Back to School

Earlier this month we had our annual family back to school tea and now school is in full swing. I have tried to be at the first day of school for each of my grands since the first year of preschool with the oldest. I have been pretty successful, with only 2 misses. (I missed Chloe's first day of preschool this year because we were on vacation, :( but I drove her to school this past Tuesday and walked her to her class-only to have her tear up and break my heart!)

This was a year of change for four of my granddaughters. Sofia started to Kindergarten on the 7th. New school, new teacher, new kids.....lots of anxiety. But she did fabulous and had a wonderful first day. Now she hops out of the car in the mornings and eagerly hurries to her class. 

One week later was the first day of school for Katelyn, Emily and Madison. They are attending a new school this year too because they are building a new home and will be moving in the next few weeks. Katelyn is in 5th grade this year, Emily is in 3rd and Madison is in 2nd. They are loving their new school, making new friends, and settling in quite well. 

Chloe was the last school start this year. She is three years old now, so she is in 3K. She's attending the same preschool she went to last year and still loves it. 

It's always sad to see summer end, but new school supplies, the smell of textbooks and the routine of the school year have always been a comforting rite of passage in the Autumn. My granddaughters seem to love school as much as their moms and Grammy did. I hope you have a great year, girls! 

Vacation Time

My husband and I had a wonderful vacation this month. We went to St. Louis, MO, which I will be the first to admit is not a top ten vacation destination for everyone.  But, we were attending a family wedding and both of us have aunts, uncles and cousins in the area that we wanted to visit, so it was the perfect for us. 

Our trip north was divided up with an overnight stop in Paducah, KY. And since I have been a good girl this year, it just so happened that Hancock's of Paducah was at the exact same exit off the interstate that our hotel was! Imagine that! 

I'm not sure what I had expected on my first trip to this fabric mecca, but it was different than I had thought it would be. I guess I was expecting more of a quilt shop atmosphere with lots of samples up to tempt you. 

But, Hancock's is all about the fabric! It was one HUGE room with bolt, after shelf, after aisle of fabric! I was speechless.

The first thing that caught my eye when I walked in was this huge table piled with "end of bolts" for $5.99/yard. I grabbed a cart and started digging. Some time later my husband roused from his nap in the car and came in to check on me and see what all the fascination was about. I was still standing in the same spot I had been since I walked in the door! Oh, the treasures I was finding! 

As it turns out, that was all the time I had! I never even walked up and down the aisles to look at all the beautiful bolts of brand new fabrics. I took my fabric to a table to be measured and then to the register to pay. I bought 38 different fabrics! And I had a purpose for each and every one of them-no "stash building" for me. I found 12 different fabrics from Moda's 3 Sister's Wintergreen line. I am going to be able to make a gorgeous Christmas quilt with them. I found a Snoopy fabric to use in a quilt I am going to make for my granddaughter, Madison. I bought some fabric for gifts for friends. I bought two identical 2 1/2 yard pieces that will be a wonderful backing on a quilt. I found two that I knew my daughter, Melissa would like. I was very pleased with my purchases. :)

We needed to finish our trip, because we had a wedding to attend that night. It was a gorgeous lake side ceremony at a winery. The weather was perfect and we danced the night away. 

We did some sight seeing while in town too. We toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery. I got to see my first Clydesdale horses up close and personal. They are huge and beautiful creatures!

The tour was fascinating. 

 The brewery is so ornate.

A true St. Louis landmark.

It was fun to learn how they make the beer.

And at the end you get to sample their wares! Cheers!

No trip to St. Louis is complete without a trip to the top of the arch. And so we did....

What a spectacular view!

We spent an afternoon strolling the Missouri Botanical Gardens.

We also visited the towns of St. Charles, MO and Lebanon, IL. Both have lots of little shops that are great for finding gifts to take home with you. 

Even with all of the fun sightseeing we did, our favorite part of this trip was the time we got to spend with family. Every minute we shared with loved ones were treasured times. It is so wonderful to be able to just sit and relax and visit one on one with each and every one. It's a vacation that we will never forget. 

Back to School Tea

Our family loves to get together and we LOVE traditions! When our kids were growing up if we happened to do something twice they would say we "always" did this or that and then they wanted to do it every time. We had lots of traditions. For example, we had to eat onion dip and chips when we decorated our Christmas tree-I don't know why I ever even served it once, but they loved it and a tradition was started. Our son, Matthew, informed his fiancee last Christmas that they had to have onion dip while they decorated their tree. She was totally baffled about the reason behind this and I told her it was "just tradition". I'm sure other families have lots of traditions too, but ours just seemed to be a little quirkier than most. The fact that as adults our kids have continued some of those traditions and are passing them on to their families is reassuring to me as a parent that maybe I did a pretty good job with them. And that warms my heart. 

