CELEBRATING a little boy who is still swimming in utero but excited to come meet the world early....

I have missed my regular blog sessions with you all so wanted to take advantage of this peaceful evening before the work week begins....

I am sneak peeking people's blogs and good to catch up today with quick slideshows....

The ultimate scrappy baby quilt....A new baby is trying to arrive 2 months early so it was a fun day to make a quilt with fabrics on hand.....A great challenge when no quilt stores are open!  Mom and babe are in good health as of tonight and he is still in his "hot tub". 

I love this block for some reason...I think its the zebra stripes...or the "building blocks" for life...

Jess, we miss you!!!! Here comes the quilt from Entrada!

I apologize that the pic is blurry, using my work camera and I think it has seen its day in the dusty field...

Judi the Green Fairy has done it again!

Isn't the sun so sweet!

Little more stitching on oranges and apples....summer is here!

Having so much fun with this quilt and had to include a wonky house full of grandchilren of course!!!...I have just found that my job has expanded and summer has arrived, so my busy time is HERE!!! Blogging will be erratic now for a while but know that Celebrations will pop up here and there.  Please forgive me if replies to kind fun comments are not timely...Happy quilting and happy life- May summer be safe for one and all!  I tried to win the lottery with my bucket of quarters in Nevada last weekend, but....for now my nurse hat will do the trick! Maybe next time, Erin....

It's Friday................Circus life and Grafting.....

Block #2... celebrating grafting....

This morning is a crazy circus at my home......AND I LOVE IT!!!!

Harley slept outside last night for the first time and is completely confused whether it is morning or the afternoon when we all arrive home from school and work.... blindness can be interesting for him....

Noah is amped to get on his camouflage and become a spy....

And then I look up and he is a naked bean-pole just out of the shower pretending to be a dinosaur, the NOAHSAURUS.....The love for dinosaurs by children is an amazing thing!

And my oldest is 3 hours from arrival for the weekend to hang with Noah....

And my husband has embarked on the debauchery of Old Farts Golf Tournament and pedicures were last night's activity.....Isn't it crazy that he most likely got the pink pedi instead of me.......Noah had one things to say, "Give them the snake eye on the course, dad...."

And....thank you for the love as I wrote about the loss of little Sean yesterday!

What color is your Friday?

...and sometimes the pink is the blue.....

As I drove to work today, I felt flooded by emotions after having posted pink blogs earlier....The pink took on a different shade....as I thought of my cousin who died of breast cancer at 29 and my friends who have fought the battle and won...pink ribbons that commemorate and give hope...how did God create our brains and flow of synapses.....? 

and then....pink became the hue of my tear streaked cheeks as I read a newspaper article of a 4 year old who was killed by mom this week in my state after dad begged a judge to not send him to her due to psychological instability.  STONE ANGEL by Martina McBride and this statue posted recently  became my companions on the final leg of travel to work....

and then my mind was a whirl... I thought of the children in foster care and adopted, Big Sister and Big brothers Programs, United way...I'll stop there while CELEBRATING people who give their heart in hopes that there will be one less stone angel...signifying the beauty of a child and what was and could have been.....

I must put on my nurse hat now.....

Dressing up gloom.....!

No pink.....it stayed at Disneyland but the blue of the wings....this is from Disneyland....even they get it.....blue then pink........

Crash and burn.....pink and blue......I have never noticed until taking the photo of my un-fake bumps of what my shirt says.......I was just noticing the pink and blue....this has GODWINK written all over it as I continue to dress......

And look at the socks that I had picked out prior to the post about Gloom.....put them on and thought....HMMMMMM!

But....

Rhino you will not be the victor...

The heart will always win.....

Maybe a pedicure of pink today.....Anyone in.......? My toes are all that are left that are naked....

Do you feel like you just visited a peep show.... Oh what the heck!  Dressing up gloom!!!!

CELEBRATING gloom....

The band, BLUE OCTOBER....a fav of mine and sings about BLUE.....

Have you noticed that it just plain stinks when feeling in a blue mood....and then a "splash of pink" comes along.... The pink wouldn't be so pink if the blue wasn't so blue.......

I have always wanted to CELEBRATE the grumpy moods and today seems like a day to do so....Why would I want to celebrate them....

Because it is part of being human... a reminder that I am not an island.....I NEED OTHERS!!!!

and when the blue fades into joy....IT FEELS AWESOM!

