Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick post to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving.  My daughter-in-law has the turkey stuffed and in the oven.  I'll be cutting up potatoes and veggies when I finish this post.  We'll eat ~5:00 and then head off to Michael's for some of their specials.

I have been knitting like crazy since I got here.  I have finished one of the five projects that I brought with me.  I just have to block and fringe it when I get home.  I am hoping to get the neck done on Jen's sweater before we leave for home.  I have been working on it for ~three years but managed to lose the instructions.  Susan at Mass Ave Knits (http://massaveknit.wordpress.com/) helped me with the missing parts and it is close to being done.

 Have a good day and get lots of sleep if you are planning to hit the sales tomorrow.

It's almost Turkey Day

Better late than never for my promised post.

I am currently at my son's house enjoying his three boys. Talk about a handful. The eight-year old is pretty independent and helpful. The five-year old is very loving unless he is not happy. He is definitely related to Miss Jenna! The two-year old is a riot. He is cutting his two-year molars so you can imagine how happy he is. Actually today was much better. He has a wonderful vocabulary: pips (chips), panpakes (pancakes), pease (please) and thank you when I can convince him to say it. He is a pretty picky eater so it is a challenge at meal times. Tonight Pop was here for the first time and, much to Mom's shock and surprise, he was able to get Alex to eat his hamburger after many refusals.

I have been busy while I have been here. I am knitting and stitching like crazy. No pictures of course since I am making presents for Christmas. They will follow.

Susan (my daughter-in-law) and I have been to two quilt shops. She is not a quilter but is just bowled over by all the fabrics and patterns that are available. She is quickly learning that each shop has different fabrics from the previous one and there are many, many choices. She picked out a pattern and fabric for a snowman quilt that she fell in love with - one of my projects for next year (I may have to make it twice!). She also bought some towels and a cute snowman border fabric. I will make teacher gifts and send them to her. I didn't bring my machine this time because I have to knit and stitch and because of the two-year old ('nuf said!). Now I wish I had just brought it along with some basic sewing supplies. Lesson learned!

I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you are spending it with loved ones and friends. Please keep all of armed forces personnel in your thoughts on this day because without them we would not be able to live in our free country. My son has a good friend who is a doctor in the Army and is currently stationed in Baghram AFB in Afghanistan. I am following her blog - their living quarters are not nearly as cushy as some prisoners here in the US have and she works eight hours every day - more if necessary - a very challenging situation to say the least.

Don't Faint - I'm Still Alive!

I can't believe how quickly the time goes by. I am really remiss - I keep thinking I will post and then the day is gone.

I have been busy with lots of varied projects. I have been knitting, stitching and quilting. I don't have pictures of everything but will post a couple.

Here is a Kindle cover that I made for my friend Kay for her birthday in July.

I just finished a scarf this week but don't have a picture yet. I am working on a couple of gifts for Christmas so no pictures of them of course. :)

Since I last posted, I have been on a retreat in Shipshewanna and to Quilt Festival in Houston. The retreat was for four days and I finished/almost finished five projects. Boy, was I happy. We had a great time. Bonnie Hunter and Judy Laquidara were there as well as Jen and Loralei and Kathy from my bee. It was Loralei's first retreat and she is now a convert. We made way too many trips to Lolly's (a great fabric shop in Shipshewanna that also has a sale room downstairs that is better stocked than some shops!). I did well down there - I got backs for three projects and had fun digging through the boat full of fat quarters that are $1.75 each if you buy more than 12.
Here is a picture of our tablemates - Karen from California, Muffet from Chicago, Kathy, Loralei, Jen, Me, Judy and Elaine (hope that's right - I'm having a senior moment!). We laughed our way through the four days and look forward to getting together again. Unfortunately the four of us will miss next year's retreat since it is the same weekend as our guild's quilt show. I am chairing it and Jen, Loralei and Kathy all have key roles. We will definitely be signing up for the 2012 retreat ASAP.

Quilt Festival was as amazing as usual. Unfortunately my camera wasn't cooperative so I don't have many pictures. I wasn't crazy about the Best of Show quilt but there were enough others that were stunning. I loved the doll exhibit. I wish I had just a smattering of the creativity that these creators have! The miniature quilts are also impressive - I can't imagine keeping all of those small pieces together and then stitching them so that they look go good.

Now that I am back home I am trying to play catchup - a never ending task!! I have a piece to embroider for Jen but can't locate my embroidery foot. I am really careful about keeping my feet together (no smart remarks, thank you!) and am really aggravated that I can't find it. I will continue my search tonight after I get home from guild. Of course, the foot is clear so it will be a bit challenging at night.

That's it for now - I will try to post some more pictures soon and I will really try to get back into the habit of posting on a regular basis.