Star Pillows

 How time flies!

Here we are in  February already,

and I still have last Christmas projects to show.

 

One day, back in early December, one of my student's daughter showed me her dimensional star pillow that she made in a class that she recently took.  She explained how it was done, and I quickly made one for DD#2 and one for my friend. 

 

This black, white, red pillow is a big hit with DD#2 who repainted and redecorated her room in this color scheme back in November.

 

My friend, Cheryl, received the Christmas one.

 

Happy Quilting,

Rhonda

 

Merry Christmas!!

Where did the time go?

Christmas is here already!!

Wishing you all a Very Very

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The above quilt is Santa Baby

It's a Buggy Barn pattern

I made that in 2010 as a sample for the shop

and taught a few classes too.

Such a fun quilt to make

I will be back next week since I am on vacation

to share with you my 2011 projects.

Thank you for stopping by.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Happy Easter and passed 200

HAPPY EASTER!!!

I really like my new Easter Eggs tablerunner. The colors are so bright and cheerful; it makes me smile everytime I look at it. On the tablerunner are about the only things that I have that are Easter related. The bunnies were made in 1995 when I took a few ceramic classes with my SIL. The girl bunny was for Mandy and the boy bunny for Buddy (no Sweetie Pie back then). The egg globe was given to Sweetie Pie one year and the flowers basket was given to me by my SIL.



Last week, I noticed that I had went passed my 200 posts. To celebrate, I was thinking perhaps I will do a tutorial.... so how about a tutorial on my Easter Eggs Tablerunner. Now, I know what you are thinking .... today is Easter and Easter maybe over for some of you ... a bit late eh? But it will include how to make those prairie points and a surprise. So are you interested? ... stay tuned....

6 more blocks

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is rather low-key this year. I picked up some candies and little things for the kiddos, then maybe we'll go see a movie later... that's all our plan for the big day.... boring huh? John got hit by the flu bug hard the last few days and is still sick and achy all over, so I'm not expecting him to be out and about anytime soon. But that's OK... this will give me a chance to work more on the Bushfire Quilt Project (see post below).



So far I have 12 wonky stars done. I have 6 more cut and ready to sew last night, but I had stay up too late the night before and after a busy day at work, I was exhausted! Mr. Sandman visited me around 8pm.... oh, my life is soo exciting! LOL

These blocks are really fun and quick to make up. What a great way to use up scraps! The only thing is my scraps basket still looks the same as when I started. lol Look who decided to pose with the blocks.... my doxie girl.

Have a loving Valentine's Day!!

Handmade gifts and...

....the end of the year. Wow, 2008 has flown by so quickly!

It has been a great year of blogging. I made many new cyber friends from it. I'm grateful for everyone and everything that has touched my life in the past year. Thank you to those who stopped by and read my blog.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

*****************************

I thought I share with you some handmade gifts in this last post of the year. I love to make handmade gifts for Christmas and have always included my family in the making of those gifts throughout the years. So it is a pleasure to know that they have adapted this attitude which made this Christmas even more special.

The first present is from Sweetie Pie.

OK.... it's not handmade, but it's a thoughtful gift from the heart. Every year, her school set up a Christmas Shop for the students to buy gifts for their families. I helped out in the Shop every year, so I knew what they had to offer and would perused and mentally picked out the items for each person on her list. However, my guesses were always wrong.

Also, she bought everything with her own money this year; I didn't have to help out. The mug said... "Mom ... you're the best in the world". It's an expression that she often uses.

For her Grandma (my Mom), she picked a mug that said "Grandma gives the greatest hugs". Sweetie Pie's explanation ... that is what she loves best about Grandma.... too sweet!

Now you know why I called her my Sweetie Pie. :-)

The next gift is from Mandy. She sculpted a miniature of our little Suki in clay. You know how much I love my doxies.... gotta love this mini creation. *:-D* She said she ran out of time but promised to make one of Yoshi Bear when she has more time.

Mandy also has taken a fancy to making little plushies lately and sewed some up for her friends. I wished I have pix to show, but I was working so much during that time that I missed the whole productions. :-(
I heard that there were a panda, a dog, a cat, and a tiger.

Here's a raccoon that she made for her friend's birthday a couple months back. It was made from one of her drawing, and she designed the pattern all on her own. I'm very happy that she has taken an interest in sewing again. :-)

Mandy is also an artist. She drew a portrait of her youngest cousin, Baby James, at 6 months old in charcoal for my sister.

The photo isn't the greatest due to the glass, but I thought she did a wonderful job.

Here's James admiring his portrait along with his dad....

Remember this quilt, Nifty Thrifty? I finished it just in time right before Christmas for John. Hee Hee... he saw me working on this quilt and didn't know that it's intended for him. He even suggested what color to use for the binding! lol

The quilt is very cozy. I used a combination of flannel and homespun plaids for the top, and the back is all flannel.

The last handmade gift this year is a shelf/quilt rack that John made for me. Usually, I know what he's up to, but I was clueless and very surprised on Christmas day.

