Quick Check in...

Today is a big day... Our daughter-in-law is on her way to the hospital as today is her due date! Our 3rd grandchild will be born today :) Such a wonderful blessing.

The other news that I think I will take the other two grandchildren to is that today, Tuesday, April 3rd is Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s, and you know what that means... time to take the kiddo's for ice cream!

I'll be back :)

So we did get to meet our new grandson who was born at 1:15pm today. He is in the NICU as he was not breathing very well. This was taken this afternoon with our grandson, son and grandson.

 

We did not get a chance to get a ice cream... bummer... Now that M is sucking on a binky he'll be getting out of the NICU soon. :) Now time for dinner.

Thanks for stopping by, Ciao for now!

J :)

Pinterest Creations

This past weekend the grand kids where here and where looking on Pinterest with me. Ms E wanted a "Norah Doll" and Mr M wanted "Angry Birds" paper piecing from Fandom In Stiches Comics/Games/Tech. Talk about a little bit of pressure... I still have the Blogger BOM's to get done as well as Crafty's BOM, but the grand kids are done...

Least I forget to post this info...

Yes, everything did come form my stash!

Now it is on to the BOM's!

Thanks for stopping by! Ciao for now :)

J :)

Monday.... Already!

WOW did this weekend fly by! The grandkids where here on Friday afternoon. Miss E & I went off to sew and Mr M and hubby stayed home. Miss E had the best time at FUF, behaved wonderfully, and we stayed thru to the end of class. Saturday it snowed here in the Boston area, so there was no going out to the museum that we had hoped to do. Instead we went to my mom's and hubby shoveled the walkways and the kids and I went off to the food store with my mom. They had just got back from three weeks away and there was no food in the house. We spent the evening there and had dinner there with the kids. They love to spend time there as the games are way different than what we have and there are two sets of stairs. They run up the back and down the front and do this for a bit of time. It does tire them out :)

Sunday was packed! Woke up to Mr M asking if I would be able to finish the Angry Birds paper piecing that I was doing... I found them over at http://www.fandominstitches.com/p/video-games.html So I have completed the red bird, blue bird, and am working on the yellow bird at present. These pictures are from the Fandom In Stiches site and done by the creator of the paper pieced patterns.

So the kids left and I ran out the door for Concord... It has been a long time since I was at Open Studio in Concord. One of the many items that I had to drop due to lack of funds. I missed going, but this weekend Ms G & Ms A got together and paid for my spot. (Hubby is had already stated he was paying for next month). So it was off to Concord to sew. It was great to see Ms G, Ms A, Ms K, Ms P, Ms J, and Ms D. I missed the ladies most of all...

I took both of my jackets in process to work with Ms K (the teacher for the group) as it is so hard to fit clothing to ones self. Good thing as one of them did not fit over my hips loosely enough. I am adding some fabric to the sides and will be bringing it back with me next month to refit it and finish up both jackets. 

As we where there from noon to 5 pm the AFC Championship game was on between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens was being broadcasted from Foxborough Stadium. We all left to head home shortly be for 5 pm to get home to watch the end of the game.

To say that it was a bit Nerve-wracking to watch is an understatement. The New England Patriots victory over Baltimore Ravens, of 23-20 was a nail bitter down to the very end. It was an AFC Championship game that had fans of both teams tensed all the way throughout. Or as my ex-husband said, Heart-attack on TV (he was with our daughter watching it at a local bar). 

So now... on to the Super Bowl. New England Patriots vs New York Giants in the Super Bowl 46. As it has already been noted, a rematch of the 2008 Super Bowl which the Giants stole it away from the Patriots.

And I wonder why the weekend flew by... 

So school is back in session and I am back to driving my daughter to the train station once again... 

Off to play taxi driver...

Ciao for now!

J :)

Friday :)

This weekend we have the grandkids visiting thru Sunday. Tonight, my granddaughter will be going to FUF with me. Typically, she will bring some art project to do while I do a little bit of sewing. Now that she has an American Girl Doll, I wonder if she will be picking fabric to have me make some more clothing.

I am not going to mention that I will be making some sweatshirt jackets for the doll. I think that I may have to make her a jacket as well. At least one that matches the doll's jacket. Should be fun.

I have spent the day cleaning up the areas that we don't use all that often except when the kids are here. I also had to clean off the dining room table... That would be where I also sew... I have posted pictures of the table with stuff on it in the past...

This is what it looks like tonight... not guaranteeing it will stay this clean... just that it is...

 I have been working on a few mug rugs... yes, I have 'caught' the mug rug bug. I think that they will make wonderful Thank you gifts. So, I need to finish binding a couple and send them on their way tomorrow.

As is typical when the grandkids come to visit, we are headed for the Children's Museum tomorrow.

This is the Boston Children's Museum.

I would like to go to the Children's Museum of New Hampshire, which we have not go to in a while. It is about 1/2 the size of Boston, but it's different. I think it is time for a change. We will see... If we go here we would get to

Meet Mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

Saturday, January 21, 10am - 2pm
Meet the mouse from If You Give a Mouse a Cookie as part of the Books Alive! literacy initiative, generously sponsored by Irving Oil. Museum staff will read the mouse's story aloud and kids can enjoy hands-on crafts, games and reading activities.  The costumed mouse character will make frequent appearances for hugs and high-fives.   

