Fred’s Boxy Stars (Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville Pattern) went over big.  Brother Fred loved it – and especially the back which was made from his pocket t-shirts.  Sara Parrish quilted it and left one pocket free so that I could put one of Fred’s Signature pens in it.   This was FUN to make!

Elaine, Fred and Sao with Fred's Boxy Stars Quilt

Back of Fred's Quilt with a Pen in the T-shirt Pocket

Fred and his Quilt - Note he is wearing one of his Pocket Ts!

My neice, Amanda, got the Purple Braid Quilt – the only quilt that I have pieced by hand (Sara Parrish did the quilting and she did a FABULOUS job!)  As far as I know this was a suprise for Amanda – and I think she liked it – her favorite color is purple!  Her baby – Tara Lynn – took a real liking to the quilt!!!

Amanda's Purple Braid Quilt

Tara Lynn Loved the Purple Braid Quilt

The last quilt will be making its home in Texas and it is for my nephew, Dustin, who is serving in the Coast Guard.  It is the Pineapple Crush pattern (Bonnie Hunter’s Quiltville Orange Crush Design) and it was quilted by Sara Parrish in Midlothian, VA

sao with Dustin's Pineapple Crush Quilt

sao Holding the Back of Dustin's Pineapple Crush Quilt

And here is a picture of Dustin – doesn’t he look handsome in his Coast Guard Uniform?

Dustin Albertson

Bonnie K. Hunter’s LABOR DAY MYSTERY QUILT 2008 has begun – OLD TOBACCO ROAD QUILT

The quiltville gang is up and running with Bonnie’s new mystery.   It started last night and remember, it is NEVER TOO LATE to sew along with us.  On  her website (WWW.QUILTVILLE.COM) Bonnie writes..

 

    

Fall Leaves

 

Old Virginia Road Fabrics SAO Midlo

Controlled Scrappy Fabrics - Golds and Cremes

I have completed my 182 four-patches and my 8 half square triangles……and I think that I am going to really like this one.  Bonnie says the next clue may be up tonight!  yeah!

182 SCRAPPY FOUR PATCHES FOR OLD VIRGINIA ROAD

Part 1 of OLD VIRGINIA ROAD - four-patches and half square triangles

Purple Braid Parade Quilt UFO

And – so as not to feel guilty and ruin the fun of starting the new mystery quilt, I finished a UFO that I started in July 2007 – thanks to my friends Ginger and Marla for selecting the fabric for the quilt.  Even though purple is not my favorite color, I am very pleased with the outcome.  It is now ready for the long arm quilting process – Sara Parrish has agreed to do it for me!  The back will be deep purple – the same as the border sashings in between the braids.  Did I mention that I made the braids by hand…..my vacation project for 2007.

Pineapple Crush Quilt

 The top and the back are ready for quilting!

The back is made from 15 1/2inch squares.

And the cycle continues……:)

I GOT MY SINGER 221 FEATHERWEIGHT TODAY….YEAH…..it is just TOO CUTE. I will give her a name – but I haven’t decided what it will be yet.  I do know that I am retiring my “COOPER” – my first WAL-MART Brother sewing machine that I have totally worn out – it makes an extremely loud tired groaning sound when I sew!   

I have to say that the HELLO KITTY sewing machine is pretty cute as well.  Here is Patsy with hers today at our Egg Money Quilt class.  My friend Sheddy has one too…….Oh dear, this could be the start of a sewing machine collection.  (I used to wonder why people needed more than one sewing machine – I now understand this completely!) 

But collection or not my Brother Duetta has my heart and I can never imagine sewing on anyhing else when I am at home!  I love love love it.  It purrs…..seriously, it is absolutely amazing.  It is on my LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS – right up there with chocolate.

EGG MONEY QUILT CLASS

Susan (Quilter’s Corner) taught our Egg Money class today.  SEE SUSAN’S BLOG FOR A PICTURE OF THE ENTIRE CLASS THAT SHE TOOK TODAY.  WWW.QUILTERSCORNERVA.COM

Here is Susan with her Eleanor Burns HALLOWEEN COSTUME – isn’t this just TOO FUNNY!

