Charming Tails

Yesterday some  friends and I visited a few quilt shops near Saginaw. On a lark, on the way home we stopped at the Bethesda Thrift Shop. I collect Charming Tails so I was excited to see they had about 100, new in the box, Charming Tails for sale. Of course, I had to purchase a few to join the gang at home.

Not only were the prices low but it was Senior Day, so I saved another 25%! My final cost for 5 cuties was less than the regular price for one.

AQS Quilt Show

I attended the AQS Quilt Show in Grand Rapids this past week. This is a photo of some members of my quilt club.  We joined a group from The Front Porch Quilt Shop, in Frankenmuth, on the two day trip.

There were over 900 quilts on display. I have lots of photos but the information in the show booklet said I could not post them on a blog :(   The quilts were stunning. There was an exhibit of Egyptian quilts and another of Japanese quilts. There were demos and speakers. Classes were also offered but I hadn't preregistered for any. Of course, I had fun shopping at the 250 booths in the Merchant Mall section :)

Pumpkin Wall Hanging

My best friend, Linda, just celebrated her birthday.  I had planned to make her a pumpkin wall hanging using this kit.



However, I find I can't follow directions.  I also kept changing fabrics and ended up only using one piece of fabric in the kit.  This is my finished project.

I pieced the background using assorted beige scraps  from my stash.  I padded the pumpkins.  The leaves nearest the pumpkins were also padded and they are only tacked down so they are 3-dimensional.

Instead of sewing the tiny vines, I found some lime green ric rac leftover from another project.  I dyed it with tea and then used glitter markers and glitter glue to add some sparkle.

Aunt Romaine's 100th Birthday

Today, we went to a 100th Birthday Party for my Aunt Romaine. She is amazing, she still lives in her own home and is very sharp mentally.

I made her a lap quilt to keep warm while she watches TV and knits or crochets.  I got the idea for the pattern at Loft Creations.

I used scraps from my stash and some fat quarters I received on our bus trip to Shipshewana.

The backing fabric is an apple and pear tree print.

Recycled Birdcage

I purchased this bird cage at our church's Mission Store
for $2, thinking it could be  a fun project.

I spray painted the cage with gold paint and added some silk greenery, a bird nest and a couple of birds. I'm pleased with the result.

Audrey's Birthday

This is my cute great-niece, Audrey.

Audrey celebrated her first birthday today.

For her birthday, I made Audrey a smock.

Because Audrey's parents call her "Peanut",

I added a pocket with an appliqued peanut on the front of the smock.

The smock ties in the back and is reversible.

This is the inside.

Almost No Fat Banana Bread

We had some bananas getting over ripe. Tom suggested I make some banana bread. I went to "Allrecipes.com" to see if I could find a light recipe. The recipe I used, has only 127 calories per slice, about half the regular count.  I added some salt and nutmeg to the recipe after reading the reviews.  We are very pleased with the end product.
 

My front flower bed is looking pretty, even though we have had a lot of heat and little rain lately.