ALS - Piece by Piece and Shopping for Mystery

My mother passed away April 10, 2008 from ALS - Lou Gehrig's disease.   I got an email from the ALS Association that the ALS - Piece by Piece exhibit was going to be in a nearby city, about 40 miles away, today. 

    The ALS Association Florida Chapter invites you to experience our Piece by Piece Tribute Display in remembrance of those lives taken by this dreaded disease. This exhibit features hundreds of mannequins, each shrouded with individual epitaphs, symbolizing a fellow Floridian whose life has been stolen from their loved ones. Its purpose is to pay tribute and evoke personal reflection on the devastating numbers of those currently suffering. We hope you can share this powerful experience with us this week as the display visits both Tarpon Springs and Ocala.

Ocala Town SquareNovember 1110 E. Silver Springs Blvd. Ocala, FL 12pm - 6pm

Tarpon Springs Veterans Tribute Weekend Craig Park November 13 - 14 5 Library Ln. Tarpon Springs, FL Sat:10am - 9pm; Sun: 11am - 5pm

Ocala Town SquareNovember 1110 E. Silver Springs Blvd.
Ocala, FL
12pm - 6pm

Tarpon Springs Veterans Tribute Weekend
Craig Park
November 13 - 14
5 Library Ln.
Tarpon Springs, FL
Sat:10am - 9pm; Sun: 11am - 5pm

 DH and I were able to go and it was very moving and so sad.

Ocala is famous for being good for horses and these beautiful pieces of art were all around the town square where the Piece to Piece exhibit was displayed.

I got a bit of DH in this one.  I also got another with more of him, but he was bending over and from the rear, so I figured I might be in the doghouse if I shared it, lol.

Bonnie Hunter's new mystery is starting this month, first clue on the 19th I believe, and I plan to go with her colors.   There are at least two quilt stores in Ocala so I thought I'd visit the one that was a dealer for Berninas.   Next time I'll visit the other one, it carries longarms and even though I'm not in the market I'd like to look.  The new mystery is called Roll Roll Cotton Boll and her colors (and mine) are going to be chocolate browns, double pinks and raspberries, grassy greens, neutrals and red.  These fabrics were my purchase, and they were half price.  I love sale fabrics even if they aren't the latest, they are new to me and I like the price.

One Basted and Family Pictures

One of the four is basted.  I was going to continue my assembly line, but I think I'm going to go ahead and finish this one and get it in the mail.  It's for my Georgia brother, and he is probably the only one of the four who cares if he gets it now rather than later.   It's not at its prettiest stage right now, hopefully even my mediocre FMQing will work it's magic.  The Lands End flannel sheet that I'm using for backing sure does feel soft and cushy.
Then it will be on to my Florida brother and his son.  I wish theirs were already done, as my nephew recently had an accident on his four wheeler and it fell on his head and damaged his ear about 30 something stitches worth.  It's so lucky that he wasn't hurt worse.   I don't think that he even knows he's getting one though so hopefully it will be a nice surprise and my goal is still to have theirs in the mail and hopefully received by the end of the month.   The last one for my grandson will be hopefully done by then, too.   It's for the grandson below in the red shirt with lots of pretty red curly hair.
Today I had my nose to the grindstone except when I got a visit from 2 grandsons, grand daughter-in-law, great grandbaby, and my daughter.  It was a nice visit and my daughter had picked up a disc of pictures from Walmart.  I'll try to  add a couple to this post if I can make blogger like me, lol.


















My daughter's children, six of my many grandchildren.

 My grandson, grand daughter-in-law and great grandbaby




















My oldest grandson, his girlfriend and her baby, Dominic who received my three day quilt.

My daughter and two of my grand daughters, her daughter and her stepdaughter.

Great Mail Day

Yesterday our mail was delivered and I had the pleasure of receiving a stack of thank you cards from my niece's family. I made 3 quilts last year for her three smallest (and had already been thanked) and this summer had made quilts (which had been started a year or two previously) for her 4 oldest children. I just thought I'd share:

Logann (5), Maisyn (3), Kolbie (the baby)
Dear Aunt Candace,
Since we were all writing our thank yous the girls decided they would like to write you a letter too. They both say thank you for their quilts and for letting them play with your toys when we were down there last summer. They say it was fun and they enjoyed it. They also said they love you and they hope to see you again.
Love you,
Logann, Maisyn + Kolbie

Jensen (10)
Dear Aunt Candace,
Thank you for the quilt. It is very nice. I love all of the designs.
Love,
Jen

Morgan (12)
Dear Aunt Candace,
Thank you for the quilt it is really comfey and I think it is a cool design. (the one on the left)
Sincerely,
Morgan