We made the first two blocks of the Eleanor Burns EGG MONEY QUILT.  The first block is the Grandmother’s Flower Garden block and the second is the Road to California block.

Since I will miss class in August  I went ahead and made blocks #3 and #4 (Turkey Tracks and Rosebud.)  I would rather be ahead of things rather than to be behind…….HM…..does that make me an overachiever?  :)   Here are all four of my blocks so far.  

This class is going to be a lot of fun!

TTFN and MY PINEAPPLE CRUSH QUILT

I will be in the Midwest (starting tomorrow) visiting my family and celebrating my mother’s birthday (July 30) so my BLOG will be “dark” for awhile.  I will be back in time for the COlONIAL PIECEMAKER’S GUILD MEETING AUG 2 – and for BONNIE K. HUNTER’S STAR STRUCK CLASS in Williamsburg, VA…..fun times ahead…..

and speaking of Bonnie K. Hunter (Quiltville.com) I have my PINEAPPLE CRUSH TOP sewn together…

…and it looks like a cat dashed into the picture at the last minute (top of the quilt!)

TTFN…..until I return!

I am really excited – on July 20 – I am getting a Singer Featherweight 221 – all the way from England from Graham Forsdyke (who I understand is the King of the FW and of the antique world – thank you, Peggy, for that insight!)  I have been wanting a little sewing machine to take to classes and on retreats…….and I considered a little green HELLO KITTY Janome – but then I decided that I really wanted a Singer Featherweight.  However, I was a bit reluctant to buy one on E-bay!  At the VIRGINIA SCRAPPERS Sew-In on Saturday I just happened to be sitting by Peggy (there are no accidents in this life) and Mr. Forsdyke had sent her one for someone who never claimed it.  AND…the rest is HISTORY!   I will post a picture when I get it!  TOO MUCH FUN!  Here is a little blurb from the internet.

Singer Featherweight Portables

I think it will look something like this!

by Carolyn M Ybarra
ISMACS News
Issue 27

SLEEK AND shiny with a simple, elegant, and compact design, the Singer 221 – nicknamed “Featherweight” – is the semi-precious jewel of the sewing machine world.

For those who collect toy machines, it’s too big, weighing in at 11 lbs 1 oz. (5.0 kg). For those who collect antiques, it’s too new, having been manufactured in the United States between 1933 and 1964 (with the white-colored 221K version made in Britain from 1963-68). For modern seamstresses, it’s too basic, sewing only a straight stitch without even a reverse setting on early models.

Even during the years of its manufacture it was sometimes ignored by the sewing public, as looking too much like a toy, and being too expensive for depression-era and wartime pocketbooks.

For modern-day quilters, the Singer Featherweight, like the baby bear’s bed in Goldilocks, is “just right”.

Quilt tops are pieced together from small scraps of fabric using quarter-inch seam allowances. Quilters, therefore, value a machine that can sew a straight lock stitch without the slight zig-zag that characterizes the straight stitch on most modern machines.

The featherweight, although constructed of aluminum and thus very lightweight, runs smoothly and quietly due to its well-balanced rotary-hook mechanism. This lightweight machine that comes with its own handy case (resembling and roughly the size of an old-fashioned cosmetics case or record case) is also valued for its portability, by those who attend classes and conferences with fellow quilters around the world.

Finally, its sleekness, elegance, and mechanical simplicity appeals to the design sense of women and men who appreciate the beauty of color, line, and texture in their quilts. Now collectors are starting to take notice, too.

Star Struck – GETTING READY FOR MY BONNIE HUNTER CLASS

I decided to make my Star Struck Quilt (in Bonnie Hunter’s Class August 2 in Williamsburg, VA) using my leftover stash of VINTAGE HOLIDAY fabric – and since the pattern is on the Quiltville.com website, I went ahead and made a couple of blocks.  Yes, I think I am going to like this.  I am having TOO MUCH FUN!

