Sizzix Blog Hop: Flower Frenzy

I am so happy to be part of the Sizzix blog hop. It was really fun playing with the Sizzix flower dies. 

These are all the flowers and leaves that I cut. It may not look like much, but it was! I cut mostly cottons, plus some corduroy, silks, linen, etc. So easy and fun! All fabrics had Misty Fuse on the back.  The dies I used were Flower #6, Flowers Leaves & Stem #5, and Flower, but there are other similar dies available. Then I made a simple quilted background with my favorite gray fabrics. 

Then I arranged the flowers the way I liked them. My granddaughter Samantha watched me do this, and I let her play with button embellishments, just for fun. 

She had so much fun that I invited her to take some of my leftover flowers and arrange them on a smaller background, that I made just for her. 

After she arranged her flowers, she picked out some buttons that I could add after I quilted the flowers. She had the best time!

Meanwhile, I fused down the flowers on my quilt. 

Then I did some machine quilting on the flowers, as well as lots of hand embroidery.

 I also quilted and embroidered the flowers and added buttons on Samantha's quilt. Here it is, all finished.

Here I'm auditioning buttons on my quilt. 

And here is my final quilt! I really enjoyed making both these projects. 

Dress started

I have started a new little dress for my dear little granddaughter Samantha. I'm using the croquet dress pattern from Oliver and S. I love this pattern company. The clothes are a bit challenging but thoroughly explained step by step. They're on sale at Purl Soho. Get them before they're gone!

Fun photos

Some random photos taken recently during a visit from my daughter, granddaughter and son in law.

There was a rainbow in Carlsbad, where we went to celebrate my son's birthday.

There were a few rain drops, too, the first in months.

Warren liked the new messenger bag we gave him. It will work great for his new job!

Beach day. The weather wasn't great, but much warmer than back home on central NY!

Samantha on the carousel at the Spectrum. She had to ride in the Mimi-like giant kitty!

My granddaughter's first ballet recital

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBzpM5LUkaE&feature=youtu.be

The only way I could figure out how to post this was to cut and paste the link. Sammy is the littlest ballerina, on the left. The other girls are all four; she is 3 1/2. 

Trick or treating

Sammy's eagerly-awaited photos from Halloween have arrived! It was a cold and rainy night, so a raincoat was a necessary part of her costume. Her mom made the great bat mask. Isn't it great!?

Sammy went trick or treating with friends in Hamilton. One photo shows the batmwings with a green spider in its web.

preschool

 One more farm photo - this is a vegetable garden area, with the chicken coop on the right.

One day I was lucky enough to tag along to preschool at a local library. Sammy is the second from the left. What a big girl she is getting to be!

.

Grandma and Grandpa fun time with Sammy

 One day we took Sammy to a park in a town north of their farm. Look how high she can climb!

 Grandpa is the best swing pusher.

He's also fun to sit with on the teeter totter.

 Another day Sammy went with her Cooksey grandparents to the pumpkin patch. This is a cool wooden train. There were photos with Grandma, too, but they all turned out blurry! .

 So many fun things to explore.

 She found a new friend to wander around in the hay maze with.

 Who is the scary skeleton?

 Yes, there were pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

But they weren't as cute as the homegrown pumpkins back home.

Alphabet dress and Noro sweater for Sammy

 Sammy is modeling the alphabet dress I made for her earlier this summer.

 Here she is at the Clinton Farmers Market, eating a chocolate crepe.

The crepe makers have a booth right next to her parents, and this is a special treat. Amazingly, no chocolate got on the dress!

 And here she is wearing a sweater I made for her ages ago. It was way too big then, but now it fits!

It's Noro yarn, and the sweater directions are in the Noro Kids book.

 This is what the back of it looks like, taken at the pumpkin patch.

Fall on the Farm

Sammy is playing her flute while playing with the goats.

They are sweet and friendly, as goats go.

It's fall at Heirloom Meadows, as these pumpkins will attest.

Sunflowers against the barn.

We went to the Utica Zoo one afternoon, and Sammy went down the snake slide for the first time.

Farmers market

Here is Sammy taking a walk with her grandpa at the Clinton farmers market. She is wearing the alphabet dress that I made for her. I took more photos of her at the market and in that dress, but I still haven't taken them out of the camera.

Bat Wings for Sammy

I just finished these. My three-year old granddaughter wants to be a bat for Halloween. They are sturdy and I am pleased with how they turned out. I am thinking it needs a spider for the web, though.

Now I need a flat box to mail it to New York!

Summertime fun!

Here are some cute photos of my granddaughter Sammy at the beach in Rhode Island.