Saying goodbye...

I have been a bit remiss in my blogging this spring but it had to do with a big change that was taking place in my life.

I put my house on the market last month. After just two days it sold and I have been running around since then.

It was a very difficult decision to sell my home. It was the house that tempted me enough to pick up my bags and move half way across country to Texas. Besides the gorgeous weather, I fell in love with that bay window.

We had the house built from scratch with just a few changes here and there from the model home.

Six months later, she was ours.

 

And we proceeded to fill it with lots of memories...

and love...

Last fall my sister, who shared the house with me, decided to move out on her own and the house became a bit big for me. I also found that it was farther out of the way than I wanted to be when I went to any social activity. In other words the house no longer met my needs. It was time for a change.

After a lot of soul searching, I decided to sell the house.

Decluttering was not too bad...

But packing it all up...

was not just physically draining, but very emotional.

Everything is living in storage for the next month. 

I have found my next home but won't be closing until mid June. Then the unpacking begins. It will be a new place, a new adventure and as my daughter keeps telling me, a new place to fill with memories.

I'll be back to blogging soon.

A Coat for Penny...

Last week we saw a bit of cold weather hit us here in Texas. Nothing like what we have seen this winter, but it was cold enough to have Penny shivering. I got her groomed the weekend before and with the short hair and strong winds she was shaking every time she had to go out. I felt so bad.

Penny got this cute, cute, cute coat over the holidays but it was a bit short on the tail end.

And at times... she was not pleased having to wear it.

Last week I finally broke down and made her a new coat.

The fabric is Woodland by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches

The design of the coat is definitely more simple and much easier to put on.

Plus, I don't think she is so embarrassed wearing it. LOL!!!

Hello World!!

I have trouble believing that it's been 6 months since I last posted. I have no excuse except the lack of time. Quick recap as to what has happened in the last 6 months... Yes, I can recap it in just a few paragraphs and I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not...

Here we go...

 Last time we chat I had just adopted this little one:

I had gone off to Boston to visit this other one:

When I got back my sister, who has lived with me for the last 7 years, bought a new home and undertook a major renovation of the place. Very Brave. I will say it was worth it since the place went from "really? This place?" to "Awesome space, sis!!".  But there were many, many, hurdles on the way.
Lots of packing and buying new furniture (for me, not her, since all the furniture in the house was hers to begin with! LOL!).

All this happening during the end of year craziness that takes place at work.

I had parents visiting during the end of November through December. My Daughter, Son in law and grand puppy also visited during the Thanksgiving break. I will say, Oreo was exceptionally happy with the yard and the happy company of Penny.

Needless to say, I got barely a smiggin of sewing done.

In November I was able to go to the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild's retreat and I made a bit of a dent in the blocks for Regimental Stars (see here for details on that quilt).

I also started Piece of Cake 3 by Thimble Blossoms. 

I have made progress on that quilt since that picture was taken. I just need the borders which I hope to add sometime this spring.

As a result of my sister moving out of the house I was able to appropriate one of the bedrooms as a sewing room, so now I have a place I can spread out and leave things ready to sew in the few minutes I have free here and there.

I made this cutting table from bookcases from ikea. My daughter found a post on Pintrest and made one for herself. I loved it but had no place to put one, so as soon as I had a room of my own I made one! I STILL love it.

Over the Holidays I made this cute little iPad sleeve for my sister's iPad mini.

I am officially cured of any thoughts of making a hexagon quilt. Lovely as they seem, putting together those hexies can be trying when you have a tad of carpal tunnel.

Now you are all caught up with life in 2013 around my neck of the woods. Next time, I'll  let you know what I've been up to in the last few weeks.

Nice to be back.
Hope you didn't forget me!
Leave me a comment so I know you are still out there... lol!

To Boston, With Love

While I was visiting my daughter in New England last month I had a chance to drop by the Museum of Fine Arts on the last day of the To Boston With Love exhibit.

The tragedy that took place on April 15th touched many lives across the world and this project was born from the need to express the feelings of love and support that those events brought forth.

