A cool but sunny Easter Sunday in WI...

Wishing everyone a Happy and Blessed Easter and Passover. Hugs from Finn and Ms. Ebby xoxo

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone....

Everyone is Irish on the 17th of March! And some of us are Irish the rest of the year also *VBS* I'm having a glorious day, enjoying our 70 degree temperatures. Definitley NOT the norm for WI in March. It's "March Madness" time here, with the top teams from all over the state enjoying tournament fever and the hopes of winning a big trophey for their school. The boys are in Madison right now, and the girls go next. I do enjoy high school basketball alot more than the professional teams.
I've been busy cleaning and sorting out projects in my new sewing room. Hope to have some pictures real soon, when it's presentable! Kick up your heels and give the Irish jig a try!

Good bye August...Hello September..

 And all my good wishes, appreciation and gratitude to the working men and women of America, our dedication to labor and creativity have served us well. I hope and pray they will continue to do so. Happy Labor Day America!
 And to my parents, who embodied "labor", my Dad, working 2 or more jobs to make ends meet in the 1940's and 50's. And my Mom, who kept it "all together" and working, at home, raising a family.
 And with September 1st, another birthday for my darling DD#1, her 44th. Happy Birthday Baby! And a Happy 10th Anniversary on September 1st to her and her adorable hubby, SIL#1 !! Many more years of happiness and joy in your life together. Love you both!
 
And a Happy Labor Day to the byproduct of my Labor, my five kids. 44, 42, 39, 37 and 35 yrs into their lives of labor and love, family and friends, heartaches and joys, sunlight and shadows. They blend together, into my beloved family, and part of the larger picture and work force of these United States of America. They are each doing their part, as well as teaching children how to stand up and be counted. Bless them all, and you too!

Cold, rainy Wednesday...

in The Valley, definitely a "make your own sunshine" kind of day. Here's a little sunbeam from my house to yours *VBS* My youngest grandson AJ, who turned one in May. This is last summers picture and the only all YELLOW quilt I've ever made. Didn't know it would turn out to be "his" quilt when I made it, but the fit is perfect. He's got a million dollar smile and is a happy sunny baby.
 I've mentioned before, once a month at least, that I'm taking part in a Rainbow Scraps Challenge this year. The color for June is yellow. And I have lots and lots of yellow scraps. I use yellows, golds and cheddars frequently in my scrap quilts. I love the sparkle they provide. But I was hard pressed to choose a block to showcase 'yellows'. I thought I would do the "Spools" block. I like it and it's fairly direct, whether planned or scrappy. I found, however, I'm not crazy about the sew and flip aspect, and the idea of making a whole quilt with the 4 s-&-f corners didn't enthuse me. I had scraps left from the Sunnyside Up quilt, and decided to meet my obligation by re-purposing them into 5" 9 patches. An entire quilt of them is NOT the plan. They will become part of something else, eventually. I'm an OLD dog, but I can learn a new trick, LOL.
 Although some of you think all I do is play games on FaceBook, I really DO sew quite a bit. I pulled some scrappy parts from a bin and made up this little table topper for July. Quick, easy and happy. It's about 20" square.
 
The Rubbermaid I'm working on emptying is the one with the 2008 Orange Crush Mystery from QuiltVille. I stopped several blocks and the half row, short of getting it finished...no surprise there. I've cut the parts I need and am sewing on those right now. No promise that I will do the pieced border! I hope you have sunshine in your corner of the world today, as for WI, we need the rain.

Winter time....

And we have snow, but then so does almost every state in the Union. It is beautiful, until it gets dirty. I've been a sewing fool this past 10 days. Didn't realize it was so long since I'd posted. I'll have something to show soon. I'm working on my pledge quilt for Q4L, and a child is waiting for it !
 We had our family Christmas on New Years Day and DD#2's house. Here's some of my grandsons with their new flannel pillowcases, they liked them!! And money in a Christmas card worked for them as well...Gram did good!
 
L is getting to be such a big boy now. He will turn 3 next month. A new book, a storytime pause with Auntie, and the new animal that his book is about. I've forgotten the title but the book is by the author of "Hunger,Hunger Caterpiller", which was also a favorite of his Mom's. Hope everyone out East(and all across the country) is safe and warm while dealing with all that snow.

