Three Days at Home

I've been cooking, gardening, and sewing. Too bad we have had so much wind this weekend, I could have been outside more. I have almost finished the binding and sleeve for the Posh quilt. Picture to come soon. I'm planning to enter several quilts in the Kings County Fair.

Peonies and Oakleaf Hydrangeas

These beautiful flowers sit beneath a pecan tree at the east end of my front flower border.  I have a collection of David Austin roses and another collection of Martha Stewart roses in full bloom.  The Bachelor Buttons are shoulder high to me and wave in the breeze.  I am so looking forward to the back yard shade garden to bloom with pink and blue Hydrangeas.  I planted my vegetable garden last weekend and will show pictures of the progress soon.

There hasn't been too much quilting happening, since my father-in-law is visiting from Texas.  My sewing room has a Murphy Bed, and when we have a visitor my sewing room becomes a guest room.   My husbands father is 90 years old and gets around very well.  Right now he is playing a round of golf.

Best of the Valley Purchases

Yes, this will be another sewing project for Miss Georgia.  I seem to make her a new skirt or pants or dress about this time of the year.  I will try to have ready for her Birthday party on May 1st.  I am going on a sewing retreat and should be able to finish along with her Vintage Sheet Ruffle Quilt.  My plan is to make the dress and ruffled pants first and the ruffled skirt next.

Georgia's Flip Flop Quilt!

Here I am with Miss Georgia at the "Best of the Valley"quilt show last weekend.  The Flip Flop quilt I made for her 4th birthday won a Third Place ribbon in the small quilt appliqued category.  She was so very proud of her quilt and the ribbon, she told everyone where to look at it.  She will be five years old on May 5th - how time flies by.  Seems like she was just a baby girl yesterday.

Gramercy Park Quilt

The Gramercy Park quilt is completed and on my bed.  Elaine Berry and I started this project at least two years ago.  Elaine finished hers last year and entered it into the Best of the Valley quilt show.  I finished mine just after the close for the call for entries for this years quilt show.  So I will have to enter into next years show.  I love the flowers and the colors of this quilt.  I used a bamboo bat this time and the quilt has a very light weight feel to it.  Bobbie Jones of Nipomo, CA long arm quilted for me and I just love it.  Bobbi noted to me that the bamboo bat caused a lot of lint build-up in her bobbin case, so she had to clean the bobbin case often.  Now I need to add a label.

DEXTER BOY!

My Jack Russell Dexter had a rear end problem this last week.  One of his glands was infected.  I took him to the vet on Thursday morning and they kept him for the day.  He had some surgery to drain the gland and his teeth cleaned.  They even trimmed his nails.  He came home with this cone on his head.  He is doing very well.  The stitches, drain tube and cone will go away on Monday AM.  It is amazing how animals adapt to changes.

Dexter Boy wants to chase the ball with Jacquee (his Mom) and Maggio (our other dog who is a big red dog).

Vintage Ruffled Sheet Quilt

Well I have a good start on the quilt I was so jazzed to make for my Granddaughters 5th birthday.  I have been trying to collect vintage sheets since last November.  I couldn't find any locally, so decided to look for them when I travelled to Texas over Christmas vacation.  And didn't have too much luck.  But when I mentioned my project to my sister-n-laws in Texas, they just walked into the next room at their homes and came back with a set that belong to Bobbie's Mom and Lynn had a set that belonged to my husband's mother.  And my friend Barbara brought me a sheet that she found at a thrift store in Fresno.  I also bought a new set of pink with little girls dancing on it with flowers that I decided to use for ruffles and the back of the quilt.  And now I wish I had keep some of my mom's old sheets.  Who would have know at the time I would ever have a need for them.

I got started on this Vintage Sheet Quilt quest after visiting Jodie Bissig's blog www.sew-handmade.blogspot.com.  Jodie uses vintage sheets to make quilts and I followed one of her references to the blog to make this quilt.  I ordered the pattern for $7.00 and began the search for sheets.

So far this I've made a mountain of ruffles and sewed them to about 1/3 of the quilt base, which is a flannel sheet cut to the size I am making.