I lived in Massachusetts for many years before moving to Texas. I went to college there and found it to be a wonderful place to raise my, then, 2 year old daughter. When the bombing took place it was a bit of a slap in the face because the Boston Marathon is a huge thing for the city. There is a lot of pride in the event and people hold it close to their hearts. I was not surprised by the response that came back. The images that filtered through are ones of a strong city that basically said, don't mess with us!

I was so happy to catch this exhibit.

Here are a couple more images.

I love this museum. It brings me so many memories of all the times we visited through the years while living in MA. We would go every summer and it got to a point where we knew exactly where our favorite pieces were. They have been renovating the building and expanding the premises, so it's become all new again.

They had this wonderful Samurai exhibit during that weekend.

It's funny because the exhibit was from a private collection that came from Texas!

My daughter always had an inclination toward the Japanese culture (she has a minor in Japanese Language and Communications), so I have seen my share of Japanese artifacts, but this was one of the most extensive collections I had ever seen.

AMAZING!

Love this shot of my sister photo bombing my image. It was planned. She saw the opportunity and, well...

I was then able to go see two of my favorite pieces in the museum.

John Singer Sargent's The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.

This piece is my favorite but it has nothing to do with the painting but the memory it evokes. My first trip EVER to the MFA, my daughter was very very young and out of all the paintings she saw that day, she tried to touch this painting. I was able to grab her hand before the alarm went off but it made me pause in front of the image and really look at it. The girls all seemed to be looking back at me. They seemed to be waiting. Sargent has many beautiful pieces and I have grown very close to his work, but I always remembered this image and would always go back to it on every trip.

This another favorite.

Thomas Cole's Expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

I never visualized the biblical scene until I saw this image. It just captured everything that it could have been. Click on the image to make it larger so you can see Adam and Eve fleeing. Truly outstanding work.

I had a few more excursions while in New England last month. I got to go to the Vermont Quilt Festival to see the Dear Jane Exhibit and I also went to Lowell to visit the Textile Museum and the New England Quilt Museum. I'll post about those trips later. Stay tuned.

Random thought of the day....

I'm always jealous of the people that don't have to fuss with their food.

May recap continues...

Onto a non quilty post.

I just needed to mention that May brought Mother's day and although I was far from the fruit of my loins (always wanted to say that). I did get a cute little something from her...

I will say that it was yummy... and guilt free (well, we will ignore those chocolate covered fruits)

Then after I got that 'healthy' arrangement, I went and threw caution to the wind by going to have lunch at MacDaddy's.

This place specializes in Mac n Cheese combos. They serve every combination of Mac n Cheese you can think of and makes it yummy. I went traditional. Insane good stuff. I had a side of pull pork sandwich to just round out those calories to about... gazillion!

I will wrap up my summary on my Mother's day with this sweet sweet note left tacked on my door.

 

Just let's me know that someone is doing things right.

See Jess Sew....

A new quilter joins the ranks and has started blogging her adventures!

This is Jess. You might remember her from this post.

If you have a moment, go and read her story at See Jess Sew.

I little encouragement is always a good thing. 

Back from holidays

I wish I can say that I have been disconnected due to vacations or the holidays or any other fun activity. Unfortunately, end of the year means a truck load of work and so I have been putting in some insane hours at work. But there is a ray of hope in the horizon since new years bring the deadlines we work to meet and then life settles into a normal pace once again.

I did have a chance to travel to NH to visit my daughter and son-in-law last week.

I love the holidays but there is very little appreciation of it when I'm thinking of all the work that needs to be done. 

Regardless, I still had time to see my sister and nephew and to meet the newest member of my daughter's household.

This is Oreo. He is so darn cute!

This puppy is a handful! When he wasn't chasing squirrels from one window to the next he  was jumping on you to give you some lovin'

I just got home last night and I still have tons to do, but I wanted to drop by to let you know I'm alive and kicking. No Quilting at all in this house but that just allows all my ideas to simmer a good while.

I hope you all have enjoyed the holidays and I wish you all a Happy New Year...

From our house to yours!!