Harper (14)
Dear Aunt Candace,
Thank you so much for the quilt. It is beautiful, it makes my rainbow room a lot better. And thank you for coming and getting me from the airport when I came down. I hope I get to see y'all again soon.
Love,
Harper

Dakota (16)
Dear Aunt Candace,
Thank you very much for the quilt. I appreciate you taking the time to make those things for us they are very nice. I use it every night and it's very good in the summer because its light and keeps me cool. It is also nice because I can keep my comforter on my bed so my room stays cleaner now. Well anyway how are you guys doing? I'm doing good, staying very busy with my various things I do. Well I will talk to you later hope to hear from you soon. (the one on the right)
Love you,
Dakota

I was very touched and proud of them all. I think they did a great job, and not a single one called their quilt a blanket, lol.

Deviating Again and Grandson's Band

My oldest grandson (25) mentioned that his new girlfriend's baby is turning one year old the middle of the month, so I got the urge to make a quilt for the little fellow. I used what I already had completely, and it may be a hodgepodge, but it is colorful and will be cuddly. I was kind of doubtful about using the sock monkey fabric as it has a pink background, but they are masculine looking monkeys, so I hope that his mom is ok with it. My grandson is supposed to check and make sure that he doesn't already have bunches of blankets and quilts, and if the answer is yes this one will be his. If he does, then I'll save it for another young lad (my FIL was English and that's what he called DH occasionally). It is 40" x 48". I got the idea from a baby quilt on about.com, only they used 4 1/2 inch squares, and I wanted it bigger so I used 6 1/2 inch squares. It is a very easy one, and I figure I have about 11 hours into it now and it is basted and ready to quilt. I'm hoping that with quilting, label and binding (which is already made) that maybe I can finish it in a total of 15 hours. Not bad for a quilt from start to finish if I can do it.


I only had my cell phone camera with me, so these pictures are really bad, but 2 of these are my grandsons. They had a "gig" last night at a local restaurant/bar, and we went to see them. It was from 11 pm to 1 am, and we got home about 2 am. It's been a long time since DH and I were out at that hour, lol. They did really well and we were very proud of them. The one with the curly dark brown hair is 17 (playing guitar) and the one with curly red hair is 22 (also playing guitar). They both did a little singing also, and the 17 year old played a little drum.

Still Basting and Socializing with Family

Haven't gotten much done lately, but I did get these two basted. The bottom is the last of the big boy quilts, this one is for my 17 year old grandson Caleb, and it is just like the one for my great nephew Dakota. The top one is the back of my Christmas lap quilt which was supposed to be a "Strip Road" from Cyberquilters 4-C-Bees, generously shared by Benita Skinner. Unfortunately, due to lazyness and poor color choices mine has turned out to be "Unstrip Road", I still think I will like it ok when it is finished. Sometimes you just have to think positive, lol. Unless it just seems like someone else should have it, this one if for DH and I.Below are my two nine patches from Crazy Mom Quilts quiltalong. They are little kid sized and there is a boy one and a girl one, not for sure yet who they are for. (I have enough nine patches left to make another adult sized lap quilt, and will either do it with light brown sashing or white.) They are next in line for basting and all ready for me to get to them. Bindings are done for all four quilts, so hopefully they'll go quickly. Still thinking positive.
After that I'll go ahead and make bindings and backs for the other tops I have done and hopefully finish them and then it's on to making or finishing tops. That and getting my sewing room more organized and cleaned are the goals I'm working toward.
As for socializing, one of my great nieces was visiting from Iowa and DH and I had a pleasant evening having her and 2 of my grandsons over for dinner and as the kids would say, hanging out. My DD's fiance's daughter has been here also, and yesterday we took her and two grandson's (1 different and 1 the same as above) to a movie. We saw Grownups, which I thought would be silly, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. Before the movie we all met DD, 2 more DGS's (one of which brought a friend), and 1 DGD at a Chinese restaurant for lunch. It was a lot of fun and so nice to be together with family. There is going to be a wedding the first of next year, but we already consider DD's fiance's 2 daughters to be our grandchildren, too.

A Day at the Beach

The young family spent a day at the beach with the other side of the family and I stole a couple of the pictures of the 7 month old little lady.

Great Grandbaby

Wow 2 posts in one day.
This picture was on my granddtr-in-laws facebook with this caption:

She has been playing with the quilt her g. gma made her for 30 min now.

I told her that kind of enthusiasm will earn her another quilt.
She's a little six month old cutie now.

