Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Birthday Celebrations have Begun!!!

It has been a whirlwind of a week and it has just begun!! My daughter surprised me with tickets to the Angels Baseball game last Sunday as a "kick-off" to my birthday party month!! Yep, we are going to celebrate for not just a day but a month. Woo hoo, this is a big one for this ole girl. The BIG 60 is here - yikes! Here are few pictures from the game of 
June 23!
Tiffany enjoying some chicken nachos! These are sooooo yummy.

The three of us - Tiffany, Tanya and Me!

Awesome SEATS, felt like we were on the field!

My favorite almost son in law Shawn ....

The dugout ... first inning ... you should have seen it by the last, GROSS

Peanut shells every where ...

My bracelet ....

AND Vendors .... and Tanya's foot!
 How did the Angels do??? They lost .... 10 to 9. So sad. Oh well, there is always tomorrow!
Later that evening, 11 pmish my dear friend Amy arrived at LAX from Wyoming. She will be here for the next two weeks for the birthday festivities. Stay tuned for more happenings in Fullerton.

PS - The grand kiddies arrive tomorrow (June 24)
 

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Another Goodbye ....

In a 10 month period I have attended two weddings and two funerals ... weddings are so much better. I said my final goodbye to Pat Kidd today ... the funeral was amazing, just like his wife's was in November. Two of his three sons gave a wonderful tribute to their dad, praised him for his parenting, his humor and his unwavering love for their mother for over 67 years. In the process of cleaning out their belongings they came across several letters he wrote her during their courtship. His son Mike read one and I sat their and bawled. It was written in such a sweet tender way. The year was 1944 and he was on a train to his base in Texas, he missed her terribly and was already planning their marriage. Pat was as genuine a person there ever was, his wife and his children were his universe. 

This was the picture taken on their wedding day. They were married after knowing each other for three months! Their first home was in Yuma, Ca. Horrible, bug infested place in the middle of the California desert. Wasn't he so handsome. This picture sat on a table next to Dee's bed. I asked their daughter in law for a copy and she had it for me today. I am so grateful.
My daughter attended the service with me and the two of us cried like babies. Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be a tear left in my eyes the United States Air Force entered the church to bid him farewell. As they blew taps the water works came on and the tears fell like rain. 
Such a beautiful moment in the service ....
They had this collage of photos set up in the reception room after the service. The house in the top right corner is their home on Catalina Island where my kids and I spent time every summer of their childhood. So many wonderful memories were created there.


Farewell Major Kidd, you left an amazing legacy and I feel so honored to have known you.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Some Time in my Sewing Room ....

Today was a stay at home and wait kinda day. So while I was waiting I spent some much needed time in my sewing room. I made labels for four of my older finished quilts, cut the backing fabrics for some completed tops and for fun I worked on the pillows that came with my Tribute to Betsy quilt. Love how it came out.

Labels are done ... I purchased a packet of special paper/fabric that you put right through your printer! I went on June Taylor's website selected a few of her free label designs and had a great time creating my very own personalized labels!
All things needed to sew the labels onto my quilts. YLI thread is just the best for attaching labels, sewing down bindings etc. 
Finished pillow case and cover ...

The case is stuffed and it's all put together! The fabric is a taupe woven style, I'm going to see if I can do some hand needle work on a small scrap ... I'll let you know how that works out!
Tomorrow I meet with my long arm quilter to drop off several projects. I will keep my Tribute to Betsy quilt but everything else may go into my fall open house inventory, it will be here before I know it!

Monday, June 17, 2013

Love of the Game ....

This will be a quick post .... I'm nestled in on my corner of the couch watching the Angels play the Seattle Mariners while surfing Facebook. Just as I hit the refresh button this awesome picture appeared and I said to myself "self, you really need to share this with your blog buddies!"
This is just too awesome not to share! Someone took a lot of care to cut all these bats in half, paint them and mount them to the wall. This would be perfect to put up in a boys bedroom, my living room, a sports bar etc. LOVE it!! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 
 I think if baseball were a sport in Betsy Ross' era this is what out flag would have resembled ... hehe!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Flag Day Crafters!