Making Christmas cookies....

 At almost 3, cookie making has become a favorite time for Levi! Having Auntie there to help makes it a celebration...can't you almost smell those still warm Peanut Blossom cookies, all gooey with melting chocolate stars??
 Close inspection is a requirement...hmmmmm? Could that ONE be damaged??
 What do you mean? You think I LICKED that cookie?? Mom....how could you think that? What chocolate on my chin???
 
And little brother AJ, just past 6 months, says..."hmmmm, no cookies down HERE, guess I'll eat my blanket". ho ho ho....

I've been working on the railroad...

 but not quite 'all the live long day' *VBS* I confess to having taken some play time with orphan blocks. Yes, the UFOs are still on the front burner, but play is good!
 I have both of these going at the same time, using orphan blocks and parts from Em's box. It's interesting with orphan blocks quilts, that while you can put "everything" in any one of them, sometimes they grow towards "flavor intense". I could tell almost immediately that these two were going to be opposite of each other. I tend to favor the brighter one,but since the other wants to be "that way", I will oblige but keep using reds. Thanksgiving was nice, and I enjoyed the company of my kids and their spouses. With football in the background, it was lively around here and the food was good. The weather co-operated and no one had travel difficulty. I was tired yesterday, and a nap was needed, but I am climbing back up to speed today...time to get busy!
 
And since the high loft batt arrived via Turkey transport, I can now turn these 20 blocks into a snuggle quilt. It will be a Christmas gift, and is one of my 5 UFOs to finish. Catch up with you later!

Monday's Mishmash....

 Being grandchild #15 doesn't seem to bother AJ, he's right at home on the Sunny Side Up quilt from Grandma. That boy always seems to have a smile *VBS*
 And speaking of Sunshine...the old Finnster is giving a HUGE bouquet of SUNflowers to our sunny stitcher Carol! We are 3 dsys short of ONE month into the NYE UFO Countdown Challenge, and Carol has finished ALL of her 10(yes TEN) chosen projects!!! I think that deserves a huge round of applause and a big bouquet of sunflowers...way to go Carol!
 Aren't pictures great? And aren't digital cameras and photo sharing just the best? These are mine...my riches, my blessings. I can count my blessing with every hair on their heads, every freckle on their noses and every hug and kiss I get from them. This is last Thanksgiving Day. It was truly a blessing to have all 5 of my children together with their spouses and most of the grandkids. We were missing a few of course, but 3 granddaughters were there. It's the closest I've come to having them ALL together in one room....well, sort of in one room...LOL. It's hard to keep the little ones from dashing away. This year the group will be much smaller, 2 offspring, their partners and no grandchildren. Much smaller indeed.
 
And as we come to the end of the day, November 22, 2010, I leave you with a heartfelt wish for peace in your particular valley, and a sunny tomorrow.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

and a white Christmas it will be. We have only a trace of fresh snow this morning. Mostly of this was from the storm a week plus ago. It makes all the skiers and snowmobilers happy. 
 I'm far behind in getting ready for Christmas but I did manage to bring out the Christmas Pineapple Blossoms quilt for the back of the couch. Looks good there, but "oh my"...those pillows need help!!
 A couple of Hoffman Christmas fabric panels(years and years old) will do the trick. I turned them into simple pillowcases, and stuffed the offending pillows inside. It does look better, doesn't it??
 
A nice close up...I'm pleased with my effort. Onward to the Christmas tree,hoping I can get it up today and a few more decorations put out. Lots of holly jolly to everyone who like it *VBS*

Sliding into December...

and there are worse ways of making an entrance, so this will do. I didn't realize how long I have been missing until I updated the "finishes" last evening. Sorry about that. I'll try to do better, but everything seems to be tired, all at the same time! I do have a finish, my 3rd, for the challenge. It's been completed for a couple of weeks I just haven't gotten a picture taken. It's the tutorial runner, completed at last! I made extra units, making it longer than ever before. It's for my coffee table. I'm thinking about putting the Christmas tree on the coffee table this year. I think this will sort of take the place of a traditional tree skirt. We'll see if I like that or not. I did have a lovely Thanksgiving with my family. Here are a couple of pictures taken by DD#1 with my camera.
 This is Hailey Marie. She's 18 months now, and quite a handful in more way than one. She's big for her age and we tend to forget how young she is. All 5 of my children were at DD#2's house this year. They bought a new home in August and this is the first time she's entertained her family. We sat down to dinner at 3, with 10 adults and 11 grandchildren asking for another years blessings. The food was delicious and the it was enjoyed by all. Hailey saved room for her bottle and blanket.
 
