Love, Love, ana more Love.

AFTER LONG ABSCENCE I AM BACK!!!!!!!!!!

Well it has been quite awhile since I have posted on here and those of you who follow probablly want to know what has been up. Well, I have a new granddaughter from my son Jason and his new wife Ashley. Her name is Zoe Lynn Brinkley and she is a little doll. That is my son in the picture holding her.

I just finished up making an apron for the Flirty Apron Swap, this time it was a theme of Hawaii. I forgot to take a picture but as soon as my partner posts a pic I will steal it and put it on here. I chose a difficult apron and had to remake it but I think it turned out ok.

If you will look to the left I am joining the Bead Soup Blog party in which we send out a certain amt of beads to our partner and they will send me some. I then take what they have sent and make a neclace for myself and on the day of the blog party we all will post a picture of our jewelry. It sounds like fun.

It has been at and above the 100's temp wise for almost 6 wks now and having a water cooler is not the coolest way to go. My house stays in the 80's most of the day. I am so looking forward to Fall and than Winter.

Take care my friends.

Barbara

GIVEAWAY at The Girlhood Home Companion

I wanted to write and tell all my readers about a really neat website. It is The Girlhood Home Companion Magazine and They are haveing a giveaway. (http://remembrencepress.com/?p=1605). This is a wonderful magazine that celebrates the Mother and Daughter relationship in a very sweet Chritian setting. They will be
giving away one of their magazines to 3 different ladies.

Also if you link to them like I did you will get a free pattern designed by another online friend of mine Linda Stubbs from Prairie Flower Farm. I put a picture of it above.

So hop on over and put your name in the hat, I have.

Barbara

SUMMER IN THE COUNTRY BLANKET KAL

Man I can't believe I have been so neglectful of my blog lately. Well hopefully I will remedy that with my new Knitting KAL. I have signed up with "Firefly" Owner of the ever popular "I live on a Farm" blog, to do a KAL (knit along) on a summer blanket she is designing as we go along. It is alot like a Quilt Along but with this she is designing as we go. I have completed the first step which is a pretty seed stitch border. She just informed us that we will need to have a cable needle available because she will have a little cable running up alongside each of the 2 side borders.

This is going to be so fun. To me it is more like a Mystery KAL as each step is a new surprise. I have chosen a lovely Butter yellow collor and so far I like how it is looking, even though there is not a lot to look at yet.

Spring has sprung here in the Texas Panhandle and I have bought some Rosemary and Basil to plant in some pretty yellow planters. Do you see a theme going here? Yes, Yellow is one of my favorite colors the others being Red and Green.

I have included a picture of my starting seed stitch border for the Kal. If you have not visited Fireflys blog you need to go see it. She has some really pretty knitting patterns and a couple of freebies also. ( scrumptiousliving.wordpress.com )

Take care to all my blog watchers

Barbara

MY FIRST SHAWL FINISH

I finished this shawl in November and it was given to a new friend in Houston as a thank you for letting me stay with her during the Houston International Quilt Festival. I thought it turned out really pretty. I am in the process of knitting a new one right now and this one is going to be FOR ME! I will post pictures in the next day or two cause I am right at the finish place.

Photo 365 days

I joined a group over on Ravelry where we journal the year with a photo a day so this will be my first post. I am posting a pic of my sweet grand-daughter Savannah eating a creation she learned about from her favorite show " I Carly." Believe it or not it is a Spaghetti Taco. Thats one thing I love about her, she is not afraid to try something new. In her words " It's great Nana, ya gotta try it!" No thanks, doesnt look that good to me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I am not going to try to explain my absence, lets just say that LIFE GOT IN THE WAY. I plan to start the New Year on a new note and try to be more faithful to the 21 people who follow this Blog. Man you guys are all glutens for punishment aren't you?

At the left I posted pictures from last years snow, none to come for this year so far. Just really cold weather and wicked wind. We had a good day today, spent it with my Hubbys brother and wife. Kids got to open presents and eat some good food and then it was home to watch more Christmas programming with the kids. I plan to put them in bed early so I can rest before tomorrows Mayhem.

Hope all you guys are having a wonderful holiday season and have a Very Merry Christmas with family and friends.

Barbara and the gang! ! !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAVANNAH!!!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest grand-daughter in the world. Who knew that 10yrs ago when I held you in my arms you would turn out to be the Beautiful young lady you are today. I think I knew even than what a wonderful addition you would be to our lives. You have blessed these two grandparents with 10 yrs of love and joy and I hope the next 10 yrs goes well for you.

You are entering a time of big changes some for the good and some for the bad. I want you to know that your PaPa and I are always there for you and will be here to help you threw both the tough times and the bad.

Heres hoping that today is a wonderful birthday for you and I will see you in the park at 6pm.

CHARMING GIRLS CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST SEWING PARTY

Today is the big day and I will be working on my project for the Charming Girls Christmas Party. I will be working on this little pin pillow that I plan on giving to a special friend for Christmas.

