Our Next Relay for Life Raffle Quilt Begins

Mom had these Moda fat quarters in her stash...so I have added some chocolate and more pink dots for the border. There will be a pink ribbon backing fabric from Northcot's Quilt for a Cure line. Hope to get it peiced at my upcoming quilting retreat in the mountains. Its going to be a pattern called lovers knot from the Quiltmaker's Gift pattern book. I will hopefully have it ready to start selling tickets by the New Year!

BYOP

Buddy went with Go Postal and I to a BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) party last night and he came prepared with a pattern book. I carved the skull and cross bones and Go Postal did the Haunted Castle. The little saws and scoopers that come with these patterns sure beat the butcher knives we used to use as kids for details (not to mention safety). Thanks Off Camber for a great party...most people would be scared of all those pumpkin guts all spread on their driveways!

Lookin Spiffy

I was very proud of the deal I spotted when I found this Ralph Lauren suit on the Clearance rack for $119, all it needed was the cuffs to fit Go Postal! We finally had a chance to get it out this weekend when we attended a wedding. His cousins that he grew up with (they lived just across the street) came back home for the event. I hadn't met JB yet as he lives in Kansas City...but it was fun getting to hear a few of their stories. It was a pretty Fall day and the wedding was simple but elegant! And his favorite part....the chocolate truffles they gave away as favors and instead of yout typical punch a big bowl of sweet tea!

Surprise Quilt!

Our Bee made this as a surprise "good wishes" gift for a member that will be having surgery next week. I think we really suprised her. We each started with a snippet of the border fabric and the pattern for this "Hearth and Home" block. I love the way everyone's turned out a little different based on their fabric choices/values. This group suprised me last year with my 4oth quilt, don't quilters make the best friends?

My job was to bind it and I didn't finish it until Sunday morning (sitting at the hotel in Asheville) so I decided what a better way to get a nice photo than to hike with it and display it against God's Fall color pallete atop Tennant mountain.

Tennant Mt Hike on Sunday

Sunday was much warmer....so we headed again to the Blue Ridge parkway. But this time we were on a part I have never been too before, South of Asheville. The leaves had a little more color here due to the higher elevation. We parked near Black Balsam and hike up the trail to Tennant Mt.

Here is Dairy Queen and Whole Wheat at the top with a view of Looking Glass Rock in the distance. We stopped in Hendersonville on the way home for Mexican and it was a great ending to a full weekend of fun.

Los Lonely Boys in Concert

We saw Los Lonely Boys in Aheville at the Orange Peel on Saturday night after the day hike. We had just enough time to eat noodles at Dok Cheys first...yum.

This is a great venue, just look how close we were. I only had my phone on my camera to take this shot. If you like Stevie Ray Vaughn (which Go Postal does) you would really love this band. They are three brothers from Seminole Texas and they ROCK!

Whole Wheat and Dairy Queen sat down on a bench where they could still hear but not have to stay on their feet and listen to the extreme bass. They had about as much fun watching the Asheville crowd come in and leave during the concert.

Tannawah Trail Hike

The ski club did this hike on Saturday and we may have been a bit early for peak color, the parkway was packed. This is a shot from near the top where we stopped to eat lunch, you cansee the Linn Cove Viaduct in the background. It was pretty breezy at the top, we tried to eat along a rock face to stay out of the wind.







Off Camber, Sugar Maple, and Bunny Foo Foo pose for a self portrait near the end of the hike!

Sofia Comes to Visit

Its been four month's since I last saw Sofia...and wow what changes. She is walking and saying a few words. She can shake her finger at you when she knows she is doing somthing she shouldn't be doing, and has her ears pierced. Her Mom and Dad are speaking mostly Spanish to her since she will get English from everyone else. Her first word was bomba which is Spanish for balloon. She is full of curls and smiles and a delightful little lady (ok I am probably a little biased!!) She had fun chasing Zorro (gato) around the house and even sampled his food before I got his bowl off the floor. She will be a big sister in April!!