Three years ago Melissa decided to hold a back to school tea at her house. And thus began a new family tradition. The next year Meredith held it at her home and for the last two years I have hosted it. Our family has really grown in the last three years too. This year there were 14 of us present. It's always a fun afternoon. We have different kinds of finger sandwiches (including peanut butter and jelly), brownies, cupcakes, teas, etc. The little girls enjoy putting on a dress and having a party and we "big girls" love a chance to chat. This year was our first year to have a "man" at our party. Ollie is now 6 months old and he had a grand time being passed around and loved on by all.

I love family traditions and this is now one of my favorites! 

Sofia and Lisa

I am SO excited! I checked my email this morning and I had an email from Lisa Bongean that she has a new post on her blog. (I get one every time she posts so I don't miss a thing.) When I saw her latest post I was jumping up and down and had to call my daughter, email my friends the link and post it on Facebook!! 

My granddaughter, Sofia, is on Lisa's blog! There is a picture of the two of them from a quilt show in Georgia. I showed the picture to Lisa when she was the guest speaker at the East Cobb Quilters Guild meeting in May and she asked me to email it to her. Lisa remembered Sofia, and me taking their pic, and she wanted a copy of it too. I had no idea that she would share it in a blog post! 

AWESOME!!!  (Insert great big smiley face here)

Here is the link to Lisa's post 

http://lisabongean.com/2013/08/01/long-beach-show-summer-quilt-festival/

and here is where I posted the same picture on my blog in June.

http://grammyquilts.blogspot.com/2013/06/east-cobb-quilters-guild.html

When my daughter Melissa showed the post to Sof, she hugged her mom and said "Aw, that's the sweetest thing!"  And it is.

Happy Quilting!

Tumbler Blocks

The last two weeks have flown by in a blur! But I have managed to get a little bit of sewing in, in between two trips and some overnight company. 

I drove to Florida and spent three days with my mom. We had a great time and the weather was just perfect. I returned home in time for my husband's birthday (don't tell anyone, but he just turned the big 6-0). We celebrated three July family birthdays (my husband and both of our sons-in-law) with a family get together.

Then I drove to Greenville, South Carolina and visited with my BFFs-Anne and Pam. I'm a very fortunate girl, because I have not one, but two BFFs! The three of us met 14 years ago and have moved about 13 times between us since (one of us moves A LOT). Through it all, we have managed to get together multiple times a year all over the country. We have attended each other's children's weddings, traveled to quilt shows together, and been to each other's homes to visit. Sometimes only two of us are able to get together-but the third is always there in spirit. It is a blessing to have not one, but two, special friends!

Our time in Greenville was wonderful.  We spent most of one day in downtown Greenville.

Here are Anne and Pam at the falls. The weather was sunny and perfect as we strolled downtown.

This is Falls Park on the Reedy in downtown Greenville's historic West End. It was so beautiful there. We shopped in some great stores, ate some wonderful Sea Salt Caramel Gelato (anything sea salt caramel is my new guilty pleasure!) and enjoyed each other's company.

We had decided ahead of time to exchange tumbler blocks cut from Civil War reproduction fabrics when we got together. So, when we got back to Pam's house late in the afternoon, we poured the wine, got out the Go! Baby and started cutting. A few quick turns of the handle and you have three blocks of each fabric run through-perfect for the three of us to each have one.

Pam and I were cutting 4 1/2 X 11" rectangles and Anne was rolling them through the cutter as fast as we got them ready for her. It was fun to see our stacks grow. Lots of hands make for light work.

Pam's dog, Leo, was totally bored with the whole situation and decided to indulge in a nap. All that fabric was keeping him nice and toasty warm.

After shirtings and Civil War fabrics were all cut the stack was really tall. I couldn't resist counting~

There are 525 tumblers in that stack! We figured out that if you use 25 in a row, you can make 21 rows-and that makes a quilt top about 55 X 63". Borders would make it even bigger.

Pam couldn't resist! She got out her featherweight sewing machine and started sewing them up. When I left she already had two rows sewn and the last time I talked to her she told me that she has six rows done now! They go together so easily that they are a quick sew. I'm excited to start on mine-but I have a few projects to finish first. 

During the last two weeks I also sewed the blocks together from a very old (ten years OLD to be exact!) UFO. I am going to try to get it quilted this week. I am excited about getting it finished. It's a small wallhanging, but it's oh, so cute! I'll share pics and the story about it when I am finished.

I have also been ordering Snoopy fabric on the Internet this week. My #3 granddaughter, Madison, has requested a Snoopy quilt for her bed. And of course, I just couldn't say no. I haven't decided on a pattern yet, but Madison will have to give it her nod of approval too. And since she is a huge fan of all things Snoopy, she will have an opinion, I'm sure. :)

Happy quilting to all.

The Love of Sewing

Sewing with my granddaughters is something I have always enjoyed doing. It is an activity that makes them feel so special. Usually it involves a sleepover and lots one on one time-whether we are in the sewing room or the kitchen. They love being involved and helping out, whatever we are doing.