Rearranging Furniture

Then, I got this URGE to rearrange my sewing area – sometimes the MOVING FURNITURE BUG just bites me!  So here is my sewing and cutting area – it is almost like having a new room!  Isn’t it amazing what moving a bit of furniture around can do for your spirits!  Seriously, this really made me happy!

TOO MUCH FUN!

PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT

Inspired by my “new” work area, I decided to start sewing together the blocks for my PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT (my Orange Crush is at the long arm quilters already.)

And of course Cuddles tried her best to help!  She actually gets BETWEEN me and my sewing – in fact she just sits herself right smack dab on my sewing machine!  You can see how I actually accidentally sewed some of her tail fur into one of my quilt blocks!  She just APPEARS out of no where!

SHOPPING

Since I was having so much fun, I decided to expand my fun with a little shopping – so I went to The Quilter’s Corner to get my BLOCK OF THE MONTH pattern and fabric!  I will have fun making this – maybe later tonight!

ANTIQUES – ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Since I was ALREADY OUT SHOPPING and having TOO MUCH FUN I decided to stop by a cute little MIDLOTHIAN ANTIQUE MALL – very near the quilt store!  And yes, I found treasures…..a basket, refrigerator jar, and fabric! 

I just HAD to have this cute little basket to keep my bargello strips organized in (I absolutely LOVE BASKETS – it is on my LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS!)

And definitely on my LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS is old refrigerator jars.  Before Tupperware - people used to store leftovers in these.  I use them for my sewing supplies….and this latest one is to store my pincushion in (since CUDDLES takes the pins out of my pincushion and carries them all over the house – I figured that this would be the pefect solution!)

When I saw this fabric, I just had to buy it…..

I just KNEW that I would think of something to do with it!

Birth of a Sampler – LAST BORDER – Corner Pieces

My last project today was to make the four corner pieces for the final border on my BIRTH OF A SAMPLER QUILT……each block is 20″ square!

All of the excitement was just TOO MUCH FUN for Cuddles – she fell asleep on my bargello strip!  I guess I will have to work on something else!   

TTFN and HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA -

have a happy and safe 4th of July everyone!

Cooper will be 5 on June 9th and we were left HOME ALONE today – so what better thing to do than have GRANDMA’S DAY OUT!

Cooper was so excited this morning that he did the HAPPY DANCE!  Perhaps giving him TWO pieces of cinnamon sugar toast helped the dynamic and rhymic aspects of the dance!

The KUNG FU PANDA MOVIE opened today and we decided that the movies would be our first stop.  They were EXPECTING record crowds today because the FIRST move was at 9:20 am and it played every 30 minutes all day! 

Cooper is ready to go – he is signalling CHECK – that he has the bread for feeding the ducks at Brandermill Lake after the movie!

AND….just for the record……I did not choose the outfit…….Cooper selected the red t-shirt to go UNDER his plaid short shirt and he insisted on buttoning the top button because “HE WANTED TO LOOK REALLY GOOD TODAY.”  He even brushed his teeth with SPONGEBOB toothpaste even though it does tickle his tongue.

The first order of the day was to get a little GRANDMA’S DAY OUT gift – a WEBKINZ (LILKINZ) Cocker Spaniel – Cooper named him APPLE!

The movie was pretty exciting.  There was only ONE GROWN UP MAN in the theatre besides us…..Cooper wanted to sit right in front of him….but I figured spreading out was a better idea!  Does Cooper look scared? 

(Yes, I actually took a picture in the movie theatre – remember there was only ONE other person in there and I only had to flash twice to FIND Cooper in the picture (it was dark in there!)

I won’t win any awards for modeling NUTRITIOUS EATING BEHAVIOR TODAY….two pieces of cinnamon sugar toast for breakfast and orange soda, popcorn and M & M’s for a 9:30 am snack.  SIGH……Grandma’s are supposed to be EXTRAORDINARY – aren’t they?

