{A Thought for Today}

One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure.

~William Feather

{Next Up}

Since I finished the baby's Granny Square Quilt last week I haven't had a chance to get back to sewing. I did decide on a {counted cross stitch} project to bring out to Mattituck this summer. It's a really sweet farm/country scene with barns and cows and sheep and flowers.....just right for Steph.  The wording across the bottom reads 'Live Simple  Be Content'. It sounds like a great idea to me. It's very involved though. There are very few areas of the Aida cloth that will not be covered with cross stitches. And, my eyes are getting older and those little holes are much harder to see than I remember. I may have to up the magnification on the drugstore glasses while I work on it.


So, it was time to figure out my next  'at home' project. The nights Brian has band practice are perfect for sewing. I set up my table in the living room, put on a show I know he has no interest in and get going. A few weeks back I saw a great quilt pattern on Make it Do. I haven't had a chance to make a quilt with stars yet so I purchased the pattern and put it away until the right fabric came along. 

The right fabric came along completely by accident. Quickly. I purchased Friendship by Howard Marcus in a Fat Eighth bundle with plans on purchasing yardage down the line when it went on sale. There was a sale at Fat Quarter Shop, I ordered enough yardage for a quilt back, border and binding. I got the fabric, color looked off. I looked at the receipt and it was the wrong fabric collection. Oops! Now, I will take that 'wrong' fabric along with 5 charm packs and 2 1/2 yards of red fabric and make {Oh My Stars!}. The fabrics I bought are American Banner Rose by Minick & Simpson.

I'll be throwing in two charm packs of Friendship for a little variety. I've located the solid red from the American Banner Rose collection and will use that for the stars.


Tomorrow night is band practice which means my rotary cutter and I have a date. I read through this pattern and it looks to be fairly simple. I'm still waiting for the red fabric to arrive so I'll start with the charms. I think I'll like this.

{Project 365+1:Week 16}

{A Thought for Today}

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the tradewinds in your sails.
Explore.Dream.Discover     ~Mark Twain

{Quilt for Baby Smith}

The Granny Square Baby Quilt is finished, well, except for the quilt label. I put the last stitches in the binding at 5:30pm, and by 5:35pm it was in the wash with a Shout Color Catcher. Then in 30 minutes, on the dryer's high setting, she was ready...all warm and crinkly. I love seeing a completed quilt when it comes out of the dryer. 

 The next step is making the quilt label. I have to plan it out between today and Saturday, then get it sewn on.

I really like the colors in these fabrics, the line is  Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket. I hope little baby Smith loves this quilt.

{Marmalade}

The mother-daughter team at {Bonnie & Camille} have done it again with {Marmalade}. I love the addition of  tangerine to their color palette. I'm already dreaming of a Fat Quarter bundle of these heavenly fabrics. The release is planned for October 2012 but hopefully there will be some early pre-cuts available at Green Fairy Quilts. 

Photo from Cotton Way blog 

I count 40 different fabrics! I'm eyeballing the tangerine stripe, fifth from the top, as a binding fabric. There are so many projects that will be perfect for this collection. I can't wait!


In June, the Mystery BOM from The Fat Quarter Shop will be starting. The fabric for this quilt is also from Bonnie & Camille, it's called {Vintage Modern} and I love it too.  

These ladies know how to create amazing fabric.

{Where Did 20 Years Go?}

On this day 20 years ago I was in North Shore University Hospital giving birth to my sweet baby boy. I can't believe he's 20. I can't believe I'm 49. He's was such a pleasure as a baby and has grown into an amazing  young man.


I'm driving to PA this afternoon to take him to dinner for his birthday. I'm sure I'll cry, just a little, when I drop him off at school and head home. Happy Birthday Danny!

{Project 365+1: Week 15}

April 11th's tulip photo was chosen on CY365 as one of the photos of the week. 

{Friday the 13th}

Today is Friday and every Friday is a great Friday. I live for Friday. It's my favorite day of the week. It's the gateway to two glorious days off and away from the office. And, now it's two days away from Brooklyn. {Mattituck} was officially opened last last Friday. Today, at 5:01pm, we will be loading the creatures into the car and taking off for a better place. Yes, there will be some traffic on the Long Island Expressway. I always expect that, but don't really care too much. As long as I'm on the way to our little cabin I don't let things like traffic bother me.


This weekend I'll be:
BBQing
filling my bird feeders
setting up the swing
cleaning up leaves
dusting & mopping
waiting for the new fridge to arrive
eating dinner at Jen's (the best Chinese food anywhere)
sitting on the deck working on my photo book
sniffing the lilacs


I can't wait. Happy Friday the 13th!

{On the way to Joplin}

On May 22, 2011 an F5 tornado hit Joplin Missouri. A friend who lives in Joplin,  the pastor at Forest Park Baptist Church, spent time in a crawlspace under his house as the tornado passed through. After it was all over, more that 160 people had lost their lives and many others lost their homes and all their possessions.


After almost a year, there are still people who are trying to rebuild. Pastor John and the members of his church collect and distribute food, clothing, furniture and any other items necessary to help out those people in the community that have nowhere else to go. So many had no insurance and no means to replace the items lost.


Last Thursday, Pastor John posted a story on Facebook about a young family who was expecting a new baby on Easter Sunday. He put out a call to members of his church for a car seat since they had lost everything in the tornado and no means to purchase the necessary item. Many responded on Facebook that they either had one to donate or would take them shopping for one. The generosity of  the folks at Forest Park Baptist Church is truly inspiring. When you live 1000 miles away it's very hard to do something to help. Monetary donations can be sent and would be well used,  but I wanted to do something special for this family getting ready to welcome a little one. I contacted Pastor John and he let me know that they welcomed a baby girl into their family on April 6th, Good Friday. In today's mail is a box bound for Joplin, Missouri. Inside is a quilt for baby Ranezamae Lynn and one for her 8 year old sister Madison.

I'm hoping Madison and her baby sister can feel my arms around them when they are wrapped in these quilts.

{Project 365+1: Week 14}

{Project 365+1: Week 12 & 13}

March 26th's ROYGBIV photo was chosen as one of CY365 photos of the week.

{Capture Your 365 Blog Hop}

Happy Monday! Welcome to my little world and {Capture Your 365's }second Blog Hop of 2012. I can't believe we're a little more than a week away from 100 days of P365+1. Time has been flying by and I'm still enjoying taking my daily photo. I've especially liked the prompts for LEGO week.

Now that the summer's coming I'm hoping to get more photos outdoors. I love setting up my bird feeders and watching all the different species feed together. This year's plan is to work on my macro photography. Up until now I've only been practicing on minifigs....not that I mind. They are very cooperative.

I decided to share some of my favorite photos from the past three months.

Snow Leopard at the Bronx Zoo.

Busy sewing on a rainy Saturday

A message from my boy.

Willow Tree figurine.

The next stop on Capture Your 365's  Hop is Kathleen's blog. Stop by and show her some love. Oh, I can't forget to say thanks to Kathleen for organizing the Blog Hop again and a BIG thank you to Katrina for bringing us all together. You all are inspiring, wonderful people.


Kelly - but for the Grace of God
Joscelyne - ohscrap
Suzanne - Suzanne's Adventures in Quilting, Photography, Computers and Life
Sharyn - Live from Tormville
Abbie - Happie by Abbie
Me - YOU ARE HERE  The Sweetest Dreams
Kathleen - Taking Pictures, Enjoying Life
Katrina - Capture Your 365