May 26, 2010, Purple in my garden

In March, the dad of one of our good friends passed away. He and his wife live in the San Fransisco area and he was known for the huge varieties of Iris in his garden. Several years ago, he was here for a picnic while my iris were blooming. His immediate response was to get my mailing address and vowed to send me a few from his garden.
Aren't they just gorgeous? They are so huge and heavy that with any rain or wind they tend to fall down. I caught them right before that happened.
Here are the ones on the east side of the house that seriously need division this year:

Thursday, May 13th, Happy Birthday, Candice

I have to work tonight, so in trying to make Candice's birthday special, I surprised her by taking her to a tea room in Antioch. I had never been there before, but had seen advertisements for it and since she is such a tea connoisseur, I thought it was the perfect place for a mom-daughter birthday lunch.
There have to be about 100 different teas on the menu and we ordered a pot. They bring it to your table with an electronic timer so you can drink it when it has properly steeped. This pot reminded me so much of the tea pot that my mom and I used while I was growing up. We had many a shared pot of Constant Comment with dinner. At that time, that was the only "special" tea other than black pekoe. Candice had the Quiche of the day with a side salad and declared it delicious....just another reason why we will never bring Chuck here.
I had the crab salad sandwich with soup. It was wonderful. I just loved the eclectic china and cups that they use. The silverware didn't match either. After lunch, I took her to a cupcake shop around the corner for dessert.
I love this girl, she has grown into such a delightful woman and we always have a ton to talk about. Also, I am extremely proud of what she has accomplished.

Sunday May 9th, All done!!

Chuck, Catie and I went to the early Baccalaureate service today. The chapel on Hope's campus is all stone, wood and stained glass. Even though we allowed plenty of time, we sat in the balcony and didn't see her until after the service. If all of her classmates wouldn't have dressed alike it would have been so much easier!
We then headed back to the hotel to meet the rest of the family. Dad drove up just for today and he was waiting for us. The cafeteria had a brunch and we ate our fill of pork, chicken, salads, and desserts.
Then we hung out in a lounge on campus until it was time to head to the ceremony. Chuck, Catie and I went to a reception for the social work majors and met a few of her professors. Today dawned clear and blue, but not a whole lot warmer than yesterday. We decided to sit on the east side of the stadium to get the warmth from the sun, however, we were faced directly in the wind and it was so cold!!

We heard her name announced and yelled "We Love you" but never really saw her. Again, with the dressing alike! Finding her was easy enough after the ceremony. I was amazed how they can get through all of those names, speakers, etc in two hours.
We are so proud and so relieved that she is finally done!
Lots of family love all around.Candice and one of her best friends, Brittany Stock:With the famous anchor:This picture was taken by the very artistic Catie. For more on her amazing work, click here. We love you Candice and you never cease to amaze us!!! And she graduated on the Dean's list!

Saturday, May 8th, Tulip time in Holland and celebration

Candice is graduating from Hope College tomorrow and we drove to Holland today to catch the last day of the Tulip festival. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and it was way too cold and windy to go to the parade, even though they held it. Because of the weather, the tulips had bloomed early and most of them had already dropped their petals.
Still, you get this group of people together and a good time will surely be had by all!The first place we hit was Red Robin for lunch and had the onion rings...oh yum!!! (Excuse the strange face my mother-in-law is making.)After a belly full of burgers and fries, we walked a little downtown Holland and then went to the Dutch market place, because frankly it was getting into the 30's outside.
I think Candice is making the sad face because the little Dutch boy has a heavy load to carry!!

Sister love!!!

We watched the Dutch dancers for a short while until our toes froze off and then headed back to the hotel before going out for dinner. We went to a spot downtown that has awesome food and then the five girls stayed with Candice's best friend from school and her family for Martini night. Chuck agreed to be our DD and we had such a great time talking and laughing.
Never knew I could do this, but I guess my talents have no bounds!!!It was such fun to have us together, that's me and my two girls, my sister and my sister in law. A good pic except for Chris' eyes are closed!!

Thursday, April 30th, Daddy's ties

I finished dad's quilt this week. The quilting was hard because the quilt is so big; at least 65x65 and it is very heavy. The result? I think wonderful. I am going to teach this technique sometime in June at a new quilt shop in the area:

Wednesday, April 29th, Rainbow of happiness!

I have had this project on my design wall for almost a year. Remember way back when Celia gave me a gift certificate to Cherrywood fabrics and I started a bargello? Straight strip piecing really bores me and I wasn't very inspired to finish it. But after I got the fabric stash from Betty, I had the perfect back and then I found the perfect thread at Joannes' for quilting it.The thread was a 20 weight, and I didn't realize it until I threaded my machine, so there was a bit of a fight, but I am way pleased with the result. Another project off of the to be finished list!!

