VALENTINE'S

I started making these table runners last year and they were all finished but the binding. As I stated before, the binding is my least favorite thing to do and since I got them back from the quilter's so close to Valentine's day I didn't get them finished for last year and so I finally got them done this year.



This is the scrappy back to my table throw. I love doing scrappy backs and using up all the left over fabric. I also made one for Christine but forgot to take a picture of it before I sent it to her.

I have started a tradition where I make a "Surf and Turf" Valentine's dinner for my kids. Costco always has there lobster and crab legs for sale this time of year and so I splurge and get some and make a delicious dinner.

I have found that grilling the lobster is the best. It makes it taste sooooooo good and I also cook the crab on my side burner on the grill so that my house doesn't smell like fish.

It was a little brisk doing it this year, but the end result is worth it.

For dessert it was my custard I make for my banana cream pie only I didn't make a pie crust so we just had it in bowls with fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and whipped cream. Can I just tell you how delicious it all was. The only sad thing was that Christine and her family couldn't be with us this year.

DOES ICE REALLY MAKE YOUR DRINK COLDER?

Dan and I have this fun little debate going on. I like a lot of ice in my drink because I like it really, really cold. He keeps telling me that it doesn't make a difference that it only waters down your drink that a little ice is the same as a lot of ice. I don't know maybe it really doesn't make a difference but to me I can tell.

One night I asked Dan to get me a glass of water with lots of ice and this is what he brought to me.

I couldn't even drink the water for all the ice. We had a good laugh over this. I love having Dan around because he has a cute sense of humor and is always making me laugh.

Quilting Projects

For Christmas I made 9 of these table toppers. One for each of my sisters and sister-in-laws. One for my Mom, one for Christine, the top prize for my Bunco group and I even took time to make one for me this time. They were a lot of work, but well worth the effort for some amazing people that I love.


I love this pattern because of the 3-D effect of the trees and pinwheels. Thanks to Mary Jo for helping me iron over 100 of those little pinwheels and thanks to my Mom for helping me bind which is my least favorite thing to do on a quilt!


This quilt is one I did for the quilting store I work at. I have called this quilt "The Phases of Christine". It was not my favorite quilt to do but I ended up liking it more than I thought I would and when it was done it reminded me of Christine and some of the phases she went through growing up. There was a time when she was about 8 - 10 years of age that everything had to be lavender (there is lavender minky on the back). Then about the time she turned 12 pretty much everything was black and white and so I have fallen in love with it now because of what it reminds me of. But the battle is on, because Christine thinks she should have it.

I love using chenille on my quilts. I love the different textures and how unique it makes it look. The little circles on this quilt are made out of lavender chenille. I just wish it wasn't so expensive!


This quilt is one I did for the store at Christmas time to try and sell this fabric because it wasn't moving. It was kind of a fluke that I ended up making this and I had never done pinwheels before and so it was very overwhelming. I started making this quilt with the little singer sewing machine I had purchased about two years ago. The machine wasn't fancy in any way it just sewed what I needed alright with a few frustrations here and there and it was inexpensive and it had worked for me up until I started sewing this quilt. When I got to making the pinwheels it would not go over the many layers of fabric without bogging up and bird nesting the bobbin thread. After two hours of sewing I would only have two pinwheels made because of all the unpicking and resewing I would have to do. I came into Scott more than frustrated and so we ended up getting me a new Brother machine that was a steal of a deal on Costco.com. I swear the Lord watches out for me because at the very time this was happening I got an email from them about this great deal on this machine that was regularly $179.00 for $149.00. It is a great machine and I have loved sewing on it. I have since found out that Singer is at the bottom of the list now, where they used to be at the top of the low end to middle end machines and I was fortunate enough to sell mine for $70.00 covering half the cost of my new one. I am so happy in more ways than one!

I actually hated this quilt by the time I got it done. There is also a mistake in the pattern, there should have been another row of pinwheels and star blocks. When I was putting it together I realized that I had not made enough blocks and that I needed four more. It literally brought me to tears and I knew I could not make four more of those blocks and so I figured out how much I needed to make up for the loss and added the top and bottom white and striped row which ended up being one of my favorite mistakes after the lady quilted it because I love how she put the reindeer running across it. Fortunately by the time I got it back from the quilter I was in love with it and I am so proud of this quilt. I have also become more confident and I am not afraid to take on bigger and more complicated projects.