It's Official! We are empty-nesters!

So today is the BIG day - Moving Day.

My daughter Serena left at 5 am and is moving to Denver. Stephen, her boyfriend from Denver, came for Christmas, and to help her drive back.  He helped her pack and get her car ready for the long drive. He's such a keeper!  And he also found a room for her to rent. See?!  I told you he's a keeper! She has already transferred her job there. So I think this is a good thing.

The not so good thing is that I'm going to miss her.

Before she left I did start teaching her to embroider.

  Do you see little Marzipan in there?  She's always on our laps - she's not scared of needles!

I think this this picture sums up Christmas.

I'm very lucky to have a wonderful family that could come for Christmas.  As soon as my daughter Angela showed up - she headed straight for the stove and started cooking.  We all hang out there and help. 

 And sneak snacks as we help. 

 We play lots of games - and new one this year is "Tiny Hands"

You have to do a variety of things like golfing with an ink pen using these "teeny tiny" fake hands. 

Serena thought she would use them to hold her boyfriend, Stephen's face.

I'm terrible about taking pictures - BUT I did remember to get one of Bruce and me in front of the tree.  

As you can see I darken up my hair - I was so tired of that blonde.  It will lighten up again come pool time.

So now we are empty-nesters. (What ever will we do with our time? hehehe)  

Happy Stitching,
Linda

Getting Ready for Christmas

Now that Bruce is in the family - he has to have a stocking!

First thing out of his mouth:  I don't like felt stockings.

Me thinking:  Good! I don't have to make you a Bucilla Stocking.  I'll just buy some dumb stocking at the store.

Then he saw our felt Bucilla Stockings, and saw that EVERYONE in our family has one.

He changed his mind real quick!

So he picked out Santa's Workshop.

And I got to working on it. And I'm so HAPPY as I love working on these stockings! I love to sew on those sequins!

He was shocked it didn't come already made.

I sorted the embroidery floss. 

Sewed on some sequins and the window plane with snow.

 I sat up my little cozy corner - which is so good the doggies try to take it over.

I've been working on it every night.

It will not be ready for Christmas - but that's okay.

I'm so loving that we have a large Christmas Tree this year.

It's so much fun.

I like that I can see the tree in the mirror.

If you notice there is a plain stocking for Bruce for this year.  

Bruce accidentally gave away all his Christmas decorations when he moved in with me.  Except for this Angel which he has had for over 35 years.

I'm so glad he has it. 

 And lucky me that I really like her.

I also hung up my little Christmas Tree Quilt.

 I'm doing good, still working on the cross-stitch. 

 So are you ready for Christmas?  Almost?  That's good enough.

You still have a couple more days.

Last thought for this post:

The reason for our celebrating Christmas.

 Happy Stitching,

Linda

FNwF Update

My vote for binding the quilt was the stripe, Bruce's was for the plaid.

I think the stripe just looked more cheery and fun.

I'm the quilt maker so my vote wins! Hahaha

Plus I did have back up from my quilty friends. Thanks everyone for you input. 

Next to get out my sewing machine and stitch these up.

Binding is ready!

Well, it's not much but it's a start. I'll work on it more later as I have to put up some Christmas decorations now.

Happy FNwF,
Linda

Happy Dance!

  I just finished quilting my Doggie Quilt. YAY!

I always do the happy dance - even if it's only in my head.  (I don't think Bruce is ready to actually see my "quilt is finished happy dance" yet. LOL)

One of my Favorite parts of quilting is CUTTING THE BATTING OFF!

Yes - you love it too?

Then I had to find some binding fabric. 

The only bit I had was a 8x9 piece.

Well, we needed to go to Walmart for other things, so I though I might as well look.  Although what is the chance Walmart will have fabric to match Pam Kitty in the Morning fabric?  (NONE - or so I thought!)

Check this out! Perfect match of green color.  

Well, not in these pictures as the lighting was different, but in real life they are. 

 

And this one also had a perfect match of green running through it.

I couldn't believe I would find the any fabric much less two to choose from.

So.....plaid ?

Or stripe?

 

So binding this is my project for Friday Night with Friends.

Head on over to Gone Stitchin' and sign up and join us.

Happy Stitching!

Linda

Tree Hunting, Thanksgiving & Tiramisu

Oh my gosh - my daughter is such a nut EVERY SINGLE YEAR she requests a year as tall as our ceiling.  

Well - this year she teamed up with Bruce !

He's also a nut.

Or maybe "big tree lover" is a better description.

And bought the biggest tree on the lot!

Oh yes!  That's a big tree - probably 12 1/2 foot.

