Chef Junior & More

Hi Everyone, well Junior started culinary school today at the Art Institute of California down by South Coast Plaza in Santa Ana. There was a glitch in his schedule as the Head Chef signed him up for too many classes that were not covered by his financial aid so they had to cut six units. Unfortunately, the six units they had to cut was his cooking class. Apparently he cannot cook until he takes Sanitation and Safety...So, not to worry though, he will get to take that next quarter. A quarter is only 11 weeks long. So, he will be cooking up a storm next quarter. This quarter he is taking his Sanitation and Safety (which he needs in order to get a job in a kitchen), a portfolio class (required but no credits), and Cooking Concepts & Theories. These are three requirements he will get done in the 11-week quarter. I'm anxious to talk to him when he gets home tonight.

Anyway, here is what Junior has to wear next quarter when he's actually cooking in the kitchen. He has to be dressed exactly right or he will be sent home for the day. I think he looks pretty good !!! One picture is with his apron and then without it. He likes the one without the apron....ha,ha,ha.

Well, this had to be the fastest I ever got a block of the month done. I think this one turned out especially cute. I love the little girl and the dog.

More next time !

Love to all my family and friends, Karene

BOMs & More

Hi Everyone...well, June was a very busy month with Matt's graduation, my niece Nicole's graduation, quilt classes, etc. Joy and I started attending "fuzzy slipper" nights at Orange Quilt Bee, which are FREE sew nights twice a month. I have met some really great people there, in particular Ruthie (another widow) who has just been so wonderful and encouraged me to come. Anyway, between the fuzzy slippers and my classes, I have been able to get quite a bit of sewing done. This is such a great outlet for me and is my "therapy". I'm at my happiest when I'm there.

One of the classes I attended in June was an "Abbey Bag" class with my bestest buddy, Joy. This class was taught by our Teacher Extraordinaire, Ms. Janet, and I have to say it was really fun. We took the class with several "employees" of Orange Quilt Bee which made it extra special. It was a head-spinning, whirlwind class and thank goodness I had my pieces cut before I went to class because that really helped me get the bag done in just a couple of hours.



Here is a picture of me (courtesy of Joy) tying my pincushion portion of the bag, which then got hot glued to the flower portion that it sits on. The bag portion was sewn to the flower before it got hot glued. The pincushion is filled with "lizard litter", which actually is crushed walnut shells. I put in 1-1/2 to 2 cups, which made it very heavy and able to sit well on the edge of the table without falling off. It was fun and they all turned out so cute.























Here is a picture of four of the Abbey Bags that were made that day in class. Mine is the blue one. Don't know if you can see the material clearly or not but it has all kinds of sewing notions on it.....i.e., scissors, pincushions, thread, etc. It's really, really cute.




















I finally finished my Home Is Where the Heart Is block for June. This one was very time consuming with a lot of hand stitching. I think I'm slowly but surely getting better on my hand stitching.



















Here is the close up of the bride & groom as well as the church. Click on the picture to enlarge it and look at the flowers. These were tiny little french knots to make the flowers and then I had to back stitch the stems.





















The July Tisket-A-Tasket basket came out on July 5th and I just had to make this one patriotic. Not sure what the sheep has to do with the design of this block but it's cute anyway.




















This is the July Home Is Where the Heart Is block, minus the blanket stitching and the hand work, but I just loved how it turned out. The sand fabric (provided by Ms. Yvette) has tiny paw prints on it so I decided I had to "add" a dog in this scene even though the pattern didn't call for it. Can't wait to finish this one and see how it turns out. The little girl is sew cute now. Yvette and I are making ours into wall hangings because this quilt would be well over king size when it's done and I just don't want to have to try to quilt something that size or pay for professional quilting on that large of a quilt. I got a really cute hummingbird hanger to hang these on when they are done. I think they will look really, really cute once they are all put together.




















Now, I'm starting the quilt for Craig's charity event, which is supposed to be sometime in October and then I need to make another quiilt for Tricia's daughter, Kate, for her big girl bed that she is going to get in January for her 2nd birthday....busy, busy, busy... so stay tuned as there is more to come in July.

Love to all my family and friends !

Bits-n-Pieces

Hi Everyone....well it's been a very busy couple of weeks with Matt's first prom and then graduations galore, Snoopy, in addition to my sewing class and the blocks of the month. Here is a sampling of pictures so far from this month:


Matt & Ruby leaving for prom






















Matt & Grandma Dorie








Matt in his cap and gown. Unfortunately, he was too sick to walk in his graduation or attend the ceremony, but he dressed for the occasion for grandma anyway (to make grandma happy).





