This pattern is offered at The Painted Quilt and is one of her First Friday Freebie patterns. Also for all you Raggedy Ann lovers out there she now has a monthly Raggedy pattern going on that is also free. I love Raggedy Ann so I am definately working on this one. If you will scroll down on my right sidebar you will see a button where I link to her and you can check out all her freebies for yourself.

I am off to check out a couple of garage sales and than I will be back also with some sweets to share with the rest of you. Who knows, maybe I will score a few Christmas items at the garage sales.

Looking forward to sewing with all of you.

Barbara

ROADSIDE RESCUE & NEW QUILTS

As I was driving home from work one morning about a month ago I passed by this little beauty hanging out beside a dumpster. I could see that beneath her rough exterior was something beautiful waiting to come out so I stopped and carefully stuffed her in the side of my Van and brought her home. She now sits in the garage waiting for her transformation to start but the temp has been almost 100 with such high humidity that I am going to have to wait for cooler temps to get out there and start the sanding process. I am not sure how to do the back of the chair. I think I will just cut a plywood oval and nail on than I am thinking of a beige or white. I hung my new Shabby Chic looking quilt over it and I think it looks reall nice so once finished that is probablly where the quilt will hang when not in use. I bought some pretty pale blue gingham on sale that I plan to make cushions for the back and seat with.

I have also finished another baby blanket with a cowboy print for my niece and her new baby in Washington so I can cross one off of my goals for the next two months in The Charming Girls Club. Still need to start my weight watchers and only went to Gym once last week but it is a start. Oh I did do something for myself, I went to see The new Twilight movie and it inspired me to knit a hat like the one Bella wore in the movie for my grand-daughter Savannah.

Till next time - DAISEY

CHARMING GIRLS UPDATE

I am now a member of the Charming Girls Quilt Club and I should have posted on here what my goals were for the next 3 months. I am late but here they are and I have to say that some I have actually been working towards achieving my goal.
SELF-CARE:

1. My number one on this is TO LOSE WEIGHT.
2. Take more time for myself. Going to a movie or out to eat with friends.
Go shopping and buy a outfit for every 10 lbs that I lose.
3. I am paying every 2 weeks on a membership to a gym but I never go.Sostarting
this week I will go and work out at least 1 hr, 3 times a week.

MY PROJECTS:

1. Finish my poor sisters wedding quilt. My goodness she is going on being
married for 4 yrs now and they are still patiently waiting.
2. Work on and hopefully finish my repo row robin quilt
3. Finish and tie my charming friends quilt for my new great-nephew
Jaxon.

I have some finishes to show but will put in a post for tomorrows entry.

Barbara

GYPSY'S ROSETTE SWAP

Hello here I am again and this time I have a neat swap to tell everyone about. I just signed up to be a follower at The Gypsey Fleamarkets blog and wanted to let you know that she has a neat new "ROSETTE SWAP" going on. I am going to join and see what kind of pretty flower I recieve. Hope some of you will think about trying this. One of my favorite things to do is blog surf at night and I have seen some really pretty rosette tutorials out there. There are so many ways to do these and I am really anxious to see what everyone comes up with. Now to put my thinking cap on. I have posted a button over on my sidebar that will take you right to her blog.
Ta Ta for now.

JUST 4 RAMBLING IS HAVING A GIVEAWAY!!!

My new friend over at Just 4 Rambling is having a fabric giveaway if anyone is interested. She has alot of fabric left over from her shop closing that she is thinking of making into 3", 4' and 5" charm packages that she wants to giveaway to blogging friends. Go on over and take a looksie and be sure to tell her that I sent you. Her blog address is just4rambling.blogspot.com

Starting a New Cat Block of the Seasons Quilt

I am starting a new Cat Block of the Seasons Quilt over at Ellies Quilting site. I have posted a link on my side bar. I have finished the first block which is SUMMER and I am posting it here. She offers it in embroidery or applique and I chose the embroidery. I have also been saving the Under the Seas block of the month, you can find it on my sidebar also and she is doing a special coloring technique using the Derwent Coloring pencils so I thought I would try it on these blocks. Being a lover of all things CAT and LADYBUGS this BOS was definately for me. I am posting my finished first block on here today. There are 4 main blocks each representing a different season and 4 corner squares with embroidery. There will also be patchwork blocks that seperate the 4 main blocks and maybe a center block, I am not sure but Ellie says it will be really cute in the end. Anyway without further ado here is my 1st finished main block. I havent finished the smaller block yet but will post them togather when it is finished.

Early Bird Christmas Crafting

I am also going to join this 4-month group to try to work on some early Christmas Gifts. I have put the button here on the blog. It started June 1st so I am not all that late. Our first project was to decorate a Journal and than to make a christmas list of people I intend to make things for. I have a Compostition book I intend to decorate and have on here by monday nite. I work 12-hr nights for the next 2 days but will work on it on my down time and have it done on monday to post. Judith is helping us to organize things so we can have stuff done by the end of September. If I keep up and make the 3 gifts a month than I will have 12 gifts done by than which is quite an accomplishment for me since I always start way to late.

Take care and hope everyone has a great weekend.

Barbara

I'm Going to do the Charming Girls Quilt Along!!

