...another Notion I may "need"

ok -so I should be in bed - but I am not sleepy - instead I have been searching for more binding tools and helps and have found one more thing that I think I may "need."It is called the Quick Easy Mitered-Binding Tool that I found on Eleanor Burn's website www.quiltinaday.com

Here is their description:

With this sturdy acrylic gadget, your bindings come out perfect and you save time. No longer do you have to piece or sew your binding. This tool allows you to bring your backing fabric to the front of the quilt and act as a binding! Several of us tested this product and all of us love it. It is especially great for small quilts, wallhangings and placemats. $15.95

Sounds like something that could be very useful if I had enough extra fabric from the backing to fold over and use on my quilts...

Again, I would love to hear your oppinions on this notion before ordering. ;c)

Oh, and too I found these thread snips on clearance on her website too for just $1.50. Whish I could see exactly how they work... but if I order the other gadget I will add these onto my order too. For $1.50 why not?

and an UPDATE - I did find ONE PAIR of my sissors that I had "lost" - you will never guess where I found them - in a basket I keep over the dryer that holds the grooming supplies for our miniature schnauzer, Jackson. Hummmm..... I've been infected by "baby brain" waaaaay to bad this time around as I have no recollection of how these got there!??!?!? LOL Now where on earth is the 2nd pair??? ~Bonnie

I found two things today!

I think I have found something that I "must" have b/c I sooooo need to finish up the bindings on a few quilts but don't remember much about bindings since it has been several years since I actually attached one to a quilt....

It's called the Binding Gizmo and today I watched as it was demonstrated on www.QNNTV.com

It is available from the Quilting Delights website.... and here is their description:

The Binding Gizmo
The one and only Binding Gizmo is a fast, accurate and simple tool to create perfect binding every time!! No more guessing, no more mystery, no more miscut angles, no more mistakes! Along with the Binding Gizmo, you will receive a 26 page spiral-bound book with instructions on how to use the Binding Gizmo to create perfect bindings every time! $24.95

I would love to hear from any of you out there that have this book and tool or have seen it used.... or know someone that has used it...... any feed back is welcomed - even if you never heard of it but click on the site and rad about it - your oppinion.... :c)

Also today while cleaning I found two checks each for $40 from David's grandma Reliford. These wer put up away from Christmas wrapping papers as to keep safe.... and boy were they safe. Four months later I discover them! One made out to him and the other to me!!!

Perhaps I will use my Christmas check from Grandma to order the Binding Gizmo. ~Bonnie

Two Peas in a Pod

Today my closest girlfriends honored David, Nora and I with a baby shower for the twins. The theme was, “Two Peas in a Pod.” You will be amazed at my friend Cathi's creation of the perfect 3-D cake!!! I have to show you a close up of it! ...and the babies are sitting on her creation of a "quilt" made of icing she said - b/c she knew I liked quilts!!! How neat is that!

Here is a diaper center piece that Lisa made up for the gift table... see the two baby peas in a pod? :c)

From the cake to the diaper raffle everything was so well thought out and perfect! We had a great time and it was a lot of fun!!! I have only been here in TX right at 2 years and although I don't have "a lot" of friends, the ones I do have are the BEST in TEXAS!!! :c)

Below, is a scanned image of the shower invitation that Melanie Made - they included this little card too that told about the "diaper raffle" and to skip the fancy gift wrappings - click on it to make it larger to read... Their idea for the diaper raffle was great! I had never heard of such! The diapers we certainly need and we will put to good use!!! Here is a photo of the gift basket that was won by Cassi. Full of vanilla smell-good goodies!

Again, I must say I was so honored today - God has truly blessed me with the opportunity to have met and get to know each of these women I now call my friends here in Texas!!! They are so fun to be around and very generous to me. I just don't know what I would do without them! ......actually I do know - I would still be VERY lonely and still praying to meet some friends - just like 2 years ago before I met them! ;c)

Fun Friday at the Fire station!

FUN FRIDAY - Today was a once a month activity - we usually call it FFF = First Friday Fun but b/c of Good Friday and Easter we had to postpone this one... it was with our MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) group.