We had to move furniture and even remove furniture to fit it into the house. 

We started putting on lights and had to go buy another couple strands.

We bought candy canes too - and when the grand kids come over they get one.  When we run out we just buy more.

It took ALL our ornaments to fill that tree.  

Silly - Silly but oh so fun.

Working on the cross-stitch still.

Thanksgiving was wonderful.

This is our first year and Bruce insisted on taking Serena and me out of dinner.  I loved it!  And then the next day we got together with the rest of the family and had leftovers and played games.  Since we didn't have leftovers, I made a bunch of food.

I want to share with you the dessert.

Tiramisu

I had this dessert in Italy - it's coffee flavored and oh, so, so good!

Serena found a new recipe for it and we made it together.

This is Chef Dennis Littley's recipe. 

And it's the Best Tiramisu You Will Ever Make.

Look at that messy kitchen!  Egads - you would think the dessert was complicated.  It's not, it's easy.  Yes, it's the best Tiramisu. And he has tips to make this and other desserts great.

Happy Stitching and baking,

Linda 

Giving Thanks - More Quilting on the Doggie Quilt

Each day, before the sun even thinks about rising, I take my dogs for a walk.

I use this time to talk to God.  Ever since Mark passed, I've made a point of thanking God for at least 3 things. 

The first thing is always Mark. I'm so grateful to God for giving me Mark to love and teaching me more about love through Mark.

Then sometimes I thank him for my job - that keeps me sane (and provides an income).  Or maybe it's my daughters that are so much fun and entertaining.  Or Serena that she's still at home and is wonderfully energetic.  Or just the fact that I have two legs that can walk each day.  

Today it was for my little doggies because without them I wouldn't be out there walking and praising God. 

I thank him for Bruce - it's strange to be adjusting to someone new.  And of course it's fun to be starting a new life.

As I'm out there walking, I often pray for you guys, my internet friends. 

This Thanksgiving I'm praying for those without friends or family to share with, that God will provide them with some companionship.  

I have been working on my quilt.  YAY!!

I did decide to cross-hatch the center.  I like it much better.

I actually have the top finished enough to quit quilting.

 Except for the borders.

I'm not quite sure how I'll quilt them, but I'm going to use this pink thread.  White is just too stark against the black.  This pink will be softer.

My ideas so far are:

1. Feathers 

2. Doing a flower design around the bigger blossoms

3. Vine and leaves

or ???

To each of you, my cyber-buddies,

And don't eat too much pumpkin pie!

Linda

Found that Freemotion Groove

 How's this for getting in the groove?

Nice little tear drops echoed about on the background.

I'm loving doing the free-motion.

This quilt just laid on my table for weeks!  I finally just got desperate.  I just wanted it DONE!  I started quilting around the cherries, the hearts etc. then did some straight lines.

I think I'll cross-hatch this one.

The back is looking pretty good too. 

  I'm really looking forward to getting to it again this weekend.

Happy Stitching,

In-the-Groove-Linda

Friday Night Sew In

Our New Guy - Stephen, Pumpkin & The Pumpkin Patch

I know, I know I ought to be done quilting my DOG BOM

But...we had this cutie pie come visit.

And so I had to remove my quilting from the dining room table.

Stephen is the guy that is about to take my daughter away. Yep, I know it deep down, but I'm in denial. hahaha

He's from the Denver area, and she plans to move to there to get to know him better.  He came out for a few days, and fit perfectly into our family.  He's wonderful, and he's wonderful to my little girl.

So in the morning we had waffles and then the WHOLE family met at Banducci's Pumpkin Patch. This was our 10th year!  I think that makes it a family tradition.  We were happy to have Stephen there for the first time. 

And it was Bruce's first time too.

Bruce: What do you do at the pumpkin patch?

Me: Uh, look at pumpkins (thinking that sounds lame!)

But we meander around in the fresh morning air and they have a pond with ducks and animals, and it's decorated so cute. Oh and the kids dress up.

 Also, new is this precious baby pony named Pumpkin. What a cute name.

She was only 3 weeks old...and so soft!  She got tired from being pet and went to lay down.

When she laid her little head down, she bonked it on the railing.  

Awww...She was so sweet.

Pumpkin and my littlest grand daughter Elora.

Sometimes - it's more fun to just stand back and watch everything.

And I liked standing back and watching Bruce watch everything.

Bruce with his new granddaughter, Scarlett

And highlight of the day - As 4 year old Lily says: Getting Lost! (in the Corn Maze)

We all made it out!

And lastly, I have been working on the cross stitch.

And really enjoying it.

Happy Stitching,

Linda