Kreativ Quilter Award!

OK so it has taken me several days to catch up to this!

Last Sunday I got the nicest surprise, I was given the Kreativ Quilter Award, I was awarded this by my wonderful online/blogging friend Karen O. from Texas, If you have read any of my blogs you will know that Karen is a wonderful professional long arm quilter in near Galveston Texas, I "met" Karen in October (wow just over a month ago, it seems like so much longer) She graciously agreed to give out the Blankets of Love that my daughter and I make to the folks who were in need after hurricane Ike.

This was such a wonderful meeting, Karen has been an inspiration to me, although I don't think she realizes it! ;) I am stunned by the beautiful quiting she does but even more stunned by her golden heart. Thank you Karen.

BTW, stop by Karen's blog at http://quiltsnkaboodle.blogspot.com/ don't forget to say HI!

So as a recipient of the Kreativ quilter award it is now my turn to pass it on. So here goes, first the rules.

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner may put the logo on her blog.

2. Put a link to the person you got the award from in your blog.

3. Nominate 5 blogs.

4. Put links to the blogs.

5. Leave a message for your nominees.

So here are my five nominees. Make sure you stop by their blogs also there is some pretty neat things to see, and even though this is a quilters award (yes all of the nominees quilt to some degree) they also share their other very impressive talents and hobbies, I think that is why I like these blogs so very much.

1) Grace at http://gquilts.wordpress.com/ I found Grace's blog through a yahoo group we are both in. Grace is a wonderful lady who shares so much knowledge not only of quilting, buy also fabric dyeing. I love her blog, she always has something interesting to share. So if you are interested in the art of fabric dyeing, please spend some time with Grace.

2) Rachel at http://2ndavenuestudio.blogspot.com/ Rachel is from Oregon, just a hop skip and a jump down the road from me (OK really about 4 hours away) Rachel is a beautiful quilter! I love the tutorials she has done, and can't wait for the second half of the one she has in the works now. I enjoy Rachel's blog so much that when I was looking for the perfect quilt to make for my Dad I used her Hoffman Bali Pops Tutorial to make my Dads quilt. It was perfect and beautiful, much like Rachel's blog. Stop by Rachel's and be sure to leave a comment for this special lady.

3) Roberta at http://quiltingandotherramblings.blogspot.com/ I just recently found Roberta's blog, all I can say is WOW I want to live in her new sewing room, please adopt me, she has the most amazing wall of thread, and did I mention a fabric stash that I would give a couple of pinky toes for!

4) Jackie at http://jackiecastson.blogspot.com/ OK I admit it I will Never Ever learn to knit, I just don't get it, I crocheted for most of my life (not anymore because my hands hurt) But I never "got" knitting. If you love yarn and yarn work, then Jackie's site is for you, she dyes her own yarn and it is amazing. I love this blog partially because my girls took a summer class on spinning and I learned a lot just from watching them. I have a whole new respect for spinners and those who make their own yarn.

5) Melissa at http://cornbreadandbeansquilting.wordpress.com/ Melissa's blog is also one I just recently found, but what a blog! The inspiration alone from the photo' on her blog make it well worth the time to stop by. Add to that the Melissa is nice, and funny. Her blog brings a smile to my face every time I read it. Stop by take a peek at all of the pretties!

So there it is, my 5 nominees for the Kreativ Quilters Award, all truly deserved. Thank you again Karen for nominating me, I am truly honored. I am also blessed to have so many of you stop by and read my little blog. I have been amazed and heart warmed by all of the comments and emails I have received. Thank you for stopping by and sharing part of my life.

Ginny

Well, another weekend come and gone. I could sigh and say I got nothing done, but even though I feel like I didn't get anything done, I guess I did. I got Dianna's Christmas present made, she wanted a purse like the one I made a couple of months ago, so I made her a matching one! She collects purses and I know she will love it.

We also got our flower beds cleaned out and ready for winter, it has been amazingly warm and wonderful, I am having a hard time realizing that Thanksgiving in only a week ish away!