After the movies, we went to MICHAEL’S to look for a DOG HOUSE for APPLE.  Cooper chose a GREEN BASKET WITH A LID and I gave him lots of choices (I am so proud – I love baskets!)  Cooper also chose a red lunchbox, some PEZ for his Darth Vader PEZ MACHINE, a black ball, and a beautiful green notebook!

I still can’t BELIEVE THE NEXT PART.  We were supposed to go to BARNES AND NOBLE to play with the trains, buy birthday books, and get a book and a STARBUCK’S for Grandma Shirley.   Then we were supposed to go to the lake and feed the ducks.

COOPER WANTED TO GO HOME AND PLAY WITH HIS TOYS………HE SAID, “Grandma, that is what you do when it is your birthday….you get toys….and then you play with them.”

So Cooper got his wish.  He said that I had to pack his lunch in his lunchbox and put in a LUNCH BOX MESSAGE like I do for his sisters each day.  So here is Cooper’s Lunch Box Message:

June 6, 2008 Friday

Dear Cooper,

We saw KUNG FU PANDA

on Grandma’s Day OUT

And you got presents

Let’s clap and shout!

I love you, Grandma Shirley

We had fun – even though it turned out to be a GRANDMA’S HALF DAY OUT instead of a WHOLE DAY OUT!

THE PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY TOP

I laid out my other version of Bonnie’s ORANGE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT – I call this one the PINEAPPLE CRUSH…..and it looks like it will have a much more subtle look to it than the orange and green one.  It is amazing the difference that fabric and color can make with the SAME PATTERN.

I think that I am going to make the extra 96 half square triangle blocks for the border on this one.

 

Sarah (8) was so excited when she saw me making YO YO flowers for my BIRTH OF A SAMPLE QUILT (pictured above)…….that she wanted to make one too…..and so she did (and she wore it in her hair to school today.)  I had a PINK CAT BUTTON that we pinned in the middle of the yo yo flower.  Sarah was so proud! 

I am so proud that I got my vines and leaves on my BIRTH OF A SAMPLER QUILT!

Leanna (12) made a two-story house out of an orange juice container tonight.  She and her friend (and sister too) came in to SHOP for fabric to put on the outside walls of their houses!  Where else does one go on a CRAFTY AFTERNOON to get supplies but to Grandma’s stash!

On the wall of Leanna’s ORANGE JUICE HOUSE is a JONAS BROTHER’S POSTER rendering!  Nanna also sewed a sofa (with a cover that can be changed) and a pillow….and she also sewed a tiny bed and pillow.  She does a great job with my BROTHER DUETTA!  Since I was gone for the dance TECH rehearsal tonight, Leanna’s dad was in charge of standing by in case Leanna sewed her finger to something!  :) This is a fabulous testimony of the FUN that one can have with an square inch of material….or a tiny strip of fabric (note the rugs on the floors of the house!)  The bed, pillows and sofa are STUFFED with bits of leftover quilt batting!

LILIES AND BIRDS

I had to take a picture of our first lily in bloom.  THIS IS AN AMAZING STORY.  A year ago (December) our house burned to the ground.  The house rubble and surrounding ground was BULLDOZED – - and a year later the yard was landscaped. 

These lilies SURVIVED (I bought them at QVC – Roberta’s Farms – and I would say that this is an AMAZING TESTIMONY of the hardiness of these lilies!)  Look at how TALL this one is!!!! (There are 12 more on the side of the yard that will bloom this summer!)

Have I mentioned that QVC is on my LIST OF FAVORITE THINGS!  I love everything that I have ordered from QVC!  What could be better – you can lie in bed and watch tv – shop – and the UPS GUY delivers presents to your door a few days later!!!!  :)

BIRDS

Now you may be thinking “WHERE ARE THE BIRDS?”  And no wonder because all that is in view is the BIRD HOUSE – our hanging fern.  The birds have built a nest and there are four very cute eggs inside…….and there is another nest under the mailbox!  (You can’t see it - but it is there – and it sure saves us from getting JUNK MAIL FLYERS!)

