Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween




Pictures say it all. Grandkids knew exactly what they wanted to be this year. A hippie and a ghost. When you are the costume maker, it is so nice to have an "easy" year when it comes to making costumes. Luckily I didn't have to construct the robot costume. Left that up to Kevin.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Countdown to Shipshewana


Two weeks from today, our quilt gathering begins. Several Caravan friends will arrive here in Minnesota for a pre-Shipshewana mini-retreat. Ten of us will have a few days to sew, chat, and relax prior to the "real" retreat in Indiana. Ten more will join us in Shipshewana for our semi-annual dose of clip clopping horses, chicken with mashed potatoes, and lots of pie!





Here are a few photos from last November's retreat. Time sure flies when you are having fun!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Iowa visit

I have a tendency to make quick decisions. When a friend offered a piece of furniture to us, I found it a new home with DD Jennifer in Iowa. Hum....... friend wants the hutch out of her house on Tuesday.......it is now in my van.......do I really want to take it OUT of my van and put it in the garage? Heck no. Hum........have a few days off of school........why don't we just keep it in the van and head down to Iowa for a brief visit? I can't work, as school isn't in session. Grandkids are out of school too. Seemed to make sense.

So I packed the van and tried to get out of the Twin Cities before rush hour. Didn't happen. And since winter hasn't arrived yet, we still have construction zones in Minnesota and Iowa. Fast forward six hours, 300 miles, and we arrived in Grinnell Iowa, tired, but happy to be there.

Hutch looks great in their house. Grandkids were excited to visit Jen and her husband. I got to relax and enjoy my son-in-law's great cooking. Didn't realize they were also on Fall Break. Next day, Jennifer did a photo shoot with the grandkids. You really should check out her pictures at www.jenniferweinmanphotography.com. There is a link in the right column of my blog. Awesome photos! And then there was my feeble attempt at photographing the grandkids, like below. Hey, some of us have it, some of us don't.


Two days later, we were back on the road. I stopped and took one photo of the grandkids by some gorgeous grass on the Grinnell College campus. Then we headed north on backroads through Iowa. Stopped at a neat quilt shop in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Grandkids enjoyed the break. I enjoyed the shop. Eventually we arrived back home, in time for weekend activities and another week of work. Short, quick mini-vacation. Very glad I decided to go.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Chaska Area Quilt Show

Shirley Prindle's Civil War quilt from Kaye England's pattern

Pat Jensen's hilarious Hawaiian shirt quilt


Toby Nelson's amazing applique quilt

My Glad Creations' Nifty Nine Patch quilt


Every two years our local guild holds their quilt show. There were many wonderful quilts exhibited. My favorites included those by Toby Nelson, Shirley Prindle, and Pat Jensen. Of course I had to include the batik quilt I made for John and Carrie. And finally one of our challenge quilts. Yes you are seeing double and triple. Many made blocks. Mine are still in a bag. What setting will I chose? Love both of them.