Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all dads near and far, those who are step-dads or who stepped up when needed, even mom's who had to be dads. It's all family and that's all good! This is a photo I've shared many times..........my dad, Melvin, covered with a quilt that he bought at an auction in Dayton, Iowa in about 1999. He and my mom gave it to me for Christmas then. The quilt is almost identical to one that his mother, my Grandma Goldie made sometime in the 1950's. It's a cool bit of coincidence! I remain ever thankful for my dad. He was a sweet guy with a great smile and always a cheery hello for everyone. He and my mom are together now. Gone but never, ever forgotten.
Today is also my husband Steve's birthday. We had a good day and we were going to enjoy eating out on the deck. He had grilled up a steak and I had set out potato salad and other fixings. And just as he put the steaks on our plates..........raindrops began to fall as sun broke out! Too funny. So we put everything on the tray and headed inside to the kitchen table. There'll be another day for outdoor dining!
Tomorrow is Monday. Looking forward to a good week! Hope it is a good one for all of you!
Sandi

Flag Day, 2017

It's Flag Day, a day to celebrate our nation's flag! and it's also the day of my dad's birth. He would have been 91 years old this day. Seems like only yesterday that he was still with us and yet it has been nine years since he passed. It was because of my dad and how much I missed him that I started blogging. He passed April 29th of 2008 and just a few weeks later on Memorial Day, May 26th, I started blogging. I had read that blogging was as good as therapy. It turned out that was so true.
I still miss my dad a lot. He was such a good guy, had a kind heart and a sweet smile. He loved his family and was proud to have served his country in the U.S. Army in the final months of WWII. One of the things he enjoyed was building and making things with wood. I came across the photo above that was taken a few years ago. He made that cute little wooden bear that is holding the Red, White and Blue! Happy Birthday, Daddy! And Happy Flag Day to all of you!
Sandi

National Sewing Machine Day!

I was planning to post today about my weekend project and about the great little sewing machine that I used for that project. Then today, I learned from my quilting friends that it's National Sewing Machine Day! How perfect to share these photos today! This is my newest sewing machine.....a Juki and what a great little machine it is! I was hemming/altering drapes for my daughter's daycare and this little workhorse handled the task perfectly! I don't usually sew in my dining room but I needed to spread out because of the length of the drapes. My heavy duty portable is at my daughter's house because I left it there after working on a mug rug project with my grandson, Jacob. I was only sewing straight seams so I knew this should work but I was pleasantly surprised at the way this machine handled thicknesses of the drapery fabric. It is awesome! Drapes are done and I'm a happy camper. So is daughter Collette as they keep the sun out of her office and off her computer screen. ;-)

I have six sewing machines......they all work, even the antique treadle that my Great Aunt Bell used to sew clothes for my mother and that my mother used to sew baby clothes for me. My husband replaced the belt and it works! However, I use it just for display. Then there is my Singer Touch and Sew that my husband bought for me at the Base Exchange when he was in the Air Force and stationed in Japan. That sewing machine was my close friend during the time we were so far away from home. I made baby clothes, my clothes, drapes, and my first quilt on that machine. Then came the need for a portable machine to take to retreats so I bought a White Heavy Duty. It was portable but as well as being awesome at sewing through many layers of fabric, it wasn't all that "portable". So I bought a little Janome and it worked really well. Then I passed it on to my mother when she moved into her apartment. When she went to the Care Center, it was passed on to my niece. I missed having a little sewing machine to take to our quilting meetings so I bought another little Janome. I wasn't looking for another machine but then one day I was out-and-about with my grandson, Jacob. We over in Faribault last fall and had toured the old theater there and we were just "Christmas window shopping". We passed the window of a sewing machine shop and Jacob said "don't you want to go in, Grandma?" and I answered "no, I have enough sewing machines". And then I said..."well, maybe we should go in......".  And then I saw that little Juki and it was pink and white! And it was on sale because of the Sewing Expo going on in Minneapolis! Oh, I was caught. LOL!  I asked the sales lady if I could hear the machine sew. She sat down and I heard that nice "purrr" of a smooth little machine. I told her I wasn't looking for a machine, we were just having a Christmas window-shopping day but I would think about it. Well, guess what? I got home and I thought about it over night. Called B & J sewing the next morning and asked if they could hold a machine for me til I could get back to Faribault to pick it up. Of course, they said they could. I decided that I would buy myself a little Christmas gift.........I mean after all, we were "Christmas window-shopping" and I just happened to find something that I didn't know was on my list!

Since it was a Christmas gift to myself, I didn't open it til Christmas. My first project with it was to make some pretty pillow cases for my pink guest bedroom........

I wanted pillow cases that would blend with my quilt and with the tulip pillow I made some time ago. I had some pretty pink and green cottons so I made two floral pillowcases trimed in pink and green, then two white pillow cases trimmed in green with a pretty pink floral trim. The quilt on the bed is the one that I won at the Lehigh Historical Society raffle several years ago. I love it. It's a quilt from JCPenney but it is so nice! 

I've made a few other small projects with my little Juki but they are all in the half-done stage. Life got busy with some health issues but I'm back-on-track once again. Ready to work on some red, white and blue patriotic projects tomorrow so I'll be back again soon! 

Hope you all are enjoying this great day! 

Sandi