Hearts up!

 Happy Valentine's Day to our goddaughter! Liana is back at LMU after a semester in Madrid.

This just like her dog, Snowball.

I didn't make the card.


I copied the scarf  from a magazine - it's  felt hearts sewn on a narrow base. Godmothers and grandmothers take a risk of doing something dorky. But I figure if it is geeky she can use it to decorate her room.






The pillows below are for Leslie's birthday. She loves all things  Dia de los Muertos. The skulls are actually white with red dots. Click and maybe the color will be more accurate.

I like these pillows because they are quick and the covers can be changed so easily.

Beach Time!

Easter was 5 days at the beach but in two different settings. The first few days were at a condo with my dear friend, Doreen and my goddaughter, Liana. And her roommate Kelsey, who is called Cupcake. Perfect weather, beautiful beach and no one there but us.

Doreen

Cupcake and Liana

Liana with her short Godmother!

 The girls are roommates at LMU in LA.  They are so cute, so fun and so sweet. 

Oh yeah!

It took me a few tries but I got the girls in the air! 

 

Quality time with my girl friend and her daughter - priceless. Liana will spend the fall semester in Spain. So I really treasure this trip!

Coming soon....more adventures.

A Clean Slate 2011

Finally - I got my new ironing board cover!

If only it would stay this clean!

I have waited for months for this cover. Evidently my board is an unusual size. The manufacturer stopped making covers right after I bought the board.

 Drats, my bad luck! I got a new cover many  years ago at our local Sewing/Quilting/Crafting Festival. Well...many mistakes later it was way shabby!

The cute,  little, old fellow in that festival booth, Mr. Aubry Foster, stole my heart. He owns Golden Hand Industries, Inc. in Atlanta, GA. And he has a charming southern accent as well. I think Mr Aubrey is the only employee. He has cover sewers somewhere in his town. Poor guy gets overwhelmed after selling at big quilt shows! It took several phone calls but - well worth the wait.

The bag below is made from a large men's sweatshirt. This cool idea came from from a local ASG Workshop.The presenter was Mary Mulari, who  is a master at re-newing/recycling old sweatshirts!

 The bag is for Liana, my goddaughter, a Kappa Alpha Theta girl at LMU.


The  bottom of the sweatshirt is the top of the bag.  I put 1 1/2" darts at the corner areas to shape it a bit. I sewed in stay tape across the bottom for some stability. Straps were cut from the sleeve.

OMG what a doll.

Because the Greek letters were appliquéd to a base, I shadow quilted around the letters to make them pop a little more.

I'm very pleased but most importantly, Liana is thrilled! Yeah!

Thanksgiving

The flower vase is the pumpkin - girl friend's idea.

Hard as a rock...the resident workman had to open it.

Just family and what a wonderful day!!!

Advent Calendars for Liana and Kelsey (roommate) at LMU.

  Whew, I was happy to get these finished so they could be back to the dorm for December 1st.

A Snowball In September

If you have a goddaughter you probably have a god-dog!

In our case we've had a number of god-dogs.

Meet Snowball

 Snowball came to Liana one Christmas 12 or 13 years ago. Santa delivered Snowball on Christmas Day. Godparents were key players in the secretive delivery. We had her about a week before Christmas.That was a hoot!

Snowball has never had a sleep-over until last week.

Truly she adapted very well -- or maybe we did. 

We did have to bring over her special stairway to the bed. 

Oh yes, she has to have stairs!

Snowball finds the turtles!

Amazingly she spends a lot of time outdoors. Most especially since she took on turtle patrol.

 I'm NOT touching..I just want to follow you!

Yikes, don't move so suddenly!

Was Ella thrilled? No, not at all. Her sleep over was cancelled!

Busy Times

Time is flying by - my blogging isn't happening nearly often enough. (I can't keep up with the girl friends!!)  My highest priority right now is preparing for the daughter's wedding December 12th. It's a small, family wedding but there are so many things to do. Thank goodness for the girl friends!

In the meantime.... Liana, our goddaughter, came home from LMU  for her birthday bash. What a cutie!  Happy Birthday, sweet girl.

               Liana and proud Dad, Vic.                      

   Liana with brother, Andre' & Snowball.

Janna & Dr Steve work on dessert! Wow!

Our recent trip to Rocky Point was fun and relaxing!  The weather was perfect!  As usual it was all about Ella!!

Junior & Ella taking a break from frisbee play!

Everybody loves Ella!!

(Ella's comment:  "Gee....why they don't want me to have this frisbee??  I won't bend it, my teeth aren't sharp anymore. What the heck is so special 'bout it anyhow?")

It's hard work but somebody has to do it!!

This is my favorite picture of the week. On Thanksgiving day, I noticed this old, adorable "Woodie" ahead of us. How funny, I got myself in the snap. I feel like I was taking a picture behind me!  The Woodie was from the early 40'ties. It was a 3-seater too!!  Oh my gosh, I want to drive it.

Cute, huh?

Liana's First Day!!!

Oh my heart.....the goddaughter is all grown up. She is at LMU - and already sending me facebook notes! How sweet is this girl? Poor mom - hopefully she has stopped bawling!
;-D

College Laundry Bag

My precious goddaughter is leaving for college soon! Wow she grew up so fast it's all a blur. Seems like she should still be about this age -- baby Ella and Liana (2003).
And now she's all grown up!
I made her a laundry bag to take to college - LMU. Although from what I've observed, she might need a Mac truck to haul all her laundry!
I used the largest lettering I could to fit the pockets. I wrapped the outside of the mega hoop with a light & tacky stabilizer, then stuck the pocket down and basted it in the hoop. Worked like a dream.
I was so thrilled to embroider those little dresses on hangers! Oh my heart be still -- girly stuff. Finally, the perfect opportunity to order those little embroidered lingere' items!
Liana has always been crazy about dogs that's why I chose that little, bitty, Scottie print on the boxers. (Hopefully you can click to enlarge the pictures.)

Hard to see - but inside the top pocket there is a long key fob and a secret zipper pocket.
The bag is a quilted denim, I think is called sandstone. It is a perfect weight for this bag. It measures about 24" x 26". Let's hope she likes it.

A Special Graduation

Our goddaughter graduated from Thunderbird High School yesterday! What a beautiful young lady she is. Wow...the years have just flown and she has always been a joy to the entire extended family! Congratulations to Liana! (And her parents!)