April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry I have been gone from blog land the last month.  I have been busy traveling for work and then getting sick - twice!  First with a respiratory infection while I was in Atlanta and the second time last week with the stomach flu-yuck!  Also, I had to throw in my husband's 50th birthday and party!  So, I have not had much time for crafty fun lately.

I did make up my mug rug for this grea April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop.  I went a little different for me.  I was trying for modern spring.  Not sure I hit the mark or not, but I do love the colors and the fabrics.

Also, I tried to do machine binding - guess I won't be doing that again, it's just not as nice as hand finishing (I'm a bit wonky still with this technique).

April Showers Mug Rug Blog Hop

Some buttons for whimsy

Please visit all the other wonderful blogs in the hop today!

Hayley @ Mrs. Pickles

Karen @ Sew Much 2 Luv 

Mélanie @ Les passions de Cliodana 

Cindy @ Quilt Doodle Doodles 

Jamie @ Busy Bee Quilts 

Judy @ That Other Blog 

Regena @ The Distracted Domestic

Amy @ Domesticity and other Ponderous Things  

Denise @ My Whittle Adventures 

Heather @ a Reformed Heath'n 

Marica @ ~Englating~ 

The entire list of bloggers in the hop can be found here.  A big thank you for Mdmn Samm for putting this together!

 

The friends I have made

In Junior League have continued to impress me. There are women who sew and quilt like Samantha. Teachers that give way more of their time to kids than they are paid for like Tara and Christie. Christie also camps and loves wine! Then there are those that just give so much of themselves to the cause of the Junior League -  like Trinka and Andrea.

But not only are these all great people, but so are their families! At the first general meeting we were paired up with a Plane Pal. My plane pal is Sanam. Well, at out fundraiser I was fortunate enough to meet her mother (I'd met her before but hadn't gotten to really spend time with her talking). What a wonderful soul she is so warm and friendly. We talked about cooking and she told me how wonderful the saffron is from Iran. I believed her, but she went so far as to send some to me to try! How cool is that?

I can not wait to try it! I hope that Sanam and her mom can come to my house soon for dinner. I would love to get to know them more.

Happy Valentines Day!

I'm making the hubs sockeye salmon, asparagus and mash potatoes for dinner and he said it was blog worthy! Later I will make us macaroons.

Honey Do's

My husband has been after me for a year to make him "gun quilts".  These are really gun mats rather than a quilt.  They are to cover the top of the shooting tables at the gun range so the guns don't get scratched up.  He keeps everything looking new and I mean everything.  No wear and tear for this man - he has me for all the wear and tear items.



I was suppose to only make he and I one, but somehow he put in orders for his friends too, so I ended up making 4 of this style.  I still need to make 3 of the other style.

Our "hunting" dog had to get in the picture to help me model these.



They are made out of canvas of which I really don't ever want to quilt again...and I won't even mention doing the binding with canvas to you.

Sunday Supper

Sunday supper is important at our house. Tonight the hubs made gumbo, it sure was nice to not have to cook dinner for a change.

Red Work

I love Bird Brain Designs! Such fun and whimsical patterns for stitching. I know this is a short post but I wanted to share what I'm stitching tonight. One day I hope to finish all four pieces and make it into a small quilt for myself.

Do you go on Quilt Retreats?

I want to go on a quilt retreat but have no idea what to expect.  Have any of you been on one? Do you have any recommendations on one you liked? Location really doesn't matter too much for me, I'm willing to travel.  Also, anyone ever take one of the quilt cruises?  Those look like fun.

Totally, need the blog land help on this.  I'm in Southern California and really want to go on one this year.

Thanks in advance!