Bridger's and Taplin's (and Louie's) Weekend

Last week, my fun project was finishing two little whole-cloth quilts (not pieced, just two fabrics with batting) for Bridger and Taplin. Louie loves sleeping snuggled right next to me when I hand sew, so he enjoyed the two evenings spent stitching on the binding.
The bags were from Hobby Lobby and then embellished with ribbon on Taplin's and a strip of the quilt fabric on Bridger's, plus a label on each. It's kind of like Christmas whenever they come to visit. That's the fun of grandparenting: being able to do all of the fun things parents rarely have time and energy to do.
This is Bridger's "Time For" quilt made with Michael Miller ABC fabric and clock fabric.
Taplin's is fabric by the same designer, but polka dots. I had fun quilting this one by ironing on freezer paper circles and stitching around them. Louie would rather be on the quilt, but he is a good fellow to sit and watch the picture taking process.Saturday morning, Louie found Tap's pacifier and thought it was tasty......and Tap found Louie's squeaky hot dog and thought it was tasty...
and Louie's ball is fun too! You cannot take your eyes off of either Taplin or Louie!
We all headed over to the Dog Walk at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Louie and Bridger got plenty of exercise. Both of them were pretty entertaining and left us laughing. Taplin had a nice stroller ride and liked being outside, but the main objective was to wear Bridger and Taplin down by getting them to run outside, and it worked.

Aren't these three guys good looking?
Saturday evening, Meghan and Shannon went out together to a chick flick, and Grandma and Grandpa settled in with the boys to play in the family room and watch some TV.
See? The expedition to the Dog Walk paid off! Bridger crashed on the floor under Grandpa's quilt and was sawing them off when his mom got back.
Taplin and Louie are going to grow up to be great buddies, and it looks like Taplin could grow up to be a famous piano man. He sure loves music. The minute he hears any song, he bounces in rhythm. He likes to make lots of noise with two hands on the piano.
His newest acquisition is his Lightening McQueen car. He can push backwards, but he hasn't gotten the forward motion going yet. When he and Bridger both get on their ride-ons, won't that be fun! I'm impressed with how easy-going Bridger is with his little brother and how easily he shares his toys with Taplin.
Bridger just amazes us with his coloring and drawing and writing. He writes his name quite clearly and will ask how to write names to label his pictures. Bridger's level of concentration and his dexterity are pretty sophisticated. He likes to cut with scissors and do "trafts" (crafts) with his mommy. He likes puzzles and cars and movies and music and animals and books and best of all, from my perspective, he likes coming to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Winter Weekend in February

I've been working on a different little project this weekend, but during the week I finished the first eight of seventy two sawtooth stars for my BOM project. They turned out pretty well, and I am really looking forward to March 1 so that I can start on the next part of the project. Who knew this would be such a challenge and so much fun!Louie, did you do that??? Louie had fun most of the weekend, getting into trouble more often than not. He was unusually quiet Saturday evening, so I went looking for him. He had been happily chewing on a corner of the family room rug.

To stave off mischievouness, Louie had lots of walks. What's down under that monkey grass? Snakes? Moles? We have to have it cut back before the new growth begins.
Down the street we go. Trip number five million.
Ooh! Signs of spring...flowers on our neighbor's trees.
It still is plenty wintery looking and February gray, but the neighbor's tulip tree almost looks lacy against the sky.
Daffodils in our garden have already bloomed, but not all of them fortunately. It is supposed to be freezing again by the weekend.