That would be different. I think the kids would enjoy doing something different.

Now it is time to get ready to go to Finish Up Friday.


Ciao for now!
J :)

Stress?

I have come to the conclusion that when I am in need of calming down from a self-induced stressful moment, I need to get some sushi... Yep, not even 10 am and I find myself stopping for some sushi from the local Whole Foods... Why am I stressed so early? Well my child is still not feeling ok with her ankle and all the issues that go along with the complications of the injury (years ago) that continue to occur, so I was guilted (is there such a word?) into driving her to school today. The un-stress is that my SIL called me to say that "Piggy Project" would be very welcome next week, after the 15+ visitors who are expected for the Thanksgiving weekend, where leaving rather than arriving. OMG that was music to my ears!

These are some of the strip sets for the quilt...

This is a close up of Ms. Piggy, patiently waiting to be added to the finished quilt top... when that is done. 

Meanwhile, hubby and I where saying how we had a wonderful time with the grandkids this past weekend. I shared the museum photos yesterday... Today, something we both love to do with the kids, each and every time they are with us...

They have a collection of books at our house, many that are not at their house, so it is a treat to be able to read them to them. Funny that there are two specific books that they love and they both have to do with manners! Of course, they each have stories to tell about the different instances in the books that have happened to them and what they did about using their manners. The same books are located within the classrooms that the kids attend. Of course they do know them by heart... and catch us when we miss something.

Now that I can calm down from "Ms Piggy" I am looking at the The 'B B Q' , or "Black & Bali Quilt Challenge" that I signed up for in February... I have it in my head... now I have to get it onto fabric. LOL!

Thanks for joining me today :)

Off to the sewing machine...

Ciao for now :)
J :)

Sunday ... or Thanksgiving at Mom's

We have Thanksgiving dinner with my sister and her family, who live in NYC. My mom has a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for all of the family members who will not be there next week, and who live in the vicinity. So, we are off to Thanksgiving dinner this afternoon.

We spent yesterday at the Children's museum in Boston. It was fun, and everyone was tired when we got home.

The cape? We where sewing before we left and the cape is fabric from some doll quilts we made. She wore it the entire day at the museum (except when climbing), to bed (not in the bathtub ~ she has asked if she could), and then today up until she left to go home. She was still wearing it over her jacket when she got into the car.

Climbing and running - 2  things that the kids are not stopped from doing at the Children's Museum. I think we stayed at this area for over 15 minutes so they could (maybe) burn off some energy.  

The water area on the 2nd floor is always good for a hour of fun. This was no exception...

More climbing...

There is an area for 'construction' and this was a MUST do for this trip... so, we went... and they raced, jumped, climbed, and did all over again...

Then they found the building block room within the 'construction' area and this was good for a while longer...

While we where eating, I snapped a picture... love the ketchup on his cheek :)

See that little red dot of a child in the middle right of the picture? That would be our grandson... The climbing structure is three stories (industrial) high, and he was at the top. There are boards above his head to prevent people from climbing up and out. You can just make out our granddaughter on the same level on the left. This is the 2nd trip to the climbing structure. When we get there it is the 1st thing they have to do, before we go we may have as many as two or three more trips to the climbing structure. I have a sore neck after each time, as this is my view from the seat in front of the entrance and exit. 

No trip would be complete without a trip to the bubble room...

The pig project? I have spent a lot of time on the pig project... The pig is done for now... On to the quilt. I have started the patches, as you can see from both of these pictures... You can also see the B & B challenge pictures of the quilt I will be working on this coming weekend. I think it will be going to R after I am done. She and I had spoke about it in August, so I hope she enjoys my take on the picture.

The pig looks so cute! It is a combination of paper-pieced and machine applique. I need to take a close up so that you all can see the details.  

Up close, or at least closer...

And this is my little helper for the weekend, our granddaughter :) We did fit in making a few doll quilts for her babies... and she was up on my lap to help with the pig project.

Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful. Of course, the desserts topped the meal...

That is two different pies!!! One is Apple and the other was triple berry.

It was a great meal! Thank you Mom & Al!

Ciao for now!
J  :)

It's Friday and I'm not finished...

Here we are at the end of the week and time, once again, has gotten away from me. Today is jammed packed with things "I have to do" and all I want to do is sit and sew! But this all will pass and I'll get to sew tonight.

The grand kids are spending the weekend with us, so (1) I'll not be posting this weekend, and (2) they are looking forward to sleeping on their bunk beds, and (3) we will be at one or more museums this weekend! All and all not a bad thing... Still would like to finish the "Pig" before Sunday...

Pig is now going to be an applique as I fought and fought with the paper piecing project and lost too much time in the course of those two and a half days not sewing. Now I'll be doing some 'hand sewing' of which I know there are a few people laughing at me right about now...

In between appointments, food shopping, and (I hope) trips to my Mom's, I should be able to do a little bit more sewing... We shall see...

Thanks for joining me :)

Ciao for now!
J :)