Sewing with Gianni

Well it has finally begun. Gianni is now learning to sew at age 7. Wednesday I went and purchased a nice Kenmore for her to learn on and for me to take to workshops. It has needle positions and several decorative stitches. Mostly today we worked on mainly sewing straight. After about 3 hours of learning to thread the machine, fill a bobbin and sew a straight line she picked out some 5" squares from my stash.

Here is what she got done after about 3 hours. The blue one is a flying pig and the other one is a frog. Later we will adding some more squares to make some 9 patches. These 5" squares came from swaps I had done several years ago and they have really come in handy for little ones to play with and pick out colors.

Gianni ask me if I was going to teach Will to quilt? Well that depends on if he wants to and his Daddy thinks it is okay. I really think he should at least learn to thread a needle and sew on a button - necessary skills for any young man. We will look at that road a little later. Right now he is content to come over and just hang out at Mawmaw's, play Wii and PS2 and play with little men and cars. He gets to do that on Monday - we have a play date!.

Gianni and got dressed and went out - we were starving by 12:30 so we went to Red Lobster for lunch. That little girl can eat. She had a salad, the cheese biscuit, popcorn shrimp and fries and Choclate Wave for dessert - glad she has her Daddy's metabolism.

We left and went to an estate sale. She got a dolphin and a turtle to sit on her shelf at home. Then we went to see Jim Gatling's petit point and needlepoint exhibit at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock. What an awesome exhibit and it is not near all of his actual collection that they are showing. Gianni liked the miniature doll furniture -she thinks it is Barbie furniture?

It was a full day and a lot of fun to share all of these things with Gianni. As my friend Pat says - we are making "memories".

A Relaxing Trip

It has been a while since I have been on my Blog. Maybe I got TOO rested on my recent trip to Cedar Hill, Texas (a Dallas suburb). A group of 6 quilters went on a littel retreat and it was one of the best times I have ever had. In fact my Dr. suggested maybe I should move there, but he knows I won't leave the family, especially the grandbabies. The place we went is the 1890's House (www.1890quilters.com). Oh how I hate to tell you that because I want it all to myself. You may take up to 8 people there to rest and to create. Our happy group of 6 did both. The first picture is the The Sewing Cottage and it is fully equipped except for your sewing machine and fabric, etc. By the way paper artist, mixed media artist, etc are welcome also. The house has been in the same family for 4 generations and is extremely well maintained and clean.

This is one of the 4 bedrooms. Each room has 2 twin beds. There are 3 bathrooms, two upstairs and one downstairs. One of the bathrooms has a clawfoot tub, but alas I didn't get that room. Maybe next time.

You can see that 3 of my friends are enjoying the parlor. We kept waiting for the farm family to come home and greet us it was that authentic. The dining room is next to this room and then there is a fully equipped kitchen. You bring your own food and can cook if you want to???? There are LOTS of places to eat within 5 miles, so we did breakfast there, one other meal and ate one big meal. And for you who have to have special coffee, I reccommend the White Rhino in Cedar Hill.

This is all 6 of the happy retreaters on the last day, standing on the wonderful back porch, where we had been visiting and talking about coming back on that last day. Don't we look rested and happy and having fun. I really can't wait until I can go again.

Blessings to you.

Flea Market Shopping Finds

Is this not the cutest little egg cup. I bought 3 of them on a recent trip from Springfield, MO back home to Little Rock. My sister Martha and I went to Springfield to meet our brother Eddie at an ABA meeting he was in charge of. We made the most of our trip and I picked up all the finds you see in this post.

I found 2 bundles of beautiful wool for less than $2.00 each for these rolls. The green swan salts I thought were delightful and they look really nice for sale in my showcase at Blue Suede Shoes.

The teacup has my favorite color flowers on it and it will end up in my china cupboard with my mother's Tea Rose dishes. These delicate tea cups just say elegance and the joy of sharing a cuppa tea with a friend.

These are small handmade doilies that spoke to me. Don't you think they will look pretty as little toppers on those pincushion candlesticks I plan on making.

Anyway I wanted to share my finds with ya'll. My sister and I had a wonderful time on this trip together.