This is what is "blooming" in my garden this week. Spring is bursting out all over but not much is blooming yet. My daffodils are finished for the most part, and it is still too soon for the bleeding heart. But don't you love Spring?? I do.

My hubby gave me this lovely Orchid for Valentine's Day this year. It should bloom a long time. I love the colors. Enjoy it with me.

February is the heart month and I love putting out hearts for decorations. These are the heart's I've collected. I also included my Mother's watch from the 1940's. Hope you like the display.

This is what is blooming in my garden now. Since we've had such a mild winter, the daffodils are up and the trees are budding out. I sure hope we won't have any more cold weather. I am ready for Spring too!!

It has been a year since we lost our youngest sister. Here she is when she was sweet "10" years old. Margot is the one on the right. We miss her so much and this picture reminds us how short and precious life really is.

Buttons

I found this card of old buttons in an antique store in San Antonio, TX in 1982. I am showing the front and the back because of its interest. People used whatever they had at the time, hence the cut Duz box. Someone took great pains to draw the lines for the buttons and put them on with thin wire. They are in groups of like buttons. I always wondered who did this and when. The story behind it fascinates me, but I'll never know.

Now that Christmas is over, I hope you had a wonderful time with family or friends. We had a very quiet Christmas but it was a lovely one.

Now I'd like to say, Happy New Year! May this be the best year for you yet! Thanks for stopping by to visit.

This is my quilt challenge for the local quilt shop. The shop gave us the patterns and each person made the quilt as she wanted. I made mine into a table runner. Here is the result. BTW, I love scrappy quilts! This is just a top, I still have to quilt it.

New sweater

This is my new sweater I just finished knitting. It was fun to work on. The picture was taken on the screened porch and there are shadows on it, but I think you can see it ok. Enjoy!

Christmas Cactus

This is how my Christmas Cactus looks today. It is supposed to bloom near Christmas but I guess it just couldn't wait. Maybe it is telling me something...hurry up and get ready!

Lovely gift

Just a sweet gift from a special friend. The flowers are so lovely!

Socks in the making

These are socks that my friend, Teena is knitting. She joined me at the beach for a weekend of knitting, watching chick flicks, hunting for shells of the beach and of course, eating great seafood! I just had to show you her socks. So nice!

Morning Glory

This is what is blooming today in my garden...Morning Glory. I also have the ever popular Marigolds still blooming. Such a lovely sight to see while we go into Fall.

Let's not forget

Today we are remembering the tragedy of 9/11. Let's not ever forget all the people who lost their lives and the many brave people who tried to help them. We will always hold you in our hearts. This picture is just a reminder of the Firemen who responded to the disaster, along with Police and others.

Found treasures on the beach

These sand dollars were found on the beach in South Carolina many years ago. They have always been a favorite of mine. The gold looking ones were placed beside a container of sun tea being made outside. Nice reflection, don't you think?