I did get some Christmas shopping done this weekend also. We are doing something a bit different this year, this is a cash only Christmas, I have not used credit cards for a couple of years now so that is not much different, but we are setting a hard cash limit. I have been telling the girls that it is going to be a small Christmas, and will be sticking to that! [wish me luck]

Quilt wise I got a couple more Blankets of Love done, I have 20 washed and just needing quilt tags, I need to find an easier/quick way to do the tags, embroidering them takes forever!

I also finished and delivered the quilt that I have been working on for Morgen's schools winter fest. they do a silent auction to make money for the Tech department and library at the school. So when I won the block lottery for the batik pinwheel squares I thought it would be fun to work them up into a quilt to donate, so that's what I did!
I think it turned out pretty well, my boarder was a bit wobbly, this was also the first time I have ever done prairie points, I love the look and thought it went well with this pattern, I did try a regular binding first but it was pretty boring!

I ended up quilting this quilt twice. I am still having problems with the Baby lock, I can not do straight lines with the darn thing, it goes straight, then jerks to the left. I am also still having a huge problem with my tension on back, I go from way to tight to huge thread nests. I got so discouraged with it that I pulled out all the quilting I had done, and did simple stitch in the ditch on the pinwheels and a nice crosshatch on the squares blocks. All with a walking foot. I looks much nicer than the first time on the frame.

I get really discouraged, sometimes I get good results, sometimes I can't get the thing to work at all. I told Stuart that I am so ready to just sell it and get something else a little larger but that will actually sew!
I am seriously looking at a Baileys 15" machine, I never plan on doing quilting for money just hobby work so I don't feel I can justify anything more, although I would love have a HQ 16. But the Bailey's will have to do for now. (I am hoping to have enough save by my birthday!)

Well that's about it for my weekend ramble....Oh my Gosh I almost forgot!!! I was nominated for a cool blogger award! the Kreativ Blogger Award, my online friend Karen O from Texas nominated me! (Thanks Karen!) I was so surprised, I don't really say anything important on my blog! So now I have to nominate 5 of the blogs I read, this will be interesting as I only read 3 blogs on a regular basis and number one is Karen's!

So give me a couple of days and I will get the Kreativ Blogger Aware up on here!

Well, talk to you all in a day or so, thanks for stopping by!
Ginny

A letter from Fernando.

I went to check the mail this afternoon, and found the usual mail box finds, bills, fliers and such, then at the bottom of the pile was an envelope that had a hand written address on it. With a return address that I did not know, how interesting. So I tucked the rest of the mail under my arm and opened this strange letter as I walked back to the house, as I walked I read and then tears came to my eyes, you see the letter was from a young man age 10 from San Leon Texas.

He says

Dear Ginny and Torrie,
Thank you for the quilt blanket of love. I am Fernando I am 10 years old. Our house got fluded (flooded) no one from our family have social security Fema din't help us but we're happy cause ya are praying for us.
Thanks a lot and God bless ya.
Fernando

This has to be the sweetest letter I have gotten in years, I walked back in the door, tears still in my eyes, and handed the letter to Torrie, she read it, looked at me and just smiled. All of the hours we have spent on making these blankets, this letter made every minute worth it.

I am so proud that we are making a difference, no matter how small, because as you can see, for a young man like Fernando, it really isn't a small thing at all. This is a young man that knows that people care.

God bless you and keep you Fernando, and you also my dear blog reader.
Have a wonderful evening.
Ginny

Veterans Day Parade!

I wanted to share with you all pictures from our local Veterans Day Parade!

Most people who know me don't realize that I am an Army Veteran. I served during the Gulf War in 90'-91' I spent most of my Army carrier stationed at Ft. Hood Texas, Bravo Company 13th Signal Battalion 1st Calvary Division.

So it is my pleasure and honor to march in our local Veterans Day Parade, this is the 9th year our little town has held this parade and we have the distinct honor of having the largest Veterans Day parade in Eastern Washington!

I love this parade, always a huge turn out! There is so much support for the troops that it makes me tear up every year.

So every year we dust off our old red wagon, load a big box full of candy, put on our Girl Scout vests and away we march!
Here are just a few pictures to share with you.

