~Emma Grace is coming to our home!~

 
Yes, there is going to be a BABY in our home - Emma Grace, our first grandchild.  Our daughter Sarah is expecting, and while her first choice was to place the baby for adoption, the birth father will not relinquish his rights, which is his choice.  So Sarah will be a mother, and our first grandchild is on her way to us!  Some dear friends gave our daughter a shower last Saturday here at our home, and oh my, how beautiful!  We had a brunch of quiche, blueberry buckle, hashbrown casserole, fruit, and juices.  Here are a few photos:

A diaper cake:

Stephanie, Sarah, and Sandy:

A very sweet heirloom made by my cherished friend Pam:

Also a shower gift favorite- Sandy's crocheted baby booties!  

A little Bling:

And of course I had to make her  a 'tag quilt':

Emma will be here in about a month.  So much to do before then........ But this weekend Sarah and I are off to a quilting retreat in the middle of Idaho - will post about that next time.  I am truly a blessed individual and looking forward to being a 'grandma'!

Hold your families ever so close!

Shanda

~Tis a Season of Slowing Down~

Today it is snowing here in the Pacific Northwest - so much that I am relieved.  No reason to drive anywhere, no reason to expend any unnecessary energy, and certainly a day to be wearing my slippers all day long.  Dinner is in the crock pot, I have a fire to keep warm, and all is quiet out on the street that runs along the front of our home.  The snow is coming in sideways, piling high against the windows, and all is sacred.  However, because all is cozy within, I am blessed to spend my entire day in my sewing room.  I have my cup of herbal lemon tea, the wind is raging outside, and my Bernina is a humming.  Life is good.  Life has indeed slowed down.

Create your own sort of slowness this day and be glad in it!

~Shanda~

~Visiting~

Our daughter Sarah and I are going 'Visiting'.  We will make our morning visiting calls, stay at home to greet visitors, and visit quilt shops, historic places, antique shops, and lots of family.  We will be visiting a pumpkin festival where the courthouse lawn is filled with ornately carved and decorated pumpkins and the town of Sycamore has a Pumpkin Parade which is second to none.  We will be visiting a corn maze.  We will visit the corn and soybean fields of my Uncle Ken.  We will more than likely visit Panda Express, Sarah's favorite restaurant.  We will be visiting cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas, and friends.  We will visit while we have a girls craft night, and visit while we do some yard work.  We will be visiting with trick-or-treaters as they make their way around town. We will visit with family on the drive to and from the airport.  We are going home to Illinois for a couple of weeks to 'Visit'.  Visiting is pure comfort, rejuvenating, and soul satisfying. 

Going from Idaho to Illinois is a journey.  We have our projects planned to take with us on the airplane that leaves at 'O Dark-Thirty' in the morning, and we have the Anticipation thing going on for the next few days before we leave.  We will even 'visit' the airplane window beside us frequently as we fly, looking below at all the beautiful fall colors across the many wooded areas, fields, and states we fly over.

Go 'Visiting' today.  You may lift spirits, even your own.

Happy Fall Harvest!

Shanda

~Tis a Lesson on Anticipation.......~

Why did I wait so long?

I picked my settee up from the Upholstery Shop the other day and it wasn't love at first sight.......  it was 'why did I wait so long to have this done?  It was Anticipation.  I was getting up courage to re-upholster this myself, but just couldn't bring myself to it - scared I would make a mistake, not enough self esteem to undertake the challenge, on and on.  So then began the Anticipation.  Once I made up my mind to have someone else do it, it still was Anticipation.  When I took it to the upholstery shop and he said it would be 8-10 weeks, the Anticipation really began.  Every photo I saw in a magazine of furniture that had this fabric, every dream at night, and all the visions of what it was going to look like haunted me because I had taken so long to make the decision to get it professionally done.  But Anticipation is half the fun.  The settee is done, and I am so happy with it!  Can you see it peeking through the doors at you?

 As a reminder - here is the 'Before':

And here is the 'After':

I am very pleased with the results.  Anticipation is worth it. 

Summer is coming to an end, but Fall is right around the corner.  Again - Anticipation!  Tonight is my first Finish-It-Friday Night with the girlfriends after the long summer months of not having our sewing group meet, and I think everyone is gearing up for Christmas and planning some gifts.  I will be working on some needlework/sewing kits, pincushions, a family cookbook, and learning to crochet some edging on flour sack dish towels.  Anticipation...... which project to start with?

I am almost done with canning, and have been busy quilting on customer quilts, but the second biggest piece of news is that I finished quilting my first of many class models for my Living History Civil War Quilting Class that starts this Fall.  My first class is October 22.  Anticipation.  Won't you join me?  I think this quilted up well and the top and bottom border reminds me of Clara Barton and the American Red Cross.

  And the back so you can see the feathers:

I did take a quick photo of my Fowl Rack that I made last month.  It isn't 'decorated' completely yet because our son who is home for a week yet before going back to college is staying in that room.  I have so many things to get done once he vacates 'the spare bedroom', but this one I am not in a rush for.  It can wait this last week while we spend a wee bit more time together before he leaves - I am sure you know what I am talking about! This is what I call 'Bittersweet Anticipation...........'

Hope you enjoy this last official weekend of the summer.  I haven't seen my first leaf fall, but then again, there is that 'Anticipation' thing going on.  Blessings on your late summer days, and

GO BOISE STATE BRONCOS!!!!!!

Blessings on your Anticipations!

Shanda

~Tis a Couple of Finishes!~

This past week I am been fairly busy - when am I not busy?  This week it was cherries and the civil war quilt top I needed to have done for a shop model. Those squares are 3 1/2" unfinished.... and there are 350 of them.   I told you I have been busy!  I have also been cleaning my sewing room and hanging up some new colonial tavern curtains.  But truth be told, I am DYING to paint and finish my colonial fowl rack.  Someone somewhere, is saying 'what the heck is a fowl rack?"  Check back next post and see!

~Twas a NICE visit!~

This weekend we had a nice visit from our son who is attending BYU-Idaho and some friends from the great state of Texas!  We had quite the fun time!  Whether sailing, barbecuing, or traveling back across the beautiful state of Idaho, we had a grand time.

No sunburns, but the crew had a 'slow' wind, so it wasn't too exciting for a sailing weekend, but the girls had their first experience steering a sailboat.  Beautiful neighborhood fireworks Monday night, along with a first attempt at our own BBQ pork loin ribs.  Not bad!  Then, Tuesday, driving back to Rexburg, Idaho, we stopped and saw our daughter in Twin Falls.  David and Sarah had a bit of brother/sister time:

And then on to Rexburg, the beautiful new temple:

And then the most amazing stop of the weekend:

TWIZZLEBERRY!

This is a frozen yogurt place and the kids introduced me to Dance Central on the XBox 360.  Ummm, ya, no photos of me here, but I got this special, special, video of my son, such a crack up.  This video kept me smiling all the way back across the state on the drive home.  Sorry for the turning sideways, I didn't know my little camera wouldn't show this right side up, but you can get the same laughs I had.  Here goes:

I thought I was going to have an accident right there!  And I laughed for 4 hours driving home.  I never thought he could make me laugh so hard.  Go, Mr. David, my '22 going on 15 year old!!!!!!'

I sure hope you have moments that make you laugh, cry, and feel blessed.  I have an abundance of them.  Driving home last night, I experience sweet joy.  I spent time with loved ones and had a great time with family rejuvenating those batteries.

Sweet blessings to you!  ~Shanda~