PATRIOTIC DECOR!

Well a couple of weeks have rushed by so I guess it's time to get another post up.  I think I remember now one of the many reasons I kind of got away from blogging is because I felt like I seldom had anything new to say, and all of my posts were about one project or another.  And then I'd put up a quick pic on instagram and I felt I had both documented and shared.  But I do miss WRITING and visiting and so I am back again.

I finished up all of my patriotic projects, and have them all displayed on our front porch.  I am VERY pleased with the way they came out, and I am soo glad I thought of "decorating" for the various holiday's and seasons out there.  I LOVE a festive feel, but honestly now that I have redone a lot of the colors and decorations in my house, I don't really like to add in the colors of the various holidays...such as the red, white and blue of the 4th of July.  Decorating our porch just seemed like the perfect solution.  Cute, bright, festive, and yet not clashing with any of my regular colors and decor.  All I can think about now is how to deck out the porch in the future, lol.  Let me show how it looks....

HERE IS MY STAR!  AND I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD SAY A GREAT BIG....TA DA!  LOL  THIS JUST ISN'T EASY FOR ME.  THE FABRICS ARE ALL ON THE BIAS AND STRETCH SOOO EASILY NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY, AND TO GET THIS TO LAY FLAT AND TO BE STRAIGHT IS REALLY DIFFICULT FOR ME.  THIS IS NOT TOTALLY FLAT, AND NOT TOTALLY STRAIGHT EITHER, LOL, BUT TRUST ME IT IS AS GOOD AS IT IS GETTING, AND IT WILL WORK FOR ME.  DIANE AT SEWN TOGETHER IN CORONA QUILTED THIS FOR ME AND SHE DID HER USUAL FANTASTIC JOB! 

CLOSER LOOK AT SOME OF THE QUILTING!

MORE QUILTING...I LOVE THESE FABRIC COLORS

AND HERE'S WHERE WE HUNG IT.  IT FITS THERE JUST AS WELL AS I HAD HOPED IT WOULD.  YOU WOULD THINK I WOULD HAVE MEASURED AND BEEN SURE, BUT I PREFER TO LIVE ON THE WILD SIDE I GUESS.  BUT THE SIZE IS PERFECT.  

WIDER VIEW...SEE MY WOODEN WELCOME BEAR THERE ON THE RIGHT SIDE?  I BOUGHT THAT BEAR ALMOST 15 YEARS AGO.  HE HAS BEEN BY MY FRONT DOOR EVER SINCE AND HE HAS SEVERAL "FESTIVE" OUTFITS YOU CAN CHANGE HIM IN TO.  WELL, FOR SOME REASON I DIDN'T BUY THE 4TH OF JULY OUTFIT ALL THOSE YEARS AGO AND ASSUMED THERE WOULD BE NO GETTING IT NOW.  THE CRAFT STORE I PURCHASED HIM AT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE.  BUT I WENT TO GOGGLE AND TYPED IN WOODEN WELCOME BEAR CLOTHES AND BELIEVE IT OR NOT IT CAME UP AND I FOUND AN OUTFIT FOR MY BEAR.  I WAS PRETTY PERKY OVER IT.  AND IT ONLY COST 11 DOLLARS!  I HAD A CLOSE UP OF IT BUT FOR SOME REASON IT KEEPS DOWNLOADING AT THE TOP OF THIS POST.  SO THIS IS AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN GET!  LOL

FINISHED UP MY LOG CABIN TABLE RUNNER.  LOVE THESE LITTLE RUNNERS YOU CAN BUY AS A PRE CUT KIT FROM JORDAN FABRICS!

AND I PUT IT HERE.  DOESN'T FIT PERFECTLY, BUT GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!

AND THEN WITH THE SCRAPS I HAD LEFT FROM THE RUNNER, THE QUILT, AND THE STAR I DECIDED TO MAKE SOME PILLOW COVERS.  I JUST MADE THEM TO FIT THE PILLOWS THAT WERE ALREADY OUT THERE.  I MADE ENVELOPE COVERS SO THAT YOU COULD JUST POP THEM ON AND OFF AND THEY WOULD BE EASY TO CHANGE OUT BETWEEN SEASONS.  

I WENT AHEAD AND QUILTED THESE MYSELF SINCE THEY WERE SOO LITTLE.  

THE ENVELOPE BACKING

AND PUT THEM HERE.  THIS RUNNER AND PILLOWS WILL BE SOOO EASY TO CHANGE OUT WITH THE SEASONS.  I AM ALREADY LOOKING AT FALL AND CHRISTMAS ONES TO PUT OUT, LOL

QUILT IS ALL DONE.  I LOVE THE WAY SHE QUILTED IT.  IT WAS KIND OF CUMBERSOME TO SQUARE UP AND BIND BUT I FINALLY GOT IT DONE.  I LOVE THESE COLORS!

BACKING FABRIC

AND I PUT IT OUT HERE.  I WASN'T GOING TO PUT IT OUTSIDE BUT HONESTLY I HAVE NO WHERE TO DISPLAY IT IN MY HOUSE SO WHY NOT?

