Design Floor Monday

I know lots of other quilters are posting photos of their design walls today, but I use the floor! It makes for a horrible photo with the key stoning and shadows, but it's the best I can do.

All the blocks for the wedding ring star are done! I started to get really excited when I laid out the filler triangles on the sides.


I'm hoping to get the top put together today. I did the bottom right corner this morning and the points are not perfectly perfect, but they are OK.


In non-quilty news...

It was senior night at the high school football game on Saturday. Julia led the band out onto the field for their first half-time show in years and years. She was so nervous and excited, but she did an awesome job!
(That's Julia on the ladder!)

Our happy family!

Have a happy, quilty week!

Weekend Update

I haven't shown you much family stuff lately, but we had a great weekend that I wanted to record. I'll have a quilty finish for you tomorrow!

Our weekend started with a football game in the rain. It was Julia's first gig as a drum major, and she was so excited! That's her in the blue rain coat. Pete is playing quads in the front row. The band kept spirits high even though they were soaking wet. Unfortunately, our team lost by one point in overtime.

On Saturday, the boys went canoeing. They worked their way down the Narrow River to where it meets Narragansett Bay.


Here's Pete in a whirlpool created where the river current meets the incoming tide.

This afternoon, the band marched in the Fireman's Memorial Parade. There's Julia up front again!

The Drum Majors got to have a little fun and did a little dance during the marching cadence.

And there's Pete on quads again.

I finished the top of Interlocking Windmills today which I will show to tomorrow. See you then!

Playing Catch-up

There hasn't been much sewing going on these days other than the Block Lotto blocks. This time of year, there is a lot of running around to games, concerts and ceremonies. It's all good, but it doesn't leave much time to sew.

My Girl Scout troop is working on a sampler quilt. It is slow going during meetings, so I have started to invite one girl at a time to come over to sew. It took Catherine almost 2 hours to cut and sew her HST units. They still need to be trimmed and assembled. She is graduating from high school soon and it was her first time sewing on a machine. I think she liked it!

Pete's current garage band, Attractive Dan, competed in a Battle of the Bands and earned 3rd place! Not bad for 2 sophomores and 2 freshmen. He's hoping this group will stay together for a while. (He has played in a different band every year since 7th grade that only played one show each.) They are writing their own songs and have already played 3 shows.

It is so hard to get a good shot of Pete on the drum set with my point and shoot camera, no matter how I try to manipulate the exposure. It's just darker back there on the stage. I'm still trying to decide if we should buy a digital SLR before the big vacation this summer.

The rhododendron in the front yard is incredible! People are saying that the massive amount of rain we had this Spring has been good for the flowering shrubs. We haven't had this many blooms on this one in years.

I saw two bunnies in the back yard before Pete mowed the lawn. I like the way the photo is a little fuzzy from zooming in.

We have a busy few days ahead.
Memorial concert tonight: Julia singing alto in the choir, Pete on timpani in the orchestra.
Girl Scout Bridging and Gold Award ceremony tomorrow.
Jazz concert Saturday night: Julia on trumpet and vocals, Pete on drums.
Add a baseball game on Saturday and a softball game on Sunday.

It's all good!

Design Wall Monday

One of my goals for 2011 is to quilt more, so I hope to have something on my design wall every Monday. I use a small portable design wall, made from foam core covered with flannel.

This is will be a New Wave quilt made from Sugar Snap by Melissa Averinos. I'm using a light gray solid in between. There are 4 completed rows on the dining room table!


I had hoped to complete this top on Sunday, but we had a basketball game to go to. Our kids' high school band got to sit in with the University of Rhode Island pep band!
If you look closely, Pete is in the green hat sitting at the drum set to the left of the sousaphones.

It was impossible to get a photo of tiny Julia in the middle of a sea of trumpets.
Unfortunately, Rhody lost the game, but we had a great time!

Visit many other inspiring Monday Design Walls at Patchwork Times.

Memorial Day

Thank you to all who serve our country!