I am planning on taking part in the quilt along over at the Charming Chatter Blog to make this cute little quilt.

My sweet Great-niece is finally getting another child that she and her husband have been trying for for so long. After lots of prayer and fertility treatments they are expecting a boy in July. I plan to make this one for her but am using the Nautical and Nice charm packs from Sandy Gervais and what could be more fitting than Red White and Blue for a July baby. I am posting my fabrics on here so that others in the quilt along can see what I am using. I will put on an additional border to make it a little bigger and put sailboat blocks in each of the 4 corners. Here are the fabrics I am using.

The white with tiny pale blue spots is my background fabric and the light blue will be the outer border and the sailboat blocks in each corner will be dark blue with red sails and the white background. I think it will be super cute.

Have a great weekend to every one.

Barbara

Crazy spring weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have had a good beginning to our spring weather. For 4 days now we have had rain off and on and the night before last we got a tornado. I have included a picture. I was off work but it was about 4 miles from my job. I don't think it had touched down it was just skimming across the field but it looks pretty wicked.

One of the things I hate the most about living in the Texas Panhandle are the high winds that sometimes produce these tornados. We are educated at work and by the TV stations but sometimes when one is actually near I forget all about what I am supposed to do and give in to the fear that springs up in me.

I have been busy with my sewing, I am in a bag swap with my Snickerdoodle dreams buddies and my partner is in England. I am making a tote bag that is turning out to be much bigger than anticipated but hopefully she will be able to use it in some function. I have made a baby quilt and a lap quilt that I will post on here as soon as I can get some pics finished.

I took the kids to the park and came across some interesting sights I thought some of you might enjoy. First up is this sweet little bird. If you click on the picture you can see how he has puffed out his furry tummy. He was busy singing in one of the trees.

There is a lake at the park and the kids never miss a chance to feed the ducks and the swans. We also went by the Discovery Center which is a hands on museum for Kiddos and lots of the big people like it too.

When we started the walk it was clear than we were surprised by a big rain shower which is what drove us into the Discovery Center and when we came out there was this beautiful rain bow. Oh how I love rainbows.

I will finish up with the pretty budding trees. They are so many different colors right now, pinks and blues and white and lavendar and yellow. Oh yes Spring has surely sprung in the Texas Panhandle.

Thanks for taking this walk with us, I hope the sights and sounds are as pretty in your neck of the country.

My block for Little Anilias Monthly swap

Last month I joined a swap with anilia at littleanilia.blogspot.com This month the theme of the block was home and my partner wanted something in yellow. I have made a sweet little yellow polka dot house with spring flowers. I hope she likes it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Balinda Washington in Maine, be sure to keep a look out for this block. I am honored to have sent your first block.

Barbara in TX

WEIGHT WATCHERS WEIGH IN & GRANDMAS BRAGGING RIGHTS

First things first I have to post that I LOST 3.8 #'s this week and I am soooooooooooo excited. I have tracked everything I ate and followed the program to the letter and it paid off with a nice weight loss. I am not going to the Gym as much as I thought I would but I still was able to lose.

Being a proud Grandma I had to post this photo of my sweet little Josh in the drivers seat. Click on the picture and you will even be able to see his dirty little nose and beautiful blue eyes. That is all for tonight but I will get on this weekend and post some more.

I do have to post about something that happened yesterday about 2 miles from me. While I slept in yesterday, at about 7:30 am a small plane crashed into a nearby warehouse. Both the passengers in the plane were killed. The Warehouse was a Glacier Ice bldg and happens to be managed by a friend of mines husband. I didnt even know it had happened untill my husband told me as he was going to bed. My first thought was about Dick and if he was ok but it also made me think of how fleeting our very life is. I didn't know either one of the passengers but how very precious each day is that we are given and we should not take it for granted. I have friends who have family members who are in life and death struggles and they know how precious each day is in the lives of their loved ones.

I make a vow here that I will be grateful for every day that I am given and instead of grumbling about things that go wrong I plan to thank my Heavenly Father for the gifts he has given me that day. I am working on a Gratitude Journal where I can do just this.

I need to go to bed now so goodby to all my blogging friends.

Barbara

Weight Loss Wednsday a day late & Rasberry Rabbits Block finish

First things first, I finally did it. I joined Weight Watchers yesterday and Golds Gym today. I completed my entire day on program and am so pleased with myself. I figure I have about 55 pounds to lose hopefully can do it with 2-3 lbs per week. I start back to work tomorrow but will be wearing a special boot to help with the sprain. Working a 12-hr day on that boot does not seam to be something to look forward to, but I will get er done.

I finished my first block from the Raspberry Rabbits Sentimental Journey BOM. I think it turned out real nice, it is at the top of this post. I wish I could figure out how to make the pictures go with the paragraph that is talking about it but this will do for now. I thought it was finished but I found some pretty little copper looking glass beads to put on it.

I am on my way to bed but wanted to at least post these two things. More snow last night, another 5 1/2". They are now saying there will be some more on Sunday followed by another round next thursday. I am really, really getting tired of this white stuff.

Have a wonderful weekendI

Barbara