Thinking Big

Louie, you are not all that tough. You think you are a mastiff, but you are a twenty-three pound sweet little pug. Pug thief. Pug pain in the neck. Pugnacious little fellow, but you are not tough. You just think you are big.
Home repair time. We had a little piece of paint missing on the corner of the hall wall, which is no surprise because it is the busiest, most bumped into corner in the house. When Bridger visited a few weeks ago, Allen noticed him (but did not correct him because, uh, well, that's his little grandson) picking the plaster off the corner. After the grandchildren were long gone, I noticed the six inch patch of plaster missing from the wall. The rest of the hall paint was filthy too, so we had a quick paint job in the hall.
You wouldn't think such a little project would make such a big difference. We probably should thank Bridger because the whole house looks better with the hall painted. These are my little elephants. Allen counted as he took them down: 101 elephants. My favorites are the little planters and toothpick holders that have holes on the backs, but the whole herd is fun. Bridger loves looking at my little animals.
Then there was bunco last week. This was my month to host, so I made shrimp casserole and tried a new (sinful) dessert -- almond tart. How bad can cream cheese, butter, and almonds be? Little dessert, big taste, bigger calories.
My personal challenge the last week has been adding the borders to this quilt beginning. It's February, and this is the second round for my block of the month quilt from thequiltshow.com. This quilt is probably just beyond my skill level; perhaps I think my skills are bigger than they are. However, I am thinking big, hoping I can go the distance. I have had fun picking out fabrics to fill in the gaps of my stash and following the pattern to the best of my ability. Next, I have to make eight stars (eventually a total of fifty-six stars) to be added to a border much later in the year. Shannon and I visited the Quilters Refuge in Decatur this last weekend, and she is trying out her own quilt! Go Shannon. I guess fabric shopping is fun, but not near as exciting as thinking big and signing a contract to buy a house though. Right, Shannon?

A Visit from the Grandsons (and stomach flu too)

There is absolutely nothing more precious than a little one having a bottle. Pure peace, pure satisfaction. Last weekend, Meghan and Justin and the grandsons came up for a wedding. Unfortunately, dear, sweet Taplin had some sort of stomach bug, and he had a hard time off and on all weekend.
Aunt Shannon and Uncle Nathan joined us for dinner Saturday evening. Shannon is helping Taplin appreciate Grandma's quilts. He liked the red and the buttons, I'd say.
Bubble fun! Bridger likes it when Grandpa fixed him a bubble bath Friday night with the jacuzzi turned on. Taplin and Louie want to help too, but they don't have the luxury of actually getting in with Bridger.Mmmmm. Saturday during the wedding, Bridger and Grandma made chocolate chip cookies. Bridger saw his opportunity to help and scooted the chair across the kitchen. Nothing like licking the spatula. And the beater. And the bowl. None for Louie, the poor, neglected pug.
Uh-oh. Bridger's fine, but by Sunday morning Grandpa had Taplin's stomach bug. By Sunday evening, Grandma had it. Then Aunt Shannon and even Meghan had it. Poor us. The boys and Meghan are coming back in February so that Meghan can go to a conference at A&M. Let's hope everyone stays healthy!
By midweek, I was feeling better and couldn't resist getting back to my sewing. I am working on a paper pieced block of the month quilt on my Internet quilt show, http://www.thequiltshow.com/
To paper piece, you print out the pattern pieces, place the fabric on the back piece by piece, and sew on the lines on the paper. If manipulating objects and using the old noggin stave off Alzheimers, I good for this week, at least. The process really boggled my brain, but towards the end, I got the hang of it. I could never have achieved such precision without the paper piecing.
This is the final product for the January block of the month. I am pretty darn proud of myself. This was not easy for me. It is about 15" square, and it will be the center medalion in a quilt. I don't know if I will follow through for the entire year, but so far, so good. I cleaned up my sewing room after this was finished, and I can report that paper piecing is messy, kind of like having grandchildren around. Of course, the fun far, far, far exceeds the mess.

January Projects

Isn't this guy wonderful? Shannon finished this tea towel embroidery for me, and he has come home to live in my kitchen. The design is her original idea. It reminds me of some of her paper and pen doodles. She said she almost didn't bother finishing it because of all of the little errors. Sorry, Shannon, but I don't see what you see. This is my new hand sewing project. I cut the circles out and then baste the edges so that I can draw them up around a sheet of heat resistant mylar, iron the edges under, pull out the mylar, and then hand applique them on the squares. I have seen a variety of quilts made with circles, but I am not really using any particular pattern for this. When I'm finished with all of the patches, then I'll machine sew them together. I have an idea for a border, but it will be a while before I get there.Here's my stack of squares and a couple of the circles ready to be appliqued on. I think it will probably end up being 14 x 16 patches per row, a sizable quilt by time I add on a border. Road trip required to purchase the backing, but not for a few weeks.