Oh my did the girls have a great time yesterday crafting! For the first time ever we did three craft projects in one day and I was worried they wouldn't get them done ... not this group, they were on the ball and focused!
The table is set up and the supplies and snacks are in place ....
 
Project #1 - A button ensconced frame complete with a brief story of Old Glory ..

A close up of my added accoutrement ... a tiny Origami Owl pewter star!

Projects #2 and #3 - An Americana ribbon pin to wear on those special patriotic holidays! And a Betsy Ross style greeting card.

Treat bags are filled ....

Lets craft!! The frames are coming together and look so great. It's a lot of fun to watch everyone's own vision come to fruition ... I was giggling when I snapped this picture, I shared with the ladies that the table looked like adult pre-school! There was stringy hot glue everywhere, papers, ribbons pieces and rogue buttons attempting to escape from the hot glue guns! I packed each lunch in the Sisters Enchanted insulated lunch tote (floral black) that would eventually double as a tote to take home their treasures! 
The fruits of their labor! I think they look so wonderful all together ....

Left to right ... Barb and Corinne with their art ...

Susan and Marcia. This was Marcia's first class and she had a blast! She arrived all decked out in her Americana attire, her hat is all a glimmer with a flag motif and her shoes were flag designs as well. So welcome to the crafty classes Marcia, we'll see you soon!
And in comemoration of Flag Day I can not pass up the opportunity to post a picture of Ms Betsy Ross herself ...
She borrowed my Origami Owl sliver locket complete with a flag inside for her photo op!! Isn't she so pretty!
 

Friday, June 14, 2013

A Father's Day memory ...

Summer Time and Baseball ...
My dad loved baseball. He wasn't a big sports fan but he loved listening to the games on the radio.
I grew up in a typical middle class Southern California neighborhood. The city was Long Beach and the summers were amazing. Just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean our homes didn't have air conditioning. It did get warm but it was always bearable. 
Mom and I always knew when summer had officially arrived. My dad would wheel in the big box fan and set it in the middle of the hall way next to the front door. The idea was the fan would pull the hot air out of the bedrooms and blow it out the front door .... never made much sense to me but my dad thought it was a good plan and continued to do it as long as we lived there.
At night I would lay in my bed with King, our Dalmatian dog at my side and listen to the whirr of the fan. On the nights that the Los Angeles Dodgers played baseball my dad would have the game playing on the radio in their bedroom. Vin Scully would call the game, his voice and the whirring fan would lull me off to sleep. In the morning I would ask my dad who won the game .... he never new, he fell asleep listening to the game the same way I did. I don't recall my dad ever attending a ball game, but he listened every summer night and has passed that love of the game on to me. 
I'm not a Dodger fan these days, my boys play for the Angels ... after all they wear my favorite color - red and the Big A is just a few miles from my home! However, I have been known to turn on a Dodger game on a warm summer night just to hear Vin Scully call the game. Nobody does it better then Vin.

Happy Father's Day dad ... you are so missed.

My dad never was a fan of the movies, however, he would have liked this one, he was a Robinson fan.
Sandy Kofax was a name I grew up hearing on the radio.

Salute To America!

It's Flag Day! The day Americans pay tribute to the Red, White and Blue! In celebration of this day I am hosting a craft class to pay tribute to our flag. Today we will be crafting 3 items replicating our flag. I will be posting the pictures of our class tomorrow!!

For today I will share some pictures of flags around my home, Longaberger and the U.S. Military. Enjoy my photo tribute!

My quilt kit gift from Paula is done!! I worked hard to get Tribute to Betsy finished and ready to go to the long arm quilter. I am so please with the outcome! Now to get busy making the pillows ... woo hoo!

The top is finished! Love it ... Thank you again Paula!

My front porch ....

Betsy Ross flag on my front door ...

A vintage 48 star flag celebrates flag day!

Claire Kado-Longaberger at the unfurling of the Super Flag at the Longaberger Homestead!
The Super Flag arrives in Ohio! All the way from Long Beach California!! Woo hoo, my home town!

 When you see a flag today, pause and say thank you to the men and women who made the great nation possible!!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Up, Up and Away!!

