Grandchildren Christmas Day

I got a new digital camera for Christmas but it took me half of the day to realize that I could be taking pictures with it.We had a lot more pics of Christmas but these are some with my new camera.

Beau is playing cribbage with his Papa Alan. Notice his Denver Bronco jersery?

Kenzie and I did a fashion show with our Coffee Shop Girls PJs but those pics are on everyone else's cameras. I'll get them though.

My favorite picture of all the Christmas pics is the one of Pony and Vince. If that doesn't define Peace I don't know what does.

We had such a great time. All the family was here except Damon. He was away working and won't be home until next week. He was missed by all, especially Jesse, who by the way got a 3.75 GPA in college this semester! Way to go Jesse!

Now it's back to life as usual, which means quilts to make. Humm, lets see, the In Full Bloom, one called Fast & Furious that I'm going to do with Chris, another one called Boondoggles.................Yep.. back to normal.

Coffee Shop Girls

When my granddaughter Kenzie stays the night with us it's a big deal that when we wake up in the morning I go in and make me a Latte and her a Steamer. Then we lay in bed and watch cartoons and drink our "Coffee Shop" as she calls it. I actually started the tradition to give me a few more minutes of laying down but now it's a big thing for us to do. We have "Coffee Shop" other times of the day but the "Morning Tradition" is what brought this project on.
I've had the pink coffee and breakfast flannel for a long time, wanting to make a pair of pajamas out of it, but of course never got it done. When looking at a Martha Pullen "Sew Beautiful" I saw some cute pj's with a t-shirt that had been embroidered on and came up with the idea to make Kenzie and I both matching "Coffee Shop Girls" pajamas! The bottoms went quickly with my new serger. I sent my best friend Chris the coffee mugs I picked out for the t-shirts and she digitized the "Coffee Shop Girls" under it for me. Shelly made my design just a hair larger than Kenzies, because I'm just a hair larger than she is. LOL
I am so excited for Christmas. Alan thinks I should wrap both sets of pj's in different boxes, tie the two packages together with a bow, and say they are to the "Coffee Shop Girls" from Santa. Won't that be fun! I know she's going to love our matching pj's.

Grandpa & Vince

I hope you aren't tired of pictures of Vince yet but he changes so much and besides, this set has Grandpa in it. Alan was putting Vince to sleep and said I HAD to get a picture of him because he looked like he was praying. Notice the frown in the one with Grandpa after I took the first picture! He loves his Grandpa that's for sure and Grandpa sure loves him!

Smocked Blouse Finally Done!

I finally finished Kenzies Cowgirl Boot Smocked Blouse.

I learned a few things with this blouse. The first thing is to use a pattern for the blouse that actually has directions, especially if it's been awhile since you sewn blouses!

The other things I learned were how to use my serger and how to do automatic button holes on my sewing machine AND how to sew the button on with my sewing machine. After all this I sure hope it fits. I'm not worried about Kenzie liking it. It's pink and it has a boot. She'll like it.

Dec 10 Pics of Vince & Family

We got some pictures today of Shelly, Pony, and Vince. They were over helping with the Christmas decorating. I love the family photo. I don't remember what we were laughing about but it was really funny. Isn't Vince just precious with his little hat. Kenzie was quite infatuated with her cousin as usual today. I am so glad she loves him so much. I could have been the other way where she was jealous but that really isn't her nature.

Cousins

This is a picture Jenny took on Friday when they were visiting Shelly. You can tell how excited Kenzie is to be able to hold her cousin. She has waited a very long time for this. I think she was getting a little impatient in the end. Every time she saw Shelly she would say, "Why is that baby still in there!" She's such a little mother just like HER mother used to be. Always wanting to hold the baby.

Vince...One Week Old

This is my precious Vince at one week old. He is such a good baby. I wish his eyes were open but I'm sure his mommy was very happy they were closed. He seems to think that from about midnight until 2 AM is unhappy time every night. Other than that, his is a very happy baby.

We Have A Baby!