And then there is the ever popular sewing corner......ha,ha,ha !!! Here is the June block for the Tisket-A-Tasket block of the month. This one is SEW PRETTY !!! I think it's my favorite so far.

Here are close-ups of the flowers and the bird

This coming Friday, Joy, Yvette, and I are meeting at Joy's to make the Home is Where the Heart Is block of the month for June. Stay tuned for that in a couple of weeks !!!

and then I am making these new placemats in sewing class because I'm sick of the ones I have had for years and years. Thanks to Joy for having just the right material I "borrowed" from her stash..thanks, bestest buddy !!! As you can see, the first one turned out really nice. Junior wants his name embroidered on it...ha,ha,ha !!!

With this pattern, you can also make a matching tablecloth and napkins. Hmmmmm, maybe.....the tablecloth. We'll have to see how much material I have after the placemats are done.

Love to all my family and friends

Memorial Day

May Happenings

Hi everyone, well it's that time again for a different kind of update. I have been working on my Home is Where the Heart Is block of the month and am almost finished with the May block. I just have to finish the stitching on the bees, but I'm not sure if I want the banner on the bee hive to be a flower shop (as the pattern calls for) or a quilt shop (called Orange Quilt Bee....ha,ha...where teacher extraordinnaire, Ms. Janet, is now teaching). Maybe that would be infringing on their store name so I guess I'll have to call it something else. Oh well, it would be cute if I could call it that since there are bees and the beehive on this pattern.

Anyway, I still have a few things to do with this block and we are already planning to get together for the June block. Joy and I are having a ball with these...but needless to say, Ms. Yvette, is burnt out on blanket stitching. Oh well, only six more months to go, Yvette.....LOL !!!

In addition to finishing the May block and prepping the June one, I made a quilt on Sunday during my first class at, where else, the Orange Quilt Bee that just opened up on May 9th. YAY !!! I cut this out a month or two ago when I took a class at Cozy Cottage, but never got around to putting it together. Anyway, Orange Quilt Bee finally opened and Janet is teaching on Sundays again. She switched up her class and teaches just three Sundays a month now instead of four but it's for the entire time the store is opened, which is great because we don't have to rush out for another class coming in. It's been fun getting back into class because I really need to get out of this house, which closes in on me almost everyday. It's SEW nice to be back with Ellen & Jenny as well as a few others from Janet's old Sunday morning class and some "new" people (to me) from her old Sunday afternoon class. I'm sure going to have fun getting to know some of these wonderful ladies.

Also, my hairdresser and some of her friends have been so supportive, kind and generous throughout the months that Craig was sick. My hairdresser, Debbie, did my hair for free for months as well as Ruthie who did my "waxings" free as well, and then Cora who has just been a friend to me. So, I'm making them all quilts.

This one is for Cora who is a wonderful, generous lady who really doesn't even know me but was so generous that she handed me $50 dollars for one raffle ticket (for the charity event) last year. We were selling 6 tickets for $5. She refused to take more than one ticket. Also, one day, I walked in the shop and she handed me $100 bill to just "do something for yourself". I just started to cry. She was so sweet and kind. So this is for you Cora.

Then there is Debbie. She has been my hairdresser for over 25 years. I have known her for such a long, long time and followed her from shop to shop throughout all the years. She has done my hair for free for the last several months when Craig got really sick and took only a reduced fee since Craig was first diagnosed in 2007. Debbie also bought lots of raffle tickets for Craig's charity as well, and I just wanted to do something nice for them. Here's Debbie's quilt:

Ruthie's quilt will be the same pattern as Cora's but it will be done with reds and blacks. Needless to say, I don't have that one cut out yet, but probably will cut it out in the next day or too so I can sew it in class this coming Sunday.

I have a busy, busy weekend as Matt has prom on Saturday, my nephew Adam is graduating college on Saturdayand his party on Sunday, and then Craig's flag will be dedicated at the Memorial service at Memory Gardens on Monday at 11:00 a.m.

I hand embroidered the information on it and it will be flown every Memorial Day. I will post pictures of the event later.