Wednesday, April 22, Another shopping bag

With "green fever" sweeping the nation, it has also caught on in sewing circles. There are a plethora of shopping bag patterns out there, but when Beryl and I visited Eagle Creek Quilt shop, they had a ton of oil cloth. If you purchased so much, they threw in a free pattern for a shopping bag. As soon as I saw this oil cloth, it reminded me of the table cloth my grandma had on her kitchen table for years.This bag was super simple to make and I wanted to have it finished to take to the quilt show, but my machine wouldn't cooperate, so instead I finished it today.
I am loving it and can't wait to shop in style!!

Friday and Saturday, April 16, 17 Last quilt show in Chicago

Beryl and I went to the International quilt show on Friday and then Celia joined us on Saturday. We had such a wonderful time oohing and aahing over the incredible workmanship in the display area and then....oh my, the shopping!!! Again, wonderful ideas, patterns, fabric, etc. The only fabric I purchased is some homespuns that I split with Beryl, otherwise new and fabulous patterns always lure me in.
Get a load of some of the wonders:This was the grand champion quilt with the quilt maker next to it. For a change, David Taylor didn't win. He usually does and personally, I think he deserves it, because here is this year's entry:As you can see he still got a ribbon. His stuff is so lifelike that you can almost hear this piggy squeal. See the bit of mud on his nose?
While we were admiring this one, two ladies came up that had taken a workshop from him and had the nerve to actually touch it and flip it over so we could see the backside. Well, the quilt police were right there and the offenders got a verbal lashing like I have never heard. It went on and on and on....I was so tempted to say, "Enough already!!! They got it!!!". But I restrained.
For me to pick out any one and say it was my favorite would be impossible, but I am always inspired by African fabrics. I now have quite a collection between my travels, my purchases, and the ones I inherited from Betty. She also had a penchant for African and Australian fabrics. Since I don't need to follow the rules, what about a quilt named, "From Africa to Australia"? Still need to get on the project finish route before I even attempt to cut it out.
I am super sad because this show is moving to Cleveland next year. I guess Chicago has priced itself right out of the market. Many people complained at the IQS booth and I was in a long line of ladies who expressed their opinions. The sad thing is that the vendors didn't find out until Tuesday before the show opened and they were very unhappy. I talked to quite a few vendors who said that for them, the Chicago show is even more successful than Houston. The big show in Padukah is always the following weekend, so next year, I think Celia and I are up for a road trip to Kentucky!!

Saturday, April 10th, A beautiful day in Minnesota

Beryl and I had an adventure today going to Eagle Creek Quilt Shop in Shakopee, Minnesota. It's a very lovely shop in an old train depot. I was totally prepared as I had programmed it into the Nuvi. Well, the Nuvi is only so smart and she didn't know that the bridge was closed and there is only one other way in and that was a redirection that only a local person could give us. So this little adventure took almost an hour when it should have taken about 20 minutes.
If you are ever in the area, it's worth a visit. The bridge should be finished in the next year or so.
We found a soup and sandwich place that was delicious and Nuvi helped me with that.....

Then we drove back to Minneapolis and spent the afternoon with Nathan and Chuck walking around the old mill area by the Mississippi river. It was a gorgeous day, although slightly cool. St Anthony Falls used to power the mills on either side of the river until around the 1940's when the mills closed down. In recent years there has been a huge revival of the area and it is a must see if visiting the Twin Cities.We walked over to the premier theater in Minneapolis, the Guthrie, which has an observation deck that looks over the whole Mills Park area.
Beryl and I have always been frightened of walking on suspended things like this, but we did it and it didn't fall down under our weight...imagine that!!After our walk, we met the rest of the gang at a little pizzeria in the neighborhood and then walked back to Nathan and Malia's house for a visit and a movie. An exhausting, but fun-filled day with my sweet family.

Friday, April 9th, three men and a little dog

Chuck and I traveled to the Twin Cities today to visit my nephews and their wives and pick up my sister. Tonight we all went out for dinner and then back to David's house for conversation. We got to talking about how people dress their dogs and how ridiculous it is and after Dave and Liz got Penny, she couldn't resist some booties. Dave promptly said, "if you are going to dress the dog, then we need to have a baby!!" Hence, a new arrival in June will soon be announced. However, he went to REI and found a manly neoprene coat for her. Now, this was when she was much smaller, but then the 7 of us got the brilliant idea to put it on her.
Question: How many men does it take to put a coat on a very little dog?Answer: Three!!! and it was so hilarious, I literally couldn't stand up, I was laughing so hard. We were all howling with laughter!!Poor, poor, Penny the pooch, she was miserable, and we couldn't let her be in it for long!!
Her body was squeezing out of it at her neck.
Daddy, will you get this thing off of me???