Louie is happy to have both of us home this week. For all of his mischievousness, he really is a good dog. His best trick is to run to bed on command. He thinks he knows when to go to bed without even being told. Yesterday, we were putting on jackets and rounding up the car keys on our way to lunch, so he took himself to bed and waited happily for us to close the door. Sweet pug.

Christmas Week Flew By!

Allen and I have been blessed with a wonderful holiday and precious time with our family. Christmas night was perfect, with Shannon and Nathan with us to welcome Meghan, Justin, and the boys. It is fun to have our own children home and exchange gifts with them, but there is nothing like watching little ones open their presents. Bridger exclaimed, "Wow, wow," for each package. He's opening the movie Kung Fu Panda in this picture. Allen and I watched it with him when his parents went out. What a great little film. Bridger is quite the movie nut, but he really enjoys music too. Meghan was playing lines from Disney movies, and he could name the song and movie.
Here he is listening to a CD with the little CD player we got for him. I remember when he was just a tiny fellow how he was fascinated by his daddy's headphones. He will no doubt be a musician of some sort.
Taplin was the entertainment for all of us, including Louie. Louie, who has never had a taste of people food, learned quickly where to wait for treats. Taplin especially liked the dinner rolls, and he likes to feed himself, so that meant lots of bread bites landed on the high chair between his legs. Louie loves Taplin.
Taplin loves his mommy. He follows her when she's in the house. He had a death grip on her leg while she was cooking. He is leaning to say ma-ma, but he's not quite there yet. He has the deepest little voice, and he makes lots of wonderful baby noises. He will watch your mouth intently when you talk to him.
I had one wonderful afternoon with just the boys -- Allen, Taplin, Louie, and Bridger. Taplin is on the move and curious about everything, so while Bridger and Allen watched Wall-E and played with puzzles, Taplin entertained Louie and me. Louie was a thief, as usual, stealing the smallest of Taplin's stacking boxes every few minutes.
We aren't the only luck grandparents in the world. I love this picture of Greg with his little baby Mac. We had two Christmas dinners, one at noon with Shannon, Nathan, Greg, Ruth, Michelle, Sean, and Mac. We love our extended family.
Louie got in on the Christmas gifts too. His plastic squeakly Nathan's hot dog was in his stocking this year.
Nathan and Shannon make a snuggle spot for Bridger on Christmas night. I know Shannon has enjoyed her extra days off even though she loves her job. She invited Allen and me to visit her work and see where she makes graphic magic for the magazine. I drooled on all of the sewing supplies and the huge sewing room.
What a wonderful week of special moments. The holiday has flown by in a blur, but it has been a happy time. I have loved spending quiet time with Allen too. He's been working some because of the go-live with ULA, but he's been home, at least! We rang in the New Year with a day trip to Nashville (to my quilt store which has moved to a new location and to lunch at the Chophouse), and then we spent the evening at home watching movies. Today, the last of the decorations have been stowed in the attic for another year.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Louie is ready for Christmas. He's been helping me in the kitchen and watching for the mailman and delivery trucks. Our mail(wo)man has been giving Louie treats when she sees him outside walking. Now he waits for her and thinks all trucks must be for him. He was watching me make dessert to take to Shannon's for Christmas Eve.
I found him sitting under the table looking up at the finished cookies (made with my mom's old cookie cutters). They have been safely relocated to a higher dog-proof counter. Tough luck, Louie, but maybe there is something in your stocking.
And indeed, the stockings are hung. Left to right, they belong to Meghan, Taplin, Justin, Bridger, LOUIE, Allen, Shannon, Jean, and Nathan. Mine is the one my mom made when I was a child, and my brother had a matching one. Allen's Scrooge stocking is appropriate, don't you think? Nathan -- now how did he end up with the biggest one? Louie has been sniffing the toe of Nathan's. We can't let Louie out of our sight. Thanks to Mr. Pug I've re-wrapped a few more presents from under the tree. Wait until he has little boy toys to steal once Bridger and Taplin are here tomorrow night.