Quote of the week

"Christmas gift suggestions: to your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect."

-- Oren Arnold

And so continues the obsession...

I'm having so much fun with my yo yo making I just can't seem to stop. I decided to tackle a new project which I'm sure is going to take a while; but heck that hasn't stopped me before. LOL!! Those who know me well know will not be surprised at my choice of theme. So off I went to see what fabrics I had in my stash.

Only a "few" squares to go to complete my Patriotic Yo Yo Quilt.

Yo Yo Mania

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I became quite addicted to making Yo Yos. After seeing the lovely projects created by my aunts I just had to go for it. Once I returned home from Ohio I went through my stash and picked a few more fabrics for my first project. I am quite thrilled with how it turned out. My daughter is quite the Halloween fan so this first piece is for her. Here is my Halloween tablerunner.

Yo Yos before assembly

Completed table runner

Quote of the Week

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

- Buddha

Quote of the week

"For a long time it has seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way. Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obtacles were my life."

-- Fr. Alfred D'Souza

An old, new hobby

A few years ago I was on a stitching retreat with friends when we visited a quilting store. I'm not a quilter so I walked around looking at all the different fabrics and accessories when I stumbled upon something that was very familiar to me. I had no idea there was a tool to make them!! I had to have it and figure out how it worked. You see when I was a little girl, my grandmother made Yo Yos by hand. I totally forgot I had the Yo Yo Maker till I visited my mother back in September and saw a table cloth made of these Yo Yos. She told me my Aunt Lucy had picked up the old craft and had made the cloth for her the same way my grandmother made them.

Bedspread made by my Aunt Lucy

Pillow by my Aunt Vinnie

In my recent visit to Ohio I discovered that my Aunt Vinnie had too picked up Yo Yo fever. She had no idea a tool existed for making the Yo Yos so I picked up two of them for her and just couldn't resist starting a project myself. I too now have Yo Yo fever.

My first batch of Yo Yos.

Long, long overdue update...

On Tuesday, November 22nd I flew to Ohio to be with my younger brother, Santos who was scheduled for surgery. Due to an infection he was battling, the surgery was postponed and didn't happen till Thursday, December 1st. Santos was in the ICU at the Cleveland Clinic being treated for a C. diff bacteria and faced a few challenges. He needed a temporary pacemaker installed as well as continuous dialysis.

Santos and my sister in law Teresa the day before surgery

Surgery was 11 hours long and the waiting was just excruciating. I'm glad I was there to provide some support to my mother and my sister in law Teresa. Santos had a double bypass, a heart valve replaced, some "cleaning" of the heart due to an abscess and a pacemaker installed. Thankfully he was intubated the morning of 12/5/11 and is breathing on this own. We are more than optimistic of his recovery. I can't thank enough the family and friends who called, said prayers and were just there for my family.

I returned home to California on December 3rd and will appreciate your continued good wishes, good thoughts, and prayers as Santos faces a challenging recovery.

Latest stitching update...

Still working on Fairy Grandmother by Lavendar and Lace. I had quite the stitch-a-thon early in the weekend and then had to stop to give my elbow and wrist a rest.

Quote of the Day

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough."

-- Oprah Winfrey

Celebrating a milestone...

We recently attended a dinner in honor of my husband's 25th anniversary with Lockheed Martin. It was fun getting all dressed up for a night on the town. The food was good, the company at our table was wonderful, and the dancing was phenomenal. The night had a Paris theme complete with the Moulin Rouge and Eiffel Tower. Love the commemorative wine glasses and Murano glass winestopper we received.

Quote of the week

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too can become great."

-- Mark Twain

Countdown to Turkey Day

Quote of the week

"No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change."

-- Barbara de Angelis

Weekend update

I'm still working diligently on Fairy Grandmother and making great progress. I sure pray I don't lose steam on this one anytime soon cause it sure would be a treat to actually finish it before the year is out. I'm so neglecting my other projects but this one really has me captivated at the moment. Can't wait to get to those colorful wings!

Happy birthday to my son Mizraim who turned 35 on Saturday, October 22nd. Considering I barely feel that much older myself...where have the years gone? Seems like yesterday he was just my little 10 pound bundle. (Photo taken back in May of 2011 during my trip to San Antonio for grandson's first birthday)

Quote of the week

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."

--Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Fair & Square Exchange

It's been awhile since I participated in the Fair & Square Exchange so it was fun to get back to it. I was partnered with Jennifer and here are the squares she made for me. As you can see she dedicated them to my 20th wedding anniversary which hubby and I celebrated 3 months ago. I just love them.

Here are the squares I made for Jennifer. Autumn is my favorite season so it was really fun stitching this JBW design for her.

Quote of the week

In truth, relationships just show us to ourselves.

We give people clues on how to love us

as they see us loving ourselves.

It is truly about us and our relationship with us

that then gets reflected back.

We attract the people who will allow us to grow,

who will invite us to grow,

who will ask us to step up and into

our highest self-expression.

This doesn't always happen consciously

or pleasantly...it just happens.

Enjoy the opportunities to let others know

how much you love yourself.

--Eddie Rodriguez

Fundraiser

SYC TEAM FUNDRAISER

$10 a ticket for a chance to win:

1st prize - iPad2

2nd prize - Coach handbag

3rd prize - iPod Nano

If you want a ticket please let me know. Proceeds are to assist our Rita who is battling renal cell carcinoma.

Winners to be announced October 29, 2011

WIP: Fairy Grandmother

After two weeks of no stitching, it was fun to get back to my current WIP. Fairy Grandmother by Lavender and Lace is coming along much quicker than I anticipated. Even after a small break this week to finish a piece for an exchange, I can see the progress. Even all that brown didn't bother me. LOL! I'm going to continue working on it and alternate it with my Wild Roses piece.

RIP Steve Jobs

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

-- Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Quote of the week

"One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest."

-- Maya Angelou

New Stash

I did a little shopping while at Cross My Heart in Columbus, Ohio.

The Wedding

Wedding of my niece Kris Marie Claudio to Khaled Williams on September 17, 2011.

Long Overdue Update...

I'm slowly getting back to the routine of everyday life after spending two weeks visiting with my family in Ohio and Indiana. It was a very emotional and gratifying journey in so many ways. It was great to spend time with my mother and siblings in Cleveland and attend the wedding of my niece, Kris. The wedding was gorgeous, the bride spectacular, the groom handsome, and the weather totally cooperated (considering it was raining quite a bit the evening we arrived). It was nice to spend time with my younger brother who underwent surgery last month and I ask for your continued prayers for his recovery.

We arrived in Columbus, Ohio on September 15th to some heavy rains. It was dark by the time we picked up our luggage, car, and headed for Cleveland. Barely 2 or 3 miles from the airport I look in my rear view mirror to see twirling lights...yep, a policeman. I stopped at the side of the road to discover I was driving with only my daylights on. I had to explain to him that it was a rental and it took all 3 of us to figure out the lights...LOL! The following day on the way back to our hotel I turn on my signal light to make a left into the parking and discover that yet again there are twirlings lights behind me. YES...it was an Ohio State Trooper!! When he asked if I knew why he had pulled me over I said "please don't tell me I forgot my lights again?" He said, "again?" I had to explain to him it was a rental which I'm sure look suspicious considering I was in Ohio and the rental had Illinois plates and I have a California driver's license. Turns out the rental had automatic lights and I could have saved myself the "run-in with the law", as my husband put it. As I said to him, "well it won't be a trip we'll forget anytime soon."

In addition to our time in Cleveland, we visited my brother in law in Harrison, my husband's cousin in Cincinnati, and his sister in Connversville, IN. We also took time to visit cousins in Indianapolis we'd never met and my husband hadn't seen since he was a boy. We had a great time with the Dunaway clan at the home of his Uncle Eddie and a great dinner at Olive Garden.

10th Anniversary

Weekly update

I concentrated most of my stitching this week on Fairy Grandmother and thrilled with the progress I'm making. I hate to stop working on her but it's a large project to carry so I will leave her behind while I'm on vacation and devote what little stitching time I have to Wild Roses.

Fairy Grandmother

by Lavender and Lace

Wild Roses

by Carriage House Samplings

Quote of the week

"Don't live in the past, thinking about mistakes or changes you made. Think of your life as a book, move forward, close one chapter and open another. Learn from your mistakes, but focus on your future, not on your past."

-- Unknown

Lady of the Flag (UFO)

I mentioned last week that I had Lady of the Flag by Mirabilia stashed away where she became a UFO and languished in a tube for over two years. Well I finally took her out to let her breathe. Though I think the surprise was on me when I realized I was much further along than I remember. I knew I had most of the stitching done but I actually started the beading too. She's going back in my rotation and I WILL FINISH HER!