I might daresay that the emotions of my womanly side can be a little out of hand....after all these years I know that the pink is out there.....and thank you friends when you bring it to me in time of need!

A footprint in the sand.....

I was so excited to look for the mustang family that I decided to quietly drive down the wash in hopes that I could find them around a bend.  What I found was a quiet path of hoof prints instead.  Interestingly, as I drove I noted that there was the very rocky wash that I drove in and then a sandy path that paralleled, with only hoof prints..While I never found the mustang family on that trip, I did enjoy the quiet reminder

that they are out there and just unseen....

From reverence to mayhem and laughter.....Seeing my clients for med visits consisted of a blessed brown tarp protecting us from the pelting hailstorm....We all looked at one another at one point and asked, "Really, really.....It's middle of May!" 

"48 Hours"...what a wonder!

 Apples and Oranges....Apple of my eye....Orange County (Disneyland)....An apple a day....This is the block that begins a quilt celebrating my Grandmothers....Excited to share the symbolism as it grows...

Harley's quilt ready for the quilter....Have you heard of Green Fairy's news....Go to her blog so you can CELEBRATE with her!

Love pouring down......I figure the crookedly sewn basket goes with the idea that when we are "off kilter" we need a little extra love!!!!

Noah was dressed for the squall.  The day before he had jumped in twice and this was amazing....when I comented how brave he has gotten with the cold water he remarked, "Skateboarding has changed my life." My little guy is growing up...and I LOVE IT!!!!

What would the lake be without a sweet pup named Savannah...We joke that our boat is named, "Liquid Prozac"....always a giggle and laugh and sometimes pure mayhem!  (Before the squall)

Our own form of "Deadliest Catch Episode"...Jack surfing the squalls on Mother's Day...We soon headed back for double dutch jump roping and bocce in the backyard....

"Hey, batter batter....."  Now I feel like an official mom in a small town....Our first Little League game and what a riot! Noah was so fun about his nerves prior to his game but then was able "to forget the crowd and focus on the ball" as he put it...

WAHOO!!!! Sometimes it is so nice to run home.....Literally and figuratively....

Celebrating....a young man who's car was totalled by a drunk driver but he was safe....Photographing Josie's bronze statue as Sandra email me....My sis enjoying her first date weekend without the kids with her husband (almost 4 years since the last one)....Green Fairy's double big news.....My husband giddy that his Old Fart's Golf weekend is here!....Finding kayak fabric line that reminds me of Penny....An empty envelope that came in my mailbox allowing for creative ideas...Timothy and Raiden home.....All of the goodness that reminds me that when I am ornery and sad and cheeks are tear stained...that "this too shall pass, Grant me the serenity......"

and finally.....off to play in the woods and it snowed yesterday.....Snow Snow go away....fingers crossed for a mustang....

Animal instincts.....

I was reading in a recent quilt magazine about the animal totem- What kind of animal do you represent when quilting?....Noah was being silly for Mother's Day and seemed like a perfect example of this article...

There are flipsides to holidays....CELEBRATING the full spectrum!

This morning I feel like I am in a vortex of random thoughts and a GODWINK.  I work in a career and also am a human everyday woman where holidays are not always a day of happy CELEBRATION

but a day of reverence for loved ones who have died, are dying and it is the last holiday for them, a child whose mother succombed to drugs and the child is placed in a home with a new "mom", or a reminder of..... 

I experienced interesting random feelings yesterday as texts of love and greetings would pop on my phone or blog or email or phone calls.  Grateful for my children, my own mother, but also thoughtful of women who wish to be a mother, celebrating the first Mother"s Day with their mom now in heaven, or a dying mom whose last Mother's Day was 2010...I send you support and my heart in hopes that you are consoled and surrounded by a person or group of people who love you and can comfort you and can bless you with what your heart requests.

I took these pics this morning after turning around and driving back to a local Home and Garden store, I give God credit for asking my to stop along the way....

I CELEBRATE you or a person you may know whose one goal was to make it through  Mother's Day....and CELEBRATE the spectrum of emotions God blessed us human sould with!

There is sunshine in my soul today...a favorite hymn from my childhood...

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Artists who created these fabulous sculptures!

A sculpture's heart....reminded me of my brother-in-law's career as a heart surgeon for babes and children and the courage to be an organ donor and the joy of life as a recipient.

life so fragile.....

