Ten Days Later: Baby and Quilts

I had no idea it has been ten days since I posted last. Time flies! Today I am babysitting. This is my Bonus Grandson -- not related by genetics, but I help out (and he helps me feel loved like a real grandma). I usually have him at my house about twice a month. It is so much fun, even though it's exhausting. He is about 20 months old now. (Again, time flies. How did this happen??) He's not a real smiley kid, but I managed to eke out this little hint of a smile from him. He has a sweet, agreeable personality, but he's not big on smiling.

These four quilts I may have posted before. I'm not sure. But while Bonus went down for a nap, I finally got labels on these quilts. I'm going to send them home with Bonus for his half-siblings. I was told they've been sad about something lately, so I'm glad I got these quilts done, finally, and ready to give to them. Maybe having something to cuddle up in will help.

Babies!

Wouldn't this world be a sad place without babies?? I just love them! Today I got to visit with my Little Guy who lived at my house for a brief time. I still get to see him and even babysit him sometimes, which I love. He is almost ten months old, and doing very well. He is still a little behind, due to being a preemie, but I don't think it's a worry. I'm not worried, anyway. He can sit up now, and gets up on all fours and rocks. He'll be crawling soon. He loves to stand up when holding onto hands.

I wobbled, and the picture is a little dark, but you can see he is happy to be standing up.

It has been a good year for babies. Yesterday I posted a picture of our newest great-nephew. Here is a recent one of our great-niece. Like I said, aren't babies great??

I'm Still Here

Hello, world. I am still here! I have been feeling a bit depressed, so it's hard to motivate myself to write anything. Depression is just something that I deal with; it comes and goes. This fall/early winter it has been worse than usual due to Mom's death, Mother-in-Law not doing so well after a stroke, and other stuff (OK, the election and Drumpf acting like an idiot), but I know I'll get better and will be fine.

I do have some completed quilts to show you:

Most of these blocks are Lotto blocks that I won at Sunshine. The cat in the middle I made from looking at a paper-pieced pattern that a friend sent. I didn't want to paper-piece, so I free-pieced it and was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Soon I'll have to settle on destinations for all these quilts. I love when I have a pile so I have some options.

Here's a quilt I made and donated to the church; it was given away to this baby who was baptized today. It is fun for me to see that happen.

Here is a picture of the whole quilt:

And here is something way cuter than any quilt. Our nephew and his wife had a baby boy on November 30. Our nephew is a doctor, so I imagine he'll be using that stethoscope every once in a while, just to check. Sweet.

Look at that cute little dimple. I have not met this little sweetheart in person yet. I hope to soon.

Some Sewing and a Baby

Last week I hosted a couple days of sewing at my church, and I did not take one single picture! I mostly concentrated on making some blocks, and I have no pictures to show you what I made.

I did make these pencil cases today, and took a picture. They are to add to the school supplies drive we are doing at church... due tomorrow, so I guess four is all I will make this year. Last year I made a dozen! But, of course, I could continue to make them and turn them in another time. The students come and go, and they'll be able to put new pencil cases to use during the year.

Remember my friend and her baby? They no longer live at my house. I still get to see them, and I try to babysit once a week so she gets a break and can run errands (or sleep). He's such a sweet baby!! Love him a bunch. I'm getting the grandma experience (lots of fun) even though I'm a pretend grandma.

When he does tummy time on this quilt, he appears to love all the colors. He really studies them.

He is also discovering that those hands attached to his arms actually belong to him. So cute!

Last History Lesson - All Caught Up!

Want to see some beautiful quilts? Feast your eyes! The women in this guild are so talented. I am sometimes intimidated but am determined to just be who I am and make what I can. I'll never reach the level some of these quilters have attained. This first picture -- the woman decided to work with fibers and bought a sewing machine one year ago. OMG - REALLY?? Anyway, I repeat -- I am determined to be who I am. I like what I make; they're going to be slept under and will never hang in museums or art galleries.

Below: Roscoe. It's a tiny Minnesota town, population 102. My dad's name was Roscoe. When I was about 8 years old, we drove through the town, stopped and took a picture of Mom and us four kids by this sign. I remember my brother (14 at the time) worried about what passing drivers would think of us nerds. I liked it! This time I tried to get a selfie with this sign, but it was way too tall to get both it and me. The town is not thriving, as you can see from this building on Roscoe's main street. The death of small towns makes me sad.

National Night Out: we had a fun event at church. I put a bunch of extra books out by the Little Free Library; several people picked up books to read (= happy me). The fire department and police came to visit, which the kids loved. Lots of neighbors turned out. It was quite fun.

Last weekend we had a fun family picnic which was our official party welcoming our son home from South Korea. The cake got smushed, but it's still cute. My little Buddy, Mr. Baby, made a cameo appearance, and everyone fell in love with him.

Last photo above is our daughter with her 96-year-old grandfather out on the dock. Can you tell that we picked a gorgeous day for our picnic? Nice breeze kept bugs away, and it wasn't hot. Beautiful!

Yesterday I finished this quilt top. It is made of charm packs and mini-charm packs. I love it!

Guess what! I'm all caught up to the present! I'm sad today that I completely forgot to go to a funeral at church. A young woman died of breast cancer. I didn't know her well but wanted to honor her parents and friends. Kicking myself...

The Best Intentions

I had good intentions of writing every day to get myself caught up to the present. I failed miserably. But I forgive myself. I hope you do, too.

Here are more photos to show you what's going on in my life. This is the little boy who sometimes lives at my house with his mama. They've been busy with a family obligation and have been living with her grandma, but they'll soon be back at my house. I babysit about once a week so Mommy can run some errands and just get a break. He and I are best buddies. He is the sweetest baby! I just love taking care of him. Below you see that our cat, who has been afraid of Baby, finally worked up some courage to move in for a little sniff. Cat still tends to keep his distance but seems less afraid.

I finally captured a good smile with my camera. When he smiles at me I just melt!

Lucky me, my baby joy was doubled! My niece had a baby girl on July 24 - her oldest child's 4th birthday! It's great having another baby in the family. This is the sweet baby and my sister (Grandma) holding her.

I spent some time at my cousin's cabin, and we had a mini-retreat. I put together this top. I still need to add borders. In this picture it is not fully assembled, but this is the design. I used Victoria Findlay Wolfe's line of fabric, Mostly Manor. They were really FUN to work with! I love how this quilt looks so far.

My cousin and I went on part of the Minnesota Quilt Shop Hop. You get prizes and patterns for finishing various regions. It's the first time I have actually completed a whole region, and this year I finished three regions (out of a possible eight).

Above is the shop in East Grand Forks which I had never been to before and probably won't ever again, because it is so far from where I live. It is a nice shop, though. If you're ever in EGF, swing by and visit this quilt shop. We stopped to say hello to Paul Bunyan as we drove around the state.

Cousin finished this quilt (above) that was made from lotto blocks that she won. We went to the Cuzzin's Candy Shop in Park Rapids, MN.

Upon my return home I managed to finish these two quilts; both will be donated:

I'll be back soon to continue my photo journal, but I can't promise when it will be. Only "soon." Good night, sleep tight!