A quilty finish....

This fall leaf quilt top was pieced by the Bag Ladies bee in memory of Lorene Farrell. Lorene was a member of the Bag Ladies for several years and lost her battle with cancer this year. We pieced this top with some of her fabric stash and Nancy Carr will quilt it for us to give to Lorene's family. This is about the only way to have fall color in Texas since most of our leaves just hang on 'til December, then turn brown and drop.

Another prize!

This cute little pincushion came in the mail today. It's from Caron Mosey, Michigan Quilts. It was the prize for a contest on her blog. Thanks, Caron, I love it.

Happy Birthday, Paula!

Don't tell Paula - her birthday present is ready! Here's a little quilt for her called Cake Stand. Hope she likes it. The blocks are 4 inches square.

Guild Show Challenge - Alzheimer's Priority Quilts

These small quilts that will be donated to Ami Simms' project which is raising money for Alzheimer's research are some I especially liked. TVQG has some very talented quilters!

Best of Show!

Janet Sturdevant Stuart's art quilt, Banana Peel, won Best of Show! Way to go, girlfriend!

Some of my favorites....

Here are a few of my favorites from Trinity Valley's 2008 quilt show:

I'm A Winner!

My Granny's Garden miniature won a first place ribbon in the miniature category at Trinity Valley's 2008 show. It also won a first in a Bear Creek guild show a few years ago. It is 1/4 inch hexagons which I english paper pieced on many visits with my mom after Dad died. Lots of memories in this little quilt.

Getting ready for the show!

Today was set-up day for Trinity Valley Quilt Guild's 2008 show. Here's my bee friend, Janet, accepting entries from Barb Clark. TVQG really has this set-up down to a science - everything seemed to be going like clock work. Kudos to the TVQG quilt show team - you do a great job making everything seem effortless.

Here are a few members hanging a quilt. Amazing how quickly the job was done - many hands make light work. Can't wait 'til tomorrow to see all the beautiful quilts and exhibits. If you're reading this blog and live close to DFW - please come see our show. We'll be having a quilty good time!

World Alzheimer's Day

The following is a quote from Ami Simms: "This Sunday, September 21st, is World Alzheimer's Day. It is a day to remember the 26.6 million people worldwide who have this vile disease that will eventually rob them of the ability to remember and to reason. It will take from them every skill they ever learned and every relationship they ever held dear. And for most, they will watch this thief at work in their own minds." It hits close to home for me since my Mom has been suffering from some form of dementia (probably Alzheimer's) for the past 4 or 5 years. For more information about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative started by Ami look here: http://www.alzquilts.org:80/. I've donated two Alzheimer's priority quilts to the Trinity Valley Quilt Guild show which is this weekend. More than 65 of these small quilts have been donated for this show and after the show they will be sent to Ami for future auctions. Who knows, some of them may turn up in Houston this year.

Janiacs meet again!

Check out Sherrill's blog (http://quiltinginmysleep.blogspot.com/) to see pics of our Janiac gathering this morning. Meeting Dot from England was a lot of fun - great show & tell and visiting. We are so fortunate to be able to buy fabric at reasonable prices - Dot said quilt shop fabric in U.K. is double what it is here - that's $18 per metre (39 inches) compared to our $9 a yard. Guess the grass isn't always greener on the other side, is it?

Grandparents' Day

Friday, Sept. 12th, was Grandparents' Day at Hawk Elementary and Nana had the time this year to join the kids for lunch. There's nothing wrong with having lunch 4 times in one day. Camden had been disappointed when it looked like I wouldn't make it so he was very excited to see me when I popped in with M & M's. Then on to Cullen's room to see the toothless wonder (he finally lost his first tooth and he's in 2nd grade). After a short break for lunch with Amy, I headed back to Hawk to meet Kenna for lunch in the cafeteria. What a noisy place when all the fifth graders and their grandparents are together and visiting. Kenna had made a cute book for us that told a story of a day with Nana & Papa. Cullen and Camden had made cards for us. And, no, I didn't really eat 4 times. That is, except for dessert!