ORANGE CRUSH AND PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILTS

I debated

and debated

 and debated

(it was a difficult decision) about whether or not that I should go ahead and put that orange fabric into the ORANGE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT….but today I finally decided to go ahead and move forward with the orange – it is an ORANGE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT after all.) 

I figured that even if it turned out to be an UGLY quilt that I could use it as a PRACTICE for my first quilt that I machine quilt!  I also rationalized that an ugly quilt could be used for picnics and every quilter HAS to have a picnic quilt!  Right? 

The orange is so BRIGHT that I might even be HAPPY to have it get a little bit dirty (to tone down that color!)  But after seeing Bonnie’s finished quilt (with orange in it) I think that I might end up liking it.

So here are all of my Step 5 ALBUM BLOCKS and HALF ALBUM BLOCKS for the Orange Crush Mystery Quilt – and also I have included a photo of my PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT blocks for Step 5. 

This afternoon Bonnie K. Hunter of Quiltville.com posted the final step – putting it all together.  THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED.  So……it is onward with these two quilts!

Dancing Fun

Tonight we had TECH REHEARSAL for ACT ONE of the Dance Recital Saturday.  Sarah is in two dances in Act One – they did a good job at rehearsal…..here are a couple of photos of Sarah!  The pictures are fuzzy – not perfect lighting in the theatre.  Sarah is the blonde with the braid in her hair.  We had lots of fun!

Here are some highlights…..

Grandangel Vincent had his 8th birthday in California (we sang to him on the telephone.)  He was SUPER-SIZED excited!

My Great Nephew and Great Niece celebrated their birthdays in Kansas….Preston is now 3 and Tara Lynn is 1.   Birthdays are so much fun!  We should all get this excited over balloons!

Sarah and I went to a yard sale early Saturday morning…..and was that ever TOO MUCH FUN!  We actually made it home on foot – without a wheelbarrow!  Sarah was really excited over her butterfly bulletin board – still in its original wrappings!

The FIND of the day (week? year? century?) was a chenille bedspread in A-1 shape that had belonged to the grandmother of the yard sale hostess….and she sold it for $1.00.  ONE DOLLAR.  Now what am I going to do with it?   I could make little rabbits out of it…..or use it as a back to a quilt?  HM…..I have no clue what I will do with it, I just know that I have always wanted one and that I love it!  Here it is on my bed.

Since Sarah and I found a candy making machine at the yard sale – we just HAD TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CANDY.  whoo hooo!  Leanna looks like a “mad scientist” pumping the chocolate into the molds!

Grandangel, Sarah was SO EXCITED.  We finished her first CAT QUILT over the weekend.  I showed her how to tape the backing down and then add the batting and quilt top.  Here is Sarah pinning the layers together! 

Then she chose decorative stitches for her quilting!  She loves my Brother Duetta sewing machine…..she put a different decorative stitch on each line of quilting!  You can tell by the look on her face that she is totally thrilled with this project!  We cut around the edges with pinking shears (I figured traditional binding might be a stretch.) 

Sarah’s WEBKINZ CAT, “Meredith,” seems to like her new quilt!

Our holiday also included a barbecue with friends.  Oh, did I mention that Spiderman and Darth Vader attended our party?

And going to the opening of the swimming pool is a must on MEMORIAL DAY….hm…..except that everyone else had the same idea……so the pool party ended up in our back yard with a new slip and slide and ring sprinkler.  I think that ended up to be way more fun anyway!

Sliding, hula hoop fun, backyard baseball games, croquette games, popsicles, pizza, and water gun fights……it doesn’t get much better than this!  Now if ONLY I could have had some HOME MADE ICE CREAM…..then I would have thought that I had died and gone to heaven!

This is the view LOOKING UP from our backyard hammock (REALLY!)  I just had to post this – the sky was so pretty and the weather was perfect!

AND WHAT DID I SEW?