This could be called the "boys table", with 7 of my grandsons eating together. Baby L was in his highchair. I imagine next year he'll be at the boys table too. The 3 granddaughers were at the kitchen table, with me...what fun! From 18 yrs to 18 months, with a 4 year old in the middle *VBS*
I have pictures of the whole group, chaos at its best, but those pictures are sitting at Snapfish, sent by DD#1. I have to see if I can figure out how to get them into my Picasa album.

HO~HO~HO abounding...

along with giggles, squeals and lots of laughter *VBS* Finn Family Christmases are like that. Church services celebrating the Birth, and then onward to the merriment! This wasn't a year when all the grandchildren were here... but we sure had fun with the ones who were. You probably recognize these two mischief makers as belonging to my youngest DS, boy, do they keep things hopping!
 There was much passing around of this little treasure, Baby L...I've lost track,is he DGS #10, or #11? Senior moments again. He's 10 months now, and not quite himself yesterday, some nasty bug giving him problems. He loved tearing into the packages, not HIS but those of his cousins. They took it very well and I was proud of how well they handled themselves and the baby. They're growing up.
 Quite a bit of this went on, more BEFORE Baby L arrived, but lots of games to play even after he was there. He was our official "bow" collector this year *VBS*Somebody needs to end up with bows stuck to their head every year, you know!
 And could it be holiday with some of this??? Those goofy boys!!! I understand they are called "grills"...definitely foreign to me, but they had fun with Uncle B. and "his" set. My heart is full to overflowing with "merry and bright". It should last me a good long time, and by then, it'll be spring again. I know I'm late, but the "Happiest of Holiday, One and All".

'Tis the season....

to be wearing red, which is a color I love. It's strange to find myself loving red. I hated it as a child for a good reason. Being blond, my mom felt red was a perfect color for me, and bought many of my clothes and coats with that in mind. It was a happy day when I could finally state my preferance loud and clear, and be heard. Now, in later years, I find that red is absolutely perfect in almost everything! Looking at this clild in red convinces me that my mom was probably right....LOL. Who knew??? Happy Holidays to all you quilter who love red, and those who don't.
 Yesterday I showed a little fence rail quilt I had sewn over the weekend. And this is a doll quilt from last Christmas, same little fence rail blocks, but with a triangle sewn on the sides of the square, it become a "Cracker" block. This works well with those assorted triangles left from other projects. You could recycle almost any size of triangle to fit the 3.5" square, as long as it's not too small. I'm fairly sure 2.5" triangles are too small, but just a tat.
 And since it's been awhile, I'll refresh your memory. This is the black and white polka dotted quilt that I'm currently binding(one side done last evening before Ebby took over my lap).
 Across the years the sounds of Christmases past drift back to me. How many times you could sing Jingle Bells without making Mom crazy, what year did Ruldolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer join us as part of our culture, who sang it first, how many popcorn balls could you make from one batch of syrup, and "is that syrup I see in your hair?". Is it cold enough for your boots to squeak on the snow and did you lose your mittons? All the varied bits and pieces that are part and parcel of our memories. So many beautiful Christmas carols and songs reminding us daily of the season, the holiday and a mixture of "what is" and "what was". Many many seasons have passed since I had a parent to visit during the holidays...10-20-30 years and more. It's not always the same, some years are harder than others, for many reasons. Everything changes, everything has a place where it ends. I can't help but wonder, but am quite sure that I'm not the only one missing someone this time of year...I suspect each of us has an "I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams". What wouldn't we give for just one more holiday with our loved ones?