Well, that's all for now.....love to all my family and friends. Hugs, Karene

April & May BOMs

Hi Everyone....Well, it's been a long couple of months as you all know with Craig's illness and then passing. Anyway, I've had too much time on my hands in the evenings and I'm trying to stay busy so I've been able to catch up on my blocks of the months. Here are my Tisket-A-Tasket basket blocks.

Here is the April basket.

Here is the May basket. It was just available yesterday from Bunny Hill Designs. But since my evenings are completely free now, I was able to whip this one out quickly. I really liked this one and I used a decorative stitch on "Bernie" to do the butterfly antenna (so no hand sewing on this block...YAY !)

And then, there is the Home Is Where the Heart is blocks. I'm just loving these. Each one just gets cuter and cuter. We didn't get to meet with the 3rd amigo, Yvette, in April to do our block so Joy and I worked on them during the week. We missed her and will be getting together this Friday to do the May block. If you can believe it, this block contains over 50 pieces to stitch around, which includes the umbrellas on the band portion.....YIKES!!!

When making the boy bunny, the pattern called for the carrot to be under his arm. However, you couldn't see it very well. So, I took "Quilter's Choice" privileges and put the carrot in his hand. Joy liked the idea too and did the same thing. Sew cute !!!

From start to finish, I just loved the girl bunny. She is just adorable, until I did the hand embroidery on her face. Oh well, I'm not about to take it all out. I think she still looks ok. Now, that I have so much time on my hands I'll need to learn hand embroidery techniques. Maybe take a redwork class or two at Cozy Cottage to learn how to hand embroider. It's not too expensive and it's only one night a week.

Well, this is all for now. Hope you all enjoyed seeing these new blocks.

Love to all my family and friends

Karene

March - BOMs

Hi Everyone, well it's been a long few weeks but I did manage to eek out a couple of hours to sew. I first got the Tisket-A-Tasket basket for March done and then tried to do the hand embroidery. I still need lots and lots of practice on this hand embroidery stuff. I guess I'll just have to have Yvette teach me (check out her blog). Anyway, I did love the yellow bunny on this block.



I also was able to escape for a bit and meet Yvette at Joy's house to work on our Home is Where the Heart Is block of the month. I simply loved this month's block. I don't know why but I've tried to pick fabrics for the theme of the month and this block reminded me of Easter so I just had to pick pastel colors.






I wasn't sure about the border piece at the bottom with the kites so I took this block with me to class at Cozy Cottage and asked Ms. Janet to help me decide. I think we did pretty good ! It's a very, very pastel lavender color..nice and soft.





I especially loved the little kids on this block. They are just adorable as well and I'm trying really hard to get my hand embroidery down for this quilt. Check out the bunny too !!!

I can't wait to work on April's blocks.

Well, as most of you know, Craig came home from the rehab facility on March 13th. Snoopy decided to catch a snooze with Craig and I just had to snap this pic. Too cute, Snoopy !!!

Love to all my family and friends

Karene

Feb - BOMs

Hi Everyone....here are the Febuary Block of the Months (BOM) that I have been working on. The first one is the free BOM called A Tisket-A-Tasket. I LOVED THIS BASKET with the birds. I can hardly wait to see what is in the March basket in this series.















Second, and my very favorite, is the Home Is Where the Heart Is BOM that I'm making with my good friends, Joy and Yvette. As you know we get together once a month and pick out fabric and fuse them on the background. Then we go home and "do the applique dance". Then, we each take delight in blogging the results for all to see. Here is my February block.
















I especially liked the dog and the cat. However, since my dog fabric was dark brown you couldn't see the eyes if I would have used black embroidery floss like the pattern called for so I decided to use yellow instead. This really set off the eyes. I think I'm getting better at the handwork and am thinking I might be able to do handwork after all, but only in short sessions.
















and just like Joy and Yvette did, I just had to take a picture of the January and February blocks together to see how they would look next to each other. I'm really liking these !!!

















Ok, so now to go elevate my foot ! If any of you haven't heard, I broke my right ankle on Feb 17th...which has been a real PAIN ! However, the good news is that I was put in a Cam walker (a boot and not a cast) so I can take it off to sleep, shower, etc. SIGH !!! Such is life !

All my love,
Karene

Missy's 50 !!!