Julia played Taps twice today. At 7:00 this morning, she and a Boy Scout friend played at a ceremony at the Rhode Island Vietnam Memorial. The Vitenam Vets are an awesome group of guys and always make us feel like a part of the family.


After a quick change into band uniforms, my kids, the band geeks, were ready for a parade.
Pete, quoting Will Smith in Men in Black:
"I make this look good."


Following the parade, there is a ceremony in the park. Julia and Manny played Taps again. Same beautiful 24 notes, different uniforms.

It makes me sad that so many families who attend the parade do not stay for the ceremony. I try to remind Girl Scout leaders to stick around after marching, but most do not. I grew up with a strong sense of patriotism, and I hope I am passing that on to my kids.

Happy Memorial Day!

Family and Flowers

We've had a busy couple of weeks around here.

I was in a horribly foul mood for over a week (hence the missing blog posts), so Bill bought me this gorgeous rose and some chocolate to cheer me up. It didn't work, but when the mood finally broke (like a switch suddenly being thrown), I did appreciate the effort.
Look at that color and the ruffled petals!

This clematis might be my favorite plant in my garden. It is supported by the mailbox post, and it is a wonderful greeting at the end of the driveway.

Julia played Echo Taps at the Veteran's Cemetery on Armed Forces Day with about 40 other brass players. It is a very moving ceremony. She'll play again at the RI Vietnam Monument on Memorial Day. I'm so happy and proud that she represents the Girl Scouts as a bugler.


Pete's current garage band played at a Battle of the Bands recently. He totally rocks!
(I know, it's a horrible picture. There is a new camera in my future.)

He's learning to enjoy playing in the high school Symphony Orchestra on timpani. He prefers classical music to the marches that the band plays. The percussion parts are more challenging and interesting. (A slightly better photo.)

The sun is shining and life is good! Have a great week!

Veterna's Day

A Day to Honor and Remember.

Remembering my father,


Honoring my father-in-law.

Julia was honored to play Taps this morning for the Vietnam veterans.
I love seeing her in her Girl Scout uniform, playing with her friend Manny in his Boy Scout uniform. The veterans and their families were so grateful to the kids for being there.

Then we went to the parade.
Pete is playing the snare drum on the end, with his hat off-kilter.

I had to run across the street to catch Julia on the other side.

Following the parade, there is a ceremony at the memorial in a beautiful park on the river.
Veterans, dignitaries, clergy, a guest speaker, military color guard, and Civil War reenactors (with a canon!). What more could you ask for?

And the band plays again.

I love my band geeks!

Julia delivered this QOV to a teacher yesterday to give to her husband who was injured in Iraq.
She has 6 or 7 others to deliver soon. We're hoping to present them to people she knows - a cousin's husband, a cousin of a cousin, and friends' fathers.

This Veteran's Day, Honor and Remember the men and women who have sacrificed so much to keep us free.

Geese, Band, and an Anniversary

My Geese in the Forest top is done! Now how should I quilt it? Any suggestions?


That was a lot of paper to tear off ! But I love paper-piecing, so it's a small price to pay.


We went to a friend's long arm studio to watch her new computer drive complete one of Julia's QOV's. So cool!


I created two band geeks! I'm so proud!
I loved being in marching band in high school, and I'm happy to report that Pete and Julia love it, too. (Don't let the goofy teenage grins fool you!)


Their first performance was at a football game on Friday night. Pete has a really cool snare drum part in the marching cadence that the horn section was dancing to in the stands. They had more fun than anyone at the game! Unfortunately, they got rained out of the Fireman's parade on Sunday. That gives them more time to practice marching before the Veteran's Day Parade.


These 2 cuties started "dating" 2 years ago today.
(13 year olds don't really date and 15 year olds don't have any money, so they mostly hang around at home. That works for me.)


They make each other happy and that makes me happy.

Julia made Josh this neat card. Then they cooked dinner together.
So sweet.

Have a happy day!