Thanksgiving and My First Quilting Projects

Bill and I spent Thanksgiving week in Maryland with daughter Pamela and her family.

This is my youngest grandson, Sebastian. We were at a birthday party for one of their friends.

One of the activities was pony rides - and Sebastian wanted nothing to do with them! He wouldn't even pet one. The entire time he was playing on the slide he kept telling me "no pony, drandma."

Pamela had a good time visiting with the other parents. Here she is showing off her baby-belly. Leandro is due to arrive in April. Yep, another boy.

The only time Gabriel will sit still enough for me to get a picture is when he is watching TV. He's still very active, but since starting kindergarten, he has matured quite a bit. I was thrilled to see that he is learning to read and write. Two of his classes - math and creative writing - are with the first-graders.

On Thanksgiving, we had 16 people for a sit-down turkey dinner. Pamela did a beautiful job and set a wonderful, warm and welcoming table. We all pitched in and helped with the food - but Pam did most of the work. By evening, we were all stuffed and exhausted.

Our plan was to stop in Kure Beach, NC to visit my sister and her "dh" (dear husband) but we were both battling nasty bugs and decided to head back to Ocala early and recuperate.

Before we left for the holiday, I bought myself a new sewing machine - and I LOVE it! I had wanted to try my hand at quilting for sometime and a friend advised me to get a better machine so that I will really enjoy it. My cheap Singer was not the machine. This is a portable Janome (so I can easily carry it to classes) with lots of cute stitches, a needle threader and automatic thread cutter.

My first attempt didn't turn out too bad. It still needs binding, quilting and backing - but it's a start. At least I learned how to use the machine so I will be ready for the beginner quilting class in January. The pattern is Yellow Brick Road and I selected the fabric from a batch of fat quarters I bought on sale from the local quilt shop.


This is my next project - a purse. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The squares are part of a "charm pack" - so I didn't have to pick the fabric, but I did have to arrange them. Fabric choice and arrangement, I fear, will be my greatest challenge.

This is the quilt top I'm currently working on. I'm afraid it's going to be too busy - but I'm making it for a busy boy so maybe it will be okay.

There are three different squares - I have two sets finished. I'll work on the third set later today - but now I'm headed to exercise class!