A Quilting I will Go!

I woke up this morning to find the stars were in their proper alignment and I was able to go quilting at one of my favorite quilt shops, The Orange Quilt Bee in ... where else, the city of Orange! I love this little shop and the shops girls are just the sweetest gals ever.

This beauty truly exemplifies the shop. Beautiful Bee blocks all over the place. This will be offered as a block of the month. Go to theorangequiltbee.com if you're interested in this adorable quilt. Tell Lisa or Candy,

Anita sent you!!

Because they are such a popular shop the sew at the shop space has become very limited so when I was told they would have some space I packed up my Longaberger basket and shuttled myself down there. I took hand work this time and I got every single piece done, woo hoo.

The first piece is from Primitive Quilters Magazine and I LOVE it. It looks so perfect in my Americana bathroom.

The newest one is on the left, this one little quilt shares three of my favorite things. Quilts, baskets and of course American flags.

These two are table topper size. On the right is my wool appliqué' table topper for summer and on the left is an Americana table topper made for a dear friend. With these now completed I can focus on my Christmas gifts for this year. 

Like they say ..."so many quilts, so little time."

Prepping for the Grandkids!!

I spoke to my son yesterday to wish him a Happy Father's Day. As a father of 3 children, 4 adorable French Bull dog puppies, two beautiful aged dogs and a slew of fishes I thought he deserved a greeting from his mama. I was so excited to get the news that he and the family (including 3 puppies) will be coming down July 5!! My grandson, Austin will be attending his first week long baseball camp at Cal State Fullerton!! He is so excited, and so am I! While he's at camp the girls and I will do a craft each day in-between swimming.

Here's the plan ... one day we'll paint the little bird houses and they can go home and sit them in mommy's atrium window in the kitchen. Another day we can paint the boxes all sorts of pretty colors then glue one of the big pretty flowers on the top. These will be perfect for the girls to store all their little treasures in their bedrooms. The markers are for the masks on a stick, once these are done I think I'll have a little masquerade party! Oh what fun. On the final day we will make cupcakes and the girls can decorate them.  We will do this on Austin's final day of camp to celebrate his accomplishments on the field!! We'll even do some that look like baseballs for him! With hours and hours in the swimming pool, a few trips to Toys R Us and Arts and Crafts the week will fly by and I'll be so sad to see them go home. 

This grandma hopes all you grandmas have a fun, craft filled summer with your loved ones as well!

What a Gooey Mess!

Last Saturday my buddy Amy and I got up bright & early and headed out to do some garage sale shopping. Her primary focus was to find canning jars ... CHEAP! She makes Pepper Butter from a family recipe and this is her peak season to can. I drive through neighborhoods while Amy hangs out the window looking for signs to guide us along our way. Usually I sit in the car while she scans the driveways for jars. I am trying to get rid of stuff for heavens sake not bring more into my house!! BUT, we stopped at an estate sale. An elderly man had passed and his son was cleaning house so to speak. He was a school teacher and had a treasure trove of goodies. I could see this from my view from the curb so I went to check it out. I'm always searching for pewter and I was so excited when I found a tankard in perfect condition. It will have a new home in Amy's hutch.

My GREAT find of the day were two solid oak child's classroom chairs. The bottoms were stamped LA Unified Schools. I love the beauty of oak and I love to refinish furniture.I must have inherited this from my dad, he loved making furniture as a hobby.

I was itching to get them refinished so I made a trip to the hardware store and got busy.

Here is one of the two chairs. Solid as a rock, even I can sit on them.

Just about finished with the stripping process. I had forgotten what an ooey, gooey mess this process is. 

Good ole Homer Formby's. This has been my choice of stripping solution for over 40 years. It gets the job done without eating my skin off! Check out those gloves, OMG, they were gross.

This is just about all a person needs to refinish a project. Green scrubby stuff, a towel you can throw away when you're done, gloves, Homer's stripper and his Tung Oil. Oh, and don't forget to cover your table!

And done! Finished the other one today. I was going to sell them, but I just can't ... they are so cute and so pretty. They just don't make things like they used to. If you have a solid piece of wood furniture, don't toss it, re-finish it.

Finishing Old Friends ... Starting new Ones!

My friend Amy headed home to Wyoming bright and early Sunday morning. Joe and I both miss her terribly so this morning I decided to jump into my old routine to help ease my missing her so much!

I settled into my sewing room and sorted through some exchange blocks that needed to be finished ....

These are the final 10 blocks for the group quilt Antique Circles. For 10 months we have each made 10 blocks. We exchange our blocks so we end up with   10 different blocks. Now to sew them all together ... ugh. I'll post the completion once it's done.

In an effort to get Christmas projects done I began sewing in January. To date I have two gifts completed, one ready for the quilter and I've begun this one.