Life Goes On

My husband, Ernie, was in the hospital almost a week, and has been out now for about 3 weeks and for the most part doing well. We have stayed busy with doctor's appointments and therapy for his hand, and I'm sure that will be going on for a while more (he has 3 new doctor's now). Life has pretty much returned to normal though, thank goodness. Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes on our behalf.
My daughter and her fiance, her daughter and his two daughters are going on a short vacation next month, so she and I made tote bags for each of them to take with them. We went to Walmart and they had this light blue denim fabric on sale for $1.50 a yard so we bought the 11 yard bolt and still have some left. We didn't use any pattern, just winged it using a tote bag that I had made a few years ago as a guide. They are nicer than they look in the picture, completely lined in the same fabric and with inside pockets, too. All the pockets are lined in pretty coordinating fabrics, and the straps are a nice length, long enough to put on the shoulder, but short enough to carry by hand. We also velcroed the tops, so no spillage is what we aspired to accomplish. My daughter is a single mom with 6 children and so hasn't had time to sew for many years, I really enjoyed making these with her and hope that she enjoyed it too. I hope that she enjoyed sewing again enough that maybe we can make something else together.
My wish is that these bags will be enjoyed by all on their trip, and that they help with bonding in a small way. Hopefully, they will enjoy each other and these will be a little happy reminder of their trip.

P.S. DD's dad and fiance are both Ernie's.

Visitors for Dinner

Last evening my grandson and his wife and baby visited for dinner and to watch the Magic (basketball) on tv. It was a fun visit, we enjoyed them very much, they are such a loving family, and even though they are in the midst of finding employment, are so positive about the whole situation. Little MacKenzie is almost two months now, isn't she a cutie, and such a good baby, too.

Sea World Christmas Show

We decided to brave the cold, and even DH who hates the cold was glad. The park was beautiful all lit up, and the cold even made it a little more fun, I do believe. My daughter drove us in her new (used) Chrysler Town and Country van, and it has all the bells and whistles, even a heated seat, which DH enjoyed on the ride home. Two of my grandsons went along with us, and I think that they were glad that DH and I gave them extra jackets to wear with their hooded sweatshirts. It's really fun to spend time with them.

The ice rink was beautifully decorated and we had front row seats to enjoy the show. The barbershop quartet was excellent, and we really enjoyed their show. We ate at a barbecue place, and there was music there too, also excellent.

The skaters were wonderful, and the show was beautiful.

I had to get a picture of the penguin, as my granddaughter loves them.

I liked all the skaters, but was partial to the one in the gold shirt. My daughters fiance works at Sea World (hence our year passes) and I guess that there they call him the rock star because he is such a showman.

I didn't really get any good shots of the fireworks, but this was about the best. I didn't take my good camera, and the one that I had has quite a lag after you push the button until it takes the pictures, and a lot of times it is a whole different (not as good usually) picture that results.




This tree is at the beginning (in this case on the way out) of the park, and it's pretty in the daytime, but absolutely gorgeous at night.

First Great Grandbaby and Step 4 Carolina (Iowa) Christmas Mystery - Bonnie Hunter

Here is my first great grandbaby ever, now I really feel old, lol. She is a little cutie, born December 16th, 7 pounds 3 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long. this picture was taken on someones cell phone, and she looks much bigger and older in the picture for some reason. Mom and dad and baby are all doing well













Step 4, finally finished. Now it is time to start putting things together in step 5, and that is pretty exciting. I just hope everything goes together well, all is not perfect, there may be a few chopped points, but hopefully since it is such a busy quilt, they'll be hard to spot.

Miscellaneous

My niece and her children are safely back in Iowa and had a very nice vacation, I hope. A couple of the kids told me they can't wait until next year when they can come back, so I think that they enjoyed themselves. The last day they had to get up at 2:30 AM to catch their 6:00 AM flight, so I'll bet it felt really good to get home.

Rebecca read my blog post and the remarks about her home and she sent me this email:

"Dear Candace. I just got back from my dad's and was finally able to look at this email. You have no idea how you and your friends have made me feel. I have tears in my eyes!! Thank you so much for giving me this gift of kind words. Love, Becky Rebecca (either one is fine)"

She made my day with her kind words.

I forwarded the kind and complimentary posts about my brother's ruler rack to him and he was also touched, but told me that if I sent anymore he would get a big head.

The picture above is of the last blocks out of the seventy required for the Crazy Mom Quilts sew along. Yeah! Now, it needs to go back in the box until I get the 6 quilts finished for my grandson and nieces and nephews.

PS I was glad to see when my niece was here that she had brought the little girl quilts with her and the kids were using them. It warmed my heart.