ARLINGTON QUILT SHOW

After having laryngitis a week ago, it turned into an ear infection and now I'm on antibiotics. I've been able to get some sewing done - not too much quilting because I'm making curtains for DS#2/DIL for their new apartment.

I received another 2 swap blocks along with some pieces of fabric - this time from Kathleen. So far I have received four blocks. By the end of the month, I will have 24 blocks! This is great!!

This afternoon, DH and I went to the Arlington (Texas) quilt show. This quilt top below is not an entry but is displayed by one of the vendors. I really love this quilt. I didn't buy the kit, though, as I have too many other projects to work on. I did buy a couple yards of fabric from them - they specialize in reproductions. Yummy!
The following quilt is a group quilt made by my guild - Cedar Hill Quilters Guild - and we won a blue ribbon. This quilt will be raffled off in October. (No, I didn't work on it).
The rest of these quilts are ones that I really liked. I'm sorry I don't have the names of the quilters who made them. And the pictures aren't the best because I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole quilt in the picture. Hope you enjoy these!

IT'S MY MONTH FOR THE BLOCK SWAP!!

Yesterday the mail came late and this was in it. My first box of blocks for the APQ Block swap from Katie!!! I am very happy! The blocks are perfect and she also sent me a darling bracelet (it's actually a scissors fob!), a little flower pin cushion and chocolate. After being in the mail truck all day, the chocolate was very soft, so it went in the refrigerator right away, but I tested it this morning and it is wonderful (I am addicted to chocolate). I have my May & June blocks ready to mail and will send the May blocks to Karen in England soon.

I received another surprise on Saturday from DS#3/DIL. The card says Happy Mother's Day, but it was a week early, so I think it is actually a thank you for going to take care of Jonah. The florist said that I would be receiving another bouquet, because the order was for Lilies and they didn't have any - so I'll be getting a Lily bouquet at some time this week!!! That's a good deal!
Since we arrived home, I have been sick with laryngitis, but not feeling too sick to sew. I finished this doll quilt as well as 14 more star blocks.
This baby quilt was actually finished before, but doesn't have the binding on. It is for our niece, who is expecting in July. I'm saving hand work for our next trip, so I'm not rushing to get the binding on. We plan to deliver it in person on our way home from Oregon.

Our next trip is planned for May 25 or 26. We'll be going to Oregon to visit DS#1 & family. Our GS will be graduating from 8th grade and GD will be having a birthday while we're there. In the mean time, I need to get a bunch of hand work projects ready to work on in the truck as well as piecing to do with my featherweight.

LAST WEEKEND WITH JONAH

We spent another weekend with Jonah and now we are lonely grandparents again. Here is a picture of Jonah & Mommy feeding some ducks.

Going down the slide all by himself - like a big boy!
I forgot to put this in my last post - a picture of me using my Featherweight in the camper. I was fixing the new shower curtain. I also worked on the star blocks pictured below.
These are the star blocks that I will be making into doll quilts.
I won another giveaway from Barb in American Samoa!!! I got this bracelet and...
these awesome batik fat quarters. Any suggestions as to what I should make with these? Aren't they gorgeous? Thank you so much, Barb!

OUR FIRST TRIP IN NEW CAMPER

This was the first trip with our "new" camper, so I have to share some pictures. This first one is at Warfield Point Park along the Mississippi River in Mississippi. You can see the river behind the camper.

This was a beautiful sunset our first night there.
We just relaxed the next day and I got some quilting done my my cheddar cheese & crackers doll quilt.
This is a duck that lived near DS#2's apartment in Florida. I hate to say it, but it is rather ugly.
We camped one night at Lake Perry, Mississippi on our way to Florida.
However, we didn't see any alligators!
On our way back for our second weekend with Jonah, we stayed 3 nights at Hot Springs National Park. This is the stream we camped near (about 50 feet). It was just gorgeous!
We did some hiking on the trails around our camp site and took pictures to prove it!
See my hiking boots? They are great! (The first pair I ever owned).
I went to one of the bath houses in Hot Springs and had a 20 minute soak in the hot springs water. It was a huge jacuzzi tub with jets - heavenly!

No tent camping for us! We enjoyed all the features in our camper, including A/C, heater, microwave, refrigerator, stove with oven, hot water heater and tiny bathroom with shower! It also has a TV which is not hooked up yet, but we watched some DVDs before bed.

