Is anyone still out there?

I have been procrastinating this post all month.  Somehow the blog blahs have set in, and I haven't felt like posting at all.  This month has just flown by.  I'm actually looking forward to school starting, just so things will slow down a bit!  (That's pretty sad!)  I hope you are all still with me, even after my long absence.

Last February I showed my daughter a blog post with the most darling cake!   She had it in her mind, that she wanted an Alice in Wonderland party just like that!  I almost didn't go through with it, as there was just so much to do, but in the end, somehow it all came together.  The cake was a family affair.  it took us a couple of days to make, but so much fun.

I made DD an Alice dress,and one for her AG doll too.  Doesn't Julie (the doll) look like the perfect Alice?

This is the quilt that my mom and I made for my DD's birthday.  I pieced and appliqued the quilt and my mom "HAND QUILTED" it, in about a weeks time.  Isn't her stitching perfect?  DD loved it!

Quilt Soup's "All Dolled Up"

Other events this month...my husband and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary.  We had 2 major holidays, the 4th of July and the 24th of July, which is Pioneer Day in Utah, and is a big deal!  (It's the day the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, after being persecuted and driven from their beautiful city of Nauvoo, Illinois.)

This is the Brigham City Tabernacle, in which the pioneers built in 1868, and has subsequently gone through a total renovation in 1986.  We were tour hosts for this beautiful building.  It  was a neat experience to be able to learn all about the history of the building and those who sacrificed to build it.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is building a temple right across the street, which will be an impressive sight to see.

We inherited two birds from the neighbor kids.  They raised these ugly ducklings from eggs, but thought that we would be able to release them into our trees when they got a little bigger.  The one on top is a pheasant, and it turns out, it's a girl, so her name is Fredrika the Pheasant (After Carriage House Samplings sampler) and the bottom is a "Chucker" and it's name is "Chuck" because we don't know if it's a girl or a boy.  These birds are getting a little easier, but at first I was really regretting the decision to adopt them.  They stink!

Also this month, I had 2 nephews get baptized.  Family parties and lots of food always accompany those wonderful events.  We had a family wedding that ended up getting canceled 4 days before the event.  We still had lots of family visiting, so we had more parties and food!  I tell you, I'll never work off the calories we've eaten!

Birds of a Feather Friendship Sampler.  Stitched on 36 count linen with Weeks, and GA threads

On the stitching front, I haven't made a lot of  progress on anything that's probably why I haven't felt like blogging.  I've been working on this wonderful little sampler that Terri gave me.  I hope to get it done for our retreat in September.  (Happy Dance!)  I wish I would have stitched this with 2 strands of floss.  I started with one, as I love the "soft look" normally, but after looking at Terri's I wish I would have gone with 2 strands of floss.  I'm not inclined to start again, so I'm just going to have to live with it!

Hope all is well with you dear friends.  Thank you so much for your friendship!  Your comments make my day, and give me happiness that you will never know.
Until next time..

Surprise!

Don't you just love surprises?  I was the recipient of not one, but two brown boxes all tied up with string, yesterday!  YIPEE!

I won the giveaway from Dixie Samplar Designs last week, and Terri's wonderful package arrived yesterday.  I was filled with anticipation when opening the box.  Do you want to see what's inside?

A whole lot of wonderful stitching goodness!   Scissors, patterns, a glass flower frog, thread, fabric, treats, a candle, and fabric!  What more could a girl want?  Thanks so much Terri for the fun.  I'm so in awe of your generosity!

I especially liked this pattern.  I think I will put that in the "to do real soon" pile! (Do you have one of those?  Mine is really big!

My other wonderful surprise came from Deb.  This wasn't really a huge surprise, as I knew that she was sending this package.  It's quilt software, for Dear Jane.  The surprise was how fast the postman got it here!   Deb and I are going to start this project together.  She bought this software for herself several years ago, but it is for Windows, and she now owns a Mac, so it would not work her.  I'm really hoping it works on my computer, so I can print templates out for us to paper piece many of the blocks.  Want to join us on this insane quest?  I can't promise we will be very organized or stay on task, but you are welcome to join in the fun if you want.  Let me know.

I finished this little Betsy Ross House sampler, (a freebie from plum street samplers.  I don't remember the name of it right now)  I'm not showing close up, as I'm not thrilled with my finishing on this.  I've never done finishing like this before, and it shows!  It looks okay from a distance, so that's how you get to view it!  LOL.
I think this saying applies in this situation, "Better done than perfect!"

I finished my Joined at the Hip quilt.  It's hanging on the front door.  I'm amazed at how long projects like this, actually take!  I thought a day or two...good grief it took me a day just to quilt the darn thing.  I'm not thrilled with my quilting either.  I used clear thread, so it wouldn't show up very well.  I'm critical of my skills, as they are very beginning.  I'm not one that would choose to do an entire quilt, as I like the finished product so much more if an experienced quilter does the job.  It's good to practice I guess.  I'm all for learning new skills.

I just finished piecing this quilt top yesterday.  This is for my DD's 9th birthday in a few weeks.  Grandma is going to help me with the quilting, because of my beginning quilting skills as mentioned above!  I hope she likes this.  It is by Quilt Soup, and is called All Dolled Up.  I bought the pattern and kit last year at shop hop.  I love these fabrics!  So bright and cheery!  I have lots of sewing to do for the birthday party.  I'll post more about that later.

I've been sneaking in a few stitches here and there on my "The Farmers Wife" sampler from Barrick Samplers.  I have had to do a little tweaking on the colors, as the DMC converted colors are really off.  I like the way this is turning out, and I find myself wanting to work on it all the time, which I'm trying to avoid.  Consequently, Deb sent me some rotary instructions for a quilt called the Farmers wife, that I would like to start real soon. Isn't that weird?  Two projects with the same name...I must be in a Farm kind of mood.

Well, take care and have a wonderful 4th of July.  Thanks so much for your advice on my quilt from the last post.  I'm still holding on that quilt for a while!  Also, thanks for your comments and kind words.  I should respond to all your comments, and forgive me for not doing so.  I will try and be better!  Your comments are the reason I keep blogging, so thanks from the bottom of my heart!