My plan is to hang it in the play/guest bedroom. It's not on the wall yet, so that's why the hands are in the photo. lol The kids were holding it for me to get a photo.

The Black & White Quilt Challenge

We spent a quiet Thanksgiving afternoon with our friends, Pam and Ted. I baked an Oink turkey, aka ham, and green beans casserole while Pam baked the turkey and all the trimmings to go with it. Pam did a great job roasting the turkey this year; he came out looking beautifully.... nice golden brown.

As usual, we stuffed ourselves with too much of the good stuffs... doesn't everybody? :-) Afterward, we settled down to watch James Bond movie marathon on the tube while the kids played their games upstairs.

We didn't stay very late... had to head back home for an early night because I had to work today, the Black Friday. Since I work in retail business and they're open at 4am this morning, I was scheduled to be there 15 minutes before they open. It's my first time working on Black Friday, and all I can said is ... CRAZY! Tomorrow morning, I'll be back in that craziness again... although, not as early.

So how's your Thanksgiving?

Not much sewing going on lately here....

but last week, I discovered Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works started a new challenge for 2009. It's the Black & White Quilt Challenge Project; of course, I signed up right away.... 'cause you know I love working with black and white fabrics. It's a good thing also that I signed up right away because Jackie has now closed the challenge.

That's it for me tonight.... I can barely keep my eyes open now... off to bed I must go. You all have a good night. :-)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Wishing you a happy and yummy Thanksgiving!

Halloween Fun

Yeah.... it's the weekend! Work gave me more hours this week, so by last night I was pooped. The kiddos (except for Mandy) and I are looking forward to a four days long weekend. :-)

Here are some Halloween pix that I managed to capture before the battery in the camera went dead....

Meet Waldo and his bunny.... aka Miles and Mandy....

James the Monkey....
I snagged these shots from the family blog. My little nephew... isn't he adorable! One very happy monkey!The Ladybug and the Bumblebee....Here's the Ladybug tried to shed her shell.....and the shell complete gone... only the Bumblebee left....and off they went...

Angel and Lil' Devil

HAPPY HOWL-LO-WEENIE!!

Wow!! It's Halloween already! It will be a busy day here at the Doxies-ranch.

These pictures are from last year. What will those little doxies dress up as this year? Stay tuned....

HAVE A SAFE HALLOWEEN!!

ps I picked up the mail earlier this morning, and there's a box for me! :-D

WOO HOO.... will open it tomorrow when I have more time. Have a great one!

Another fun weekend!

We had a fun 4th of July weekend... mostly spending time with our friends from Arizona and our friends from down the street. Our Sweetie Pie had the most fun playing with her two BFFs ... just like good old time. I didn't take any picture from the weekend, so there's none to share. :-(



Last Thursday, we went to Pirate's Dinner Adventure ... good food and drinks, good show.. it was a blast. It was our first time there and didn't know quite what to expect. Our group was the first to arrive and to wait in line. The pirates let us in two hours before the dinner show; they had plenty of appetizers for us, and we ordered a few drinks to go with them of course.


While we were enjoying our appetizers and drinks, they had little skits of pirate bits and asked for volunteers. The kids happily pointed out my John and John M. (from AZ). I wished I had the camera then because we all had a good laugh at the guys while they attempted doing the Can-Can.


Then off to dinner we went. The show was good ... lots of action and cheering. The dinner was good also, but I couldn't finished it because I was full from the appetizers.


Fourth of July was great... swimming, eating, drinking, spending time with friends, and fireworks... what could be more fun!


On Saturday, we went to John's friend's, A&V, BBQ birthday party. Again, great food and great friends... couldn't asked for more! A&V received a DVD projector for his birthday and wanted to set it up outside for a movie viewing after dark. The only problem with that was there's no screen; it didn't arrived in time. Not to worry though, A&V and his friends including my John came up with a make-shift screen using a white bedding sheet and two-by-four posts. I think it was more entertaining to watch the guys putting the make-shift screen together than the movie itself. LOL


Ahhh... great memories!

HAPPY EASTER!!

Have a wonderful and Blessed Easter!!

St. Patrick's Day

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? John has a bit of Irish in him, so to celebrate, I'll make corned beef brisket, cabbage, and potatoes. Nice simple dinner....

Valentine's Day

IS IT FRIDAY ALREADY?!!

MY, how the week has flown by! I didn't have time to stop in and write a post. Even yesterday flew by before I realized that it's Chinese New Year.

Happy Chinese New Year! It's the Year of the Rat. It's the first sign of the Chinese zodiac. The Rat represents prosperity and leadership.

Our custom is usually to celebrate the new year with family, lots of food, and the kids' favorite, lucky red money envelope!

*******************************************************************

Tonight's agenda for us is Starry Night at Hannah's school. It's a family fun filled evening with hands-on activities and star gazing. Yes, there will be 12 large telescopes there this year for gazing at the stars. It should be a good night to look at the stars 'cause the day has been beautiful and the sky is clear. For dinner, Carl's Jr. trailer will be there. Then, I'm on cotton candy machine duty for the night with my friend, Pam.