We have a new baby boy. His name is Vincent Michael Diaz. He weighs 6 lb 1 1/2 oz. and he is 19" long. His mother did such a great job. They are both doing so good. The other grandma Mary Ann and I watched from the Doctors view. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life. He is beautiful, she is beautiful, life is beautiful.

New Bassinet

As promised I took other pictures of the bassinet. I'm not sure if this is any better. It is still pretty wrinkled from the move but it's in the room and it is ready for our little bundle to use it. You still can't see the silk ribbon duckies around the outside very well or the smocking but you'll just have to take my word for it. I put the sheet on since I erased the previous post.

Babies Room

Here is the finished room for our new baby boy. The diaper stacker is finished. Notice the square design and your hand goes easily in on either side of the front to grab a stack. The measurements are for two stacks of disposable diapers. Right now it sort of holds 3 since they are so small. The Noah's Ark quilt ended up on the wall and the duckie quilt is in the bed. Pictures and shelves are hung and everything is washed and put away. I do believe we are READY!

Tigger Message Board

This is the message board I made for our grandson. I picked out different Tigger sports designs and filled in with some others. The buttons on the ribbon are baseball hats, shoes. mitt, bat, ball, and 1st place ribbon. I am very happy with the way this turned out and very thankful for Chris for being an embroidery junkie.

Kenzie's School Pics

Here is one of the school pictures of Kenzie. She looks so grown up all the sudden. For a pre-school picture I think they did a great job! She is such a sweetie. She is growing up so fast. I got a kick out of her "teaching" Grandma how to play the educational games you hook up to the TV. It really did take me awhile to figure them out. I think she was actually feeling sorry for me.

Diaper Cake

Jenny did a diaper cake for the shower. I was so impressed with it. Tigger is on top and booties, toys and accessories adorn it. The shower was a big success. Jenny worked very hard and it showed. The decorations were fabulous, the food was wonderful, and there were lighted duckies floating in a pool of blue punch. Balloons anchored by baby bottles adorned every table covered in blue tablecloths and tulle, sprinkled with baby confetti and placesettings had bags of candy. The guests were so much fun as we played games and Shelly was thrilled that so many friends and family came. She especially enjoyed all the kids that were allowed to come. After all, isn't that what it was all about, babies turn into children and I can't wait to see the new one.

Shelly & Pony At The Shower

Shelly and Pony had a great time opening gifts at the Shower. If you look closely by Pony you can see part of my bassinet and message board. They received so many wonderful gifts. Their baby is certainly off to a good start! It was so nice to share the afternoon with friends and family.

The Quilt

This is one of the quilts I made for my new grandson. I chose a Noah's Ark theme. It has all the same fabrics in it that I have used in the other accessories in the room. The baby theme started out as ducks and then it went to Tigger. By the time I did the quilt I wanted something else too so I made this. The ducks are on there for Shelly and everyone is represented by other animals too. Jenny collects pigs so they are for her, Randy is the turtle, I am the bear, Pony is the lion(couldn't have Tiggers), Kenzie is the horse, Crystal is the monkey, Alan is the fish, the frogs for Shelly, and the elephant and bird are just because I liked them. My friend Chris is represented by the fact that she gave me the designs in the first place (she is at the root of my addictions) and the Ark of course is for God because without him none of this would be possible.

The Crib Is Finally Done!

I finally finished the crib. Well, it's been done for a week or so. The crib skirt matches the valance as you can see in a previous pic of the window. The yellow in the bumper pad is chenille, the green is a stripe, and the blue says Love. I am really happy with the way it turned out. Shelly and Pony seemed to like it too. Now we need to get the walls done but not until after the shower.

My Baby's Baby

My Baby is about ready to have her baby. Her Doctor said that after the end of the month she can have it any time and he will be ok with that. Her due date it the end of November. I would like her to wait a few more weeks. Notice how she wouldn't do a head shot and a stomach shot both? That is my grandson in there! I can almost see him now. I can't wait. His cousin Mackenzie is really getting anxious. I think she wants a real doll to play with. Jenny is having the baby shower this Saturday so you will get pictures of that!

