Back in the Blogging Saddle!

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I got home late yesterday afternoon from my "world tour" - aka, visiting a few days with my daughter and then at the TVQA Spring Seminar in Murfreesboro for 3 days :*)  It's always such a delight to spend time with Christy and Emma.  I don't see them nearly enough now that they are three hours away from us in Savannah.  During this trip, I got a special treat ---- Warning!  Serious cute alert coming up ....

Brand new baby kittens!!!!

Adelaide ("Addie") with her newborns =^..^=

 Emma's cat Addie gave birth to these little sweethearts while I was on the road to their house.  Four shiny new faces greeted me upon my arrival!

Sweet little baby face!

Who can resist a newborn baby kitten?  Mama's got a protective paw over this little fellow

Addie is only about a year old herself and this is her first litter, so we were really happy to find that she is an excellent mother and doing a fine job with no help at all.  The proud papa, Harry, is not so sure what is going on, and he's pretty sure he's not happy about it because his playmate is not coming out to play anymore.  So he's finding other ways to keep himself occupied, like playing with my scraps as I was trying to iron them LOL!!!

He's such a ball of energy that it was hard to get a picture that wasn't blurry!

After I left Christy's house, I headed off to Murfreesboro TN and the TVQA Spring Seminar.  I took 4 classes in 3 days, and it was truly a blast!  Actually, I feel a little "blasted" this morning LOL!!!  Pooped and just plain worn out!  But I learned a lot and had so much fun!   I'm sending a shout-out to my friend and great roomie, Lisa!  This was our first time rooming together for anything, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to get to know her better.  She's such a great person and wonderfully easy going!  We got along famously and very quickly came up with a routine that allowed us both to enjoy our stay and each other's company - so lovely!!!

I'll share pictures and adventures from my classes tomorrow for Design Wall Monday.  For today, first up, I just have to share this wonderful fabric sent to me by my wonderful friend, Cheryl who blogs at Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting.

OMG!!!  Cheryl said she saw this fabric and just knew that I would LOVE to have a piece of it because of my love of text fabrics - was she ever RIGHT!!!!  Oh my gosh, I squealed when I opened it!  Not only do I love text fabrics, but I also love crosswords - any kind of word puzzles are special favorites of mine!!!  Cheryl, I can't thank you enough!  This will go in a very special project, something I can look at often and think of you!!!  =^..^=

I also want to share my Slow Stitching Sunday progress and link up at Kathy's Quilts - one of my favorite blogs!  This is a Ta-Da moment for me.....(pardon the wrinkles!)

Yay!!!  I finished the final block for Promises & Borders!!!!

Yes, indeed, my friends, all my whining about these blocks is now officially over!!!  =^..^=

I'll look up my pictures for all of these blocks and try to post them together sometime later this week.  I'm so excited to be done with these stitchery blocks, and I can't wait to trim them down to size, sash and assemble all of these lovely blocks and make them into a wonderfully inspiring quilt!!!

Since I knew I was very close to finishing P&B, I traced off the 3rd block for Winter Wonderland in case I needed another handwork project while I was traveling.....

I also took along my socks, but somehow never got around to working on those.  I understand there was an amazing Knit Shop right around the corner from where I was staying, but I never got a chance to get over there.  I have to find my yarn for the Dreambird Knitalong with Judy and Denise!  (You can go Patchwork Times or Justquiltin with Denise Russart to check that out if you're wondering what I'm talking about.  They both have links to this KAL on their sidebars)  I'm thinking a day trip with my friend Joanne is going to be in order very soon :*D

In closing today, I'll reward you for sticking around to the end by showing you some pictures of stash additions - very little actually - I'm quite proud of myself!!!

First, I found a good-size bottle of Best Press in the Unscented version in Hancocks....

Several of you wondered if the lavender scent in the smaller bottle I was using was bothering my allergies.  That particular scent did not bother me, but then I tried using the peaches and cream scent, and that one did bother me!  It really did a number on my lungs and I began coughing quite a bit.  I also didn't like the hair-spray-type sprayer on those small bottles, so I was happy to find this bigger bottle with the super-duper sprayer and no scent!  Now that I'm home, I'll be continuing my Stash Washing Adventures.  Thank you to so many of you who offered great suggestions and ideas for helping with that - you're the best! - and I will be trying each and every one of them !!!

And now for the Stash Enhancements you've all been waiting for

 - and very patiently too I might add  =^..^=

Pat Sloan had a box of half-yard cuts for $2.50 on her book table, a great price I couldn't resist, especially with some of these lovely colors and prints!

Aren't they wonderful?  Totally irresistible!  Fortunately, I did manage to resist all other fabric offers... unbelievable, I know!  Especially when Hancocks had an entire wall of fabrics in every color and print imaginable for 50% off!!!  I only picked up two pieces of solids in the remnants bin there for peanuts....Yes, I'm good :8)

Be sure to come back tomorrow for some pictures from my classes at Spring Seminar!

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday ♥

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Easy Like Sunday....

Just a reminder to all my wonderful followers.... if you haven't already, please be sure to go over to the Bloglovin icon on my sidebar and click there to follow!  Google Reader is going away very soon, and I would really hate to lose you ♥♥♥

It's a hot one here in Music City today!  The sun is shining brightly .....

I couldn't resist using the last scrap of my little YELLOW suns fabric for one of the Lone Starburst blocks this month!  All I have left now is a tiny piece - and it went into the crumbs jar.  I just can't throw away even a scrap of this sweet fabric - it has brought me so many smiles  :*D

Here are the blocks I managed to get done yesterday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I'll finish up the remaining two sections today, and maybe put some of them up on the design wall to see how they will look with the colored sections all mixed up scrappy-style!