My mother's day card from Noah.  A favorite of mine for so many reasons....He has been practicing his shadows and I so enjoy that he did not have the whole shadow included on the card, the love of crosses by our family and was a reminder to me of Mary on Mother's Day and finally the touching detail...a close up below......

Harley Dog's collar and name tag....Harley is getting skinnier and acting more aloof but still present in our family....Was Noah in tune that this may by my last Mother's Day with Harley...

What a wonderful celebration of Jesus, Harley, artistry and homemade greeting cards!

Can you believe the wine label I found..... OK, OK...I have twins on the brain!

I have been waiting months to be able to post this pic of a wine label but wanted to wait until Timothy and Raiden had arrived!  I giggle as I imagine them giving high 5's to me!  I am still celebrating as though I just heard they were born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winner of the twins contest to be announced in next couple of days.  Sorry for delay  but I have so many celebrations on my plate!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Lamb roast in a friend's backyard 2 nights ago, maiden voyage on the lake today in a springsuit and my wakeboard, and MOTHER"S day tomorrow.  Huge beach party tomorrow at 1 with boating and playing in the sand,,,,can you believe I can say that living in the middle of the desert....Can't wait to share pics.

And....

Harley's wonky flower basket applique quilt is done with exception to the border......still a work in progress. I was thumbing through Material Obsession 1 and 2 and also Collaborative Quilting 1 and 2 and think I have the border idea...Tomorrow morning I choose to spend mother's day....piecing....at least a little.... :)   

Thank you so much for all of your love and well wishes for Kevin and Amanda and the twins.  I am so touched as notes have been coming in from old friends and new, I appreciate your friendship and well wishes!

They are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meet Timothy and Raiden.

I was so close to traditional I could taste it....but then I caved

My current WIP....I almost made it traditional and then added the wonky sashing....Gotta stay true to my inner wonky heart!  I am most excited to make the border but that will have to wait while I dress my other flower baskets.  Noah gave me the ultimate compliment as I took this photo, "it has Grandma Gritz written all over it..."  That is the nickname he has for my mom.  Ria, as you say, "like mother like daughter..."  More blocks to come but was so excited to share this little spring delight. 

ENZO....Celebrating you and your author, Garth Stein....

Reading the story, The Art of Racing in the Rain, while petting my old stinky Harley Dog, I am reminded how extra special our furry friends in life are and how dearly my life will change when I tell him "It's ok to go...."  If you have not read this recent novel, I encourage you to pick up a copy and enjoy story line and count the many "Ah Hah" moments you have while reading and crying and crying and sniffling and crying.... And the main storyline is not one of sadness but winning the race when your will is all that is left....or your dog steals the custody papers and pisses on them!  Read the book if you are curious.....

My extra large greeting cards are ready to take flight...in the mail....and a giveaway.....

This quilt card is the focus for the giveaway for this week!!!!   Ready for the rules, GET CREATIVE and or give me feedback!  Also, if you want a hint to some of the hidden meaning, go to the post about Green Fairy being my celestial goddess....

My twin nephews will be born this Friday at noon and I made this large "greeting card" for the mom, Amanda.  I am calling these quilts cards because they are stiff using iron on material that would normally be used to give paper dolls shape..Know what I mean?

I have put  symbolism and some silly in it. What a surprise, Huh?  

Rules: 1. Come up with the list or

2. tell a story about the final days before a birth or

3. silly piece of advice for the first-time parents or

4. just leave a comment and you will be added to a drawing. 

5.  If you are willing, for an addition to drawing, leave a piece of feedback on quilt designs/ style you like to see when you visit me.

Fat quarters, including the pears fabric  in this card will be yours or a greeting card if you prefer.  Have fun with it!!!!!  The giveaway ends when I get the text that the babies are here, healthy, and screaming, "WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

My mother-in-law, Lynda, is as fresh as this card is and her laugh is contagious!!  I have the backing on, hand stitching done in my signature primitive style and ready for the mail.  This may become a new trend of mine! Oh man, I need a pedicure!!!!!

Noah sweetly asked to make a card with me for Seany, his big bro!  I was in seventh heaven as I ironed and glued his above creation.  He asked to buy a Hot Wheel tomorrow to be enclosed in the gift pkg.  Something so endearing to me that my near 20 year old son and 8 year old son are this close and that he still will welcome a Hot Wheel!!!

And Kevin....if you are reading this, you too can enter since your entries for the giveaway may be quite fascinating as the EXPECTANT FATHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!