My friend Rita had this cute little quilt on her table a while ago. I just loved it and she graciously shared her pattern. Mine is a red and green version and I love it! I don't want to give it away ....

Since the time I took this picture I've been fighting with my computer to get the pictures to go into my blog. This is now finished and it came out so cute. It will go to the quilter along with the other one.

Now I have started Christmas gift number 4. It is coming together and I hate to say this but I love it too! What is a girl to do? I think I should sew with patterns and fabrics I just don't like.

These were all purchased at the new Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop in Murietta, CA. I love Lisa's new shop and could spend hours in there drooling at all the goods!

We Honor our Flag ...

In America our red, white and blue, the American Flag flies stately over Federal & State buildings, schools, local court houses and yes, many American homes. Our flag symbolizes who we are as a people, free. Free to speak our minds, live where and with whom we choose, practice a faith of our choice and we "know" the life we want is only ours to truly choose.

So, today, I will fly my many flags in front of my home and give thanks to God for the freedoms it represents.

Longaberger Ladies Tea

It was such a lovely day. Fifteen Longaberger customers/friends gathered at the Tea and Tea Cups Tearoom to share an afternoon together. 

My dear friend Amy made the 18 hour drive from Wyoming to California to share in the fun.

Her adorable floral dress was made by Barbara Miller for the special day. She looked so festive and spring like!

The ladies slowly trickled in and began taking their seats.

Before long everyone was in their seats and our "proper" tea was served!

We were each served a freshly made scone with jam and creme' fresh. A plate filled with finger sandwiches, a cup of wild rice soup and fresh fruit. To complete our tea we each selected a favorite dessert.  Each course we were served a tea of our choice.

As a gift to our customers Amy and I presented a beautiful Longaberger crock planted with spring flowers.

Thank you to all of you who attended! I always enjoy spending time with my Longaberger family!

Are You Ready for Some Baseball!!!

It's baseball season! This is a sure sign for me that summer is on its way. As a little girl I would lay in my bed on a hot summer night being lulled to sleep by the hum of our electric fan. We didn't have a air conditioning so my dad would faithfully bring in the big box fan and set it at the end of the hall. For the next 3 months the loud hum of the fan would drown out the sound of the television and telephone conversations. In those days we had one phone that hung on the wall in the kitchen smack dab next to the fan!

Along with the lull of the fan at night I was also soothed by the sound of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games being called on the radio by the iconic Vin Skully. Although I am a devoted Angels fan I have been known to tune into Dodgers baseball at night just to hear Vin Skully call the game. His voice drums up nostalgic memories of my summertime childhood when life was so simple.

So, a few weeks ago when the Origami Owl jewelry company launched their new MLB charm collection I was thrilled! I just couldn't wait to get my very own collection. Well, yesterday they arrived and I am a happy camper. 

Check out these cute tiny charms ....

Tiny baseball bats, heart shaped baseballs, angel wings and of course the BIG "A."

Inside my large living locket ....

Added my tiny Sawrovski red crystal dust, put it on my chain and I'm ready for the game!

Hay batter, batter, batter ... swing!

Preparing for an American Summer!

Just ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you "Anita, yes, she loves the red white and blue!"

As the days grow longer and the air feels warmer I get the itch to decorate my house with red, white and blue. Both the inside as well as the out. 

We BBQ'd on Memorial Day so I got myself busy scrubbing patio furniture and the concrete.  Chased away spiders and bugs who had made my patio their home for the winter. I popped in flags where ever they would fit!

Placed high on the chimney is a spray of 5 flags. I love how the blow in the breeze every afternoon.

Dining table. The quilt was made by Penny many, many years ago.  Even then the Red, White and Blue was prominent in my home.

A few of my favorite things .... Antiques, Flags and Quilts ....

Even my quilts have flags!

My friend Amy is in town this week and of course we had to shop at a few of our favorite places. This beautiful picture was taken at our local Walmart store. Walmart has an amazing collection of Americana goods!

To finish today's post is Miss Betsy Ross of Boston. As the Americana holidays approach she gets very patriotic as well!

Summer Picnics are on the Horizon ....

A stack of 5 amazingly beautiful Longaberger Picnic basket options!

It's June .... Summer is officially a few short weeks away ... are you ready for family

picnics??

Did I hear you say NO!! Well, then it's time to purchase a new Longaberger Picnic Basket, fill it with your favorite bottle of wine, fresh strawberries, a nice loaf of artisan bread and a wheel of brie cheese. Oh, and a bar of dark chocolate infused with chili and you are ready for an awesome day under a beautiful shade tree!

And yes, bring a favorite quilt to lie on and enjoy your summer read.

On my list of quilts to make this winter....