JUST HAD TO SHOW YOU HOW BIG LITTLE MISS CLAIRE IS GETTING.  I LOVE HER SUIT!  SHE REMINDS ME SOO MUCH OF HER MAMA WHEN SHE WAS LITTLE, LOL.  SAME LITTLE TOWHEAD

MEL LIKES A FESTIVE FEEL TOO, LOL.   DAUGHTER LIKE MOTHER I GUESS, LOL

ANOTHER ANGLE

COMING UP THE WALK

JUST HAD TO SHOW YOU MOM'S HYDRANGEA BUSH..SHE BROUGHT IT WITH HER WHEN SHE MOVED IN 6 YEARS AGO AND WE POTTED IT OUT THERE.  IT'S TAKEN IT ALL THIS TIME TO BLOOM AND LOOK REALLY GOOD.  WISH SHE COULD HAVE SEEN IT!

Well guess this is it for now.  If I don't post again before then hope you all have a wonderful, "festive" 4th of July.  God bless the USA!

MY WEEK....

I decided to get another post up making good on my intentions to pay more attention to this blog.  This week has flown by!  Monday we went to Disneyland, and it was one of those trips there where everything just went soo well.  We were walking in the gates as it opened at 8 (which I have personally NEVER pulled off) and what a difference that made.  By noon we had hit most of the major roller coasters without standing in line longer than 15 minutes or so, and a couple of the smaller rides as well.  The weather was beautiful, and the crowds were VERY manageable.  That did change at around 1 when it became SUPER hot, and the crowds were gargantuan.  However, by like 5 it cooled off considerably, and the crowds just seemed more bearable.  We had gone on most of the rides we wanted to get to, and stopped and had a nice dinner.  By 8:30 hubby and I had had enough, and we left my son's family there to close the park down.  I did ride more of the rides than I thought I might, to include my favorite....the Matterhorn.  HOWEVER!  The ride had barely begun when I realized the error of my ways. lol  It whipped around faster than I remembered and my neck was not very happy.  All of my grand kids got a big kick out of grandma riding a roller coaster, and my son got a small video clip of me on it.  You can't really hear it that well, but I am yelling out  HUGE MISTAKE!! lol much to the delight of my husband and son.  Here are some of the best pics of the day...

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT....VINNY, JD, CODY, CAPRI AND DONATELLA

NEVER SAW ANY OTHER CHARACTERS BUT DONALD...BUT HE WORKED, LOL

THE KIDS LOVED THIS ONE...I HAVE HATED IT FOR YEARS, LOL

BOTH CODY AND VINNY GOT A BIG KICK OUT OF THE STORM TROUPERS

SWEET VINNY WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO RODE THIS

TELLA IS MY YOUNGEST SON'S DAUGHTER, AND CODY IS MY OLDEST SON'S...THEY ARE 11 DAYS APART IN AGE.  THEY WERE INSEPARABLE ON THE DAY...SOO CUTE TOGETHER

VINNY ON THE CARS

THEY ALL ENJOYED THE SHOOTING RANGE

THE CASTLE LIT UP AT NIGHT

THUNDER MOUNTAIN

NOT SURE HOW HUBBY MANAGES TO RIDE THIS THING, BUT HE ENJOYED IT!

Tues I spent relaxing and recovering from our day at the Magic Kingdom, and then the rest of the week I spent at my sewing machine.  I am trying to finish up a patriotic quilt, which I have always wanted for some reason.  Then...I also decided to make up a patriotic wall hanging for the wall on our front porch.  I had swore I would NEVER make up this pattern again as I struggled so with it the first time, but I really liked the idea of it on the front porch, so I decided to try again  This time I followed the directions a lot more carefully, and watched the video tutorial on it a couple of times as well.  It went MUCH better this time and I actually enjoyed it this time round.  It's still not perfectly flat (I have a hard time with bias) and there's a couple of other "flaws" but all in all I am pleased.   My first one I would have given a C-, and this one was a good strong B, lol.  OH!  And I ran short of fabric on my quilt and had to order some to finish off the top and bottom borders.  If I wasn't such a clown when it comes to math this would have never happened, but it did.  Who knew quilting involves soo much math!  Let me show you these....I will hopefully get the rest of the fabric for the quilt today and finish this off so I can get both pieces to the quilters tomorrow so I can finish them off in time for the 4th of July!

Looking forward to the week-end.  It's supposed to cool off into the low 70's and I am totally looking forward to it.  I don't feel like super hot weather just yet.  Hope you all have a good week-end.  I am off now to do some much needed visiting.  Blessings to you all, Debbie

CATCH UP....AGAIN!

I just can't seem to get back on board blogging.  I REALLY wish I had not let myself go to that place where I laid it aside, as it just seems as though I can't make myself be disciplined about it anymore.  And NOT that blogging needs to be a disciplined thing, but rather something for enjoyment and record keeping, but at the same time it does require "ATTENTION"...lol.