I was sitting at my dining room table chatting with some friends and I noticed a low humming sound coming from outside. Probably the gardener next door using the leaf blower. A few minutes later it got louder, the sound was getting closer so I got up to take a look out the patio doors. Low and behold it was the Goodyear Blimp! My home is on the flight path to the Fullerton municipal airport and that was the direction the blimp was traveling. It was very low and dipping lower as it flew over the house.

Yikes! This bird is really low, those palm trees are in my neighbors back yard and he is lower then the palms. The fringe of green below are the hedges in my backyard.

Within seconds it took another dive lower and made a turn towards the airport. It looked like it was going to land on the street!!
We decided to jump in my car and chase it down to see what was going on. I headed towards the airport and for awhile we lost sight of the blimp ... did it land ... crash ... or?? All of a sudden we saw it off towards the airport and it looked like it was ready to land. Wow, I was so excited, I've never seen one land before and so close to home. We lost sight of it again and then poof, the next time we see it, it's high in the sky and heading towards Los Angeles. We were so bummed, here we thought we were going to see a landing up close and personal and now it's sailing away .... maybe another time ....

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

"T" is for Taylor ... and other Things!

At least in this house it is! I found this cute little mini quilt posted online ... no pattern but it looked pretty simple and easy to figure out so I dove in! I love to make mini quilts since I have so many fabric scraps it's a great place to use them up! The real selling point of this quilt was the T's in the center. With the last name of Taylor I am automatically drawn to things with T's. So lets get going and see what I came up with!
 
Here she is! I love Americana so I added the American flag fabric as my outside border. Yes, you see writing on the muslin ... I decided to make this a signature quilt - well, actually more then a signature!
 
A little closer look at the "T"s!

A new home for the summer ...
I redid my Cranberry Scoop today ... it's been years since it's had a makeover! I stacked a few mini quilts inside and tucked in an American pillow for the summer season.

I found another bill hook at a local antique store and found the perfect little basket quilt to hang on it!
While cleaning and moving things around I found my self leafing through some very old children's books I have stacked on my child's desk. A couple of them were from a school house in the late 1800's. My grandfather worked for a demolition crew during the great depression and brought them home. I'm so glad that I'm the one who has kept them in the family and not tossed into the Goodwill!
 
See the two little red ones near the bottom? Those are the two from the school house, what's really cool is the writing in them from little children so many years ago.

On the top is my dad's little book the Lone Ranger, I also have my uncle's copy of Monty Montana!! Just love these old things.
It's the beginning of a new week, have a blessed one ...


Monday, June 10, 2013

Well the wedding journey continues .... My daughter will be having 7 bridesmaids, all friends from different phases of her life. Not all of them have officially met so she thought hosting a bridesmaids breakfast would be a perfect way for them to get acquainted before the day of the wedding! Even though she has a lovely condo of her own, it really isn't set up for entertaining more then 4 at a time ...With that in mind she asked if she could host it at my house. How could I say no, a house filled with 30 something young women sounded like fun to me!
Like everything, no matter how much you plan not everyone could make it. Her friend Lindy and sister in law Lacey, both from NorCal, (Northern California) were unable to make it and another from Texas. However, five girls can make A LOT of noise!

The theme of the breakfast was Mustaches. I made napkins using mustache fabric, and found some fun aqua mustache suckers! She purchased some mustache cups, and luggage tags.
My ever faithful chalk board welcomed them at the door ....

The table was set ... see those cute tags!

Yellow daisy's and blue staches!
A closer look at the napkins and tags!

Cups!
Sara, Tiffany and Jean ... these girls met while in college at Alpha Delta Pi sorority sisters.
To add to the chaos I bought stick on mustaches ... they had a blast playing with them. Who is that one on the top left?? Chaplin or maybe Hitler???

Four of the seven girls - Sara, Tiff, Jean, Erika and long time childhood friend Misty!



 The five of them had such a fun morning. Tiffany made a breakfast of Cheese Strata, fresh strawberries with vanilla yogurt, sausage links and Mimosas! Lots of Mimosas ....