Start Stampin' It Up......

Today is the day.  The Stamp On It Blog Hop begins.  Be sure and check out all the whimsical, cute, creative designs. Be sure and come back on July 1st to  see my homage to California.  Thanks to Thearica  at Pigtalesandquilts who put all this together.......and to Madame Samm who cheers us on and moves us forward.

Click below to go to the schedule. 

http://www.sewwequilt.com//

Back to the Machine

With the bathroom done and school volunteering over for the summer, I am back at the UFOs in the sewing room.  Of course, I also manage to add new projects along the way or I just play with scraps or sew with the DGDs or whatever.  

Soon, I'll be finished with a project for a blog hop called "Stamp It Up".  My post day will be July 1st.  I'm almost finished with the project.  Last time I joined a blog hop, I broke my wrist before the project was finished.  I feel pretty confident that this one will get done.  Nothing like a deadline to keep one on task.

In between, there have been a few pictures taken of WIP.  Here's what's happening in my neck of the woods. 

Quilt for the beach cottage of a dear friend

Playing with scraps.  Not quite sure where it is going

Won the quilt at the end of the bed at our guild show.  Made the one over the bed.

Sneak peak of the upcoming "Stamp It Up" wall-hanging. 

Before and After - A Bathroom transformation

Two months later and the bathroom is finished.  All the loose ends have been tidied up and touched up and installed.  We have a lovely master bathroom re-do.  The best way to see the transformation is through before and after pictures. 

BEFORE 

 AFTER

 BEFORE

 AFTER

 BEFORE

AFTER 

Mother's Day 2013

This is always a bittersweet day for me.  I celebrate that God gave me the opportunity to be a mother  to two wonderful talented young men.  I grieve for my son, Stephen  who has gone to be with God. I celebrate the addition of a daughter-in-law, Lissa who is the mother of my two darling grand-daughters, Makayla and Violet.  A mixture of emotions wash over me on this day. 
We celebrated here in Alameda with dinner at the Buttercup Bar and Grill.  Good food and good times were enjoyed by all.  Violet entertained us with jokes.  Makayla entertained herself with a book.  We all told stories of when the kids were "little"......grandchildren and my own children.  Mostly we had fun just being together as a family. 

My first born son, Jonathan Michael Sorenson

Makayla, Violet, and their mom, Lissa playing hand games.

Just like her daddy, always reading

Wow......sister is reading too!  Cracking us up with jokes.

Stephen loved teaching young musicians.

and the Latest Picture of The Bathroom Progress

Last Friday we ended the day with the bathroom shower pan being removed for the third time.  It seems that because it is an odd size, it is giving everyone fits and starts.  So a week later, the shower pan has been done one more time and it will be tiled on Monday. In the meantime, they were able to come in an put the granite counter-top in and do the texturizing and painting of the walls.  One small glitch........(there seems to always be a glitch ) the sinks we chose are lovely but a bit over sized. This will necessitate cutting in to the wall board and setting the backsplash into the wall in order to make room for the faucet drain plunger.  Just one more thing in the dramas of re-modeling. 

Looking good in the sunshine

Third time's the charm?

Paint color is Martha Stewart Artichoke Heart.....subtle light green

It is all beginning to blend nicely

A Little Blue Quilt

While the bathroom goes on and on and on, I hide occasionally and work on quilting.  A quilt that I started while in Carpinteria is in progress.  Actually the quilting is done, it has been trimmed and it awaits binding and label.  

Love that serpentine stitch for easy fast quilting

Thread left after the last quilting stitch was in.  Calling it a little close!

Ready for some binding

The Work Goes On.......and I Take A Little Side Trip

New month.  New update picture.  When the workers left today, this is what we were seeing.  Definite progress but boy is tile work slow.  Everything is heavy and has to set.

While the workers have been here, I took a week off to go to the beach with my darling grand-daughters.  DH stayed home to supervise and answer questions.  Here are some highlights from the beach trip. 

a lovely bedroom for rest

Auntie Cheryl arrives and crafts begin

A wonderful trip to the Santa Barbara Zoo. 

Are your wings the size of a California Condor's?

California Condors have a 10 foot wing span

The 4-day old baby giraffe was out for his first day and we were there!

 

The living room became Craft Central

That's Life!

Thanks for hanging out with us Auntie Cheryl

Ice Cream at The Spot.......yummy!

 

 

Two days mini-quilt retreat all by myself

Serene, beautiful, quiet, restful, relaxing, rejuvenating......aahhhhhh Carpinteria Beach!