From left to right, Torrie, Catherine, Morgen, Berit, Megan and our Awesome Leader Michelle!
Notice the wagon O'Candy! It was totally empty in less than 45 minutes, we went through about 60 pounds of candy in no time!

We have a pretty big group the collects old military vehicles!Main Street West Richland, see just a small town, but a pretty good turn our the 1 1/2 mile route is full of people almost the entire way, you never realize how many people you know until you march in a parade!

So I know this is a couple of days early, but happy Veterans Day, If you are a Veteran, THANK YOU! If you are family to a veteran, THANK YOU, you have one of the hardest jobs in the world.

Thank you for stopping by, now I am off to nurse my blisters!

Ginny

Better late than never!

Hi everyone!

Wow after a week and a half I feel human again! I can not believe how horrible this bug was, I was off work for half of the week and the other half I barely made it through! I have been amazed at how many people in my area have had this nasty little bug, it has spread rapidly and hits hard, then last for almost two weeks, matter of fact I feel better but am still dealing with a stuffed up nose! My hubby who got this a full week before I did is still trying to get over it!

The good news even though I was sick I did manage to get a bit done, I figured I could be sick, and sit and watch TV or I could be sick and sit and sew, I chose sewing! (imagine that) So I managed to get another 15 or so Blankets of Love sewn and about half of those are snipped ready to be washed. I will get a bunch more sewn this week and then send them to Karen for the folks in Galveston.

The bad news this week, my poor lap top, less than two years old bit the dust this weekend. I had been having some problems with it but nothing major, well, it kept freezing up on me, so we got a program to fix it. Well, lets just say that the "fix" fried the hard drive, I can't recover ANYTHING off of it. So I have lost everything on my hard drive. Thankfully most everything was backed up on my desk top (wow this sure feels like a deja vu) didn't I just go through a dead hard drive on my desk top in July? I think I just need to stay away from the computer for a while!

We survived Halloween, Torrie had friends over and they all got dressed up to go trick or treating. Morgen was to sick to go so she stayed home to answer the door. Torrie and her friends all gave Morgen some of their goodies when they got home, I thought that was so nice of them.

So better late than never, here are some Halloween pictures. WARNING, The last one is pretty gross!

Morgen with her pumpkin! She was trying for the Headless Horseman Pumpkin head!

Torrie's Pumpkin, of course The Pretty Witch!

This is all of them lit up, from left to right, Mine, Torrie's, Stuarts Skull, and Morgen's. Cool huh?

I just had to share this picture, this is from the daycare, I try to do seasonal crafts with the kids, this was voted the coolest craft that Miss Ginny has ever come up with! GLOW SPIDERS!!! Super easy to do and Mega cool. If you want to know how these were done, just ask I will be happy to tell you how.

Morgen, even sick she wanted to dress up. I don't blame her! Most years my kids go as something nice, this was the first year that they went "scary" Morgen was a Black Vampire Fairy.

And here is the gross one! Torrie was a "Zombie Doctor" She would not smile and did not want me to take her picture! I did manage to get this one though!

Well, that's it for today, I am off to have breakfast with my good friend Wanda!

Talk to you all later, have a great day!

Ginny

I thought this was cute!

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

No Pictures Today, I'm Sick!

OK so I try not to whine, but, I'm sick.
Dear hubby has been home sick all week with a nasty nasty cold. And bless his heart, he shared!
I knew yesterday when I turned very grumpy that something was up, by the time I went to bed, my nose was runny and I ached. This morning when I got up I was pretty sure I wanted to die! Nose, head and body all ache!

The good news, I did spend most of the day out in my quilting room, I got a bunch more flannel cut and bagged, I am pretty sure I have close to 50 blankets of love cut and ready to be sewn, I lost count! I did some major clean up and folded a bunch of fabric, in general I got my room clean. Torrie sewed 3 quilts and I did one last night. I will be heading out later today to do a couple more this afternoon.

So even not feeling well, I was able to get some work done! Yeah!!!
Gonna sign off now, have a great weekend.
Ginny