Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Katie & Ben's T-Shirt Quilt

Here's a preview of Katie & Ben's T-Shirt quilt. The first photo is the quilt top together, the shirts are mainly of their Sorority and Fraternity days at Virginia Tech. The bottom photo is the backing fabric.

Mainely Quilts of Love

My blogger friend Margaret, aka supermom, Quick Queen of Quincy Quilting, has recently purchased a Longarm machine and has started up a quilting business. Her work is wonderful. She posted the quilt she did for me on her blog, the falling leaves. The photos do not do it justice, the variegated thread looks just fabulous on this quilt. Thank You sew much Margaret!

Luke and Page

My oldest son Luke was married over the weekend to a wonderful woman! Welcome to the family Page!! It was an awesome wedding, a great time was had by all!

The Bridal Party: Danielle, Beth, Brice, Page, Luke, Ben, Seth & George.

Beth, Brice, Page & Danielle.

Our Family...Danielle, Beth, Page, Luke, Me, Dan & Ben

Luke & Page on the beach, at Murrells Inlet, SC.

Phantastic Start

Ryan Howard

Shane Victorino

Jayson Werth

The Phanatic...these are photos I took pregame July 5th this summer.

Game one is history. The Phillies defeated the Colorado Rockies 5-1 in the NLDS. Next game tomorrow again at 2:37 pm. Isn't that an odd time for a baseball game...rumor has it it's because those damn Yankees and or TBS want their game played in prime time. I guess they don't remember the PHILLIES won the World Series last year, you'd think that count for some prime time early postseason coverage.

Come Sail Away...

In celebration of our Thirtieth Anniversary, this weekend Dan and I rented a Pearson 35 and spent 2 days and 1 night on the waters of Barnegat Bay in New Jersey. The bay is bit shallow, but this just added to the challenge of sailing a larger boat there. Saturday was sunny with winds 7-10mph and lots of boat traffic. Sunday was cloudy and overcast with winds 15-20mph and gusts I'm sure were much higher. There were also 2-3 foot waves. It was a very fun weekend sailing.

Gifts

These are 12 inch square pillows I machine embroidered to give to sailing friends as a gift of their hospitality. They are made on off white denim and I quilted the background. I think I may make a pair for myself!

Muriel at Hopaldera was having a giveaway on her blog last week, and I won this beautiful bag, Thanks Muriel!!

Quilters Dream

I captured this photo from the Horn of America website, this is my new Quilters Dream 3180 sewing cabinet!!! Complete with the storage chest, thread tray and insert to fit my Bernina.

Now I need to clean out what is there to make room. My previous table, that Dan created out of an old kitchen table, cracked on the seams of the wood that were heavily supported, we don't know why this happened, maybe it was just the vibration as opposed to the weight of the machine, anyway the Sew Steady Table would no longer fit in the opening.

Sewing Machine Meme

The Ladies at Sew Mama Sew are taking a poll on what sewing machine you own and will publish the results at the end of the Sewing Machine Month...

Here are my answers:
What brand and model do you have? Bernina Artista 170
How long have you had it? 10 years
How much does that machine cost (approximately)? $1500USD
What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?
Quilting, home dec, handbags, clothing/costumes
How much do you sew? A fair amount, wish I had time to sew more
How much wear and tear does the machine get? She had a one surgery
Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name? LOVE IT...I never thought about giving her a name
What features does your machine have that work well for you? Dropping the dogs
Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine? No
Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it! In the past year, I've sewed my left index finger 3 times, the needle in and out, why did I do this?
Would you recommend the machine to others? Why? Seriously? Nothing sews like a Bernina
What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine? Cost,
Easy to change stitches or flip through screens, must take it for a test drive to see how it feels
Do you have a dream machine? Yes, my dream machine

Spring Fling Round Robin 3 Sneek Peeks

Sneak Peek, the first border, in black and white to disguise the true colors...

Here's the second border, for the Spring Fling Round Robin. I'd love to show you the rest of it, after the swap is over I'll post all the steps I did. Round 1 was the center each participant created.

Graduation

My Niece graduated from St. John Fisher College in Rochester NY, on Saturday, May 9. Beth and I drove up to share this event with them. My sister in law Sherry, nieces Carly and Chelsea, my brother Earl.

Sherry, Chelsea and Earl

Chelsea with her Aunt Dot and Uncle Paul
Chelsea and her boyfriend Corey.

Kitchen Booty Swap

This is the wonderful little quilt (it is 11 x16 inches) and dish towel I received from Serena who lives in Melbourne, Australia. The swap was also to include a recipe. She sent one for Thai Chicken Sausage Rolls which sound delicious.

She also sent me this cookbook, how thoughtful!

This the little Booty Swap quilt "Make Lemonade" I mailed off, hope she likes it.

Marathon Dan Runs Again

Dan ran the New Jersey Marathon in Long Branch and Monmouth Beach area, on Sunday May 2, 2009. His time was 3:58.31 which is a 9:05.8 pace. It was a very chilly and rainy day.

Giveaway

Nadine is hosting a wonderful giveaway, stop by her blog Dream Weavers Quilts and check it out.

Booty Kitchen Swap - unquilted

The stitching here is from the BOM Kitchen Kapers, I puchased this pattern from Treasured Threads, and the fabric is mostly Tula Pink (Moda) from jelly rolls of Nest and Flutterby.

Peace Train an iMovie by Danielle

4SQS5

This is the quilt I made for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap. My partner chose pink as one of their colors, and the season is Spring. The second photo should rotate 90 degrees to the right, but for some unknown reason, whenever I adjust photos in Paint Shop Pro, they become pixeled or compressed somehow. I have restored all the default setting in the program, and that did not help, I'm so confused.

Another view of DC

During our weekend visit to DC, we wanted to see something new to us, so we visited The United States National Arboretum. There we toured the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. Below are a few photos I took.

Dan and Jim run DC

The Sun Trust National Marathon was held yesterday in Washington DC, there were almost 8000 participants.

Jim and Dan, before the race...
Here's Jim (yellow shirt)at the 5 mile mark...below is Dan (Forrest) at the same mile.

Dan (white shirt) at the finish, with a time of 4 hours, Jim dropped out of the race at mile 7, due to problems with his I T band.