When we first moved to Georgia our oldest granddaughter, Katelyn, was 28 months old. I was so happy to be near her and her baby sister, who was 11 1/2 months old. We live less than a half hour away and I knew I would have plenty of chances for family get togethers. 

About six weeks later was the first time I ever sat Katelyn in my lap while I was sewing. She was so excited!

Look at the concentration on that doll's face! She was taking it all in!

She wanted me to move my hands so that she could do it all by herself.

Yes, she was bitten by the sewing bug that day! I'm not sure which of us was more thrilled!! I'm so glad my daughter caught this moment for us.

A year and a half later I saw a precious Janome Hello Kitty sewing machine at a quilt show. I just couldn't pass it up-I had three granddaughters at this point and knew that sewing machine represented so many hours I could spend with my little girls making memories! I brought it home and Katelyn immediately took to it like a duck to water and she was only three years old! 

Digging through my scrap basket, Katelyn found pieces of fabric to sew together. She was going to make a quilt! 

My mother was helping her while I snapped pictures. 

The fact that she couldn't cut with scissors yet wasn't going to deter her one bit.

She was so proud of her crooked little square! The joy on her face melts my heart!

Yes, there is no doubt about it--this girl loves a sewing machine!

Fast forward almost 7 years. Katelyn has grown up so much-she'll be starting 5th grade next month. I asked her last week to spend the night with me and wanted to know what she would like to do during her visit. "Make a skirt" was her answer. 

We went to A Scarlet Thread Quilt Shop on Thursday and she picked the fabric she wanted to make her skirt out of. Last night she slept over and today she was ready to sew. We decided that she is now old enough to sew on a "grown up" sewing machine. I sat her down and we had a lesson on sewing on my Bernina. I gave her some fabric scraps and explained to her the importance of keeping a straight seam allowance. She practiced sewing 5 rows and was ready to go! 

Katelyn wanted the stripes on her skirt to be horizontal, so she had to cut it in half since they were printed vertically.

Next she pinned her seams together. She had learned the importance of keeping her seam allowance straight and even. 

She's sewing her side seams together-we used a post it note to help her guide the fabric. 

She pressed her casing down and stitched it. She caught on to why we were leaving an opening very quickly.

She used a LARGE safety pin to thread her elastic through the casing.

And here she is stitching her hem. She went very slowly and carefully because she wanted it to be very straight since it would show on the outside of her skirt. 

She's one very proud young lady-and well she should be! She made this skirt all by herself!

Happy Sewing!!

A Little Tumbler "Quilt"

I put "quilt" in quotes in the title of this post because at 15 1/2 X 24", this little quilt just doesn't meet my criteria for a real quilt. I can't call it a miniature quilt, because the pieces are just too big. It doesn't fit on any table in my house as a tablerunner, so I'm not calling it that. So, it's just a little "quilt." 

Last Fall I went to the Georgia Quilting Expo at the Gwinnett Center and shopped with my favorite vendor, Primitive Gatherings. I have made no secret of the fact that I am in love with every single thing that Lisa Bongean does. I love her wool, her applique, her quilts, her books, her fabrics-you get the idea! While in her booth I spied a precut tumbler pack. There were 60 tumblers already cut for me and ready to sew. I have always wanted to try a tumbler, but I have never wanted to cut out tumblers (that was a huge deterrent to me!!) So, here was my perfect chance to try them. I laid my money down and took home my  newest little project. 

I sewed them up fairly soon after the show. They went together wonderfully and the shape was really fun to sew. I used 56 of the 60 in the pack-an 8 X 7 layout. And then since I had no plans for the little "quilt", I pinned the top to my design wall, where it has hung  gathering dust. 

Fast forward nine months. My husband and I have undertaken several home improvement projects lately and one of mine included painting an adorable child's chair that I bought at an antique market.

Here is my chair before I started painting it. I love red and normally this would have worked great in my house, as is. But the finish was really shiny and not the look I was going for. 

Lucky for me, I have recently discovered Annie Sloan chalk paint! I am painting everything in sight. If it doesn't move, it just may get a coat of paint!

The color paint I used is French Linen and I also put on the dark wax finish. I love how it came out! So quick and easy!

I found this oval tin bucket at Hobby Lobby and thought it would look cute sitting in the chair. 

This is my newly decorated spot in my house. I bought the black cabinet at another antique market, the lantern at a third! The clock came from World Market. 

And what does any of this have to do with a little tumbler quilt, you ask. I'm getting to that right now. My friend Pam (who is a decorating goddess and has just the right touch to making everything look perfect) gave her stamp of approval to my vignette, but did say that a cute little quilt in the chair would really set everything off. She is so right! Why didn't I think of that??

After Pam went home I took my tumbler quilt off the design wall and promptly quilted and bound it. I knew I had just the spot for it and was so excited to get it finished. 

I'm tickled with it here-what do you think?

Happy Quilting....and decorating with your quilts :)