Yo Yos

Don't you just love all these different yo yos? The ladies in my applique group are making table runners from a book called Simple Seasons by Kim Diehl. I am not making one because when we started my elbow was really bad. This month they will be working on the applique borders. I am sure that next month all the ladies will have those borders done.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons in life do not last. The spring rains will come again.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

John Flynn

Yes, we did get more snow. Here is a picture of it snowing at 2:30 pm yesterday.
Here it is at 8:15 am this morning. My driveway is clear so I will be going to my other applique group this morning.
I am member of two guilds in our area and we combined them both this past Monday night and brought in John Flynn to speak to our guilds. Mr. Flynn started out in the construction business and then in the 80's when things when downhill he took up quilting to help relieve stress. His wife is a quilter and he would hand quilt her quilts. Jokingly he said she was too slow at making the tops so that is when he took up quilting.And the rest is history. We had some wives bring their husbands and I am sure they were entertained because Mr. Flynn is a pretty funny guy. He was happy to see the men out in the audience too.
Here is one of his quilts.
And here it is again. Interesting, isn't it? Look hard and you can see the double wedding ring design.
Mr. Flynn is known for his laser cuts pieces for quilt tops. Here is the storm at sea that is laser cut. This is what he taught in the workshops. I did not take the workshop because I have made a storm at sea wallhanging several years ago. This quilt is a miniature maybe 18"x 24", not sure the exact measurements.
Here is another of his quilts. Mr. Flynn says everyone should have a patriotic quilt. It was a very entertaining night and he made us laugh a lot.
With Passion,

Carrie P.

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown him. David Brinkley

Applique Bee Show and Tell

Yes, I did make it to my applique bee last week since the snow melted quickly. I was planning to do this post a lot sooner but we have been having trouble with our DSL Internet connection staying up. My last post I thought I was going to lose but got it up after some trepidation.

Let's get started. Patti amazes me how quickly she can make a quilt. I just love the colors and the applique in this one.
Here is a block Alice is working on. Her applique is perfection. Those white thread will be removed.
Look at this very cheery quilt Rowena has made.

Adele is making dish clothes to sell in our quilt show boutique. She is practicing her skills. She has a book that is filled with different styles of dish clothes and she is making one of each pattern. I love the colors of yarn she is using.
Check out this pin cushion Suzie made. Sweet!
The next two photos are of Ellen's tops. The first was a mystery quilt done in the guild.
This was a BOM from our local quilt shop. Remember I did this one in black and white and gave it to my son and DIL at Christmas?
Here is Ellen modeling her sweatshirt jacket done in really pretty batiks.

Well, I am off now to make some White Bean and Spinach soup. We are expecting more snow today. Not to much I hope because I have my other applique group tomorrow.

Almost forgot, Linda at Flourishing Palms sent me a link to a shop that sells the fabric that was in the quilt my mom made for me plus many other fabrics with sayings on them. You can go here.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring. George Santayana

Special Blessings!

I can't believe how many of you stopped by to wish me a Happy Birthday. That was such a nice blessing. Thank you all. Remember I mentioned more snow for us? Here are a few photos. You can see the snow which came down for a while.

My family blessed me also. My oldest son and DIL who live out of town sent a card and called. I will get to see them on his birthday which is in March. My second son came over and brought the flowers to me. A very nice surprise. My daughter got the movie Julie and Julia for me. Because the snow melted my husband was able to take me out to eat at an Italian restaurant named Carrabas. Sunday I will get to take him out to eat because it is his birthday. We are the same age.

I was also blessed by winning a giveaway that Rae Ann was having on her blog called Cutie Pinwheel. What a fun name for a blog. Her blog is a lot of fun to read and right now she has some great photos from a retreat she attended. Take a look at this heart tin that was part of the giveaway. It is full of stuff. The little one had some yummy chocolate.
Can you believe all these fabulous things that were stuffed into that heart tin. If you go to this post you can see each thing in detail. Even though I had seen everything on Rae Ann's post it still was fun going through that tin to see everything is person. Wow, Rae Ann a very nice and generous giveaway. Thank you so very, very much.
There were lots more of those foiled wrapped chocolate hearts but I ate a few and gave some to my daughter. I will share with my husband too. Those hearts wouldn't have gotten eaten so fast but I was waiting for my batteries of my camera to charge. I have not had that happen before. So while I was waiting on them I replied to all the comments from my birthday. I really like to reply to all the comments before I put another post up so I don't get behind answering them from the last post. So I guess that was a good thing I had to wait on the batteries.

I did get to my applique bee so the next post I will have some show and tell.

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes. You really made it special.

Blessings to you all.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Reflect on your present blessings of which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, on which all men have some. Charles Dickens

Another Year Older!

Yes, that is me. Another year older and wiser I hope. It is my birthday today and I have turned 53. I know some women don't like to tell their age but we all get older so why be afraid of telling. I thought I would show you what some special people sent me for this special day in my life.

My mom sent me this wall hanging she made using some preprinted fabric that speaks of daughters. She thinks she got the fabric when she went to the Houston Quilt Show. Check out the border fabric. It has little fairies on it. Thanks mom.

Stephanie over at Loft Creations sent me this sweet package.
Inside this lovely kitchen towel...
was a baggie filled with these buckles and these very cute blue buttons and a wooden Bingo game marker... (sorry blogger flipped it)
and these wooden spools. She knows how I buy them up every time I see them at antique stores.
She also made me one of her crochet dish rags that match my kitchen. Check out the sweet bluebird stamp. A friend of Stephanie's makes homemade soap which she also sent. The soap smells like almonds. Thank you so much for the very thoughtful gifts, Stephanie. You make me feel very special.
Mary of Quilt Hollow send this very special card that speaks of fabric and patchwork. Very sweet! Thanks for remembering my birthday, Mary.

As I sit here writing this post I am sitting at my table by the sliding glass door watching big snowflakes falling from the gray skies. It is not supposed to accumulate and I hope it doesn't because my applique bee is supposed to meet tomorrow.

If it is your birthday today I hope it is a good one for you too.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Old age is always 15 years older than I am. Bernard Baruch