We took a tour of the local Fire Station this morning and Nora LOVED it!! All the kids got to ride in the truck - or they "thought" they did at least!! We loaded them all up in the extended cab while it was parked in the garage and the fireman got in started it up and then pulled it out side - b/c of liability reasons he could not take them on a "real" ride but they didn't care or know the difference! :P That is the great thing about toddlers! ;)

They each got to take turns putting on the gear - Nora especially loved the mask! She tried on the fire helmet too but I think she liked the mask better - they were all so funny b/c they wouldn't turn their heads to the camera with the helmet on - guess it was WAAAY too HEAVY!!! LOL

At the top is a group photo I took - these are most of the kids in our MOPPETS program........14 of the 20 tots! We did the best we could to "round-them-up" for the photo - but some of the babies were being held by mamas.... Nora is the first one on the left sitting down in the group photo.

EDITED TO ADD: I forgot to mention that afterwards, David called me on the cell phone asking about our trip to the Fire Station -I told him all about it and how excited Nora was to wear the mask and helmet... well, when we arrived to pick up Daddy for lunch - he came out to the van with his huge equipment duffel bag hanging over his shoulder!!!

Before he even got into the van he opened up the whole bag and showed Nora his Fire Helmet and mask and boots! :) David wanted her to know that he was certified to be a fireman too so that she would know that her daddy is a "hero" too! :) That is just one example of what a GREAT Daddy David is! :) He didn't have to do that but he did - and all for Nora. :)

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Lately Nora and I stay pretty busy and I wonder if we will slow down at all after the twins arrive???? She does Story Time every Wednesday at the library in Bridge City and then her Thursday Play Group is VERY active - always something fun to do each week. :c)

Last week they did a Nature Trail Hunt and all the kids had a ton of fun...... but Nora had the most fun getting dirty (as always) and even stuck her head in the mud to prove it! Here are a few photos that another mom was able to go run and take for me - b/c I was "resting" on the picnic table about 100 feet away...

I have always heard the expression, when your kid does something and you don't know if you should get mad or laugh - be sure and take a picture! I am glad Beverly was able to get these for me. :c)

Tulips from Holland

Well my trip to Holland was sew much fun! Here is the 1st row of my "Tulips" from Holland, that I got done Saturday. Nothing like I had expected - I knew it would be fun but this was even better! Who knew that 5 hours could pass by so quickly!!! Now, I know what I have been missing out on all these months.... too bad I didn't start traveling last year b/c now that the twins are coming my travel time is gone!

Maybe this can become an annual event? and I do it again next year for my birthday - after all the twins will be 1 by then and surly David will have a handle on them by then... Only next time I want my friend Heidi to spend the day with me and make a mystery quilt too! :c)

I arrived a little late - thanks to David wanting to drive me there - (35 min. drive) so I was postponed with having to help get Nora ready for the day.... honestly, I think he is too scared to attempt to fix her hair! LOL Seriously, he wanted to take her to I-HOP and it was just across the street so it worked out fine for him to take and drop me off. :) Plus, another bonus was that with him dropping me off was I didn't have to lift or carry my machine - and I think that was real important to him... he is "Mr Safety" after all! :c)

Arriving late wasn't a good thing for me... b/c being the competitive person I am - and YES, I know mystery quilts are NOT a race - but for the first hour I was speedy every chance I could get so that I could get caught up with everyone else. I was so pleased at the end of the day to have completed my 1st row of tulips! Out of the 20-25 travelers - there were only 5 of us who completed "a row." Many of the others were lucky to get "a tulip" together as they spent a lot of time chit-chatting. :)

After I got home Saturday - I was lucky that Nora and her Daddy were working outside and I got another 2 hours alone to spend in my sewing room and completed all 56 tulips for the quilt! There will be 8 of each of the 7 colors. I haven't started to put together any more rows - as this project is not a priority. It is now added to my "to-do" list b/c I spent money on buying all the fabrics for the final boarders!!! and so I will have to get it done.

Months from now, when the time does comes and I get back to working on these tulips - PLEASE someone remind me that the LQS owner/mystery instructor INSISTED that the best way to set them was RANDOM!!! I have a hard time with "random" as I like to plan everything out. LOL


Oh, and the food was sooooooooooooo GOOD!!! I forget everything on the menu but we started out with Artichoke appetizers which I had never eaten artichoke before but these were very cheesy and very good! Then when lunch was served I stared out with the Split Pea Soup – again something I had never had – but really liked… (David about died when I told him all about the things I ate, he couldn't’t believe it!) I forget all the other things on the menu but they gave us all the recipes along with the pattern for the quilt - so it is all upstairs in the sewing room.