Quilting – well – I did get a start on my Step 5 of the ORANGE CRUSH and the PINEAPPLE CRUSH…..and yes, I CHANGED THE ACCENT COLOR AGAIN on the Pineapple Crush – this is the THIRD and final change – because now the blocks are partially completed!  LOL

TA DA….Here is Step 5 – Album Block of my PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT  (I like this.)

And here is my Step 5 Album Block for the Orange Crush Mystery Quilt  (yikes – I wonder if I will ever in a million years grow to like these colors?)  This may be my FIRST AND LAST time to go scrappy (of  the everything but the kitchen sink variety!)

I am not trying to guess what the MYSTERY QUILTS will look like – but I added the previous blocks in a little arrangement – just to CONVINCE MYSELF that I might like it….::)

Pineapple Crush..Step 4 Spinning Stars with Step 5 Album Blocks……it is pretty calm and subdued and my accent color (the red plaid) is similar to the red check……but…….I really think that  I am going to like this one!

And now for the Orange Crush – Step 4 Spinning Stars Blocks with Step 5 Album Blocks…..oh dear, this sure is BRIGHT…..I may need to wear sunglasses to work on this one!  Do I like this?

THANKS TO THE FOLKS IN THE MILITARY!

It has been a nice holiday …. and I have enjoyed watching some of the special programs on the HISTORY CHANNEL the past few days that have called my attention to the wonderful heroes, past and present, that have and are serving in the military.  I am grateful and am in awe at some of the stories of bravery and valor.  Since I am related somehow to Robert E. Lee, I was especially interested in the special program that featured Lee and Stonewall Jackson!

And now….back to the REAL WORLD…..how many of us will think that Tuesday is Monday all day tomorrow!    Happy 13th Anniversary to Christi and Greg May 27!  Here is a SILLY family picture……and like I always say, “A MERRY HEART DOETH GOOD LIKE MEDICINE.” (Just for the record, this isn’t my original saying!”) 

This is what my step 4 SPINNING STAR for the PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY  QUILT (my controlled scrappy quilt) looks like.  I went back to my original fabric color choice using the burgundy checked fabric that I really like even though it really doesn’t read solid.  SIGH…..some of us just don’t take direction well.  :)  Right now I am still planning on using the pinepple color fabric and teal for the accent – but WHO KNOWS what I will decide by the time step 5 appears online! 

Here is my SPINNING STAR step 4 for the ORANGE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT (my totally scrappy quilt) looks like.  My other colors are orange and teal checks….I think. 

Today was definitely a quilting day – I went to my BIRTH OF A SAMPLER CLASS at the QUILTER’S CORNER this morning and learned to do a bias strip (at least I am HOPING that I learned it well enough to actually make it on the next border….pictures to come in the near future!)

AND the last half of the day I spent with the Virginia Scrappers working on my Grandmother’s Flower Garden.  We had so much fun (and Bonnie’s Mystery Quilt was a topic of conversation that emerged here and there throughout the day.)  I wish I had a picture of Sheddy’s Orange Crush – she is doing it in 30′s fabrics – and I LOVE IT……I want one in 30′s fabrics….but two is probably enough…..:)

Throughout the day I laughed so hard.  I only regret that I didn’t have my camera to capture some of the beautiful works of art in progress!  And because of all of my fun today I am current fighting the urge to buy a little green HELLO KITTY SEWING MACHINE.  Why……it defies explanation.  Linda had one and it was EVER SO CUTE!  Patsy has one and she LOVES HERS.  So is that a GOOD ENOUGH REASON……..probably!

And one more thing…..I just had to play with my split-nine-patch online block swappers exchange blocks……the second session of blocks are due May 30 – and I am going to make some more!

I am seriously cheering because getting all of these triangles sewn on the correct side was not easy for me (I am a bit directionally challenged and hopelessly spatially misguided!)  In fact, I made an entire extra set too many (because I had them ALL facing the same direction instead of half in one and half in the other direction!) 