Sooo I guess I decided to TRY and catch up a bit with some things that I do want to be in my blog books....Sooo lets see.  We did go out to Melody's in late May.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as always, and managed to stay several days this time which was nice.  Little Sam graduated from kindergarten and that was fun.  They are all getting sooo old and soo sweet.  Here are a few pics from our visit....

HERE THEY ARE ALL SPORTING THEIR NEW SUMMER PJ'S I MADE FOR THEM TO BRING ON THE TRIP...THEY ARE ALL GETTING SOO BIG

HOW CUTE ARE THEY?  

BEFORE ONE OF OUR LITTLE TIMES OUT WHEN WE WERE THERE

WE WENT TO A MUSEUM ONE DAY WHILE WE WERE THERE WHICH HAD A LOT OF HANDS ON EXHIBITS FOR THE KIDS.  THEY ALL ENJOYED IT

I LOVE THIS PICTURE OF MY GIRL AND HER SWEET BOY LUKE.  HE JUST FINISHED UP PRE-K AND HAD SUCH A GOOD YEAR.  HIS TEACHER TOLD MY DAUGHTER HE IS EVERYBODY'S BEST FRIEND.  HE WON THE "HEART OF DAVID" AWARD AS HE ALWAYS SHOWS SUCH LOVE FOR EVERYONE.  

 And I have made a couple of quilts.  One for my brother's new grandson...NiXon, and one for my niece Katie.  Let me show you both of these real quick...

THIS IS KATIE'S....SHE WANTED TO BE "COVERED" IN SCRIPTURES SO I FOUND SOME EMBROIDERY DESIGNS AND ADDED THEM TO SOME LOG CABIN BLOCKS AND CAME UP WITH THIS.  ALL HER FAVORITE COLORS AND FABRIC CHOICES....I REALLY LOVE HOW THIS CAME OUT.

I MADE THE BACKING OUT OF A SOFT CREAM COLORED MINKY.  I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE WAY YOU COULD SEE THE QUILTING THIS WAY, IN ADDITION TO THE FACT IT JUST MAKES IT WARMER AND COZIER

CLOSE UP LOOK AT SOME OF THE QUILTING AND FABRICS....

 All the following pictures are close ups on some of the embroidery designs...I found some really cute designs and then used coordinating threads and fabrics to make them up.  Soo much fun.

THIS IS NIXON'S QUILT

When we were at Mike and Melody's they gave us a big screen TV that they had gotten through some promotional thing and didn't have any use for.  We brought it home with us which then of course caused a whole string of things that happened.  We had a DINOSAUR both wall unit and TV and we had been considering for a while updating both.  This just escalated things.  Now I LOVED my old wall unit, but it was solid oak and as such was super super heavy, and had I had anywhere else to put it, I would have.  Instead we went to quite a bit of work and effort just GIVING it away, lol.  And we had to have some one that collects junk come get our old TV as we couldn't sell it and NOBODY wanted it, lol.  It was soooo big and soooo heavy, but it did still work really well.  But it was what it was.  Well, then we needed a new TV stand/entertainment unit of some sort, and that led to moving other things and buying new chairs etc. etc. etc.  Sooo much for a "free" TV, lol.  Not that we weren't grateful for that as it works soooo well and we are enjoying it way more than I thought I would.  It took quite a bit of effort to pick out some new things, get them delivered, arrange and rearrange things in the rooms but finally we got it all together.  I couldn't be more pleased.  Let me show you our "new" look...

SOO HERE IS THE NEW TV CABINET/ENTERTAINMENT UNIT.  IT HAS A "FAKE" FIREPLACE WHICH WILL HEAT A 800 SQUARE FT ROOM IF YOU WANT IT TOO.  WE HAVE BEEN REALLY ENJOYING THE LOOK.  AND LOOK AT THAT TV PICTURE...WHO KNEW IT COULD BE SOO NICE?

FROM ANOTHER VIEW....THOSE TWO CHAIRS WERE IN OUR LIVING ROOM, BUT I JUST REALLY LIKED THE WAY THEY LOOKED IN HERE BETTER, AND IT PROVIDES THE ADDED SEATING CONVERSATION ROOM WE NEED WHEN FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE OVER

ANOTHER VIEW FROM ANOTHER ANGLE INTO THE ROOM

AND STILL ANOTHER

LIVING ROOM THEN NEEDED TWO NEW CHAIRS AND THESE ARE THE TWO I PICKED.  THEY RECLINE WHICH IS NICE, AND THEY ARE SUPER COMFY

CLOSER LOOK

Well we are ready to get going on our day so I will post this for now  I am pretty close to catching up with all the things I wanted to post with the exception of a very recent visit from Melody's family here in California.  We are taking all of our youngest grandkids to Disneyland on Monday, so I will try and finish catching up with everything here on Tues.  Then I will TRY to do a much better job.  I have been reading most of your posts, though I haven't been doing much commenting.  I've truly missed you all.  Hope you are all off to a good start of your summers.  LOVE AND BLESSINGS to you all.....Debbie