Also today, I plan to do some Slow Sunday Stitching with Kathy's Quilts.  I'm almost done with the LAST Promises & Borders block - hooray!!!!  This is a banner-type block that spans the width of the quilt....

I did have to make one little adjustment to Jenny's pattern on the "o" in each of the promise tracings .... can you see the original line tracing at the right of it in this picture below?  When that was stitched out, it looked more like an "a" to me, so I took it out and moved the transition line to the top of the "o" - now I'm much happier with it!

Aren't these little birdies SO cute????

All that remains to be done is the green leaves and the centers of the flowers.  When this block is done, I'll be able to sash these blocks and put them together for a great UFO floppy finish - WhooHoo!!!!

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What are you doing on this lovely Father's Day?  Although when I was growing up there were few good father figures in my life, the good Lord has blessed me today with many wonderful Fathers!  And I will definitely take the time to let them know how much I appreciate them and thank God for their hard work as Fathers!

My husband has shown me time and again what a true Father really is.....

And now both of our sons are Fathers, and we couldn't be prouder of the wonderful job they are doing raising the next generation!

Josh and his family

Todd and his family

This is what I made for my sweet hubby yesterday to celebrate Father's Day....

YUM!!!  Meatloaf made from my momma's recipe!  This is his favorite meal!  Of course, most of you know that cooking is NOT my forte, but when the Best Father in the World asks for meatloaf - he gets it!!!  For side dishes, I made mashed potatoes, green beans, broccoli cole slaw, pickled beets, and toasted garlic-butter ciabatta bread!  Yes, we chowed down!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful & blessed Father's Day!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Lovely Sunday!

Hubby and I are off to the flea market today, so I only have a minute to share my slow stitching this week....

The last block of the Promises & Borders quilt is DONE!!!!  Now all I have left is the banner - which I also started this week .....

Very, very soon this will be ready to piece together and become a quilt top - Joy, Joy, Joy!!!!

What have you slow stitched recently?  

Share your projects at Kathy's Quilts.

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Happy Mother's Day!

Have I told you that I have the most wonderful Mom in the whole world???  

                      I really do!!!

Mom on the balcony at our condo in Gatlinburg last month

Me and Mom together

With two of her bestest friends in the world on our Gatlinburg trip in 2012

And with those same two BFF's on our trip together this year ....

Mom with her husband, the Prince!!!

Did I tell you she has taken up art in her 70's?  She pretty darn good too!!!

My Mom taught me many things in the years we've been privileged to be together.  I can't imagine what my life would have been like without her, and I never want to know either.  She's my best friend!!!  The most important gift she gave me was the fire in my heart to love the Lord and honor Him with all that I do and am.

And there's no greater gift anyone can give in this world!

She taught me to "Draw near to God...."

Promises & Borders - Block #9
All done except for the yellow/gold/brown centers for the flowers!

Now just how cute is this little ladybug???

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms today!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

and What a Hoot's BOM's Away!

Eye Candy and a little Slow Stitchin.....

I bet you'd all like to see some of the pretty fabric I brought home from Gatlinburg, wouldn't you?!?  I was actually a very good girl this trip - well, except in the Sock Shop LOL!!!  I only picked up a few pieces that were on sale and even fewer that were not.  So, here's my story, and I'm sticking to it!!!

On my way into Gatlinburg, I had about an hour to kill before we could check into the condo, so I used my Quilt Shops ap to search for nearby shops.  I found Kat Lover's Quilt Shop in Knxoville....what a cute little shop!!!  She had a few pieces on sale that I needed to bring home...

And of course you can't go to Gatlinburg without visiting The Cherry Pit in Sevierville!!!  (And by the way, if you try to find them on the web, go to this link...http://www.quiltingatthecherrypit.com/.  If you omit "quilting at", you'll get a site you really don't want - take my word for it!!!)

I found this bright plaid on the 1/2 price table - $5 a yard - so I got a couple of yards for sashings & bindings. 

Then I pulled a few fat quarters for a few projects I have in progress...  soft colors for a change.  

Love that gray!!!

Machine Quilting by Iva had a few things I couldn't resist too - more half-yard cuts....

Here's a picture in front of Iva's I thought you might like....

My mom on the left, and our friends, both Debbie's, on the right

Mom is not a quilter, so you can tell she is glad the visit to Iva's is over LOL!!!  But you can also tell the Debbie's are pretty happy with their purchases :*D

On the last leg of my trip, on my way to visit with my family in North Carolina, I stopped in Mary Jo's in Gastonia - fabric wonderland!!!!  Considering what I usually spend in here, I did good my friends!!!

I picked up a couple of half yards of these batiks I just couldn't resist...love those aquas!!!!

And I added a few coveted and hard to find Paula Nadelstern kaleidoscope prints....

Now, are you happy?  Did that feed your eye candy craving?  I thought so :*D

Since hubby is cleaning the carpets in my sewing studio today, I'm going to be doing some hand work downstairs and watch the finals of the Wells Fargo Championship with him.  I managed to get all the greenery done on my Promises and Borders block this week....

and hopefully I'll have it almost done by the end of the day today - WHOOHOO!!!!  PS - did you notice the cute little ladybugs hiding among the greenery?

And speaking of greenery, I'll leave you with two beautiful blooms from our yard this glorious spring....

Our very first rose bloom!

My favorites - the Peonies are in bloom!!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=

Linking up with Judy's Patchwork Times and Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday.  

Be sure to check out what everyone else is blogging about there too!!!