Happy New Year!

This past year has been good to us and, as always, life brings us happiness and sorrow. I have much to be thankful for this past year... the one thing that paticularly stands out is that the doctor could fix John's heart problem without major surgery. What a blessing!

and ......

I am sad about Keith's passing. He was a kind, gentle, sweet man and we had many good times with him and Bonnie. He is in my thoughts and I miss him.

• Keith at Webb Falls - 2008
  

  
  

  Looking forward to 2010, I have the Miller Girl Spectacular as my sister, Barbara, refers to it. It is a visit with my sisters, Barbara & Bonnie, and my niece, Ryann. They are coming here in January. I can guarantee we will have a good time! I wish Becky could come too so we could all be together.
  
  I'm hoping to visit with Jack & Janet in Laughlin, NV, sometime during February.
  
  And in April, Barb & Dave are coming to visit. Can't wait for that visit, we love Dave's cooking.

  As I look back through my blog for 2009, I can see I have been fairly productive with my sewing projects. I love being productive with my spare time doing what I enjoy. What can be better than that?

  
  My sewing goals for 2010 are to continue finishing the projects I have left from 2009.

  
  

  
  

  • I have the bindings to finish for 2 quilts.
  • Toni's "Gifts from the Sea" quilt to complete.
  • 3 quilts that I need to prepare for the quilting frame.

  
  

  That should keep me busy for a couple of months anyway. Then on to the new projects that I have in mind for 2010.

  So, here's wishing you a very Happy New Year..... I hope that 2010 brings you good health, happiness, and prosperity.

Christmas 2009

Picture from the Bunnyhill blog.

Wishing you hope, peace, joy, & love.

Brenda

Christmas 2009 Projects

As you can see, I've been away from my blog for more than a month. I've been busy with Christmas sewing projects and a couple of quilts. I have more projects to share later but these are the Christmas projects I have completed so far.

I crocheted a Christmas tree for Nicki and made the little tree skirt

while she was decorating the tree.

I made 8 placemats and a tablerunner for her too.

Merry Christmas, Nicole!!

Happy Halloween!!

John dressed up for "Trick or Treat"

I made several of these fabric baskets for "Treats"

It's My Birthday!!

Today is my 63rd birthday. OMG... where has all the time gone?

John remembered my birthday this morning. He always does. His thoughtfulness is one of the many things I love about him.

As I was picking Luke up to take him to school, Nicki pulled in the driveway and I read her lips saying "Happy Birthday, Mama".

As Luke hopped in the car he said "Happy Birthday, Grandma.

At work, Dawn brought in pastries this morning.

Sandy & Peggy took me to Mimi's for lunch. I love their french onion soup.Yummy!

Toni, Alex and Kathy called to wish me a happy birthday.

Tonight, our family will be cutting out pumpkins for "Trick or Treat", having pizza & ice cream, and playing cards.

It's wonderful to have such good, thoughtful friends & family. Sure made my day special and thank you to all!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a nice, peaceful Labor Day weekend. I found a pile of flannel fabric that I just had to use so I decided to make flannel receiving blankets to donate. I ended up making 19 premiee receiving blankets and 53 burp cloths. Some of the receiving blankets plus a few premiee gowns will be going to the Children's Hospital of Orange County. The rest of the receiving blankets, all the burp cloths, and a few pairs of fingerless mittens will go to the Santa Ana Rescue Mission.

We had dinner at the Lone Star with Nicki & Jeff on Saturday. Jeff is on his last dose of Chemo. His last MRI came out clear. His doctor is not going to put him in a clinical trial since he's doing so well. That's good news!

John helped me make another batch of 'Bread & Butter' pickles on Sunday. I just love those darn things! I also made a batch of split pea soup and blueberry cobbler.

Next, I need to get crackin' on Toni's quilt and the Bunny Hill Block of the Month (I'm 3 months behind!).

John's Shed and a Pickling Weekend!

John's Retreat

John, Alex, & Uncle Ray worked in the backyard this weekend. They fixed the brick walkway by removing a tree root and re-laying the brick pieces. John threw away more junk from the old shed. Then, they put rocks around the base of the new shed and trimmed it with wood. The backyard is finally coming together. Woohoo!!

I had quite a weekend with pickling beets, eggs, and pickles. This is the first time I made pickles, they turned out great!

We love pickled beets & eggs. I make them at least twice a year. I have wanted to make bread & butter pickles but the process intimidated me. Well, silly me, it was really quite fast & easy. Toni helped me get the pickles started.

Toni brought over this beautiful 8 qt. heavy-duty stainless steel bowl. It was great for soaking the cucumbers in salt water. I just have to have one of those bowls.