My CRUMB BLOCK BAG just got fed!  sigh…….:)

I made my 44 CONTROLLED SCRAPPY Step 3 blocks using the E-Z and the Companion Angle rulers….just as Bonnie suggested.    These are for my PINEAPPLE CRUSH Quilt (I am not using any orange in it!) 

AND…….below are my 44  TOTALLY SCRAPPY Step 3 blocks for the Orange Crush Mystery Quilt (it will have orange in it!)  I made these using the method of first making a four patch from 2 1/2″ blocks and then slashing them diagonally twice to make the top part of the block.   

I used the COMPANION ANGLE to cut the bottom triangle for the block.  THAT MADE IT SO EASY.  It was easy because there was no THINKING about what side of the triangle to sew to the next – when you cut the 4-patch two ways diagonally – voila – you have 2 of the TOP triangle pairs going in one direction and 2 going in the other direction – automatically. 

(It is nothing short of a miracle!)  Thanks to Solvi in Norway for figuring that one out!

Having fun with a mouse,

having fun with a Brownie,

and  having fun making STEP 2 of my PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT!

FIRST THE MOUSE

Grandangel, Leanna, played the part of an evil mouse in her middle school play, HERCULES this past week.  The production was excellent!

Here is LEANNA THE MOUSE with her proud, mom! 

Leanna and her friend, Daniel - another evil mouse – chased a LION throughout the play!

It was so cute!  (No bias on my part, of course!)

The cast party was also lots of fun – we had a wonderful Italian dinner at ANGELOS – and if you can judge the amount of fun we had by the decibal level in the room

then we had A LOT OF FUN (I saw a few parents taking ibuprofen -it was NOT quiet – especially when one of the 8th graders decided to drink ketchup with a straw from the bottle – then the 8th grade hilarity broke loose!!!)

This is Nanna with her two drama coaches from Swift Creek Middle and three of the the four sixth graders who were in the play.

Mrs. Calfee (ENGLISH 6)  with the mice (Daniel and Leanna) and the very funny Harpie, Lucas

Ms. Beilhart (SPEECH AND DRAMA) with Leanna and Lucas.

AND FUN WITH THE BROWNIE

Grandangel Sarah was in her first BROWNIE Flag Ceremony Thursday night.  Here she is saying the Brownie Pledge!  (Sarah is the one with the vest on.)

Sarah earned lots of badges – time for Grandma Shirley to sew sew sew!!!!! 

She also got her yearly Brownie pin :)

The whole Brownie Troop looks like little angels all lined up on the chruch steps

- it is hard to believe that they will soon become GIRL SCOUTS (in May!)

PINEAPPE CRUSH

AND in between these major events and my substitute teaching, I finished my 142 3 1/2″ square STEP TWO Half Triangle Four Patches  for my PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT.  This represents my CONTROLLED SCRAPPY efforts – my REAL scrappiness will be in my ORANGE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT! 

(Multiple personality???? No – just a compromise between the part of me that needs to have things controlled and the part of me that is trying to be wild and free – like our foremothers who made quilts from anything on hand and every color in sight!!) 

These Pineapple Crush STEP 2 four patches were made with the EZ angle ruler  and the Orange Crush STEP 2 four patches were made using the rotary cutter method.  I actually liked both methods!  I love the fact that there is no trimming with the EZ angle ruler though and I recommend that anyone who hasn’t already tried it to do so!

I am thinking that STEP THREE might be appearing in the next couple of days, so I finished JUST IN TIME.

I don’t know anyone who has more fun that I do!

My VA grandangels (three of them) and I will be entering the TOO MUCH FUN ZONE shortly.  Their parents are taking a little vacation and GRANDMA SHIRLEY IS IN CHARGE.  

 Cooper (4) says it will be a NO RULES WEEK! 

Maybe we will eat popcorn in bed

and …. have ice cream for breakfast

and … eat our dessert BEFORE our dinner

and ….. go to bed an hour late

and …. who knows what other fun we will dream up,

but one thing for sure, it will be a good week!