A Finish, and a Trip to MO

When I last posted, I left you with a picture of my design wall.  Since that time, I have sewn the borders onto the oceanside houses quilt, and hung it in the closet for quilting, eventually.  Once that was out of sight, it was also out of mind.  whew!

I then took down the first basted baby quilt, and finished it up.  I will ship it to the beautiful baby today.  I had hoped to give it to her mama last week, but by the time I finished it, I was on my way to Missouri.  By the time I returned, her mama was back on the East Coast.  oops!

Last week, I traveled to MO, to attend a baby shower for my daughter-in-law.  I arrived late Thursday afternoon, and left on Sunday.  The shower was on Saturday.  I don't often get a chance to visit one-on-one with this son and daughter-in-law, so it was a special treat.  Here we are, on our way to their home, getting ready to leave the airport.  :)

 Early in the morning, I would sit at their dining room table and watch out the window.  It is so peaceful.  The red red robins are constantly bob bob bobbin' their way around the yard, first thing.  It also rained every day that I was there, over 2"!

 Rabbits are also a frequent sight, busily mowing the lawn.  I didn't get any pictures of the squirrels, but they are a special kind of invader.  While I was there, they stripped the apple tree of its four apples.  My son & DIL were pretty miffed about that.

 The shower was held on Saturday afternoon.  My son was invited to arrive about an hour into the festivities, to assist in opening the presents.

Back in the 90's, my quiltie friends advised me to make baby quilts for the grandkids because "when they arrive, you won't have the time!"  I am very glad that I took that advice.  I began my granddaughter's quilt in 1997, and finished it a couple of years ago.

 I was thrilled when I heard that they painted the room a pale shade of purple.  (Look at that Baptist fan quilting - it is quilted by hand!)

We had a lovely visit.  My husband stayed home this trip, but we plan to go again in a few months, to welcome our new little granddaughter.  I highly recommend taking Alaska Airlines through San Diego to St. Louis.  It is SO comfortable compared to some of the flights we've been on over the past several years.

We currently have a vet student staying with us.  On Monday, she asked if she could watch me quilt.  Turns out, she did not know how to work a sewing machine.  I have several baby quilts ready for quilting, so after demonstrating a few lines of in-the-ditch, I turned the quilt and the machine over to her.  She quilted about 1/4 of the quilt.  I finished it up yesterday.  Today, I hope to cut and attach the binding.  Perhaps I will have a picture by the end of the week.  goals are good!

And on that note, duty calls.  Hope you're all staying cool and finding time to put in a few stitches here and there!