My Bottomless Pit of Projects

Last night I finally finished the basic smocking on the bassinet skirt I have been working on for our new grandson. Now I need to put a few duckies on it. I have to figure out how to do that today. I can't decide if I want smocked or silk ribbon.

It really is a huge relief to get the major part of the bassinet skirt finished. I was secretly worried about whether I would have it finished by the baby shower. The part that is left won't take long at all. It has been a joke with Shelly and I, since I was trying to keep it a secret from her, yet she had to help me pleat the 7 1/2 yards of layered fabric which had to be run through the pleater an inch at a time. I kept calling it "the thing that you don't know what it is". I know she knew what it was but she was gracious enough not to tell me she knew. It's sort of like pretending to be curious about a Christmas present after you've already peeked.

The list of "Things I Need To Make" doesn't ever seem to get any shorter. As soon as I check one project off, I add two more. I guess the main projects are done. The baby will have a bed to sleep in, a few quilts to cover up with, clothes to wear, pads to spit up on, and a family who loves him. When it comes down to it, he can't ask for more. I can ask for more though so I'll just have to be his advocate and continue to make more things.

As for the rest of today..........football and duckies.

More Baby Stuff

Here are two of the knit shirts I made for the new baby. I embroidered them with my embroidery unit on my sewing machine. I made the burp pad with Tigger on it for Pony to use. It is bigger than the common size burp pads. I thought the shirts would fit a new born but I think they are for a chubby 6 month old baby. I made pants and a hat too but we all know what they look like. You'd think this was my first grandchild but it's just my first grandbaby with this sewing machine!

Enchanted Bouquet Wholecloth Quilt

This is my favorite quilt. I just wanted to have it on my blog because it is my original design and I love it so much. I drew out every single element of the design by hand. It is one solid piece of fabric on top. The color is done by using really bright felt underneath. The puffy part of the feathers is extra batting called trapunto. The blue thing on the right is the first place ribbon it got at the Yellowstone Quilt Fest in Cody, Wy. It won second place, Peoples Choice at the Big Sky Quilt Show in Billings MT. My husband says it is the most beautiful quilt he has ever seen. Karen McTavish (famous long arm quilter) said it is the most beautiful multi-colored whole cloth she has ever seen. I call it Enchanted Bouquet. The background of this quilt is micro-stippled and has McTavishing, yes named after the quilter Karen McTavish. I plan to make more of this type of quilt.

Another Grandchild On The Way

I have been so busy lately trying to get Shelly's new baby's nursery designed and sewn. I finished the valance and sheers for the window. The sheers have appliqued stars that match the fabrics in the quilt and room accessories. The valance, sheers, and crib skirt are finished and I'm almost done with the bumper pad. We painted the walls but since Shelly and Pony live in an apartment it was white or paint over them when they moved. I figured I could cover the walls with enough stuff that no one would notice anyway. I appreciate the fact that even though Shelly is more than capable of designing an amazing nursery, she and Pony have graciously allowed me to do anything I want

Since the design of the diaper stacker hasn't changed in 75 years, I have decided to design it for today's disposable diapers. You'll see it when I finish. I'm doing a message board for the wall too. Think I'll embroider Tiggers on it. Pony likes Tigger.

So far I have made two quilts, one Noah's Ark, and one with yellow duckies, and a pillowcase for a baby pillow with a smocked ducky insert. I am in the process of making a bassinet skirt that is smocked with layers of tulle over baby blue batiste. Besides the smocking I will put silk ribbon duckies on it too. My best friend Chris just HAD to show me the pattern for the bassinet in a Martha Pullen book and I couldn't resist. The baby (boy) is due Nov 28th. I don't have much time. I wanted to make my 4 year old granddaughter Mackenzie some smocked dresses for school too! I guess once the baby gets here I'll have more time and hopefully a serger!