Buddy's Fair Entry

Pretty good for a 6 year old....Buddy loves to put together Leggo kits, and decided to enter an Alligator in this year's fair. Its fun to go into the exhibit hall when you know some of the artists. I also saw many pretty quilts made by some of our guild members. Salem Stitcher even got a ribbon (not suprising to anyone that has seen her work).

I entered the fair as a child...and even got to go to the State Fair once to compete in the 4H Style Review with a Gunnie Sak outfit I made. Remember those....very lacy blouse, quilted jacket with puffy sleeves and a ruffled skirt (I even found it in a box of stuff from my parents house). But what I most remember about that week was eating a bag full of fried mini doughnuts every day and getting really good at the video game Frogger.

Go Postal and I went Sunday and topped off the evening with an Elephant Ear (I am biking tonight to try and get some of the oil globs out of my arteries now) Fun Stuff!

I'll Play!

Salem Stitcher had this on her blog...I love these kind of exercises....who's next?

1.Where is your cell phone? Both on table downstairs
2.Where is your significant other? Hmm, probably on a ladder fixing something
3.Your hair color? Brown/Gray....
4. Your mother? With her Heavenly Father
5. Your father? Pigging out at his 50th High School Reunion
6. Your favorite thing? Starbucks Latte (I assume we are talking inanimate objects)
7. Your dream last night? Don't remember any.
8. Your dream/goal? Have a secure financial future, then the health to spend it traveling in retirement
9. The room you're in? Sewing/Computer/Dumping Station
10. Your hobby? Quilting/Cycling/Hiking/Skiing
11. Your fear? Becoming a burden for someone
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Reading bedtime stories
13. Where were you last night? With Go Postal trying to fix my air conditioner drain
14. What you're not? Organized
15. One of your wish-list items? a 1967 sports car (same model year as me)
16. Where you grew up? Texas and Wyoming
17. The last thing you did? Planted Pansies
18. What are you wearing? Sweats
19. Your TV? Not up with the times....a 25" Sony, not flat screen or HD
20. Your pet? Zorro the Cat
21. Your computer? Full of stuff I should back up
22. Your mood? Melancholy
23. Missing Someone? My Mom
24. Your car? Which one....The Gas Guzzler, The Truck that was my Grandfathers, or the Civic
25. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
26. Favorite store? It would be a combo biking/quilting store....called Spokes and Stitches
27. Your summer? Gone
28.Love someone? Lots of someones, but one mailman in particular
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? Hard, when Whole Wheat told the story of trying to put chicken bones he found in the yard down his garbage disposal
31. When is the last time you cried? Been a few weeks now...

School Lunch

It really hasn't changed that much....Pizza is the best thing on the menu, and its just so-so. I had a nice time eating with Buddy. One of his classmates asked if I was his Grandma. I know I am old enough to be a grandmother biologically....but thank goodness no not yet. The classes all marched in and went through the line. The kids punch in a code that deducts their lunch from an electronic balance that parents can re-charge on line (I liked that because we had to keep up with little punch cards all week long). Classes all had paper stop lights at the end of their tables...when the chaos gets too much the teacher can flip it from green over to red...meaning No Talking just Eating. Then they line up again and march on to bathroom, spend some time outside then its back to letters and numbers. It was fun getting to see him in his element. He and another little girl were the lunch helpers that day so they had to clean the table after the class had left. They have five minutes before re-joining the class. He needs to watch out for her...she giggled and messed with him all the way back down the hall and even tried to hold his hand, it was hilarious...he just brushed her off and never stopped talking. Ahh First Grade.....

Dad's Skyventure

My Sisters and I gave Dad a flight in a WWII aircraft for his birthday....and this was the week his flight was scheduled so they drove up. Here he is taking off in the AT6??

He takes off! We had about 15 minutes to wait. Little Man asked Grandaddy all morning if he was scared. Then after he took off, he kept asking if Grandaddy was coming back. Buddy got to leave school a few minutes early so he could also watch the flight.

The pilot offered to do a roll, but since it had been about 40 years since Dad's Air Force days....he passed.

Everyone enjoyed watching him experiencing his gift, he said he went to bed dreaming of his next mission!