Friday night was another opportunity to spend time with the kids. Cullen & Camden had a birthday party to attend so Nana & Papa took Kenna out for chinese. She is very adventurous with food and tried the crawfish, frog's legs, and sushi. The picture of her plate is kind of blurry but you get the idea. We agreed the frog's leg tasted like chicken, but as for me - I'll stick with the chicken!

Playing catch up

Here are a couple of photos I took when I sold tickets for BCQG's raffle quilt recently. Sherrill & Donna had been shop hopping for two days and had their completed charm bracelets to show off. More on that on Sherrill's blog, Quilting in my sleep.

We almost ran out of tickets on the first day of sales. I'm so pleased with this year's guild opportunity quilt. It has been named Autumn Flora and will be drawn for at our February 2009 meeting. Half of the proceeds benefit the guild education fund and the other half will benefit a local charity for women and/or children.

Quick Trip

No, I wasn't in California. But this is the color of the PT Cruiser I rented to drive while visiting Mom in NC. It was fun to drive and was much roomier than I would have thought. Back seats folded down so there was plenty of room to transport a rocking chair, bookcase and two boxes of clothes to their new storage facility - friend Betsy's house. Thank you, Betsy! What a blessing she and former neighbor, Kathy, have been to me over the past several years. Both are always so gracious and willing to listen when I need to talk about the trials of dealing with Alzheimer's. And they have both helped Mom so much over the years before the move to PCH, with her house and cat.

Last weekend was an unplanned trip to help Mom get settled in a different room, on the hall that is designated for residents who need more care. She has definitely declined since our June visit and it's so sad to watch her lose more ground, both mentally and physically, with each passing season. Like me, her talker and eater still work as well as ever! She still has a positive attitude and good sense of humor, at least most of the time. But, this truly is the Long Goodbye. Check out my link in the sidebar to AAQI to learn how you can help with Ami Simm's Alzheimer's research project or Google Alzheimer's to learn more about the disease.

The Trinity Valley Quilt Guild show is next week - Sept. 19th through 21st. Guess I'd better get busy and be sure my quilts have proper labels and are clean and ready to hang. The show will have a sale table this year for members to sell quilts and other projects. I have a few runners and purses that I need to round up and price and the time for that is now! This year's show may be the best ever - there will be more than 400 quilts to see and every vendor space is rented so the shopping should be great also. Come if you can for a quilty good time!

Mamma Mia!

Ron took me to see my annual movie yesterday. He's not willing to go often but usually will for my birthday or our anniversary. Well, yesterday marked 42 years of marital bliss and we saw Mamma Mia to celebrate. What a great movie it is! You can see some clips from it here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As4mY_P0C5s. It was such an energetic and fun movie - I'm ready to go again if I find anyone who hasn't seen it. After the cheap matinee movie, we had dinner at Saltgrass - delicious. Having prime rib always brings back wonderful memories of anniversaries celebrated at Ramon's in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

This car was seen in the parking lot at the movie theatre - the bumper is hanging on with a string and a prayer (shoestring, that is). I just love my new phone with camera capabilities - you may see more miscellany like this in the future.

Happy Birthday, Kevin

Ron thought brisket sounded like a good choice for a Labor Day meal and we decided on the spur of the moment to combine it with a birthday celebration for our son-in-law, Kevin. He was a good sport and didn't tell us 'til dinner was over that they had just had TX barbecue on Sunday night, as soon as they got in from West Virginia!

I enjoyed the brisket along with Kevin, Jennifer and Ron but nobody offered to take my picture! Forgot to get a pic of the cake & ice cream also, but, trust me, it was superb! Thanks, Jennifer, for bringing it.

I've certainly changed over the years, at least as far as my standards for getting ready for company. Fresh placemats and a quick run through the kitchen with a Swiffer and I'm ready! Gone are the days of cleaning for a week before I'd consider inviting anyone for a meal or visit. Getting old does have some pluses - I'm not as worried about what others think or I'm just too tired to care! Now if I could just use those same standards when quilt bee comes to sew......