Pickled Beets & Eggs

Bread & Butter Pickles

Toni, Nicki, & I went to see the movie "Julie & Julia" Sunday morning. It was good. We left the theater hungry for some of the dishes we saw in the movie.

When we came home, there was a voicemail from Becky & Bailey telling me they love their quilts. That makes me so happy!

All in all, I had a good "pickle" of a weekend.

Bailey's Quilt is Quilted

Quilted all day yesterday. The quilt is ready to have the binding added and then it will be finished. The binding will be the same blue fabric shown in the center of the backing of the quilt. The quilting is a herky-jerky type pattern.

I'm pleased with the outcome, I hope Bailey likes it!

The First Half Of Bailey's Quilt Top

This is the first 5 rows of Bailey's quilt top!

I worked on Bailey's quilt today. Had to rip out 3 of the rows and redo them because they didn't lineup right. I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. There's still one row I can't seem to get lined up the way I would like. I figure if I take it out one more time, I may ruin the fabric.

ERRRRR!!....

I like the green & yellow fabric for the sashing. Thanks Becky for your suggestions, it looks so much better instead of the Kona white or off-white muslin.

Hope Bailey likes it!

Bunny Hill Block of the Month

Double click for a closer view

I have been working on a new block each month since January. The patterns are from the free block of the month found at Bunny Hill Designs. By the end of the year, there will be 12 blocks for the quilt.

Nearly all the stitchery has been done on my sewing machine. I decided in the beginning that I would do very little hand stitching. These blocks are a joy to do!

Beginnings of Bailey's Quilt-Which do you prefer?

This is off-white muslin

This is white Kona fabric

French Roses & Pat's Quilt

French Roses Quilt - Pattern by Heather French

Back of Pat's quilt

Front of Pat's quilt

I'm finally posting a picture of the French Roses quilt that I finished a few weeks ago.

I quilted Pat's quilt on Sunday. Finished it in one day, I guess I was on a mission!

Grandma's Quilt Tops

Close up of the quilting on Becky's quilt.

Becky's quilt. The binding and label needs to added.

Patrick's quilt

I'm making progress with Grandma Miller's quilt tops. They were most likely made in the 1970's and I'm finishing them.

The pictures above show the progress I've made since Barbara & I shopped for the fabric to finish them.

Vacation with Barb & Dave

We had a wonderful time vacationing with Barb & Dave.

Dave is quite the cook and we enjoyed everything he prepared. He grilled a pork roast, made twice-baked potatoes, baked a killer Bailey's Irish Cream Cake, wonderful burgers, & a stir fry to name a few. John was Dave's kitchen helper. They had a good time in the kitchen!

Nicki made 'Aunt Jo's Spagetti" garlic bread, & a wonderful salad for our last dinner together before Barb & Dave had to leave.

We played cards, had cocktails, gambled at Pechanga, & had an amazing dinner at Las Brisas in Laguna Beach.

Barb & I shopped at Kohl's. I need her advice about how clothes look on me. Thank goodness, she's honest about it!! We also shopped for fabric to finish 2 of Grandma's quilt tops. One is for Patrick and the other is for Becky.

Nicki, Barb, & I had massages & facials. It was so relaxing.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share because we were having too much fun to think about picture taking. Well, next time!

Hats Galore!

One of the many hats I made for Nicole.

I have been a busy bee with crocheting hats. I found this wonderful site, Yarncat.com. There are so many hat patterns. I have made several and they have all came out perfect! I make them for Nicki and a couple of the other teachers at her school.

I'm done making fingerless mittens for now. I have a dozen plus that I was going to donate but I've been giving them to my friends.

I also have been making flannel baby blankets. They're great for baby gifts and for practicing on my quilting machine.

Recent Projects

Happy New Year! It's been a month since I've updated my blog. I've been way too busy sewing, knitting, & crocheting.

I knitted a small afghan pictured above and gave it to Nicki. It was made with Joann's Sensations Rainbow Boucle yarn in the colors of blue & brown. I followed the afghan directions on the label of the yarn. The gradation of the colors is beautiful, however, I wasn't fond of the pattern after the afghan was completed. Nicki likes it. It goes perfect with her bedspread.

I just started crocheting my 9th pair of fingerless mittens. All have been given away except 1 pair. I knitted five baby hats and 2 scarves on a knitting loom. I also made 14 preemie baby gowns this past weekend. I'm giving some of them to a friend for his twin preemies.

I'm ready to get back to quilting. There are several projects I bought during the past year that I would love to start working on but there are some UFOs that I need to finish first.