We really enjoyed camping this way and tomorrow will be heading for home.

A VISIT TO FLORIDA

After our weekend in Arkansas, we went to Florida to to visit DS#2, DIL & Abigail for a weekend. It was such fun to get to spend some time with Abigail (16 months) again. They change so fast at this age! She's learning to feed herself!

It's hard to get these sunglasses on! They keep falling off.
We visited the Pensacola lighthouse.
This is the home attached to the lighthouse decorated as it would have been in the 1800's. Don't you love the quilts?
A cradle for the baby.
We found some good camping places too and I'll post a few pictures next time.

FUN IN ARKANSAS

Today we spent the day taking care of Jonah and took him to a discovery museum for kids. He had lots of fun playing there this morning.

He enjoyed "playing" the piano. He is a little sweetheart, that's for sure!
On the way home, we stopped at a garage sale and I came upon some gorgeous crocheted doilies that the relatives didn't want! They look brand new and are in perfect condition. The workmanship is excellent. I felt very lucky today!!

Monday we will really go camping!

TWO OF MY FAVORITE QUILT SHOPS

On March 27, I met a blogger (quilting memories) from North Carolina to go shopping. Her DH drives a truck around the country that hauls a race car and they display it at various stores (such as Home Depot, Walmart, etc.) for the Scott company. I met her for the first time about 2 years ago and they were back in TX. This time I took her to the 3 LQSs that I shop at most.

First we went to Just Stitchin' in at 605 Cedar Street in Cedar Hill, TX. This is the shop closest to me, so I go here the most. I usually see friends from my quilting guild here when I shop (some of them work here).

The had the quilt from the Cedar Hill Quilters Guild on display. It is a gorgeous quilt and will be raffled off in October.
We also went to Common Threads at 315 Rogers Street, Waxahachie, TX. This is my favorite reproduction fabric store. Almost all their fabric is reproductions! I love going to Waxahachie. It is such a neat old town.
Here is an adorable doll dress quilt they had on display and will be having a class to make it. I'm sorry if these pictures don't enlarge. I forgot to bring my camera, so I stole these pictures off of Quilting Memories. If you go there, they will enlarge.
Today we are going to get our camper ready to go and we will be leaving tomorrow for Arkansas. Over the weekend we will be taking care of Jonah and then we plan to do some camping!!! Finally!!!

Oh! and BTW, I won another drawing!

I WON A GIVEAWAY!!!

I won this fabulous giveaway from Debi at Debi Quilts! Look at all the goodies - a book, Easter socks, FQs, a charm pack and thread! Thank you so much, Debi! These will all be put to good use.

Yesterday I went to JoAnn's to see if I could find some thread for my GD's quilt. I decided to go with the variegated thread in green, yellow and orange. Below you can see some of it on part of the quilt with the backing fabric (the peach). I hope it will look good. GD loves bright colors, so I think she'll like it.
While at JoAnn's, I just happened to notice that Debbie Mum fabric was 60% off - which came to $3.19 per yard!! I purchased about 7 yards. I just couldn't help myself!

Our tax appointment turned out quite well - we'll be getting a refund. Yea!!

BOM TOP FINISHED

First, I need to show off a picture of GS Jonah petting a goat! We are going to travel to Arkansas to take care of him for 2 weekends in April while our DS & DIL attend foster parenting training! Can't wait to see him. We can already see he has changed a lot since Christmas!

I finished putting together this BOM top last night and it is going to be given to my GD for her birthday in June. I'm pretty sure she doesn't look at my blog, but if she does, oh well! I plan to machine quilt it myself and need some advice. Do you think I should use white thread? black thread? or another color? I'm leaning toward white thread. I will be doing an over all quilt design - maybe stippling. I don't have too many options for my design as I haven't perfected any fancy machine quilting yet.

This morning I layered & pinned the cheddar cheese & crackers doll quilt. I'm going to hand quilt this one, so I hope it will be finished soon. Right now, I have about 5 quilts that need quilting - yikes! I better get busy!
The top five FQs on this stack were purchased at one of my favorite quilt shops when I went shopping with the sweet blogger from quilting memories. It is my favorite reproduction fabric quilt shop.
Now I need to get ready for my tax appointment. Happy April!!