Hi Everyone....as some of you know I had started a quilt several months ago to give my sister-in-law, Missy, who turned 50 in January 2009. She only told me that she wanted blue and yellow and I tried and tried to figure out a pattern. I decided to try a mixture of embroidery and quilting as several people had done this in my quilt class and I really liked the "look". I finally decided on a Triple Irish Chain quilt that had big enough center blocks that I could embroider on. Craig and I went through the Bible and picked out several meaningful words to place on the blocks. I deliberately placed the word LOVE in the center block because that's what this quilt symbolizes for me. LOVE....the love between and brother and a sister, the love between a mother and a daughter, and the love between sister-in-laws who became "sisters".

You probably can't see all the words here, and I hate to say I don't have them written down, but I used a varigated shiny blue thread that just made each word absolutely gorgeous. Now that the quilt top was made, I had to quilt it, which I did all on Bernie and it had to have "curly-Q's", because that's what Missy likes about my quilts are the "curly-Q's" or "stippling". Anyway, I did a mixture of straight stitching on the chain and curly-Q's in the border. Once the quilt was done I had to wait......and wait.....and wait...for her birthday !

Well, leave it to Missy, she didn't have a "normal" surprise 50th birthday party ! She did something else, true to her personality. She had a "girlfriend" party to celebrate all her girlfriends. It was truly a special day with special people ! She had her harp teacher there playing as we all arrived and a lady doing caricatures of all the ladies !!! It was really neat. I didn't want to arrive with the gift in my hand because that would have given it away so I had my mother-in-law take the gift home, wrap it and bring it to the party for me. However, it was like pulling teeth to get Missy to open up her gifts. As people were starting to leave, I kept asking Nicole (my niece) to make her mom open up her gifts. She finally sat down to do so....FINALLY!!! She was so surprised to actually see the quilt and thought that I had too much on my plate to make her one, which actually I do but I made this several months ago so I could have it ready for her big day. I'm so happy she likes it ....it's for you, Sis !

Now on to the next project, Cheryl's 60th. However, I have a few YEARS to get that one made....ha,ha,ha.

Love to all my family and friends,

Karene

A Mix of Everything

Hi Everyone, Well I got sucked into trying the BOM (block of the month) that my good friends, Joy & Yvette, are doing called "A Tisket A Tasket". Theirs are so much better than mine and I realized that I don't like appliquing small pieces.





Anyway, here is my attempt at this really cute BOM. This is a free design from Bunny Hill Designs.




http://bunnyhill.blogspot.com/2009/01/free-block-of-month.html



My other BOM is Home is Where the Heart Is. This is February's block. I have not blanket stitched around anything yet, but it is fused. I love this BOM, but again there are some teeny, tiny pieces that need to be appliqued...UGH !!! Check out Joy's blog to see pictures of our day together and our special surprise.


http://joy-denise.blogspot.com/




















I'm currently making a quilt for my hair dresser, Debbie, who has been cutting my hair (dare I say for over 25 years now), but since Craig has been sick she's been doing my hair for free. So, I'm going to give her this as a thank you. She only wanted beiges and creams, but I just had to throw a bit of color in there. I really hope she likes it.

Anyway, when I grow up I want to be like Yvette. Check out all the projects she is doing and her gorgeous BOMs. She's INSANE.....tee hee!!!

http://fitquilter.blogspot.com/

Love you, my friends

Karene

Home is Where the Heart Is - Block of the Month

Well, it's time for some fun stuff. On January 1st, my good friends, Joy & Yvette, and I got together at Joy's house to start our new block of the month quilt, called Home is Where the Heart Is. We saw this block of the month when we all went to the Long Beach Quilt Show and loved the pattern.

We all brought our stashes and scraps to make the "January block". Needless to say I screwed up getting my pattern traced on Steam-A-Seam on the wrong side and had to re-trace approximately 30 pieces of appliques. However, we finally got the pieces onto the fabrics that we picked out and then I came home and fused them onto the background piece.

After fusing the applique pieces, then you go around each and every one of them with the "dance"....I used the blanket stitch because I like the look of it.

Here is a close up of the house with some of the fabrics that Yvette let me use for the house and roof.

and here is my attempt at some hand embroidery.....I tried, Ms. Janet, I really tried. Anyway, the eyes are french knots and the snowman's mouth and fishing line are made with a stem stitch.

Anyway, now I'm up to speed with Joy and Yvette since they have had theirs finished for at least a week. On to next month's block....February ! I hope to do better as the months go on.

You can also check out Joy's and Yvette's blocks and see how we all make them different and the same:

http://joy-denise.blogspot.com/

http://fitquilter.blogspot.com/

Love ya

Karene